Product Description
This definitive guide thoroughly explores all aspects of Transact-SQL,a full-featured procedural language used on both Microsoft SQL Serverand Sybase SQL Server systems that dramatically extends the power ofSQL (Structured Query Language). Full of examples, best practices, andreal-world advice, it contains up-to-the-minute information on thelatest versions: Microsoft SQL Server versions 6.5 and 7.0 and Sybaseversion 11.5. The book is divided into six convenient parts. Part I contains anintroduction, an SQL primer, and chapters on language fundamentals,format, and style. Part II describes datatypes and variables, conditionalprocessing, cursors, error handling, temporary objects, transactions, and locking. Part III covers the various types of functions availableto programmers and CASE extensions to the language. Part IV discussesstored procedures and modular design, triggers, views, extended storedprocedures, and BCP. Part V describes code design and maintenance,optimization, tuning, transactions, locking, testing, and debugging.The appendixes summarize system tables and version differences.The enclosed CD-ROM contains an extensive set of examples from thebook and complete programs that illustrate the power of the language. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (101)

Great T-SQl reference when working on older systems
I use this for reference while working on Sybase 11.9.2. It's an excellent in-depth book. Includes basic SQL through procs and cursors to detailed tuning information. Only the index could use some improvement.

"The Bible"
This is the bible for Sybase developer.I actually never finished reading this book cover to cover(tried few times but failed and gave up eventually) due to its rather dry writing style.But, now that I have an odd job of being moribund Sybase developer, I found myself referencing this book time after time.I also have the printout of the official Sybase documentation on Transact-SQL but the examples in this book are much better.

Only complaint I have is, they don't start talking about Stored Procs until later in the book.And, I think most developer learn Transct-SQL language so that they can write the Stored Procedures so the order of the presentation seemed little odd.

Still quite relevant for Sybase developers
Although there aren't too many Sybase databases anymore, quite a few firms (esp. in Finance) have them and if you find yourself working with Sybase I strongly recommend this book. It's been a great. The sections on Error handling (Ch.9), transactions and locking (Ch.11) and built-in Functions (Ch.12) have been invaluable over the years.
A really good book for someone who knows standard SQL (SQL-92) quite well and just needs to know the ins-and-outs of Sybase despite the fact that the books is a number of years old.

Good resource for T-SQL information
I purchased my copy back in 1999 and it is one of my favorite SQL books.I find the information very accurate and relevant to the MS SQL versions (6.5 & 7.0) printed on the cover of the book.I think it was the best SQL book for many years.Since 1999, many books for newer versions of database servers have been published.

For some reason, many people who wrote bad reviews about this book were looking for MS SQL 2000 information -the cover states the versions covered in the book.

There are many newer books that cover MS SQL 2000.One of my favorites is SQL Server 2000 Programming from Robert Vieira.

Good book with easy-to-find answers to your questions
Judging from the other reviews here, people either love this book or they hate it.I love it.This book has proved invaluable to me over the years, and I still reference it on occassion.Whenever I have a question about something, the answer is easy to find.It *is* out of date, as other reviewers have noted, but the majority of information contained within is still valid.

If you're new to T-SQL, I recommend starting with this book. ... Read more

Product Description
“The Great Guskin” (John Lahr, The New Yorker) shares the approach he uses to help actors land roles, develop them, and keep them alive

Harold Guskin is an “acting doctor” whose clients include Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, James Gandolfini, Bridget Fonda, and dozens more. In How to Stop Acting, Guskin reveals the insights and techniques that have worked wonders for beginners as well as stars. Instead of yet another “method,” Guskin offers a strategy based on a radically simple and refreshing idea: that the actor’s work is not to “create a character” but rather to be continually, personally responsive to the text, wherever his impulse takes him, from first read-through to final performance. From this credo derives an entirely new perspective on auditioning and the challenge of developing a role and keeping it fresh, even over hundreds of performances. Drawing on examples from his clients’ work and his own, Guskin presents acting as a constantly evolving exploration rather than as a progression toward a fixed goal. He also offers sound and original advice on adapting to the particular demands of television and film, playing difficult emotional scenes, tackling the Shakespearean and other great roles, and more. His book will find an eager and appreciative audience among novices and established actors alike.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Terrific Guide, Makes Acting Immediately Accessible
This is a terrific book, an entirely different approach to creating a character that makes acting immediately accessible. I read it with a pen in hand, underlining passages and starring sections that were especially important. (A LOT of this book is marked up!) Two years of acting classes had me feeling confused and discouraged.This book made me excited about acting again.

Great Actor's Book!
A good book for actors who have a hard time breaking down a scene the "intellectual' way.Guskin teaches actors how to explore the character and to feel free when doing it to give more life to their performances and to be in "the moment".This book is great if you are interested in learning different techniques and new skills!

Nothing beats "Unknown" acting
The real value in this book is in creating the value of acting from an unknown space, from a place where no preconceived ideas form the basis of the character being portrayed.This is essential for true artistry in performance because ONLY coming from an unknown space confers real creativity like nothing else can.An actor feeling safely ensconced in excessive theory/technique(i.e., in trying to "figure out" the character) does himself or herself a disservice.

Acting Book Gem
Finding a good acting book is tricky. I got this book from my local library, it was one of the only few acting books they had. The title and front cover made me skeptical, I thought it would be some acting failure/egotist with his stupid made up technique, but this book thoroughly surprised me. Best book on acting I've ever read, I don't know why I'd never heard of it before. It's simple, sound, practical and it works. He offers a way of approaching material that is very freeing for the actor. I like it also because it doesn't intend to be a crutch to an actor which a book on acting shouldn't be. It offers a passage way to your own discovery, because that's the work of the actor, the exploration and discovery which can't be taught. This book is a great comfort and makes you want to act more. It's short and sweet and really helpful. Read it.

Concise and Effective
Harold Guskin's approach to acting is refreshingly simple, unique and -- I am happily discovering -- effective.I have completed three years of solid acting training in well-known techniques.Each of those techniques has been helpful to me as an actor; however, none of them produced the kind of freedom and excitement I find in applying Guskin's method. Thank you, Mr. Guskin. ... Read more

Product Description

Topics covered: Structured Query Language (SQL), as implemented in Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL, as well as in ANSI standard SQL (SQL92 and SQL99). After an introduction to data types and relational database fundamentals (the latter is not emphasized), the authors document SQL statements and functions, one by one and alphabetically. They take care to point out differences among the four implementations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

Disappointing
I purchased this book because I work with several different database platforms, and I wanted a thorough reference that covered the syntax differences between platforms.That seems to be exactly what this book intends to be.Unfortunately, while it does do a good job with what it covers, there are topics that are not covered, with no indication that anything is missing.For example, common table expressions (WITH clauses in SELECT statements), which are included in the SQL-99 standard and have been supported by DB2 for quite a while, are not even mentioned.I have the second edition, and perhaps common table expressions have been added in the third edition (since SQL Server, Oracle, and PostgreSQL now support them, too), but that edition is not useful for me because DB2 coverage has been inexplicably removed.So, while this is still a useful book, it's not up to the usual high standards of O'Reilly's Nutshell series.

Good, for the right reader
That reader wants to use every bell and whistle available, to the the absolute max that the query language has to offer. That reader, however, is dismally aware that different SQL implementations offer different visions of what "the max" is. In order to meet that reader's needs, this book gives the finest level of detail in describing and comparing four commonly used systems. It shows how they differ from each other and from the vendor-neutral standard they hold as a common base. Whether your goal is to embrace or avoid the unique features of each, this presents the experienced SQL-er with their full feature set.

But, if you're trying to learn SQL (or, like me, re-learn it after many years away), this might not meet your needs. It presumes complete mastery of the basics, rather than spelling them out and showing how they work. Decide what you want from an SQL book. This meets some needs extraordinarily well, but really doesn't address others - including mine.

-- wiredweird

Helpful SQL guide regardless of DB vendor
I have a soft spot in my heart for O'Reilly Media. I was first introduced to O'Reilly, aka "the animal books" many years ago in college. I believe my first O'Reilly book was Unix in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition. It still occupies a space on my bookshelf. Next to it is Learning the Korn Shell (2nd Edition). Later, O'Reilly moved beyond it's traditional Unix and C into Oracle books. I really appreciated Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide (Definitive Guides), when using SQL*Plus as a reporting tool (way back in 1995). Recently, I received a review copy of SQL in a Nutshell, Third Edition.

This is a reference books, meaning that you typically flip to the part you need at the moment as opposed to reading from cover to cover. And the book is "SQL in a Nutshell", not "mySQL in a Nutshell", "Oracle in a Nutshell", etc. So the book covers ANSI SQL2003 syntax (also known as SQL3), MySQL version 5.1, Oracle Database 11g, PostgreSQL version 8.2.1 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008. One of the changes since the second edition is a "reduced footprint", which means that Sybase Adaptive Server and IBM DB2 UDB have been dumped from the discussion. I'm not surprised about Sybase. But I was a bit puzzled why IBM DB2 was omitted, although I'm sure O'Reilly knows who their audience is.

The book is organized by topic according to the SQL3 standard as opposed to each database vendor having their own slightly redundant section. Although some might consider the first couple of chapters fluff or filler, I found them interesting, especially since my education was electrical engineering rather than computer science. Chapter one is entitled SQL History and Implementations and covers some academic database terminology, including Codd's Twelve Principles of Relational Databases. Chapter two is entitled Foundational Concepts and reviews SQL2003 basics and sets the stage for Chapter three, which is the raison d'etre for the book: the SQL Statement Command Reference.

The book concludes with Chapter four, SQL Functions. I am frequently burned by moving amongst different database platforms. Because the book is organized by function rather than vendor, it's a helpful presentation to understand which functions are common across platforms (although most have options and variations). Chapter four also includes, by vendor, all of the nonstandard functions. I began working with Oracle 7 in 1993 and assumed that everything I was learning was "standard SQL" - until I was on a SQL Server 6.5 project and wondered what happened to Oracle favorites like DECODE and NVL. Fortunately, most databases (including Oracle) now include a more unified CASE statement to use instead of DECODE. And COALESCE is a more flexible version of NVL, although I was surprised to see it is not part of the SQL standard, despite support from multiple vendors.

This book is a handy reference and much easier to carry than a stack of books for each database vendor.

Excellent reference for the database user
I'm not a DBA, and I don't pretend to be one.I'm a C++ programmer and the only time I care about SQL is when I'm trying to coerce some database to give up the information I need.As I don't develop on an internet connected machine, I'm constantly running to the Google Gods to answer my SQL questions.But no more!This book keeps me in front of my dev machine where I belong.It has just the right level of detail.I find it very akin to a man page level of detail, which is perfect for my needs.It also presents SQL statements for various implementations; the MySQL and Postgres inclusion is key!Overall, it makes an excellent reference.I don't think you'd be able to learn the language or discover advanced techniques from it though.

Found something missing, what is missing that I don't know about?
I'm studying SQL intensively for work and needed an up-to-date reference, so bought this book, relying on the O'Reilly reputation for good books.

As soon as I got it I looked up something I had just used at work for the first time: The WITH clause. (Or statement, I don't know.)

It wasn't in the alphabetical list of "commands", and didn't show up in the index.The word "WITH" does show up in the lists of reserved words in the Appendix.

Is it just my bad luck that the very first thing I looked up - no kidding! the first thing! - was missing from this book?This book is large enough to be encyclopedic, and is organized like an encyclopedia, yet - if this thing that I know about is missing, what is missing that I don't know about but would have wanted to learn from this book? ... Read more

Product Description
'Oracle's Cooperative Development Environment' provides a comprehensive examination of all the programming tools in Oracle's new Cooperative Development Environment (CDE).

This unique book explores the capabilities of the CDE and details the creation of powerful, GUI-based, client-server and centralized information systems.Experts and novices alike will acquire the skills necessary to quickly and easily complete the most complex information management projects.

Examines cutting edge technology that has made Oracle the most widely-used relational database management system.
Teaches how to instantly access all the information needed to craft an application using SQL, Oracle Forms, Oracle Reports, Oracle Graphics, and Oracle Book.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo!
Well researched and well presented.A must read for all!

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo!
Well researched and well presented.A must read for all! ... Read more

Product Description
With detailed information for developers, designers and administrators, this book shows users how to install and set up SQL Server painlessly. Security, backup and recovery isues are fully explained. It demystifies management, monitoring, replication and debugging. All the major front end tools are discussed--VB, Foxpro, Delphi, Access and SQL. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

SQL Server 6.5 Admin is underrated
Of course there are many books in the market, and this one is not the most updated since SQL 7.0 is right around the corner, but I still think this book is a great tool for SQL developers and admins. The author assumedreaders have solid knowledge of T-SQL programming and goes straight toinstallation.Not too flashy but that leads to datatypes, devices,backups, replication, security, transactions, locks and others, NO FLASH,JUST PLAIN GOOD ADVICES AND EXPLANATION.

There are so many good hints andclues throughout the book, and all that should have be highlighted...but ifpublisher did that then the whole book would be highlighted.

I am justhoping that a SQL 7 is in the works by the team of SQL 6.5 admin

Excellant for MS SQL Server DBA's
I was lucky to have Sharon Dooley in a Learning Tree class and she really knows her stuff.This book has some great articles on tuning SQL Server (good rules-of-thumb) as well as some good troubleshooting techniques.As a SQL Server DBA, this is a must have book ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

20% Good information, 80% infomercial
This book brings some good information and examples about Benchmarking andsome methods for capacity planning. It is shame that too much of it feels like an infomercial for the Quest Benchmarking (and others) Software. The book even comes with a CD with the Software (demo version).
Given price and the names of participants of this book I really expected more than a white-paper worth of information on it. ... Read more

Product Description

Pro SQL Server 2005 Database Design and Optimization will teach you effective strategies for designing proper databases. It covers everything from how to gather business requirements to logical data modeling and normalization. It then shows you how to implement your design on SQL Server 2005.

Customer Reviews (9)

Great content but tons of printing errors
I have no idea if I just somehow got a screwed up copy of the book, but it has a ridiculous number of errors. On the first page of chapter 3, there is a big blank spot with a copyright at the bottom for Dilbert. And then in the intro text he references the comic that is supposed to be there. How in the world did that happen???

Even worse are the errors that deal with actual DB design. On p. 49, the big heading near the bottom of the page is "Optional Identifying Relationship," which is impossible in DB theory (and practice). So I stared at that for a second and read the text below the heading and couldn't get it to add up. But then on the very next page there is "Note: You might be wondering why there is not an optional identifying relationship..." and he explains the reasons they can't exist. So the heading was a misprint! It was supposed to say "Optional NON-Identifying Relationship." Gah! That's a really bad misprint or really bad editing! And I've run into probably at least 10 errors like this (though not as bad) in the first 100 pages of the book. That's bad!

I really hope it's the case that I just got some really strange copy or pre-edited version (I got the book as a hand-me-down), because the content in general I like. I'm going to go buy the 2008 version and hope for the best, because I can't stand reading the whole book being skeptical and constantly looking out for errors.

Optimization is more than just adding an Index
Pro SQL Server 2005 Database Design and Optimization covers the reason behind optimizations and the side effects of the options given.Rather than statements such as 'add an index', the author explains when indexes can help with database optimization and when they can have an adverse effect.

SQL optimization is not a simple `do this...' and get results task and the authors cover thought and testing needed to optimize a database as well as stating why/when the suggestions may or may not show improvements.

Basic to medium level coverage of best SQL DB design for performance
This book is catered to those who have only rudimentrary knowledge of SQL database design. If you not certain what the 3 normal forms of normalizations are, then this book is for you.

If you, however, have a fairly good grasp of database design and want to have a deeper understanding of complex database designs of at least 500 tables or more, then this book leaves a lot wanting. For experts this book is not.

The best, and the most advanced chapters, were "coding for concurrency" and "table structure and indexing", which explain, in good detail, how to make a database less prone to locking contention and how to increase its performance.

As with many books on database designs, I felt many of the concepts, such as 3 normal forms, were not explained particularly well. In fairness to to the authors, it is not easy to explain the 3 normal forms in concise and easy to understand logical language.

I would recommend this book for beginners. Not so much to the mid-level database designers and above.

Great Book, Easy Read
I'll keep it short and simple, it's worth the price. It will allow you to make the jump from Application Developer to DBA.

Great instructional book
What can I say? This book gives me exactly what I needed. I'm a self-taught DB guy and this book filled in a lot of holes in knowledge. ... Read more

Product Description
In a world where intellectual property (IP) lies at the center of the modern company's economic success or failure, Rivette and Kline suggest that IP management must become a core competence of the enterprise. Such an approach will require a radical break from the way corporate America has historically treated intellectual property. For most of this century, patents were not seen as profit-generating assets, but rather as cost centers of dubious value. Accordingly, intellectual property issues have usually been handled as a legal function, separate from business strategy. But now CEOs and other senior executives need to become knowledgeable about IP. They will have to think about intellectual property as a major lever of value creation for their companies.

Rembrandts in the Attic shows how to utilize intellectual property as both a corporate asset and a strategic business tool to enhance the commercial success of the enterprise. Rivette and Kline present case studies of companies, such as IBM, Avery Dennison, Xerox, Lucent, Gillette, Dell, Texas Instruments, and Hitachi, which have deployed their patents as competitive weapons to capture and defend market share, outflank and out-market rivals, increase R & D effectiveness, and achieve greater results in mergers and acquisitions and joint venture activities.

The book offers tools and techniques to help companies utilize their intellectual property.The authors also devote a chapter to the so-called Internet Patent Wars-the controversy surrounding recent Patent and Trademark Office decisions to grant patents for business models, particularly in the e-commerce arena--and the rise of the Open Source Code movement and the challenges and opportunities presented by alternative IP practices.Amazon.com Review
If you think patents are just about protecting inventions suchas the film projector, you're missing the big picture. Now thatideas can be protected--for example, Priceline.com's businessmodel--patents can be wielded to intimidate competitors, uncover theirstrategies, capture market segments, and, for many companies, generatemillions in licensing revenues. Whether patented ideas will ultimatelyhelp or hinder innovation is still under debate (see Owning theFuture). In Rembrandts in the Attic, however, authorsKevin Rivette and David Kline get down to business, offering practicaladvice for competing in today's intellectual property arena.

Their advice ranges from the simple to the sublime. First, theysuggest, take stock of the patents you already own. Many companies aresitting on unused patents that could be worth millions. For example,IBM licensed its unused patents in 1990, and saw its royalties jumpfrom $30 million a year to more than $1 billion in 1999, providingover one-ninth of its yearly pretax profits. And if you can't findbuyers for your unused patents, then look for companies that areinfringing upon them--companies that might owe you a piece of theirprofits. Rivette and Kline offer "patent mining" techniques to spotsuch potential infringers that can also reveal where your competitorsare headed and help you get there before they do. Overall,Rembrandts in the Attic is a crafty and practical guide forcompanies that may have untapped riches in storage. --DemianMcLean ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Forced to read in a 2008!!! MBA Class
It's the end of 2008 and this is the second "old" book assigned for reading in an MBA class.The other one had "Future" in the title and was also written in 2000/2001 time frame.My choice of institutions is now in question given their assigned reading.

This book seemed like an Ad for the author's consulting.It was inspiring in one sense.If I ever write a book, I will be sure to have a good writer co-author it so that my reader doesn't suffer through bad writing.

As a small business person, I was given no insight into how to start performing the prescribed techniques other than to contact my local patent attorney or the author.

Maybe this would have been interesting to me in 2000.But the technology he mentioned has changed substantially since the writing.I used to work in Legal IT in an IP company and vendors of IP software would fly out at a moment's notice if you so much as showed interest in their product.So I've seen newer versions of most of the software he is describing.

Unless you work for a corporate giant in the executive suites or have deep pockets, this book is about as interesting as how to drill for diamonds, another sport I'll never pursue.

One saving grace about the class is I was also assigned to read the book The Wisdom of Crowds, which was delightful, useful, well-written, and intriguing.

My instructor must get a cut of this book's sales.

Must Reading for Entrepreneurs, Inventors, and Managers
Spellbinding. I laughed. I wept. How could Xerox PARC miss a $500,000,000 patent opportunity in the graphical user interface? Easy, they didn't recognize that someone else might have a use for something they had no use for. Yes, I laughed and I cried.

A book on why you should have an IP strategy
This well written book will convince you that an IP strategy is important. If you have some "entry-level" understanding of the strategic concepts related to IP, this book will be of little help. The concepts presented are of interest but they are presented from a superficial perspective. For instance, the concept of IP map is interesting and is accessible from one of the author's consulting firm...

Rembrandts and Understanding the New Economy
I would like to put Rembrandts into the context in which it was created.Rembrandts was conceived and co-authored by my friend and business partner of the past 15 years, Kevin Rivette.We co-founded Aurigin Systems,Inc., formerly SmartPatents, Inc., in 1992 to make it easier for people working with patents to do their work.From this beginning Aurigin and, particularly, Rembrandts, have helped transform the way intellectual property(IP) is viewed in the business community. Historically, IP was viewed strictly as a legal right, but Rembrandts shows why, in a knowledge-based economy, IP rights are one of the most fundamental business assets, that often determines the success or failure of an enterprise.Understanding the fundamental importance of IP and why it needs to be strategically managed are the underpinnings of Rembrandts.Using the book as a guide post and Aurigin's innovation asset management solutions, allows companies to: 1) understand the IP rights they own; 2) visualize how those rights fit into the competitive landscape with others' IP; 3) help determine where to place their future R&D efforts; and 4)help decide how to strategically leverage their IP rights to help determine their new business directions, increase return on investment and, ultimately, increase shareholder value.The purpose of Rembrandts was not to set forth a cookbook of how to manage IP.Rather, the book was intended to help CEOs and other business, accounting and legal professionals understand the fundamental function and purpose of IP as a highly protectable and leverageable business asset in today's economy, whether in an old-economy or a new-economy company.I believe the book very successfully achieves that purpose in a highly engaging and easy-to-read style, with many real world examples and interviews.

Rembrandts will stand the test of time and, in hindsight, it will become a business school primer on the strategic business function of IP, as well as identifying IP as one of the critical elements in the shaping of the new global economy. I highly commend Rembrandts to any business executive, entrepreneur, accountant, economist, government official, lawyer, business consultant, business school professor or student of the business world trying to understand and operate in the new knowledge-based, global economy.

Patents as a form of token
A fine book written by good story tellers. It described how patents can be used as an asset, or even as a kind of currency, an exchange token, but itlacks depth.

I am interested in Apple's failure to manage its IP. WhileXerox was forced to license their photocopy technologies, Apple was doomedbecause they failed to license their Macintosh user interface to otherdevelopers. They have always been a hardware company. They sellunderpowered and overpriced plastic cases with miserable circuits. Theycould have license the look-and-feel to all system builders, and let theMacintosh UI become a _de facto_ standard, but they haven't. While theywere making easy money, Microsoft's Windows dominates the market, fewpeople ever know how fun it could be to use a well-designed interface.Nobody follows Macintosh interface today.

And now they have to abandontheir original look-and-feel to be more Windows-like (from OS 8). Andfinally they have to migrate to a mixture of Windows and NeXT when OS Xfinally ships in the future (hopefully). It is absolutely a bad move not tolet others share your IP, but this book did not talk about it.

As IPbecomes more valuable, many may improperly follow other people's advise toclosely guard their IP. As suggested in this book, IP can worth a lot. Adead company can make huge profit from selling their patents. However, ifbadly managed, your IP can be your worst burden.

This book really worthsthe money. But if it's worthy of your time, that's up to you to judge. ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! John Marwood Cleese is an Academy Award-nominated English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer who is known for being a member of Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different, Holy Grail, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life. Cleese co-wrote and starred in, with first wife Connie Booth, the British sitcom Fawlty Towers. Later, he co-starred with Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and former Python colleague Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures, and has made significant appearances in many films, including two James Bond films (The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day), two Harry Potter films (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets), and two Shrek films (Shrek 2 and Shrek 3). In Britain, he is also known for co-founding (with Yes Minister writer Antony Jay) the Video Arts production company, responsible for making training films. ... Read more

Product Description
female mag ... Read more

Product Description
The Classical Music Experience features the work offorty-two composers and spans more than 450 years of classical musichistory. The book also includes two audio CDs of excerpts from theworks of each of the composers, and a guide on what to listen for ineach piece.

Dr. Jacobson takes the reader on a musical journey from thefifteenth-century sacred chants of Italian composer GiovanniPalestrina to the 1950s jazz- and Latin-inflected rhythms of LeonardBernstein’s West Side Story Suite. Along the way, the reader willdiscover the boyhood genius of Mozart, the virulent anti-Semitism andmusical brilliance of Wagner, the revolutionary concepts of Schoenbergand the travails of Shostokovich in his quest to write music thatreflected the soul of Stalinist Russia. Other composers include the"Three Bs"—Bach, Beethoven and Brahms—as well as lesser-knowncomposers like Elgar, Ives and Bruch.

Written in an easy-to-read, accessible style, The Classical MusicExperience is the perfect guide to classical music appreciation foranyone who loves music, but has yet to truly experience the sheer joyand drama of classical composition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Great book!
Love this book. Great for every age. Expose your children to classical music and read about the author as you listen.

It's a good start...
(I'm always a little suspicious when an item- after getting all four and five star ratings- suddenly gets an uninterrupted string of one star reviews.)

As a young musician myself, I can tell you this is a wonderful book for the lay person to approach music. It avoids talking about the music theory of pieces (trust me, if you're a non-musician, this is a very good thing), and gives a good (if brief) look at the lives of composers. I rather welcomed the introduction of the authors knowledge of surgery and medicine when he brought it up- I enjoy hearing about how my favorite composer died.

If you're someone who really likes trivia of all sorts, this is a great book. I wouldn't study for an exam by it, but it is a high quality coffee table or nightstand reader.

I didn't care for it, either.
Since we seem to be piling on this poor fellow, I thought this to be the most bizarre publication I have seen in years. I agree that the author is entirely too full of himself, even to the point that the purpose of the book seems to be to glorify himself, rather than to address the purported subject of the book.

Aside from that, the approach of the book seems so scatterbrained that a lot of what he says doesen't mean much unless you already know the subject matter pretty well. It's just too much of a fact here and a fact there thrown in among the author's obvious prejudices about who you will enjoy listening to and who you will not. I may not be as big a fan of the Goulding book as someone else here who has recommended it, but it is much better written, organised and filled with useful information. In fact, much of the content of the Jacobson book is so sketchy that it will make a lot more sense if you read something like Goulding first.

On the other hand, if you have already read Goulding or the like, you probably don't need this book anyway, unless you just like to hear authors talk of themselves.

Keep your money
I've worked in public radio long enough to have read a number of these types of books regarding which this author rather naively maintains his to be the first of it's kind. The only remarkable thing about this work is that the author has rendered such a poorly written attempt, yet managed to remain so full of himself. Read the Goulding book, instead.

Great place to start if you are new to classical music
Taking full advantage of the ability to bind a CD into a book, The Classical Music Experience offers and opportunity to read about classical composers and listen to appropriate example of their works.The book portion covers all the composers that you would expect in a work on classical music.These include Palestrina, Bach, Handel, Hayden, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Chopin, Schumann, Strauss, Liszt, Wagner, Smetana, Bruckner, Brahms, Bizet, Bruch, Musorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Grieg, Rimsky-Korsakov, Elgar, Mahler, Debussy, Strauss, Sibelius, Vaughan, Schoenberg, Ives, Ravel, Orff, Bartok, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Gershwin, Poulenc, Copland, Shostakovich, and Bernstein.

For each composer the author gives information on their history, most important pieces, and an analysis of their work as well as several examples on the CD.Each time they are discussing a track on the CD it is clearly identified as such in the text and the specific CD and track listed so you can easily find it and listen while reading that section.

This is as fine of an introduction to the world as classical music as you are likely to find anywhere.A thoroughly enjoyable education in classical music,
The Classical Music Experience is highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

Learn effective and scalable database design techniques in a SQL Server environment. Pro SQL Server 2008 Relational Database Design and Implementation covers everything from design logic that business users will understand all the way to the physical implementation of the design in a SQL Server database. Grounded in best practices and a solid understanding of the underlying theory, authors Louis Davidson, Kevin Kline, Scott Klein, and Kurt Windisch show how to “get it right” in SQL Server database design and lay a solid groundwork for the future use of valuable business data.

• Solid foundation in best practices and relational theory
• Maximize SQL Server features to enhance security, performance, scalability
• Thorough treatment from conceptual design to an effective, physical implementation

Customer Reviews (9)

Full of mistakes
Pro SQL Server 2008

The title sounded very interesting to me & I was excited to learn a lot about SQL Server 2008. A large part of the book is about relational database design, which fair enough, hasn't really changed much and is mostly database independant. Hence the first part of the book has nothing much todo with SQL Server 2008.

For me, who's been working with database for a few years & I really wanted to improve my knowledge using this book. Whilst reading the book very carefully, what frustrated me the most, were the many many mistakes. Typos, content not making sense, incomplete updates from the previous edition, examples not working. Just so many mistakes on almost every page. If I received $10 for each mistake I found, I would make a small fortune.

A large part of the book is just full of references to other books to learn more about topics. There is truly very little SQL Server 2008 specific. Maybe nothing much changed or maybe the other was just too lazy to create new examples. Also, the sentences are often written in a way, which requires reading them 3 times before you understand what he means.

For such an expensive book & simple update from the last book --- very disappointing. Lots of room for improvement.

Refreshing read on database design
I had not read a book covering database design since Uni, so this was a really good refresher.This was not a dull read - with a very good balance between technical detail and real world scenarios.
The author's experience comes through very well, lending credibility to the examples in the text. This book builds a conceptual framework for the analysis and design of databases in systems architecture. In particular, he does a great job of describing the normalization process, and its importance to the systems development lifecycle.
There is a lot of SQL Server 2008 content, from TSQL and indexing, through to security and administration features. A very good resource, which has increased the depth of my knowledge in this area.
I highly recommend this book to anyone learning, or expanding their knowledge of designing databases.

Great for non professional programmer
I have some experience in database and web desinging as a hobby. As a non professional programmer, I can say this book was a real help guide for me in understanding relational database in general and more specifically on SQL 2008.

Going deep with their normalization view and indexes issues, they could help me in re-designing my database in a different way (better way as I beleive).

I don't know about professional programmers or those who have academic degrees in computer or programming field; for me, it was a great reference for me to use whenever I need to build a new database.

Good point was reflecting their experience in presenting the materials which give you the feeling that you really like the authors; especially Louise.

Bad point from my side as a non professional programmer is some chapters were dificult. However, re-reading could solve this problem for me.

I really like it. Not saying how much it was helpful to me... Buying so much books in the field of programming and we designing, I felt this is a real full-of-information book written by real experts..

I hope the author can publish supplementary matarial to go deeper in some other issues like more deep example especially those related to web desinging

Nice introductory book
This was the first book I got from SQL Server 2008. It's interesting how all the topics are presented because it takes you from very simple items like database fundamentals to way more complex ones like security and concurrency.

The good thing about it is that it's easy. If you're starting with SQL Server 2008 then this is the book for you. It will even explain the Codd's Rules, amazing.

The bad thing is that is not a book for experts. In any case, if you're an expert, you should be writing a book, not reading it.

Testing doesn't warrant a mention?
In this age of TDD (Test Driven Design) I was interested to see what he would say about testing as it relates to the implementation of database designs. Unfortunately it doesn't even get touched on. Look up "testing" in the index. Not there. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) on March 17, 1997. The length of the article is 634 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Criaturas feroces.(TT: Fierce Creatures)
Author: Robert Young
Publication: Epoca (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 17, 1997
Publisher: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
Issue: n629Page: p72(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Almost perfect
This remains one of my favorite books on SQL.I have all three editions and have used the second one almost daily.It is particularly valuable if you are having to deal with more than one "flavor" of SQL since it covers DB2, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server.

One of my pet peeves with the earlier editions (1st and 2nd) was the fact that the platform specific sections were not easily identifiable.The specific platform was only identified at the beginning of a section, so you had to page back to the beginning of the section to see which platform was being discussed.Now, in the 3rd edition, most platform specific pages have a page header like "SELECT > Oracle" or "SELECT > SQL Server" when that page is platform specific.Unfortunately, this pattern was not carried into the chapter which covers functions.

The latest edition also seems a little light on the coverage of the newest software editions and their features.Most of my work is with SQL Server, so I can only really comment on that.

I also would have liked to have seen a bit more coverage of PIVOT, a handy syntactical shortcut in SQL Server for creating pivoted output.The syntax can be tricky and the discussion of it is sparse; even in Microsoft's BOL (books on line).

I hope that these minor flaws will be remedied in a future edition.

Even so, I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Misleading title. The book is not about Alexander Technique.
Although the book carries the title "Alexander Technique" it does not teach it. The authors emphasize throughout their book, that the Alexander Technique can be learned only with the help of specially trained teachers and not by reading a book. So, instead of Alexander's technique, the authors offer their own set of exercises, called Leibowitz Procedures. According to the authors, these procedures help you learn to observe yourself in motion, but they are not identical with Alexander Technique. A few pencil drawings accompany extensive descriptions but unless you know what instructions such as "let your neck be free and your legs release away from the torso" mean, they are not too useful. ... Read more