I read the professional review and disagree. I can be very pedantic and nit picking writing reviews, especially when a new approach comes along. Or, I can try to understand the purpose, process and results for and to individual readers as a caring professional, not just one who cranks reviews out. The book is meant for individuals and groups, not academics. Dr. Davis et. al. did an outstanding job of writing this book. It is highly informative and lively. A group of strangers got together to respond to the events as they were unfolding during the 2000 election, strictly relying on the Internet. There was great cohesiveness throughout the election. The group is still going two years later. The results of the process far exceeded expectations. The authors' present the use of the Internet in the democratic process very clearly and cohesively in a highly readable manner. While an active participant, my first obligation is to the readers. This is an excellent book. I highly recommend it, especially to those aspiring to utilize the Internet in political marketing, strategizing and effectively reaching the voting public.

Dr. Alan D. Kardoff
Mgmtdr
Melbourne, FL

Collaboratively written by Steve Davis (Associate professor, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University), Larry Elin (Assistant Professor, S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and co-chair of the Media and American Democracy Institute, Syracuse University), and Grant Reeher (Associate Professor of Political Science, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University), Click On Democracy: The Internet's Power To Change Political Apathy Into Civic Action is a an engaging and informative examination at how the Internet just might be the answer to dismally low voter turnouts. Interviews and careful analysis of the Internet's power to reach the masses and educate them about political realities and issues fill the pages of this exciting and thoughtfully proactive account. Click On Democracy is a seminal, ground breaking contribution, and should be part of every college and university Political Science reference collection -- as well as on the personal reading list of every political activist and politician regardless of their party affiliation or issue oriented campaign.

A well researched book that I would recommend to anyone that is online and interested in politics. Although the book's timing may be late in terms of the 2000 Elections, it is interesting to read the many profiles of people that are working actively on the internet to impact local and national politics. The book left me anticipating what events might take place during the NEXT presidential election...

Very interesting book, gives a great view, for a lot of people a not very well known view, on the consultancy market + guidelines how to get the most out of consultants and not to be conned.

This is one of the most unusual business books I have ever read. It simultaneously takes the view that management consultants are a necessary and helpful resource, and that they are also dangerous to the health of your business and career. Then, he seeks to innoculate you against every possible mistake that you may make which could turn management consulting into a danger (at at least a waste of time and money). All of that sounds very high minded, doesn't it? Yet he uses a language that has definite shock value (at least to these American ears). Management consultants are described as pros (as in prostitutes) and cons (as in con artists and seemingly, convicts). Yet the author's perspective includes having been a management consultant for six years with a reputable firm.

To me, the most valuable part of this book was a survey taken with alumni of the London Business School to find out their views of and experiences with management consultants, both as consultants and as customers. Whether these experiences are the same as what happens in other countries or not, the results make for fascinating reading. Both the consultants and the clients are skeptical of each other. The consultants think the clients are hiring them for the wrong reasons and assignments. The clients think the consultants are uninformed and unoriginal. I certainly intend to reread these findings from time to time, to better understand what my own clients might be thinking. I hope these reminders will help encourage me to asks questions and speak in a way that will surface these concerns so that they can be addressed in a way that best serves the client's interests.

The basic point of the survey is that clients generally see management consultants as adding value. On the other hand, clients also see much room for improvement from their consultants. In particular, clients see the consultants as mainly looking out for themselves rather than for their clients. That reflects a traditional supplier-customer relationship rather than a professional-to-client relationship.

On the whole, this book adds value for clients and consultants. A consultant will do a better job for a client who follows the advice in this book. A client who follows this advice will be more pleased with the consulting results. Consultants and clients will both make more money. Clients will see their firms and careers do better.

The only place where I objected to the harsh tone of the book was in chapter 9 about becoming a consultant. There is a survey there to test your selfishness versus your selflessness (and interest in your clients) that encourages you to be selfish if you want to be a consultant. This is clearly an attempt at humor, but I think it will confuse and mislead some. The rest of the book is encouraging better practices, and this cuts against that purpose.

Here are some of Mr. Ashford's key principles for clients.

1. Define the business issue. What are you trying to change and what do you want to get as a result?

2. What help do you need from consultants that you cannot accomplish internally?

3. Write down down your answers to (1) and (2) so you can share them with the consultants, and keep your purpose foremost in your mind as you hire and work with the consultants.

4. Check for commitment in your organization.

5. Select the consulting firms that may be able to help you.

6. Prepare those firms to be able to create proposals for you.

7. Get proposals that you can evaluate compared to your purpose.

8. Select who you want to work with by checking out those who will actually do the work, relevant references, the capability of the firm for handling your problem, and the emotional chemistry.

9. Consider how you want the results implemented.

10. Confirm the plan for doing the project and implementing it.

11. Mobilize your own resources to help the project.

12. Make time to work on the project and stay in touch.

13. Review, challenge, and understand.

14. Insist the project get refocused whenever it drifts away from your purpose and plan.

15. Keep the consultants focused on the completion steps you need.

16. Have a formal post-project review with the consultants so you can both learn how it could have been done better. There may still be things that they can provide you that you don't realize.

My reaction to this list was that this was a big burden on the client. But I realized that clients of mine have used a similar approach when they needed a great answer from the consulting project, and they got it because of using this process. Obviously, if the project is more minor, you can spend less time on each element, but you will probably be rewarded if you avoid skipping steps. When time is precious, you will have to consider whether or not you have the time to devote to properly commissioning and supervising the project. Perhaps you don't have the time, and should not do the project.

If you would like to have a good laugh at the expense of consultants, this book will also provide you with a lot of fun. It has the wicked humor that is often found in British comedies.

After you have read the book, I also urge you to think about places where you are not going to be as successful as you might be without external help, whether from partners, allies, or consultants. Then think through this process to see whether consultants as a temporary resource are the right people to use or whether you need the more permanent access to a partner or ally.

In any case, good luck in getting better results.

As an old consultant myself, this book is revealing and foremost, extremely entertaining. Not only does the author capture the management consultancy business, but he also describes the management of the "victims" very entertaining. Unfortunately, what he describes is very common, not only on the part of the MC business, but also of its clients that in reality should know better.

When I'm bored (or expecting to be bored) or have to handle longer negotiations, this book always accompany me, its great fun at the hotel room, and every time I look into it, I seem to learn a trick or two that can be useful.

In short, whatever your persuassion, buy it and read it, if for nothing else, it is very well written.

I found out that this book is intended for graduate students only at the end of the course, which was based on this text. It was though a good experience to have studied from it as it provides a thorough and fundamental treatment of Digital Communications topics. The chapters on sampling, multiplexing and optimum filters were the most enjoyable for me. I did not really see the point in such a short text on Fourier analysis - the Oppenheim's "Signals and Systems" provides a much more systematic description of the Fourier Series and FT. Four stars because of that, but if you already know FT very well then buy this book since it's a good deal and a worthy investment!

It's a very comprehensive book that illustrates the principles of Digital communication theory balancing theory and practice. I addition, it uses helpfull diagrams and graphs in order to illustrate the impact of different parameters on signal strength, noise level etc.It is strongly recommended for a system engineer.

Lots of examples, good balance between theory and practice. I think is a must have book for a good engineering library. I really like it. Good price too! .

Entropy in the UK concludes the story told in Vol.1 through 3. And what an ending it is...

Broken down into parts, the first 3 issues detail the torture of King Mob, and his interesting way to counteract it. Morrison is forever writing himself into his stories, and he takes off with it, writing himself as Mod Spy Gideon Stargrave. Insanity ensues...

The final issues show the Invisibles at work, fighting Ultradimensional monsters with Voodoo and Buddha. Morrison, while writing this, was struck with numerous sicknesses, cumulating in an infected lung and a serious life crisis. This shows in the story, as everyone is subjected to airborne nanotech cancer agents and King Mob suffers from a collapsed lung.

This is great storytelling, but requires that you read the first two volumes to even come close to understanding it.

A real treat.

ENTROPY IN THE UK is a thought-provoking read, and a satisfying conclusion to this first major arc in THE INVISIBLES. It balances Morrison's usual rush of madcap ideas with solid plot advancement and continued character development, as Boy and Dane question their involvement with the resistance group and Fanny and King Mob try to resist psychic interrogation and torture.

The book's opening arc, also entitled Entropy in the UK, is probably my favorite. One of the recurring themes of The Invisibles is the limits of human beings' ability to perceive their surroundings - the limitations imposed on them from the outside, and the limitations they place upon themselves. The interrogation sequence in this story is one of the finest explorations of this issue, especially in its discussion of the role of language. One of the drugs that Miles and his men pump into King Mob causes him to be unable to distinguish between a word and the concept that the word describes; as Miles uses it to warp Mob's perceptions, he talks about the limits of the English language and alphabet. It's a great sequence, one that illustrates the power of words, as well as their limits. Phil Jiminez's beautiful pencils display the dazzling, chaotic landscape of King Mob's mind and thoughts, while the narration and script lay out the dizzying ideas and mantras of the two combatants. It's very clever, very enjoyable stuff.

The rest of the book is also strong, although I preferred Jiminez's work to that of any of the other artists here -- no knock against them, as I'm a really big fan of Jiminez. Morrison wraps up some threads from SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION and APOCALIPSTICK, and sets a number of others into motion -- so at the end of this, you'll definitely want to keep reading with BLOODY HELL IN AMERICA.

Oh... so what do you need to know, I mean come *on*...

It's brilliant. Stop reading the reviews and buy the thing.

"Everybody on the Truck!" is an unabashed valentine to the unfairly unsung Dillards, who were bluegrass when bluegrass wasn't cool and country rock when there wasn't such a thing. As breezily told by Lee Grant, The Dillards' story is refreshingly devoid of raging egos, self-destruction and bitter ends. You'll come away from this compelling biography knowing, perhaps identifying with, and most assuredly liking The Dillards.

Grant sketches the original Dillards - brothers Douglas and Rodney Dillard, Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne - as proud sons of Missouri who longed to set the world afire with their hell-for-leather approach to bluegrass music. Grant's account of the band's misadventures during their go-for-broke journey from the Show Me state to California in late 1962 is funnier and more unbelievable than anything Hollywood could concoct. Against all odds, The Dillards enjoyed nearly instant but well-deserved success soon after reaching Los Angeles, landing a major recording contract and what would become a recurring role on "The Andy Griffith Show".

Grant devotes a good chunk of his book to his subject's indelible association with the Darlings, the eerily deadpan but musically gifted hillbilly clan The Dillards played on six episodes of "TAGS." Interestingly, The Darlings are the source of lingering ambivalence for Rodney Dillard, the group's integrity-conscious musical heart, who wasn't wild, at first, about playing a hayseed stereotype.

Between 1963 and 1970, The Dillards produced five critically-acclaimed albums, rubbed shoulders with the likes of Perry Como, Judy Garland, the Byrds and Bob Dylan and seldom rested from public appearances. "Truck" lets The Dillards themselves analyze the music and their somewhat anachronistic place in the swingin' Sixties. The insights and anecdotes of Mitch Jayne, who played bass and dispensed folksy humor in the role of group spokesman, are particularly entertaining.

To paraphrase Jayne, this "Truck" will run. Hitch a ride and hold on.

This book is an excellent reference for one of bluegrass music's legendary bands, the Dillards. Anyone interested in learning about Rodney, Doug, Dean and Mitch need to get a copy of this book, and fast. Lee Grant has provided us Dillards junkies with a veritable "bible" on the lives and careers of the boys. It is an engaging read. When I bought my copy, I read it straight through in one sitting! For me, that is a rarity. :-)

Suggestion: put on a copy of their CD, "There Is A Time", while reading this book. See why Briscoe Darling once said, "they's all keyed up"!

They were, and you'll be, too.

Lee Grant's fresh southern (but not too southern) writing style lights up the page. This book is a real joy to read. I highly recommend it. I am eagerly awaiting another Lee Grant book. I have heard rumors of a novel in the works. I am waiting anxiously to see if this is a rumor or plain old fact.

GG

This book is good for little kids. It is about a group of kids that are called the Goodness Gorillas. They work hard to do nice things like clean up garbage, sharpen pencils for their class, and bring in snacks for the class, ect. Even though they work really hard, a boy named Todd ruins it all!!!!!! What are they going to do? Will Todd stop messing every thing up? Can they still be the Goodness Gorillas? To find out read the book!

When the "Goodness Gorillas" start doing kind things for other people everyone pitches in except Todd. In the end the children learn the value of kindness, even to those who are not kind to us.

One of the books in the Chicken Soup for Little Souls' series, this book offers a nice story to read to your children - a story with a moral. It's my least favorite in the series, but it's still a good book to have on your child's shelf.

I have to say I was a bit skeptical of the whole 'Chicken Soup' theme, but this book is wonderful. The story is very sweet and reminds all of us about how we can change the world with the little things we do. I found it especially helpful after the attacks of 9/11, when I wondered how to teach our children about spreading kindness and goodness in the world. Highly recommended!

Although there is useful information in this book, I found it disappointing compared with the recommendations that I read.

Part 1, which is about 200 pages, is the text of the book and covers planning and implementing your campaign. Part 2 which is about 300 pages is a collection of about 35 sample documents.

I found the text, which included chapters by other authors, rambling and verbose, giving lists of functions and lists of alternatives without reaching conclusions. I skimmed this part and found little worth reading carefully. (In contrast, I just read Tony Poderis concise and excellent "Its A Great Day to Fundraise" from cover to cover.) The author attempts an academic approach, with unhelpful citations. Examples of somewhat useful items were an outline of a case statement and examples of gift charts.

Particularly weak was a chapter entitled "Technology in Fundraising" which claimed that it was about the single most important support factor in fundraising. We learn that we need a broad team to select this technology; that we need to attend user groups of the system we are considering; that we need to meet current users; that we need to test the system at our site; that the system should be easy to support; that to install the system we need leadership, time, funding, involvement, communication, expertise, testing, training, defined reports, standards, process, etc.; and on and on and on with more generalities. We are NOT told what it is reasonable to expect such a system to do, what features have proved useful, or any other specific information that someone who had actually used such a system might provided.

The sample documents, which were largely from an Indiana University campaign, struck me as examples that I would not want to follow, although I found some useful items.

I have been fundraising for over 8 years, primarily for higher education, and have run 3 successful campaigns, so I thought I knew nearly everything about doing it. This book, however, brought new insights, advice, suggestions and examples on how to do it better.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who is serious about fundraising. I have put it on my recommended reading list for my current office.

I have recommended this book to my fellow church leaders--men and women--of many denominations. Too often churches feel their situations are "different" than those of other nonprofits when it comes to fundraising. On the contrary, the techniques are precisely the same. Church leaders would be well-advised to obtain this book for their church library. It is the bible of capital campaigns for all nonprofits. Valuable details on every aspect of planning as well as identifying, cultivating, and asking prospective volunteers and donors for their help. Get it and use it!

The dialect which popped up over and over in Donal Grant was tricky and difficult. Sometimes one can guess the meaning by the context. "Muckle" of the time it is difficult to do that.
The author does a significant amount of moralizing all through the story, and sometimes his points of doctrine are downright weird! They definitely cannot be called orthodox views by any means.
The story, nevertheless, is filled with intrigue. Somehow that was enough to keep my attention through all several hundred pages of it.

. . . seems to be my favorite. Has a lot of different sermonettes that appeal to me, and truth that has satisfied me when I was searching for truth hungrily. I remember the last chapter particularly. There are some beautiful pictures in this book--I guess you could call it "mystical". In the "scary" parts, I remember Donal's courage; and I admire Donal's boldness in various situations throughout the book. Donal wasn't afraid to respectfully disagree with others on doctrine. This story is vivid in my mind and I love it!

I have just finished this book and I do think it is my favorite one by this author. Be prepared, because it is some 800 pages long, but you are never disappointed either with the story line or the author's spiritual asides which read almost like a devotional. The main thrust of the story is about a young tutor named Donal Grant who leaves home after finishing college and sets out on foot to make his way in the world to a nearby coastal town in Northeastern Scotland. He meets a shoemaker who becomes his spiritual mentor, and finds employment and lodging in the nearby castle. As the story progresses we meet a reclusive, drug addicted uncle, his beautiful but spiritually dull niece, and his spoiled and brash son who is up to all kinds of naughty flirting with the shoemaker's daughter.

The most appealing part of this novel is the element of the supernatural which Mr. MacDonald brings in. There are ghost noises, somnabulisms, secret rooms and passages, murder, scandal, and ghost stories and legends. Ghosts to George MacDonald represent part of the vast region of the Spirit which exists beside and beyond our own, and he never posits their accual existence. They are never a source of evil power or fear because all things exist by the power and will of God.

Get this book, it is well worth the very low price. There are parts (perhaps 15%) which are written in Scotch dialect, but it makes the book that much more interesting that you have to use your brain a little to recognize what is being said.

The text is lucid in its presentation of what is often viewed as a difficult subject.

Starting with no more than a sound understanding of sixth form (high school) Mathematics and Physics, the authors proceed to underpin elementary concepts of electrostatics, simple circuits, and magnetism with the rigour and completeness demanded at University level. New mathematical ideas are introduced gently (so naturally, in fact, that the reader does not feel that (s)he is being asked to learn some new things!) and blended into the key Physical concepts.

The book accelerates through a whole lot of material and tacitly introduces the reader to Maxwell's Equations without calling them so. Only after all of the core physical concepts - Dielectrics, Steady Currents and Magnetic Fields, Ferromagnetism, Electromagnetism/Induction - have been covered, do the authors venture to integrate the mathematics into Maxwell's equations. This emphasis on the Physics (with the Mathematics working merely as a tool) works really well and is central to the readability of this book.

The latter chapters explore Transmission Lines, Electromagnetic Waves (which the mathematically inclined texts like to boast about as solutions of Maxwell's Equations), and the beginnings of Relativistic Electrodynamics.

All in all, an excellent, enjoyable book - highly recommended! Makes Physics fun!

Lastly, I might add that I was one of the "guinea pigs" at Manchester who benefited directly from the materials in this book and others in the Manchester Physics Series.

The text is lucid in its presentation of what is often viewed as a difficult subject.

Starting with no more than a sound understanding of sixth form (high school) Mathematics and Physics, the authors proceed to underpin elementary concepts of electrostatics, simple circuits, and magnetism with the rigour and completeness demanded at University level. New mathematical ideas are introduced gently (so naturally, in fact, that the reader does not feel that (s)he is being asked to learn some new things!) and blended into the key Physical concepts.

The book accelerates through a whole lot of material and tacitly introduces the reader to Maxwell's Equations without calling them so. Only after all of the core physical concepts - Dielectrics, Steady Currents and Magnetic Fields, Ferromagnetism, Electromagnetism/Induction - have been covered, do the authors venture to integrate the mathematics into Maxwell's equations. This emphasis on the Physics (with the Mathematics working merely as a tool) works really well and is central to the readability of this book.

The latter chapters explore Transmission Lines, Electromagnetic Waves (which the mathematically inclined texts like to boast about as solutions of Maxwell's Equations), and the beginnings of Relativistic Electrodynamics.

All in all, an excellent, enjoyable book - highly recommended! Makes Physics fun!

Lastly, I might add that I was one of the "guinea pigs" at Manchester who benefited directly from the materials in this book and others in the Manchester Physics Series.

I had to read this book cover to cover for E.M. class and I found it's layout and presentation very well done. Excelent review of magnetostatics, electrostatics, H & D fields, Maxwell's Eqns, etc. In conjuntion with E.M. Fields and Waves by Lorrain, provides all the necessary texts needed for undergradute courses in E.M.

Not a bad collection, but it's the concept of "Best Gay Erotic Ficiton" that I object to. Does the editor really expect us to believe that fully a quarter of the best gay erotica published last year appeared in just two magazines (InTouch and Indulge) owned by one publisher? Or that one writer (Bob Vickery, who is good) is responsible for a sixth of the best porn? Missing are any of the other topflight queer authors found in, say, Best Gay Erotica or Best American Erotica, and the mass-market magazine source of these stories makes for a certain uniformity of style and narrative approach. A lot of the stories are fun, few are revelations, and if the publisher had subtitled it "Good Stuff from Some of the Stroke Magazines" it would have been more accurate.

This book has a wide variety of stories, ranging from musclebound hunks to pretty boys. A lot of the stories are really good, especially RJ March and Bob Vickery's stories. There are several from each of these guys, and that's a good thing.

This is a fantastic book that lives up to its promise as the best gay men's writing. In particular, stories by T. Hitman who has been regularly featured in most of the big gay 'zines and R. J. March, Bob Vickery, and Grant Foster round out a provocative collection of first-rate writing. Highly recommended.