2 comments about The New York Times Large-Print Crossword Puzzle Omnibus Volume 3 (New York Times Large Print Crossword Puzzle Omnibus).

1. I bought a BUNCH of these large print New York Times Crossword books for my Mom including this one. She was ardent about solving them and felt they helped her in maintaining her mental powers. I would have to agree on that. The large print really IS large and seemed too big to me at first but they were easier for her to savor and work on at her own pace. They also have puzzles you can subscribe to and receive through the mail. I was surprized and delighted during a visit to see that she and a friend worked on them together. They're a terrific resource for an aging parent and well worth the price for the stimulation !!



2. Always entertaining, educational, and sometimes frustrating, but that's NOT the fault of the Times!

5 comments about The Party Planner.

1. This book is a definite must have! Mr. Tutera covers everthing from invitations, to atmosphere and everything in between. His hints and tips can even make a novice look like an expert. It is easy to see why his parties are so memorable. He gives you everything you need to make your party a smashing sucess!



2. I have started a personal event planning business and there was a wealth of information, I especially liked the tips section in each chapter.



3. I didn't find many of his ideas that I would use. Most were alittle too over the top. I would scale them down.



4. It's great. Lots of big pictures & well-thought out themes & good format. It really transports you to these special & original parties.



5. "The Party Planner" is thoughtfully laid out. Cocktail Parties, Dinner Parties, Holiday Entertaining, Special Occasions and Milestone Celebrations. Each party is laid out by "The Look", "The Scent", "The Touch", "The Taste", "The Sound" along with "Tutera Tips". A number of drink recipes are provided along with a few recipes. The book is filled with colorful pictures and "how to" instructions. Some of the ideas may be a little over the top, however for anyone looking for inspiration or if you are new to entertaining it would be a helpful resource.
   [...] for those who are passionate about creating memorable occasions.

5 comments about Hats & Eyeglasses: A Family Love Affair with Gambling.

1. Martha Frankel's first memoir has produced a winning hand. Reading Hats and Eyeglasses was like a rollercoaster ride. This candid, funny, pageturner,started off wrapping me up in a whirlwind of memories of my own childhood.I laughed out loud, screamed..."No,no, don't go there Martha, and then sighed with relief only to be left with a big grin on my face wanting more! I hope Marhta has saved an ace up her sleeve to share with all of us next! A true gem.



2. Stopsmiling In her memoir, the hilarious, tragic and engrossing Hats & Eyeglasses: A Family Love Affair with Gambling (a title which refers to all that's left floating on the surface after a gambler has lost it all), Frankel writes, on playing in the casinos, "I'm wearing cleavage, attitude, and what might be, anywhere but here, a bit too much perfume." Now a self-proclaimed "poker slut," she kept doing her celebrity interviews, but with a new flair. She once talked actress Jennifer Beals into coming with her to the Hollywood Park poker room and got Beals to pull up a chair behind her, tape recorder in her lap, so that Frankel could keep shoving chips and winning hands of stud while conducting the interview.
   
   Then one day Frankel discovered you could play online, in your pajamas. She became a self-proclaimed "poker junkie." She lost $60,000. She lied to her friends and family. She writes of online poker: "It's like crack cocaine -- very fast, very mindless, and impossible to stop. The perfect game for a generation that grew up with MTV, fast computers and instant messaging." A conversation with her beloved mother, who tearfully assumed her daughter's AWOL status was her fault, finally shocked Frankel into quitting. Frankel's memoir of addiction and loss is in some ways also a love letter to her late mother. "My mother smoked like a grand old dame, making it look glamorous, and even erotic," writes Frankel. "Every memory of my mother has smoke curling up around the edges." In the end, Hats & Eyeglasses is a redemptive but cautionary tale for all would-be poker players out there: Watch out.
   
   From The Frankel Interview
   by Annie Nocenti
   StopSmilingonline.com



3. I loved this book and I really don't care about gambling or poker. This book made me sad and happy, made me laugh and cry. I read it on the beach in Miami and was so captured by the story that I got a sun burn. This book made me believe in family.



4. I first met Martha Frankel in the summer of '66. She came along with a "cousin" who, eventually, I would marry. It was on Jones Beach (L.I.). Her cousin was beautiful, Martha was funny and brutally honest (still is) but sorely lacked beach etiquette. I forgave her.
   When reading Hats & Eyeglasses I revisited a place that brought back fond memories.
   Martha's family was my family...for a while. I know of what she writes. She remembers details and nuances with precision. She also retains that self deprecating humor (after having become quite accomplished in her life). Her gambling came naturally from her family, like another family might foster atheletes or scholars. It was not a problem until it became a problem.
   I highly recommend this book be read by anyone wanting a look into a highly personal account, revealed to all...with clarity, perception and, most of all, brutally honest humor.
   
   Grimes
   West Palm Beach



5. Once you start, you will not put it down and then find yourself recommending to everyone you know!

5 comments about Gaming: Essays On Algorithmic Culture (Electronic Mediations).

1. Interesting book, but not entirely what I was expecting. It takes a very filmic approach to videogames, focusing on gaze and perspective. There are some interesting parallels draw between film and games, but for the most part, the author seems more comfortable in a critical eye outside of games themselves.
   
   I lost interest in the book about halfway through, but I may pick it up again. If you are looking for a book about interaction or theories of play and leisure, this is not the book for you.



2. After Protocol, one of the best books in cyberculture, Galloway bring us Gaming, one of the best books in gameculture.
   Remembering Protocol's way, a bit of history, with some criticism after. The only problem is the book is toooo short, and very important issues, like gameart and mods, stay basics. I hope these can be developed in the next future.
   
   And I love cover, with the Unreal Healt PickUp int the hospital.



3. This is a fun book to read that is written in an accessible and engaging style that contains some really interesting ideas about gaming. Because this is more a collection of interrelated essays than a sustained argument, it makes sense to approach each essay individually.
   
   In the first chapter-essay, to understand the relationship between the player and the game space, the author arrives at a cartesian plane of possible gaming moments: The x-axis moves between the operator's and the machine's actions, and the y-axis moves between diegetic and non-diegetic actions. The result is that some common gaming moments can be reliably plotted in this plane. The author's approach here presents a way to initiate a discussion around action, but the entire argument doesn't hang on the validity of this model. This diagram forces the author to define game diegesis somewhat narrowly within the confines of certain kinds of games, and it seems somewhat arbitrary where he draws the line between diegetic and non-diegetic. However, it's an interesting beginning, and the terms and relationships Galloway sets up here permeate the remainder of the essays, contextualizing them all within the idea of game action.
   
   In chapter 2, the author goes to great lengths to justify his central claim that where film uses the subjective shot to represent a problem with identification, games use the subjective shot to create identification. The problem with first-person or subjective camerawork is that the perspective suggests agency or the ability to interact. It is in these moments in cinema where the camera exposes itself as an agent of looking, and the audience is confronted with its own status as observer. In other words, it is the fact that the first-person perspective holds forth the possibility of action that makes it such an uncomfortable technique in cinema, but such a natural arrangement in gaming where the possibility of interaction exists. The author then identifies certain cinematic situations that adopt visual "patina" derived from gaming. Some obvious examples of this "gamic vision" include the Heads-Up Display subjective shots from Terminator and RoboCop.
   
   In chapter 3, Galloway unpacks the idea of realism in gaming, distancing it from the so-called "realism" of high-end graphics that purport to be faithful representations of real world objects. Instead, since gaming is for Galloway an action and not an image, realism should be imagined on different terms. Again taking cues from cinema, Galloway argues that a better kind of realism for gaming would follow the model of neorealism in film in which neorealisticness depends on narrative and not form. Galloway mentions games like September 12th and The Sims as possibilities of a better realism in gaming because they engage social reality at a level in which the game action parallels the real-world action it comments on. In other words, a person is more likely to order a pizza than shoot aliens. Again orienting his discussion on action, Galloway concludes that the true correspondence obtained in realistic gaming is a congruence between the "material substrate of the medium" and the gamer's social reality.
   
   In the fourth chapter and the concluding one, Galloway makes a compelling case for the expressive potential of video games. In outlining the allegories of control in gaming, Galloway claims that, to the extent that successfully navigating daily life increasingly relies on selecting options from series of menus, gaming simply emulates this by enclosing it within the gaming action. The main example here is Civilization, which has been criticized for its Imperialistic politics. For Galloway, though, the problem with Civlization is not so much that it presents other nations and people groups as fodder for conquering, but that it condenses politics into a series of quantities that can be balanced and varied according to menu configurations. So Galloway does criticize the game, but mainly does so because it represents an index for the very dominance of informatic organization and how it has entirely overhauled, revolutionized, and recolonized the function of identity.
   
   In chapter five, Galloway ends up with six theses for countergaming, one of which is hypothetical. Though the book as a whole claims to be a collection autonomous essays, it's hard not to read in this essay the culmination of ideas oulined in the first four. Put briefly, countergaming involves establishing and then subverting the formal poetics of gameplay. One theme in this is the foregrounding of apparatus, or when games break. The author's main example in this essay is Jodi's untitled game in which the interface frequently breaks down or appears to reveal its underlying code. Similarly, countergaming can become visible in subverting representational modeling of objects with degraded artifacts. Note that this is not simply bad modeling or the modeling of abstract objects. Rather, the spatiality of objects is threatened by their exposed status as images. This discussion is useful not only for outlining a potential direction for artistic or activist game design, but also for providing a context for discussing more mainstream activity like Alternate Reality Gaming in which the game world is very much defined by its juxtaposition with its representation and underlying code, or more sinister-seeming accidents like actual rendering errors in game worlds. These phenomena are not countergaming as such, but it is possible to understand the disruption of their presence better if we see it as a kind energy working against the dominant hegemony of the game structure. Such things break the framework of social realism.
   
   Although I found this book intelligent and engaging, I'm still not sure what to do with it. The author proposes alternatives to popular critical models, but these are mostly gestures toward a way of thinking about gaming rather than a declaration of How Things Are. It is this approach, along with the approach to gaming as an action rather than games as objects, that is this book's most valuable contribution. I would recommend it to high-level game architects and virtual world architects who aren't afraid of a somewhat academic read.



4. Excellent book. Until now, I have read the first two essays. In the first one, Gamic Actions - Four Moments, the author has developed an analysis framework for games based on the concept of diegesis. In the second, he digs the origins of the First-Person Shooter based on the film history. Definitely, this book will be an important reference in my doctorate research.



5. I work in the video game industry and have launched over 10 titles on both console and PC, 4 of which have sold over 1 million units. This book, while academically interesting in the abstract (and that's why it's not getting 1 star from me), does not describe anything relevant to the real world of game creation or development. It does not contain anything that I would recommend to my business as either prescriptive for development activities or descriptive of player behaviors. Other than the need to publish for academic politics reasons, I don't know why the author wrote this book.

1 comments about The American Heritage Crossword Puzzle Dictionary (American Heritage Dictionary).

1. The most concise crossword dictionary I have ever come across. A welcome addition to anyone who loves doing crossword puzzles.

2 comments about The New York Times Super Saturday Crosswords: The Hardest Crossword of the Week.

1. I was completely disappointed in this book. It is quite possible that these puzzles ran on Saturdays in 1993 and 1994, as the copyright notation indicates. They are not, however, remotely in a league with the current Saturday level of difficulty. This is deceptive advertising at its most crass. It reflects very poorly on the editor, Will Shortz (who currently edits the NYT puzzles and surely knows that what I am saying is true), on the Times itself, and on Amazon, which ought to stop selling this slim but nevertheless sleazy volume.



2. it isn't easy to find difficult puzzles. this book is great. i wish there were more of them. the harder the better. thank you

5 comments about The Poker Face of Wall Street.

1. The book has some interesting stories and ideas but I didn't leave convinced of the connection between "investing" and poker. Maybe I had over inflated expectations, but this books title is a bit off-target.



2. In this unusual study, math geek and poker addict Aaron Brown uses royal flushes as a way to meditate on the oft-overlooked topic of financial risk. Poker and trading share many similarities, he argues, and you can apply similar skills and mindsets profitably to both endeavors. Brown travels from California card rooms to Texas back rooms to Yukon gold mining camps, with numerous stops on Wall Street and in the Ivy League. In lesser hands, such a far-reaching study would have lost focus, but Brown manages to keep making meaty points. Unlike the stereotypical quant, Brown writes clearly and gracefully, making his work rewarding to read. getAbstract recommends his book to investors seeking an edge in a risky world. Your deal.



3. I met Aaron at the U of Chicago, Finance PhD program, many years ago. I can honestly say that he's a saint and one of the smartest people I've met. Admiration aside, his book is interesting and full of insights because it's written from a broad perspective weaving history, games, risk-taking, and finance.
   
   At times, I wondered where Brown was going? But when I stepped back I realized that he is telling a story (of some of his life experiences) and sharing his perspective and insights with the readers, trying to help us understand issues that are difficult to put arms around. Just like in real life, where events meander and occur "randomly", and where we are left with just the experience and a revised perspective (appreciation) of how things are and how they work, Aaron gives the readers such a "painting".
   
   His book is artistic, analytical and full of insights. I highly recommend it. Today I discovered, Aaron (with two co-authors) has a book forthcoming, titled, "A World of Chance: Betting on Religon...." which I can't wait to read. I did some search on the Internet to see what other works he might have produced and I discovered a website eraider dot com, which lists many articles he has written in finance -- you too might enjoy reading his reviews and articles.



4. Wow, I never imagined such a link between poker and investing. Is my portfolio manager really just a gambler at heart? At first, that seems like a pretty scary thought. This book has a lot of great ideas in it, written by one of the masters of risk management and a legend in the field. I liked the book a lot and it really opened my eyes.



5. As a professional in the ETF business I highly recommend this book. Let's face it....Game theory is here to stay and Aaron's book details this very well. If you're planning on entering into the business of investments from Algorithms to Zeta Models....do yourself a favor and read this book... Aaron Brown's "The Poker Face of Wall Street" takes a dry subject matter and makes it fun and enjoyable. I'd like to see Aaron take on the boys from Susquehanna in a lil' five card. Game on-----

5 comments about Internet Texas Hold'em: Winning Strategies from an Internet Pro.

1. Teaches the ins and outs of poker and will help any beginer improve his game. The flop chart is the best asset,follow it and it will help eliminate alot of beginer mistakes. not for advanced readers, but if you are an advanced player Middle limit poker by ciaffane is the best book out i feel for the advanced. This book and the ciafane book are the only two poker books you need if you are beginer or play poker at all. Has turned around my bottom line dramatically



2. The book contians standard information, is written somewhat blandly, and doesn't reveal anything the myriad other poker books have already covered.
   
   I do like the cover though.
   
   I went to the bookstore specifically for this book, but was rather dissapointed when I looked through it. So, take my review with a grain of salt, b/c I only spent approximately 20 minutes reading through the various chapters.



3. The boom in online poker has brought with it an equal boom in how-to handbooks for internet players. The problem is that they're all pretty useless, for the very simple reason that:
   
   Internet poker = real life poker - tells.
   
   Save for some marginally informative behavior like speed-of-play (and you don't have to be a poker genius to figure those out yourself), decisions in online poker are never based on tells, which actually reduces the complexity of the game and makes internet poker an excellent tool to learn the game: it's one less thing you have to worry about.
   Therefore, you really don't need a handbook on internet poker, any good Hold'em strategy guide (like Sklansky's Hold'em Poker and Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players) will teach you all that you need to know.
   That said, Matthew Hilger's book is a good guide for beginning players and offers some handy charts on starting hands and probabilities.
   If you're just starting out and you've never read a book on Texas Hold'em, you might as well begin with this one, but if you've already studied the game, you'll find nothing new here.



4. For those claiming that this is a beginners book, I say you must be quite confused about what constitutes "beginners" material when it comes to the discussion of Limit hold 'em. Also, for those who claimed the book is "boring," why do you buy poker books? To be entertained? NO! You buy them to learn how to win at poker. They are instructional manuals, not bedtime Wilbur Smith novels!
   
   One of the questions that needs to be asked when considering whether a poker book is merely average or exceptional is; "Could I read this book and nothing more and become an excellent, winning poker player?" In this case the answer is a resounding "YES!" Lets just be clear, Hilger is very successful middle to high limit player and this book provides the knowledge to play anywhere from low to middle and high limit games. Almost all of the hand examples in the book are taken from actual hands played at 20/40 or 30/60 games! I personally would go so far as to say that this is a better book for even the middle limit player than either "Hold 'em for advanced players" or "Middle limit hold 'em" which are considered by many to be the two best books for the mid to high limit hold 'em player. (It is my humble opinion that both those books are somewhat overrated. Of course I'm only a low limit player so what do I know? :)) Some might say that is blasphemy but I've read all of them and that's my opinion.
   
   Hilger does a fantastic job explaining the conceptual ideas behind each topic in very basic language, he then provides several very clear hand examples to illustrate the concepts at work coupled with very solid reasoning explaining the logic and thought processes behind each play. Finally, he provides a comprehensive summary at the end of each chapter that really sums up the meat of that chapter. He covers everything one needs to know to play a winning game of hold 'em and does it in simple language that is easy to understand.
   
   This is a great book and is almost as good as what I consider the best book on Limit hold 'em- "Small stakes Hold 'em" by Ed Miller and co. As in the case of SSHE, the only thing missing from this book is a chapter on shorthanded play but hey, you can't have everything right?
   
   Five stars and easily one of the top 5 books on limit hold 'em on the market today.



5. I try to pick up something new from each poker book I read. As I am a new student to the game, I have found the starting hand chart found in this book to be extremely helpful. The chart lays out what hands you should play from what positions, and under what conditions (unraised/raised pot).
   
   But beyond this chart I have to agree with Bartman_9 in that internet poker is pretty much live poker without tells. There were a few pages of specific internet related material and internet tips here and there but not much at all. If you want to play serious online poker and you are somewhat of a beginner, then this book would be a good cold call, however don't expect it to impart an online silver bullet. You can't go wrong with this book, 3 stars.

5 comments about Exalted 2nd Lunars (Exalted).

1. A big improvement from the 1E version of the same. The Lunars are now not only powerful but have intersting charms and trees that will not make character design a headache. This is with out a doubt the most important update of the 2nd Ed of the Exalted game



2. Well I must first say that english is not my native language so please forgive me if I make mistakes. Thanks.
   
   Now as for the Lunar Exalted Book. WOAW. Simple.
   They completely erradicated all the mistakes of the Lunars First Edition.
   Now Lunars are complete characters full of options and with a nice setting, nice background, history, great Knacks, Charms, Gifts and Fury stuff. Excellent new backgrounds, details on what they been doing this last centuries. A good reasoning of the Wyld core in all Lunar Essences. A great explanation of why they need the moonsilver ink tattoos and their restrictions. Also the Thousand Rivers proyect and their involvement in human populations like Halta, Chiaroscuro, Diamond, etc..
   
   IF I have some disagreements with the book would be that some Charms (7) dont work well. Certain lack of Wyld Mutations to develop the Combat Form of the Lunar (cause they are spread between the Main Corebook, the Compass of Celestial Directions The Wyld and in this Book) I feel like they should have reprinted a complete list of possible Wyld Mutations and rules in this Corebook. Personally I feel that maybe they should have given a little more importance to Artifacts made of Moonsilver and maybe special Celestial Sorcery Spells unique to Lunars. But this is just an opinion.
   
   So far an excellent book. Full of great things.
   I hunger to play a full-fledged Shapeshifter that can edure anything and slay Creation's enemies while saving humankind from threats of the Wyld!



3. I can't really speak to the mechanical improvements, since I have yet to play a lunar character in a game, but the backstory alone is an enormous improvement over 1st ed. Back then, Lunars were like a bunch of old World o' Darkness were____s that had wandered into the wrong gameworld--they hated civilization, preferring the 'purity' of the 'barbarians.' Conan plus anarcho-primitivism, how appealing. That, and the old rules made Lunars probably the least popular Exalt type book in the old edition.
   Now, however, the Lunar backstory and culture are free of fantasy cliches (ie 'Barbarians') and sure to provide great kernels for character creation. The basic concept that the lunars are 'stewards' as opposed to the Solar 'lawgivers' is well developed into an exalt ethos that puts emphasis on mortal self-determination and self-reliance, a really interesting contrast to the Solar and Terrestrial desire to set themselves up as God-Kings. The factions of the lunars are fleshed out nicely--The Winding Path are dedicated to helping as many different societies as possible evolve among mortals. The Sun King Seneschals once merely hated the Terrestrials but now that the Solars are back may want to be the power behind the throne. The Crossroads Society are the sorcerers who trade lore and take a leading role in protecting the Lunars from the Wyld. Finally the Swords of Luna fight the fair folk (that's it) and the Wardens of Gaia are either civilization-loathing primitivists or simply greens who would like to see mortals live in harmony with nature.
   
   In short, while the old lunars book did little more than provide crazed, not particularly fleshed-out antagonists, the new lunars book paints a picture of exalts at least as interesting as the solars who can either have wonderful adventures on their own or add a new angle to a game with Solars.



4. A vast improvement over its First Edition predecessor. Rather than savage barbarians dwelling at the edges of shaped existence, this book offers the a vision of the Lunars as Stewards of Creation. The Silver Pact now consists of diverse factions, many of which not only tolerate the existence of civilization, but who have actively participated in creation and behind-the-scenes oversight of city states and republics. This new take on the Lunar Exalted adds much needed depth to the Children of the Moon, as well as making it possible to play a wide variety of potential characters, beyond the city-hating, civilization-smashing man-beast.



5. Perhaps the most massive revamp of all the exalted types. MoEP: Lunars makes the Lunars as cool mechanically as they are thematically. Not only that, but it expands everything the Lunars are about and ingrains them deeper into the setting.

1 comments about Beat the Clock Kakuro: 214 Easy to Hard Puzzles with Target Time Limits (Kakuro).

1. I have gone through a few other kakuro books before trying this one. The other books never even came close to the difficulty of these puzzles. It took me a while to get into the spirit, but now I'm totally in love with this book. These are puzzles you can really sink your teeth into.