Tolley's International Handbook of Corporate and Personal Taxes

Customer Reviews:

It's funny--what more do you want?.......2002-02-26

Tom Tomorrow is as far left as they come, but has somehow managed to keep his sense of humor. That's rare for any location on the political spectrum.

More importantly, it's valuable. Without the ability to laugh at ourselves and the follies of our society--including its "esteemed leaders"--we'd be in even worse shape than we are (if you can imagine!). You don't have to be a foaming radical to appreciate This Modern World, and even liberals may disagree with some of the anger that shows through these cartoons, but the wit and skill are unmistakable.

Don't Stop Thinkin' About Tomorrow,.......2002-01-14

as our former president put it during his '92 campaign. He's right. Tom Tomorrow is a voice of reason in a time of madness. A brilliant beam of acerbic criticism dissecting and excising the hypocrisy of our time. He is that, and any other flowery, over-descriptive superlative you or I care to devise. This entire review boils down to: buy this, and every other Tom Tomorrow book you can find. Then go buy all of Ruben Bolling's books. Then go get all of the 'The Onion' collections. Those who write this well demand and deserve our support.

Savage Satire!.......1998-11-11

Tom Tomorrow has a remarkable talent for using logic and fact where other writers would try to bluff. Unlike many liberal writers, Tomorrow has a full and complete understanding of capitalism and its role in politics. The art and humour are just enough to cushion the blow when Tomorrow reveals the evils committed by those who profess to serve. The work is intended for an American audience, but is relevant worldwide. For instance, Tomorrow's oft-made point about the American Federal Reserve maintaining *minimum* unemployment rates for the benefit of the wealthy is equally valid in Canada (thank you, Bank of Canada). Anyone with even the vaguest interest in politics or current events needs to read as much of This Modern World as they can get their hands on.

The best humor book I have ever purchased!.......1997-01-30

Tom Tomorrow sarcastically satrizes everything that makes up this modern world. His book is one that you can read four or five times over, and still laugh out loud every time. $8.95 is definitely worth this treasure

A welcome chuckle for the disenheartened left........1996-08-23

"Isn't it sad that you had to learn it from a penguin?" could be the catch phrase for Tom Tomorrow's politically charged and well-informed cartoon-collage "This Modern World," as Sparky, the wrathful penguin with a bleeding heart, seeks to inform a happy-go-destructive clip planet of the real problems in the world, from assaults on the environment and on the poor, to the glib shallowness of mainstream media, to the covert plot of aliens testing human stupidity by posing as Republican Senators.

I say *could be* the catch phrase, because Sparky would hardly submit to being an overmarketed commodity only *pretending* to be a spokesbird for the disenfranchised (which maybe why he has been "right-sized" and replaced by a temp named Wilbur). The humor here is more than a glib acknowedgement of possible horrors of capitalism while the messenger gleefully participates, as you might find in certain bespectacled "leftist" commentators on television or equally bespectacled nerds and fat white dogs on the funny pages. Tomorrow is focused, informed, and right on target. While his ingenious comic doesn't solve anything, it offers a brief respite to those disenheartened leftists who think they are all alone in the world, and need a chuckle in between Lerner's latest and Chomsky's next.

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The Wrath of Sparky.
TOM[PERKINS,DAN] TOMORROW
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTF7UA

Book Description

Richard Ohmann's work is in a class by itself. While editor of College English, and in the three books he published since then, he has created America's most comprehensive vision of how teaching and scholarship are at once part of the university, of society and of history. In Politics of Knowledge, Ohmann's essays and interviews analyze, explain and criticize the roles of the university, the academic professions and publishing in a rearranged America. Focusing on the opposed movements of a more open university and overwhelmingly powerful multinational corporations, he offers language and formulations that will help present generations move closer to the hope that teaching and scholarly work can enhance the lives of all.

This scholar, teacher and activist sets his often anecdotal and autobiographical reflections within the broad tapestry of historical, economic and material conditions. It is this combination of the long backward-looking personal perspective and adept critical analysis that have made his work a resource for professors and students alike.

POLITICS OF KNOWLEDGE: THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE UNIVERSITY, THE PROFESSIONS, AND PRINT CULTURE. Foreword by Janice Radway

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POLITICS OF KNOWLEDGE: THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE UNIVERSITY, THE PROFESSIONS, AND PRINT CULTURE. Foreword by Janice Radway
Richard. Ohmann
Manufacturer: Wesleyan Univ. Press,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N7I1I8

Book Description

As computer games become more and more like Hollywood productions, the need for good story lines increases. Research shows that stories are highly valued by game players, so today's studios and developers need good writers. Creating narrative - a traditionally static form - for games is a major challenge. Games are at their heart dynamic, interactive systems, so they don't follow the guidelines and rules of film or T.V. writing. Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames addresses these issues and is the first book written to demystify this emerging field. Through the insights and experiences of practicing game writers, the book captures a snapshot of the narrative skills employed in today's game industry. This unique collection of practical articles provides the foundations to the craft of game writing. The articles, written by member of the International Game Developer's (IDGA) Game Writer's SIG, detail aspects of the process from the basics of narrative and non-linear narrative to writing comedy for games and creating compelling characters. Throughout the articles there is a strong emphasis on the skills developers and publishers will expect a game writer to have. The book is suitable for both beginners and experienced writers, and is a detailed guide to all the techniques of game writing. This book is an essential read for anyone wishing to get into this exciting field, particularly for new game writers wanting to hone their skills, and film and T.V. scriptwriters who want to learn how to transfer their skills to the games industry.

Customer Reviews:

Great for knowledge on how video games are made.......2007-03-12

Great book for seeing how video games are made!

Good, but Focused.......2006-12-30

This is a good book. It suffers from having multiple authors in that it lacks the consistent tone that most writng books have, but all the writng is still good.

It is focused on the interface betwen the writer, the game, and the team, and is long on cautionary points. It will be of value to anyone who is writing, producing, or leading all or part of a game team, particularly if they lack practical experience.

If you are only interested in a book about writing for games, Lee Sheldon's 'Character Development and Storytelling for Games' is probably a better choice, but if you are intending or actually writing game, or working with a game writer, this is a good read and a potentially vital resource.

A 'must' for any video or computer game writer........2006-10-14

Computer games are becoming more like Hollywood productions, requiring good plots and valued story lines which use good narrative styles. In Chris Bateman, Editor's Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames are practical articles on how to do so, written by members of the International Game Developer's Association and covering all kinds of game writing, from comedy to plots. A 'must' for any video or computer game writer.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Bringing a Story to Computer Games.......2006-08-10

The days of the super simple games like Pac-Man are long gone. Today's games must entertain with all the finesse and skill of a Hollywood movie. This is not to say that a game must be all narrative, neither is a movie.

This book is the first complete guide to writing stories for games. They are not stories alone, that would just be a book. But nor are they just action games. They are games with a story.

The book is edited by Chris Bateman, an expert in market oriented game design and narrative. He has gotten an even dozen of game developers to contribute in various aspects. They range from game developers to writers, to educators, to journalists. Each is able to bring his/her own insight to the book and to the writing profession.

As computers, software, game engines (and always more memory) develop, games can grow more powerful, more lifelike, more movie like.

Book Description

Concise, Accessible Coverage of All CCNA Objectives for Exam 640-801

Two Bonus Exams on the CD

Written by Todd Lammle, the Leading Authority on Cisco Internetworking

From the author of Sybex's best-selling CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide comes the streamlined tool you need to hone in on critical CCNA information: CCNA Fast Pass. The enclosed CD lets you practice, practice, practice so you can approach the exam with confidence.

Coverage includes:

Designing Cisco internetworks
Developing an access list
Evaluating TCP/IP communication
Configuring routers and switches
Configuring IP addresses, subnet masks, and gateway addresses
Performing LAN, VLAN, and WAN troubleshooting
Understanding rules for packet control

Featured on the CD
The enclosed CD features two CCNA practice exams covering all exam objectives. You also get 100 electronic flashcards for PCs, Pocket PCs, and Palm handhelds, plus a glossary of key terms.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Customer Reviews:

NOT WORTH IT.......2007-05-11

this book is an shortened offshoot of Todd's other book. It doesn't make you learn quicker either. Stay with the full version. And yes, alot of typos and errors................

Not well edited.......2007-01-20

There is a lot of good information in this book, but the figures have missing data and the programming examples have missing commands. It looks like this book was thrown together from other texts and then not checked for consistency. In all, you probably won't pass the CCNA by using this book as a study guide.

Book Description

In 1861 a group of slaves in Adams County, Mississippi, conspired to gain their freedom by overwhelming their masters. The conspiracy was discovered and more than thirty slaves in and around Natchez were hanged and several were whipped to death. In 1971 Winthrop D. Jordan came across the previously unanalyzed transcript of the testimony of some of the conspiring slaves. This book is an exhaustive analysis of his findings.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing history.......1999-12-13

After taking an amazing class with Dr. Jordan, who is just as good of a teacher as he is a writer, I decided to take a look at his well-known book. It is truly one of the great pieces of historical writing I have read, as he is able to pull together a complete story based upon references from a single document. While he's talking about this single event, he gives great insight into the mind of an historian that will inspire any student of history into delving deeper into practically any subject.

Tumult and Silence at Second Creek: In Inquiry Into a Civil War Slave Conspiracy

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Tumult and Silence at Second Creek: In Inquiry Into a Civil War Slave Conspiracy
Winthrop D Jordan
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000NW7KFI

Customer Reviews:

Comment.......2005-09-13

great to have new view of the world we live in - very refreshing. Author does blow his own trumpet a lot, but then it looks like he has good reason to. Now if I could only find a practical application of this knowledge in my every day life.... I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with feeling and knowing there is a cosmic order to everything.

No Science but Fiction.......2004-10-07

The book is written by a scientist (that's at least what Peter Plichta claims), but the contents have nothing to do with science. Plichta presents an explanation of phenomena in nature (especially in physics and chemistry, for instance the remarkable absence of stable isotopes of the elements 43 and 61), but he does not prove his theories. On the contrary, his theories appear to be forced together like pieces of a jigsaw that do not really fit. The "fantastic discovery" of the prime-number-cross by Plichta is not worth the attention it gets. The beams of the cross consist of the numbers (6*n + 1) and (6*n + 5). It is easy to see that numbers not divisible by 2 and 3 are of the form (6*n + 1) or (6*n + 5), since (6*n) is divisible by 2 and 3, (6*n + 2) and (6*n + 4) are divisible by 2 and (6*n + 3) is divisible by 3. What remains is (6*n + 1) and (6*n + 5). Since there are primes not of the form (6*n + 1) or (6*n + 5), namely 2 and 3, and since there are numbers (6*n + 1) and (6*n + 5) that are not prime, namely 25 and 35 (and many more...), there is obviously only a weak relation between prime numbers and the numbers (6*n + 1) and (6*n + 5). The prime-number-cross in fact makes non-divisibility by 2 and 3 the most important property of prime numbers, which is a serious misjudgement of the prime number concept. Also the fact that squares of primes are always of the form (24*n + 1) is in reality a property of numbers (6*n + 1) and (6*n + 5), as can be seen easily by writing out the products (6*n + 1)*(6*n + 1) and (6*n + 5)*(6*n + 5). It will be no surprise that 2*2 and 3*3 are not of the form (24*n + 1).

The "fantastic discovery" of Plicha that 1/81 = 0,0123456789(10)(11)(12)... is in fact a simple application of power series. What Plicha obviously means with his notation is: 1/81 = 1*pow(10,-2) + 2*pow(10,-3) + 3*pow(10,-4) + etc. This is true of course, and I disagree with the other reviews on this issue. The point is however, that the construction of sequences 0,01234...etc., can be done in each number system (with arbitrary radix) with theory that was already known by Fermat or earlier. To give a similare sequence in the hexadecimal number system, calculate 1/225 (in general 1/pow(radix - 1, 2)), et voila... Plichta is a chemist and not a mathematician, let alone a number theorist. Maybe Plichta should confine himself to chemistry.

The author makes a megalomanic impression by frequently boasting about his achievements and his intellectual capabilities. This is not matched by the quality of the theories he presents. The author also has a strongly developed "religious conscience", and tells us of prophetic visions about his future and the important discoveries he would present to the world.

It must be said that the author knows a lot and raises interesting questions. The author probably is looking in the right direction by trying to explain chemical properties and facts with number theory. It is evident however that the answers the author himself gives to these questions are not definitive...

If you are looking for a solid (popular) scientific work: don't buy this. From a scientific viewpoint it's rubbish. If you are looking for an relatively easy to read work to inspire your own philosophies, maybe this is something for you. Be warned however that you should have at least a master's degree in some exact science to be able to appreciate the math in the book.

Peter Plitchta is a rare mind of the highest order!.......2003-06-13

Other reviews did not mention he discovered 2 elements previously unknown on the periodic table! Also he has a patent on a type of fuel created from a gas from one of the unknown elements! This is revolutionary enough, anyone who can discover things like this is worth listening to, there is no question Peter Plicha is a genius and is far above most scientists and mathematicians.

I won't be satisfied until the avg rating is one star.......2002-08-05

In my last review (q.v.) I critiqued some of Mr. Plichta's absurd claims in this goofy book. In one of my replies I was critical of the author's use of higher base notations to deliver the result that 1/81 = .0123456789(10)(11)(12)... In actuality there is more wrong with his method than I had space to mention in the last review, so I will give the full treatment here.

What is base notation?
Quite simply, base notation is how many symbols are going to be used to represent numerical quantities. Base-10 (decimal) uses ten symbols, Base-2 (binary) uses two, etc. For example the number "sixteen" would be written as 16 in base-10, and 1000 in base-2. Due to the fact that base notation deals with an economy of symbols used to represent quantities, the same number of symbols should be used throughout the entire base-system for consistency. In other words, a base selection (whatever the number of symbols selected) must remain constant so that no symbols are either wasted or superfluous.

How does base notation relate to the numbers after the decimal point?
Just as each place to the left of the decimal point recieves its value relative to the base (e.g. in base-10, the fourth place to the left of the decimal signifies multiples of 1000, but in base-2 that place value is for multiples of 16), so too do the places to the right of the decimal point. In the case of these numbers, instead of representing multiples of the base, they represent reciprocals of multiples of the base. So for any base n, the first number to the right of the decimal represents increments of 1/n, the second represents 1/(n sqared), etc.

Base selection determines the value of the symbol.
In order to evaluate any number, we must know the base being used. The value of .01 is evaluated as one hundredth in base-10, but its value is one fourth in base-2, one ninth in base-3, etc. In other words without a consistent notation, the value of specific numbers cannot be established.

Plichta's problem.
Plichta wants to use base notation to deliver the result 1/81 = .0123456789(10)(11)... , however no consistent base notation can do the trick. In order to preserve the integrity of the decimal through .0123456789, base-10 must be used. For the next number to be a (10), however, a base of at least eleven must be used, and for the number after that to be an (11), a base of at least twelve must be used. If these alternate bases were used, they would totally change the evaluation of the first part of the decimal (.0123456789), so that a number other than 1/81 would be signified.

What base is Plichta using?
As I stated in my last review, Plichta cannot be using any finite base n, beacuse this would truncate his series of natural numbers at the (n-1)th place. As seen here, Plichta cannot be using a consistent base either, so the question remains as to what base Plichta could possibly have in mind which satisfies the criteria of being non-finite and inconsistent.

Conclusion (to this review anyway).
Plichta seems to make a lot of claims that upon closer inspection make no sense whatsoever (like the claim that the reason 1 is not prime because its "root can easily be calculated"). If the theory doesn't fit the facts, Plichta wants to change the facts. Most respectable thinkers would change the theory.

I had a better grasp of math in the third grade.......2002-07-16

This book has three interwoven threads: 1)the author engaging in a mild form of patting himself on the back (I hope he didn't break anything), 2)material dealing with chemistry, and 3)material dealing with mathematics, specifically prime numbers. The first two threads are irrelevant to me, as the book is marketed as a solution to the riddle of the universe through the use of "a mathematical formula, based around prime numbers" (back cover). Let us then examine the mathematical content of this work. First, as an aside, I think it is safe to say that 99.9% of the mathematics intellectual community would require any "solution to the prime number situation" to include either a proof or disproof of the Reimann Hypothesis - Plichta gives neither, of course.

Claim 1 (p.113, yes, it takes that long to get to the math): the reason 1 is not counted as prime is because its root "can be easily calculated" - its actually so the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic will hold (roots have nothing to do with prime #'s by the way).

Claim 2 (p.114-5): neither 2 nor 3 should be counted as prime due to their "special significance"; however, both 1 and -1 ARE prime - what then could be a coherent definition of 'prime number' given this restriction? Also, the primes range over only the natural #'s, so negative #'s, real #'s, complex #'s, etc. are neither prime nor non-prime.

Claim 3 (p.116): we are supposed to be awed at the symmetry of the prime sequence in a clock diagram of the numbers -1 to 24 - this symmetry only occurs due to the denial of prime status to 2 and 3, furthermore it does not continue into the number sequence.

Claim 4 (p.117): 25 is a prime number - I read this sentence about 25 times to make sure I wasn't somehow impaired (due to a bout of hysterical laughter, I am not going to be able to refute this charge).

Claim 5 (p.119): all prime numbers are of the form 6n(+/-)1 - actually they are of the form 6n-1 or 6n-5 (i.e. they fall in either column one or column five of a six column array of the natural numbers), 6n+1 delivers composite numbers as well as primes, Leibnitz was actually right.

When I began this review, I fully intended to go through most of the math in this "groundbreaking work," but I got really sleepy reading such bad math again just to convince a bunch of people that this Plichta guy is a big old load of nonsense. If you're wondering why I didn't include the "earth-shattering" discovery in this critique, its because frankly there isn't one. For those of you who may be disappointed, I'll make one up:

"Mind-Blowing" Claim #1: The number 19 is actually the number 3 in disguise. Here's how its done: 3 is the second prime number, so it's really a 2. Now 2 is the first prime number, so it's really a 1, but figuring this disguise wasn't good enough, the number 3 made three copies of itself (i.e. 9), and put those together with its disguised self (i.e. 1), giving us the perfect disguise of 19.

Now if I could just find a publisher . . .

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God's Secret Formula. Deciphering The Riddle Of The Universe And The Prime Number Code
PETER PLICHTA
Manufacturer: Element
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KFX5K2

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Arkansas Business, published by Thomson Gale on October 24, 2005. The length of the article is 1023 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: Southwest Arkansas: as the site of the world's only public diamond mine and the smallest and oldest park in the National Park System, southwest Arkansas is one of the most intriguing regions around. Visit a historic bathhouse, fish for bass, see where former President Bill Clinton was reared or treck across Civil War battlefields in Camden.
Publication: Arkansas Business (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 24, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 22 Issue: 42 Page: S62(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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