Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests (Lionel Robbins Lectures)

Book Description

In this book Ralph Gomory and William Baumol adapt classical trade models to the modern world economy. Trade today is dominated by manufactured goods, rapidly moving technology, and huge firms that benefit from economies of scale. This is very different from the largely agricultural world in which the classical theories originated. Gomory and Baumol show that the new and significant conflicts resulting from international trade are inherent in modern economies.

Today improvement in one country's productive capabilities is often attainable only at the expense of another country's general welfare. The authors describe why and when this is so and why, in a modern free-trade environment, a country might have a vital stake in the competitive strength of its industries.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting Discussion but poor Presentation.......2004-02-23

The first thing that struck me was the large number of typo's.
Starting with page 4: "when we does development abroad help"
and on through the rest of the book. Also, the graphics appear
crude.
In part 1, I could not find any reference to the fact that
"free" trade does not exist in the real world. Countries use
tariffs, taxes, subsidies, etc. to further their own interests.

Understanding International Trade.......2001-04-09

A must read book for anyone with an interest in International Trade. Gomory and Baumol take an insightful look into trade in this era of multinational companies, expanded trade and developing countries. They develop a technique to determine whether a trade decision is mutually beneficial (or detrimental) to the parties. While no "magic" formula to precisely determine the benefits of an individual trade decision, at least there is a cogent framework to start from.

As a lay reader it was apparent that to assure our continued growth and successes that we must continually innovate to create the next big retainable industry as well as continue productivity gains to compete with low wage developing countries in easy to enter industries where we have a major interest.

An exceptionally thorough analysis of today's world of trade.

Trade For Dummies.......2001-04-03

Don't be put off by the title. This book should be called "Trade for Dummies." The authors kindly start where most of us left off in Econ 101 - with comparative advantage. We all remember that nature endowed England with a comparative advantage in wool, and Portugal in wine, so that this trade was an obviously good thing.

But what about today's vastly more complex economy where considerations go far beyond the mere geography of natural resource distribution? What about the role of industrialization? Or technology? Or information? Who has what advantage? And how to measure it? The authors have solved this seemingly daunting task, and present their conclusions in a few simple graphs that could fit easily onto Mr. Laffer's napkin.

How do I know that they solved the problem of reducing all the complexities of international trade to a few simple graphs? Well, I really don't know because I am not enough of an economist or mathematician to follow the technical stuff, but the authors very kindly put all that in the second half of this slim volume as kind of an appendix for the professionals. That the two authors are a leading economist and a leading mathematician is obvious from the brief biographies. And that the work passes professional muster is obvious from the blurbs. So while I can't personally check the authors' assumptions and methodology, I can accept and fully understand their conclusions as set forth in the first half of the book - the only part I read.

Not surprisingly, the graphs show that most international trade is indeed mutually beneficial. But not all. The graphs also reveal what the authors call a zone of conflict. It is to this area that attention needs to be paid. What attention do the authors suggest? Well, they are a little coy. I suspect that at this stage they are just trying to get acceptance for their framework of analysis. Anyone questioning any aspect of unrestricted free trade today is subject to being labeled a protectionist, which is only one step above racist, so the authors understandably tread very carefully.

A splendid and provocative little book dealing with a very big subject.

Gripping Eye Opener.......2001-04-03

These 73 pages kept this layman engrossed and enlightened. You learn why World Peace through World Trade ain't necessarily so, but can be a win-win situation for nations who understand the theory of the Global Trade game.

In cogent and concise language,the two gifted authors upset the notion that a dollar of National Trading Income is indifferent to what is being traded. National Trading Income from a "retainable" industry like computer chips produce strategic strengths for a nation compared to the same amount of National Trading Income from potato chips.

This new vector on Global Trade alerts business leaders to rearrange intellectually their risk-reward equation to secure a more favorable outcome.

Great stuff!.......2001-02-09

Gomory and Baumol are two heavy-weights from the world of Economics, Industry and Mathematics who have made use of a lifetime's worth of observations to create a new theory of international trade. Their work is truely original, theoretically rigorous, and highly applicable to real-world problems: A powerful combination. As a graduate student in economics, I have found few books so compelling.

Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests

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Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests
William J. Baumol Gomory Ralph E.
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UIM8WK

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Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests
Ralph E. (Author) Baumol, William J. (Author) Baumol, William J. (Joint Author) Gomory
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OR0XVA

Book Description

This volume analyses some of the major current trends and policy challenges in the 'new economy' from the point of view of technical innovation and competence building. It brings together the leading European expertise on different topics in this field. Together the authors give a picture of the most dramatic new challenges in a world where competition is becoming increasingly knowledge-based and global. Why has the US economy been able to realise a so-called new economy based on the effective exploitation of information technology while Europe still suffers from chronic high rates of unemployment? How is it that contemporary economic systems have become more knowledge-intensive but social inequality, both within and across countries, is increasing? The contributors to this volume share the belief that knowledge is a fundamental component of economic growth and welfare. However, the ways in which knowledge is transmitted and distributed among economic agents requires shaping by public policies. The individual chapters report on the most significant policies adopted and assess them in the light of the European experience in comparison with the United States and Japan.

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The Globalizing Learning Economy
Daniele; Lundvall, Bengt-Ake Archibugi
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOJRY2

The Globalizing Learning Economy : Major Socio-Economic Trends and European Innovation Policy

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The Globalizing Learning Economy : Major Socio-Economic Trends and European Innovation Policy
Daniele Archibugi
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press(UK)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKZQF0

Book Description

This volume presents a completely new and substantial body of information about the origin of agriculture and plant use in Africa. All the evidence is very recent and for the first time all this archaeobotanical evidence is brought together in one volume.

The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa. .(Book Review): An article from: American Antiquity

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The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa. .(Book Review): An article from: American Antiquity
Steven Brandt
Manufacturer: Society for American Archaeology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Antiquity, published by Society for American Archaeology on October 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1757 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 Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa. .(Book Review)
Author: Steven Brandt
Publication: American Antiquity (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 2002
Publisher: Society for American Archaeology
Volume: 67 Issue: 4 Page: 781(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa.(Book Review): An article from: American Antiquity
Joanna Casey
Manufacturer: Society for American Archaeology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Antiquity, published by Society for American Archaeology on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1748 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 Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa.(Book Review)
Author: Joanna Casey
Publication: American Antiquity (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: Society for American Archaeology
Volume: 68 Issue: 1 Page: 186(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa

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The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa
Marijke (EDT)/ International Workshop on Archaeobotany in Northern Africa 1997 leice (COR) Van Der Veen
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSNWSA

Average customer rating:

It was great! I dont know what the one star guy's talkin about

Pretty Good

Not that good

Resource material for the NYS Living Environment curriculum

This is a great book for reviewing for the Regents Test.

Let's Review Biology-The Living Environment (Let's Review Series)
G. Scott Hunter
Manufacturer: Barron's Educational Series
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Regents | Test Guides - High School | Education | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Let's Review Math B

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Barron's Regents Exams and Answers: Biology

Biology Regents Power Pack (Regents Power Packs)

ASIN: 0764126849
Release Date: 2003-12-02

Book Description

This high school classroom supplement to the main biology text prepares students in New York State to succeed on the Regents Exam. It presents a subject review, practice ques-tions with answers, and two complete Regents Biology Exam with answer keys. When combined with Barron's Regents Exams and Answers, Biology, it provides students with the most comprehensive test preparation available anywhere. Topics reviewed include ecology, biological organization, formation and structure of the ecosystem, and the interaction between human beings and the biosphere.

Customer Reviews:

It was great! I dont know what the one star guy's talkin about.......2007-07-17

I am studying this regents biology book over the summer before I start school in a specialized HS and this is great! I came from one of those schools where they don't teach you anything, where the students teach each other. Most people at my school never knew their three times tables yet they graduated. I was on a normal school level, but they still thought i was very smart.

The point of saying all that is that if i had no teachers, i had to teach myself, and I learned absolutely nothing on science that year in [...]! So I got the [...] science test barrons book and passed.

Since I knew people from better schools are going to compete with me now, and that i wont be "smarty pants" anymore, i brought this biology book along with other barrons regents books and studied them.

Now I'm understanding everything, and I am absolutely glad I got this book.

Pretty Good.......2007-06-09

I basically taught myself Bio (and took the SAT II and got a 800) with this book even before school began. It is pretty helpful but once again I found the older ones more helpful because the tests were harder.

Not that good.......2003-01-01

Usually when you are looking for a review book, you want one that has a balance of review text and questions. This book is one of the better biology review books out there right now, but there are much better books. In various cases, this book simply states facts rather than elaborating on the actual idea in order for students to learn the material better. For example, read the chapter on biochemistry and you wil see that it doesn't bother to explain bonding in depth, or to the extent as you would in a class. For honors biology students, I would reccomend an SAT 2 book, such as Kaplan, or the "N and N Review Book," which is not for the Living environment curriculum. However, it follows the old regents syllabus, and has a source of amazing questions along with a concise review of facts, solidified with diagrams and key concepts. For Biology, I think that the only Barron's book you would want to buy is the Regents Exams and Answers booklet, which provides the real questions, as most ofyou probably know. Since the book has some review and a few questions, I had to give it 3 / 5 stars.

Resource material for the NYS Living Environment curriculum.......2001-02-22

Finally! A tool for New York's biology teachers and students! When the New York State Education Department published its most recent curriculum for high school biology, many components were changed, but little course content was specified. This left New York's biology teachers asking 'What do we teach?' and biology students asking 'What do we learn?' LET'S REVIEW BIOLOGY: THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT finally provides some professional guidance to help students and teachers answer these questions. Suggested material and practice questions are provided that help 'put flesh on the bones' of the core curriculum for New York State's biology program. Schools can use it to design local curricula; students can use it to 'nail' the Regents exam! A 'must have' for biology teachers and students!

This is a great book for reviewing for the Regents Test........1999-06-02

I recently purchased Barrons Lets Review Biology about a month ago. I was very pleased of the easy to read layout and the answers explained section. The book has given me a better understanding of Biology and has prepared me for the Regents examination in June. I would definitely recomend this book to anyone, no matter what their status is in Biology

Book Description

This well-written book boasts a superiorly assembled appendix that lists grades, patents, gun weights, serial numbers, and many other specifications for the Parker enthusiast.

Customer Reviews:

nicely done.......2002-01-26

Mr. Muderlake appears to be a bit more literate than most gun writers (McIntosh excepted), and the book is pleasantly done. Also
the photographs are nicely reproduced. It certainly is a better book than the things currently available on some other supposedly classic shotguns like Winchester and Browning. One thing Muderlake does not do (nor do any other gun writers), is give any convincing explanation as to why so many people think the Parkers were the last word in shotgunning. I've never understood it except to think that since people had to pay more for Parkers than for equivalent grade Foxes or Ithacas, they had to think they had something special...perhaps in the end, this is something impenetrable in me.

One slightly sour, continuing note in the book is that Mr. Muderlake appears to think that scholarship is a competitive sport. Even though he pays lip service to the idea of valuing past writers' work, he several times fairly shouts, "Look at me, I've proved Him (whoever) wrong!" In the world of scholarship there are ways and ways of doing this, and Muderlake's smugness leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.

A beautiful collection of photos,& text. The best yet!.......1999-02-08

Ed Muderlak has produced a book destined to be the authority on Parker shotguns for generations. The research was completed by the author rather than gathering bits and pieces from other publications and the presentation is excellant. The author is a noted collector of vintage Parkers and writes the book in that flavor. He is not terribly impressed with Parker Reproductions or reworked and refurbished guns, so if you are a "Repro" collector, don't expect to find anything here. A quality publication with excellant detailed color photos and reproduced B&W Parker advertizing. If R.L.Wilson was to publish a Parker book, it would look alot like this. A must have for Parker fans!

Average customer rating:

Parker Guns: The Old Reliable
Ed Muderlak
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QCJXZA

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Excellent guide for your own basic home practice

Structural Yoga Therapy

Great charts for warm-ups and yoga.

Structural Yoga Therapy Charts
Mukunda Stiles
Manufacturer: Weiser Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Misc. Supplies

Yoga | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Injuries & Rehabilitation | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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Structural Yoga Therapy: Adapting to the Individual

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Anatomy of Hatha Yoga: A Manual for Students, Teachers, and Practitioners

Accessories:

Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 1578632196

Book Description

Eight pages of laminated kinesiology, joint-freeing, and musculature charts from the book reproduced for clients and teachers.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent guide for your own basic home practice.......2004-01-02

I brought these charts from Mukunda Stiles after I took a workshop with him a few years ago. They have been an invaluable resource for me.

Although I like to use videos to practice with at home, many times I like to spend more time on postures than some videos allow. Also, even though I am a yoga teacher, sometimes it's hard to plan the "perfect" practice for myself. Though I do "yoga on the fly" sometimes, it's easy for me to slip into my favorites (e.g., hip openers) and skip over the challenges (e.g., inversions).

Whenever I do the practice outlined in the charts, I always feel like I am getting a complete, compact yoga workout. I think of this as a basic, get-it-all-in practice. This has also been helpful to me as I work through some of my imbalances, particularly through my hips.

While this is not an easy practice, this is not the practice to choose if you want to kick your own butt or burn fat. However, it's great for alignment and overall well-being.

Structural Yoga Therapy.......2002-09-27

This is an excellent book for yoga. Mukunda explains the specifics of yoga techniques that can assist you in improving your posture, areas of tightness and stress and abnormalities caused by heredity or life experiences. I highly recommend it.

Great charts for warm-ups and yoga........2001-03-06

Having recently taken up yoga again, after an absence of 20 years, I was happy to have these laminated wall charts to help me in my practice. However, these charts can be useful not just for yoga students, but also as a guide to warm-up exercises for any other fitness program.
There are three sets of charts. The first set "Joint-Freeing Series" consists of two pages of a total of 21 exercises that could be used as a warm-up routine to yoga, weight-lifting, running, etc. They basically focus on moving the joints of the feet, ankles, knees, hips, spine, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and neck. They are very easy and simple to follow. I have found them a great way to "wake up the body" at the beginning of a new day, as well as to re-energize in the middle of a long day. These joint-freeing exercises really have nothing to do with yoga, thus can be used by anyone, even those without any basic yoga experience.
The second set of charts consists of 4 pages of yoga poses (asanas). As with any yoga postures, taking classes is always a good way to start so you can make sure you are applying the principles correctly. The charts are a great tool to continue your practice at home, or if you have yoga experience, they're a great tool to refresh your memory. After taking yoga again for a few months, I use the charts at home to help me follow a routine of postures.
The drawings are simple line drawings making it easy to see the outline of the yoga posture. There are a total of 24 basic yoga postures shown. When I brought these to my yoga teacher, he commented that they were good basic poses. As a matter of fact, they were many of the poses that I learnt in the two months of classes I have attended.
The third set of charts consists of two pages showing the muscular system - anterior and posterior view. This is a good tool, as in the yoga posture charts, the author specifies which muscle the posture is working, so it is helpful to be able to look at the muscular system and see exactly which muscle you should be feeling stretch in the posture.
Another benefit of the muscular chart, is that you can use it "in reverse". By identifying a muscle that you know needs work, as in the case of an injury, you can then refer to the yoga postures charts to find the proper posture to work that muscle.
Yoga and stretching (as in the joint-freeing exercises) is a great way to attain flexibility of body and of mind. It helps you regain a certain peace of mind, since the exercises are slow, peaceful, and serene... If you're looking for a simple way to incorporate fitness in your life, I recommend these charts as a good place to start.
These therapy charts are a companion to the book Structural Yoga Therapy: Adapting to the Individual. The book was published as a teaching and training manual for serious practitioner of yoga, medicine, and body work, however the Yoga Therapy Charts can be used by anyone.

Book Description

David Powers has been professionally involved with the electronic media for some 30 years, mostly in radio and television—he was BBC Tokyo correspondent in the late 1980s and early 1990s—but more recently with the Internet. He built his first site in 1995, and was instantly hooked. Eventually, the sheer tedium of updating content convinced him there must be a better way. After a brief flirtation with ASP, he experimented with PHP, and found himself hooked yet again.

A fluent Japanese speaker, Powers specializes in building Japanese-English bilingual websites, writing about Japan, and translating Japanese (he’s translated several plays). He co-authored Foundation Dreamweaver MX 2004 (1590593081) and PHP Web Development with Dreamweaver MX 2004 (1590593502). Powers also worked as technical reviewer on a number of web-related titles for Apress.

Customer Reviews:

Great Overview of PHP and MySQL, with even some gotchas for your ActionScript.......2007-05-14

I came to this book with a basic knowledge of ASP and Microsoft SQL Server. Using back end technologies with Flash is quite a change from (X)HTML, and this book really helps you get your head around the change in logic needed to effectively use Flash with a back end.

I haven't quite finished the book, but everything I've read so far has been great. Highly recommended.

Everything I was looking for.......2007-04-06

I'm a Flash developer transitioning into creating RICH applications and decided you use PHP for that technology. I wanted a book that would guide me from the ground up with integrating PHP into Flash. This book did the job!!!!

It showed me step by step how to create my own local Apache and MySQL servers with ease, and clearly explained the configuration woes a newcomer when face. Very impressive!!!

The book then guides you through several examples of using Flash and PHP together. In fact you'll end up with a pretty cool game on HangMan once you're done.

What a great book!.......2006-09-22

"Foundation PHP 5 for Flash" by David Powers is a great book, as I've come to expect from both David Powers and his publisher, Friends of ED.

The word "Foundation" in the title may lead you to think this is a beginner's book; it decidedly is not. As stated on the back cover, the book is aimed at the "reasonably experienced Flash user who has mastered the basics." I'd even say that it takes a mastery of more than just the basics to get the most out of this book. Without a very good knowledge of ActionScript, much of the material would be difficult to follow.

That being said, this book is not about ActionScript. It's not even really about Flash. It's a book about PHP -- and a very, very good book about PHP at that. It's also a book about MySQL. Prior to the most advanced chapters, the tie-in with Flash (and ActionScript) is said in one word: LoadVars. Once you get past that, you can pretty much forget about ActionScript for much of the book and focus on learning PHP and MySQL. Although the book does show by example how to get variables between your Flash user and LoadVars in ActionScript, you really do need to be comfortable with the ins and outs of Flash in general and ActionScript in particular in order to make full use of those examples, and this is not the book for learning that part of it. In the more advanced chapters, more ActionScript comes into play, and it can get confusing if you're not already comfortable with it. (I'd liken diving into this book without knowing ActionScript or PHP to learning to speak Spanish and Italian at the same time: at some point, you're going to say "dónde" when you mean to say "dove.")

What this book does cover extremely well is everything that happens on the back end, outside of Flash. The chapters that introduce PHP do much more than just introduce it: they are an excellent tutorial in the language that would even be a great resource for people who just want to learn PHP without having anything to do with Flash. Concepts are explained clearly and completely, and the examples are extremely useful and illustrative. The same can be said for the MySQL chapters: You really do learn MySQL, and not just by breezing through one or two superficial examples as in most PHP books.

The nuts-and-bolts chapters are particularly brilliant. David Powers's walk-throughs on installing Apache, PHP and MySQL are legendary. You simply couldn't ask for a better guide! The appendices -- including 20 whole pages on various things that might go wrong and what to do about it -- are indispensable.

My only criticism is of the often convoluted examples. The author's style is to build up the examples iteratively, retracing and revising the code, step by step, over many pages as you learn new techniques. He will often walk you through the "obvious-but-wrong" way of doing something, then make changes little by little, introducing new concepts along the way. While this is perhaps a good way of learning, it sometimes feels like you're reaching over your head with your right hand to scratch your left ear.

As usual, the Friends of ED name on the cover means you're buying quality. Everything from the paper to the layout to the typography is top-of-the-line. While black-and-white printing usually doesn't work well for Flash books, it's perfectly fine for this book (remember, I told you that this isn't really a book about Flash). The author is very active in the Friends of ED readers' forum, so you can be certain that any questions you have about the examples (or about pretty much anything else for that matter) will be answered by the author himself in great detail if you address them on the forum.

So if you know ActionScript and want to learn how to put a database behind it, or if you're a skilled PHP programmer looking for another way to apply your knowledge, or even if you have no real interest in Flash but want to gain a deep understanding of PHP/MySQL, this is a great book for you. Be prepared to spend lots of time with it -- it's nearly 700 pages and it has zero fluff -- but it is time very well spent indeed.

OVER RATED FOR NOVICES!.......2006-09-17

On the upside, the tutorials on installation are excellent. Apache, PHP 5 installation and if you get that far, the MySQL installation are all well described and carefully written. The forum works, if you happen to be a programmer. Theres quick help for those seeking answers but not so quick if you are novice...

When you get into trouble is when you realize that version changes make understanding the complex code jargon very difficlut to understand- though coded exaples for the Flash version that I have were provided. The examples are impossibly long and complicated and when you finally sift though them Eureka, it does not work. FRUSTRATING. Though said to have working examples, I could not get the tedious long examples to work on my computer- and spent many hours re reading the entire book to find out why. I did not expect a quick and easy solution to learning but after two months, I made no progress and found my incompetnce with programming becomiing overwhelming. This book may kill your desire to learn, even if you are willing to spend the time.

This book is a time bandit. Phenomonally complicated for beginners, it's written for experienced programmers, though said to be for novices. It has been my experience to see most programmers who write books, write at a level that is not possible to understand by beginners. It's like going into a new city and asking for directions from a local resident, " it's easy to find and you can't miss it " is the norm. Powers may leave you sleeping on the street.

Very good book on integrating php and mysql with Flash.......2006-07-26

I was very pleased with the book. I like the author's style, and I especially like how the projects are more than your typical "hello world" examples. Yes, some of them do take a little time, but you can type them out or read along as you wish, and they don't take that much time. I thought the book was absolutely excellent at accomplishing what it sets out to do - show you how to integrate flash with PHP and MySQL. Very nice job.

PHP 5 Power Programming (Bruce Perens' Open Source Series)

Average customer rating:

Get your hands dirty good
Multiple Talents Or Just Plain Scam?
Truth about Paid Reviews
Best book I've found on php5
Good, but not Great

PHP 5 Power Programming (Bruce Perens' Open Source Series)
Andi Gutmans , Stig Bakken , and Derick Rethans
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall PTR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 013147149X

Customer Reviews:

Get your hands dirty good.......2007-04-21

This is a great book covering a lot of the advanced features of PHP and how to use them in your scripts. There are a lot of examples and this books teaches a lot about OOP and various design patterns. This book is very well written and easy to understand.

Multiple Talents Or Just Plain Scam?.......2006-03-19

I have read the review below by P. N. Payne about the paid reviews. Immediately, I checked on the "See All My Reviews" link for Herrington, Boudville, and Matlock. Here's what I found:
Herrington: Reviewed 20 books on March 8th (no exaggeration), ranging from "RFID Essentials" (whatever that means), "Web site Cookbook", "Open GL", to "Degunking Your Home". Suspiciously, almost all of these reviews got 5 stars, where the pros stated are almost identical to those stated by the publisher, and the cons are really funny ones, such as "I would have liked full color throughout".
W Boudville: Reviewed 15 books on March 15th, including "Nanoelectronics and Nanosystems : From Transistors to Molecular and Quantum Devices", "The Origins of Cauchy's Rigorous Calculus (Dover Books on Mathematics)", "The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors", "Natural Resources and Violent Conflict: Options and Actions", and of course "Computational Geometry in C (Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science)". This guy usually gives all his books 4 starts. I think he's playing it safer than Herrington.
John Matlock: This guy reviewed 11 books on March 15th. Apparently, he read the "Handbook of Parallel Computing and Statistics", "Practical Poser 6", "The Rock from Mars : A Detective Story on Two Planets", "Carrara 5 Pro Handbook", "Beginning Visual C# 2005", "The Glorious Cause : The American Revolution, 1763-1789", and of course a book about marketing, seeing how marketing relates to the American revolution, C#, Carrara, Astronomy, Posing, and Statistics. Matlock opts for the 5 stars on all his reviews.
Now about this book, I'm buying it, because I read some excerpts in the library and I think it's great, not because of the rating of these guys. My 5 stars are given for the book, and the people who wrote the book, but certainly not for the publisher. Now I'm not against anyone making a quick buck, but I'm certainly against people getting paid for misleading others. I think Amazon has a real challenge over here:
1. Review their rating system, raising an alarm when someone has a way above normal number of reviews/day.
2. Dealing with unethical publishers encouraging and paying for this trash, and I think this is the hardest challenge for Amazon.
I just hope that Amazon is not aware of this, which I really find it hard to believe.

Truth about Paid Reviews.......2006-01-19

Look behind the high star ratings, particularly those which come out right after a book prints. Ie: If the reviewer writes several reviews a day, and they are all high ratings, and you believe it, then you have just been scammed. Matlock writes up to 12 review a day, on all different kinds of books. 5 stars each. He actually reads 12 books including computer programming books in one 24 hour day plus has time to write and send 12 reviews? What ever happened to honesty? How much do these guy get paid for this garbage? This book may be outstanding, but you can not trust Matlock, Boudville, or Herrington to tell you that. Too bad, because my quick scan made me think it is a fairly good advanced PHP book.

I have purchased too many computer books based on these biased reviews, and feel like I have been cheated. This is a lousy way to treat your customers. Maybe CBS or NBC or Fox will expose this on national TV. One star for lack of honesty in paying for or participating in this scam.

Best book I've found on php5.......2005-12-11

I got this book after reading a rather poor intro on php 5 (Learning php5) and was rather pleased with the book.

I had no experience with php (well other than reading the other book) and found this book very accessible. The book gives you enough information to get started on php5 and the majority of its features. It even has information about writing your own php extensions. Although I really didn't find the all the Pear info that helpful.

I do really wish the book had more information on design patterns etc for php 5. It did go over a few but not ones that are particularly useful for building applications for the web. But I guess this is sort of the status of PHP, its still seems to be a sort of hacky scripting language.

Good, but not Great.......2005-11-21

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I did learn a good deal of things in the process. However this book covers a lot of topics, and because of that it doesn't get too in depth about any one subject. It mostly skims over many of the new OOP features of PHP5, and PEAR. Think of this book as a good resource for further web research.

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