It's about time that a parody on "Who Moved My Cheese" appears in the market. Now we already got two parodies. I bought Mason Brone's one in a bookstore in Hongkong, where it was placed side by side to the absolutely not funny original cheese book. Let's see in which company managers have the guts to distribute Brown's parody. The book also will be translated into other languages - which is somewhat of a challenge, as the meaning of "Who Cut the Cheese" won't be conveyed well to the readers after a word-by-word translation. (In Japan I wait for a WhoMovedMyTofu as response to WhoMovedMyCheese.)

Who Moved the Cheese is ripe for a parody. I've only read a little bit of the original, but Mr. Brown's book is devastating and funny. I'm surprised that someone let him get away with it. People don't write books like this anymore.

Mason Brown's "Who Cut the Cheese?" is a hilarious book depicting corporate America in its truest light. The book is wonderfully funny! I enjoyed it so much that I couldn't resist buying more copies to send to my friends and relatives. It's a great stocking stuffer if you like funny gifts.

This sexually irreverent novel by Terry Southern wouldn't have spawned a 1968 cult movie with Ewa Aulin had it not been for the catalyst that sets things in motion. Candy Christian, a beautiful girl who just happened to be born on Valentine's Day, writes a paper on Contemporary Human Love for her instructor, Professor Mephesto, saying that "to give of oneself--fully--is not merely a duty prescribed by an outmoded superstition, it is a beautiful and thrilling privilege."

And things go really cockeyed from there. A tryst with Manuel, the Mexican gardener, in full application of her paper, leads to the hospitalization of her father, and her voyage into the wide, weird, world. It isn't that she's missing much. Her father's a stodgy conservative businessman, her aunt Livia is a vulgar hussy who uses sexual innuendos as regularly as one blinks. However, her adventures lead her into meeting people who want nothing more than to rip the wrapper off and have a bite of that... candy. Oops! Candy, I mean. Others downright hate her. The poor girl has the best of intentions and doesn't want to rock the boat for the sake of preserving her credo, and hence lets them take advantage of her without knowing that they are.

Written as it was in 1958, I can see how it shocked America and Europe. Dr. Krankeit's assertion that self-gratification is actually healthy is a message to the repressed people of the world: "This mechanism you've contrived to keep your sexual lust a secret from the world, and from you yourself, is causing you more trouble than you realize." It makes sense--keep something bottled or under pressure for too long and KA-BLAM!! Of course, involving another party complicates things, because consent is becomes issue. But is it healthy and okay to look at adult magazines, videos, or computer CD-ROMs? Heck yeah!

Southern's writing is brash, profanely funny, and will cause cause conservatives hairs to stand on end even today, but his choice of words, be they adjectives, nouns, and slang, in describing sexual things is creative to say the least. It's what keeps this book afloat. What also helps Candy is the hapless but lovable title character-face it, there's only one decent character in this book other than her--and I can't help but roll my eyes at her gullibility. But I also feel attached to my heroine too.

Having read Candide first, reading Candy was purely accidental, a fluke, or perhaps a dare, but part way into the book I recognized its inspiration, and enjoyed it immensely from then on. It is truly hysterical, as was the original Voltaire. Candy, however, includes snippets of ideas from other Classics: read it for yourself to see if you can guess each chapter's parent story. I have enrolled in a course that requires the reading of Candide - I am recommending Candy to the instructor who has never read it!

Southern's tour-de-force follows the innocent, beautiful Candy Christian as she runs sexually afoul of a whole bunch of scheming, horny men. Since she is pure and giving, she wants to please them, but gee whiz! Are they ever strange!

"Candy" was banned in the United States in the Fifties and received its first publication in Paris. Southern and Mason Hoffenburg, an American poet, admitted that they had written the book primarily to make money, since churn-'em-up pornography was what Olympia Press chef Maurice Girodias was paying for. Of course, the book became so much more than a cutesy best-seller: it was the satire of the century, throwing wide-eyed, white-skinned Miss America into a den of the great bugaboos of the time (including a Jewish doctor, a hunchback, and Daddy!). Read it till its thunderous and pulsating conclusion.

The book Growing Up by Russell Baker was an interesting account of life before and after the Depression and the trials and traumas of life in that time. This autobiography has something for everyone such as humor, sexuality, and real life accounts that could refer to the reader's own experiences. This is a book that should be read by many curious readers. This book contained mounds and mounds of humor. The writer had no mercy when picking people apart in this book. He would pick fun at his second father, Herb, because of Herb's lack of intellectual ability and just because he was not his real father: "In meal conversations I addressed myself only to my mother or Doris, always managing to omit him (Herb) from the circle. When he interrupted to say, 'Pass the potatoes,' I passed the bowl silently without looking at him while continuing to talk to my mother and Doris." The author of this book also enjoyed to stress on sexuality. The author had a struggle with his "love" life. It seems that the curse of virginity followed him throughout his life in the Navy: "I located a very private place south of Coral Gables. We passed it each day en route to the airfield. She seemed willing enough. We pulled off the highway into marshy ground overhung by great spreading limbs and vines. She switched off the headlights and we embraced in the blackness, hungry for sin. The mosquitoes arrived immediately... She was screaming that they were eating her legs. She pushed me away, threw on the headlight beams, and crying, 'They'll eat us alive!' backed out and roared top-speed back to Miami cursing mosquitoes." The author had a talent that could make the reader think of instances in his or her life. By using this talent in Mr. Bakers writing, the reader asks his or herself "Has that happened to me before?" Growing Up by Russell Baker is definitely worth reading. It has all that you want in a historic account about the 1920's to the 1950's and more. This definitely is a book that can draw you in and never let you go.

Russell Baker brings his own life experiences to print as he pulls together the love, hate, anger, and various emotions of growing up into a masterpiece. The book is easy to read and addictive. The ending is emotional and could draw tears, the sign of a wonderful novel. Whether you're young or old, this book will bring back your own memories of childhood and your relationships with siblings, parents, and relatives

Required reading for my English class, I thought I would have to drag my feet through another boring book about war, but I found "Growing Up" both funny and heart-warming.

What makes Russell Baker's autobiography unique is that he does not cover his entire life. He tells of his humble beginnings, his mother, life during the depression (not the sterile textbook version), his schooling, his humorous escape from service during World War II, his big break in writing, and--the most touching of all--his one true love, Miriam.

Russell Baker writes vividly and in a straightforward manner, avoiding esoteric passages that plague books like "The Jungle." He has the quality of a storyteller that mesmerizes listeners. The only lull in the book can be found when discussing his mother's letters written during the Great Depression. A sentence or so into the last chapter I wanted to cry, not because it was sad or depressing (on the contrary, it was upbeat), but because Russell's writing was so moving.

There is too much repetition of basic ideas in the first few chapters of the book, and not enough coverage of more advanced topics (like how to use marker nonterminals, how to use $<>$ constructs, etc).

The discussion of shift/reduce and reduce/reduce conflicts in chaper 8 is pretty good though and would make a fine introduction for a beginner wanting to learn /basic/ concepts.

Good error handling is definitely a black art, but I still would have liked to have been given more information about it in chapter 9. The examples were also a bit too soft.

Chapters 4 and 5 have some interesting (and highly unusual)examples for scanning and parsing applications, but they do not show off many of the advanced capabilites of lex and yacc. What this book really needs are couple of examples that demonstrate how to overcome classic scanning and parsing horrors (like how to do type checking in, say, C); a chapter like this instead of one of chapters 4 or 5 would be great.

Even today lex and yacc are very important tools in the computer scientist's toolkit. They were designed 25 (or so) years ago, but /real/ documentation is still nonexistant. This means that unfortunately, this book is one of the best.

I think that the FSF's Bison manual is much better value for money. It also does not cover advanced topics in enough depth, but what is does explain, it explains quite clearly.

Lex & Yacc are extremely powerful programming tools. They are also difficult to master. This book provides a good start. You may need to read it several times and work through the examples before things begin making sense. I also recommend the FSF's book "The Bison Manual" for indepth info on the most common Yacc-compatible parse generator.

As a graduated software engineer I have used lex&yacc for many non-trivial tasks, and so I've also read a lot of both docs and usenet material, but no one was so informative and useful as this. I was not surprised since John Levine has been the FAQ mantainer and moderator of comp.compilers for a lot of years,so I knew its knowledge of this two tools come from a lenghty experience. I've expecially appreciated its explanation of the inner workings of the yacc parser (so now I deeply and clearly know what shift/reduce and reduce/reduce conflicts are), the explanation of the syntax of y.outpur error file, the reviews of the various versions of yacc&lex available, its showing of the most common problems (here the authors' experience counts!). Of course I enjoyed the clear style of writing. I'm no more a beginner, so I can't be a good judge of its quality as tutorial; anyway I'm sure this is the best book for a newcomer also. No examples like the infamous 'DING DONG DANG' parser of some unix documentation, but real-life ones, fully and clearly explained - with the first of them developed from a simple version to a sophisticated one in order to gradually teach you the subject. If only I had read it before ...

Comedy, in the strictest sense, is concerned with ultimate forgiveness and reconciliation. In Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest," the protagonist, Prospero, must come to terms with his brother Antonio, who conspired to have him driven from his duchy in Milan, and with the world of social interaction in general.

Magic, Power, and Conspiracy are the foundational thematic elements through which Shakespeare effects Prospero's reintegration into human society. Thrown into a boat with his infant daughter Miranda, Prospero comes to live on a nearly deserted island in the Mediterranean Sea. Prospero's concentration on developing his proficiency in Magic caused him to become alienated from his political and social responsibilities in Milan, leading to his expulsion. His brother Antonio conspired with Alonso, king of Naples, and seized the power Prospero forsook for book-learning.

Prospero hears of a sea voyage undertaken by his enemies, and, using his Magic, whips up a storm, a great tempest, which causes his enemies to be shipwrecked on his island. On the island, Prospero exercises total power - over the education of his daughter, his slave, the deformed Caliban, and now over his enemies. He engages Ariel, a sprite, to orchestrate the division of the traveling party, and to put them through various trials to exact vengeance and ultimately, submission from them.

"The Tempest" is a fine effort from Shakespeare, but the power relations in the play are problematic. Prospero's insistent dominance over the action of the play is extremely troubling. Although he is presented as a benevolent character, Prospero's relationships with Miranda, Caliban, and Ferdinand, King Alonso's son, complicate his overall worth as a man and an authority figure. The dynamic between the slave Caliban and the drunks, Trinculo and Stephano, is also very unsettling.

Overall, "The Tempest" remains a whimsical flight of imagination, while exploring intriguing themes of education, political intrigue, and romance. Certainly, it is still a well-constructed and entertaining play after nearly four hundred years.

One of the best works by Shakespeare and also his final full play (most likely), The Tempest draws on many elements that Shakespeare used in his earlier works and adds a comic twist. Shakespeare doesn't spend much time on character development in the Tempest, other than Prospero and possibly Caliban (e.g. Miranda is the ideal chaste woman, Trinculo & Stephano are lowly schemers). However, Prospero is extremely well developed and the simple aspects of the other characters do not detract from the story at all. There are many different levels of meaning at work in the play...some see it as a pro-colonialist diatribe, others see it as Shakespeare's own swan song, where Prospero himself is based on the Bard, and Prospero's surrendering of his magical powers is representative of Shakespeare giving up his craft. I read it as both, and a million other things, and that is one of the great things about the play...it can be read in so many different ways. The structure of the play seems almost chaotic at first, with so many things going on at once. However, if you read the play over again, or read some of the essays contained in the Signet Edition, it becomes much more clear, although still open-ended. The Signet Edition is excellent, and Signets in general are. Buy this over the Folger Library editions...the footnotes here are much easier to work with and make the reading much smoother overall.

Compared to some other works of William Shakespeare, "The Tempest" may be the deepest in meaning. To Shakespeare's credit, this play is also, unlike many of his others, largely original and of his creation. The characters are bloody well developed and the interloping themes bring you into the play. It is also amazing to follow the metaphorical parallelisms in the character of Prospero that reflect on Shakespeare himself. Essentially, Shakespeare announces the end to his writing days in this play. Read how Shakespeare went out like a champ! "The Tempest" is a universal story and its ideals can be placed in our contemporary society and culture.

"How should one live?" is the fundamental question driving most of Chekhov's work, and it is very overtly laid bare in The Cherry Orchard. Should the aristocratic family in decline stick to owning their cherry orchard (representative of the grandiose trappings of Russian aristocracy), or give in to modern commercialization in order to survive? What is the value of tradition, and how many trees should one own? Chekhov will not answer these questions for you, but he poses them in most interesting ways. In addition to wise insights into such fundamental dilemmas, Chekhov also provides a lot of witty banter, and a great slice-of-life view at 19th century Russian high culture. But this is not just a Russian play or a 19th century play; its themes, questions, and prospective answers are relevant for individuals coping with society and history in any place, and at any time.

The Cherry Orchard was me first experience with Chekhov, and I was surprised at the depth in this 49 page play. By no means would I considered myself a "literary expert," but this was very readable and you can pull a lot of the deeper meanings and its context in Russian history by yourself. I was confused at a couple people who write that the simply couldn't understand it and it put them to sleep! It's not THAT tough! If I could understand and appreciate it, almost anyone can!

What I like most about Chekhov is that he doesn't simplify his characters. He's a realist in this sense. Lopahkin and Trophimof each have admirable and detestable characteristics, just like you and I. While it may be set in the tumultuous period prior to the Russian revolution, the ideas and the discussions this play provokes are timeless.

Highly recommended!

Anton Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard" has been published as part of the Dover Thrift Edition series (that's the version I read before writing this review). No translator is credited for this edition. According to the note at the start of the book, the play was initially presented by the Moscow Art Theatre in 1904.

The play takes place on the estate of Madame Ranevsky, the matriarch of an aristocratic Russian family that has fallen on financial hard times. She faces the possible loss of her family's magnificent cherry orchard.

The play is populated with interesting characters: Lopakhin, a wealthy neighbor whose father was the serf of Madame Ranevsky's father; Firs, an aged servant who longs for the "old days"; Trophimof, a student with lofty ideas; and more. There is a great deal of conflict among the characters.

"The Cherry Orchard" is about people dealing with very personal conflicts and crises while larger socioeconomic changes are going on around them. The orchard of the title is a memorable image that is well handled by Chekhov. The play contains some really effective dialogue, such as old Firs' reflection on the apparently lost art of making dried cherries. This is definitely one classic play that remains compelling.

I was startled when I finished reading Joyce Carol Oates Black Water. What I found so astonishing was that I remained completely captivated, my eyes literally glued to a book that focused on one brief scene for almost its entirety. The book never became mundane or repetitious even though the reader is continually thrust into the front seat of a car being devoured by the water of a lake. Every scene that brought me back to the doomed wrecked Honda became more and more thrilling, all through Oates' talented writing. My suspense continued even after I learned the fate of the characters, because I wanted there to be more. The story of Black Water is a fictionalized rendition of the Chappaquiddick story, following Kelly Keheller, an American, politically active, sexually attractive young woman who becomes enthralled with the political actions of a Senator whom she has the honor of meeting at a friend's party. Keheller takes the opportunity and becomes acquainted with the man who could possibly offer her political leverage; however, her strife for political success leads her into the passenger side of a Honda that will soon be on a collision course. I think this novel is one of the best examples of how any story can become captivating and beautiful simply through a writer's talent. Though this story is in itself intriguing, Oates' talent with language exemplifies it. Kelly Keheller comes to life through simply snatches of conversation between herself and the Senator, or her friends, and brief memories of past lovers or family get-togethers. Also, in this small but extremely dense novel, are the readers presented with the struggles of a woman who chooses to be active in political parties in America. Her continual determination and idealism made me want to fight for her while I read. I also felt a continual frustration with the earnestness behind Kelly's struggles and her continual feelings of failure. The strength of this novel is its compactness. Oates says in so few words what could take other authors 400 pages to explain. Every description and scene is crucial to the understanding of Kelly as a character. Even as scenes tend to repeat themselves, Oates finds a way to make each scene new and continually awe-inspiring. I can honestly say I've never read an entire novel before with so many reoccurring scenes that continued to interest me. I highly recommend this novel. Not only is it a fairly short read, but the writing is genuinely wonderful. The plot is engaging and Oates finds a way to make even an "American Myth" new and interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a short yet enthralling read, as well as any avid writers, who want to learn how to make something new. Even within the first few chapters, all of which are short yet fascinating, can you see Oates' beautiful talent in taking one scene and recreating it for her readers over and over again until they understand every aspect, emotional and dramatically, yet without letting it lose its intensity.

The novel "Black Water" by Joyce Carol Oates is about a young idealistic woman, who is attracted to "The Senator", an older successful politician, in whom she sees a chance to fulfil her yearning for adventures. She accepts his invitation for a night in his motel-room and joins him in his car which ends in a terrible accident where her entire personality is put to a new challenge- she questions the sense of her being, of her life she has lived so far, and doubts if her longing has been fulfilled in the way she had in mind.
Through the literary means of a brilliantly woven narrative, which is the typical feature of the novel, Oates produces a certain picture of Kelly's thoughts and feelings which is determined for the effect the book has on the reader: The whole story is written in a very captivating and sensitive way.
In our opinion the book is very worth to read.Kelly, in her special nature shows other women that no matter what happens one should never loose his/her belief in something and gives them the strength to keep their faith and their hope.
As it is based on a real incident, Joyce Carol Oates gives through her narration the forgotten and silent become mistress of Edward Moore Kennedy a voice and with it a human soul.

This novel was one of extensive study by my part, and the more I read, the more I appreciated the fear, the possible real life correlation to a US senator, and the momentum in which Oates carries us through the scene of this horrible accident.

The entire novel is barely a hundred and fifty pages, separated by thirty-two chapters. The speed and the brevity in which she writes makes it all the more believable, and is in my opinion the best dramatic choice Oates made as far as the convention of the prose. Although these thirty-two chapters were small, they were jam-packed. That question everyone wants to know is in there and seems to be answered, which I can't reveal or I would spoil the book.

The worldview Oates' is two dimensional to me. One part of the view portrays through the accident is something we all know, accidents happen. The main character being a younger female, interested in politics, and interested in starting her life while thinking in almost every chapter, "am I going to die-like this" really wakes the reader up and moves the common "accidents happen" theme to "accidents can happen to you too, at any time." The other most significant and compelling part is shown through a young woman who is violated when she trusts an older man. As she sits trapped in the sinking car, the Senator escapes and physically uses her body as a stepstool, leaving her behind. The most intriguing part of the story for me was that she was convinced he was coming back, and yet this is a smart character. A character who makes a conscious effort to discard anything as silly as a horoscope and one who is approach is intricate in design no matter what the circumstances. So what happened? The complications Oates made within the main character really move your mind in several directions. Any female reader can really relate to the dramatic choices in dialogue and characterization the Oates makes.

The element of fear is something that Oates really plays around with through the entire book. There is the stark fear of death, fear of talking out of turn, fear of consequences from men, fear of leaving a relationship, fear of putting somebody above you in the political world down on your level, and fear of life itself. And the fear that is still surfacing after finishing the novel is the fear of trusting people. The reader watches a spark between a man and a woman as Oates so simply and naturally creates the scene and this so thought harmless afternoon fling turns into a bloodcurdling accident that details the thoughts of the victim and the disbelief-it's amazing.

This novel has an element of truth, or motivation from the 1969 Chappaquiddick Island accident involving Senator Edward Kennedy and Mary Jo Kepechne, who was in a similar position as Kelly Kelleher. However, it is obvious fiction since no author can rewrite the thoughts of a deceased individual. Nevertheless, the prose by Oates was critical in creating a believable situation.

It all takes place in Kelly Kelleher's viewpoint; at the party, interludes from her past, spliced with the slowly sinking of the rented Toyota and Kelly's body into the black water. Because of this dramatic choice Oates really benefits the reader by revealing the intentions and motivations of the main character in her life and career. A common motif through the novel was that Kelly was an "American girl" which really set a degree of normality to the character, making it all the more realistic to the reader.

This book wasn't the only work of Oates that I have read and I can see a similarity in style and the same dimensional fear and gender inequality. I would recommend this to any gender however; it affects every human in the area of trust and death.

I'm giving this book three stars because it's certainly better than most of the [junk] that litters the game programming section of your local superstore. I generally agree with the other reviewers.

That said, here's my rant--
Isn't it about time we got some game programming books that aren't trying to be a bible for an absolute beginner. This book is a good example of what could have been... it could have been a book about special effects. That's a nice well-defined subject, and it could have been a nice thin and concise book.

I'm no game programming god or anything but I understand the Win32 API enough that I don't need to be told what a message loop is every time I buy a programming book. The same goes for vector arithmetic, COM basics, and C++ fundamentals.

This book is about 900 pages long. If you took out all the chaff, you'd be left with about 450 pages of content that lives up to its title. Why not just gives us that? Could it be that by throwing all the beginner [junk] into every one of these things you get to charge more for them?

I've been reading through this book for the past few days now and have been pleasantly and repeatedly surprised at the quality and meaningfulness of the writing. Before getting into the style, let's go through what the book covers:

Part 1: Basics
Chapter 1 - Intro to Windows Programming
Chapter 2 - Win32 API Programming
Chapter 3 - DirectX
Chapter 4 - 3D Math
Chapter 5 - 3D Concepts
Chapter 6 - Intro to DirectGraphics
Chapter 7 - Lighting
Chapter 8 - Basic Texturing
Chapter 9 - Adv. Texturing
Chapter 10 - Vertex and Pixel Shaders

Part 2: 2D Effects
Chapter 11 - Fire
Chapter 12 - 2D Water
Chapter 13 - Image Feedback
Chapter 14 - Image Warping
Chapter 15 - Clouds
Chapter 16 - Blurs and Image Manip.
Chapter 17 - Fades, Wipes, Transitions...

Part 3: 3D Effects
Chapter 18 - Particle Systems: Rain, Smoke, Magic, etc
Chapter 19 - Adv. Particle Systems
Chapter 20 - Explosions
Chapter 21 - Guns and Projectiles
Chapter 22 - Lens Flares
Chapter 23 - 3D Water

Chapter 24 - Vertex and Pixel Shader Effects

The chapter listing doesn't do the topics justice, though. For example the Chapter on Explosions takes you through sprite animation, billboarding, explosion clusters, particles sytem code, shockwaves and then finishes out with a quick few pages on adding a skybox. The breadth and scope of this book is ambitious - and well met - to say the least.

The writing style? In short, you're treated like an intelligent person. McCuskey doesn't delve deeply into a lot of the topics or spend pages on end listing function parameters. Instead you get a box off to the side telling you where in the DirectX documentation to find more information or other sources (books, mags, websites) if you want or need to explore a topic more fully. Likewise, you're not going to find page after page of code listing, just the relevant part at the relevant time. Now that I think of it, the book spends very little real estate on code listings. And it flows much better for it.

The benefit from a book like this isn't being told how to program a special effect. The benefit, of course, is finding out how it's done in the first place so you don't spend weeks going down the wrong paths. The solutions seem solid and elegant to me but it'll be interesting to see if anyone finds fault with them.

There's not much else to say. It's a well executed book and I haven't found any fault with it. I acknowledge first reviews like these are generally regarded cynically, but I'm sure others will back me up once they receive their copy. Well done, Mason.

I've been looking forward to this book for a long time now. I've attended several industry conferences with the author, and he's written numerous articles for our website, so I know him to be both an excellent game programmer and talented writer. I had high expectations for this book, and I'm happy to report that it not only lives up to them, it exceeds them.

This book does two things very well: it provides first-rate coverage of DirectX, and it provides the most extensive coverage of special effects ever put in to a game programming book. I'm going to review each of these aspects of the book separately.
The first half of this book is dedicated to covering the basics of Windows programming, 3D math, and DirectX, and it makes the assumption that you're new to all of these areas. He covers all components of the DirectX API, including DirectAudio, DirectInput, DirectPlay, DirectShow, and of course, DirectGraphics (aka Direct3D), which is where the book really shines. Before this book, I had not encountered a single Direct3D book which I could recommend without reservation. He dedicates 5 hefty chapters to DirectGraphics, including two on texture mapping and one on pixel and vertex shaders (and that doesn't count the second half of the book which provides plenty of examples and advanced techniques). Simply put, this is without question the best book currently on the market from which to learn DirectX, and for that reason alone, it's earned a place at the top of my recommendations list.

Note that even if you aren't new to DirectX, you'll probably find a lot of useful things in the first half of the book which are generally omitted from or glossed over in (most) other books, such as action mapping, DirectShow, and DirectPlay. Even the 3D math section has something to offer, with the most concise and accessible explanation of quaternions that I've come across.

The special effects section of the book is divided into two parts. The first covers 2D effects, including fire, water, image feedback, image warping, clouds, blurs, and transitions. Before you complain about 2D being a thing of the past, note that these effects are intended for use in title screens, or for generating textures to be used in 3D worlds. The second part is, of course, 3D effects, and includes particle systems, explosions, 3D water, guns and projectiles, lens flares, and vertex and pixel shader effects. All of these are presented quite well, but the particle system coverage deserves special mention. It spans almost 100, and takes you all the way from a basic system to a powerful, flexible system controlled through scripts.

Each special effect is accompanied by at least one demo program, which is thoroughly explained in the book. The only downside to this is that the author was only able to focus on a single algorithm for each effect, but he at least mentions some of the alternative approaches, as well as suggestions for improving the techniques he presents. Overall, any game programmer should be able to benefit from the special effects portion of the book, even if you've done some of these things before.

My only real complaint about this book is that it should have been two books. Experienced game programmers will probably find a lot they can use in the special effects portion of the book, but may find the DirectX portion unnecessary. Beginning programmers will definitely benefit from the DirectX portion, but may want to spend some time working on basic game techniques before diving into the special effects portion. But, it's not two books, and as a single volume, it's still worth the price. Also, you should be aware that some of the effects covered in this book require a newer video card to even be able to run the demo program. To get the most out of the book, you'll need a card that at least supports vertex shaders, and preferably pixel shaders as well. Also, if you're not pretty comfortable with C++, you may find yourself struggling with some of the code.

Overall, this book is extremely well-written and easy to read. There's so much that this book has to offer that is difficult, if not impossible, to find elsewhere, I strongly recommend it as a must-have for anyone interested in game programming.

My professor(who is a statistician) pointed out several problems in this text. Some times he was just in awe of the serious mistakes and liberties taken in this book. One that comes to mind is Mario's use of the Z-test when (in certain circumstances) really it would have been more accurate to use the T-test. Also, there are many little mistakes that should have been corrected by the seventh edition (in some of the examples etc). The book is okay if your just taking the course for a general ed. requirement...My professor, who himself has authored many high-level math textbooks found the book to be problematic. Perhaps there is a difference of opinion on the Z- versus t-test. Hopefully, the little mistakes (that aren't controversial) will be corrected before any new editions are published!

I found this book to be user friendly with regards to learning statistical foundations. Concepts are presented in a clear understandable format. The use of Margin Essays describing real uses with people in their respective fields of employment were an enormous asset. I found this book to be very helpful with instructor/student interaction.

An absolutely outstanding text for conceptual development in elementary statistics. - I'm currently taking a statistical analysis course, and, after having read the vast majority of the text, I've found it to be the most clear and intelligently written text on the undergraduate market. (I've read most of the competing texts and they really don't compare). Clear, to the point, lucid prose - explaining not only the calculations, but also the CONCEPTS BEHIND THE PROCEDURES, is what seperates this text from the others. A lot of books lose the reader in computational detail without clearly explaining the ideas behind the procedures. - This book clearly surpasses the others in its conceptual clarity and insight that it offers into critical ideas left out of most other elementary texts I've read. I actually went out and got this book after seeing how clearly superior it was in communicating critical ideas necessary to understand the subject - relative to the text that was assigned by the professor for the course. The doctrinaire critiques I've read about the book are, to me, entirely unfounded. If you're looking for a good conceptual foundation in elementary statistics, and calculations that illustrate the concepts, you won't find a better text on the market.

This Lonely Planet book is a big help when travelling in Japan. The book provides a lot of useful information (such as bus/hotel/tourist center info and general history of each tourist attraction). The best of all is that the authors put Japanese characters next to all the locations. Many Japanese tourist spots do not have names spelt in English. Therefore, the reference in Japanese characters that the authors put out is a huge plus. Also, the book is extremely helpful for people who plan to backpack and stay in the Youth Hostels in Japan. Before leaving for Japan, I read though many tourist books and found this one the best among all. The book is a bit weak in providing detailed maps but this can be overcome by visiting the tourist centers (usually next to the train stations).

Lonely Planet Japan proved to be incredibly helpful in planning for and making my first trip to Japan. The cultural information in the front of the book is accurate and useful. The maps and directions on how to get to the sights are even more accurate - and in a country that can seem overwhelmingly urban at times that made life a lot easier. They tell you where the bus stops by the stations are and how to get to the airports using public transportation when it's time to go home - and that can be complicated some times, especially if you're on a budget. Lonely Planet Japan is especially good on directing you to more than just the major tourist stops, like some of the other guides I consulted. As someone who prefers to see some of the off-the-beaten path places, this was useful. Paired with the Lonely Planet Japanese phrase book I, with a minimal knowledge of Japanese, was able to get around, find good food, and good places to stay. The only drawback is that the book was published a few years ago and some of the prices (surprise) have gone up a bit - but usually only a 100 yen or so for admissions, and proportionately so for hotels. If you're going to Japan, or just want to find out what's over there and learn a little about the country, this is an excellent book

I've been using travel books on Japan for 23 years, attempting to discover new & interesting places. None has completely fulfilled this quest. However, the LP book has set the standard for the others: It covers more places, has more maps, and has more information than any other. "Rough Guide" comes in second in this regard, and I find very few places in RG that aren't covered in LP. It's like the RG author's traveled around using the LP. The omissions are the same on top of that. A few examples: neither covers Fukushima, or Koriyama, both major cities that you may end up in traveling northward, and in the same area, both overlook nice areas such as Miharu town (3 Spring Town, so named for its 3 flowering trees in the spring) and Soma City (famous pottery and samurai horsemen festivals), and neither checks out Rikuchu Kaigan National Park along the Pacific Coast in Iwate. On the other hand, both LP and RG cover the small town of Tono, both not reaching the park. They both also cover the Iya Valley in central Shikoku while overlooking the most isolated Heike refuge in central Kyushu, Gokanosho. There are too many parallels between the two.

I agree there is not a consistent style throughout LP. It was written by 4 authors whose work was based on original work by Ian McQueen who burned out after 3 editions, so there is much original style mixed in with subsequent updates by the various authors through the next 4 editions. This does make some areas better than others, though, especially when it comes to locations of bus stops and "getting there" sections.

But overall, I don't see much problem with some sections having transportation and other sections not as no matter what book you get, you need to get JNTOs Railway Timetable or updated ferry or bus schedules because the train-bus-ferry schedules change from year to year, making everything obsolete quickly.

This book is also aimed at those who are traveling around using the main train routes, who want to see the big sights and maybe a few of the smaller ones. If you have a car or motorcycle, you're going to end up in places that aren't covered in any book almost every night. A smattering of Japanese is the only thing that will help this kind of traveler. It also only contains brief history and background on some areas. At times it seems to assume that you have a separate book for this information. If you want a history book, get a history book. This is a practical guide for travelers to get you to a place and into some lodging. At that it excels.

I do get annoyed with the phone number area codes only being given at the beginning of a section. With a large section, it make take a while searching for the correct page with the area code so you can dial a number. This always seems to happen in an unlit phone booth on a rainy night.

Lastly, this 7th edition is now old. I read as part of an article in the NY Times that said that Japan was getting ready to promote domestic tourism to help its economy, that someone was back in Japan trying for an update . This would help immensely as LP quotes exact prices on hotels and admissions. Anyone who has used this book recently knows that prices have gone up on most things, and down in a couple of other cases. I like the exact quote on hotel prices better than RG's range quotes, as I can get a better idea when planning a budget than just a Y5000 to Y10,000 range.

When the next edition comes out, I'll be first in line to get it, again looking for anything I've missed (and I know there's a lot as I discover every year). If you're looking for a tool to help you travel through and around a very interesting country on your own, this book is for you. If your hotels and transportation are already covered in your tour, a Frommer's guide with photos and history would work better for you.

Kentou!