This is really a wonderful book. I've read it cover to cover and I loved it. Nice work bunnie -- we're really pleased to be publishing it! Woohoo!

Now go buy it. Search for this ISBN: 1593270291

See you,

Bill

This version is out of print. Hacking the XBox is now available from No Starch Press - please see listing for the same title with ISBN 1593270291

I got this book mainly out of curiousity. I don't have much background in computers, especially not when it come to how they work, other than a firm belief that it's all done with magic.

The great thing about this book is that it reads like a buddy explaining something to you. It's not a sterile textbook about AD-SRAM 511 chips or whatever, it's a book about a guy who tinkered with something he bought, and kept a log about it. Even when it gets technical, it's easy to skim over those parts and still know what he was doing. A great mix of extremely informative but at the same time not overwhelming. Reading what he thought and the struggles he and others have gone through just for the *right to talk* (or 'Freedom of Speech', as I've heard it called somewhere...) about what they want is as interesting as the xbox motherboard itself.

If you're looking for instructions about modchips and playing copied games, this *isn't* the book for you. On the other hand, if you've ever wondered how these systems work, and how people are ever able to figure this stuff out in the first place, then you'll never find a better book.

Don't be put off by the stultifying title and heftiness of this book. As history books go, this is a page-turner. It's a highly readable and thoroughly documented history of how Christian dogmatists have fought virtually every advance in human knowledge in the Western world: from astronomy to anatomy, evolution to Egyptology, linguistics to lightning rods.

This book first appeared in 1896. Since then, science has advanced and grown faster than ever before--yet Christian religious dogma is unchanged. Incredibly, we still hear from some states, towns, and public school systems (at least in the U.S.) the same biblical-fundamentalist arguments against scientific inquiry that, as Prof. White's book meticulously demonstrates, have been raised and debunked repeatedly over the past two millennia.

It's up to us whether we let religious fundamentalists paralyze progress in our era. Never forget which fruit God told the humans not to eat.

I was bored over my holiday break (December 2002), and thought I would just read a few pages of this book to help me fall asleep. Three hours later, I was riveted to the book and couldn't put it down (or sleep).

Originally written in 1886, this is a comprehensive account of clashes between theological and scientific claims about how nature works. White systematically chronicles the persecution all the major areas of scientific inquiry had to go through from theologans before they were accepted : geology, mechanics, medicine, meteorology, biology, etc..

For example, in one chapter he meticulously works through the emergence of the heliocentric view of the world, as opposed to that endorsed by the Pope where the earth is the center of the universe. There are tragic tales of threats (Galileo), torture, and execution (Bruno) of scientific minds who made claims that conflicted with the Church.

The chapters are exceedingly well-crafted. He starts out each chapter by describing the origins of the Christian view of the topic (for instance, that there is literally a stone firmament above the earth through which rain is let in). He then discusses how scientists came to question such views, their persecution by the church, and eventually how the Church backtracked and hedged and finally accepted the scientific view.

Compared to a lot of work by skeptics these days, the book is very scholarly: it is exceedingly well referenced, so that you can go find the original sources of both the theological and scientific viewpoints. On the other hand, since the book is over 100 years old, there are some ideas that are a bit antiquated. For example, his discussion of "primitive and savage cultures" extant in Africa are a bit dated. Also, the references to the 'recent' Civil War in the United States shows the books age. These anachronisms come off as interesting more than anything else. Overall, stylistically the book reads better and is more thoroughly researched than most modern skeptical thoughts.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know the real story about how science and religion have related to one another in history. To those creationists who say that scientists are being dogmatic by adhering to naturalism, I say read this book. Naturalism as a scientific methodology is not a dogma (where a 'dogma' is something believed without evidence). Rather, science is naturalistic because 1000 years of the alternative were an abject failure: based on historical evidence, religious thinking *in science* only stunts the creativity and logical thought processes of scientists. In my experience in neuroscience, I have seen this many times.

Finally, this book should be on every scientist's bookshelf. As a working neuroscientist, I take for granted that I am free to think in any direction about how the brain works. I do not need to answer to any higher authority than evidence provided by experiments. I am accorded this privilege because of people like Galileo, Darwin, Lyell, and Harvey who stood up to the Church establishment and had the courage, in the face of sometimes fatal reproach, to say what they thought was true.

Thomas Henry Huxley wrote in 1860, "Extinguished theologians lie about the cradle of every science as the strangled snakes beside that of Hercules; and history records that whenever science and orthodoxy have been fairly opposed, the latter has been forced to retire from the lists, bleeding and crushed if not annihilated; scotched, if not slain." This remarkable book documents this history. The author is respectful but painstakingly thorough. Page after page one will read of the idiocies propagated by Christian theologians and their inevitable refutation by advancing scientific knowledge. This book should be read by everyone, especially those remnants of the middle ages who still believe the Bible is a reliable guide to the study of nature.

IT VERY SCHOLARLY WRITTEN AT THE SAME TIME IT VERY EASILY UNDERSTOOD BY ANY LAYITY.IT IS A CLASSIC OF ANDREW MURRAY

Pastor Murray's work "Holiest of All" could serve as either a devotional, or a commentary on the book of Hebrews.

Central to the apostle Paul's opus magnum is the Deity of Jesus Christ, and the victorious life that is available to the believer who enters into the Holy of Holies.

Andrew Murray does an excellent job of rightly dividing the Word to bring out scriputural interpretations that are applicable to the daily life of the saints.

Besides the Bible this is the best book I have ever read. Very helpful for a new christian.

I just finished reading this book cover to cover and feel very confident about moving on to the next stage of my CCNA preparation, practice tests and simulation! I've been using the CCExam software from CCStudy.com as well as a few other practice tests and am amazed how easy a lot of the questions were after reading this book. Just an indication of how comprehensive this book is.

More important, in my opinion, is the book's "readability"! I'm sure there are numerous books that cover the exact same information as this book yet might not be written in a manner that is clear and simple to understand, especially for Cisco newbies like myself. This book is just a lot of fun to read.

Finally, I really enjoyed the "real world" tone of this title. It isn't written for someone who's bound for the testing center, but rather for someone who needs to apply the knowledge at work in the field. I'm certain that I'll constantly be using this book as a reference even after passing the exam. Very cool.

All in all, I'd like to recommend ICND to the Cisco neophyte who's looking for that great "First Book" to start off his or her Cisco library. I'm really glad I got this book and I'm sure you will be too.

Good luck on your CCNA!

I read ICND by Cisco Press before. I found this book used on Amazon and bought it just because it was cheap. Now I can not put it down. This book is far better than Cisco Press' ICND. It has about 100 more pages than Cisco's. To me it is worth every minute spent to read this book.
I passed CCNA in December. So, I don't have the exam pressure. I am reading this just for fun and enjoying it.
I strongly recommend it over Cisco's ICND if you intent to take CCNA test.

I pass ccna2.0 with 935/1000 today. All I have is this book and Boson exams. I've read my friend's Todd Lammle book. I think this book is much better than Todd's. Todd's is written for passing the exam. For the ICND book, you actally learn the CCNA stuff in depth. I strongely recommend this book for everyone who want to pass the CCNA2.0 with FULLY understanding.

"In our continuing effort to help our readers avail themselves of the best health and wellness enhancing materials on the market, we are pleased to recommend the following books and audio and video cassettes. Inquire Within. Visualization can be used to help increase your physical, emotional and intellectual self-awareness. This book is designed to help you probe specific issues and enhance your personal growth. It starts by explaining what visualization and imagery exercises are. Then it teaches you how to use visualization to relax. Sections on specific issues include using imagery to deal with work, mishaps, guilt, loss and relationships. The exercises presented throughout the book give very specific instructions so at no time are you uncertain about what you should be doing. The book... can be a good resource for people interested in introspection."

"'Inquire Within' is not a book, it is an experience--one that enhances self-image and one's perspective. It challenged me to ask questions and honestly react. It made me realize that I was imaging naturally and unaware of its impact on my mental and emotional being."

"As the owner of a personal fitness training company whose philosophies reflect the powerful connection between mind and body, I was able to appreciate the value of Inquire Within. I especially appreciated the author's fine writing skills that, when combined with his strong sense of creativity, is sure to please an eclectic audience."

Approach Jesus Christ Jr. with an open mind. You'll discover that Andrew Thrasher has written a phenomenal book. He managed to cover a lot of territory in a fresh, psychologically accurate, unforgettable, and sometimes-humorous way.

The characters are as unique and individual as those you meet on a daily basis. But seeing them through the main character's eyes, you see his rational in categorizing them and follow his progression of thought to accepting and even admiring them.

Don't make the mistake of calling this a religious book. It's larger than that. It seeks to reveal the basic needs of human kind and how we try to fulfill those needs. No matter your background, race, or creed, you'll see that we're not so different. This is what the story conveys.

Once I read an interview of the children's book author the late Dr. Seuss. He told about some of the fan mail children sent him-one letter simply contained the single word WHOO written in block letters in the center of the paper.

I just finished reading the novel, Jesus Christ Jr., by Andrew Justin Thrasher. I don't have any crayons but I have been thinking of using a felt tip pen and following the example of that young child who sent a fan letter to Dr. Seuss and writing the word WHOO in the middle of a piece of stationery and sending it to Thrasher. That word is an appropriate response to his book and any traditional words are almost superfluous.

But because this is a book review, I will go on to write other words and suggest people get and read this hysterically funny novel.

An established psychiatrist seeks to start a new religion and chooses a young man to serve an internship under him and to be the second Jesus Christ. With a few others they start out on a missionary campaign to spread this new religion.

The narrator is the young intern. He becomes convinced he is the second Jesus Christ and he details the action they take to gather twelve disciples and imitate the steps the original Jesus Christ took. At the end he is rescued from the death that had been planned for him and...but then that is telling you too much of the story and you should get and read this book for yourself.

I got the book yesterday and finished it today!

Jesus Christ Jr. is an easy read-amusing, interesting and I even laughed out loud several times.

I likened it somewhat to Kurt Vonnegut's works.

What a marvelous plot-unique and contemporarily appropriate. Like a Vonnegut novel, I couldn't put the book down until I finished.

Immediately I thought this book should be made into a movie with Robin Williams or someone of that nature as the central character-a real thigh slapper.

Andrew Harvey's 'The Essential Mystics' is subtitled 'The Soul's Journey into Truth'; this is a book which takes a broad approach to exploring the mystical side of religion, whatever cultural contexts it might take.

This is apparent from the basic listing of chapters:

Voices from the First World
Taoism: The Way of the Tao
Hinduism: the Way of Presence
Buddhism: The Way of Clarity
Judaism: The Way of Holiness
Ancient Greece: The Way of Beauty
Islam: The Way of Passion
Christianity: The Way of Love in Action

Drawing on the holy texts of the different traditions, and exploring the practices of the spiritualists, monastics and holy teachers of these traditions, Harvey has given us a concise volume that reaches to infinity. Harvey's ancient, native and cultural mystical experience has a choice example in the following:

'Sacred One,
Teach us love, compassion, and honour
That we may heal the earth
And heal each other.'
- from a Yokuts prayer

With regard to Taoism, Harvey says, 'This vision in its sanity, lack of pretension, depth, humanity, and wise, demanding humility offers, I have found, a marvelous touchstone by which to inwardly test both the truths and the imbalances of the later mystical traditions.'

In exploring Hindi mysticism, Harvey claims that Hinduism's chief attraction to us now is that it has kept alive a very full at once majestic and tender vision of God the Mother.

'Daily existence in the heart of my extended family
is the worship beyond worship
that perceives Mother Reality
as every being, every situation, every breath.'

The way of clarity in Buddhism is exemplified by the Buddha's statements, such as, 'Be a lamp into yourself! Work out your liberation with diligence!' The buddha awoke to clarity, and Harvey introduces the four noble truths and other enlightenment texts.

Harvey's exploration of Jewish mysticism explores an extraordinary postive vision of the divine and the human life.... Yahweh is both transcendent and immanent, thus giving blessing and goodness to the world. This follows the kabbalistic tradition with insight and sensitivity.

The chapter on Ancient Greece is one of the real treasures of this book, for it is a topic which is often overlooked. We are much more familiar with the philosophical, political, and historical writings, as well as literature, but a true mystical sense has often been discounted as a side-show to the mythology. But Harvey says, 'in the great pre-Socratic philosophers such as Heraclitus and Empedocles we find maters of fearless paradox who rival the anonymous seers of the Vedas and Upanishads in their awareness of the necessity of opposites and of the unity that uses, contains, and transcends them.'

Harvey's chapter on the mysticism of Islam follows a Sufi approach; there is passion in realising reality, burning like the Flame of Love, that sees all of creation as a reflection or even incarnation of the divine.

'O My servants who believe!
Surely My earth is vast,
Therefore Me alone should you serve.'
- Qur'a

In the chapter on Christianity, Harvey states, 'one of my hopes for this anthology is that it will deepen this wonder by helping people to see the truths of the other mystical traditions reflected in the depths of the Christian messages.' Harvey knows that the primary audience for this book is the western, Christianised (if not Christian) academic readers. He also explores his own journey which recognises the spirituality of Mary and Jesus as male and female subjects of mysticism.

These chapters provide a brief introduction to the wide range of mystical paths in history. They provide much meditation material, and the brief introductory texts to each section are gracefully enlightening and blessedly brief, so as to let the texts themselves speak. Were you to get only one volume of the Essentials series, this would most likely be it.

If I was to take one book along to an isolated beach or island this summer for a serious read and reflection this would be it. You'll end up feeling better about your self, because you'll end up feeling better about mankind. This book proves that people of all cultures and all times have had the capacity to transcend the commonplace and petty and know God. This is the "golden thread" that connects all mystical traditions, all true wisdom in the world.
Inspite of the extensive footnotes, I would not consider this to be a scholarly book. Rather, I would consider it a spiritual book- that is why it has value and is worth the reading. Here is the mystic heart of native cultures, Taoism, Hinduism, Buddihism, Judaism, Classical Greece, Islam, and Christianity all in one beautifully designed book of 236 pages. What better use could you find for your reading time?

This is a beautiful book that is really well put togetther. I love that it opens with "voices of the first world" - native american poems. It then moves into Taoist poetry from the Tao Te Ching, then into Hindu poems, the Judaic writings, then writings from ancient Greece, then Islamic poems, and finally christian passages and poems. The book is marvelous in the way that it shows that all religions are talking about the same things, just using different words/concepts to express them. Too bad more people don't realize this - there'd be fewer wars. Great book, really nicely pulled together. Glad I bought it.

This book receives five enthusiastic stars for the outstanding information content but only four stars for the included sample software.

I've been a commercial software developer for more than ten years, and I was surprised to see how much I learned in this book. The information content is the best I've ever seen for a fax modem book, and Andrew Margolis' writing style is professional and very easy to read. He is clearly a veteran of this business, and it seems like he really enjoys writing.

He exhaustively covers virtually everything that one would need to do anything with a fax modem: T.4 image structure, class 1, class 2, class 2.0, T.30 handshaking, and TIFF files. His coverage is exceptionally complete, and he does not limit himself to just the standards. Throughout the text he discusses where the real world conflicts with "how it should be" and how one works around them. One cannot wish these issues away, and discovering them early rather than later is simply golden.

Coverage of serial-port control is a bit thin, and it only addresses the PC platform, but this is such a minor nit that it does not detract from the work as a whole. UNIX developers will have to discover how to talk serial ports from some other source.

The only reason this does not receive five stars is that the sample software seems fairly pedestrian and not terribly good as an example. It seems that Andrew has sacrificed substantial performance for potential clarity, something I attribute to a likely conscious choice rather than an oversight. Since he is probably also a commercial fax developer, I suspect he didn't want to give away his secrets. I know that most of the "bit-banging" code is horrendously slow, although probably straightforward to read. In his position I may have made the same tradeoff, but the reader is left to perform these optimizations himself. Some of the optimizations are not at all obvious.

Anybody remotely involved in writing or supporting fax software should have this book. Other than my objections to the include sample code, I cannot think of a single thing that would have improved this book, other than it having it be in my library ten years ago.

This is a great book.
Very well written.
The source code works great.

I needed information how to develope a fax sending program for a fax modem, but it was hard to get the information. But this book solved all my problem.

50 categories of recipes. And 50 recipes in each category. That's 2500 recipes. How do you fit 2500 recipes into 477 pages? You write real small. Which means that each recipe is very short (a small paragraph the size of a want ad generally). This is not bad. In fact it's very good. How complicated can a recipe that short end up being? And simple recipes are best.

None of the recipes have very many ingredients. Most of the ingredients are common. Although I admit my favorite recipe (to read, I haven't made it) is the authentic Russian Dressing recipe, which contains a spoon of caviar (what's more Russian than that?) Most of the recipes are more basic. Greens. Fantastic salads (salads have gotten a bum rap, especially when this author is done choosing ingredients for them). How to make a perfect French Fry. How to cook a steak. And thousands more recipes.

Fast and simple recipes for any and all occasions.

Extremely easy, fast, and excellent tasting recipes. The sauces and marinades alone are well worth the cost of the book. Some recipes are quite mundane, while others offer new and unexpected (but yummy) combinations of things.

I love this cookbook because the recipes are easy, original, taste good and are flexible. When I have assorted odds and ends in my refrigerator, I can always find a recipe in this book which will make use of them. The writing style is entertaining and I have learned more about cooking from this book. I have a lot of cookbooks, but this is the first one I reach for when I am doing general cooking.

I love all the fairy books by Andrew Lang (red, orange, olive, crimson, grey, yellow, blue,etc). They are well written, exciting, and captivating. If you like fairy tales at all you must try one of his books.

"The Grey Fairy Book" is a marvelous collection of tales from Eastern Europe, Africa, and Islamic countries. Once again we get to visit, the horrible, fantastic world of the fairy tale, complete with amazing drawings. These are the *unknown* tales that Disney ignores, but are beautiful in their own right. This is a must have for any collector or anyone who still needs their fairy tales. Who can outgrow these things?

Amazon's rating of the "Reading level: Baby-Preschool" is not correct.

Young people should be exposed to the beauty of good stories and art because it helps them to appreciate the finer thing. This series is a perfect tool to do this.