Effective Use of Teams for IT Audits (Standard for Auditing Computer Applications Series)

Book Description

Most organizations find that an empowered team will improve the effectiveness of the IT auditing function. Such a team has the appropriate authority, resources, and skills to perform a project, determine the solution, and implement that solution without outside intervention. Audit management should establish certain guidelines for the teams to follow. Management may approve team assignments, but the team can use whatever resources are necessary to complete that assignment. Effective Use of Teams in IT Audits presents four approaches to ensure the effective use of teams: 1. Assessing team effectiveness. An auditing function can use a self-assessment document to determine whether it is using teams effectively. 2. Organizing and managing teams. Several suggestions are provided for staffing, organizing, and managing these teams. 3. Using teams to conduct reviews during an audit. This six-step approach uses peers to review peers, as opposed to supervisors to control subordinates. The review process provides checklists for use in conducting these peer reviews. 4. Using teams to improve audit processes. A detailed six-step improvement process is provided as a tool for improving audit processes. Team tools are significant ultimate team success. This book includes suggestions for building a team toolbox, and an appendix describing effective team tools.

Book Description

Sixteen cases from private companies and public agencies that can offer practical insights into the rational, context, and research for ensuring that learners actually apply learning fully on the job.

Book Description

White extends his conception of United States law as a constitutive rhetoric shaping American legal culture that he proposed in When Words Lose Their Meaning, and asks how Americans can and should criticize this culture and the texts it creates. In determining if a judicial opinion is good or bad, he explores the possibility of cultural criticism, the nature of conceptual language, the character of economic and legal discourse, and the appropriate expectations for critical and analytic writing. White employs his unique approach by analyzing individual cases involving the Fourth Amendment of the United States constitution and demonstrates how a judge translates the facts and the legal tradition, creating a text that constructs a political and ethical community with its readers.

"White has given us not just a novel answer to the traditional jurisprudential questions, but also a new way of reading and evaluating judicial opinions, and thus a new appreciation of the liberty which they continue to protect."—Robin West, Times Literary Supplement

"James Boyd White should be nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court, solely on the strength of this book. . . . Justice as Translation is an important work of philosophy, yet it is written in a lucid, friendly style that requires no background in philosophy. It will transform the way you think about law."—Henry Cohen, Federal Bar News & Journal

"White calls us to rise above the often deadening and dreary language in which we are taught to write professionally. . . . It is hard to imagine equaling the clarity of eloquence of White's challenge. The apparently effortless grace of his prose conveys complex thoughts with deceptive simplicity."—Elizabeth Mertz, Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities

"Justice as Translation, like White's earlier work, provides a refreshing reminder that the humanities, despite the pummelling they have recently endured, can be humane."—Kenneth L. Karst, Michigan Law Review

Justice as Translation: An Essay in Cultural and Legal Criticism.

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Justice as Translation: An Essay in Cultural and Legal Criticism.

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IBTO2G

Book Description

Are we alone in the Universe? What is our place in it? How did we get here? We have long searched for the answers to questions such as these, and scientists are beginning to find some of the answers. In this beautifully illustrated book, Daniel Altschuler provides the reader with the elements to understand the questions and their answers as far as we know them. He explores subjects from physics and astronomy, to geology and paleontology. Along the way he touches on topics such as the search for life on other worlds and the hazards of asteroid impacts. Written in an engaging and readable style, readers will be intrigued by the surprising connections among the stars, our planet, and life itself. Daniel Altschuler is Director of the Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, the site of the world's largest single-dish radio telescope.

Customer Reviews:

A propitious encounter .......2005-11-28

While waiting to go into a banquet at a Secular Humanist conference, a man with the name tag: Daniel Altschuler, Arecibo P.R. caught my interest. Inside we shared a table where he told me of his book and I told him of mine, "Concepts: A ProtoTheist Quest for Science-Minded Skeptics". I had copies of mine with me and gave him one but he didn't, so I ordered one from Amazon. It was a propitious encounter indeed; he's very personable and knowledgeable.

As part of a larger context, my book devotes only some 40 pages (with no graphics) to the evolution of the Universe, Sun, Earth and Life. Altschuler devotes 240 pages interspersed with many colored photos and drawings. I highly recommend reading his fuller descriptions and explanations from the Big Bang, thru star, planet and asteroid formation, to the emergence of Life and the prospect of our foolish arrogance extinguishing it. I found his book both entertaining and enlightening.

Excellent.......2002-09-11

From the rising of a beautiful sunny summer day, and enjoying life, to looking up at the stars, and seeing them in a different light. This book was very enjoyable. Most books on Astronomy, Evolution, Atmosphere, Geophysics etc. are basically just that, one subject matter and lightly cover over all others. In this book we are first taken on a journey of those that have contributed in most fields of science from the ground up as well as to the extremes of the universe. It brings to
mind the responsibility that all mankind has and how all mankind should have at least a basic knowledge of the sciences. It also becomes apparent that people have become unconcerned or
disinterested in what goes on, on our beautiful planet, and this magnificent universe that we are privileged to be a part of. This book should be read by professionals as well as those who know very little about the sciences. It could very well change peoples mind for the better, and get them interested in real science instead of dwelling on the fictional part of it. Hopefully, after reading this book people will come to realize that they also have a part to play in the world of science. It reminds us that it is time for each one of us to be responsible citizens of the world.

How we came to be here, and whether we are alone.......2002-07-11

Children Of The Stars: Our Origin, Evolution And Destiny by Daniel R. Altschuler (Director of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center's Arecibo Observatory) is a marvelously presented scientific tour through the mysteries of the cosmos, looking at what science has to say about how we came to be here, and whether we are alone in the universe. Written in plain terms easily accessible to the non-specialist general reader, and illustrated with beautiful color drawings and photographs, Children Of The Stars is a remarkable and enthusiastically recommended vision of galactic enigmas and beyond. Highly recommended for personal, school, and community library astronomy reference collections.

A folkbook, for the naturalist at heart........2002-06-22

A friend gave me a copy of Altschuler's book "Children of the Stars". Once I started reading it, it dawns on me that this guy can write. It is a bit of a tour de forces on the scientific foundations of the natural world, but written with clarity, a sense of humor and a great deal of passion. His prose is eminently readable, and I swear I sensed some of Gould, Dawkins, and Alan Lightman ability to describe while preserving focus. This is a book for the scientist and the scientist at heart. The author goes from the first few seconds of the universe to the wanders of molecular biology, showing the threads that ties it all into a unified entity, nature.

Book Description

The remarkable breadth of modern molecular mechanics is covered in this textbook developed for an undergraduate or first-time course on molecular mechanics. The book uses a case-study approach designed to give readers exposure to the relevance and utility of molecular mechanics as well as the opportunity to study a particular problem and its solution in depth.

Customer Reviews:

Great MM Text........2002-05-29

This text gives adequate explanation of the topics with detailed visual aids and applicable case studies performed by other authors. This is a great text for learning the basis and application of MM. I recommend having access to a program such as Gaussian or HyperChem in order to create your own examples.

This is a very good book, well written with good references.......1998-04-03

This is a very good overview of molecular mechanics usage in chemistry. It has a very complete coverage of the properties that are computable and and realistic examples of the computations and results. I highly recommend this book to people who wish to learn molecular mechanics uses in chemistry and to those who want to see property's compared at the molecular mechanics level of accuracy.

Book Description

Our ability to 'think' is really one of our most puzzling characteristics. What it would be like to be unable to think? What would it be like to lack self-awareness? The complexity of this activity is striking. 'Thinking' involves the interaction of a range of mental processes--attention,
emotion, memory, planning, self-consciousness, free will, and language. So where did these processes arise? What evolutionary advantages were bestowed upon those with an ability to deceive, to plan, to empathize, or to understand the intention of others? In this compelling new work, Peter
Gardenfors embarks on an evolutionary detective story to try and solve one of the big mysteries surrounding human existence--how has the modern human being's way of thinking come into existence. He starts by taking in turn the more basic cognitive processes, such as attention and memory, then
builds upon these to explore more complex behaviors, such as self-consciousness, mindreading, and imitation. Having done this, he examines the consequences of "putting thought into the world" -i.e., using external media like cave paintings, drawings, and writing. Immensely readable and
humorous, the book will be valuable for students in psychology and biology, and accessible to readers of popular science.

Customer Reviews:

Revised and Updated Edition to Reflect Recent Discoveries.......2006-07-13

While the fossil evidence is pretty good in showing how humankind's bones developed, it is not at all clear how the ever increasing brainpower (actually I guess you'd have to say 'room for a brain') translated into true thinking. Then again, even defining thinking is pretty hard. (And in the case of some people I know, it's really hard to define.)

In the standard area of bone development, Gardenfors has no argument with the well documented evolutionary findings. He also gives a very good report on the research that has been conducted on the thinking patterns of other primates, and on the theories that have resulted. He crystalizes all of these together to give some opinions as to the general theories of the development of human thought and to some variations in the standard theories.

One technique that he uses in this book is to place a lot of the discussion in the form of a discussion between a speaking monkey and himself. I found that to be a little distracting, but it does help to move the story along.

Mentality as a Lego construct.......2004-12-01

With all the primate observations and experiments done in recent years, it's not clear whether they've been tested with that favourite childhood toy, Lego blocks. Peter Gardenfors must have been a keen Lego practitioner, however. His thesis of how our primate ancestors developed the unique cognitive skills we possess reflects those childhood building techniques. He has a great deal of imagination as shown in his ideas and the in the manner he presents them. In this highly readable and innovative treatise, he proposes that our African ancestors developed a high level of self-awareness before other cognitive skills could follow. From that condition, our thinking abilities burgeoned well past that of our primate cousins. He utilises the Platonic dialog in a fresh manner to present his ideas. Gardenfors produces an imaginary talking monkey - Egon - to present questions readers might have on the proposed scenarios. Readers may judge the appropriateness of the technique for themselves.

Most of his thesis resounds of commonly-accepted views. The physical progression from Homo habilis to sapiens is established. What is not is the development of cognitive skills. How did the brain develop and what promoted its impetus? Gardenfors' departure is in how the process unfolded. Instead of building a few basic traits and skills, adding a bit to each over time, he suggests that various elements in our cognitive abilities emerged, developed into a mature state, then "rested". Then another trait would follow the same path to achieve an equivalent level of functionality. He starts with the physical, of course, touch sensation and perception of visual and auditory signals. From these would arise such elements as emotions, memory and planning. In turn, these advances build self-consciousness, "free will" and language, the ultimate achievement.

Gardenfors tentatively proposes that the adding of each level of cognitive ability drove the brain to become the structure humans enjoy today. The feedback loop is through hunting and meat consumption, which provides resources for an enlarging brain. The enlarging brain demands more resources and advanced cognitive skills to obtain them. Once the first steps beyond what our savannah-living ancestors ate and how they acquired food took place, the continuing reinforcement expanded our thinking abilities. Gardenfors relies on Daniel C. Dennett's ["Darwin's Dangerous Idea"] four-step sequence of the evolution of awareness. While the model is valid, it remains an open question whether Gardenfors' depiction of it as a segmented advancements is equally plausible.

For humans today cognitive skills go beyond those of mere survival and mating tactics. This step means incorporating a sense of intentionality on the part of others. Are the goals we strive for related to those of someone else? Are they in conflict? Can that conflict be resolved and how do we accomplish that? Gardenfors addresses these questions carefully, using "Egon the Talking Monkey" as his foil. "Egon" stands in for the remainder of the animal kingdom, and Gardenfors is at pains to establish what he sees as an abyss between "us" and "them". He's not denying our evolutionary roots, but notes that our cognitive skills represent a major departure from other primates - "apes don't ape" he declares.

This book is a good entry to the realm of cognitive studies, whether for the student considering the field or for someone with a general interest. Gardenfors's technique of using a "talking monkey" may seem a bit bizarre at first glance, but it proves a useful means of bringing various commonly posed questions to light. It also avoids having to crudely interpret or synopsise the views of others in the field. The author's text is a fine balance between the academic and the superficial popular writing too often encountered. Consciousness studies are a minefield of contrasting opinions. Gardenfors navigates the treacherous path skillfully, while presenting his own thinking. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Book Description

Fictions of Enlightenment is the first book to examine the fascinating and intricate relationship between Buddhism and the development of Chinese vernacular fiction. Qiancheng Li brings Buddhist models to bear on the vision, structure, and narrative form of three classics of late imperial literature--Journey to the West, Tower of Myriad Mirrors, and Dream of the Red Chamber--arguing that by fashioning their plots after the narratives of certain Mahayana sutras, the novelists transformed Buddhist concepts into narrative structures. Within the traditional Chinese novel Li even defines a new genre: the fiction of enlightenment.

Following a discussion of the often neglected Buddhist milieu in the literary landscape of the late Ming to the mid-Qing period, Li sets the context for the study of the novels. The Buddhist soteriological model was first established by the religion's founder and reenacted in sutras, such as the pilgrimages of Sadaprarudita and Sudhana. In the search for enlightenment, however, another pattern develops, a significant variation that appears to be a subversion of the Buddhist quest. This is characterized by an embrace of the phenomenal world as a result of the Mahayana understanding of the intrinsic relationship between samsara and nirvana. In this context, then, Journey to the West owes much to the model of pilgrimage and variations of it become the philosophical basis of Tower of Myriad Mirrors and Dream of the Red Chamber, which are characterized by movement away from the road and wilderness to the family. The settings of these novels change, corresponding to a shift in emphasis. Tower departs from Journey in its exploration of the tensions between and interdependence of enlightenment and desire. Dream both makes extensive use of the soteriological patterns and subverts them, turning itself into the consummate "fiction of enlightenment" and at the same time an elegy of love.

Richly documented and researched, Fictions of Enlightenment will inform and instruct those in the fields of Buddhist studies; Chinese literature, religion, and history; and comparative religion and literature.

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Tower of Myriad Mirrors

Manufacturer: Asian Humanities Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0895810018

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Do not read the introduction.

Ably translated into English for a western readership

Journey Through the Psyche of a Mystical Monk

The Tower of Myriad Mirrors (Michigan Classics in Chinese Studies)
Yueh Tung
Manufacturer: Center for Chinese Studies, The Universi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West

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ASIN: 0892641428

Book Description

China's most outrageous character--the magical Monkey who battles a hundred monsters--returns to the fray in this seventeenth-century sequel to the Buddhist novel Journey to the West. In The Tower of Myriad Mirrors, he defends his claim to enlightenment against a villain who induces hallucinations that take Monkey into the past, to heaven and hell, and even through a sex change. The villain turns out to be the personification of his own desires, aroused by his penetration of a female adversary's body in Journey to the West.

In this, his only novel, author Tung Yueh (1620-1686), a monk and Confucian scholar, picks up the slapstick of the original tale and overlays it with Buddhist theory and bitter satire of the Ming government's capitulation to the Manchus. After a nod to Journey's storyteller format, Tung carries Monkey's quest into an evocation of shifting psychological states rarely found in premodern fiction. An important though relatively unknown link in the development of the Chinese novel and window into late Ming intellectual history, The Tower of Myriad Mirrors further rewards by being a wonderful read.

Shuen-fu Lin is Professor of Chinese literature at the University of Michigan. Larry Schulz holds a Ph.D. in Chinese intellectual history from Princeton University and has published his dissertation, "Lai Chih-te and the Phenomenology of Change," and articles on traditional Chinese medicine. He is currently a senior officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Customer Reviews:

Do not read the introduction........2001-06-16

I have not yet read this book, though I have high expectations since Monkey is one of my favorite literary characters. This is not a rating, but a warning: DO NOT READ THE INTRODUCTION. The inconsiderate translator gives away essential information -- spoilers, in other words. Argh! I hate that. I hope I can save other potential readers some frustration.

Ably translated into English for a western readership.......2001-05-22

The latest addition to the outstanding "Michigan Classics in Chinese Studies" series, Tung Yueh's The Tower Of Myriad Mirrors, is ably translated into English for a western readership by Shuen-fu Lin and Larry J. Schulz. Tung Yueh (1620-1686) provides an illuminating example of Chinese literature written to both entertain and enlighten with its mythological cast of characters. This precursor to the modern novel will prove especially fascinating and informative for students and scholars of Chinese fiction as a specialized literary form.

Journey Through the Psyche of a Mystical Monk.......2001-02-08

Almost four hundred years before movies like "The Sixth Sense" shocked audiences with surprise endings, Tung Yueh's "Tower of Myriad Mirrors" was blowing away mid 17th century China with its own original brand of psyche-out plot twists. "Tower" was a gripping tale to its originally intended audience, and the story has stood the test of time and is read to this day due to its fantastic imagery and imaginative method of imparting Buddhist theory.

I read "Tower of Myriad Mirrors" for a class in traditional Chinese literature and enjoyed it thoroughly. I have an avid interest in traditional and contemporary Chinese literature, but a serious background in this genre is not necessary to understand and enjoy "Tower..." All that is needed is good concentration and patience, and perhaps a quick online look at background information on Mahayana Buddhism. The story may appear confusing and disjointed at times, but if you persevere, you will find that everything comes together beautifully in the last chapter. Keep in mind that it is imperative to read the forward - it provides the necessary orientation needed to understand the story.

"Tower's" protagonist, a somewhat wayward monk named Monkey (who has, in fact, the outward appearance of an ape) embarks on a fantastical journey in search ways to help his master reach India, where they are to procure Buddhist scriptures to bring back to China. Tung Yueh wrote this 16-chapter novella (most Chinese novels are in excess of 100 chapters) as a supplement to the famous narrative "Journey to the West" as a way to explore the psyche of the Monkey character. It is elegantly written and conjures imagry that is beautiful and exotic as well as brutal and violent.

Written in 1640, "Tower..." is an excellent example of the traditional vernacular stories that were widely used to relate the messages of Buddhism to the masses. To hold the attention and stay in the memory of common Chinese, the stories often involve fantastic imagery, scores of monsters and evil beings, beautiful women, and impossible feats of magic - all of which are evidenced in "Tower..." The Buddhist message of "Tower" is that one must strive to overcome the demons of desire within oneself - and this message is delivered by means of a fascinating journey through a dream world conjured up Monkey's mind.

While "Tower of Myriad Mirrors" is not an easy read, it is a rewarding one. This edition is well translated and provides many helpful footnotes that will enable readers not well-versed in the background of Chinese vernacular religious stories or Buddhism to understand. Approach it with an open mind and perhaps a willingness to look up some information on Mahayana Buddhism, and you won't be disappointed.

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Tower of Myriad Mirrors
Tung Yueh
Manufacturer: Asian Humanities Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000RANK6E

Average customer rating:
The Tower of Myriad Mirrors: a Supplement to Journey to the West
Yueh; Lin, Shuen-Fu; Schulz, Larry James; Wu, Cheng-En Hsi Yu Chi Tung
Manufacturer: Michigan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LZMD7C

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