The 100 Best Annuities You Can Buy

Book Description

Complete profiles of today's most successful annuities... Expert tips on how to maximize your returns...

Variable annuities now outpace mutual funds as the number one choice among street-smart investors—and it's easy to see why. Tax-deferred, commission-free, easy to purchase and redeem, carrying less risk than most other instruments, and exhibiting a superb overall performance, they are an indispensable addition to any low-risk, high-yield portfolio. Now, in the first book of its kind, financial planning expert Gordon Williamson demystifies annuities investing. Writing in a straightforward, down-to-earth style, he:

Clearly explains how annuities work, profiles their return potential, and frankly assesses their relative advantages and disadvantages
Steers you to the 100 best annuities for your investment dollar
Emphasizes risk reduction without sacrificing returns
Supplies complete annuity profiles, including average annual returns over the past 3, 5, and 10 years
Ranks and evaluates today's entire spectrum of annuity products—aggressive growth/small cap, international, growth and income, balanced, money market, and more
Pinpoints the best performing variable annuities
Includes investment options within each annuity recommended

The word is out: variable annuities are one of the best investment instruments developed in this century. Now find out how you can take full advantage of their unprecedented earning potential with The 100 Best Annuities You Can Buy.

Book Description

Ministers of Finance in post-conflict countries face unique challenges. At a turbulent time when both financial and human resources are limited, what should a finance ministry do - and, more importantly, not do? Which countries offer successful examples of reform that can be used as models for finance ministry reform in other countries?

Reforming Fiscal and Economic Management in Afghanistan sets out the impressive policy and institutional reforms made by the interim and transitional administrations of Afghanistan since the Bonn conference in November 2001. It explores the complexities of managing the significant amount of development assistance and donor interest while balancing the need to respond to donor priorities and to build strong public-sector institutions. The book demonstrates that the budget must be the primary vehicle for developing and then implementing policy, and shows how this strategy has shaped the renewal of Afghanistan's finance ministry. The volume closes with a specific agenda for finance ministry reform and restructuring.

Although this edited volume is focused on Afghanistan, the questions raised have broad relevance for other countries seeking to restart economic and fiscal management following conflict. Reforming Fiscal and Economic Management in Afghanistan will be of great interest to finance ministries, national governments, international and nongovernmental organizations, and research institutions, and to anyone interested in post-conflict reconstruction and reform.

Book Description

Musicians begin formal training by acquiring a body of musical concepts commonly known as musicianship. These concepts underlie the musical skills of listening, performance, and composition. Like humans, computer music programs can benefit from a systematic foundation of musical knowledge. This book explores the technology of implementing musical processes such as segmentation, pattern processing, and interactive improvisation in computer programs. It shows how the resulting applications can be used to accomplish tasks ranging from the solution of simple musical problems to the live performance of interactive compositions and the design of musically responsive installations and Web sites.

Machine Musicianship is both a programming tutorial and an exploration of the foundational concepts of musical analysis, performance, and composition. The theoretical foundations are derived from the fields of music theory, computer music, music cognition, and artificial intelligence. The book will be of interest to practitioners of those fields, as well as to performers and composers.

The concepts are programmed using C++ and Max. The accompanying CD-ROM includes working versions of the examples, as well as source code and a hypertext document showing how the code leads to the program's musical functionality.

Customer Reviews:

The beginnings of the machine musicians........2004-02-04

The author introduces this book as "exploration of the theoretical foundations of analyzing, performing, and composing music with computers". The book is exceptional in quality of writing and is fascinating to read. The fact that machines are actually composing music that is enjoyable to listen to as well as non-trivial from the judgment of professional musicians has to rank as one of the most fascinating achievements in music theory and artificial intelligence. Readers of this book will require a fair amount of background in music theory, some knowledge of mathematics (the fast Fourier transform is used in some parts of the book), some knowledge of various algorithms in artificial intelligence, such as neural networks and genetic algorithms, and knowledge of the C++ programming language. There is a CD-ROM that accompanies the book, and which contains a library of C++ objects that can be used to build interactive programs. The author emphasizes though the reader does not have to become a C++ programmer in order to follow the text. In addition, he is concerned with the ability and occurrence of machine musicians, and not in the question as to whether or not the methods they use can emulate human music cognition.

In chapter 1 the author introduces techniques necessary for the analysis of algorithms and composition, and for studying pitch-specific processes such as chord classification and key induction. The author restricts himself to what he calls "symbolic processes" in this chapter, and these he defines as those that are best characterized as a system of representations and rules. The symbols are taken to represent features of the musical context and their relationships are inferred by algorithms based on the knowledge of the objects they represent in real music. A context-independent chord classifier is first developed and then the author gradually introduces elements of context dependence with the goal of showing how these elements improve performance. The author also addresses issues with music representation, such as MIDI, and some possible successors to it. A key induction algorithm based on parallel processing is discussed in some detail. This algorithm takes knowledge about scales and chord functions and then updates saliency ratings for major and minor tonalities.

In chapter 2, the author deals with "sub-symbolic" processes, which he characterizes as processes that utilize the regularities learned from prior inputs in order to characterize and predict future inputs. He could have designated these as "connectionist" algorithms, since they learn their behavior from being exposed to material, do not depend on fixed rules, and are usually implemented using neural networks. Neural networks are used to do key induction, and the author discusses a connectionist approach to perform quantization, and a modification of it for use in real time. He also discusses various techniques for doing "beat tracking", i.e. the process of finding a regular pulse in a sequence of events, remarking that such an ability is very difficult to accomplish in a machine. Also discussed are some algorithms for performing meter induction.

The author turns his attention to pattern recognition and segmentation of music in chapter 4. The discussion of grouping preference rules leads the author to a real-time segmenter, whose rules are grouped according to the quantity of information that is required to apply them. The author discusses the problems with doing real-time segmentation. A dynamic programming approach to pattern matching is outlined, one using a "rating matrix", and the author points out that the difficulty in doing pattern matching does not lie in the matching algorithm, but rather in the preparation of the patterns needed by the algorithm. The "absolute" representation of the pitch used in this algorithm is then replaced by the "intervallic" representation in order to adhere to what is known from human music cognition. The author then compares his pattern matching algorithms with what has been done in the literature. All of this discussion is fascinating, particularly the discussion of Kohonen self-organizing neural nets that learn to cluster inputs into categories via competitive learning.

Then, in chapter 5, the author begins a discussion of the techniques that machines use to do musical composition. All of the algorithms used by these machines are interactive, in that they change their behavior in response to external inputs. Many different techniques are overviewed, such as generation techniques, which the author is well known for, Also discussed are score following, a pattern matching technique that can trace the progress of live performers through their compositions they are playing, and algorithmic signal processing. Detailed diagrams are given for illustrating the different algorithms.

This is followed in chapter 6 by a review of proposals for algorithmic performance and expression, emphasizing the role in particular of research done in music cognition. The author is careful in pointing out that he remains neutral concerning the question of whether a program is capable of musical cognition similar to what humans do. In addition, he gives two reasons why the experimental data from music cognition is not the standard of verification for the algorithms given in the book. Clearly the author is leaning towards the view, and I believe correctly so, that machine intelligence, even in contexts outside of music, may be in many ways very different from human intelligence. Machines will compose and produce music using techniques that may be very different from what humans use, just as machines play chess in ways that are very different from what humans do. Expert systems are discussed as a tool for algorithmic composition, and the author addresses issues of knowledge representation, with detailed emphasis on schemata for this purpose. Particularly interesting is the fact, as the author points out, that most interactive music systems do not learn, but the author discusses various methodologies that are attempting to incorporate learning into machine musicianship, such as neural networks and genetic algorithms. The GenJam machine of John Biles for doing jazz improvisation is a very interesting example of the latter.

I did not read chapters 7 or 8 so I will omit their review.

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Machine Musicianship
Robert Rowe
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OR7IBS

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Machine Musicianship
Robert Rowe
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORGD5A

Book Description

This volume provides information on the history and operation of major foundations located outside the United States. Unlike statistical directories covering foreign foundations, this book treats the most important foundations in thirty-one different countries and provides historical essays often written by the respective officers themselves. As one of the very few book-length accounts of international foundations in English, the volume offers not only essential data on individual organizations, but a platform for comparing the structure and function of various foundations as well. The book is made up of 146 historical sketches of the most significant foundations in thirty-one countries, categorized by type as independent, corporation-sponsored, community, or operating. Approximately half of the sketches were provided by persons within the foundations, while the remaining ones were derived from histories and reports, correspondence, interviews, and other research. Each sketch contains basic information on the founding, purpose, activities, financing, governance, and location of a foundation, to the extent that it was available. Also included are three appendices, which provide topical and chronological listings of the institutions. In addition, bibliographical references to sources utilized and references for further reading are supplied at the end of each sketch. The volume will be a valuable reference source for foundations throughout the world, government agencies and college and university administrators, and public and academic libraries. It will also be relevant to courses in the history of philanthropy and intellectual and social history.

International Encyclopedia of Sociology of Education (Resources in Education Series)

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International Encyclopedia of Sociology of Education (Resources in Education Series)

Manufacturer: Pergamon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0080429904

Book Description

The sociology of education is a rapidly expanding area within sociology and in educational studies generally, and cuts across many other disciplines. The area is also often defined as the social contexts of education or the social foundations of education. The sociology of education has been the arena for significant developments in theory and methods and in many instances has led the other sociological, social sciences and educational fields.

This Encyclopedia provides a state-of-the-art resource in the sociology of education and related interest areas such as education and society, sociological theory, the study of the family, educational structures, educational processes and the social foundations of education. This is a specialist collection of considerable depth which documents the theoretical, methodological and substantive developments in the sociological study of education into the next century.

The International Encyclopedia of Sociology of Education is recommended reading for students, teachers and academics, researchers and policy makers within the field of sociology of education as well as scholars from outside the field. The Encyclopedia not only provides and informative introduction to the aspects of sociology that seriously influence education, but the content of the entries and the extensive bibliographies also make the Encyclopedia essential reading for scholars already well versed in these fields.

Articles include updated and revised material from the International Encyclopedia of Education, 2nd Edition (described by Choice as being "a premier resource when judged on virtually every criterion applied to reference work") together with newly commissioned material.

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International Encyclopedia of Sociology of Education
Lawrence J. Saha, L. J. Saha
Manufacturer: Pergamon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OGTBD2

Book Description

Trespass In Hazzard County is the shockingly true story of the sex, drugs, intrigue, petty jealousy, back-biting, infighting and inflated egos on the set of The Dukes of Hazzard. Author Richard D. Jensen spent two years "trespassing" in the mythical Hazzard County. This is his eyewitness account.

Customer Reviews:

"My Years as a Hollywood Hopeful" By Richard D. Jensen.......2007-05-08

While the suggested title in the title review might not be a perfect choice, it offers a far clearer picture of the book you are thinking of reading.
Any Dukes fan who picks up this book and thinks they are going to get to read something about their favorite show is going to be sadly disappointed that the entire writings concerning the Dukes and the cast contained within the 170 page book can easily be read sitting in a drive thru line with one car ahead of you. That is, if you are hoping to read about anything or anyone other than John Schneider.
This book boils down to being nothing more than the temper-tantrum of a fourty-something year old who has been holding a grudge for twenty-plus years because one of his best former friends, John Schnieder, made it big in Hollywood and he didn't.
Page after page concentrates on every fault he finds with Schneider, from his acting skills, his looks, his attitude, to his taste in women. In short, the author describes himself as being better than Schneider in every way, from convincing the reader he would have been a better actor, had better taste in women and so forth.
Ironically as the president of John's fan club, he criticized the club as having been put in place to do no more than to swamp unsuspecting members with unsolicited advertising, to more or less use John's name to sell. Well talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Jensen has slapped "Hazzard" onto the title of his autobiography and used it to sell his book!
Also, he insults the show itself, saying in one portion that 'no talent was needed to star in the Dukes'. This coming from the man who, again, twenty-plus years later, continues to bemoan his agent in the book for not having sent him to the Dukes audition! If he thought so lowly of the show, why the grudge?
It also appears that Jensen is quite upset that John didn't do more to help him in his Hollywood career, an agreement they had supposedly both made as struggling actors in the event that 'one of them should make it big.' John did get him the guest roll on the Dukes in the 'Carnival of Thrills' episode, and also offered him a part in his tv movie 'Coming Home', so he was making effort. But John was a young, a new star in Hollywood and I doubt there was much more he could have done to promote Jensen's career other than help him get these bit parts. What was he supposed to have done? Go to the Dukes directors and say 'Hire Jensen as a permanent cast member or I quit?' Of course, after reading this, I wouldn't have been suprised if Jensen HAD wanted that!
To Jensen's credit, he does include some of his personal photos of John that are nice to see, and gives you a glimps of John's early high school theater days. For these reasons it was worth it to have the book. But if you really want to read about the show, you'd be far better off picking up a copy of 'The Dukes of Hazzard: The Unofficial Companion' by David Hofesteade.

entertaining and touching.......2006-12-12

I don't understand the bad reviews of this book. This entertaining book gave me a lot of insight into the background of the Dukes of Hazzard. Parts of the story are a little sad, but overall it was a lot of fun to read. I've always enjoyed books that tell the true story behind the scenes, instead of the version that is filtered through the studio PR department. I was particularly interested in reading about John Schneider's early days as an actor, before he hit it big at such a young age. This book was fun and fascinating, and it is well worth reading.

Trespassers Should Be Shot!.......2006-06-26

If Jensen were a racehorse, someone would put him out of his misery. The same courtesy should be extended to unsuspecting readers of his book.

If you are or ever have been a fan of TDOH or any of the actors involved in the show, ignore this book completely. The book does not tell you about the show, its actors, stunt people or stunts. Instead, the author, who was friends (ha!) with John Schneider when both were in their late teens, has an axe to grind - and grind it he does on John Schneider's back the entire length of the book.

Jensen is a bitter, vengeful author (he fervently believes that he would have been a much better Bo Duke and will probably go to his grave bemoaning the fact that he didn't get the role that John Schneider made famous). He is jealous of John's success.

When push comes to shove, the author really doesn't have much nice to say about anyone associated with TDOH or very many people in general... not even his own mother. Jensen finds fault with most of the actors who spoke to him and belittles their talent at every turn. He also manages to find fault with those who barely spoke to him.

Jensen makes a habit of name dropping throughout the book. He mentions every single `famous' person he has ever crossed paths with in his lifetime in a miserable attempt to make himself sound important and worldly.

While the facts Jensen presents may be true, the author bases his book's focus on a young Schneider's mistakes and indiscretions while glossing over his own (like his infidelity). He will compliment Schneider one moment and then tear him apart the next.

What is most troubling and disturbing is that all the events that Jensen presents happened so long ago (roughly 25 years) and many lives and the people living them (including John Schneider) have changed tremendously yet the author finds it necessary to rehash the past.

Obviously, Jensen resents Schneider and just about everything associated with the Dukes of Hazzard and his book comes off as nothing more than a grown-up (debatable) man's bitchfest.
P.S. I only gave the book one star because leaving it blank was not an option.

Tresspass in Hazzard County: I Used To Know John Schneider! .......2006-05-24

I had been reluctant to read this book. After all the Dukes of Hazzard is my all-time favorite television show. I have wholesome, pure image of the actors and show and would like to believe that they are all decent people. Being such a die hard fan, I decided that I needed to know the truth.

The description on the back cover of the book states: Richard Jensen's "Trespass In Hazzard County is the shockingly true story of the sex, drugs, intrigue, petty jealousy, back-biting, infighting and inflated egos on the set of The Dukes of Hazzard."

After reading, I breathed a sigh of relief. Jensen did not deliver the juicy details that he promised. The entire book is about the friendship Jensen had from 1975-80 with Dukes star John Schneider, barely mentioning the other Dukes co-stars.

I expected to read about Daisy Duke sleeping around the set, or Boss Hogg doing lines of coke off the General Lee. Instead he just bashes Schneider page after page.

The sex? Jensen writes about Schneider having sex with female after female. What a shock - an 18-24 year old television star (or simply enjoying lots of sex! How scandalous! The drugs? Schneider and Jensen attended many Hollywood parties and witnessed frequent drug use. However Jensen says they both turned down any offers. Very outrageous!

Petty jealousy? The guilty party is Mr. Jensen himself, using the entire book to grind his axe against Schneider, who got the part of Bo Duke and rose to superstardom while Jensen could barely get small roles. He continuously critiques Schneider's acting abilities, forgetting to realize that the show failed without fellow Duke boy Tom Wopat and Schneider after their walkout over merchandising. (Everyone is quick to forget the awful Coy & Vance episodes)

Overlooking the tiresome bashing of Schneider, the thin book doesn't offer much to keep the reader's interest. Taking breaks between giving another uninteresting comment about Bo Duke, Jensen writes about boring times he met celebrities.

If you are a Dukes of Hazzard, John Schneider, or TV fan, the book doesnt offer much to you - I would suggest not buying it. However if you are a fan of mediocrity and bitterness, the story of Richard D. Jensen's friendship with John Schneider would be a nice quick read.

Perhaps Jensen could have titled the book, Tresspass in Hazzard County: I Used To Know John Schneider!

WHERE IS THAT BOW AND ARROW WHEN YOU NEED IT?.......2005-12-17

This book should have the title "How to Insult a Friend:My Life as a Jealous Companion of John Schneider". The author tells it all in his dedication. He dedicates the book to undiscovered actors who are more talented than those who find fame. The entire book gives examples of his belief that he is more talented than John Schneider. First this author is jealous of the fact that John had help from his mother. He states that she paid his bills. He's talking about a time when John was going to high school and doing summer stock theater. I would hope that his mother would pay his bills while he was this age! He won the role of Bo Duke when he was barely 18. What is this author talking about?

He states that John had talent and charisma, was star quality, in 1975, at age 15. But then when John became a star he writes repeatedly that John's acting was awkward, wooden, and mugged. He can't understand why their agent sent John to audition for the "Dukes of Hazzard" role and not him. Apparently the agent knew who had the talent and this anthor still hasn't realized his limited potential.

Before the "Dukes of Hazzard" audition this author states that John had a beautiful, rich, baritone singing voice. After he became jealous the author claims that John was not successful after the "Dukes" - his movies bombed and he only had minor hit records on the country charts. He doesn't tell the fact that John had many country hits in the top ten, four hit #1, and even had a #1 album! The author also states that John became a host for the Children's Miracle Network Telethon. He is more than a host. He and Marie Osmond were the cofounders. There's a big difference between being a host and a founder! This author writes as though John's current role in "Smallville" is so minor that it shouldn't be mentioned. Why then was he considered for an Emmy nomination for this role?

If you are looking for a book about the "Dukes of Hazzard", this book isn't about that series. If you are a John Schneider fan, this book isn't for you. If you are someone who just wants the facts, this book isn't for you either. If, however, you want to know how to insult someone because they have more talent than you and you can't accept that, then this book should be high on your list.

In my opinion every copy of this book should have been in that outhouse with Luke's car magazines when Bo Duke blew it sky high with that dynamite equipped bow and arrow!

Book Description

Harnessing AutoCAD® 2006 continues in the tradition of previous editions by providing the widest selection of discipline-specific exercises and projects for learning how to use today's leading desktop design and drawing software. A smart how-to and reference, this book contains up-to-the-minute functionality including extensively illustrated examples of "prompt-response" sequences, whereby certain commands prompt users for additional information such as coordinates or dimensions to complete a function. The companion Exercise Manual has also been updated, and is included in its entirety on the CD-ROM in the back of the book. This manual features problems in complete project format for practicing concepts and commands learned in a chapter or section, as well as for testing single concepts and commands. This complete package is appropriate for either the novice or advanced user.

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Harnessing AutoCAD 2006 Exercise Manual
Thomas A. Stellman , and Krishnan
Manufacturer: Delmar Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Harnessing AutoCAD 2006

ASIN: 1418020362

Product Description

A companion to the manual titled "Harnessing Autocad 2006"

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