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Books: Computers: Artificial Intelligence
More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Placesby Michael J. Mauboussin List Price: $27.95 Available from Amazon $17.61 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly Mauboussin is not your average Wall Street equity analyst, writing investment recommendations whose topical interest wanes a few days after the report is issued. His strategy reports begin with scientific findings from diverse fields, then show why an investor should care. This book is a collection of 30 short reports, revised and updated, covering animal behavior ("Guppy Love: The Role of Imitation in Markets"), psychology ("Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers"), philosophy of science ("The Janitor's Dream: Why Listening to Individuals Can be Hazardous to Your Wealth") and other fields. Each essay describes a fascinating scientific finding, then develops and applies it to personal investing. "Survival of the Fittest," for example, begins by discussing how Tiger Woods improved his golf swing, introduces the concept of fitness landscapes from evolutionary biology, then explains why investors in commodity-producing companies should like strong centralized management, while technology-stock buyers should prefer flexible organizations with lots of disruptive new ideas. The book is breezy and well written, but not dumbed down, and provides extensive references. It can be read for entertainment as popular science or to broaden your investment thinking. However, it suffers from a common problem among compiled essays: despite the revisions, some material is out of date and other material is repeated. (June) Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Product Review "Mauboussin is not your average Wall Street equity analyst It can be read for entertainment or to broaden your investment thinking." -- Publisher's Weekly "Michael Mauboussin has written the best book ever on how to think about investinglike a Ph.D. in investment wisdom." -- Bill Miller, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, Legg Mason Capital Management "Mauboussin has found great insights about the science of human behavior in unconventional places and has written superbly about it." -- Robert Sapolsky, Professor of neurobiology, Stanford University "Michael Mauboussin's insights and examples speak volumes to the value of an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how choices are made." -- Geoffrey West, President and distinguished professor, Santa Fe Institute "Few readers could come away from this book without being stimulated and intrigued." -- Philip Coggan, The Financial Times "A refreshingly intelligent antidote The book engagingly shows how a multidisciplinary perspective can deepen your sense of how financial markets work." -- Burton G. Malkiel, Wall Street Journal "Written with the professional investor in mind but extends far beyond the world of economics and finances." -- Micromotives.com |
Digital Fortress: A Thrillerby Dan Brown Available from Amazon $7.99 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page Product Review In most thrillers, "hardware" consists of big guns, airplanes, military vehicles, and weapons that make things explode. Dan Brown has written a thriller for those of us who like our hardware with disc drives and who rate our heroes by big brainpower rather than big firepower. It's an Internet user's spy novel where the good guys and bad guys struggle over secrets somewhat more intellectual than just where the secret formula is hidden--they have to gain understanding of what the secret formula actually is. In this case, the secret formula is a new means of encryption, capable of changing the balance of international power. Part of the fun is that the book takes the reader along into an understanding of encryption technologies. You'll find yourself better understanding the political battles over such real-life technologies as the Clipper Chip and PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) software even though the book looks at the issues through the eyes of fiction. Although there's enough globehopping in this book for James Bond, the real battleground is cyberspace, because that's where the "bomb" (or rather, the new encryption algorithm) will explode. Yes, there are a few flaws in the plot if you look too closely, but the cleverness and the sheer fun of it all more than make up for them. There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and a lot of high, gee-whiz-level information about encryption, code breaking, and the role they play in international politics. Set aside the whole afternoon and evening for it and have finger food on hand for supper--you may want to read this one straight through.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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AP Stylebookby Associated Press List Price: $17.95 Available from Amazon $11.67 On 7-22-2006
See Item's Page Product Review The world is divided into two types of people: those who wince when they see the words Canadian geese in print, and those who don't. If you are the former, or if you are the latter working for the former, the The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual provides invaluable assistance when you need to get your Canada geese all in a row. Countless newspapers and other publications base their style guides on this manual. The entries are arranged alphabetically and include issues of spelling, punctuation (there is no period in Dr Pepper), grammar, abbreviation, capitalization (Popsicle and Dumpster are, tollhouse cookies aren't), hyphenation (none, surprisingly, in ball point pen), and frequently misused words. There are also longer discussions of things such as Arabic names, chess notation, weather terms, and religious movements. Plus you'll find separate sections on sports writing, business writing, libel, and copyright. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. American Bookseller "The bible of the newspaper industry." |
eBay Powerseller Secrets:Insider Tips from eBay's Most Successful Sellersby Debra Schepp and Brad Schepp List Price: $24.99 Available from Amazon $15.74 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page --AuctionBytes.com "Full of good advice. [The authors] went out and talked to real PowerSellers, and their book shows it!" Book Description Learn from Hundreds of Top eBay Sellers Go beyond the basics and learn the trade secrets that have propelled the savviest entrepreneurs into eBay PowerSellers--those earning $1,000 to $150,000 per month or more through eBay auctions. Sharpen your skills with this healthy blend of time-tested business principles and the advice of real PowerSellers who share with you how they have achieved success. Get valuable advice on finding little-known sources for products, advertising your wares, managing inventory, collecting payments, keeping records, shipping, running an eBay Store, and much more. Plus, learn the keys to keeping your customers so happy they'll shop with you again and again. eBay PowerSeller Secrets: Insider Tips from eBay's Most Successful Sellers will help you effectively run a store that never closes, sells globally, and offers virtually unlimited income potential. Tap the more than 100 million registered users that make eBay the leading online marketplace Determine what sells best on eBay and why Find little-known sources for products Learn about tools that will make your eBay business more efficient and professional Develop auctions that create high traffic and product demand Handle end-of-sale payments and protect yourself from fraud and loss Manage auctions, inventories, and communications effectively Provide superior customer service to get an edge over the competition Track incidentals, deductions, expenses, and other tax-related items Automate to ease processes such as listings, managing images, e-mail, and shipping Learn from hundreds of PowerSellers what it takes to succeed on eBay Debra and Brad Schepp have written about cutting-edge technologies for more than 20 years. They are the authors of nine books, and their work has been featured in publications such as Newsweek, The Chicago Tribune, and U.S. News and World Report. They have been online since 1984, and buying and selling on eBay since 1999. technical Advisor Michael Kaiser is an Instructor with eBay University. An eBay seller since 1997, Michael is the bestselling co-author of The Official eBay Guide to Buying, Selling, and Collecting Just About Anything. |
The Emotional Intelligence Quick Bookby Travis Bradberry, Jean Greaves, and Patrick Lencioni List Price: $19.95 Available from Amazon $12.97 On 7-22-2006
See Item's Page Product Review First popularized by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, the concept of emotional intelligence is now widely accepted, not only within the psychological arena, but also, ever-increasingly, within the business world. In The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book, authors Bradberry and Greaves outline techniques anyone can use to achieve goals in an easier and more fulfilling way, improve relationships, enhance health, and become more accomplished in the work force. Starting with a discussion on what emotional intelligence (EQ, for short) is and how it impacts our lives, Bardberry and Greaves then provide readers with instructions for determining their own EQ via the book’s companion Web site (the passcode for doing so can be found on the inside of the book’s dust jacket). They also provide a variety of ways readers can increase their EQ and put it to use in their personal and professional lives. Based on research with more than 500,000 people, The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book is exactly that, a quick and easy-to-read resource that empowers readers to master their EQ and more effectively incorporate it into all aspects of their daily lives. Larry Trivieri Jr. Product Review "Research shows convincingly that EQ is more important than IQ in almost every role and many times more important in leadership roles. This finding is accentuated as we move from the control philosophy of the industrial age to an empowering release philosophy of the knowledge worker age. Self-awareness, self-motivation, and regulation are foundational to empathy and social skills. This book gives abundant, practical findings and insights with emphasis on how to develop EQ." -- Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness -- the Dalai Lama -- Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author, Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers
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Artificial Happiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Classby Ronald W. Dworkin List Price: $24.95 Available from Amazon $15.72 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly In this impassioned but hard-to-swallow treatise, Dworkin, an M.D. and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, laments the rise among primary care physicians of the "ideology" that "unhappiness [is] a disease" to be treated with "external cures" from psychotropic drugs to "obsessive" exercise. This view, he argues, has led doctors to push antidepressants onto patients at an explosive rate. Dworkin argues that primary care doctors initiated and conquered a turf war with psychiatrists in which antidepressants are their main source of power. The author shows how placebo science, the desire for happy patients and a desire for more personal doctoring led to a rise in dubiously beneficial alternative health practices. He belittles the 1980s buzzword "stress" with its accompanying surge of mind-body activities and denigrates the moral deficit he perceives to be underlying a widespread obsession with fitness culture. He also argues that "many Americans are only superficially religious, outwardly professing belief in God while crossing over to medicine for help when life grows really difficult." Dworkin's thesis is provocative but its sweeping claims, heavy reliance on the term "ideology" to describe doctors' motivations and his confrontational approach undermine the book's power to persuade. (June) Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Anesthesiologist and political philosopher Dworkin believes the American public may be headed straight to hell in a psychopharmaceutical handbasket. Drawing together numerous threads of medical occurrence and social change during the last half-century, he weaves a tapestry that portends disaster as millions of children are treated with mood- and thought-altering drugs before they can develop personal moral compasses. It's one thing for adults to pop pills to feel better about issues they feel powerless to alter, he says, and quite another to medicate youngsters rather than teach them how to effect positive change in their lives. He lays basic responsibility for the problem at the feet of primary-care physicians and a de facto mental-health system in which they, rather than psychiatrists, are treating roughly half the nation's mentally ill and medicating for mental illness at more than double the rate that psychiatrists do. But not only psychotropic drugs are implicated. Add alternative medicine and the fitness revolution, and the picture painted by Dworkin's thoughtful evaluation darkens further. Donna Chavez Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved |
Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (2nd Edition)by Stuart J. Russell and Peter Norvig List Price: $102.00 Available from Amazon $91.17 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page Product Review Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach introduces basic ideas in artificial intelligence from the perspective of building intelligent agents, which the authors define as "anything that can be viewed as perceiving its environment through sensors and acting upon the environment through effectors." This textbook is up-to-date and is organized using the latest principles of good textbook design. It includes historical notes at the end of every chapter, exercises, margin notes, a bibliography, and a competent index. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach covers a wide array of material, including first-order logic, game playing, knowledge representation, planning, and reinforcement learning. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Product Review
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Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophyby Jostein Gaarder Available from Amazon $7.99 On 7-22-2006
See Item's Page Product Review Wanting to understand the most fundamental questions of the universe isn't the province of ivory-tower intellectuals alone, as this book's enormous popularity has demonstrated. A young girl, Sophie, becomes embroiled in a discussion of philosophy with a faceless correspondent. At the same time, she must unravel a mystery involving another young girl, Hilde, by using everything she's learning. The truth is far more complicated than she could ever have imagined. From Publishers Weekly This long, dense novel, a bestseller in the author's native Norway, offers a summary history of philosophy embedded in a philosophical mystery disguised as a children's book-but only sophisticated young adults would be remotely interested. Sophie Amundsen is about to turn 15 when she receives a letter from one Alberto Knox, a philosopher who undertakes to educate her in his craft. Sections in which we read the text of Knox's lessons to Sophie about the pre-Socratics, Plato and St. Augustine alternate with those in which we find out about Sophie's life with her well-meaning mother. Soon, though, Sophie begins receiving other, stranger missives addressed to one Hilde Moller Knag from her absent father, Albert. As Alberto Knox's lessons approach this century, he and Sophie come to suspect that they are merely characters in a novel written by Albert for his daughter. Teacher and pupil hatch a plot to understand and possibly escape from their situation; and from there, matters get only weirder. Norwegian philosophy professor Gaarder's notion of making a history of philosophy accessible is a good one. Unfortunately, it's occasionally undermined by the dry language he uses to describe the works of various thinkers and by an idiosyncratic bias that gives one paragraph to Nietzsche but dozens to Sartre, breezing right by Wittgenstein and the most influential philosophy of this century, logical positivism. Many readers, regardless of their age, may be tempted to skip over the lessons, which aren't well integrated with the more interesting and unusual metafictional story line. Author tour. Copyright 1994 Reed business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
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