Effective Teacher Hiring: A Guide to Getting the Best

Book Description

In addition to step-by-step instructions for implementing the hiring program, Effective Teacher Hiring offers
* Lists of hiring dos and don'ts
* Resume and portfolio assessment strategies
* Sample recruitment flyers, contracts, and interview questions
* A rundown of legal issues related to hiring

We must ensure that our students have the best available teachers--and to get the best, we must first learn how best to hire. This book is an invaluable resource for educators committed to providing the best possible instruction to their students.

Download Description

Because student learning depends on quality instructors, teacher hiring is perhaps the single most important issue facing schools today. In Effective Teacher Hiring: A Guide to Getting the Best, Kenneth D. Peterson presents an innovative, multi-tiered framework for teacher selection. The program is sufficiently flexible to use in school systems large or small, but designed rigorously enough to provide for checks and balances at every turn, guarantee a voice in the process for students and parents, and ensure that only the best available candidates are ultimately chosen. In addition to step-by-step instructions for implementing the hiring program, Effective Teacher Hiring offers . Lists of hiring dos and don'ts . Resume and portfolio assessment strategies . Sample recruitment flyers, contracts, and interview questions . A rundown of legal issues related to hiring We must ensure that our students have the best available teachers--and to get the best, we must first learn how best to hire. This book is an invaluable resource for educators committed to providing the best possible instruction to their students.

Customer Reviews:

Good overview and resources........2007-04-13

The book offers a good overview of the hiring process and gives usable material (e.g., questions and forms) for setting up an interview process.

Book Description

K.C. Chang presents an integrated approach to digital design principles, processes, and implementations to help the reader design increasingly complex systems within shorter design cycles. Chang introduces digital design concepts, VHDL coding, VHDL simulation, synthesis commands, and strategies together.

Digital Systems Design with VHDL and Synthesis focuses on the ultimate product of the design cycle: the implementation of a digital design. Many of the design techniques and considerations illustrated in the text are examples of actual real-world designs.

Unique features of the book include the following:

VHDL code explained line by line to capture the logic behind the design concepts
Simulation waveforms, synthesized schematics, and results are shown, verified, and analyzed
VHDL code is synthesized and commands and strategies are discussed
Variations on the design techniques and common mistakes are addressed
Demonstrated standard cell, gate array, and FPGA three design processes, each with a complete design case study
Test bench, post-layout verification, and test vector generation processes are illustrated

Customer Reviews:

Hard to Read and Devoid of Coherent Explanation.......2002-10-28

I thought this book was completely lacking in what should have been it's primary focus: teaching the constructs and methodology of coding in VHDL, specifically for synthesizable hardware descriptions. The only thing the author did succeed in doing regularly was regurgitating VHDL syntax and standard packages while including pages and pages of code that was extremely poorly explained.

I had already learned Verilog so I am comfortable with what an HDL looks like and I could basically follow what Chang was trying to convey in his code, but not once did I feel that he adequately explain the mechanics or reasoning behind any of his code. The entire book used poor English, and clearly was not proof-read thoroughly by a competent editor. Here is an example passage picked at random:

"The latch enable signal LATCH_EN is generated as follows. A signal FRAMEn_DELAY is generated by delaying FRAMEn by one clock cycle using an inferred D-type flipflop, as shown in lines 22 to 29. LATCH_EN is obtained in line 30."

That's wonderful. This "explanation" is completely useless. It says nothing that isn't already apparent from the code listing. No further explanation is given as to what LATCH_EN is doing, why it's needed, etc. This example is par for the course. Furthermore, NOT A SINGLE COMMENT EXISTS IN ANY CODE LISTING, except when comment syntax is explained or as just a section separator.

I found this book completely inadequate for learning VHDL as a first HDL. If I hadn't already known Verilog, I would have to buy another book to get any insight into anything other than syntax and standard packages, but the use of English was so shaky and distracting that I wouldn't even recommend the book for that purpose. Almost anything would be better than this. Try "A VHDL Primer" or "A VHDL Synthesis Primer" from Bhasker. He wrote clear and concise Verilog books (of the same titles) and I'm sure he would not disappoint.

Great Ideas, Mediocre Publishing.......2001-12-19

This book works through several interesting engineering examples. It isn't a book for learning VHDL, and it is sketchy on details about VHDL syntax. Also the 2 1/8 page Index is very short.

One of the better Synthesis titles.......2001-09-20

K.C. Chang's treatment of VHDL synthesis is good and it helps you get a grasp on what some of the tools will generate from your VHDL.

VHDL designers come in a couple of flavors, there are those who know how they want to do something and need to express it in VHDL, and there are those who know what they want something to do and need to know how to tell VHDL to synthesize that. This book caters a bit more to the first group, people who have in their head the circuit they want to synthesize.

In general, I recommend this book as a companion to Ashendon's book (The Designers Guide to VHDL) as that book treats the language more thouroughly. This book does jump right in and assume you've read Chang's other book on VHDL (but the again, the Ashendon book is better in that regard.)

Who needs this book, and when?.......2001-08-18

When first starting VHDL, I picked up this book and found it somewhat hard to follow. After some initial reading, I had to give up and put it on the shelf, and then began looking for other easy books to read. One after another, I finally bought a dozen of VHDL books, some of which I wished I had not. Among these books, I found that Andrew Rushton's "VHDL for Logic Synthesis 2nd" is a wonderful beginner's reading; I got some VHDL coding skills with "Essential VHDL, RTL Syntheses Done Right" by Sundar Rajan; Peter Ashenden's "Designer's Guide to VHDL" is good, but too thick to read from cover to cover; Kevin Skahill taught me important programmable logic concept with "VHDL for Programmable Logic"...

After all these books, I still felt uncertain, lack of something. Then I came to understand that I needed some good real world design examples, something real, not just demo. I took this book again from the shelf, Woo, totally different now! This was what I needed now. The author doesn't waste time telling me which is better, Verilog or VHDL, or which is the more useful package, std_logic_arith or numeric_std. He just shows me with excellent examples what real world engineers do in their projects; so I gradually understand what I will do in face with real world problems. By now I learnt to know that when possible I'll use std_logic_arith package in my design in spite of its proprietary, because by doing so one can get rid of worrying about type conversions at the ports, and therefore avoid possible mistakes in the code; I know how to use logic hiding, source sharing, variable using skills to get better designs.

The author provides more examples in his new book: "Digital Systems Design With Vhdl and Synthesis: An Integrated Approach", but after reading them over and again, I still think the first book is better. In my opinion, it's really concise and to the point. Though there are some minor problems with it, such as incomplete references, lack of important package listings, I give it solid five stars!

Wish to know about RTOS operating system.......2001-04-27

Dear Sir, I am presently working in a embedded system and donig system development on micro-processor-controller based system.So plesse write to me about and provide the details about RTOS and embedded system development related books and some simplified electronic circuit design techniques books related to my subject.i require one tutorial on psos and Vx Works operateing system too. So kindly do the needful. I shall ever be greatful to u for that. Thanking You.

Cordially Your's

Book Description

This innovative introduction to circuit analysis helps readers develop a clearer understanding of the behavior of all components in a circuit by treating Direct Current as a special case of Alternating Current. It combines coverage of theorems and fundamental physical concepts where appropriate and reviews the particular mathematical techniques applicable to a specific analysis techniques in every case. Physical Electronics. Voltage and Current Sources: The Sinusoidal Waveform. Mathematical Background. Behavior of Circuit Elements. Steady State Analysis of Series and Parallel Circuits. Steady State Analysis of Series-Parallel Circuits. Formal Steady State Circuit Analysis Techniques and Theorems. Frequency Response of Common Circuits. Resonance. Magnetic Induction and Transformers. Power and Energy. Transient Analysis of Circuits. Physical Properties. Instrumentation and Lab Simulation. For anyone needing a solid introduction to circuit analysis.

A First Course in Digital Systems Design: An Integrated Approach

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Easily accessible
Novel approach to introductory digital design

A First Course in Digital Systems Design: An Integrated Approach
John P. Uyemura
Manufacturer: Cengage-Engineering
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0534934129

Book Description

This book provides a new paradigm for teaching digital systems design. It puts forth the view that modern digital logic consists of several interacting areas that combine in a cohesive fashion. This includes traditional subjects such as Boolean algebra, logic formalisms, Karnaugh maps, and other classical topics. However, it goes beyond these subject areas by including VHDL, CMOS, VLSI and RISC architectures to show what the field looks like to a modern logic designer. Modern digital design is no longer practiced as a stand-alone art. The integrated approach used in this book is designed to ensure that graduating engineers are prepared to meet the challenges of the new century.

Customer Reviews:

Easily accessible.......2005-03-18

Easily and systematically builds the "toolkit" necessary to understand and design digital circuits. The book starts with basic boolean algebra and states many useful theorems to know. Alongside this symbolic notation is pictoral schematic drawings to visual the flow of data.

Each chapter builds on the previous, starting with simple logic gates (AND, OR, NOT), and then using different combinations to make combinatoral circuits. Then the book changes gears covering technical aspects of different materials used in creating circuits (i.e. CMOS). Followed with some basic electrical theory and introduces VHDL to allow designers to simulate more complicated designs and test that they work correctly. These are the necessary precursors to understanding the following topics including sequential circuits, RAM, and state machines. Finally, it is all put together by examining a simple RISC chip with a simple instruction set.

Novel approach to introductory digital design.......1999-11-10

Uyemura's book is a novel approach to teaching introductory digital design, covering chip design and hardware description languages as well as the classic fundamentals. Although most large digital systems are built on integrated circuits today, IC design was often put off until graduate-level courses. This book does a good job of presenting modern digital design theory and practice in under 500 pages.

Book Description

This book is structured in a practical, example-driven, manner. The use of VHDL for constructing logic synthesisers is one of the aims of the book; the second is the application of the tools to the design process. Worked examples, questions and answers are provided together with do and don'ts of good practice. An appendix on logic design the source code are available free of charge over the Internet at http://info.lboro.ac.uk/departments/el/research/sys/book/ book.html

Customer Reviews:

Good book on VHDL Synthesis.......2002-03-26

This book is excellent for the topic - logic sythesis. It has an introduction to VHDL, however I found that "VHDL Starters Guide" was better if you are just starting off. However at any rate this is a good book on VHDL. There is a lot of examples in the book, which makes it easy to understand and use. It does have a focus on sythesis, with such topics of optimizing your code using different tecniques. It also talks about good coding of VHDL. If you know at least some VHDL and are interested in synthesising your designs, this book should be useful for you.

Good and Clear explanation of the main points.......1998-08-19

I'm a CS student and needed to know more about VHDL for a project. I looked at a range of books and found some of them way too deep for me. This one seemed clearly written and had lots of neat examples.

What I liked best was that the books show 3 different ways fo designing circuits. I learnt a lot about VHDL design styles from that

There were some mistakes in the code (eg bit-width ofa circuit vaired from 4 to 5 bits in different parts of the code) but thats about it

Average customer rating:
Circuit Analysis: An Integrated Approach
JeromeMaybar, Stephen H. Zornesky
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ1I12

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Multicomputer performance monitoring: A standards-based approach (MSSU-EIRS-ERC)
Cedell Alexander
Manufacturer: Engineering Research Center for Computational Field Simulation, and the National Science Foundation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Parallel Processing Computers | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006P9V36

Book Description

Stress levels in health professionals have been shown to be high in many countries and in most staff groups. This creates a personal cost to the individuals concerned, a financial cost to the organisations in terms of absence, early retirement and complaints, and a health cost to patients in terms of the risk of poorer quality care that is received by patients from stressed or dissatisfied staff. At a time when health organisations worldwide are striving to reduce costs and to increase quality, addressing the psychological well-being of their staff has necessarily risen high on their priorities. Stress in Health Professionals reports on the latest research from around the world on the causes of stress in health professionals and on ways to intervene to reduce stress levels. In doing this, it takes approaches from organisational and clinical psychology to focus on key staff groups. It considers wider issues such as burn-out, teamwork, training and counselling services and investigates the effectiveness of both organisational and individual interventions. Written by experts from a broad range of areas, the chapters include:

the latest evidence on the levels and sources of stress in health staff
links between stress and patient care Individual differences in the stress process ways to set up counselling services
the importance of teamworking
a strong focus on interventions and their evaluation

This volume is an important resource for managers, health professionals, trainers and health organisations, and also for those involved in research in this important area of individual and organisational well being.

"The book can be recommended as a resource for health providers, managers researchers involved in the field of work stress..." International Journal of Adolescent Medicine Health

"This is an excellent book to have in your library and many of the chapters should be required reading for professional, strategic and operational line managers concerned with designing effective work environments." Clinical Child Psychology & Psychiatry

Customer Reviews:

Strees in health professionals.......2000-06-21

This book is the second edition (first published in 1987) edited by a clinical psychologist from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, England and an organisational psychologist from Curtin University of Technology, Perth in Western Australia. There are also 25 international multidisciplinary contributors with most of the authors from the field of psychology. Stress in health professionals is devided into three parts: the study of stress, the stress of various professions and interventions with a total of 18 chapters. The first edition had focus on physicians at a time, when the field was in its initial stage, but the present edition has a much broader definition of health professionals, including nurses, health service managers, ambulance personnel and child protection workers. I especially liked the chapter on child protection workers, because this is a field, where in the "heat of the moment" the focus is most of the times on the child and their families. Cases of child abuse usually gets a lot of media coverage and in recent years the media has often blamed the professionals of overreaction and being too ready to remove children from their families, especially in cases of child sexual abuse. In this chapter results from a survey of doctors and nurses working in child protection from the Yorkshire region are presented. The higest levels of stress were caused by the fear of making mistakes, followed by overwork and organisational change. Doctors found the most difficult group to relate to were fellow pediatricians followed by senior managers, while nurses found social services personnel followed by senior managers their most difficult groups to work with. The book can be recommended as a resourse for health providers, managers and researchers involved in the field of work stress.

Professor Joav Merrick, MD, DMSc Medical Director, Division for the Mentally Retarded, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Box 1260, IL-91012 Jerusalem, Israel; Email: jmerrick@aquanet.co.il

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Instructor (1990), published by Scholastic, Inc. on August 1, 2000. The length of the article is 430 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: All Together Now!(Brief Article)
Author: Mary C. Rose
Publication: Instructor (1990) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 1, 2000
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Volume: 110 Issue: 1 Page: 22

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Completely updated with new entries and extensive revisions of the previous 1,800, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll is the authoritative volume on the world's music makers -- from the one-hit wonders to the megastars.

In 1983, Rolling Stone Press introduced its first Rock & Roll Encyclopedia. Almost two decades later, it has become the premier guide to the history of rock & roll, and has been selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum as its official source of information. Giving full coverage to all aspects of the rock scene, it tells the story of rock & roll in a clear and easy reference format, including complete discographies, personnel changes for every band, and backstage information like date and place of birth, from Elvis Presley to Eminem.

Since the last edition, the music scene has exploded in every area, from boy-bands to hip-hop, electronica to indie rock. Here, the Encyclopedia explores them all -- 'NSync, Notorious B.I.G., Ricky Martin, Radiohead, Britney Spears, Blink-182, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Portishead, Fatboy Slim, Fiona Apple, Lil' Kim, Limp Bizkit, Oasis, Outkast, Yo La Tengo, TLC, and many, many more. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Third Edition includes all the facts, phenomena, and flukes that make up the history of rock. Accompanying the biographical and discographical information on the nearly 2,000 artists included in this edition are incisive essays that reveal the performers' musical influences, first breaks, and critical and commercial hits and misses, as well as evaluations of their place in rock history. Filled with hundreds of historical photos, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia is more than just a reference book, it is the bible of rock & roll.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing book.......2007-09-10

I cant believe people didnt like this book, then again everyone has an opinion. I thought this book was very well done and well written. Im a bit confused about the book though. It does say Rock n Roll but clearly has country acts, a few metal bands, and alot of bands who shouldnt even be in the book. As a lover of all music, I didn't mind the entrees though. I was on a 3 hour trip home and I read the book all the way home. It does pass alot of time and covers alot of ground. Its a great read for music lovers and i'm really glad I bought this book. I cant wait for the Fourth edition to come out, this book ends at 2000.

Not Encyclopedic.......2007-08-22

Oxford's says an encyclopedia is a book which covers all branches of knowledge, or a book which covers one subject comprehensively. The decisions as to which entries to leave out, and which to add, reduce the value of the volume to any researcher or aficionado of Rock and Roll history. Simply put, this book is not an encyclopedia of anything. The articles are interesting, granted, and thus I give this book 3 stars. But you'll have to look elsewhere if you want an encyclopedia of rock and roll.

Great Book!.......2007-08-13

This was purchased for my husband as a gift. He loves it! He told me that he refers to it on almost a daily basis.

Rock n' Roll.......2007-02-19

Excellent edition, this was a gift and my music lover friend doesn't put it down.

A disappointment.......2006-10-19

This is clearly not the success they would like it to be. it is very incomplete and patchy. Some artists are covered too succintly and some should not be included in a rock encyclopedia. If you need one reference work, this is clearly not it. This is probably due to the direction that RS magazine has taken over the last decade or so. While it was indispensable reading it has become hopeless and out of touch. I really used to read it but the quality of the writing has gone down the drain and this is reflected here. It is surprising since the early editions of their album guide were quite fantastic.

The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll

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The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll

Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0743292014

New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll: Completely Revised And Updated

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Rock and Roll?
Lyricism vs. Rhetoric
Almost excelent!
Buy several.. one for you and others for gifts
An invaluable resource for quick artist info

New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll: Completely Revised And Updated
Patricia Romanowski
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684810441

Customer Reviews:

Rock and Roll?.......2002-04-10

If you believe that rock and roll essentially died with the advent of MTV, and that rap, pop, disco, funk or anything besides rock and roll does not belong in an encyclopedia of rock and roll, don't buy this book. However, if you are perfectly happy with the state of rock music today, and Ice Cube is just as much rock and roll to you as Led Zeppelin, and you've enjoyed the state of rock music in general since LiveAid, buy this book, you'll love it. Basically, this book should be entitled "We really needed the money, so we took our great book from 1983, added anything resembling music that had transpired since then, but essentially kept the title to fool you into spending your money on something you thought was exclusively about rock and roll like our old book. Sorry". Shame on you, Pareles, Romanowski and everyone else associated with this book. Rock music IS truly dead, just let it be. This book just reminds me of everything that has gone wrong with rock music since '83, and is not worth the paper it is written on. Buy the '83 edition, end of story.

Lyricism vs. Rhetoric.......2001-04-21

A greater disservice to this book is impossible then to solicit a dusty clerk from the american library association to mummify it. Their reviewer may be stirred from the torpor of academicism by moderating a high school debate or ladies reading club, I can't imagine this volume finding a place on the shelf of any such person. He probably thinks Ted Nugent is cool.

Almost excelent!.......2000-05-26

As an old rock and roll fan I found this encyclopeadia very good. It is written very lucidly, in popular manner, with love. The selection is always in such kind of publication arguable, but I found this selection very good. Although... I found some big omission. For example: there are not Prodigy. Some omissions like this are the reason for giving "only" four stars. Anyway, I think this is the best rock and roll encyclopaedia in last decade.

Buy several.. one for you and others for gifts.......2000-05-08

This is a book that belongs on every music lover's book shelf. It is the type of reference book that any rock lover would like so, you can be sure it will be appreciated if you give it as a gift. If you don't know what to get a friend for a gift, this is a sure bet. The book is comprehensive in that it has entries on even fairly obscure performers. You can look up just about anyone. Years ago, the Holy Modal Rounders were performing at my college and the band drifted into my dorm room where a few friends of mine and the band partied. Of course, I wanted to find out more about them and they were listed. Everyone, from the pioneers of rock 'n roll, to rock stars of the 90s are included in this book. No matter what era of rock and what rock style you are in to, the artists are sure to be incuded. Each band has a complete listing of personnel, so if there have been changes in the band, all personnel are listed and the dates of the changes are noted. I recommend this book to you and to your friends (for gifts).

An invaluable resource for quick artist info.......2000-04-30

As the former Acquisition Manager for the Hard Rock Cafe memorabilia department I found this book to be an invaluable resource time and again. I am still involved with the memo world as an online content specialist and use this book virtually everyday as I don't think anyone can remember everything verbatim no matter how involved they may be with music and/or it's history. The information contained in the RS encyclopedia offers a quick reference to chronological listing of each artists discography and the text usually supports that with info regarding more significant artist career movement. As always, no amount of information is ever too much and this volume at times does leave a little bit to be desired, but as a quick reference and informative overview guide it is definately commendable and it includes a greater number of artists than any other reference book I am familiar with . The only other book I find to be more useful with regard to specific chronological movement of an artist's career is entitled "Rock Movers and Shakers" by Dafydd Rees/Luke Crampton, 1991, it may be out of print but is still available second hand, however due to the degree of content on the artists included therein, it does not cover as great a degree of entries as does the RS Encyclopedia. Another good resource/review guide are Trouser Press Rock Publications. Individual biography/autobio offer the most detailed resource providing they are penned by a respectable source.

The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll: Completely Revised and Updated.(Brief Article): An article from: The Antioch Review

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The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll: Completely Revised and Updated.(Brief Article): An article from: The Antioch Review
Katherine Gantz
Manufacturer: Antioch Review, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Literature | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Antioch Review, published by Antioch Review, Inc. on June 22, 1996. The length of the article is 324 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: The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll: Completely Revised and Updated.(Brief Article)
Author: Katherine Gantz
Publication: The Antioch Review (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1996
Publisher: Antioch Review, Inc.
Volume: v54 Issue: n3 Page: p362(1)

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, The: Completely Revised and Updated

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New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, The: Completely Revised and Updated
Patricia; George-Warren, Holly Romanowski
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KXQDF8

The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll : Revised and Updated for the 21st Century

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The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll : Revised and Updated for the 21st Century
Patricia (editor); George-Warren, Holly (editor); Pareles, John (editor) Romanowksi
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MYD740

Book Description

The Caribbean ranks among the earliest and most completely globalized regions in the world. From the first moment Europeans set foot on the islands to the present, products, people, and ideas have made their way back and forth between the region and other parts of the globe with unequal but inexorable force. An inventory of some of these unprecedented multidirectional exchanges, this volume provides a measure of, as well as a model for, new scholarship on globalization in the region.

Ten essays by leading scholars in the field of Caribbean studies identify and illuminate important social and cultural aspects of the region as it seeks to maintain its own identity against the unrelenting pressures of globalization. These essays examine cultural phenomena in their creolized forms--from sports and religion to music and drink--as well as the Caribbean manifestations of more universal trends--from racial inequality and feminist activism to indebtedness and economic uncertainty. Throughout, the volume points to the contending forces of homogeneity and differentiation that define globalization and highlights the growing agency of the Caribbean peoples in the modern world.

Average customer rating:

Good....

Extreamly Helpful Book

It`s Java compatible but not Java oriented but Lisp like syntax

Finally! A technical book that's not Missing In Action

The definitive book on Jess

Jess in Action: Java Rule-Based Systems (In Action series)
Ernest Friedman-Hill
Manufacturer: Manning Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Expert Systems: Principles and Programming, Fourth Edition

Business Rules Applied: Building Better Systems Using the Business Rules Approach

How to Build a Business Rules Engine: Extending Application Functionality through Metadata Engineering (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)

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Java Concurrency in Practice

ASIN: 1930110898

Book Description

A practical handbook for anyone interested in programming rule-based systems and written by the creator of the popular Java rule engine, Jess, this book is structured around a series of large, fully developed practical examples of rule-based programming in Java. After the topic of rule-based systems is introduced, software developers and architects are shown the Jess rule programming language in an accessible, tutorial style. Demonstrated is how to quickly progress from building freestanding interactive applications to rule-based Web and Enterprise software. Specific issues covered in this process include designing the application, embedding Jess in Java applications, and using a rule engine in the J2EE environment.

Customer Reviews:

Good...........2007-01-10

The book is complete reference for Jess, but the examples aren't complex. Leaning by examples are efective mean to the best exploitation. Is it my opinion.

Extreamly Helpful Book.......2006-02-25

I took a college course in AI in which the primary language was JESS and this book saved my life. It's not written as a textbook but more as a guided walkthrough for learning the language full of rich and helpful examples that cover both basic and advanced functionality. I highly recommend this book as a great way to get started with JESS or even as a reference book for people familiar with the language

It`s Java compatible but not Java oriented but Lisp like syntax.......2005-12-28

The subtitle is misleading. 20% percent of the code in the book is Java the other 80% is Lisp like syntax. I'm just a 10 years experimented Java, C++, VB, C# developer. So I'm too young to have seen Lisp! Because the book is always intermixing code and concepts instead of explaining the concepts at a higher level it's quite challenging. If you have problem to assimilate Lisp or Perl syntax Jess is not for you!

Finally! A technical book that's not Missing In Action.......2005-08-18

This review is a long time in coming, and I apologize to Dr. Friedman-Hill for not doing it sooner.

I have read Jess In Action (affectionately known as JIA to Jess developers) cover to cover at least ten times since first interviewing Dr. Friedman-Hill about Jess in the summer of 2003 -- see http://www.devx.com/Java/Article/17651/0. Prior to that, I'd experimented with Jess since 4.0.

Dog-eared, annotated, and now held together by a rubber-band and Post-Its, JIA is always within reach when I'm programming Jess. It is a testament to Dr. Friedman-Hill's smooth yet dense style that every pass through revealed something that I missed before: the sign of a great book. All technical books start off like a roller-coaster, slowly ramping up the fundamentals and then hurling you through topical twists and turns towards the "advanced topics" and appendices that mark the end of the ride. Most times, I want my money back. Jess In Action is the first tech-tome in a long time that made me say, "Wow!! That was @#&* cool!" and head back to Chapter One for another ride.

Let me refute a few unfounded criticisms that I've seen:

1. JIA "...is more of a tutorial - not long enough to be a good reference."
It is true that this is more a collection of tutorials than a "cook-book" reference: this is by design. There are ample reference materials available with Jess's distribution, and to replicate those here would be extraneous. There is no substitute for doing your homework and reading the documentation if you want to be a competent Jess programmer. I recommend that you actually do this first, then get JIA. That way, it's like having Dr. Friedman-Hill explain Jess in-person.

2. JIA's "...early discussion of Jess syntax focuses too much on Java-like procedural style."
If you are new to declarative programming, and LISP-like syntax in particular, then having an early functional and procedural focus is pedagogically comforting for several reasons.
a) You aren't abandoning everything you know about procedural coding at once.
b) Jess is a Java API, and even object methods are still procedural.
c) The right-hand side of rules are mostly composed of functions, which contain procedural code.

3. JIA has "... no general references to rules and rule-based systems for theory and background."
Rule-based expert systems are the oldest and most studied of the major expert system types, and there is an enormous body of literature for the serious student. This raises an important point: You should study the kinds of problems that rule-engines and rule-based expert systems are meant to solve before you launch into hardcore Jess programming. In this regard, JIA gives quite a good sampling of what Jess can do without burying you in minutia. For a good overview of rule-based expert systems, I recommend Expert Systems: Principles and Programming, Fourth Edition by Joseph C. Giarratano, Gary D. Riley ISBN: 0534384471 as companion volume to JIA..

My Nit-Picks for 2nd Edition Features:
· Edit the index! I was miffed that there were innumerable newbie terms that I couldn't find (specifics escape me now), but I was greatly amused to find "rubber ducks" (p. 295) and the proverbial "kitchen sink" (p.114).
· Add a section on integrating Jess with agents. The agent folks who write about adding Jess to their code never seem get it right, and I trust that Dr. Friedman-Hill will.
· Add a Survey of Best Practices and Jess Design Patterns.
· Add latest stuff about leveraging/optimizing the JessDE.

Overall, JIA 1.0 is THE essential volume for the serious Jess developer, and I eagerly await the next edition!

Jason Morris - Morris Technical Solutions LLC
Jess Consultant and Co-Moderator - Jess Listserver

The definitive book on Jess.......2005-03-12

This book is an excellent way to learn about rule-based systems in general and Jess in particular. The author also does a good job of describing the Rete algorithm, which is what Jess's engine is based on.

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