If you're serious about separating yourself from the cribbage playing masses, it is vital to master the concept of board strategy, in which your decisions to play offensively or defensively are governed by the score (or board position, to use cribbage parlance). This book has the best treatment of it. This is the second book you should read about cribbage (DeLynn Colvert's "Play Winning Cribbage" is the first), and you should go over it and Colvert's book again and again until you feel confident evaluating board position and formulating a playing strategy to meet it.

One caveat about this book: it does gets its share of criticism from experienced players, since it contains some mathematical errors and a fair amount of questionable tactical advice. Fortunately most of the errors are in the details, and don't undermine the author's fundamental points. Besides, part of the process of learning the game is to independently evaluate different author's perspectives. As you'll discover, the "authorities" don't agree about every play. Concentrate on Chamber's discussion of board strategy, and don't assume that you have to agree with everything he recommends. Just make sure that when you do disagree, it's for a good reason, one that you can explain in words...

Although there are a number of technical errors in the concept's description, the basic approach is sound. I rank this among the best of the 10-12 books I have read on the subject.

I was disappointed by this book. The sections on gender point out the obvious and the parts on Arequipa don't seem too original. The book seems hurried to me. I've found better regional histories of Latin America.

Can a book be academic and yet an exciting "page turner"? FROM SUBJECTS TO CITIZENS is proof that a well written history can, and indeed, should be both. The author's ample use of court documented everyday events and conflicts "humanize" this story of a Peruvian city during the republican era. It was fun for me to reflect on the similarities and differences between South and North America during this period.

Although Peter Cottontail is a very nice character, the young reader has to pull a string -- so the rabbit Peter will be hidden from sight. The mechanism do not work if you are intending to give this book to a baby or a toddler, specially because there are signs during the text, indicating if the child is supposed to pull down on the string or release it. Too complicated for the youngers, I think.

I purchased both of Crossley's Hide-and-Seek books for my son when he was 6 months old, and he has always loved them! They're wonderful interactive books, and in this one, Peter Cottontail "pops up" to surprise bears, ducks, and a lamb with candy and flowers on Easter morning. My son loves to anticipate each page, even though by now he knows exactly what to expect. To this day, he goes nuts over the ducks, and he loves to point out everything in each picture. Very simply written and colorfully illustrated, I only wish that Mr. Crossley would give us more of these! I must add that this book has somehow managed to survive my son's every attempt to destroy it. It's a very sturdy board book, and the elastic that holds Peter is extremely strong, but I'd *still* recommend putting this book away after the reading session is over.

it has many minimal yet innovative designs. i like the style. clean, simple, effective. good picture book. however it can use a more analytical side review for teach piece.

A bit pricey for it's size but still it is full of good examples of well designed letterheads and business cards. I found some new ideas in this book that I haven't seen yet.

take me 15min to browse thru the bok and I pratically didn't learn anything new. If you are new to PC and want to burn your first CD, you may learn more by just tinkering with the software you already got. This book does not go into any detail on the stucture of the file format, TOC or anything. It touches many topics and then go to the next. Read the help file or manual on your burning software and that's pretty much what this book is about. Here's some examples: HFS (file format): "short for Hierarchical File System. This is the file system used on the Mac. Although it's being slowly phased out, HFS is still important in the mac world." What kind of crap is this!? There are a couple of paragraphs on mixed mode disc and then it give tons of reason NOT to use it.
On top of all these, this book is outdated, EasyCD and Toast are old versions and it did not really say anything about VCD or DVD, stick with the help files in your burning software!

I give this book 4 stars. It has everything you need to know to install and record music CDS. I also learned more about making data CDS in this book than anything else I've read yet. A good pick.

I just finished reading Hewlett-Packard's OFFICIAL RECORDABLE CD HANDBOOK written by Mark L. Chambers. I received an HP CD-RW drive (8200i) and tried to learn how to operate it on my own. I promptly ruined 4 new R-W disks. After reading the HANDBOOK, I now have backed up all my files, my operating system and working on a family album. This book certainly improved my learning curve and allowed me to "get right to it" after only several hours of reading. My thanks to HP and Mr. Chambers for this helpful book.

Patel & McCarthy have written a compelling book that is short yet filled with valuable information. As the race to ecommerce gets white hot, the subjects of this book are being discussed and debated in board rooms, via e-mail, during kids sporting events and even during dinner. My favorite chapter was "Do It In-House or Spin It Off?" valuable for those trying to catch up. A one sitting read that you will go back to again and again.

This book is well written, and I think it succeeds in providing an entertaining strategic view of e-Business success factors. The following chapter descriptions may help the reader decide to pick it off the shelf.

Chapter 1 Who's Winning at e-Business? -- an overview of successes (CISCO and Intel) and non-successes (IBM and Levi Strauss) at making the jump to successful e-business selling over the Internet.

Chapter 2 The Vision Thing -- the core of the book's approach, which emphasizes that successful e-business transformation begins with generating a vision of what the expected e-business will become as an Internet presence. This e-Vision generation process must be the heart of any approach to starting an e-business effort.

Chapter 3 Transformation -- detail about how companies must commit to transformation of their business model in order to succeed at e-business. This applies mainly to bricks-and-mortar companies that have not made the e-business leap.

Chapter 4 First-Over Advantages and New Business Models -- describes how good business models enable first-to-market companies to establish huge Internet presence in spite of lack of profitability or bricks-and-mortar tangibility.

Chapter 5 The B2B Challenges -- details the success of CISCO and Intel into completely transforming their business-to-business relationships into Internet e-businesses.

Chapter 6 The B2C Challenges -- details the experiences and difficulties of dot-com companies in selling to customers directly over the Web, and in establishing themselves as Web presences.

Chapter 7 Do It In-house or Spin It Off -- looks at the experience of established companies that created in-house Internet departments and then had to decide whether to keep or spin off the successful efforts. Explores the idea of "disruptive technology" that clashes with the current culture/business model versus "sustaining technology" that enables further success of the current culture/model. Looks at several industries, from automotive to brokerage.

Chapter 8 Preparing for the Unpredictable -- looks at surprising occurrences in recent past of Internet e-business, and discusses similar expectations for the future. Again there is an emphasis on vision and business model in trying to predict how the future will develop. This chapter is a fun one to read. Contains predictions from many of e-industry's founders and leaders about how the future will develop. Wireless transformation is high among them.

With so much Internet hype over the past few years, it is refreshing to see a common sense analysis of how to integrate the new ecommerce concepts into your business. McCarthy brings a refreshingly clear and understandable perspective to the ecommerce challenge. This book is a must read for senior executives struggling to develop an Internet strategy. I read it in one sitting, and found myself writing action items in the margins of almost every chapter. By the end, you are looking for McCarthy's phone number, for KPMG obviously has thought long and hard about how to adapt your business to the ecommerce age. This is an exceptional book. It is succinct, imaginative, and practical. Buy it. Read it. Use it. If you don't, your competitors will.

One day I decided to try to play around and build a PC for grins. I then went out and bought this book. The first 2 or 3 chapters give you a lot of hope and inspiration that it could be done. The author didn't go into depth about XP, but if you can read between the lines and are bold enough to take on the challenge, you can reach that goal of completing the task. I found myself using several books in addition to this one to do so. The author didn't quite give you enough details about what to buy specifically, for any system. Good luck to all that attempt without any book.

For the absolute beginner, this book is an excellent tool.

Its only problem is that in attempting to cover a broad amount of information in a small amount of space, it must leave out particulars such as in depth explanations of the various components of each part. Explanations such as these would make choosing parts and understanding jargon a lot easier and would make the book more resistant to the passage of time (the recommendations are quite dated).

If you want a computer that would have been the bee's knees in 1999 this is a great resource; otherwise, you will definitely need to use this book in conjunction with a more exhaustive source.

As a Value Added Reseller, I have been building computers for the last 15 years. I am now recommending "Building a PC for Dummies" for first time computer builders and those who want to open the hood and understand what's inside. The book takes a humorous approach to the construction process and provides a complete "How To" step by step processes. The components of a computer system can change each month. Information about the latest and greatest parts can be gained from many other sources, such as Toms Hardware. For the first timer, this book is a must have.

Dave Barnett Vice President SDSI Business Systems

This book is great for actually stepping through installing and configuring the infrastructure. All chapters have sections that have screen shots and how to instructions. However, if you are trying to pass the 70-217 you need more than step by step how to instructions. You need answers to why something works, and this book does not provide those answers.

New Riders belong to my top 5 MCSE book authors, but I am a little disappointed about this one.

There are several errors in the book, and some wrong cross referrals. Which means they say to look in a particulair chapter to find specific information, and after re-reading the chapter several times you cannot find to what the referred.

Furthermore I think they don't go deep enough on some subjects. There could be more challenging Step-by-steps then provided in the book, like more step-by-steps for problems you may encounter real-world.

So why is New Riders still in my Top 5?
A very positive thing about New Riders books is that they are easy to read, and make difficult and technical problems more consumable for the less experienced users. Especially users whose native language isn't English (like me :-D).

User who still think they need some extra information on this particulair exam, I would recommend Windows 2000 Network Infrastructure Administration: Study Guide with ISBN 0782129498.
70-216 is one of, if not the most, tough exam in the MCSE track, so I think you'll need it.

This book is not a bad book. It covers the topics from the Table of Contents quite well. Unfortunately, it does not cover ALL of the exam topics. Newriders is my publisher of choice for MCSE 2000. This book is the weakest link in the series so far (6 down, 1 to go, passed each exam on first attempt) To be fair to the publisher, this is probably the toughest exam of the series. Quite the skull scratcher.

My feelings about the prep books on the market for this exam leave me a bit torn. Seems reasonable that the toughest exam would cause a writer to generate a weak book, then again, wouldn't you expect the publisher to put their absolute strongest writing up against the toughest MCSE exam? I used 2 other books to prep for this exam, Exam Cram for 216, and belive it or not, Exam Cram for TCP/IP, since both the Newriders 216 book and the Exam Cram 216 book refer you to other works when it comes to covering subnetting. I guess they felt that previous books covered that material so well, that to try again would offend the gods.

My point is this: this is a tough exam, and all of the prep companies have sold us short. This is the thinnest book in each publisher's series. You might need more that one vendor's prep book for this test. Using 2 other books got me through it first time. My coworker needed 2 tries to pass. Best of luck to you. Hope this helps you in your efforts.

This book is not appropriate for a first time investor. It never really describes what a stock is, how a bond works, or why interest rates matter. If you have no knowledge of investment, I suggest you find a gentler introduction.

Make no mistake: I can see that Chambers is fairly intelligent, and his prose is actually not that bad. But he needs a harsher editor. The book drifts from topic to topic, and the sequence of chapters makes little sense. Especially poor are the discussions of academic theory. Chambers fails to make it clear whom he agrees with, or why. The strategy of "get in, stay in, and ignore the investment noise"--which Chambers is correct to recommend--does not need elaborate citation of investment theory to justify itself. It is becoming common sense, even for "ordinary" investors. (Or maybe I'm too optimistic?) The discussions of diversification contain some insights, but I've read other books that present the same points much more clearly (e.g. anything by Rick Edelman). No, I'm not an experienced investor, but I am a writer, and as a writer and reader I cannot recommend this book.

I'm no writer, but I've been an investor for 25 years. I have two kids in college. I bought books for both of them. The author makes it clear how to invest without taking needless risks understandable. I know the "On-line Day Traders" are today's hot books, but I've seen traders come and go. I like how the author refers to investment news as investment pornography. It get you all excited but that's about all. I think this is an important book because once this part of your life is handled, you can make different life decisions. Not decisions based on investment catch-up. Today's college kids are watching CNBC and CNN on their breaks. They think that kind of info gives them up to the minute answers. But so much of the news is mis-information. This book will help anyone who is serious about saving and investing. I recommend it.

Unlike lawyers Grisham, Turow, and Scottoline, turned writers, Steve Martini is a journalism graduate and writer who went on to become a lawyer! (Seems there ought to be a good joke in there somehow!) He must be doing fine, as his booklist now numbers eight (five of which comprise the defense attorney Paul Madriani series), with a ninth hardback due out late this year. Let's get real here folks -- this is his first book, and we thought, not bad at all.

In a very complex plot, almost shades of Clancy, we're quickly engrossed into the hunt for possible survivors of a 1942 blimp crash; a search for 16th century documents, possibly the journal of the explorer/pirate Francis Drake; the murder of the partner (and former {?} love interest) of the leading man, lawyer Sam Bogardus; and some other crimes and problems too numerous to recount. There's really not much lawyering happening, and sure, some of this winds up a little silly and improbable, but hey, it's mystery fiction. We thought the goings-on, climaxed by a very neat wrapping up of all the puzzles and murders, plus one totally unexpected revelation in the epilogue, were indeed quite entertaining. And the huge surprise ending left us aghast -- we cannot imagine many at all will be the slightest bit prepared for this icing on the cake!

In sum, a fine plot with quite a neat ending, with good story telling hurt somewhat by a few weak characters and/or some improbable action, gives Martini's first effort a passing grade, leaving us anxious to try his second outing and first of the Madriani set. Why not!

Some of the other reviews considered this to be a pretty poorly written book, but I found it to be very entertaining and the ending was a real surprise. The Simeon Chamber is not on the level of a Grisham or Turow novel, but I'd put it right there with a writer like William Bernhardt. It's a quick read and it is a page-turner. You may also learn a little about Sir Francis Drake that you didn't learn in high school or college. Give it a try.

Uh - what was that? One of the weirdest stories I've ever read, that's what. If you want a farcical story stringing together Sir Francis Drake, German Nazis, Chinatown, William Randolph Hearst, and a bunch of adventurous lawyers, then this book is for you. The ending was unexpected, and caused me to exclaim, "oh come on" out loud as I discovered who killed our hero's partner. For Martini fans, this one has none of the courtroom drama, but does weave in a lot of adventure. The story was well paced, but too incredible.