5 comments about Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century.

1. A kindly rebuttal of the Secretariat bashing taking place by some reviewers. 16 victories in 21 career starts, record time in all three Triple Crown Races (his Preakness time was properly edited in 1999 representing the record). As for Hawkster who ran 1 1/2 mile in 2:22 2/5 on TURF in 1989 at Santa Anita on what the announcer described as an "unusually fast surface" (check YouTube), shows the adominable nature of 2:24 in the Belmont. No horse has come within 9 legnths of Secretariat's run in 73' on the dirt. I agree that Secretariat was not the greatest horse in racing history but on that day in 1973 at Belmont Park, he would have obliterated any other horse in the proud history of the sport of kings. Buy the book however and let the debate begin. We have been led to believe that the greatest horses travelled the dusty track in the 1970's, I believe this book challenges that assumption quite well.



2. What a joke--Ruffian ranked number 35! Whitely stated she was the best ever and he had Forgo in his stable. Laurin said she was greater than Secretariat. Remember the headlines she would beat Secretariat in head-to-head competition? I do. I also remember the industry hailing her as the greatest ever. Certainly one would have to go back to Eclipse to match her past performances. The whole industry hung their hopes of saving racing on her. And she brought legends of new fans to the track. Of course that was before the Great Match Race (one has to wonder what would have been so great about #35 vs #97). After that an industry embarassed by what its own greed had done reverted to making Ruffian the scapegoat for her own death as well as that of the industry. They also reverted to their old sexist ways. As a result they have been trying to destroy and belittle the legacy of this great horse (do you see her monument at KHP?). Sad thing is the racing industry never understood what brought her fans to the track. It had nothing to do with gambling (no one would get rich given her odds) but everything thing to do with a love of beauty and an appreciation of sheer perfection. Of course, no one expected the show of tremendous heart, courage and determination she exhibited in the match race. That made her immoral to her fans and proved an added embarassment to the industry. If ever the industry would give Ruffian her just due, they just might see her type of fans return to the tracks (and related sites such as KHP) in legend.



3. I thought this book was very helpful. I used it for a report that I had to do last week, and I got an A. Not only is it helpful, but also fun to read. The pictures are great!



4. Secretariat is #1. Period. This book's voting process was a "sham", as has been well documented. The majority of voters had Secretariat #1...but one voter intentionally voted Secretariat at #14 (unthinkable) to give MoW the top spot. Secretariat's dominates MoW in just about every possible category of projecting a hypothetical head-to-head matchup. Secretariat wouldn't have just beaten MoW at his best...he would have destroyed him. The fact that Secretariat still holds the record in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes...and held the unofficial (accurate) record in the Preakness is simply unbelievable. There is simply no "athlete" in any sport who has ever been so dominant. Watching Secretariat in the Belmont Stakes is the most perfect display in sports history (certainly horse racing).
   
   William Nack (respected journalist, horse-racing guru, and member the of Bloodsport panel that voted) had this to say:
   
   "Thanks for your generous words. It was very hard judging the Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century,. I spent two days on the project. The final results were skewered when, I am told, one of the judges put Secretariat fourteenth on his top-100 list. I don't know who this particular voter was---individual voting has remained a secret on that panel---but it was an idiotic judgment that should have been dismissed out of hand. Had I known any voter would do such a thing, I'd have put Man o' War in fourteenth place just to counterbalance the loony. That would have leveled the playing field.
   
   Here was a horse who had broken three track records in all three Triple Crown races, including the controversial Preakness clocking, two of which records (Derby and Belmont) still stand today; whose 31-length Belmont Stakes victory, in which he earned a Beyer of 137, is by consensus regarded as the greatest performance by a racehorse in history; and yet here was a voter who concocted a list suggesting that Secretariat would have finished last, behind 13 horses, in a field made up of that voter's first 14 horses on the list. It warped the voting and thereby tainted the list."



5. i thought it was a wonderful book with so much info about horses i love. everything was in this book . i would buy again from amazon.

5 comments about Developing Games in Java (New Riders Games).

1. The good things about this book that the author modulates the basic game componets into various class such as screen manager, input manager which enhances the reusability of the game code.
   
   Also, a game can be easily built on the existing class without much tweaking of the original source code.



2. First off, this book is fairly easily to read if you have some programming background. This book is obviously not aimed at beginners, so it will require atleast a basic knowledge of Java to make any sort of sense.
   
   What I liked about this book is the rather large number of projects you have to build right from the get go. However, what was most disappointing about this book was the lack of explanations as to what, exactly, is going on in the code. For instance, his section on mouselooking basically dumps two pages of code on you, filled with new algorithms that are accompanied by zero details about how they work or why things are done that way. There aren't even comments in the code that step you through it.
   
   That aspect of the book is really saddens me because that's all that seperates it from a typing exercise and a great lessong in game programming.
   
   Having said all of that. There are some basic functional things you gather that are useful if you are brand new to game programming.
   
   What I had hoped to gather out of this book was more than just code. I hoped that there would be principles that I could extrapolate and take with me from project to project. Regretfully, I don't think this book accomplished that goal.



3. I have had this book for a couple of years. It is one of the best games programming books I have read. Be aware that over half the book is devoted to developing a software 3D engine. I found this to be quite high quality and I have even ported it to C++ with no issues. The engine supports texture mapping, shade mapping, z-buffering, collisions, pathfinding and BSP trees. As the author states, learning how things work in software helps when you later use hardware 3D rendering. To be honest, I was really impressed with the speed the 3D demo ran at, considering most people still think Java is slow.
   
   The first half of the book develops a nice game framework to help with redifining keys, choosing a screen resolution, sound effects, animation and 2D scrolling with collision detection. There is enough info here to produce a good Mario clone. There is a chapter on networking but it seems disconnected from the rest of the book (I think it was written by a different author).
   
   One of the best things though is that all the source code (available from his site) compiles straight off the bat, and works with no modifications. I cannot tell you how rare this is for a computer book. All the examples are built as Ant scripts and I simply imported them into my IDE (IntelliJ IDEA, but most other IDEs can also import Ant scripts). They all compiled with no errors and ran exactly as described in the book.
   
   In summary this is an excellent buy for the intermediate Java programmer who wants to get into 2D and 3D games.



4. Early attempts at Java game programming usually meant incorporating a foreign framework in your code. With the latest advancements in Swing, it's become easier to develop rich media applications in Java. Developing Games in Java takes this rich framework and explains thoroughly how to best utilize it for both 2D and 3D games. The book could easily be used as a primer in game and graphics techniques as well. Concepts like collision detection, path finding, scripting, and AI are well covered, making this a complete introduction to developing great games in Java.



5. Pretty darn great book!
   Chapter 1 starts with threads, locking and multithreading animation!!
   This is for serious programmers, serious game developers...you gotta have some experience in JAVA development in order to get the best from this book. Beginners will take some time, but eventually prevail.
   A must!!

1 comments about Starship Battles Huge Booster (Star Wars Miniatures).

1. Reviewer's note: I wrote a similar review for the starter set, so please excuse me if you see it twice. However, since I didn't know where most buyers would start, I figured it was best to provide the review under both the boosters and the starters to be safe. That said...
   
   I'm a big fan of Star Wars minis (especially Rebel Storm), and I couldn't wait to get my starter and boosters for the new Star Wars Starship Battles minis game. Each booster comes with seven random ships (including one rare ship and one large ship). The game/set includes 60 different ships (30 "light side" and 30 "dark side" -- approximately 1/2 are from the original trilogy, and the other half are from the prequel). I have to admit, the ships look pretty cool (especially the smaller ones like the Millennium Falcon, Salve 1, TIE Fighters, TIE Interceptor, TIE Bomber, B-Wings, X-Wings, Y-Wings, etc.), and as I first read the instructions and looked at the ship stats cards, I was looking very forward to playing. In the end (after playing several games with a friend), however, I was largely disappointed with the game itself. Though there are a few interesting twists (like the command effects),the game is pretty basic, and unfortunately does not allow much room for strategy and/or creativity.
   
   The best advice I can give you is to begin with the starter set, which comes with everything you'll need to play (including two exclusive rare ships -- the big guns in the set, eight randomized common and uncommon ships, map, instructions, command cards, damage counters, D20, etc.). You MIGHT also want to buy a couple of boosters (each booster includes seven randomized ships -- one rare, two uncommon, and four common). This way your buy-in isn't too bad; otherwise, it can get very expensive very quickly. You'll definitely get at least a few good games out of it, and if you like the game more than I did, you can easily buy more boosters (that is much better than the alternative of buying a ton of boosters and not being very happy with the game). Also, if you are interested the minis themselves (i.e., to collect them, for use with the D20 role playing game, or to use with some other Star Wars game/scenario), you'll probably be mostly happy with what Wizards of the Coast came up with.
   
   In sum, the game/rules gets 3 stars, and the minis get 4-5 stars (rounded up to a 4 star rating overall). Hope this helps!

3 comments about Sudoku Puzzles #2 (Spongebob Squarepants).

1. Love the SpongeBob Sudoku puzzles. My 5-year old particularly enjoys working on these books. He finds the pictures hilarious, enjoys working out the puzzles - just the right level of difficulty for the beginning sudoku addict, and, as a bonus, loves using the extra stickers for all sorts of other things. I appreciate these books because they travel easily and make for a nice quiet activity during travel, in the doctor's office, out to dinner, etc.



2. Great book for my 6 yr old. He loves it. We only have a couple more pages to go, then we'll be getting another one. Not only is it fun, but it teaches patterning.



3. My son loves these books and they are hard to find in good condition in bookstores. Highly recommend!

5 comments about The Chaos Curse (Forgotten Realms: The Cleric Quintet, Book 5).

1. The Bouldershoulder Brothers. They are the funniest characters in the forgotten realms. Everything else in the series is blah.



2. Seriously, with this as the final volume, I think the Cleric Quintet would have been better as the Cleric Quartet. If you've read the rest of the series (which is excellent) you'll want to read this one just to know how it all wraps up. The series deserved a better ending though, one that wasn't so painful to read.



3. So many bad reviews, I think the problem lies not with the book, but with the readers. This book is what it is, a closing to a 5 book series. The reader should know better then to jump into the story at book 5 and expect indepth character development and the logical development of a villain. This book is meant to end the story of Cadderly not begin a new one.
   
   The Clerical Quintet is a series that overall bears a 5 star rating and is one of the best fantasy reads you can find. This book lacks in areas and is not as enthralling as the first 4 but it closes the story well regardless of whether people liked the ending or not. If you continue to read the Drizzt's series books that procede this book on the Forgotten Realms timeline you will run into Cadderly once again and find more information about what happened to him that might change your perspective on the story teller.
   
   Salvatore is a master at painting a picture in everything he writes. If you purchase this book, purchase the entire Quintet and be prepared to be whisked away and immersed into the world of the Forgotten Realms by one of the best fantasy writers of our time...



4. Suspensful, gripping as usual, the type of book that is hard to put down when the alarm is set for 6 am it is already 2 am and you have been reading since 9:30 pm



5. On my first read through this series, years ago, I felt that Salvatore fell into a common writer's trap of overpowering the main character, to near god-like status. In many respects, I still feel that way, even though I recognize that he did make attempts along the way to temper that power.
   
   The book is the final installment in the Cleric Quintet, and if you have not read the prior 4 books, I recommend that you do so for this one to make more sense.
   
   The book picks up from the end of the last book, Fallen Fortress. Cadderly, priest of Deneir, along with Pikel and Ivan Bouldershoulder (dwarven brothers, one of whom aspires to be a druid) set off to find a way through to the old red dragon Feyrenn's treasure. Danica, the warrior monk and Cadderly's fiancee, together with Dorigen, the repentant wizard, set straight off for the Edificant Library, home to priests of both deities Deneir and Oghma. Shayleigh, the woodland elf, goes with Danica and Dorigen most of the way to the Library, then parts ways to return to Shilmista, her home.
   
   Unknown to any of them, Kierkan Rufo, a branded, cursed and fallen priest of Deneir, has returned to the Library before any of them, together with Druzil, the mischievous imp. Together they enter by way of the catacombs, seeking to liberate the Chaos Curse, held captive in a bowl of holy water by Cadderly's hand. Rather than liberating it, however, the bumbling Kierkan drinks the potion instead, then runs out, vomiting all the way, in the hopes that the priests of the Library might help him.
   
   As Kierkan is in the process of dying, the corrupt Dean Thobicus, leader of the Library, invites Kierkan into the Library, so that the priests may try better to heal Kierkan. What Thobicus fails to realize is that while Kierkan is killed by the potion, he is also, through its power, returned to an undead state as a vampire, the most powerful of undead creatures, and Thobicus' invitation gives the vampire Kierkan free reign in the Library.
   
   So it is that Kierkan and Druzil set about desecrating the Library, converting some priests to vampires, and turning others into zombies, in the hopes of unleashing this unholy army against Cadderly and his friends in this final confrontation.
   
   In my eyes, the ending is tragic, even though it might be seen as noble, there is a loose thread left hanging concerning the dragon's horde, and a number of characters have glaring blonde moments. In all, though, the book is well written, suspenseful and difficult to put down (especially if you've read the prior 4 books and want to see how it all turns out). I am a little foggy on how Kierkan manages to gradually desecrate the Library, yet the all-powerful Cadderly is either too stupid to try re-consecrating it, or lacks the power to do so (even if it is on a piece-by-piece basis).
   
   Nevertheless, I recommend the book, especially to those interested in clerics, druids and monks, classes which are often overlooked in fantasy literature.

3 comments about Out in the Black (Serenity Role Playing Game).

1. I love this book the serenity RPG is the closest thing at this time to a new movie or series and is full of adventure. RPGs are not infantile as much as the other review says search After Serenity and The Signal in iTunes Podcasts and you will see that I am right



2. This is a fantastic addition to the Serenity RPG. It is half adventure and half sourcebook. If you are a browncoat but not an RPG player, I still believe there is a lot you can get out of this work. One of the favorite recurring characters from Firefly is central to this adventure and it is great to see what sorts of complications she can work up in a different setting. I particularly enjoy the appendix on the authentic old-west card game Faro.



3. This is a good adventure for Browncoats who RPG. Love the verse and love the game.

5 comments about World's Best Card Tricks.

1. If you never read "Royal Road To Card Magic", "Expert Card Technique" or "Expert At The Card Table", you'll find this book a good one. It has some good tricks, but it has some dumb ones too. I recommend this book for those who does not want to learn some sleight of hand before starting doing card tricks. As Amazon warns, this book is juvenile literature. Last word: if you buy this book and you like it, then buy "101 Amazing Card Tricks". It's written by Bob Longe too, and in my opinion, they should be sold together, for their similarity.



2. I'm a magician member of the Magic Castle now, but in my early forays into card magic this book helped wean me away from trick Svengali and stripper decks, so that I could be handed a deck of cards from anyone and perform a nice trick. They're not all home runs. But I still get great responses from several of the tricks contained within here.
   ...and yes, I now own Card College, have read Royal Road to Card Magic several times, but those books should come after this one. This one will help you decide if you're serious about persuing more card magic or not.
   A fabulous starter book, but make sure you practice!!



3. I have been doing card tricks for a while, and I have to say that anything of Bob Longe's is a waste of money.

   The tricks in this book are terrible. These are certainly NOT the "World's Best Card Tricks". I can't believe some of this [stuff] is even in here.

   I highly recommend the reader to learn card magic from great authors such as Jean Hugard, S.W. Erdnase, and Arthur H. Buckley.

   If you are a beginner, get the "Royal Road to Card Magic" By Hugard and Braue. It is of MUCH higher value and the tricks in this book will be 100x better than the stuff that's in Bob Longe's books. There is absolutely no way you can be the life of the party with these tricks, as the author claims.




4. I like this book of card tricks for the fact that it is user-friendly and practical-minded.
   
   After a brief introduction, Longe guides the reader through a series of card-manipulating exercises that have applications in hundreds of card tricks. He then lays out a series of card tricks, rated for their difficulty level, and complete with advice on what kind of audience might be best suited for any particular trick. The illustrations are simple and clear, and the tricks range from the basic to the extremely clever and inventive.
   
   There's nothing new under this sun, but a beginner will find this guide much better than average when seeking to learn the basic skills necessary to amaze their friends and strangers.



5. I recommend this book. It is well worth the money! Tricks are well explained and easy to perform with practice. I also recommend it for beginners, as I am one. Go ahead, try it!

5 comments about The Art of Checkmate.

1. i own this book for 15 years now and it is as good as new, very good binding and paper quality. it was my firts book on chess and i think it was good choice .
   
   Its an excellence choice for beginners who whant to improve pattern recognition and mate understanting .
   
   The book was first puplished in 1953 its a classic .it really doesnt matter that its half a century old dont forget that mate patterns dont change and that this book manage to survive the test of time.
   
   An excellence choice !



2. The Art of the Checkmate is a book I purchased about 10 years ago and feel this book deserves to be an essential part of any chess players library. The book focuses on checkmates (no surprise) that at some point you will face as a chess player. Don't think that these moves are just a novelty and not played in todays games, many examples in the book show GM's being defeated from these moves. With smothered mates, corridor mates, Boden's mate, pseudo-sacrifice, and double checks, as well as a host of others you will benefit from knowing these moves. The book can be purchased for less than a few days lunch so there's no reason to skip this one. Overall I think this book is required reading by all ratings from novice to GM.



3. I have bought and sold hundred's of chess books over the years, this one is a keeper . My copy is well worn from heavy use. It is the best book of its type I have ever come across! Teaches ALL the basic mateing patterns, and how to apply them, in a very simple, but USEFUL way.



4. Art of the Checkmate is an awesome book. I've read it, put the patterns and quizzes into "Chess Workbook" software, and I've drilled through it at least 5-6 times. If there is one thing that you need to learn how to do in chess, is to checkmate your opponent. Each form of the mating patterns should be memorized. I found that after drilling through this book a couple of times, I am far more dangerous than before. I instantly, recognize and operate my pieces toward checkmating the king. It became effortless for me to become a dangerous player. After I read this book the guys at my club were suddenly shocked to find their king so often in my cross-hairs for potential checkmates. Against good players, these threats rarely lead to checkmates, but they lead to bad trades, bad sacrifices, loss of tempi, and bad moves by my opponent which ultimately weaken my opponent.
   
   Get this book and become a dangerous chess player. It's for beginners, but the only problem is the descriptive notation.



5. What's the point of writing yet another review for this book? Well, I couldn't help it! This book is fantastic. Two features I really enjoy: the patterns are mostly explained through entire game miniatures and the authors give extensive historical notes on the players.

2 comments about Will Shortz Presents Let's Play Sudoku: Middle of the Road (Will Shortz Presents...).

1. This is a very error-free collection that really increased my skills at Sudoku. Difficult, but not impossible. I would now trust any sudoku collection in the "Will Shortz" catalogue.



2. I love Will Shortz sudoku puzzles. I bought this book in hopes that it wouldn't be too easy or too difficult. In general, most of the book's puzzles are of moderate difficulty, however, I have found that there are quite a few puzzles that are pretty hard and even demanding. Every now and then I find a really easy one or two. In general - a good buy.

1 comments about Beginning Backgammon: Strategy and Tactics for Winning Play.

1. I've learned to use some tips to beat other beginners about 95% of the time. It's an easy read. Highly recommended.