And Then Came Ford

Book Description

1929. Three giants set the stage for Henry Ford. In 1864, the open-hearth process was developed and the modern age of steel began. In 1865, the first short stretch of pipeline destined to fuel a parade of twenty million motor cars was laid in the valley of the Allegheny River. And in 1869, two sawed-off locomotives faced each other on a ridge in Utah while the nation waited, the last spike was driven, and word went forth by telegraph that a continent has been spanned with iron rails. Steel, oil and transportation: these were the giants who set the stage for Henry Ford. Illustrated.

Average customer rating:

Then Came Ford
Charles Merz
Manufacturer: DOUBLEDAY DORAN & CO INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SMQ5N6

Average customer rating:

And Then Came Ford
Henry) Merz, Charles Ford
Manufacturer: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K5R5V2

Average customer rating:

And Then Came Ford.
Charles. Merz
Manufacturer: Doubleday, Doran, & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NXQX6E

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely Brilliant.......2003-09-17

I was unsure of what to expect from this book. Most sports autobiographies are ghost written, but this book has no ghost writing credit and was actually Neil Back's own work.

The only other books of this nature I had to compare to "Size Doesn't Matter" is Mick Foley's pro wrestling autobiography "Have a Nice Day" and it's followup "Foley is Good." (Neither of these were ghost written either.. a fact he spends about 2 chapters discussing in his second book.) Other than that, I've never read a sports autobiography of any kind.

Now, Rugby and Pro Wrestling are sports that are miles apart. Some argue Pro Wrestling isn't a sport, but I won't even get into that here. Foley's two books are genius, no doubt. Neil Back is at that level as well.

The book starts out at his birth, as is most logical. For the first 2 or 3 chapters, he jumps between time periods quite quickly, and that is a bit disconcerting. He's talkign about when he was 5 and participating in his first Rugby match and then is suddenly talking about a British Lions tour, and is then back to when he was 5. This settles down quickly, though, and the temporal flow becomes much better.

You need to know a bit about Rugby to truly appreciate this book, as he doesn't explain many terms at all, and doesn't really explain the importance of positions. But it doesn't matter that much.. it makes it a little bit less confusing if you know the difference between a Flanker, Winger and Hooker, though.

He progresses through his life to right up after the disappointing British Lions tour of Australia in 2001. Well written the whole way. The only gripe I have is that Neil uses too much British jargon. He gives everyone nicknames.. Jonno, Lol, Robbo, Hilly, Catty, Backy (referring to himself), Deanno and so on. Honestly, by the end of the book, I had forgotten who "Deanno" was and had to go back thru the earlier parts of the book in an attempt to find out. He also makes references to british celebrities, which totally goes over my head... but I can't really dock him for that, as this book was more intended for a British audience, I think.

Overall, if you're a Rugby fan.. even if you don't like English Rugby.. this book is definately one to get.

Book Description

In transcending territorial boundaries, satellite television has the potential to liberate viewers from government controls on national media. Why in the Middle East has this potential liberation yet to be fully realized? This book explores the development through the 21st century of cross-border television in the region, exploring issues at the heart of the international political economy of communication.

Customer Reviews:

Seminal piece of work.......2004-01-14

If Satellite Realms merely documented transnational broadcasting in the Middle East, and the government policies-running fast to catch up with dizzying technological changes-this would be an invaluable addition to any personal library. But Naomi Sakr goes further. She weaves a tapestry that includes regional cultural differences, current sociology, at times quirky personalities while gently needling regional governments to reconsider policies that not only limit broadcasting potentials but human rights as well.

However, timing in life-and publishing-is everything as, sadly, Sakr has discovered.

While Satellite Realms takes readers through the labyrinth of political intrigues, petty differences, colorful characters and erratic transnational broadcasting policies, its strength-a static view of Middle East broadcasting in early 2001-is also its weakness. Alas, the book hit the shelves roughly the same time those three airliners hit the World Center and Pentagon, changing public perception in the West of Middle East broadcasting and spawning a spate of articles and books on the relevance and irreverence of Al-Jazeera TV. The Qatar-based channel (which broadcasts over Egypt's Nilesat) was catapulted into the West's public consciousness in the wake of September 11, 2001, erroneously tagged "the voice of Usama bin Laden" because its reporters for several months were the only ones talking to Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Yet you read none of this in the book, which was printed several months before the attacks on America, the ultimate "propaganda of the deed." The reader is slightly misdirected by the cover art, which shows a partial televised picture of bin Laden, who merits a single, brief paragraph in the book. Al-Qaeda is not mentioned at all.

Though stories about Al-Jazeera, which started in 1996, is a thread woven throughout the tapestry. However, the most important stories occurred after the book went to press, and this will be fascinating stuff for a refreshed version of Satellite Realms.

This timing gap-publication shortly before 9/11 would explain the paucity of reviews of this significant book, which should appeal to most students of transnational broadcasting, political communications, Middle East social development policies, and Middle East broadcasting in general, and general readers wanting to "get a handle" on Middle East broadcasting organizations and programming goals.

We must await the second edition to see whether Arab broadcasting has permanently changed, as she hinted might happen later rather than sooner. Since September 2001, timetables seem to have kicked into high gear.

Even without the update, which is necessary given the events of the second intifada, the "war on terrorism," as well as rumors of war and regime change in Iraq, this work is necessary and significant as a primer on transnational broadcasting in the Middle East, and should be required supplemental reading for any college course studying transnational broadcasting.

In her chapter, "Global Civil Society? NGO Influences on Transnational Broadcasting," Sakr devotes considerable space reviewing the case of jailed AUC sociology professor Saad Eddin Ibrahim in the context of a clash of wills between authoritarian governments and non-governmental organizations concerned with modernity and democracy. The ailing Ibrahim is a cause célèbre in the U.S. and Europe, whose union has nominated him for the Sakharov Prize despite his seven-year sentence for embezzling euros, which European Union auditors have refuted.

Sakr obviously feels strongly that development of transnational broadcasting must contain elements of democratic civil society, which she calls "offshore democracy."

In a chapter titled "Missing Links," the author details the struggle of nations in the Middle East and North Africa region to privatize their clumsy, heavy-handed, dull and uninspiring broadcasting corporations. She echoes the common complaint of broadcasters about erratic government policies regarding content, and the dearth of transparent and authoritative market research on such important information as the number of television and satellite dishes in the region and which transnational programs are being watched by whom-the kind of information that would attract lucrative transnational advertising accounts. Though she quotes experts as saying Egypt has "no clue" about the number of satellite dishes in the country, some semi-official sources have put the number at 1.4 million and growing-but that speculation has just come out.

Sakr, like most scholars in the MENA region, struggles with the lack of good data throughout, relying on United Nations Development Programme reports, outdated government documents, and her own interviews with cognoscenti in the region. Even though the data might be outdated, it is the best she-or other academics-can find. She does the best with what she has, and as a result the reader is not crushed under the weight of charts, tables and graphs that often muddy understanding.

She touches only briefly on the "free zone fad" that allows publishers and broadcasters to trade censorship for a tax-free status, a giant loophole most media in Egypt, for example, willingly jump through. These are called collectively the "Cyprus Press," though most publishers have never set foot on that island and might even be chartered in the Bahamas, Panama, or any number of tax havens around the world.

In "Text and Context: Satellite Channels in a Changing Environment," the author writes wonderfully about the social problems facing the region: a growing under-18 population, gender inequalities, economic disparities between elites and a huge, under-educated population that lives on less than US$2 a day.

In other chapters she tackles ownership issues, including global media players and consolidations; international and regional regulations of broadcasting satellites; and the potential of transnational broadcasting in the Middle East, an intriguing offering that suggests Arab broadcasting might be developing independent of global media and could well be a distinct type.

A visiting lecturer at the School of Communication and Creative Industries at the University of Westminster in London, Sakr writes in a style that is decidedly unacademic-which means you can read and understand what she is trying to say the first time through, which makes this tome not only valuable but an enjoyable read.

Book Description

This book has not been authorized by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or anyone associated with the Harry Potter books or movies.

From Azkaban to zombies, every aspect of the enthralling universe in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is explained, expanded, and celebrated in this literary guidebook for Muggles (humans who are often not aware of the magical world that witches and wizards inhabit). Characters, creatures, locations, and objects in the series are explored, including the magicians' school Hogwarts, the sport of Quidditch, and the practitioners of the dark arts. Enthusiasts of the series will find supplementary information on the historical roots of the symbolism and mythology used in the series, how the books and movies compare, and creative ideas for throwing a Harry Potter–themed party.

Customer Reviews:

A Muggle's Guide to the Wizarding World.......2006-06-09

This book was very helpful to me. When I wanted to look up something about harry potter, All I had to do was look it up in here. I would not have to go skimming through the entire book for acceptance letters or supply lists, and i also would not have to circle every student name in the entire book to create a list of all the Hogwarts students. I love it!

Not for somebody who is obsessed with Harry Potter.......2005-05-09

My friend and I who aer obsessed with Harry Potter decided to buy this book when we were having withdrawl symptoms. We thought it would be great read other predictions as well as seeing what other people think the books mean. Unfortuantly the book did not meet our expectations. There were many mistakes and they also wouldn't discuss what happens at the end of each book and therefore didnt' discuss the books in much depth. I think that if you are obsessed with Harry Potter like me, this book isn't for you.

Absolutely Recommend.......2005-04-29

I have been looking for a Harry Potter book strictly based on events in the Harry Potter series which contains ONLY facts and haven't found anything I've been interested enough in to spend my money on until now.

This is an incredible Harry Potter guide. Fionna Boyle goes into great detail about people, places, things, etc. Not only does she list virtually everything contained in the Harry Potter series, but she goes into depth about the meanings of names, facts from J. K. Rowlings interviews, and insights you may have missed. She does an excellent job of helping you put two and two together to get a result you may not have understood (or remembered). I'll most likely be re-reading the Harry Potter series again (to pass away the time before The Half-Blood Prince gets here) and this guide will be right next to me for any references I need (spells, magical items, etc.). I recommend this guide to any Harry Potter fan who wants to be as in tune with the Harry Potter world as possible!

better get it from the library first.......2005-04-17

Take the five books and make them into one book listing just about anything you can imagine(from spells to desciptions of every single person mentioned) and you have the "Muggle's guide". I was very disappointed because there was hardly anything new. Background information seemed to be mostly quoted from the official J.K. Rowling website-which existence was the only new information I got out of the whole book.(and you can look it up there online firsthand).I was glad, I got it from the library and didn't spend any money on it.Better and more entertaining is "the magical world of Harry Potter"-where you can find good research of the meaning of latin and greek words used and connection to J.K.'s personal experience like the dementors are representing depression.

This is a great book.......2005-02-14

I have not even finished this book, and already I think that it is one of the better written Harry Potter "investigated" books out there. I really enjoy this, and think that all HP fans should get the book and sit down with it.
It is filled to bursting with things that I had completely forgotten. Witches and wizards I didn't even know existed!
To sum it all up: this is one spectacular book.

Book Description

Veteran performer and choreographer Tina Paul dispels myths and delivers the inside dope about achieving your dream of dancing on Broadway. Tommy Tune, Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, and eleven other dancers join Tina in sharing their diverse experiences to help you make the right choices, avoid embarrassing mistakes, and prepare for the challenges that lead to a Broadway career. All of them agreethey love theatre and that love got them over many hurdles. Through tips on survival, discipline, and protocol, these professionals offer encouragement, bolster determination, and guarantee that you will be one step ahead in your quest for the lights and life of Broadway.

Customer Reviews:

A MUST read for anyone interested in Dancing on Broadway........2006-08-02

Tina Paul a broadway dancer and veteran of many shows does a remarkable job of laying out the facts on what it takes to live in New York City and land a job on the great white way. I found this book to be extremely informative to all aspring dancers and enjoyed her comic flair in talking about getting used to living in NYC and the competitive world of broadway auditions. In the book she has assembled the advice from other well known broadway dancers and choreographers Chita Rivera, Tommy Tune, JoAnn Hunter, Graciela Daniels, Bebe Neuwirth, Luis Perez ( her husband ) among others in which I found to be very insightful on there experiences in starting out and making a career on broadway. My only dissapointment is that she did not include Nancy Lemenager who's broadway credits include the leads in Movin Out and Never Gonna Dance and who has become one of the Hottest broadway dancers out there.

So You Want to Dance on Broadway? : Insight and Advice from the Pros Who Know

Average customer rating:

So You Want to Dance on Broadway? : Insight and Advice from the Pros Who Know
Tina Paul
Manufacturer: Heinemann Drama
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OUTCD2

Amazon.com

With the arrival of .NET remoting, any programmer who wants to work with distributed objects can benefit from Advanced .NET Remoting, a solid tour of basic and expert techniques for working with distributed code on Microsoft's newest platform.

This title's concise, code-centered approach, backed up by judicious discussion of the finer technical points of .NET, is what helps make it a success. After touring the history of standards used for distributed computing over the years, from DCE/RPC to CORBA to COM and related Microsoft technologies, the author zeroes in on .NET remoting. Short, digestible examples highlight the relevant objects and APIs useful to create and invoke objects remotely. From the basics, the book moves forward with other possibilities for designers, whether using by value or reference arguments for objects, client-activated vs. server-activated objects, and a useful section on asynchronous processing for remote function calls. Early examples use the APIs and strategies you'll need to work on your own, and the author highlights "best practices" like using class factories.

Detailed discussion of deployment options (using XML) is followed by a quick discussion of security and authentication and then managing object lifetimes (including programmatic options through leasing and sponsors). Coverage of using strongly named assemblies (for the Global Assembly Cache, GAC) and versioning stresses the finer points of how different versions of .NET components can be invoked on the same server.

For experts, there's a fine section that covers .NET remoting internals, explains the details of making distributed calls in .NET, and shows off how messages are formatted and passed between systems through proxies. Excellent use of sequence diagrams showing these features at work will make this chapter invaluable for the advanced reader (though you still use the sample code without having to master these .NET internals).

The book returns to its pragmatic focus with some interesting sample code for compressing and encrypting .NET remote messages with built-in support classes in .NET. A highly developed chapter demonstrates how you use custom transport channel to make remote calls via e-mail (through SMTP and POP3), showing off the flexibility of the .NET programming model. For the truly adventurous developer, a final chapter explores several (undocumented) features for examining and using context objects used in the .NET remoting model.

Overall, this concisely packaged book mixes the right level of sample code, detailed explanation, and advanced material that will let C# developers get going fast with .NET remoting, which can greatly simplify distributed programming on the new Windows platform. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction to .NET remoting, history of distributed computing mechanisms (including DCE/RPC, CORBA, and COM to .NET), advantages of .NET remoting (and architecture), a simple getting started program using .NET remoting with a server and client, adding validation, types of remoting (passing objects by value and reference, singletons, published objects), using factories to create objects, server-activated vs. client-activated objects, lifetime management, synchronous vs. asynchronous function calls, multi-server programming, shared assemblies (and the soapsuds utility and proxies), configuration (XML config. files and standard options), deployment (console vs. Windows services vs. IIS), security issues (authentication and checking roles), using SSL and encryption, object lifetime management (lease time and managers, server-side sponsors), versioning for .NET components (strong naming and the Global Assembly Cache, GAC), delegate and events (tips for event handling), .NET remoting internals (proxies, messages, message sinks, formatters, and transport channels), internals of asynchronous processing, advanced sink programming (client-, server-side, and dynamic sinks), extending .NET remoting (including message compression and encryption support), custom transport channels (using POP3/SMTP), and undocumented techniques for working with .NET remoting context objects.

Book Description

With all the attention paid recently to Web Services, many developers don¿t realize that the true successor to DCOM is actually .NET Remoting. And what an improvement it is! "Advanced .NET Remoting" is the first book that really offers in-depth coverage of the .NET Remoting Framework. The first part of the book covers everything a developer needs to know to use the framework and its capabilities in real-world applications, including the basics of server-activated objects versus client-activated objects, formatters, channels, lifetime issues, security, configuration files, and more. The server-side hosting of remoteable components in console applications, Windows Services, and IIS are also covered in detail. The second part presents .NET Remoting internals in an unprecedented way. Ingo Rammer shows how the framework really uses message sinks and sink providers, and gives in-depth advice on why and how to implement message and channel sinks. These chapters will also give detailed insight into the synchronous and asynchronous message processing within the framework. Rammer goes far beyond Microsoft¿s documentation in explaining how .NET Remoting really works, and how it can be extended¿essential information for advanced developers. Rammer also presents the development process and source code for several real-world message sinks. He concludes with coverage of the ContextBoundObject class and .NET contexts, which allow the use of the techniques of the .NET Remoting Framework within individual, client-only applications. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ingo Rammer is cofounder and CEO of Sycom Software, an Austrian software consulting company. He works as consultant, trainer, and software architect for companies in the software and telecommunication industries. During his professional career he has worked with a range of programming platforms, although he focuses mainly on Visual Basic, Java, and the .NET platform. Most recently, he has designed and implemented several large-scale distributed applications and XML-based distributed application frameworks

Download Description

With all the attention paid recently to Web services, many developers don't realize that the true successor to DCOM is actually .NET Remoting. And what an improvement it is! Advanced .NET Remoting is the first book that really offers in-depth coverage of the .NET Remoting Framework. The first part of the book covers everything a developer needs to know to use the framework and its capabilities in real-world applications, including the basics of server-activated objects versus client-activated objects, formatters, channels, lifetime issues, security, configuration files, and more. The server-side hosting of remotable components in console applications, Windows Services, and IIS are also covered in detail.

The second part presents .NET Remoting internals in an unprecedented way. Ingo Rammer shows how the framework really uses message sinks and sink providers, and gives in-depth advice on why and how to implement message and channel sinks. These chapters will also give detailed insight into the synchronous and asynchronous message processing within the framework. Rammer goes far beyond Microsoft's documentation in explaining how .NET Remoting really works, and how it can be extended-essential information for advanced developers. Rammer also includes a chapter that presents the development process and source code for several real-world message sinks and shows you how to develop a custom Remoting transport channel from scratch. He concludes with coverage of the ContextBoundObject class and .NET contexts, which allow the use of the techniques of the .NET Remoting Framework within individual, client-only applications.

Customer Reviews:

excellent, but not perfect.......2006-11-06

This book almost contain every detail of .NET Remoting.I am sure you can well understanding the .NET Remoting with the help of this book.It gives many good tips and useful cases ,also have some additional experiences of the author.However, I am sory that this book don't have any real and integrated distributed business solutions based on .NET Remoting(I think so ,at least ), although it contains many good cases. but I still strongly recommend you to buy this book, if you want to know .NET Remoting deeply.

A Great Book for Real Programmers.......2005-12-19

I hate it when I pay good money for a poorly written book. So when I buy a book like this and it turns out so well, I am thrilled!

I have been in ".NET land" since 2001 when .NET beta 2 came out. I have written ASP.NET and Winform applications. During that time I just have not had the need to use .NET remoting, until now. The first 2 or 3 chapters are a great introduction for experienced .NET developers. I like the fact that I did not have to wade through a lot of stuff for beginners. From there the topics get advanced, with plenty of good example code to highlight the topics. Even though I had never really touched .NET remoting (except SOAP Web Services), the explanations and examples work well for me. The author keeps the examples simple, and on-topic. In my opinion, this helps to highlight the topics at hand. The content is geared towards real programmers who will be using the technology.

I also have really enjoyed the authors' candor concerning the weaknesses of .NET remoting. They have already highlighted a bad approach that I was considering.

I am more than happy to give this book a 5 star review!

Essential "Text Book" for Distributed Application Developer in .NET Platform.......2005-07-23

I've been working with XML web services for a long time and also have gone through lot of text regarding .NET remoting. Ingo Rammer's book discusses remoting in a very well organized and chronological way making it highly understandable. Advanced .NET Remoting is filled with examples, sample code, screenshots and figures to explain the inter-communication between process boundaries. Ingo has discussed simple topics such as the evolution of how remoting get to what it is now as well as in-depth explanation of refactoring the event handlers. This book helped me understanding the message sinks and how to create custom channels, topics which I didn't feel I grasped fully from readings prior to this book.
I agree with other reviewers that word advanced doesn't fully depict the spirit of this book as it discusses remoting from scratch and doesn't expect much of prior experience. With Indigo round the corner and WSE 3.0 released, this book along with web services knowledge will explain how dramatically communication standards are evolving, for good, making distributed application development easier, reliable and standardized.

-Adnan Masood
MCSD.NET, MCAD.NET

Excellent from cover to cover.......2005-06-01

This is another one of those rare occasions where a programming book is just perfect. The author takes you page by page and subject by subject at a perfect learning pace. The subjects presented are thoroughly explained along with easy to understand working examples. Even the practices that the author may disagree with are still perfectly explained (along with an example.)
If you are interested in .NET Remoting you owe it to yourself to get this book.

Hard core remoting code.......2005-05-12

The authors certainly know what they are talking about in this book. But you will have to keep running to keep up. Most of the concepts are explained through copious amounts of code with little in the way of exposition. Tips and best practices are in the book, and I certainly appreciated that. A solid, if not completely pleasurable read for anyone interested in remoting with C#.

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