4 comments about Instrumentation.

1. this book is imporatant for me. i m instrumentation tech. & i m going for higher studies with in India



2. This book is very outdated, and in severe need of revision. The book is the adopted text for a class I am about teach on the subject. I would like to find current information on the subject so I can offer the students something relevent.



3. I've been referring to this book for many years. Yes, it needs updating but the priciples haven't changed that much. It's a good theory book and I still recommend it to new (young) engineers.



4. This is a very good book for instruments and technicians in Instrumentation and Controls field . It provides a theoretical and practical approach to the vast field of instrumentation and controls . This book has 627 pages --- so judge for yourself if this is extensive or not . I have seen books claiming to provide information on Instrumentation that are probably 200 pages thick . This is a great book -- am still reading it -- it is very extensive , very much hands-on and practical and it is published by American Technical Publishers . I would recommend this book to any engineer or technician working in the Instrumentation and Controls field . This book has lots of practical tips and illustrations . In color . I think AMerican Technical Publishing has done a great job of publishing a great book on instrumentation and controls .

1 comments about The Weekend Navigator.

1. When this book was published I gave it a quick look in our library and bought it. I use it in an Electronic Navigation class I teach at a local ASA Sailing School. It is the best in its field, very understandable, gorgeous illustrations and it is one of the best manuals for Maptech Chart Navigator which they provide free on the accompanying CD.
   There is nothing close to this book.

2 comments about Security In Wireless LANS And MANS (Artech House Computer Security).

1. The topics of this book are the security of 802.16 wireless metropolitan area networks (MANs) and 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLANs). Authors Thomas Hardjono and Lakshminath R. Dondeti have done an outstanding job of writing a book that provides a roadmap for readers seeking a deeper understanding of the security aspects of 802.11 WLANs today and the upcoming 802.16 WMANs.
   
   Hardjono and Dondeti begin this book by providing an introduction to WLANs and cover the basic network configuration of a WLAN and describe the entities involved. Next, the authors bring together EAP, TLS and Certificates, that are technologically crucial for authentication and for the security of WLANs and WMANs in general. In addition, the authors next devote their discussion exclusively to the EAP methods that are most commonly cited and used today in the 802.1X context. Next, they devote their discussion entirely to WEP in order to correctly explain its weaknesses and to understand what improvements need to be made. Then, they provide a discussion on the 4-way exchange used to derive unicast session keys and the protocols used to deliver these keys to their intended recipients. The authors then cover another important building block of the RSN. Next, they provide a discussion of TKIP. Next, they introduce the notion of roaming as found in today's dial-up Internet. The authors then elaborate on the new area of 3G-WLAN roaming. Next, they provide some basic background regarding 802.16, including network arrangement, frequency bands, the MAC security sublayer, and network entry/initialization. Then, they provide a discussion and insight into recent developments on the security of 802.16. Finally, they provide a brief summary of the book and ongoing work in 802.11 and 802.16 networks.
   
   With the preceding in mind, the authors have done an excellent job of bringing together and explaining the other broader areas of networking technology that are being impacted by the advent of 802.11 WLANs and 802.16 WMANs. Consequently, this book greatly succeeds in explaining what current approaches and solutions have been adopted, and why these were chosen.



2. When wireless LANS were beginning to be developed, security was a concern. But as the systems were developed and marketed security became less important than getting to market quickly and of course price. As a result, the seurity features built into the initial systems was fairly weak. While the home user typically didn't care about security, the enterprise user was very concerned. After security flaws were discovered and published the widespread use at the enterprise level was halted. The IEEE standards community completed the revision of the security related components of the 802.11 standard in 2004, and equipment meeting the new standard is just becoming available.
   
   This book covers the security aspects of WLANS, first discussing the initial designs and then how they were corrected in the new protocols.
   
   The last part of the book is on the 802.16 Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks which have the promise, or perhaps the hope of dramatically increasing broadband access in areas not covered by cable systems and at distances too great for DSL service.

1 comments about The Science of Electronics: Digital (Science of Electronics Series).

1. I like building circuits and playing with electronics. It is one thing to build a circuit board from scratch and solder all the pieces into place and quite another to understand WHY it works.
   
   I therefore recommend this book if you want to know WHY.
   
   
   I found it concise, easy to understand, and well presented. A very organized book which starts from first principles and introduces diodes, then BJT and FET and then Diff amps which is a natural segue into op amps and active filters.
   
   Plenty of worked examples and exercises to test your knowledge.
   
   Highschool math prerequisite.
   
   A very practical introductory book the hobbyist such as myself can understand and appreciate.
   
   Expensive which is why I gave it 4 stars.

1 comments about Lean Enterprise Systems: Using IT for Continuous Improvement.

1. If you're involved in a manufacturing organization's IT department, this particular book will provide you with a lot of information about manufacturing theory and practice, as well as how IT plays a part in it all... Lean Enterprise Systems: Using IT for Continuous Improvement by Steve Bell.
   
   Part 1 - Building Blocks of the Lean Enterprise: Lean and IT - the Human Factor; Realizing the Value of Lean; Three Stages of Lean Evolution; Fundamentals of Production and Inventory Management; Lean Planning and Execution
   Part 2 - Building Blocks of Information Systems: Charting the Enterprise Software Universe; Integrating the Value Streams; Managing Knowledge for Competitive Advantage
   Part 3 - Managing Change with IT: The Event-Driven Lean Enterprise; Linking Strategy with Action - Performance Management; Lean IT - Applying Continuous Improvement to Information Systems; Postscript - Zen and the Art of Lean
   Acknowledgements; Acronyms; Endnotes; Index
   
   This is one of those books that is extremely dense with information, but is admittedly beyond my experience level. Bell goes into great depth on how manufacturing production cycles function (or don't function) both in theory and reality. A prior background or some level of knowledge of how the Japanese manufacturing techniques work is helpful, as you'll see terms like kanban and kaizen used frequently. The goal is to use IT systems to help drive the process towards a "lean" approach, or one that is light on inventory and strong in "just-in-time" scheduling. While not an easy read by any stretch, the material is such that it could be considered a "should be on the bookshelf" item for any IT professional who considers themselves a subject expert in manufacturing.

No comments about An Introduction to Numerical Methods: A MATLAB Approach.

No comments about Handbook of OSHA Construction Safety and Health, Second Edition.

5 comments about CD and DVD Recording for Dummies, Second Edition.

1. IT WAS A GOOD INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR THE GENERAL AREA OF CD AND DVD RECORDING.



2. I am not a beginner, yet the new CD and DVD Recording issues have become part of my world. I am thrilled with the opportunities it presents to Dummies like me. So when selecting something easy, I thought the Dummy books were right up my alley. I was right. This book talks in a down to earth style that doesn't intimidate me. It makes me think I'm not such a dummy after all. Now when I purchase DVD Plus and Minus R and RW I have a better idea what to buy.



3. This information is very helpful and especially understandable. My only problem with is was that there is too much information and sometimes that causes confusion



4. You have to be a real dummy to get this book. If you have the Internet you can get this book for free (File-Sharing,) or just google it and check out some sites. I'm still cussing to this day for getting this junk. This book doesn't tell you anything that the burning software of your choice won't tell you. If you think I'm lying then fine, get the book but, be ready to start cussing. Hell I'm cussing as I type...



5. For someone who is a real novice I suspect that there is a lack of basic information to get that person started. For someone who is a step above a novice the book (latest edition) is already badly out of date and still doesn't cover popular software written years before the publication data (e.g., Pinnacle Clean). It does not cover any of the problems one encounters with music recording. It simply tells you how to transfer files from your computer to a CD or DVD and because that is simply a matter of clicking on buttons for software included on most computers it doesn't help.

5 comments about Digital Video Compression (with CD-ROM).

1. I would reccommend this book if you want to learn how compression works, where the limitations come from, where future improvemens may come from and what the standards are all about.
   You won't find implementation details and mathematical rigour in this book ; its goal is to explain the concepts.



2. Only CD-ROM has value, don't like the text. Not very useful to build anything.



3. I thought this would be a book about how to compress things in different modes so you could make the final results nicer...Its too much about creating codecs which I dont wanna do at all !
   I was bored at first chapter ;o(



4. I do not recommend this book to novices but to those with an intermediate level of knowledge in the digital video field. It is an in-depth look into the digital video field that requires the reader to have as mentioned an intermediate level of knowledge.



5. This is probably the best overall book on video compression on Amazon. I gave it five stars because of that. The only down side is that it is now a bit dated, with the creation of newer and better MPEG4 compression schemes (like H264) since the book was written (2003). If the author came out with a 2nd edition of the book that would be great and I would buy it immediately. Still, this book gave me a very good understanding of the fundamentals of video compression and was well worth it.

3 comments about Detection, Estimation, and Modulation Theory, Part I.

1. I have just taken this course from Dr. Van Trees at GMU. Est&Det organized many concepts taught in other graduate engineering courses into a coherent philosophy. The result is not only a rich understanding of estimation and detection, but also random processes, Wiener filtering, Kalman filtering, radar and communications theory etc.

   The course was taught directly from the text with little outside material. Very little has become obsolete in the 30+ years since it was written.

   The strong positives of this book are the philosophical organization, clear concise writing, and incredibly well conceived homework problems.

   The only negative of the book is that there are many proofs done in great detail. This provides the necessary foundation for the material, but also makes it easy for the student to lose track of the bigger picture.

   Dr. Van Trees tends to try to drive home the higher level concepts while glossing over many of the details when he is lecturing. The exercise problems then force the student to give the necessary attention to pertinent details. In my opinion, this is an excellent approach to teaching the material.

   Overall, this course was as good as any I've every taken. The text is as important and useful as any other I have.




2. Van Trees, Part I (together with Wozencraft/Jacobs' Principles of Communication Engineering, and Gallager's Information Theory) is a must read to establish a solid background in detection/estimation theory and form connections to applications such as communications engineering and information theory.
   
   Although most recent graduate education uses Kay's book (which is also a remarkable book), there are still a lot of details in which Van Trees, Part I excels. Especially, the exercise problems are actually lectures by themselves, and first time reader is encouraged at least to look at selected problems listed at the end of the book. Note that there is a solution manual floating around for these selected problems.
   
   A good comparison between Kay and Van Trees, and their complementary nature, can be established how they treat the description of the Cramer-Rao bound, Kay emphasizes the recent developments and derivations (mostly of arithmetic and bookkeeping nature, results from post 1968 papers), whereas Van Trees goes leaps and bounds and discusses other bounds which apply when Cramer-Rao does not. I appreciate having both books as a result.
   
   It is interesting to note that after almost 20 years using Van Trees in a couple of courses, I can still navigate my way through the book with ease since it well organized and methodical.
   
   RECOMMENDATION: BEST BUY.
   But dont stop here, and buy Wozencraft/Jacobs and Gallager as well.



3. If you are looking for a well-organized, comprehensive, detailed book in the subject of detection and estimation, this is the book you must have. The author explains every subject very clearly, elaborates on important points, and, most importantly, supports the theoretical basis with many useful examples. It seems that Prof. Van Trees used his experience as a professor teaching this subject very effectively. In the book, there is nothing unclear, nothing too complicated to understand.