This book is a clear learn by example introduction to Cocoa but is neither complete nor exhustive (which is obvious from the title keyword "Learning xyz"). You will not become a master of cocoa nor totally understand all aspects of Project Builder or Interface Builder. That will take time, patience and more books. This is a good introduction.

Do not pay attention to the reviewer that suggested that the Davidson could learn something from Steve Oualline's Practical C++ Programming (O'Reilly). That book (which I also learned to program from initially) is quite bad and is filled with errors in examples and a very poor introduction to object oriented programming. What the reader should keep in mind is that this is an introduction a development system which is very complex and offers a great deal of power. Learning C/C++ is fairly straightforward. As an application framework I feel the learn by example format provides the fastest possible was to learn what the setup is. If you are unable to develop at least simple programs after this book then you may have to face the fact that the fault may not lie with the book but with your progamming knowledge in general.

After reading the first edition, I wasn't at all interested in buying the second edition until I read a review that indicated that the second edition wasn't just an updated rehash of the first. Indeed, this book is completely different. Where the first book was little more than Apple's online examples in print, this book incorporates step-by-step examples of simple applications that are used to demonstrate numerous Cocoa programming topics. I got almost nothing out of the first book. I am actually feeling somewhat confident and I am making progress on a couple of projects with the knowledge I have gained from this edition.

This book is very good. It is much, much better than the first edition. It is very well written and easy to read. The examples are clear and their appear to be no major mistakes at all. The book does an effective job of introducing the reader to the major points of Cocoa programming. It gives you enough information to start writing simple programs by yourself. I believe this book is excellent preparation for the more advanced Cocoa books.

Some books have too much information in them and will sit on shelves, but never be read. This book is not one of them. The articles are concise and interesting, and feature helpful recommendations of CDs currently available.

It is a good resource if you want to keep up to date, because the book gives information about many recent composers, as well as those who are already familiar.

I also appreciate the articles interspersed throughout the book on such topics as:
What is a Fugue?

Sonatas and Sonata Form
Composers at the Movies
Development of the Keyboard

The chronological list of composers is also a helpful bonus.

An excellent resource for students, teachers and all interested in Classical Music.

I owned the previous edition of this book. As someone relatively new to classical music, I found the book to be an ideal place to expand my interests. I initial purched th NPR Guide to begin my collection and then the previous edition of this book.
It is possible to find faults with any guide containing suggestions for recordings and repertoire, I have been highly satisfied with the suggestions in the Rough Guide.
As one of its best features the book contains music from the earlest times and includes contemporay composers. The descriptions of composers and recordings allows one a greater appreciation of the music.
This edition contains twenty essays that did not appear in the previos edition on topics as diverse as gregorian chant to atonlity.
This book is perfect for anyone interesed in Classical Music

The ROUGH GUIDE TO CLASSICAL MUSIC is a very well produced book that has several qualities that make it an essential purchase for lovers of music composed in the European ( Western ) Tradition.

First, the book has a tremendous range ( historic and stylistic ), which extends from Hildegard of Bingen ( 1098-1179 ) thru Thomas Ades ( 1971- ). This far-sighted depth is quite useful for the devotee who is not particularly well informed about say, the Medieval or Renaissance periods ( about 20 composers from those periods are featured ) and is more useful still for those interested in "modern" ( or "contemporary" ) music. Where there is a comparative lack of information in other guides ( GRAMOPHONE, PENGUIN, NPR, etc ), the ROUGH GUIDE features a tremendous number of currently active musicians ( some fairly well known and others somewhat obscure ). In fact, with regard to "difficult" music, the ROUGH GUIDE is actually superior to the BLACKWELL GUIDE, which is a volume solely devoted to contemporary composers.

Secondly, the thumbnail biographical sketches, while necessarily limited in scope, are quite informative ( the writers really seem to have listened to the music ). As is normal, it will be a matter of taste as to whether one agrees with the recommended recordings; this reviewer found a number of choices to quarrel over, but that is half the fun with these sorts of books anyway.

The volume is attractively laid out, with clear type-set and a number of a black and white photos dispersed throughout.
To sum up, THE ROUGH GUIDE TO CLASSICAL MUSIC is a fine book filling a particularly important need for depth and substance. It should perform good service to newcomers and long time fans alike.

I found this to be a very helpful book for trip planning: when and where to go and getting an idea of what different kinds of safaris have to offer. A number of valuable charts regarding the best times to see certain wildlife, climate, etc. The book is a good way to narrow your choices before starting to collect brochures and get travel guides for individual countries. The coverage will not replace good field guides or travel guides---just get you ready for that stage. One caveat: I didn't care for Nolting's snobbishness about the best way to travel (I managed to see more than I might have on one of his "first class" safaris).

Now in its revised and expanded sixth edition, Africa's Top Wildlife Countries by Mark W. Nolting (who has spend more than twenty years personally exploring and researching the African continent) is a thorough and "user friendly" instructional guidebook to making the most of an African safari. Specific sections are devoted to each nation and cover top-rated or first-class accommodations, professional tours, and ecologically-friendly visits enabling the traveler to see and experience a wide variety of amazing and exotic wildlife. Enhanced with an extensively detailed planner offering the latest information on the best times to visit, what to pack, and which tours offer the most service, Africa's Top Wildlife Countries is enthusiastically recommended for anyone planning to embark on a "once-in-a-lifetime" safari adventure of their own.

If you are even thinking about embarking on an African safari, you must read this book! Not only did Mark's book convince me to go, I also used his travel agency to book my trip! This book gave me the best ideas of what countries and game parks would best suit my particular interests. It also provided many examples of different types of safari experiences: from "roughing it" to luxury. I chose to do a little of both. It was the BEST and most memorable event of my life. Mark has a way of making even the most timid traveler feel comfortable with such an adventurous trip before they even step on the plane. I even had two of my own photographs published in this edition of his book! I couldn't recommend this any more highly!

An autobiography is a way of looking inside a person's mind. We have no real right to expect objectivity or "the long view" on any given subject.

Isadora Duncan's autobiography is a terrific example of the above. She was a hugely talented, flamboyant individual who chose to march to her own drummer from an early age. She is passionate in her descriptions of her inner life, her career and her lovers and changed the whole concept of "The Dance", breaking away from ballet (which she considered ugly and contrived) and inventing what we'd call "modern dance".

She was a fantastic dancer, but as a writer she is far too interested in her own inner world. The people around her float by as a succesion of badly defined cardboard cutouts, and one visited city sounds much like any other. After a while this DOES get rather boring. The lack of dates (such as "that was in 1925" or whatever) or a neatly defined chapter structure means that it's pretty hard to keep track of the passage of time. In the end, reading this book becomes a bit of a struggle: it's like being stuck in a someone's rather boring dreamworld.

Her sollipsism is (at times) a bit of a hoot and her inability to perceive the world for what it is provide the reader with occasional bits of unintentional black comedy.

An example: after deciding that ancient Greece was the mother of all art, Isadora sunk a great deal of her money in trying to rebuild a Greek temple. Her family spoke no Greek but lived for months amid the ruins, performing dances and wearing togas while getting cheated by the local villagers. She also formed a chorus of Greek urchins to perform ancient music and was later disappointed when during a tour, the urchins begin growing up and staying out late and coming home drunk.

A more human writer would have managed a bit of irony, a touch of sympathy for these common, simple people caught up in the mad American artist's vision, but Isadora never quite manages it. Sadly, it is precisely this sort of self-centered and humourless viewpoint that makes this book so stodgy.

On the positive side, however, one DOES get a really good idea of what Isadora Duncan was like and how she saw her art and one can't really ask for more from an autobiography.

I first read this book after seeing Ken Russell's film "The World's Biggest Dancer" in the 1960's The film is, unfortunately, lost. I fell in love with the myth of this fabulous woman and was impressed with Vanessa Redgrave's portrayal of her in Karel Reisz's "Isadora" also hopelessly lost I believe. This is not a great work of art: it has episodes of naively underwritten material tailored into whole paragraphs of wonderful philosophy of a futuristic world when art and beaty supercede greed and material gain. The ghost of Isadora haunts this book; a woman broken by personal tragedy writing these words in the last years of a life that, by any standards, was extraordinary. I keep it on my shelf along with Nijinsky's "Life" both books testimony to the inability of words to express the emotions of genius

Easily one of the best conversations I have had without speaking. Isadora speaks directly to her reader with a passionate and intense language. There were points when I was reading that my inner voice was yelling back in agreement, empathy or appreciation. I found this woman intelligent, hilarious and dramatic. I felt as though I had made a friend. Though she was not a trained writer, she has been able to share herself very openly in the written language. I think this is a must read for any woman (or man).

For us coming from Emulation Rite in Europe, this book shows that we share 99% of the rituals described! It is really amazing to discover how close we are to the wordings and procedures from a century ago and another Rite. I am extremely satisfied to have chosen this book through Amazon, probably the only easy way I had to purchase it from Spain.

This is a great book due to the fact that it is a simple guide for the Freemason. This book is not for anyone not in the Craft. Despite the rumors of Masonry being in union with Satanic forces, this great work is proof that we are focused on God within our life. The reasons can be found in many books.
This is a groundwork, but not the entire focus. Remember, true enlightment starts with the admission of growth. This is an excellent starting point for the Freemason.

Purchased this book in 1982 out of curiosity to make a comparison to what had been disclosed to me. It is very interesting to read. Obviously, it is not appropiate for all to view. At least one that have a desire to learn about Freemasonry, other than seeking the correct way to learn more properly.

The concept behind this book is to learn by building a Flash MX project from beginning to end. It is a great concept and a great way to learn. Sadly, the delivery is highly flawed.

To cite an example: The activity on page 73 has the reader turning on the Grid feature and editing the properties. The book tells the reader to select File, Grid, Edit Grid. There are no Grid selections under the File menu option. They are located under the View menu. Mistakes such as this occur far too often in the book.

I suppose a reasonably intelligent reader could figure it out for themselves (and learn in the process) but, if that is the case, why does one need to spend $30 to work around someone elses errors.

I also found myself annoyed by the use of non gender neutral language. In most instances, "she" is used over the more neutral "they". I do realize that this is a minor point, but annoying otherwise.

New Riders publications, have some great ideas. However, their technical editors leave a lot to be desired. In nearly every book I have used by them, their have been serious technical flaws (one book's files did not match the text instructions). These books are not inexpensive and greater care should be taken with technical material.

I was feeling generous today and gave it 3-stars. You will get something out of it, but be prepared to work for it.

I have spent lots of money on Flash books and most aren't worth a dime. This book gives you hands on training by building a site. I would say it isn't the easiest book to read, but very well written. What this book showed me was how to put to use what all those other books talked about. Learning flash is one thing, but knowing how to design a website using flash is something hard to grasp. This book helped. Also, this book made me realize how difficult it is to put a quality site together using Flash. Consequently, Flash seems like a lot of work to spruce up your site a little. What we really need is a program easier then Flash that can animate your site (Swish doesn't have the power to do what flash can). Buy it if you are prepared to read and work hard at building and learning from this book. Believe me you'll learn something from this book if you put forth the effort.

If you have any desire of learning Flash MX, this si the bookfor you. I'm a college student with little time and even a smaller checkbook. This book definitely taught me everything I needed and wanted to know about Flash -- from making a movie to the complexity of Action Scripting -- in little time. Plus, it was easier on my pocketbook than almost any other comprehensive book available.

I bought this book because its fine printing and attractive title. As I brought it home and read the details of this book, I found out I was wrong. The whole book seems to designed for those who have excellent logical thinkings. The author try make his own graphic charts to explain the deep side of the Flash usability. The problem is, it makes the flash even complicate after reading it. If you are a person with strong Logical thinking you may enjoy this book, and if you think you are not, just don't waste your money.

Skip Intro is a must read for the serious web designer, whether a seasoned and experienced veteran, or an excited, inexperienced novice. Interface design is the most important element in creating a website that is easy to navigate, enjoyable, entertaining,, and keeps users coming back making it "Sticky". Poor interface design can bounce the user straight off your site and into your competition's.

Correctly used, Macromedia Flash is the most powerful authoring tool for efficient and effective web design. Skip Into comprehensively covers the philosophy of effective design (the why) and the specific graphic and scripting required to implement (the how).

Expect a well-worn copy of Skip Intro at the desk of leading web designers, and take note fellow educators--this is a must read and know for our graphic design majors.

A great plus - developers will create reusable tools that will simplify your life and improve your users' navigation experience.

Instead of just showing how to do super cool tricks, the authors teach functional techniques that lead to ease of use for the end-user.

This is the first book I ever bought about Freemasonry, and gave me a peek into the ritual before I was a member. I petitioned as a direct result of this book, and used it to study for my proficiencies. Not only a beautiful book with wonderful illustration, but a fine source for Freemasons new and old!

Outstanding!!! This book gave the insite to decide weather i wanted to search for more light in the appendite York Rite of masonry and am on my way to to the East!

This book is a classic, and a treasure. Reading about the rituals of Freemasonry is fascinating, but to see illustrations of the gestures that are described is to take the study up to the next level. Many Masonic symbols are illustrated and codes for reading certain Masonic texts are revealed. This is a handbook for Masons, but those who study without the lodge will gain some insight, from previous reading. This book will not give you a free pass into the lodge...but, it may inspire you to petition one! I keep the Hardback version on-display, beside The Holy Bible and "Freemasonry: A Journey Through Ritual and Symbol," by W. Kirk MacNulty. The Paper-back, I keep for actual reading purposes. (The Hard-Back version is Splendid!)

There are a few really compelling stories here - mostly the ones that focus on the victims and the rescue workers. But there is also, sadly, a great deal of garbage.

There's actually a fair amount of America bashing here. Some stories are patriotic, but, for the most part, the people holding or displaying American flags are protrayed as ignorant bigots.

Now, the artists and writers have every right to express their views. If that sort of thing is your cup of tea, I suspect you'll regard the more anti-American stories as provocative and stimulating. To me, they seemed like more of the same tired cliches I used to hear all the time before 9-11.

There's also a fair amount of the mushy-headedness about Islam which seems popular in this country these days. ...

The worst stories were those that tried to make some sort of political point. In one, an alien shows up and explains why we are all doomed if we don't adopt the Democratic party platform. (I'm really sort of neutral on abortion, but I always have to shake my head when someone starts preaching about the need to take care of the poor, the weak, the children, the elderly, the fish, the birds, the dung beetles, and then insists, even by omission, that destroying a human fetus is just fine.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is a lot of this felt very contrived. The more powerful stories and pictures were the ones where the author/artist was writing/drawing from the heart. The worst were the ones were the author was "moralizing," for a lack of a better word.

Firstly - I bought this book. Therefore, my money went towards the funds that helped victims of the atrocities of 11th September. It was the least I could do. (I also signed a book of condolence, but we all know how practically useful _that_ is.)

Secondly, this book is a remarkable ragbag of responses to the attack. One of the striking thing about the 9-11 attack is that it was the first time in nearly 200 years that the US mainland had been attacked. (Pearl Harbour doesn't count because, at the time, Hawaii was not a state of the US, it was still a "dependency" - shorthand for "ex-colony".)

The best responses in this book are the ones that take a, shall we say, dialectical response to the attack - those that at once focus on the innocent victims (cause it was a terrorist attack, and terrorism by nature is aimed at targeting the innocent in order to make the guilty feel guilty) and that also have a longer historical perspective. Because, and I'm almost embarrassed to point this out - the 9-11 attack did not happen because some deluded lunatics somewhere took it into their heads to be mean to Americans. It was the ultimate suicide attack, the nec plus ultra of the recent bombings in Jerusalem.

The best pieces in this book do not merely recognise the heroism of New York firefighters and police personnel - which is a sort of heroism that I, for one, don't doubt. But the facts are, this kind of heroism has been displayed around the world by populations under attack from US-funded or US-trained forces. It's not a very nice fact to have to face, but unless it is faced, there is little chance of events like 9-11 never happening again.

The sad thing is, much of the more ambitious pieces in here rely on "private" tragedy (as if these events had no more significance than the deaths of people in New York) and public jingoism - witness Stan Lee's asinine allegory about sleeping elephants. Stan, if the elephant's population was happy, it's because it had stolen so much from other countries already. Learn a little history.

Those of us who have learned to live with the potential for terrorist attacks on a daily basis are a little less naive than much of the authorship of this book. I grieve as much as anyone else for the dead of 9-11. But I cannot pretend that it isn't the kind of thing that happens around the rest of the world, as a result of the insanely inequal distribution of wealth.

This is a good book. But it is as much symptom as it is diagnosis.

I am using these two volumes to do my senior thesis and have read the other reviews and am convinced that some reviewers need to BACK OFF. This was written in commemoration for those who had a hard time dealing with the tragedy, not for you to criticize. The artists and comics who made these works did so as a way to understand and as a way to vent. I am sorry, but if you are going to criticize a creative effort to release you have no compassion. Some stories are disturbing, but the whole event was and has been disturbing. I am sure someone is going to think I am waving my flag a little to wildly, but you know what I am just calling it as I see it. Until you spent the day watching from your window as the towers fell down and smoked up the whole city to tell them how to do there job!

I enjoyed this book (as I enjoy all Pilcher's novels) but there was one thing that struck me resoundingly after I finished. Spoiler ahead!
First - the plot.

Virginia loses her Cornish first love through her mother's meddling, marries on the rebound and, widowed, returns to Cornwall with her young children. Here she meets Eustace again and they heal their rift and decide to become a couple.

Charming... but can you believe this decision is made after 4 - yes, *4* meetings? The young (18 y-o) Virginia meets Eustace at a barbecue. Then she meets him again in town. He promises to call her, but never does. Her mother whisks her away. Um - 4 hours together, tops? Years later she meets him again in the pub. And then she, he and the children spend an afternoon and evening together. He leaves in a huff. And the next day they resolve their differences. I couldn't believe it, so I reread the book and counted the meetings. Yes - 4. And 2 were very brief and in company with several other people.

I'd have swallowed it - maybe - if the author had mentioned that it was unusual!

Hmm.

An anachronism in the form of a delightfully romantic fairy tale. From the cliffs of Cornwall to a near castle in Scotland, our not-so-modern-day fairy princess finds herself (at age 27) the widow of Prince Not So Charming. Despite the fact the deceased Prince was unfaithful and domineering and only married the young girl to achieve his inheritance, it is still a little tough feeling sorry for the Poor Little Rich Girl, who has never worked a day in her life (nor will she ever have to). Finally, she is free to be herself and she ships her young children off with Nanny to her mother-in-law in London. She then returns to the Cornwall coast and the memory of a few chance encounters of her 17-year-old self with a local farmer. Rejecting the comfort and pampering of friends, she leases a modest home near Porthkerris, fires the Nanny and reclaims her children. But can she do it? And can the combine man of the cozy hearth really win the heart of the Pampered Princess? This is an early Pilcher, with very idealistic (and out of touch) plotting but the heavenly glimpses of home and heart and her beloved countryside quite save the book.

In general, I agree with all of the reviews written here. BUT...I'm simply a huge fan of Rosamunde Pilcher. She writes wonderful, rich, escape-ism novels! They're great for relaxing, taking with you to the tub (w/ candles, bubble bath & a nice glass of something!), and so on.

When I pick up a Pilcher (or a Maeve Binchy) I'm not looking for War & Peace! I'm looking for interesting characters, some of them will be shown in a less-than-flattering light (at least sometimes), which I think is pretty realistic (since we all have our less-than-flattering sides/times!). However, realism isn't the key here. Descriptions of the places, the people, and the events are (I believe) Pilcher's strong suit.

True, this isn't her best work. But, please don't discard her as an author based upon this book! Give her others a chance, and give this one a chance as well. Just lighten up, and enjoy it! Don't dissect it. Allow yourself to escape into it's depths, and don't worry about how many times Virginia has met the love of her life, etc.! Pilcher's books are so much better than romance novels, you don't need to feel the related guilt and embarrassment when reading them! How refreshing...