Before you call me, look at 'Windows 95 Secrets' by Brian Livingston & Davis Straub, This book provides essential, and much undocumented information about Windows 95 features, installation, Plug and Play, boot files, the Windows desktop, relationships to DOS, networking, performance, and more. Helpful for everyone from the neophyte to the most intense power user. A great gift.

I received my copy of Windows 95 Secrets 4th Edition a couple of weeks back, and already I'm seeing the benefits. Brian Livingston & Davis Straub get really detailed in this edition. My colleagues and I feel like there isn't a part of Windows 95 that we don't know about! If this is the one computer book you ever buy, you definitely won't regret it

This excellent reference manual has become an indispensable corner stone of my computer library. Well written in clear and concise English the book is full of tips and tricks -- many of them undocumented by Microsoft. "Windows 95 Secrets" has helped me through a number of problematic situations including ones having to do with Network, modem, fax and printer setup and trouble shooting. If you are considering the purchase of only one Windows 95 reference book: this is the one.

Very similar in content and structure to Ortho's Complete Guide to Vegtables. The difference comes in the experience the writer has growing and maitaining the various plants. I find using both books gives different perspectives for growing and caretaking of plants but conatins the same basic information. For instance the Ortho book has better Garden Setup and maintenance data, and raw data on the various gardening aspects like fertilizer and pest eradiction. The Burpee book focuses on plant and cultivar details a little better. The book is filled with plenty high quality pictures of plants and their fruits using multiple pictures of various cultivars within plant families.
The book is geared for both beginners in gardening and the handy do it yourselfer types. Chapters progress you through the steps from site selection and plant selection to harvesting, crop rotating and soil conditioning over winter and indoor greenhouse seed starting. The book also contains references to various cultivars within vegtable species, so a beginner gardener could not only successfully select and grow well know vegtables, but could also grow and use the odd often hard to find fresh herbs.
I consistently flip between both this book and Ortho's book. I find using them in this manner makes the information extracted complimentary and thorough.

Burpee's "The Complete Vegetable and Herb Gardener: A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically" is fantastic. In addition to what Burpee lists on the back cover of what is inside the book, there are also many easy-reading tables that contain excellent information such as the vitamin(s) that each vegetable contains, different cultivars, plant PH needs, watering needs per week, crop yields, etc. Many interesting tidbits.

The layout is so wonderful, one does not feel overwhelmed with all of the information that is in the book!

This book could easily be worth $50 and it would be worth the investment. I've been a gardener for a number of years, and out of the entire bookshelf of gardening books that i own, this book, hands down, is far more comprehensive than all of them put together. The first section of the book, a complete book in intself, will teach you just about everything you ever wanted to know about almost every aspect of gardening, and is comprehensive enough that if you learned it all you would be well on your way to becoming a master gardener. The second section, the plant portraits, gives you more information about each vegatable and herb in your garden than you could ever dream of knowing about, and more information than you would even be able to find. Like tomatoes? there are almost eight pages dedicated to them alone. The entire book is filled with beautiful color photographs, and it is packed with tons of hard-core information. Not like the "fluff" and tons of meaningless words without any content that practically all the other books are filled with. Recently i have moved to all hydroponics, and most of the rest of my gardening books are now about worthless to me, however this book is still prooving to be an invaluable source of information. The only thing this book does not cover very well is insects and plant diseases, although it still does quite a bit better than most gardening books do. Of course, if it did, this book would probably be over 700 pages long, "complete vegatable and herb gardener" style. The book "The organic gardeners handbook of natural insect and disease control" is a very good book on this subject. Spend the money and get both of these books. You wont need anything else.

This a a wonderful presentation of Don Troiani's art. The added bonus here is text written by Brian Pohanka. As a Civil War and an art enthusiast, I have seen no finer book. The research Mr. Troiani goes through to ensure the accuracy of his paintings is impressive. I find that this an invaluable source for "what it was really like" during the depicted events in the Civil War.

If there is one art book that should be in every Civil War buff's library, this is the one! It's a beautifully done and wonderfully written chronology of the war, as seen through the eyes of artist Don Troiani. These impeccably researched and incredibly detailed paintings make one feel they are witnessing the actual events! The text by noted Civil War historian Brian Pohanka is a perfect compliment to Troiani's artwork; it is both informative and moving at the same time. Highly recommended!

Those with a casual or serious interest in the American Civil War will thoroughly enjoy this collection of beautiful paintings by Don Troiani. From dynamic battle scenes to homefront portrayals, this book captures the full scope of the artist's popular glimpses into Civil War life. No where else can all of Troiani's masterful artwork be seen in one place. Highly recommended.

I've read a few hundred sales books since 1960 and most are the same book with a different approach.

This book is one of the few original ones. I had the opportunity to question the author for about an hour at a book signing in Martinez in which only a few people came for the presentation.

Mr. Davis has been a star salesperson and he knows what he is talking about. Getting into your Customer's Head is excellent.

I am mostly into marketing as I think it is more important to remove the need to have to sell in the first place -- by attracting people who want what you have -- rather than try to sell people who are not the best prospects for your product. However, when you have to sell, this book will help you develop your skills. I think it is the one sales book that marketing people should read this year

After 20 years leading sales organizations, both large and small, I thought there was very little new that I could learn about selling. And I was right! What I had been missing until I came across "Getting Into Your Customer's Head" was understanding how customers buy. "Getting Into Your Customer's Head" provides sales representatives with the ability to act like a consultant who is working in the best interest of his/her customers. A tremendous book which can help the entry level sales rep all the way up to the President of the company.

Everybody TALKS about "Putting the customer FIRST", but Getting into Your Customers Head is a blueprint to do it best.

Kevin Davis' work is strictly for those who truly strive to attain the level of "Solution Provider" and Business confidant; the highly regarded "Go To" person to whom customers are comfortable in divulging all the intimate details.

"Getting into your Customers Head" eliminates the "Commission Breathe" that all prospects and customers smell a mile away, and turns them off from the moment you open your mouth.

Forget the rest. "Gettting into your customers head" is SPIN Selling, Strategic Selling, Consultive Selling, Visionary Selling and Solution Selling all rolled into one.

It's a methodology to operate at the highest level of sales productivity. Better yet, it's easy to read, easy to learn, and easy to use.

BUY IT, absorb it, "walk it", "talk it" and "OWN IT", and you'll generate more business than your company can handle.

This book step by step teaches me to be a very focus, effective and productive real estate agent. I learned a lot of marketing and sales strategies from the book. The shiny penny technique teaches me working on the houses instead of buyers, the deeper cut conversation helps me to get more listings, listing inventories chart makes my goal clear. There are much more in the book. To be a real estate agent, you'd better read the book serveral times, it is very helpful.

As a real estate professional and knowing that most how-to-do-it books rarely tell it like it really is, I was skeptical when purchasing this book; however, it quickly became apparent that the writer knew what he as talking about! The book is a "must have" for anyone in real estate whether they have been an agent for a month or 10 years. It is written in plain english and effectively outlines ways to make money in the real estate business. I feel so strongly that this book can make a huge and positive influence on real estate agents, I have placed the book in my office and agents sign it out for a week at a time. I also brief passages in the book at my weekly Business Meetings. A very superbly written book!

This is a great book. I am about half way through at the time of this review. So far there have been many great tips on how to increase your real estate business. This book is great for a new agent or a power seller. I plan on using all of the techniques that are talked about in this book. Great book, definetly worth the price

When Harlie was One was an enjoyable book, with quite a bit of thought given to "its" character development. Unfortunately, I've looked for "When Harlie Was Two" or "The God Machine" - both titles that were listed as a sequal and have not found either. Were either actually published?

David Gerrold is quite prolific and has done some great TV scripts and a number of series books (Star Wolfe) and (Chtorr). I would also like to see more in these series.

Mr. Gerrold, if you're listening. Please consider the many fans of these series and WRITE MORE PLEASE!

I read this book for the first time when I was 14 years old (back in 1976) and was hooked on the works of David Gerrold. My dad even liked the book, saying that Harlie did things that were plausible! I read the revised edition (version 3.0) and it looked like Mr. Gerrold had matured in the same ways that I had. A great read, an enthralling story. I highly recommend this book to anyone!

I read the book maybe 25 years ago, and it is one of the few books that have always stuck in my memory. The main reason I am writing this review is that I hope the publisher will consider a reprint! As I found - reading the other reviews - that there are more people like me for whom this book was an unforgettable experience. (And of course I would like to find out if it has retained its magic over the years.)

This book was a sheer joy to read and digest. The authors skilfully comingle history, mathematics, philosophy, and biography. The result is a truly fantastic voyage into the meaning and gist of discovery and conjecture. In chapter after chapter important ideas like Fourier analysis, Non-Cantorian Set Theory, and Objects and Structures are scrutinized in a very interesting manner.

The deeper you go into the book the more will you revel in the sheer majesty and scope of the topics. I had to read the chapter on Inner Issues twice to really get everything out of the text. Topics such as Teaching and Learning are very insightful and full of little hidden gems.

If you are prepared to expend some effort and if you wish to know what mathematics "really is like", grab this book. I am sure this will become a permanent treasure in your library and you will peruse it often long into the night.

The best book I have read of it's type. Seemlessly incorporating Mathematics, Philosophy and History. Makes one want to really read everything in the Bibliography.

It was about five years ago. Physics suddenly seemed fascinating but I was struggling with math. My tutor suggested two books for me. One of them was this book. I cannot say this book was particularly helpful but it gave me a good sense of what mathematics is: its people, culture, history, and philosophy. Quite unlike E.T. Bell's Men of Mathematics, this book does not contain romantically presented stories of some math heros. And unlike some popular math books by Ian Stewart, it does not attempt to explain (rather unsuccessfully) some esoteric theories. It is just as the title suggest--what a mathematical experience can be. A book of this kind is rare.

P.S. Now, some five years later, I am not sure if mathematical knowledge maintains a separte existence as Plato had thought, and as the authors believe. (Ref. Plato, Phaedo)

Sure, if you know enough about Photoshop you could create many of these layerstyles, textures, etc. by hand. But why? It takes far less time and effort to load it off of a CD. The book includes photographic examples of the layer styles, actions, brushes, etc. as well as instructions and tips on how to use these tools. It is MORE than just a 'layer styles on a cd' book.

For the price it is well worth it (I paid just over [price] for the book through Amazon).

You can use this book if you have Photoshop 6, but certain actions may not work, and the brushes may not work. You need Photoshop 7 to fully take advantage of everything in this book, but it is still worth the price if you have not yet upgraded to 7.0 yet.

I highly reccomend this book.

Alex F.

The greatest value of One Click WOW is the CD which includes:
•60 custom brush presets
• 300 styles for photos, type, and graphics,
•150 styles for buttons,
•50 styles for ImageReady rollovers complete with JavaScript code,
•40 gradient presets,
•over 150 seamless pattern textures,
•60 actions,
•60 art media tool presets,
•tutorial and sample files

One Click WOW works on the Layer Styles in both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. So you just install and you're ready to go. You really don't have to read anything, but I suggest reading the part where it explains resolution (all theirs are done at 225 ppi) and how to get the best results, how to scale their presets, etc.

The book contains what seems like a zillion (technical term) sample images of the various styles, presets, patterns and brushes, gradient effects, photo effects... vignettes, frames, borders, tints, color effects, textures, patterns, grains and even various darkroom effects

You can set some text or create a simple grayscale image, then click on one of their presets, and voila! You instantly have results that might have taken hours.

They also give you presets to change the look of photos, like adding film grain, and, near the back, Jack includes a little tutorial on his amazing technique to turn your photos into paintings (using the brush presets on the CD).

Adobe Photoshop 7 One Click Wow
by Jack Davis and Linnea Dayton
Peachpit Press
90 pages, all in color
CD included with supporting files and samples
ISBN 0-321-12531-2

Review by: Wynne Stevens

One Click Wow is one of those books we struggling want-to-be computer artists see in bookstores and fall in love with at first sight. The accompanying CD alone contains a smorgasbord of Photoshop styles, actions, and other effects that can make anyone look good with virtually no effort at all. Obviously true artists and Photoshop experts may look upon this with some disdain but there's no denying that One Click Wow exemplifies software automation and productivity to the delight of the unskilled such as myself.

This book contains the tools to take a simple graphic and convert it to chiseled steel, chrome, plastic, glass, neon, wood grain, and on and on. Want a frame or special edge treatment for that photograph? How about textures, edges or photo enhancements? Need some dynamic rollovers? No problem.

The authors present the various included effects with a simple clarity that makes it possible to start experimenting immediately. Once hooked, the process is addictive and a truly great way to explore the incredibly vast range of image effects that are possible with Photoshop.

The main focus of the book is on Photoshop layer styles, various effects that can be applied or unapplied to individual or groups of layers within an image file. It starts with brief introduction describing concept and customizing in terms easily grasped by any novice. The reader is encouraged to load the styles and begin experimenting immediately and there is a tutorial for the timid.

In the course of observing how each style (and there are literally hundreds) is constructed, and how components (opacity, pattern, shadow, stroke, texture, et. al.) are mixed, one really begins to understand the power of layer styles. Through experimentation, the book's styles can be altered and re-saved to suit any individual preference. This is where the real value lies -- one has both a vast library of new presets and the means to customize based on individual needs.

But wait, there's more! There are tons of other presets, including over 60 actions, 40 gradients, and 150 seamless patterns with full color examples of how each is rendered on a simple graphic. It's a lot of fun and a great education for those of us who are unsophisticated in the many ways an image can be manipulated. The CD alone is worth thirty bucks -- the fact that there are 90 pages of text and color examples is a bonus.

I recommend this book highly, especially to novices, as an excellent introduction to the power of Photoshop in image enhancement. Many of us have the program and don't really know all it can do. Spend a day with this book and you'll have a new appreciation. Definitely:

MacMice Rating: 5 out of 5

Author Jack Davis tells Book Bytes:

I want to emphasize the Wow Art Media Brush Presets and the Wow Image Fix Brush Presets -- over 70 of the most mind-bogglingly useful brushes (and associated paper and canvas textures) for thoroughly exploiting the capabilities of Photoshop 7's new Brush Engine. Those topics start on page 78 of the book.

Users of Adobe Photoshop Elements can participate in the Wow revolution by purchasing and using a companion book, entitled:

Adobe Photoshop Elements One-Click Wow!
by Jack Davis and Linnea Dayton
Peachpit Press
ISBN 0-321-10847-7, 58 pages plus companion CD loaded with images and tools

*If readers are using Photoshop 6, they won't be able to take advantage of the new Tool Presets on the Photoshop 7 One-Click Wow CD, but this would still be the book of choice because of the greater number of Styles.

*If they are using Photoshop Elements, the Photoshop 7 One-Click Wow still offers more Styles, but the Elements One-Click Wow tells how to use Styles with Elements, which is a little different process than using them with the full Photoshop.

In both cases, the printed book includes examples of all the Styles and tells how to use all the goodies supplied on the CD-ROM, including the tutorial files.

Here are the differences in more detail:

Adobe Photoshop Elements One-Click Wow! - which was the first one in this series - has more than 300 Layer Styles (instant stunning, practical effects for photos, type, or graphics) that can be used with Elements or Photoshop 6 or 7. It also has Recipes, which are exclusive to Elements (since Adobe has changed the way Recipes work in version 2 and the Wow Recipes were designed for version 1, the Recipes on our CD don't work with Elements 2).

Adobe Photoshop 7 One-Click Wow! has more Layer Styles - about 250 for type and graphics and more than 75 for photos, all of which can be used with Photoshop 7 or 6 or with Elements. It also has 150 custom button styles for use in Photoshop 6 or 7 or ImageReady; in addition, there are 50 combined Rollover Styles, already automated for use in ImageReady. Besides more Styles, the other major difference about this book/CD package is that it takes advantage of Photoshop 7's support for custom Tool Presets. For instance, it has more than 60 custom art-media tools for turning photos into watercolors, oils, pastels, and other media. It also has photo-retouching presets: dodge-and-burn brushes, red-eye fixers, teeth-and-eye whiteners, and skin redness removers. There are also presets for the most-often-used cropping dimensions, more than 40 Wow Gradients, and over 150 custom seamlessly tiling Patterns and Textures. There are also Wow Actions for elaborate special effects and for common image-fixing and production tasks. (The Tool Presets and many of the Actions are specific to Photoshop 7 only, and won't work with Photoshop 6 or Elements.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wynne Stevens

I, too, was sickened by the reality of the murders in the first chapter - good storytelling! Although the facts of the bushmeat crisis are horrible I found the story fast, fun and exciting - a good read! I like the fact that the story was based upon a real-life situation and that the atrocities visited upon the unsuspecting rare animals of Africa were addressed honestly and with no holds barred. It is important to impact the reader's sensibilities both thru fictional characters as well as with facts. The author did a great job of taking you into the bush with her. I would recommend this book to any lover of action, adventure or romance!

As a hunter who visits Africa yearly, I am always skeptical to see an action/adventure book based in Africa that is written by a woman. I heard a radio interview with the author and I was intrigued and I must admit, she knows her subjects! The hunting scenes, the culture, the animal's behavior are spot-on! The story flowed from the first chapter, and held my attention non-stop to the end. I'm most impressed how and why the author used a current event like the bushmeat industry as a backdrop. I found it very interesting. This lady has one heck of a imagination too! Some of the scenes are gruesome and real, and others made me chuckle. I enjoyed the way the chimp, dog and elephant became important characters that I cared about. I highly recommend this book, whether you are a hunter or not. It's a real thrill!!

This book took me on an African adventure and I never left my house! The details, suspense, romance/sex and violance were graphic and strong but tastefully done. Once I got past the reality and horror shown in the first chapter, I was meserized, completely caught up in the story. The plot twisted and turned, every chapter made me want to know what was going to happen next. I found myself really carring what was happening to the charactors. I cried and laughed outloud. This is not a book for kids. I didn't know about the bushmeat crisis or that people were hunting and eating chimpanzee's and other endangered animals. The author must have researched this for years! If you enjoy books by Wilbur Smith, like I do, then you will really love this one.

This was one of the first books I read that explained the power of nutrition and the weakness of the present 'drugs-only' medical model towards health. Adelle really lays the ground rules for what has elsewhere been described as 'orthomolecular' medicine -- using natural substances to restore and maintain optimum health. She introduced me to Dr Abram Hoffer (try ISBN 1550820796) and Dr Linus Pauling (try ISBN 0380702894), both of whom you should pursue if you want to gain more knowledge than your GP about the power of nutrition to heal both body and mind. It's true that some of Adelle's content will be dated, as diets and theories have come and gone. She was a professional with great wisdom from her years of practice, and a dedicated writer. This is a book worth seeking out. Who knows -- in your travels its possible you might just stumble across cures for schizophrenia and cancer...

Although I risk the limits of good taste, I am compelled to say that this is the only useful nutrition book I've read in the last 40 years. I began to apply the Davis nutrition principles in my teen's and have been thankful for the energy, stamina and shameless good health I've enjoyed since. This book is readable, accessibile, and clearly describes human biochemistry in a way that anyone can understand. Davis does not present fad diet propaganda as every other writer seems to do; instead, she describes the delicate and fascinating work of the food we eat and its effect on our bodies. She describes the process of digestion, the action of trace minerals and vitamins on enzymatic reactions, and the nutrional losses to food when it is processed or overcooked. Did you know that calcium cannot be absorbed in the gut unless it is dissolved in the presence of fat and hydrochloric acid? Davis explains why. Most importantly, there is a chapter in the revised edition devoted to serum cholesterol and its relationship to lecithin and magnesium levels in the body, heavily documented with research that is still valid today. This ought to be required reading for every person concerned about heart disease! The biochemistry she presents is the same biochemistry still being taught in colleges today.

I must disagree with other readers who believe that Davis' information is dated. Many of her principles have withstood the test of time and are again being validated by current research and practice, sometimes depressingly so. She spoke out long ago against low fat/low protein/high carbohydrate diets that have became fashionable of late. If her advice had been heeded, this country might not now be facing the highest rates of obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related diseases that are epidemic in America. Of course, 'Lipitor' and 'Lecithin' may start with the same letter in the alphabet, but you can patent the former and not the latter. While this might explain the economics of our present situation, it does not begin to present the tragedy of it.

All her assertions are backed by copious references to research, and there is a comprehensive index. It is the only book of all those in print that I would recommend to someone truly interested in achieving health through nutrition.

I've used "Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit," on and off, for 30 years. It's the best "no fad" nutrition advice for everyday living I have ever seen.

What I like about the book is that Adelle tells me what to expect when I eat or don't eat certain foods. She tells me the EFFECTS of what I choose to eat, mental, physical, general outlook, and health symptoms such as skin tone or heart rate.

For example, the relationship of protein to blood sugar is discussed (the more protein you eat, especially at breakfast, the more stable your blood sugar level stays throughout the day -- fewer highs and lows), and that has served me well over the years in planning for high-performance days that require an alert mind and body all day long.

These "old" studies still apply -- I think the book was written when they were studying vitamins intensely, as she cites a lot of studies on this with human volunteers, and what happens if you are missing just 1 vitamin, B6 for example.

She puts together this type of information:
- mental state
--- depression
--- irritability
- physical symptoms
--- sore mouth
--- dry, cracked lips
--- magenta tongue!
- vitamins
- minerals
- soils
- oils
- protein
- food preparation and growth style
--- organic
---frozen
--- fresh
- supplements
- What to Eat in certain cases:
--- to recover from long-term chronic stress
--- to keep your blood sugar level stable
--- each day

... and she walks you through how to establish a daily diet (you can do the quick view or spend time and do it more completely).

You can take one or two tidbits of info, or really read what happens at the cellular level (i.e., the relationship of SALT to POTASSIUM -- inside each cell and outside each cell - it's fascinating).

I recommend the hardcover book. You may want to skim it, get what you need today from it and apply it, and put the book on the shelf.

Sure as can be, pretty soon you'll remember, "didn't I read in Adelle..." and you'll want to reference it again.

You know why you'll do that? Because your mind will be functioning better, and you'll have a better outlook on life, be more curious about new things, and have the energy to do something like write this book review, which I've never done before!

By the way, she says if you put several healthy choices of food in front of a young child, she'll pick the ones her body needs! I found this to be true, and I do it myself -- if those apricots are calling to you (for me it was the dried sweetened mangoes), it may mean you NEED something they have (vit. A).

Some things we go to our shrinks for can be helped by adding a few key nutrients -- look up depression, for example. We may still need therapy, but we won't be fighting the battle at the cellular level in addition to dealing with our histories!