5 comments about 3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development (Wordware Game Math Library).

1. Didnt learned too much from it, the explanations are very briefly specially in some chapters
   
   For example, in the Collision Detection chapter (aka Geometric Tests, Chapter 13), he just throws the equations and miss important points to the complete understanding of the solution for the problem.
   
   For example, in the explanation of Intersection of Ray and Plane, he just says that the parametric ray is p(t) = Po + td and the plane equation is p . n = d, then you need to solve (Po + td) . n = d, and the explanation is just it
   
   He doesnt explain why a plane is defined by p . n = d, and why the dot product of all points in the plane and the plane normal will give the same number, and doesnt even explaning the meaning of that number (which is the plane distance from the origin along the normal, or in other words, the closest point in a plane to the origin)
   
   All the others geometric tests explanations are made in the same way, he just throw the equations and some picture and you have to find out yourself. I was only able to understand the chapter cause i already had a good understanding of that subject, but for that guy with zero knowledge in the subject who bought this book for the first time imagining it would be a good introduction for geometric tests, he will have a hard time
   
   Others chapters are the same way too, for example, i was hoping to understand barycentric coordinates from this book, but as always, he just throw you some equations
   
   Maybe i misjudge the book, but thats my impression so far
   
   If money is not your problem, buy it, but dont expect it to be your ultimate source for your doubts, you will probably have to look in another sources



2. Hi, i am a college student at Bozeman, Montana, MSU. If you do not know, the computer science course in Montana (of all places) is in the highest Tier in the nation. (That means our school competes with MIT). I can tell that this book is great. Sure there are some funny things about it, but for the most part, everything is good in this book. I really like how much stuff is covered on matrices. Not everyone gets to take Matrix Theory (Linear algebra) so this book does a decent job of explaining matrices. And especially explaining Quaternions.



3. This is a must read for anyone wanting to jump into 3D graphics programming, the book is full of content, full of useful source code, and very accessible to the average reader.
   The only gripe I would have is that there is a steep learning curve a few chapters in, once you finish writing the vector class the content in the next chapter is much harder. It's not impossible to pick up, but there is a definite difference in difficulty.



4. The greatest problem for a lot of us that want to be great programmers is that we're terrible mathematicians. And the greatest benefit of this book is that it explains it in a way anyone can understand it! I absolutely love this book. Before you even start to think about DirectX, OpenGL, whatever - you should read this book COVER TO COVER.



5. I picked up this book and within a week I was working on my own 3d engine. The explanations are very clear. This book is great for ANYONE. This is the book you are looking for!

5 comments about The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures.

1. I absolutely loved this book! If I could afford it, I would be doling this out to my numerous young relatives at all gift-giving festivities. It is a good introduction for young people (and not so young)to mathematical curiosities such as magic squares, as well as probability and logic. Did you know that "diabolical" has another meaning?
   
   It is also very, very good literary-wise. It is written in a style reminiscent of the 1001 Arabian Nights in that it has stories within a story within a story.
   
   The sub-title "A Collection of Mathematical Adventures" belies the depth of the book. Beremiz Samir, the Calculator, does not just teach us number-crunching tricks, he also imparts to the reader a deep sense of equity (e.g. in the story about the division of bread, although through calculation he should have been compensated more, through compassion he shared equally) and social justice (e.g. read the story about halving a prisoner's life sentence).
   
   At the end of the book, upon Beremiz Samir's marriage, the "author" aptly concludes that the best solution Beremiz found was not in mathematics, but in life and love.
   
   My one sole grievance, as suggested by the title of this review, is that there are hints that the book was not written by an Arab Muslim and is 'obviously fake'. For example, in the introductory page, the "author" dates his introduction as 19 Ramadan 1321. If he was truly an Arab Muslim, he would have used the Hijri calendar year and written it 19 Ramadan 720.
   Also, in one passage relating how cosmopolitan Baghdad was in the 13th century, reference is made to the Mohammedan, Jewish and Christian inhabitants. A Muslim would never refer to himself or his co-religionists as Mohammedan, but simply Muslim. It is, however, remarkably accurate elsewhere - like the number of times Jesus in mentioned in the Quran.
   
   Though I would personally be glad if the minor hiccups would be edited off in the future, they are of relative insignificance. This book is a must-have!



2. My 9 year old has great marks in math, but neither she nor I got much past the first chapter. The writing is complex and the stories of interest only to those who love number puzzles. My 13 year old boy was far more interested in this book. If your child is younger and they aren't fascinated by numerical puzzles, give it a miss.



3. A very entertaining novel, with a collection of mathematical problems embedded, that are solved with ingenuity rather than elaborate mathematical equations. A must read for all ages.



4. This is one of the quirkiest books I've read. If you are one to hit the papers first thing in the morning to solve Sudoku, Kakuro, Mind bender, then go ahead and read this book. This is definitely your kind of book.
   
   The Man Who Counted is about a mathematician Beremiz Samir and how he solves different problems with his knowledge of mathematics. Sort of like your Arabian Sherlock Holmes, just that the problems may not be that gory in nature. More like fights over camel distribution and such. He is not your regular human calculator, rather someone who sees romance in mathematics just as he sees it in nature, poetry. It is a collection of logical puzzles, stories, observations, anecdotes. The stories are written by Malba Tahan in the manner of storytellers of old.
   
   The quirkiness doesn't end there. Malba Tahan is a fictitious person. The book is really written by a Brazilian mathematics professor, Júlio César de Mello e Souza's. This isn't just your regular pseudonym, Julio Cesar created a complete persona of an Arabic traveler Malba Tahan and wrote the books completely from his perspective.
   
   The book uses interesting fables like dividing inheritance of camels amongst brothers to show how seemingly complex mathematics can be so simple and used in ordinary things. I think it can be a good tool for teachers, when mathematics becomes a chore for kids, to them the "cool" aspect of mathematics.
   
   For those who enjoy solving logic puzzles, or even those wondering the point of Microsoft interview questions, this will be a good read. The problems may not seem like much, but the combination of storytelling with mathematics is an amusing read.
   
   [...]



5. This booke is a excelent source of entreteriment, matematical curiosities and knologe! I a must for everyone...

2 comments about Bridge Basics 2: Competitive Bidding.

1. I learned a lot from this book; there is much information to be studied and digested. It is especially helpful for those who have been away from playing duplicate for a while. The title of the book, Competitive Bidding, says it all.



2. The field of bridge is full of wise old savants and we should listen to them and read their work. But if anyone is entitled to carry the bridge banner into the 21st Century, it must be Audrey Grant. Her BRIDGE BASICS 1, pre-requisite for this book, is good and sound -- and believe it or not, she spends a fair amount of time on telling people when NOT to bid. Newbies have to know that.
   
   And in this one, BRIDGE BASICS 2: COMPETITIVE BIDDING, Grant still teaches us kindly when not to bid. Under her system you might indeed miss a part-score once in a while; but once you've got a good hand and some rapport with partner -- or are in a position to torment you opponents -- this is a full-speed-ahead, friendly and very informative bridge book. The best bridge books struggle to impart wisdom, or perhaps better said informed judgment, instead of limiting themselves to "the rules," and this one is very good for that.
   
   I can heartily recommend BRIDGE BASICS 2: to anyone who loves to play bridge, whether the at-home type or the duplicate club type. I wish there were more up-to-date books like this. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future Ms. Grant will put her BRIDGE BASICS series into an omnibus volume.

5 comments about Rules Compendium (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. I have used the book to resolve a few disputed rules issues and to discover some things forgotten or unknown. It is not the "Final Rules" book it claims to be, but if you do not have a lot of resource books the value rises. Any DM out there with a DMG, a MM or two and maybe one source book will find this a really valuable text. The more source material you have, the less useful this book is to the DM. Maybe better suited as a player reference in that siuation.
   
   What I would have prefered was a Big Book of Feats for 3.5! Collecting and fixing all the feats from all the source books, like the spell compendium has essentially done for spells. That would be a better sendoff for 3.5 than the crap they are putting out now.



2. Although 4.0 is still not too far away, its good to have this guide on hand. Just recently as the DM in my campaign, I had to look up rules for spell resistance, grappling, movement impairments and cover for a single fight, and try and figure out how the hell those all affected one player's turn. Having this guide made it a quick, easy process. In addition, the rules are alphabetized and marked in an easy to use table of contents. A good buy, at least for me or DMs



3. This book is nicely priced at Amazon,but it ends up being another book you will carry-especially for an already heavy laden DM.It is a useful tool for the game table and it explains many rules quite efficiently,and even adds some usable twist to existing rules.
   I would recommend this book more for a helpful player character at the gaming table,it is useful-but for a Dm it is just another book because it doesn't eliminate the need for any others.



4. This is s great book to have if you want all the rules in one place!
   It it also a must if you do not want to switch to 4th Edition D&D.
   
   The only problem is sometimes the rule you are looking for is not where you would expect it, but that is overcome with use.
   
   All in all a solid book that will see lots of use by any 3.5 D&D gamer.



5. The Rules Compendium adds little new material apart from the design notes from some D&D writers. I found that commentary interesting and worthwhile. The meat of the book itself, however, is a compilation of several years of rules development stretched out over dozens of products. The Rules Compendium condenses and organizes the rules of the game into a useful format. As an in-game reference, it is nearly complete, incorporating not only the material from the PHB and DMG but also rules such as swift and immediate actions added by later products.
   
   The only warning I would make is that there is essentially nothing new in this book. It is useful whether someone has just a few books and would like all the rules in one place or they have lots of books and do not want to hunt through them to find something specific. If you are running an active D&D game, I can strongly recommend it, but it is not going to offer much to the casual player or someone looking for inspiration.

1 comments about To the Swift: Classic Triple Crown Horses and Their Race for Glory.

1. Joe Drape is an accomplished turf writer, he has won the prestigious Eclipse Award for outstanding achievement in horse racing writing.
   
   But in this volume of 130 years of the best writing on the sport from The New York Times, Drape enters the starting gate as editor and guides this outstanding history to the winner's circle. To bolster the original stories, there are new essays and a number of classic photographs.
   
   And it is all about chasing dreams, no matter what the odds, as explained by the legendary Red Smith in one column: "More often than not," he writes, "a few owners show up so eager to see their colors in the Derby that they will tear their pants getting up entry and starting fees. The fact that the bettors rated A Dragon Killer no better than a 294 to 1 chance didn't discourage that noble creature's owner in 1958, and the same field included Chance It Tony at 243 to 1."

5 comments about Mensa Absolutely Nasty Sudoku Level 1 (Mensa).

1. The puzzles in this book are harder than those in most sudoku books, and are much harder than the puzzles you see in newspapers. The puzzles are not the most difficult I've seen, but given there are three more books in the series, each one harder than the previous, they seem to be about the right level of difficulty.
   
   Pros:
   * Contains 242 puzzles--quite a lot for the price
   * Spiral bound so you don't have to struggle to hold the book open
   * High-quality paper so you can erase your pencil marks without making the paper rough
   * Challenging; no easy puzzles
   * Puzzles are slightly larger than in most sudoku books, making pencil marks easier to manage
   
   In my opinion, there are no real "cons" in this book (thus the 5-star rating), but I listed three things that could be considered drawbacks depending on what you're looking for in a sudoku book:
   * Little to no variety in difficulty level
   * Somewhat larger than most sudoku books (but still not huge)
   * No tips or strategy section



2. This is the first Challenger Sudoku book I tried. I have since tried others, and this is still the best! I can't wait to work on 2, 3, and 4!



3. This is a great book if you don't want to bother with the really easy puzzles included in most books. But 90% of the puzzles in it can be solved by scanning and basic elimination techniques (pairs, triplets, quads, integration). In the other 10% you do need to use one of the more advanced techniques Gordon and Longo describe so well in their "Solving Soduko" book. But if you're looking for a real challenge, skip to a higher level in the Mensa series.



4. I am disappointed with this series. The puzzles are not as challenging as I expected and tend to be a little boring. I use them as a go to when I have absolutely nothing else available.



5. I thought I was pretty good at Sudoku when I could cruise through even the most difficult puzzles in a Will Shortz book without breaking a sweat. Then I got this book as a gift and it really put me in my place. I tried to solve a couple of puzzles and got stuck very quickly. I finally had to go get the author's Solving Sudoku book to improve my technique enough to handle these. Now I'm working these and find each one challenging but solvable, and finishing each one is gratifying. If you're feely pretty cocky about your abilities give this book a try.

No comments about Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

5 comments about Hoyle's Rules of Games, Third Revised and Updated Edition.

1. I first bought this book about 20 years ago. It is an excellent reference especially now that our children are of age to play advanced card games. I was looking for some new games to learn several years ago, and discovered what has become one of our favorites, Oh Hell. This book is essential if you play cards. Also included is good reference for various board games such as chess, checkers, backgammon, and some fun games for young kids.



2. Very Informative on many games. Good refresher for those that need a review of games we used to play but can't remember the complete rules.



3. Hoyle's Rules of Games, Third Revised and Updated Edition
   
   There are easier to understand and more up-to-date descriptions of gameplay for most of the more popular games on the internet. The book is particularly weak on diagrams, which simplify understanding of many of the games tremendously. I would consider this book to be useful as supplementary information only; it would not be my first choice for learning a new game from scratch.



4. Book is NOT user friendly, did not help me learn the game of Hearts...book is written to those that already know more than I do and my friend agreed.



5. This book has come in handy many a card game night when rules are questioned. Great reference, the best I've found, very complete.

5 comments about Java(TM) Puzzlers: Traps, Pitfalls, and Corner Cases.

1. The book is very friendly and readable.
   Some of the examples are real unique and in most cases you are not going to meet them but it's fun to read, use your mind and check you knowledge.



2. You really have to be a language weenie to care about many of these. If you're looking to become a better programmer, or simply to be entertained, this probably isn't the right book.



3. This book was so much fun to read but more importantly it surprised me a couple of times ... which is what i expected when i got it ...
   
   Cutting it short, if you are looking for some puzzlers ( some real ones ) get this book, at least you'll have some fun ...
   
   Regards
   Vyas, Anirudh



4. Completing the puzzles in this book will increase your knowledge of the Java language spec. This book was written by 2 of the world's foremost Java experts.



5. This book presents several problems that maybe even expert Java developers never thougt about. Some of them are only curious corner cases, others present tricky behaviours of the language that every developer must be aware of to avoid unwanted behaviours. I warmly suggest this book as a complement to "Effective Java", by the same author.

2 comments about The New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzles Vol. 28.

1. I bought this for my grandmother who loves crossword puzzles. She is having a ball!



2. The puzzles are fun and challenging, and the grids are the perfect size for filling in.