VAT and Excise: A Taxpayer's Guide to Indirect Taxes in the Single Market

Book Description

In the center of the earth lies Pellucidar, the last bastion of primeval forest in the world. To Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, this is sacred ground. But to the Predators, it's hunting ground. You'll feel the jungle heat in this deluxe trade paperback!

Customer Reviews:

A Tarzan At Earth's Core sequel with Predators along for the ride!.......2005-09-11

Make no mistake, although this is billed as "Tarzan vs. Predator", it's much more of a Tarzan story than a Predator one (though the lack of personality in the Predators keep them from sometimes being the main characters even in their own stories, so this isn't unprecedented). With or without the Predators, the cool thing here is Tarzan's return to Pellucidar, making this a direct sequel to the Burroughs story of Tarzan's first visit to the Earth's Core.

Walt Simonson is one of the true grandmasters of comics, both as a writer and as an artist. Here, doing the writing only, he turns in a great story that will make you want to read more Walt Simonson Tarzan stories. He understands the characters much better than some of Dark Horse's other Tarzan writers. He does a fine job with the Predators as well, but their role in the story, though important, isn't nearly as big as Tarzan's.

Lee Weeks is one of the most underrated artists in comics, and he does his usual fine work here. He's one of those guys that you wonder why he isn't a superstar.

RECOMMENDED!

And i tough superman vs predator was stupid........2005-07-06

The history is just.............stupid, but the comic is filled with action.

TARZAN'S GREATEST CHALLENGE - PREDATOR!.......2004-08-28

I own all of these comics, and thought this was definately one of the best franchise fits that I've just about ever seen.

Great storyline, along with awesome artwork made this a major hit out of a huge fan of both franchises. A movie and/or animae would do this proud - and I'll bet - sell millions.

Great stuff!

Kreegah!! The Predators are just an afterthought........2001-11-20

I'm not too familiar with Burroughs' Tarzan work outside of the Movies and Comics, so the first half of this book had my mind swimming. There isn't enough recap for a Tarzan newbie like me; I bought it for the Predators, and, (sadly) they seem to be an afterthought in the plot. On the plus side, the book really picks up steam in the second half, and by the end I was totally engrossed.

Walt Simonson's story is pretty decent, as is Lee Weeks' art. Predator fans might be disappointed, but it's still entertaining.

Fans who enjoy this should check out Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Catwoman. Great stuff!

Comic book stuff, in this case, a good thing........1998-07-13

Congratulations to Dark Horse! Perhaps, just perhaps, the inclusion of alien Preditors is the right touch to entice modern readers to Burroughs' jungle man. Here is an excellent effort!

Average customer rating:
Dad This Joke's For You: The Best Dad Jokes From The Funniest Comedians
Judy Brown
Manufacturer: RONNIE SELLERS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OJO7DS

Customer Reviews:

Dissecting Harold Lloyd comedies.......2001-03-14

Donald McCaffrey, a film professor from Iowa, has extensively studied three of Harold Lloyd's great silent films: GRANDMA'S BOY, THE FRESHMAN, and SAFETY LAST. McCaffrey walks the reader through the different portions of each film such as the exposition and climax. He shows how Lloyd develops sight gags and how the latter two films are better than GRANDMA'S BOY. This book also covers Lloyd's early and later career. An appendix of the book includes the author's conversations with Lloyd about Lloyd's career. This book is a "must-have" for Harold Lloyd fans and readers interested in how silent film comedy works.

Book Description

On the Internet is a sharp and stimulating discussion of the promises of the internet. Going beyond the hype of the cybercrowd, Dreyfus, a celebrated writer on philosophy and technology, asks whether the internet can really bring humanity to a new level of community and solve the problems of mass education. Drawing on a diverse array of thinkers from Plato to Kierkegaard, On the Internet is one of the first books to bring philosophical insight to the debate on how far the internet can and cannot take us. In discussing recent studies on the isolation experienced by many internet users, Dreyfus shows how the internet's privatization of experience ignores essential human capacities such as trust, moods, risk, shared local concerns and commitment.

Customer Reviews:

Very interesting, provocative, little book.......2006-01-15

Dreyfus is a Heidegger scholar who is also known for his books explaining "why computers can't think." This short (it can be read in an evening), provocative book discusses some of the problems of reliance on the Internet as a source of information and an educational forum, in a way that is interestingly informed by Dreyfus's study of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty. I highly recommend this book both to students of Continental philosophy (the author's use of Kierkegaard to argue against Habermas's notion of the "public sphere" as the locus of a meaningfully participatory democracy is especially provocative) and to anyone who has ever wondered whether the Internet really is making our lives better. Dreyfus explains why and how it may not be.

Kierkegaard surfs prodigiously..........2003-05-24

This is a very little book dealing with a very big subject: does the internet add or detract from meaning in our lives? Such a topic can be covered only in a cursory way within 107 pages, but the major issues are represented in this book, and provide valuable food for thought.

Some of the questions asked are: can the internet deliver us from our bodily selves? Can the internet be used to disseminate information more efficiently and more universally? Can the internet democratize education and produce experts? What is the effect of the internet on the real? And, lastly, what are the implications of meaning in our lives concerning the internet?

These are all good questions, and each one could fill a volume on its own. Nonetheless, this book is a survey on the topics, and each topic is dealt with in about 20-30 pages.

On the issue of disembodiment and the internet, Dreyfus goes out on a limb himself while accusing others of doing the same. Why rely on the vision of the 'Extropians' (whose website is still active as of this typing) for guidance about how people are using and conceiving the internet? The vision of the web as a disembodied non-physical realm where humans will no longer have to deal with intestinal gas is a vision shared by very, very few. Dreyfus gives this concept far too much validity, and the first section of this book creates a sort of 'phantom threat' of people wanting to release themselves from their bodies (he calls it 'Cyberia'), and warnings about the consequences of wanting to do so.

The interesting part of the first section is the discussion of the failure of AI and the failing hope that cyberbeings will one day replace human beings. Those who are freaked out by the implications of 'The Matrix' will find comfort here.

Dreyfus' best arguments concern the internet and distance learning. Anyone working in education can tell you about the dismal failure of trying to replace human teachers with computers. That's not to say a certain amount of knowledge cannot be obtained from cyber-learning, but that knowledge has its limits. Expert knowledge is even difficult if not impossible from reading books (which has a certain amount of disembodiment in its own, but different, way). Face-to-face or body-to-body interaction is important, and will likely always be important, in mastering a subject or skill. That's why those who can afford it still hire tutors.

Similar arguments are put forth concerning the internet becoming a 'virtual world' in which people can potentially get sucked into and lost. It's true that this can happen, but the internet is not necessarily to blame. People can get sucked into drugs, television, reading, fantasizing, etc., and lose themselves in much the same way they can on the internet. Addictions take many forms, and the internet is but one. Still, a word of caution is justified here: the danger in the confusion of 'telepresence' - or, just because you see someone on your screen means that you're having a 'human experience' - with actual human contact is real and needs to be noted. It is not as great a danger as Dreyfus presents, however. To some it may be, but an edpidemic of Cyberians seems unlikely at this point. Also, Dreyfus points out that using the internet does not involve risk on the human level. This is becoming less and less true. It's not too hard to find out who is behind a pseudonym these days, and identity theft and monetary threat loom more and more. Not to mention that everything you type and look up on the internet is stored somewhere, and can be retrieved for purposes of marketing or otherwise. There are risks, on a fundamental human level, with internet use.

Concerning meaning and the internet, Dreyfus' claims that the internet leads to nihilism are not wholly convincing. They're based on the Kierkegaardian notion of the aesthetic and ethical life. Where Dreyfus sees problems, he defers to Kierkegaard.

Overall, the book presents a negative view on the present and future of the internet. Today it seems almost paranoid in places.The .COM burst gave us all a dose of reality, and there will likely be others to come as far as the internet is concerned. We're not to Dreyfus' distopia yet. Time may change that, or it may not. Likely more threateninig technologies will have to surface first.

This is a good place to start for exploring the philosophical implications of the internet. You won't want to stop here if this book catches your interest.

From Plato to the net..The early fears........2003-04-07

"On the internet",written by H.L Dreyfus a professor at Berkley is one of the very few books on the market approaching the "net" from a philosophical point of view rather than a technical one.
This approach itself promises for some interesting questions and some very intriguing answers or theories.

Dreyfus touches both the obvious and the not so-obvious sides of the "information superhighway". He emphasizes the fact that while the internet is basically the biggest storage of information we've invented so far, it doesnt possess artificial intelligence (yet?) and thus it is hopelessly still relying on humans to sort this information out, divide it into "important" and "unimportnat" information, and even then, it's furthermore relying on the person looking for the information who has to know what he/she's looking for and how to get it (evaluating the information for example)...
He points out the flaws as he tackles the weaknesses of the search engines which look for key words and not meaning and predicts that we're not exactly close to solving this critical problem.

On probably the most interesting -and simoultaneously most controversial- chapter of the book, learning through online courses, Dreyfus argues that without personal involvement we might acquire the factual knowledge but not the skill since we are not physically "there" to interact with a teacher and to mimic what he/she does as far as the subject of learning is concerned, since, as he claims, this is one of the basics of learning.
He adds a rather strong argument on that, when he says that the fundamental way we "understand" reality is ba having a handle on it. He then goes on to conclude that the internet takes away exactly that: our connection to reality, and reasons that learning online compared to the traditional ways of learning is limited and inadequate, it inhibits proficiency.

With a world rapidly moving on to a digital existence, to functioning through the internet, a digital concious as it may, Dreyfus warns of the dangers. Predictably, alienation and new dimensions of loneliness are central themes of those warnings. We can talk to 10s of people online from different parts of the world without having any relationship with them. The passion is not there he claims, and that is probably the one indisputable point of his book.

Keeping in mind that the internet is still a relatively new medium, any conclusions we might hurry to make might be very flawed themselves. Dreyfus points this out himself when he reminds us of Plato (who seems to be a favorite of his) who 2.500 years ago warned the Athenians of the dangers of the written word. Yet, Dreyfus believes that the inetrnet is a more clear-czt case where we can see the dangers more clearly.
I disagree. We do not know how the internet will develop yet and to what direction. In Europe only a small fraction of the population actually uses it, other than to send or receive an email. This is far below the net's capabilities and it doesn't provide us with enough data about its influence on human societies yet. Most of Dreyfus's observations come undoubtedly from the american usage of the internet (which is pioneering in that sector) but as more and more cultures get involved with the medium we are bound to see the medium take on more changes and uses.

When it comes to online learning i would have to agree with Dreyfus's opinions with one main objection: up until recently learning the traditional way, whether in universities or schools, was going unquestioned and uncriticized. But especially in the 90s voices started abounding , especially from educators, that even that form of learning contains disembodiment. The west alone is filled with people with degrees who carry data but do not carry meaning in their data either exactly what Dreyfus is "accusing" the internet and its online courses of doing.
Learning in a school might provide with the all important human contact but how much of it is meaningful contact and to who's interest is one big open question.
Schooling (universities included) distribute dogma and the process of learning in them is basically limited on absorbing the dogma proficiently. It would be a blatant lie to claim that this type of learning is "better" than the online courses. It would also be an interesting question and discussion what type of learning is then the most proficient one? Dreyfus doesn't touch that question, indeed he seems to believe with no restrictions that the learning he's involved in (in university) is "ok"..
I beg to differ.
All this, with objections and questions included, doesn't mean that "On the internet" is not reccomendable. It's in fact filled with interesting points and at worst it's food for thought. As i said above , alone the fact that it's a philosophical approach on the issue makes it intriguing enough.

But we shouldn't be hasty. In 10-20 years time this book might seem terribly outdated and flawed. In fact, some might claim (and they might be right) that it already is...

Outmoded thinking - behind the times.......2002-01-06

Dreyfus' understanding of distance learning is quite limited. On page 39 of this book he defines distance learning as "the correspondence-course model of anonymous information consumers." Distance learning has a lot more going for it than that, I have found that there is a lot of interactivity in online courses and a high level of communication with the professors. I took one of Dreyfus' classes at Berkeley as an undergraduate and I never got to talk to him, there was no face to face learning. If you feel that the lecture method is the only way to learn, then the internet is not for you. If you want to feel like a "disembodied presence" go take a class at Berkeley as an undergrad.

The attraction and dangers of Internet Platonism.......2001-08-02

The Internet Book raises the following questions: Can we leave our vulnerable bodies while preserving relevance, learning, reality, and meaning? The latest book of Hubert Dreyfus will examine in complete details the various perspectives -of the Net through the eyes of a Philosopher -the attraction of life on the Internet as a way of achieving Plato's dream of overcoming space and time as well as bodily finitude (as Plato said Learning takes place independent of Time and Space in Mind). Drawing on philosophers such as Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Hubert Dreyfus discussed and seriously criticised the Net. In his criticism, he explained -that, in spite of its attraction, the more one lives one's life through the Net the more loses a sense of what is relevant, and so faces the problem of finding the information one is seeking. Also, in spite of economic attraction of distance learning, such learning by substituting telepresence for real presence (how much presence is delivered by the telepresence?), leaves no place for risk-taking an apprenticeship which plays a crucial role in all types of skill acquisition. Furthermore, without a sense of bodily vulnerability, one looses a sense of reality of the physical world and one's sense that one can trust other people. Finally, he discussed while the anonymity of the Net makes possible experimentation, the overall effect of the NET is to undermine commitment (what Kierkegaard spelled out in The Present Age) thus to deprive life of any serious meaning.

In the above book-the author tried to give answers in greater depth to the questions, which is important in field of humanities and Philosophy -that why reach beyond ourselves and our humanity? Why seek to become posthuman? Why not accept our human limits and renounce transcendence?

In my view, the book On the Internet discussed in greater depth the important question How does the Dreyfus's Skill developmental model and his non-representational learning relate to the Internet-facilitated education!

The book is divided into four chapters:

Chapter 1. Hyperlinks -In this chapter The hype about hyper-links Professor Dreyfus discussed the hope for intelligent information retrieval and the failure of AI. He raised one good question, how the actual shape and movement of our bodies plays a crucial role in grounding meaning so that loss of embodiment leads to loss of relevance.

Chapter 2. Distance-Learning -In this chapter, How far is Distance Learning from Education? Hubert Dreyfus discussed the importance of mattering and attunement for teaching and learning skills and phenomenology of skill acquisition. Apprenticeship and the need for imitation. Without involvement and presence -he said we cannot acquire skills.

Chapter 3. Telepresence -The chapter, Disembodied Telepresence and the remoteness of the Real will let us know about -the body as source of our presence of causal embedding and attunement to mood. Hubert Dreyfus has raised a question, how loss of background coping and attunement leads to loss of sense of reality of people and things. (I see something like you, but I don't see you and I hear something like you, but I don't hear you)

Chapter 4. Nihilism -The last chapter (most important), Nihilism on the Information Highway: Anonymity vs. commitment in the Present Age discussed in details about the meaning, requires commitment and real commitment requires real risks. The anonymity and safety of virtual commitments on-line, leads to loss of meaning. In this chapter, Prof. Dreyfus translated the Soren Kierkegaardian view of The Present Age to the Net.

Book Description

Social contacts are of utmost importance for the personal and communal well-being of people. Social contacts constitute an elementary human need, are a considerable source of support and prove necessary for the integration and mutual commitment of people in society. Dues to processes of individualization and social fragmentation in modern western societies, social contacts have come under increasing pressure. Individuals are finding it increasingly hard to develop and maintain a meaningful personal network, and more and more people can be characterized as socially isolated, experiencing feelings of loneliness or not participating in society.
Although social isolation has serious repercussions on people and communities, knowledge about this phenomenon remains rather limited. Social Isolation in Modern Society is the first multidisciplinary study to look at this issue. The book integrates relevant research traditions in the social sciences; bringing together sociological theories of social networks and psychological theories of feelings of loneliness. Both traditions are embedded in research, with the results of a large-scale international study being used to describe the extent, nature and divergent manifestations of social isolation. A new typology of social contacts is developed in order to take into account the number of network members and the quality of social contacts measured in terms of feelings of loneliness. The book provides a clear insight into personal, social and socio-economic causes and the consequences of social isolation and contains concrete policy recommendations.

Book Description

Your campaign's in trouble! Your PC's have just walked into the "Stalwart Adventurer Inn," and no one's there! You need NPC's, and you need them fast. No need to panic we're here to help. From the creators of The Red Star, the runaway Image Comics hit comes: Dramatis Personae, Campaign Ready NPC's. Dramatis Personae is a supplement that contains numerous fully written and fleshed out NPC's ready to be used in your fantasy D20 game. Find within its pages dastardly foes to challenge your PC's, or courageous allies to assist them; all NPC's come with an interesting story hook to be used for a quick, or ongoing, adventure. Also, this fantasy D20 supplement comes complete with new magic items, feats, and spells to add more color and surprise to your existing world. Never be shorthanded on NPC's again!

Customer Reviews:

5 Stars for the last review.......2004-01-20

That last review said it all. I agree with everything. Needs a little conversion to 3.5 but that's no biggie. Great artwork, original characters, nice format, excellent product.

Buy it.

An excellent, often overlooked game aid.......2004-01-17

I recently received the Red Star compilation as a gift, so imagine my surprise upon learning that the same team of artists had also published a D20 supplement. Quality tends to follow quality, so I picked this up for my own game as well.

Dramatis Personae provides profiles and full background on 24 primary characters from levels 4 to 11. These NPCs run the gamut from brave warriors to evil monks to wizards and criminals. The character concepts are distinct and fresh for the most part; some are downright unusual, although there are one or two clichés as well (not necessarily a bad thing in D&D).

Essentially, whenever you need a quick and interesting villain or ally, this book allows you to take any of the characters within and plunk them down anywhere in your campaign as needed with little to no work on your part. Full statblocks are provided for each character, along with a detailed description, background, and combat preferences. For the most part the NPCs are all of moderate to major importance and ability- no bartenders here.

Following the character section there is also a healthy selection of new magical items as well as a handful of new feats and spells. Most of these are tied to the NPCs themselves.

As a GM aid this book could prove indispensable in a pinch or as a resource for new ideas. For players it might be somewhat less useful, but it could still provide hooks for a memorable character.

Now let's get to the artwork. It is unfortunate that the entire book wasn't done in color, because the cover is truly stunning. The interior pages are black and white with gray shading, but even so, the character pictures (which are done by some very respected comic book artists) are on par or better than the artwork in any other D20 material out there.

I'd also like to make note of the fact that this is just about the most error-free D20 product I have ever seen. The errata, which can be found at the Archangel Studios website, lists a mere handful of typos.

Dramatis Personae uses the D&D 3.0 rules, but if you're the GM, then your players don't have to know that. However if you really are that anal, then the changes to 3.5 are minor.

Overall, I was extremely pleased with this purchase, especially considering its modest price. I would recommend Dramatis Personae to any GM who was seeking to spice up his or her campaign, or to anyone who simply wanted a useful, high-quality D20 supplement that can take a place of pride in any collection.

And yes, the cheesecake fairy on the cover is also in the book. No, you don't want to mess with her.

Book Description

Become a cyber-hero - know the common wireless weaknesses

"Reading a book like this one is a worthy endeavor toward becoming an experienced wireless security professional."
--Devin Akin - CTO, The Certified Wireless Network Professional (CWNP) Program

Wireless networks are so convenient - not only for you, but also for those nefarious types who'd like to invade them. The only way to know if your system can be penetrated is to simulate an attack. This book shows you how, along with how to strengthen any weak spots you find in your network's armor.

Discover how to:

Perform ethical hacks without compromising a system
Combat denial of service and WEP attacks
Understand how invaders think
Recognize the effects of different hacks
Protect against war drivers and rogue devices

Download Description

Become a cyber-hero - know the common wireless weaknesses ""Reading a book like this one is a worthy endeavor toward becoming an experienced wireless security professional."" --Devin Akin - CTO, The Certified Wireless Network Professional (CWNP) Program Wireless networks are so convenient - not only for you, but also for those nefarious types who'd like to invade them. The only way to know if your system can be penetrated is to simulate an attack. This book shows you how, along with how to strengthen any weak spots you find in your network's armor.

Customer Reviews:

Dummies unite!.......2007-03-09

Valuable in my work as a consultant, installing and troubleshooting WiFi networks. The "ethical hacker" is a valuable tool.

Comprehensive wireless security reference .......2006-07-10

I just installed my own home-based-business wireless network in May, and I have found this book to be incredibly useful in setting up security and also figuring out the odd interruptions and accessibility anomolies that tend to happen with wireless. I like to use this book to quickly find information about basically any security-related wireless topic. It is written clearly and explains what the various codes and messages mean. Of course the messages generated through a wireless system will look geek-like. However, the writing in the book is not geek-speek. This would make a good reference book for anyone in any size of organization to have if they use wireless. It is especially great for those with home wireless systems, as well as small- to medium-sized businesses that typically do not have staff solely dedicated for information security. If you rely upon yourself or others who are not technical to secure your wireless network, then you would definitely benefit from this book.

No content, no value and a dull read........2006-06-20

Hacking Wireless Networks for Dummies is a terrible book. If you are a regular person with social skills you have likely noticed that computer guys do not know how to communicate. They enjoy being geeky and learning all the techno speak of certain topics so they can try and sound smart. This is exactly what this book is 387 pages of. The authors are classic computer geeks who love their nonsense talk.

Nothing is really explained. This is a "Dummies" book. That would suggest to me that the authors are going to drop the geek babble and talk like humans. They do not. Fortunately I have the computer knowledge to follow techno babble. What is unfortunate is these guys are very inaccurate. They babble on (they repeat sections of the book MANY times, cut and paste style) almost as if they just wanted to fill pages. Many of the tools discussed are known not to work. They recommend Linux and Unix tools knowing full well the "Dummie" audience will not be able to use this info.

The entire book is more of a 387 page advertisement for why wireless is insecure (the first chapter is an advertisement). You will not know how to hack anything after reading this book. The 387 pages could have easily been pared to 150. Take out all the repetition and nonsense (they babble on about garbage throughout the book)

I used to like and recommend Dummies books years ago. However I haven't found many in the last few years that really cover a topic well. It seems like they simply want to put the title on the shelves. The content is not a concern. If you are a regular person this book will put you to sleep. If you do manage to get thru it you will learn very little. If you are a computer expert this book contains absolutely nothing that you cannot find in any forum on the net. There is no useful info in this book. Internet forums are free and up to date. A few Google searches would provide more value then this 387 pages of repetitive nonsense.

If you see it in the bargain bin for $1 ... PASS.

Peeling back this Layer 2 problem we call Wireless...........2006-03-07

Demonstrating all of the weaknesses of each wireless security control that you can put in place, this book proves that Wireless will always be a Layer 2 problem by the in-ability to physically secure the network by it's physical location...period. They have shown me in this book that wireless should be treated like an Internet connection and apply as many controls as you can to prevent penetration. This resource is for users from home, small office, medium businesses, to large corporation's security personnel. This book covers the most common used wireless security measures to the more advanced wireless security standards that are not even fully supported by all wireless vendors yet (802.11i/WPA2). I recommend this book for anyone who has a wireless network or even thinking about it.

If you've already been hit, or you're waiting for it to happen........2005-11-08

There are two or three reasons you would want to read this book. If you're responsible for the security of a wireless network, there are two possibilities:

1. someone has broken into your network, gotten sensitive information or used your system to send out 500,000 SPAM e-mails, or
2. they haven't broken in yet, and you're being pro-active (good for you). The third possibility is that you're looking for or even thinking about going to work as a wireless security expert.

In all three of these cases, this is a good place to start. The book starts with a description of how to go attack your own system from the outside and thereby learning what an outside hacker could get by doing the same thing. Then when you find a hole in the security, it tells you how to secure it.

One nice thing about this book, like all 'For Dummies' books is the writing style. It tells you what you want to know without being either too simple or so overloaded with jargon that you can't make sense out of it. Another nice thing is that this book tells you specifically what software/hardware devices you need to get to accomplish the tasks, and it does so without concentrating on multi thousand dollar expenses.

Average customer rating:

Hacking Wireless Networks for Dummies

Manufacturer: HUNGRY MINDS (TWLD)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GXL36G

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