Wetfeet.com's Industry Insider Guide : The Inside Scoop on the Job You Want

Book Description

Unflinchingly candid and occasionally irreverent, this first comprehensive guide from the Net's hottest site for job seekers gives you the complete lowdown on thirty leading industries from accounting to venture capital. You'll find out which jobs are hot and which are not, what they pay, and which skills you'll need to get hired, survive, and thrive. You'll also get the scoop on industry movers and shakers, what insiders love--and hate--about their work, networking information, and industry-specific tips on interviewing. Sixty Real People Profiles provide first-person accounts of what working in a particular industry is really like. Self-assessments will help you decide whether or not an opportunity is right for you. It's the next best thing to having a relative in the business-maybe better!

Book Description

Finite element, finite volume and finite difference methods use grids to solve the numerous differential equations that arise in the modelling of physical systems in engineering. Structured grid generation forms an integral part of the solution of these procedures. Basic Structured Grid Generation provides the necessary mathematical foundation required for the successful generation of boundary-conforming grids and will be an important resource for postgraduate and practising engineers.

The treatment of structured grid generation starts with basic geometry and tensor analysis before moving on to identify the variety of approaches that can be employed in the generation of structured grids. The book then introduces unstructured grid generation by explaining the basics of Delaunay triangulation and advancing front techniques. A companion website fully supports this book by providing numerical codes in FORTRAN 77/90 for both structured and unstructured grid generation which will help the reader to develop their understanding and make progress in grid generation.

* A practical, straightforward approach to this complex subject for engineers and students.
* A key technique for modelling physical systems.
* Companion website provides free access to grid generation codes.

Customer Reviews:

A quite useful book on grid generation for beginner.......2006-11-06

The first chapter on tensor analysis is quite appealing and it is still refreshing for me who has experience with tensor analysis. The last chapter on unstructured grid generation is very helpful for me. I think it is a useful book for beginner in this field and can be a valuable reference book for experienced.

In computational fluid mechanics and solid mechanics, finite volume and finite element methods can deal with unstructured meshes relatively easily. So some of the grid generation techniques for finite difference method described in this book maybe less important than, say, 20 years ago.

Excellent book for someone comfortable with calcus.......2006-03-24

I am a CFD engineer but no grid generation person. I bought this book due to its low price ($15 for a pdf format). I am not disappointed with this book at all. If you are comfortable with calculus and somewhat familar with index notation, the derivation in this book is very logical. I was able to use this book to generate a structural mesh using the algebraic method and differential method. The variational method seems to require funtional background and that is beyond me. Another good aspect about this book is that it gives the final equations that one needs to solve and a procedure that one needs to use to generate the grid. A good example is the Winslow method. I was able to use the equations in the book easily to generate the grid. Anyway, I would recommend this book to people who can read the first five pages of it without too much trouble. If you struggle with the first a few pages, this is probably not a good book for you.

Average customer rating:

Structured Basic Applied to Technology
Thomas A. Adamson , Kenneth C. Mansfield , and James L. Antonakos
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0134423518

Book Description

Assuming no prior programming experience, this author team introduces the concept of structured programming through BASIC. This highly accessible language is used to develop the solid programming habits that are required by higher-level languages such as C and C++. Throughout the book, the clearest possible examples are used to illustrate new concepts while frequent technical applications are presented to portray programming as an essential tool for the solution, analysis, and design of technical problems. Coverage includes an introduction followed by chapters on using the computer; structured programming; computations and comparisons; making decisions—branch blocks; loop blocks; arrays; string manipulation and sorting; computer graphics; using files; ASCII character set; and an introduction to Visual BASIC. For practicing computer programmers and anyone interested in computers in general, computer programming with BASIC in specific.

Understanding Structured Programming in Basic IBM/MS-DOS Version

Average customer rating:

Understanding Structured Programming in Basic IBM/MS-DOS Version
Susan K. Baumann , and Steven L. Mandell
Manufacturer: West Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0314670297

Average customer rating:

Structured Basic Applied To Technology
Mansfield, Adamson, Antonakos
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OID42Y

Average customer rating:

Structured Basic Applied To Technology
Antonakos, Mansfiel, Adamson
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OI9NHY

Book Description

This volume brings together documentation of women's struggles in the process of industrialization, within and outside traditional workers' organizations. With contributions from researchers and activists particularly in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the text gives a broad display of both the constraints, and the ingenuity and determination with which women workers strive to improve their situation. Through both theory and rich empirical detail, the volume demonstrates the integral links between the home, workplace, and the state and international arenas, and between activists and academe in response to technological and industrial restructuring.

Average customer rating:

(4-) The Misuse and Abuse of the English Language

Warning: May cause milk to be snorted

I think this is a great little book!

Entertaining but overpriced

Halfbaked "joke book"

Free Drinks for Ladies with Nuts
Jane O'Boyle
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Wrong Again!: More of the Biggest Mistakes and Miscalculations Ever Made

ASIN: 0452281148
Release Date: 2000-01-31

Book Description

This hilarious book takes the reader on a grand tour of mangled English, Freudian slips, and other malapropisms in a compendium of authentic signs, phrases, headlines, labels, menus, and ads from around the world and here at home.

"The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid." (at a Serbian hotel)

"Fur coats made for ladies from their own skins." (at a Swedish furrier)

"The manager has personally passed all water served here." (at an Acapulco hotel)

"Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists." (an ad for a dentist in Hong Kong)

Organized by the type of faux pas-Signs and Ads, Menu Items, Helpful Instructions, Brand Names to Remember, and Free Advice-Free Drinks for Ladies with Nuts is the perfect gift for world travelers and language lovers everywhere.

Customer Reviews:

(4-) The Misuse and Abuse of the English Language.......2004-04-08

This is a delightful collection of what the author terms "mangled English"; it includes malapropisms, inappropriate although sometimes technically correct translations, misspellings, and instances that simply reflect a lack of thought or care by the individual involved. Most of the items included in the book are very brief, they often consist of only a few words (e.g. menus items that were translated in a humorous fashion) or a single phrase. Very few of the selections are as lengthy as a complete paragraph. Thus, the book can be sampled and skimmed in bite size morsels, and it is a wonderful item to be placed in locations where people pick it up, get a good laugh by reading a few selections and then return to it at their convenience (e.g waiting rooms in offices, subway briefcases, coffee tables, and magazine buckets in bathrooms).

The author has segmented the items into twelve categories; the majority involve inappropriate translations in some context, such as the suggestion at a Bangkok dry cleaner to "Drop your trousers here for best results" or the Swedish ad that "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux". However, there are also some sections that involve American misuse of our own native language, such as the sign in a hospital maternity ward that advised "no children allowed", or the warning in a Pennsylvania cemetery that "persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves". One of my favorites was the Ohio shop that proudly advertised "We buy junk and sell antiques".

Of course, the quality of the entries are uneven, as is inevitable in a collection of this type, Some are clever and will make you laugh out loud, some are quite cute and will occasion a smile, some involve words that are inappropriate and quite embarrassing in the context in which they are used, and a few seem to not deserve being included. But probably each reader's judgment will differ with regard to the level of humor of the individual items included in this collection. This is also a great book for sharing with others. I was reading one section while watching TV with my wife, and found myself frequently reading the more enjoyable items out loud to her. And when I was reading it alone, I'd on occasion feel compelled to note the items that I wanted to share with others in the future. While the pieces are too long to include in this review, my favorite section is definitely "Ads with Impact", written to appeal English speaking customers by people who often have just enough knowledge of our language to mangle the impression that they are trying to create.

So while this is not a great piece of literature, nor a work of wonderful insights, and certainly not filled with action, adventure and romance, Jane O'Boyle has managed to assemble an enjoyable collection of fractured English signs, movie marquees, advertisements, product names and other miscellaneous items that certainly approaches a four star level of enjoyment.

Tucker Andersen

Warning: May cause milk to be snorted.......2003-01-11

This is a cute, stocking-stuffer sort of book that will make anyone who reads it giggle uncontrollably. Anyone who has checked out

It includes various signs ("Drop your trousers here for best results" at a dry cleaners'; "Not to perambulate the corridor in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension" -- whatever that means!), menus ("bosom of chicken," "garlic coffee," "fried hormones" and "gelatinous mutant coconut"), faulty movie subtitles ("To eat the chicken, first you must catch it with your teeth"), helpful instructions on various products ("For indoor or outdoor use only," "This package will self-destruct on Mother Earth"), various advertisements ("In France, you can cruise on many canals and see the peculiarities," and "So keep your eye skinned!").

We make a brief foray into the English language then, with a bunch of labels that are just dumb English ("Fits one head" on a shower cap, and "do not attempt to stop chain saw with your hands"), then some signs that were clearly not double-checked ("Archery tournament/Ears pierced," "Marital arts studio"), brand names in other countries that seem a little off (mineral water called "Kolic," soap called "Parrot Toilet," and canned squid called "Battleship"), assorted slogans that don't quite work ("Today I Smoke, Today I Smoke, Today I Smoke, Yes," "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux"), newspaper clippings that don't translate very well ("Ban Body Odor"?), and a hilariously distorted interview with Madonna, which was retranslated so many times that it now is worthy of this book. Then there are movie titles where some of the letters/words flickered out ("Ear of Living Dangerously," "Bugs Lie"), and then this little volume rounds off with a last spattering of weird signs ("GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS -- Live Shoes Daily," and "Free Drinks for Ladies With Nuts").

Perhaps the main letdown of this book is that occasionally, perhaps as filler, O'Boyle has to grab some not-as-funny items from English, like the movie titles. But otherwise it's a hilarious little way to spend a half-hour, especially for befuddled Americans who found obscene street signs in other countries.

I think this is a great little book!.......2002-12-29

I was going to give this as a gift, but once I started reading it, I had to buy a second copy for myself. I think this book is
hysterical. Sorry, but lines from foreign movies like "Honey, this food smells weird. Did you fart?" never fail to make me laugh. If I'm easily amused, so be it, but then, can't help it. I enjoy laughing.

The book is not written to be a scholarly tome, so it does not have exact references, but from my own experiences in travelling, buying foreign products and watching MANY foreign movies this stuff rings true.

The book costs only cost a few bucks and I've more than gotten my money's worth in smiles, chuckles, giggles and outright laughs.
Lightweight, yeah. Worth it, definitely!

Entertaining but overpriced.......2002-02-02

This is a rather overpriced but entertaining collection of English phrases as mangled, sometimes quite suggestively (as in the title) by foreigners. Actually, there are a few examples of domestic screw-ups as well from information on the outside of a product ("Directions: use like regular soap."). Other sources include signs, restaurant menus, movie subtitles, instructions, ads, brand names, advertising slogans, and a truly bizarre interview with Madonna ("Are you a bold hussy-woman who feasts on men who are tops?"). Great bathroom reading but a bit expensive at [price]for under 130 small pages.

Halfbaked "joke book".......2001-04-18

So of course reading some of the English-mangling examples is damn hilarious. Also, I do believe that some of them are real. Unfortunately, no real source is ever given - which is very strange, considering that the authors usually say they personally "saw" or "encountered" those linguistic catastrophes. A shame, as some graphical proof would have greatly enhanced the reading. Thus, the overall effect is like reading one of those horrible "joke books" which collect everything your most hated uncle though funny to say at family dinners. No real value for linguistic fans.

Average customer rating:

Free Drinks for the Ladies With Nuts
Jane O'Boyle
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NWQZ4K

Book Description

There has never been a better time for a book on Gram Parsons. At the thirty-year anniversary of his death, his sound, a mix of country and rock 'n' roll, is absolutely everywhere. Popular musicians of today trace their inspiration to pick up a guitar to when they first heard his music. His songs and his style have had a lasting effect on the music of our time.

Now, together with Parsons's daughter, Polly, Jessica Hundley has created an intimate and extensive biography that brings together never-before-seen photos and illustrations, unpublished letters, and in-depth interviews with some of the many artists whose work was shaped by Parsons, including Keith Richards, Emmylou Harris, Wilco, and Ryan Adams, among many others.

Grievous Angel is the tribute that the legions of Parsons fans have been waiting for—a book that brings to life the story of the Southern boy who revolutionized the way music sounds.

Customer Reviews:

Been There-Heard Them-Seen Them.......2007-07-19

Being a bit older than some, I can say that I have seen the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, and Gram Parsons/Emmylou harris. and best of all--Emmylou Harris with a variety of others--most recently; Mark Knopfler. I could care less about all the questionable history between GP & ELH. In reality they were awesome together. She remains the torch bearer of the original "Cosmic American Music" theme. She defines being pigeonholed into a specific type of genre. Just listen to all the music they have made, then come to understand "Cosmic American Music". The people they have played with boggles the mind. From Fred Neil, Neil Young, Steven Stills, Linda Ronstadt, John Denver, & so many more, it
Grievous Angel : An Intimate Biography of Gram ParsonsHickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsonsreally does make you understand who they were and are. They are my musical heros.

A must for GP fans.......2007-07-19

This book is definitely a must for Gram Parsons fans. The only downside is his life and thus the book are too short.

Goofy, indulgent waste of money--STAY AWAY!.......2007-06-18

The Ben Fong-Torres book is much more thoroughly researched, and doesn't rely on the ridiculous invented dialogue that Hundley imagines went on between Parsons and his friends.

If GP was as shallow and moronic as he's portrayed in this book, he could never have written and recorded the beautiful, moving music that he left us.

In addition, Hundley interviews anyone she can think of, including her own friends and people who never had anything to do with Parsons.

WTF?

Gram Parsons Revisited.......2007-03-10

Definitely worthwhile for any Gram Parsons, Flying Burrito Bros., ISB, Byrds, etcetra fan. A lot of info you already knew, but just from another or different perspective.

What I really liked were the many different interviews with many of those
who were influenced by Gram, such as Emmylou Harris, Jay Farrar, Keith Richards and many more.

The only negative; errors a good editor should've discovered.
It's Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup not "Sweet Soul Music" Conley that wrote "That's All Right Mama".
And it's Joan not John Baez.

Or did I get the only copy with these typo's?
Hopefully.

Otherwise, still worth 5 stars in my opinion. A keeper!

Making money off GP.......2007-02-15

Save your money. There's nothing new here except the author's thoughts attributed to Gram as if she could read his mind. Buy the Ben Fong-Torres book and just look at the pictures in this one.

Book Description

Caffeine is the world's most popular drug! Almost all of us start our day with a jolt of caffeine from coffee, tea or cola. And many of us crave chocolate when we're stressed or depressed. Without it we're lethargic, head-achy and miserable. Why? Why do we crave caffeine? How much do we really know about our number one drug of choice?
Here is the first natural, cultural, and artistic history of our favorite mood enhancer--how it was discovered, its early uses, and the unexpected parts it has played in medicine, religion, painting, poetry, learning, and love. Weinberg and Bealer tell an intriguing story of a remarkable substance that has figured prominently in the exchanges of trade and intelligence among nations and whose most common sources, coffee, tea, and chocolate, have been both promoted as productive of health and creativity and banned as corrupters of the body and mind or subverters of social order.

Some Highlights From the World of Caffeine

Balzac's addiction to caffeine drove him to eat coffee, as some schizophrenic patients are observed to do today, and may have killed him
Mary Tuke breaks the male monopoly on tea in England in 1725
The ways caffeine functions as a "smart pill"
Goethe's responsibility for the discovery of caffeine
Did a mini Ice Age help bring coffee, tea and chocolate to popularity in Europe?
What is the mystery of coffee's origin?
As good as gold: the stories of how caffeine, in its various forms, was used as cash in China, Africa, Central America and Egypt
What does the civet cat have to do with the most costly coffee on earth today?

The World of Caffeine is a captivating tale of art and society -- from India to Balzac to cybercafes -- and the ultimate caffeine resource.

Customer Reviews:

You're going to need caffeine to finish this book.......2006-04-10

Weinberg and Bealer's The World of Caffeine brings together history, science, culture, and medical studies into one large volume. What promised, according to the cover, to be a book on the science and culture of the world's most popular drug, ended up being a boring treatise on the history of caffeine. It was only towards the last 1/3 of the book, that it really started picking up, and even then, the medical information bogged down.

The authors are careful to list all sides in the caffiene debate, from medical studies, to historical perspectives, never endorsing one side or the other. Because of this lack of a firm position on caffeine, the book read with a very dry, emotionless tone. I found the history interesting, but presented as it was here without any correlations and in strict, chronological order, it sounded more like a text book. Such circumstances, such as the rivalry between the British East India Tea Company and the Dutch East India Tea company might have made for more exciting reading, had they been explored further.

As someone who has had an on again-off again relationship with caffeine, I expected more than this book delivered. I wanted a thoughtful, compelling look at caffeine, not dry facts. Still, the book is interesting, if you can slog your way through it.

Very interesting.......2005-07-29

One of the best non-fiction I have ever read. Very interesting! It covers history, science, commerce and many other aspects of caffeine culture. Caffeine is THE drug of choice of most of the world population. Coffee, Cocoa, Tea, Guarana, Mate, and Cola: in all countries in the world at least one of these plants is a popular drink. Add soft drinks (most of them contain refined caffeine) to the above list and we may assume that most of the world population consumes caffeine on a regular basis.

Excellent condition.......2005-07-09

This book was supposedly used but came to me in perfect condition. Thank you!

Well-researched but somehow boring.......2003-12-12

This book is really well-researched. All you ever wanted to know about caffeine is in this book. The problem is that the authors stuff the book with so many facts and quotes from other books/treatises that they make it unreadable. This is especially true for the historical part (first part of the book). If you want to know about the history of caffeine, I would not buy this book. The book also has a lot of very interesting statistics and facts, and just for that reason, I will keep it.

Intriguing, Original.......2003-03-08

We hear a lot about the evil of stimulants. Amateur doctors who get their info from infomercials or Aunt Clara have begun to equate beverage/food stimulants with tobacco, alcohol and those absurdly misnamed "recreational" drugs. There is no comparison between being a zoned-out zombie and perking up to a Pepsi or cafe latte. Those who don't see this need a reality check. In fact, I am sipping a Dr. Pepper as I write (and, I might add, without a twinge of guilt.)

Caffiene is a modern development, especially the refining and concentrating of its powers. It emerged from the shadows in the Industrial Society and was indispensable in the conversion from a society of alcholic stupor to one that would revolutionize the world. The origins of both coffee and tea are quite similar - both being recognized for their medicinal purposes. Both had strong religious opposition (Islamic and Catholic) and both developed rituals and sites dedicated to the imbibing of the liquid.

Coffee and a few other naturally occurring plants also contain caffiene. The scientific section was too advanced for 99% of the readers- more like a chemistry treatise - but the history of
this ubiquitous drug was exciting and learned. The story of the rise of coffee houses, their political and social importance and the tale of the origins of afternoon "Tea" were both well done/ The history of soft drinks was an eye-opener as well. The book contains several illustrations and is best enjoyed with a hot cup of Costa Rican Arabica beaned coffee (not pre-ground).

Average customer rating:
The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug. (Books).(Book Review): An article from: ETC.: A Review of General Semantics
Martin H. Levinson
Manufacturer: International Society for General Semantics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B0008F14QQ
Release Date: 2005-06-01

Book Description

This digital document is an article from ETC.: A Review of General Semantics, published by International Society for General Semantics on September 22, 2002. The length of the article is 705 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 World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug. (Books).(Book Review)
Author: Martin H. Levinson
Publication: ETC.: A Review of General Semantics (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2002
Publisher: International Society for General Semantics
Volume: 59 Issue: 3 Page: 345(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

THE WORLD OF CAFFEINE THE SCIENCE AND CULTURE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR DRUG

Average customer rating:

THE WORLD OF CAFFEINE THE SCIENCE AND CULTURE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR DRUG

Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Caffeine | Nutrition | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000HZYOSC

Customer Reviews:

not for serious players.......2005-03-23

If you want to own every book on poker out there, then you have to buy this book.
If you're looking for advice that will improve your game, look elsewhere.
This book may entertain you, but it won't make you a better player. It's very hokey, but a few of the stories are good enough to be worth your time.

A nice read - 3 & 1/2 stars, really.......2002-03-19

The cover of the book makes this book look like trash. This is unfortunate because the book is not so bad at all. If you just want to get some quick advice about Poker and not get into the serious studying then this is a good book for you. Also, if you are just looking to pick up a decent afternoonýs read about Poker ý go ahead and read the book. This book was never meant to be to sharpen the skills of the already experienced Poker player ý itýs just a small booklet for the average Joe. It gives you the basics and a little bit beyond.

There is just one segment in the book that some may find confusing. The author states that in some Hoyle books straights donýt count in 5-card stud. The author says that the reason for this rule is obvious because "in 5-card stud straights are often result of accident or of bad play." He says this but does not elaborate. I can see how some novice players may find this confusing. Why would straights in 5-card stud be results of accident or of bad play? Although the author does not explain it ý this is because in order to get a straight a player must play a hand that should be considered junk. In other words, any good player would fold a hand that may lead to a straight because if a player plays the odds then the odds are against him/her. Therefore only players who leave too much to chance would ever go through all the betting rounds to get a straight. Tight players would consider this foolish gambling and not smart play. Again, the author did not explain this at all.

Entertaing Guide to Poker and to Life!.......2001-02-09

If you're a big fan of the original TV seris from the (1957-61 staring James Garner and Jack Kelley) you'll love the book. (The book, BTW, was written in the early 60's to capitalize on the success of the original TV show, not the silly Mel Gibson movie in 1994 or the various TV sequels staring Charles Frank or James Garner again.) Like the original seris, the book is very entertaining and offers a cornicopia of wisdom and lessons that can be applied not just to Poker, but to Life (Relationships, Women, and Work-lot better than recent pop psychology junk now writtem). One of my favorite quotes from the book is "My pappy always said you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. Those are pretty good odds!"

Book's also great for the novice poker player, but not really for serious or exerienced players.

Good for basic knowledge.......1998-09-14

This book is a great read. It is not a book for a serious player but is pleasurable for the casual player. For the price anybody should read it.

Average customer rating:

Maverick's Guide to Poker
Bret Maverick
Manufacturer: Tuttle Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000KYSK76

Amazon.com

Stephen Northcutt and his coauthors note in the superb Intrusion Signatures and Analysis that there's really no such thing as an attack that's never been seen before. The book documents scores of attacks on systems of all kinds, showing exactly what security administrators should look for in their logs and commenting on attackers' every significant command. This is largely a taxonomy of hacker strategies and the tools used to implement them. As such, it's an essential tool for people who want to take a scientific, targeted approach to defending information systems. It's also a great resource for security experts who want to earn their Certified Intrusion Analyst ratings from the Global Incident Analysis Center (GIAC)--it's organized, in part, around that objective.

The book typically introduces an attack strategy with a real-life trace--usually attributed to a real administrator--from TCPdump, Snort, or some sort of firewall (the trace's source is always indicated). The trace indicates what is happening (i.e., what weakness the attacker is trying to exploit) and the severity of the attack (using a standard metric that takes into account the value of the target, the attack's potential to do damage, and the defenses arrayed against the attack). The attack documentation concludes with recommendations on how defenses could have been made stronger. These pages are great opportunities to learn how to read traces and take steps to strengthen your systems' defenses.

The book admirably argues that security administrators should take some responsibility for the greater good of the Internet by, for example, using egress filtering to prevent people inside their networks from spoofing their source address (thus defending other networks from their own users' malice). The authors (and the community of white-hat security specialists that they represent) have done and continue to do a valuable service to all Internet users. Supplement this book with Northcutt's excellent Network Intrusion Detection, which takes a more general approach to log analysis and is less focused on specific attack signatures. --David Wall

Topics covered:

External attacks on networks and hosts, as they appear to administrators and detection systems monitoring log files
How to read log files generally
How to report attacks and interact with the global community of good-guy security specialists
The most commonplace critical security weaknesses
Traces that document reconnaissance probes
Denial-of-service attacks
Trojans
Overflow attacks
Other black-hat strategies

Book Description

Intrusion Signatures and Analysis opens with an introduction into the format of some of the more common sensors and then begins a tutorial into the unique format of the signatures and analyses used in the book. After a challenging four-chapter review, the reader finds page after page of signatures, in order by categories. Then the content digs right into reaction and responses covering how sometimes what you see isn¿t always what is happening. The book also covers how analysts can spend time chasing after false positives. Also included is a section on how attacks have shut down the networks and web sites of Yahoo, and E-bay and what those attacks looked like. Readers will also find review questions with answers throughout the book, to be sure they comprehend the traces and material that has been covered.

Customer Reviews:

When a good book is worth a thousand experiences!.......2002-02-24

This is the best book about Intrusion Signatures published yet.
I teach computer security at a local university, and with the only help of this book, I could take care of all the practical aspects of my last course. If you have already a good background on this field, and read and understand thoroughly the book, then you can afford any related security certification test.
Chapters 3 through 17, present several well documented cases, which, in turn, are discussed following the same standard:
- Presentation
- Source of Trace
- Detect Generated by
- Probability the Source Address Was spoofed
- Attack Description
- Attack Mechanism
- Correlations
- Evidence of Active Targeting
- Severity
- Defense Recommendations
- Questions

Chapter 1 introduces the reader to Analysis of Logs (including Snort, Tcpdump, and Syslog), IDS, and Firewalls. Even being a quick review, it is quite useful, though.
Chapter 2 explains the way the cases are studied.

The covered vulnerabilities and attacks include:
- Internet Security Threats
- Routers and Firewalls Attacks
- IP Spoofing
- Networks Mapping and Scanning
- Denial of Service
- Trojans
- Assorted Exploits
- Buffer Overflows
- IP Fragmentation
- False Positives
- Crafted Packets

At the bottom line, this is one of the 5 best computer security books I ever read. Even for non experts, the book can be a valuable tool to improve the understanding on this field.
Try it.

A Great Title For Security Geeks to Learn Packet Forensics.......2001-07-11

I read this book out of general interest and a need to dig deeper into the technical aspects of security, and intrusion detection in particular. For that, this title is perfect!

It's great to learn intrusion detection, packet analysis, forensics, attack methodologies, attack recognition, and similar topics. And oh, by the way, if you have any interest at all in certification, Intrusion Signatures and Analysis is the study guide for one of the hottest new certs there is: SANS GIAC Intrusion Detection In Depth.

Includes review questions with throughout the book.......2001-05-20

A must-have for the serious network security professional, Intrusion Signatures And Analysis opens with an introduction into the format of some of the more common sensors and then begins a tutorial into the unique format of the signatures and analyses used in the book. Readers will find page after page of signatures, in order by categories as well as a case study section on how attacks have shut down the networks and web sites of Yahoo, and E-bay and what those attacks looked like. As an added feature, the collaborative authors Stephen Northcutt; Mark Cooper; Matt Fearnow; and Karen Frederick included review questions with throughout the book to help readers be sure they comprehend the traces and material that has been covered. Intrusion Signatures And Analysis is a recommended resource for the SANS Institute GIAC certification program. 448 pp.

Analysis in practice.......2001-04-06

This is the second release from some of the key SANS GIAC folk and is a fine addition as it extends on the data from "Network Intrusion Detection : An Analysts Handbook", to give intrusion detection practitioners some interesting detects from the GIAC graduates.

Included in these detects are some of the more unique pieces of analysis that have been performed at GIAC, with detailed write-ups of the analysis process and the logic applied in defining the conditions in which the events occured.

Once again, this is easy and interesting reading which will appeal to intrusion analyists of all levels. Further, this book gives neophytes a real sense of what can be monitered and how important intrusion detection is in security layering.

You want experience?.......2001-02-07

The real-world signatures in this book, along with the analysis, make this a wonderful reference book. There is, of course, no substitute for experience. However, this book provides an excellent baseline of experience for any Intrusion Analyst! From that baseline one should be able to better analyze future attacks; there is, after all, only so much an attacker can do.

This book was made possible by contributors to GIAC (Global Incident Analysis Center); professionals out "in the trenches" dealing with attacks of all shape and size on a daily basis. These traces were not generated in a lab; they're the same traces you will see on your network if you're looking for them.

I've already used this book as a reference guide and it sits on my shelf next to "TCP/IP Illustrated V1" by Dr. Richard Stevens and "Intrusion Detection: An Analysts Handbook V2" by Stephen Northcutt and Judy Novak- I use all on a regular basis.

Whether you are just starting out in the IDS realm or whether you're an established Analyst sitting on an enterprise of sensors this book is for you.

-- Brent Deterding Enterprise Manager of Network Security - Solutia Inc.

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Intrusion Signatures and Analysis: Custom Edition
Mark Cooper
Manufacturer: Pearson Custom Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0536182426

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