With no previous experience in using Dreamweaver(DW) and some knowledge of HTML, I went out to look for some DW books. After reading several pages of this book, I discovered that the results you can produce and the skills you can gain was simply AMAZING.

I was able to create, modify & design, really, really brilliant and professional web designs by the time I completed the first 2 chapters. This book gives you:

-Step-by-step instructions

-Screenshots of almost every step

-Tutorial in easy-to-follow beginner language

-Professional design techniques: like how to optimize webpage design, how to make websites easy to navigate, etc.

-Professional editable graphics: the CD contains editable image files you can either use for your own websites or for you to learn how to create similarly optimized images that's small in size so that they load faster.

-Links to websites that exploit DW's tools to create cutting-edge web designs which can help/inspire you as you go on to design your own websites. Some of the sites recommended have free tutorials.

-An extremely good book. I was turned non-user/beginner to advanced in 12 projects for about [price]. Some people pay thousands for web design training and still cannot come close to producing professional looking sites like the ones I was able to create JUST by reading this book. It's worth every penny.

And if you think you need to learn CascadingStyleSheets(CSS), DynamicHTML(DHTML) or Javascript before reading this book, let me tell you that you'll be wasting time and money. With HTML knowledge, I was able to pick up knowledge in CSS on my own through the Hands-On projects of this book. And because you'll be using Macromedia's DW & Fireworks software, you don't need to know Javascript/DHTML at all to be able to create high-impact websites.

The CD does NOT contain Dreamweaver4 30-day-trial software.

From the moment I picked up Dreamweaver 4 Magic and began to flick through the pages, I new this was going to be a book I'd find immensely useful. Al Sparber and friends take us through some of the more popular dynamic interface effects found on the Web today, as well as a number of cutting edge techniques we'll be finding on the Web tomorrow. Each chapter takes you through a technique step-by-step, and is supported with screen captures when necessary. I was pleased to see that the book wasn't either picture or word biased, but rather struck an excellent balance between detailed explanations and supporting visual material. Dreamweaver 4 Magic even comes with a CD-ROM containing some custom Dreamweaver extensions, designed to support the tutorials in the book. Highly recommended.

This is a really good book on interface design and on incorporating more advanced DW features, like template and style sheet features, into your standard design structure. It is probably best used by intermediate to advanced level users. I've been using DW for about six months and the complexity of the book is just right because it opens up a world of functionality in DW that I sort of had a vague idea of, but which is really fleshed out by Sparber et al. The manner in which the "fleshing out" occurs is "good" because the author sort of presents techniques that lead up to the final project in well-contained procedural modules. It's not like a whole bunch of different techniques are mushed together; in this book you can definitely tell what's responsible for causing what effect.

The precision of the instructions is crucial because it's easy to get lost in Dreamweaver. The book is very explicit in making sure that you do not get lost on the path along the way. Most of the more complex or less obvious steps are repeated or reinforced by screen caps of the DW interface. My only complaint really is that the text is a bit small. I think if they had bumped it up a couple of points, or made the typeface bolder, text would have been more easily read. Other than that, the layout is spacious and visually-appealing -- it is overall a very beautifully designed book -- and there is extensive detail on each page, meaning, the authors get down to business. The composite style is sort of like Lynda Weiman's but with turbocharge. It takes about 4 to 5 hours to get through each project, not including referencing DW Help to clarify new concepts. The projects themselves are useful because they present interface set-ups you would certainly use for conventional web sites. The CD has a browser enabled section that presents the final page designs and its a good interactive way to flip through the projects and see what you like or don't like.

In counterpoint to what one review mentioned below regarding the CD, and the replication of similar effects in Homesite as in DW, first, I don't agree that the CD is just to inflate the price of the book. The book isn't cheap but you don't feel the cost of the book isn't justified in this case, because this book has such depth. I don't think most web designers have the level of virtuosity in wielding DW that Sparber and the other authors of this book have, much less would be willing to show you how to use it for less than $2000 in a w/e course. The CD actually has little bloat. The project files are well structured and the extensions are used in the projects rather than just thrown in there to fill up disk space. I suppose I could download files from the Internet and unzip them, then virus test them, and then place them somewhere on my hard drive. I could do all that -- but I don't FEEEL like it. The CD more or less just installs everything for you. Saves time. Secondly, while you probably could replicate the projects this book presents using raw HTML in Homesite, the whole idea of DW is that you don't have to, so I don't understand the "you could do this whole thing in Homesite, you know" argument, because its not relevant in the context of a book that uses DW. As for forcing you to learn HTML, you could always split the screen in DW and see how the code directly affects the graphical layout. Last I heard, most people receive information best visually. I can't remember the last time I recognized a picture of my dog Spot as a series of binary digits. I'd rather do the site in DW first then tweak the details in HTML afterwards, and then use DW to mass produce. Saves time and frustration, as does this book.

This book is highly recommended for above-newbie level DW users.
*****

As a by-product of the Cold War, the subject of the Second World War as fought in Russia has been largely ignored, but the Battle of Stalingrad was so decisive, and so horrendous, that even general histories of the war cannot ignore it. The battle was fought out from August, 1942, until the surrender of the German 6th Army on January 31, 1943. Much of the fighting took place in the ruins of the city, which came to be known as, "Verdun on the Volga," among the German troops, and as, "the mass grave of the Wehrmacht," to the Soviet press. Today, the city of Stalingrad (subsequently re-named Volgograd after Stalin's official reduction in status in the Soviet pantheon), is rightly a shrine to Russian sacrifice, heroism and tenacity as well as a memorial to the thousands of soldiers and civilians who died there.

William Craig's account of the battle is one of the better, more readable histories of the epic of Stalingrad. Craig masterfully weaves eyewitness accounts to put a human face on a campaign and battle of such immense scope and horror that many other writers have failed to adequately compass the subject. This book treats the decisive battle of the Second World War in Europe with the dispassion necessary to form a solid appraisal of where the errors were made by the rival commanders. In this sense, Craig avoids the pat answer of blaming Adolf Hitler entirely for the catastrophic loss of the 6th Army after it was encircled but could still break out. Craig is one of the few authors who deals candidly and fairly with the plight of the Rumanian and Italian armies shattered in the encirclement battle.

_Enemy at the Gates_ personalizes the battle with a montage of memories from the participants. Craig's effort is compelling, readable and very effective. Read in conjunction with such works as, _Last Letters from Stalingrad_, and Heinz Schroter's, _Stalingrad_, Craig's work fills out the gap in the historical lexicon of the Second World War.

Craig's book on the Battle of Stalingrad is as close as horrifying as the event it so magnificently sets out to depict.The German-Russo conflict of WW2 is the most ferocious war ever fought in the history of mankind. It was a no holds barred war between two ideologies, both of whose take on human rights and life was a non-existent national policy. Sadly for Hitler he did not exploit the welcome his armies received in many of the regions (they saw the Germans as liberators from the suppression of communism) and the subsequent ill-treatment and blatant slaughter of the population turned sentiments against the invaders; resulting in a very effective guerilla front being mounted within the occupied terrorities. Craig's account epitomizes the full drama of total war. Encircled by the Russians, cut off from their supply lines and in the grip of General Winter, and against express orders from Hitler himself not to break out, the 250000 German soldiers of the 6th Army, found themselves fighting, for the first time in their to-date triumphant war, a major defensive, door to door, building to building, battle to survive under the most horrendous conditions of cold, hunger, sleep deprivation, lice infestation, disease,
artillery bombardment and depleting ammunition resources. Of the 90000 Axis troops who eventually surrendered and went into
captivity less than 5000, the majority of them only 12 years later, were destined to see Germany and their families again. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the major events that changed Hitler's successes in WW2.

This is not a lame novel based upon a movie. This is a well-deserved re-issue of an account of the Battle of Stalingrad written almost thirty years ago. It rivals Ryan's "The Longest Day" as one of the great historical accounts of World War II. "Enemy at the Gates" not only tells the "big picture," of fighting and death on a scale that Americans really cannot imagine. It also makes the horrible fighting more immediate with descriptions from Soviet and German soldiers, as well as civilians. (The movie is based upon a series of these accounts.) While more recent books on the subject have the benefit of some recently declassified Soviet materials, William Craig was able to benefit from more first person accounts. Readers who appreciate the works of Stephen Ambrose will find a real gem in William Craig's work. Since this book did not involve the British and Americans, it was overlooked in the mid-1990's World War II nostalgia. This book is finally on the shelves again, and it certainly deserves to be there.

"The Road to Balinor," by Mary Stanton, is number 1 in the Unicorns of Balinor series. This is a fantasy tale about a race of intelligent unicorns who live in a realm apart from, but connected to, Earth. As the story opens we discover that one of the unicorns and his human companion have both been injured and are in a precarious situation in the human world.

Overall I enjoyed the story. Stanton is especially effective in her presentation of interspecies relationships in a fantasy setting. There is also an intriguing villain.

At times I found the language a little too corny and New Age-y for my tastes. I also didn't like the fact that the book really doesn't hold up as a stand-alone story; the cliffhanger ending seems to lead directly into volume 2. But the imaginative story, together with some clever touches along the way, make it a solid fantasy effort.

In balinor land of the unicorns Sunchaser the great unicorn and Princess Arianna of Balinor leave Balinor to earth becase the Shifter is in Balinor trying to get the princess . But when they get there Ari has broken legs and Retrograde amnesia , Chase is a horse and has lost his horn, Ann and frank are foster parents to Ari and one day a dog named Lincoln comes to see her he has around his neck a ruby-colored jewel and Ari takes it then Ann and frank take both girl and dog home to Glacier River Farm where Aris dear horse chase is, for over a month she is taken care of by Dr. Bohnes and her days are filled with docter vists, and X rays, and casts. Soon Ari and chase ride and Ari loves to be on chase , but her foster parents lease chase to Lori Carmichael a spoiled girl who wants chase to herself , she even wants chase to leave the farm . Ari is upset that chase is Loris now Frank makes her a farm hand and Ari helps him but she wants chase more then anything also they wont let Ari off the farm not to the mall or even the movies , then Ari runs off with her horse and both girl and horse leave the farm to a cave , Ari had explored the trails before when she had broken legs, now both girl and horse must find there way back to Balinor. This is a story of a brave unicorn and a 13 teen year girl who risk there lifes to find who they are and Ari must get back to being a royal princess Arianna of Balinor .

This book explains a lot about how the whole series began, and has a great plot with loads of suspense, happiness, and suspicion! There are so many parts in each book of this series where I go, "Oh, NO, that person should not be trusted, they're going to take the JEWEL! Stay away from them!", etc, as it's all very suspenseful with so many twists, and I love it! Sure, some parts can be quite scary, while others can be really cool and make you wish you could have a unicorn or that the Balinor land really does exist, but this book is awesome! I, individually, am very sensative to scary things, yet the frightening scenes in here are good, not the kind of scary where I can't sleep at night, the kind of good scary where I am fearful only at the moment the scene is occuring, then I switch back to being my normal self.

This is one GREAT book any horse or unicorn lover would have a fabulous time reading!

It is said that 1 out of 4 Americans deal with some form of mental illness,eg. depression) and everyone who is a genuine victim of mental illnesses should read this excellent book! Who wouldn't be depressed after dealing with parents like these? As a 30 yr old daughter of a mother who has been very bitter and controlling my whole life due her her own illness, Scitzophrenia, and a wealthy step-father w/ PHD who thinks oftentimes he is more like God than a Physicist, this book gives vivid portrayls of common misunderstandings and explains miscommunications of neglect and abuse. The best advice this book gives is that "You do not have to forgive for things or actions you do not understand and can not change." It sheds light on possibly naming exactly what behaviors you exspect or tell your parents to treat me in the right way or take the high road! A++++++ The Best Book Written!

In this informative and compelling volume, Dr. Forward lucidly explains the fundamental problems underlying many people's inability to elicit love, support, and understanding from their own parents. Her use of case histories from beginning, confrontation, and healing process illustrates how people can claim true adulthood and release themselves from toxic parental bondage.

From those who live with daily emotional reminders of parental abuse to those who believe that they had perfect parents, although sense some inner, unidentifiable resentment, Toxic Parents can help readers to claim their rightful dignity.

Do not be put off by the recommendation to confront abusive parents. Forward does not promise or even hint that such parents will understand or apologize. In fact, she makes it very clear that they most likely will deny and explode, but this confrontation is above all for the adult child's progression towards self-definition and emotional independence.

Those of you who had parents (or a parent)who abused you in any manner, but whom others considered a paragon of virtue, sweetness and light, this book is especially for you. Dr. Forward emphasizes that the child (then or now) is not crazy or bad, despite what others observe as apparent truth and that it is typical for outsiders to take the parents' side, since they do not have complete information.

Not everyone, however, will benefit from Forward's highly practical wisdom. In the unlikely event that staunch authoritarians (Is there any other kind?), including toxic parents themselves, read this book, it will give them hours -- perhaps even years -- of anger, brooding, and denial fodder, for which they should be very grateful.

I have purchased three copies, one for my husband and two for his sisters. Upon receiving the shipment I read this book again. Five & a half years ago, a friend suggested that I read it and it reassured me about the observations I was that stunned me. Toxic parents can have a devastating effect that brings on shame, preventing some from seeking help early in life and the saddest legacy is that it gets past on for generations.

Any adult who emotionally strips their child of self-esteem, self-worth and confidence is a Toxic parent! Any parent who enables the abuser...is also a Toxic parent! And sadly to say, any victim who chooses not to overcome the hurtful legacy can potentially become a Toxic sibling, a Toxic spouse or a Toxic friend.

I never thought that I would, one day, wake up to the realization that I was in a Toxic relationship... sometimes it sneaks up on you! I "ROCKED THE BOAT" and endured a backlash from my husband and his family this book made me realize that I had to stick to my guns if I wanted to have a healthy marriage.

Nobody should ever feel obligated to hide or burden the family shame.

This is a very good introductory level text on object-oriented software analysis and design, software patterns and the Unified Modeling Language (UML). I used this book to study for a certification test, but its worth reading even if you don't have a test hanging over your head. The writing is clear and the book is well organized with many useful diagrams and tables. Larman guides the reader through the most important phases of a software project using a point of sale (POS) system case study. The case study is well chosen because its problem domain is familiar to most people and it has enough interesting aspects to illustrate the use of the Unified Process, application of design patterns and the UML very well. Time reading this book will be well spent. You will not only bet a better understand of how to use the process and tools, but also why and when they are useful. I have only two minor criticisms: The index seems inadequate making it a little harder than necessary to use as a reference, and its bias toward the Java programming environment when reference is made to implementation specific issues.

There are already some great reviews for this book and I don't feel like I can add anything new, but I still want to get my vote in and say that this book is really THE BEST Object Orientated Analysis and Design tutorial book.

The book starts and builds upon itself, chapters after chapter as you move forward through the book using the Java programming language. The topics covered in this book include OO fundamentals, UML, design patterns, Unified process, and many other great topics. I wanted to steal a line from the review by Dan Moth where he says, 'Craig Larman proves it (OOA/D) to be a science and not art or magic'. I couldn't have stated this any better. This is a great book and must be in every developer's book shelf, especially ones starting out in OOA/D.

This book is a great guide for an object-oriented project using UML and (R)UP. The book doesn't learn much of UML nor UP has the title said (Applying...not Learning...). I recommend read first some basic tutorials on UML as UML Distilled by Fowler and the introduction for RUP by Kruchten. Then, you can return to this one and get amazing. The book emphasizes in the business modeling, requirements and design disciplines (RUP), and clearly shows us how to convert a use case into a design model, applying patterns and the tools of UML in the best easy way. Sorry for the Phd that hates OOA/D. If you're in the precedural programming world (repeating code over and over again, no inheritance, no polimorphism, etc., etc.), why read this book? But if you want to get the idea of OOP and want some good advise in this jungle get this book! Definitely, one of the best and complete books I read of OOA/D: common UML, patterns, UP and lots of advices in a few pages.

This book is called *Professional* Active Server Pages -- and rightfully so. Believing that I was on the Professional level, I purchased this book and read most of it before placing it on my desk at work for reference. Every once and a while I picked up this book with a specific ASP question in my head and tried to find the answer within its pages. This was a mistake.
If you're looking for a reference book, check out *Beginning* Active Server Pages -- also by Wrox press. Otherwise this book is great. The sections on ADO and XML are well written as well as the performance tuning sections. There is information on these pages that I haven't found elsewhere and for that reason alone, this is a great book to read.
My only complaint is that there seems to be a lack of good examples. The text does contain some examples, but sometimes the concepts can overcome the reader and there needs to be a bit more clarification. More pictures, code examples and general explaining would have been very helpful.
Overall, I've been very happy with this book. Wrox Press has been turning out some great books with the Web Applications Developer in mind and I hope they keep up the good work.

Professional Active Server Pages 3.0, by Alex Homer, is a book on developing web applications using Active Server Pages 3.0. This book goes in depth into developing web applications with discussions and examples on advanced topics such as, CDO/Microsoft Exchange Server, ADO/Microsoft SQL Server, and ADSI/Active Directory. Homer presents the reader with a wealth of information on advanced enterprise level topics based on Microsoft technologies. This book is excellent for intermediate/advanced users who wish to learn about Active Server Pages using Microsoft technologies, however due to the fact Homer does not goes in depth with fundamentals of programming Visual Basic Script, this book should not be recommended to novice developers.

Throughout the book, Homer discusses the importance of COM/COM+ and what that technology can do for your web application. He writes examples of a COM+ component in Visual Basic and shows the user how to register/load the component into memory along with utilizing the functionality of them in an Active Server Page. Homer further explores the features of Windows 2000 by introducing the features of Active Directory and explaining/demonstrating how ADSI can connect an Active Server Page to the Active Directory. The book goes into further detail on enterprise level topics by discussing how CDO interfaces with Microsoft Exchange Server. Using CDO, a developer can access all of users Exchange account information including mail, contacts, calendar, etc. The book ends with performance and security issues for web applications running on a Windows 2000 Server and how an administrator should configure a Windows 2000 Server for maximum performance and security.

The software/technologies the book uses are based on products/technologies developed by Microsoft. Since Active Server Pages is a Microsoft technology, it would be reasonable to use only Microsoft products/technologies. However, in the real world, many businesses have heterogeneous environments with Oracle database servers and JavaScript web developers. The fact that this book only exposes the reader to vendor-specific technologies could be a down fall, however creates a centralized focus for the reader.

This book covers a wide spectrum of advanced knowledge with Active Server Pages, however is completely based around Microsoft technologies. Several other authors composed this book, which helps the reader get a dynamic flavor of knowledge from chapter to chapter. Any intermediate/advanced web developer, interested in enterprise web application development, should purchase a copy of this book for reference purposes.

It is a very comphensive book that covers the basic of ASP 3.0 and other web technologies like XML, COM+, and ADSI, etc. I did hestitate before buying this book from the web since I was only playing with the beta version of Win2000 server. However I need to work with ASP and IIS, therefore I bought this book.

This book does cover lots of new things compared to Professional ASP 2.0 The new features of ASP 3.0 are briefly introduced in the chapter 1. There is a good coverage of ADO 2.5 in chpater 8. If you are familar with ASP 2.0, you can finish the first 10 chapters and can grasp the differences quickly. XML, IIS 5, active server components, COM/COM+, ASP Script Components, C++ component issues, ADSI and Active Directory, Message Queue Server, Collaboration Data Objects, Exchange Server integration, certificates, site load balancing, and ASP Object Model are introduced from chapter 11 to 27. These are heavy readings with minor typos. However these chapters worth the money.

I have the Beginning and Professional ASP 2.0 Wrox books and the OReilly ASP book. I like Wrox better since they use lots of examples and their teaching style is very practical. This is a must have ASP book for many web developers.

This is without doubt how best this describes a book that completely blanket covers the components, functionality and performance of perhaps the best operating system the world has yet seen, yes, Microsoft's Windows XP Pro or Home.
7cms or 3¼" +/- thick, this book delivers a punch of huge proportions supported with your very own copy of the same on CD. As big and as heavy as it is, it's difficult to put down; but when I do tire physically from holding it which is very seldom , I revert to the CD, or rather the books CD that I have copied to my HDD, et voila, instant access to everything included and contained for even quicker referencing.

Microsoft Windows XP INSIDE OUT DELUXE EDITION is a 'must have' over any other XP related book that I have seen and familiarised myself with. I pre-ordered this book and couldn't wait to see how much I'd already applied and know; now I've got it, I'm still at it; finally total control of Windows XP.

Excellently complied, and written in laypeople terms, it almost reveals itself as an encyclopaedia of XP, as you would expect from a Microsoft Press publication.

But for the detail this book provides, there is one thing missing depending on your passion for technology and the depths to which this book extends, not least XP;
The missing link on your PC work top if you want 'Depth' has to be Microsoft WINDOWS XP REGISTRY GUIDE by Jerry Honeycutt and should be considered and used as an excellently thorough accompaniment and companion to Microsoft Windows XP INSIDE OUT DELUXE EDITION. For safe computing, the combination of the two books will give you what Microsoft doesn't of XP as standard, coupled with both being easy reads.

Microsoft WINDOWS XP REGISTRY GUIDE by Jerry Honeycutt will give more than any other Registry book or Registry tweaking utility will ever give you; just for the Hacks alone you'll get your money's worth, but there's far more to it than that; go on, surprise yourself, it really isn't as difficult as you might think; happy safe Hacking.

This Microsoft Press reference book is a tome and over kill for the casual user. But if you really want to learn how to use the very best of XP this is the standard, the premier, it is the definitive guide. XP Inside Out is an appropriate title. My first Windows user's manual was measured in ounces and a hundred plus pages. XP is over 1200 pages and almost 7 pounds. You need wheels to go desk to desk with it. You can take it to bed, it's bigger than your pillow. You can soak it in paraffin to make a Yule log. But it's this size that creates the very best topical layout, reference, and index that I have yet seen by Microsoft. Users can actually trace error messages to their plain English explanation and suggested solutions - a first for Microsoft. Authors Halverson, and Young, Microsoft "employees," have produced a superb reference tool for power users, developers, system designers, software instructors, consultants, and CIOs. If you want to know anything about XP, use this book. It is suitable for (interested) users 12 years of age to professional software and hardware systems experts. That's quite a span and good technical writing, editing, and layout is responsible. But there is more. The book includes a full text and illustrated e-book version on CD (40 MB on your hard drive and running with MS Internet Explorer or Netscape). That's worth the cost of the book by itself because standard XP search, find, and print tools can be used to navigate the 1,400 pages instantly. It's worth the Amazon.com price, no reservations by this reviewer.

There are two versions of this book. The hardcover version has a couple more chapters and also more free e-books on the accompanying CD-ROM. The paperback version is, not surprisingly, cheaper and more portable (but still heavy!).

There's a lot of "meat" in this book, and the two authors did a wonderful job of keeping the book very well organized and very well written. The writing is fluid and you can almost read it like a novel, of course, assuming you are a PC geek like myself. Most other computer books I can hardly follow without sitting in front of the computer, but this book is so clear and well illustrated that I read chapter after cheapter in one sitting even when I did not have my XP laptop with me.

In terms of content, it covers everything an advanced user needs in order to fine-tune Windows XP. Both Profesional and Home editions of the OS are covered. (The hardcover version of the book has a nice summary on the differences at the beginning of *each* chapter.) This is a must-have guide for anyone looking to take full advantage of Windows XP as well as trouble-shooting when things go wrong.

I've read this book carefully in parallel with RUP, UML user guide, UML distled, and "Writing Effective Use Cases" book. Many mistakes in examples, that is not obvious for novice: For example, "dbms support" is related to functional requirements (system functions). It's not true, but, of course, I understand what author mean: "rdbms read/write/update functions". The book is named as: "Applying patterns with UML".

All potential readers! Please notice, that patterns doesn't depends on modeling language. You can use Booch or Omt notion as well (it's not essential for proffessional very much, because the basis is the same). And all in all if you want to learn patterns, than try to read Erich Gamma, that provides a good analysis in his book.

Additionaly there is a lot of pages, but information quantity is very small. It's easy to read 100 pages within 4 hours and all book within a 2 days. A lot of repeatable pictures sizes the book much. I think, that author can place all usefull information within 100 pages (without any lost of information).

The author does a good job of showing how to apply UML to a realistic development process with timeline constraints. Unlike most UML tutorials, this book teaches which models are essential and which are just "nice to have" or even completely unnecessary.

As well, the example application and chapters on design patterns provide an great review of basic and intermediate OOAD.

My only complaints are the somewhat dated Java technology used (I think this has changed in the new edition) and how the author often repeats himself (but this does make the book very clear and a quick read).

Craig Larman provides the reader with simple, easy-to-follow examples of UML and pattern application, with few deep theoretical or philisophical discussions of development process. This style offers the new user of UML a good guide to applied modeling concepts, without bogging he/she down in academic arguments. If you are going to buy a single book to learn UML, I highly recommend this one, as it goes beyond simply describing the notation, and illustrates its use through simple guidelines. Other books are necessary to fully understand the complexities of UML, patterns, and design process, but this one fills a huge gap for the beginner market.

This book is a very selective presentation of Okinawan cuisine and does not present the whole picture. Its contention that the good health of the Okinawans is due to their diet of fish, vegetables, white rice, and canola oil is simply wrong. Canola oil? A 20 year-old food product contributing to longevity in Okinawans who are now in their 80s and 90s? How exactly is this possible? Okinawans do eat fish, vegetables, and rice, but they also eat lots of pork and routinely cook with lard, not canola oil.

Detractors notwithstanding (see below reviews), Okinawan cuisine, according to Okinawan gerontologist Kazuhiko Taira, "is very healthy--and very, very greasy" (Health Magazine, Sept. 1996, pp. 57-63). Taira also revealed in that interview/article that Okinawans, in general, eat an equal amount of pork and fish per day--about 100 grams each.

The liking for and emphasis on pork is not a new feature in Okinawan cuisine, but an historical one. Its true that heart disease has risen among some Japanese who have moved to the USA, but the rise was shown to be from abandoning Japanese social customs for American ones--not from dietary changes (Am Jnl Epidemiology, Sept 1976;104(3):225-247). Japanese researchers actually blamed the higher rates of heart disease, cancer, asthma, allergies, etc., not on saturated fats and meat, but on increases in omega-6-rich processed vegetable oils (used in every fast food establishment to cook most foods in--Prog Lipid Res, 1997;35(4):409-457).

This book is certainly correct in pointing out the benefits of regular exercise and meditation in prmoting health amopng the Okinawans, but it is dead wrong in its presentation of the traditional Okinawan cuisine which is anything but low-fat.

You are better of getting Fallon and Enig's book NOURISHING TRADITIONS (to really learn about traditional diets), Lutz and Allan's LIFE WITHOUT BREAD (to learn the truth about low-carbohydrate nutrition), and/or Uffe Ravnskov's THE CHOLESTEROL MYTHS (to learn the truth about heart disease), rather than this biased book.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!

This book saved my life!!! I am in my forties and concerned about my health and age and I could not seem to get any useful advice from my own doctor. He seemed to know nothing about preventive medicine or healthy foods and just wanted to prescribe medication for my high cholesterol and high blood pressure. My cholesterol was over 300, I was 30 lbs overweight and feeling tired all day. I had tried Atkins's Diet, Protein Power and the Zone but it just made my breath smell bad. I felt lousy and I regained all the weight I lost after a short time. The first thing that impressed me about The Okinawa Program was that scientists could make a health book understandable for the average reader and not sound like a textbook. I read it in December and underwent the health tests recommended. After 8 weeks on the program I lost the 30 pounds, my cholesterol is now 150, I am off all medication and I have energy to burn!! My friends tell me that I look about 10 years younger (and my wife is not complaining either at my newfound energy!!!). The program is easy to follow, the recipes delicious (I even tried the soy recipes) and the advice is based on a solid Harvard-Okinawa Study. If you want to try a lifetyle that works long term and are tired of quick fixes then the Okinawa Program is about as good as they get!!! It worked for me!

The Okinawa Program is based on the author's twenty-five years study into genetics and disease. Eastern cultures are ahead of us when it comes to the science of longevity. Okinawans have fewer health problems, including less heart disease, stroke, cancer, obesity and osperporosis. Women also have fewer health issues resulting from their monthly cycles and menopause. The Okinawa Program is aimed at given direction to a healthier, balanced lifestyle, based on long-standing principles presented in this appealing format.

We have been told for quite some time that healthy nutrition(low-fat, low-cal diet)regular exercise, stress reduction and spiritual strength can increase our life span and improve both our mind and body. "The Okinawa Program" is a marvellous book which covers a variety of topics aimed at achieving and maintaining our physiological and psychological needs. Anyone who has studied psychology and Maslow's Heirachy of Five Basic Needs, will find a similarity between Maslow's theory and the concepts outlined in this book. However, this book concentrates primarily on the physiological needs. The book contains some excellent recipes, outlines the benefits of tai-chi and medication in reducing stess, reveals the importance of harmonious relationships and how we can live a longer, healthier life. This is an excellent book with roots based in Eastern traditions - do not miss it.