Book Description
You've probably heard the buzz about Eclipse, the powerful open source platform that gives Java developers a new way to approach development projects. It's like a shiny new car--no longer content to just admire Eclipse, you're now itching to get in and drive. Eclipse is to Java developers what Visual Studio is to .NET developers--it's an integrated development environment (IDE) that combines a code editor, compiler, debugger, text editor, graphical user interface (GUI) builder, and other components into a single, user-friendly application. It provides a solid foundation that enables Java developers to construct and run integrated software-development tools for web development, application design, modeling, performance, testing, and much more.As with any extensive programming tool, however, there's a lot to learn. And there s no better guy than well-known Java expert Steve Holzner to teach you. An award-winning and best-selling author who has been writing about Java topics since the language first appeared, Holzner delivers just the kind of targeted, practical, everyday knowledge you need to hone your mastery of Eclipse.Perfect as a companion to an Eclipse programming tutorial (such as Holzner's own Eclipse, O'Reilly, April 2004) or an ideal stand-alone for all those developers who either don't want or don't need the tutorial approach, the Eclipse Cookbook contains task-oriented recipes for more than 800 situations you may encounter while using this new Java platform--from deploying a web application automatically to reverse engineering compiled code, from re-naming all references to a class across multiple packages to initializing the SWT JNI libraries.Each recipe in the ever-popular and utterly practical problem-solution-discussion format for O'Reilly cookbooks contains a clear and thorough description of the problem, a brief but complete discussion of a solution, and in-action examples illustrating that solution. The Eclipse Cookbook will satiate Java programmers at all levels who are ready to go beyond tutorials--far beyond writing plug-ins and extensions--and actually use the powerful and convenient Eclipse day to day. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Good book for those use to simpler editors
I was use to using a much simpler editor for writing Java code.This book did a very good job helping with learning how to use Eclipse.

too much padding
The book has some useful information, but does not
go beyond the very basic.In light of this, it is
annoying that so much space is taken up with repeated
samples of the same code, and with more screen shots
than are needed.I've encountered this before in one
of Mr. Holzner's books (XML Complete), and I have to
wonder if this is done to pad the book to a length
that justifies the cost.

Handy Starters' Reference to Eclipse
After getting used to the fundamentals of the Java programming language, a versatile integrated development environment like Eclipse would bring developers to next level of productivity, and Eclipse Cookbook is handy for the start.Readers are guided step-by-step with numerous illustrations about its support for tasks from creating packages, classes, methods to refactoring, and debugging.The book demonstrates Eclipse 2.1.2 with the difference of early release of version 3.0 being mentioned.Now when versions 3.0.1 and 3.1M are readily available, you might need to resort to online help for the exact updated steps.You will find the use of application programming interface of platform dependent SWT for building GUI with both AWT and Swing being mixed.However, it gets nothing to do with the drag-and-drop style of building graphical components.Web development is included but too concise.No elaborated features like performance profiling or modeling tool of round-trip development are described.Perhaps it would be more appropriate to introduce to target audience with various commonly referred plug-ins on tasks like integrating with different kinds of version control, validating XML, modeling UML, and J2EE support.

Somewhat basic for a cookbook...
A recent addition to my Eclipse library has been Eclipse Cookbook by Steve Holzner (O'Reilly).It works well for my level of expertise at the package, but experienced users might find it lacking...

Chapter list:Basic Skills; Using Eclipse; Java Development; Refactoring, Building, and Launching; Testing and Debugging; Using Eclipse in Teams; Eclipse and Ant; SWT: Text, Buttons, Lists and Nonretangular Windows; SWT: Dialogs, Toolbars, Menus, and More; SWT: Coolbars, Tab Folders; Trees, and Browsers; JSP, Servlets, and Eclipse; Creating Plug-ins: Extension Points, Actions, and Menus; Creating Plug-ins: Wizards, Editors, and Views; Index

Like all O'Reilly cookbooks, this follows the standard formula.A problem is presented, a short two or three line solution is given, and then there's a discussion and fuller explanation of the answer.There are plenty of screen shots and coding examples to help you through each of the recipes.

Overall, the book will benefit new and intermediate users.The author covers quite a few of the features of Eclipse that make it so powerful, like refactoring, running the debugger, and other various tasks.You may know that these exist but not know how to use them, or you just may be ignorant of the fact that they even exist.In that sense, it's really good.The SWT portion seems to be more centered on programming with Eclipse as a secondary focus.Maybe because it's because I don't do SWT development, but it just seemed to be a bit out of place.The material also seems to be pretty basic for a cookbook.Usually the recipes are more beyond the basics and get into things that aren't quite as intuitive as they might be.

This will help me get up to speed on Eclipse, and I do like the book.I'm just not sure it's for everyone...

Very good reference for Eclipse.

Prof. Steve Holzner is an authority in Java and has many books to his credit. Prof. Holzner's

expertise and patience is well brought in this book with adequate explanation of the different aspects

of Eclipse.

The book is full of screen prints that adequately explain how the screen would look while using the

built-in features of eclipse.the author has taken the time to take different scenarios and ways to

work around the different problems encountered while using the tool to develop Java applications.to

demonstrate some of the features, the author debugs a sample program and identifies the errors

commonly encountered and ways to resolve the errors.

as mentioned at the beginning book, this book does not intend to teach programming aspects of Java but

the features and the nuances built in the tool. The author has taken the time to explain how the

toolintegrates with ANT and TOMCAT.

although this book was written with Eclipse 2.x, the author indicates the features that would be built

in eclipse 3.x.the author's style is simple and straight to the point.it is a well written book

and an excellent reference on eclipse 3.0.the book has earned a place in my shelf. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

I want to love this but...
The scope of O'Brien's Last Days series is expansive and imaginative.The books have interesting characters and a well developed underlying world-view.His plots, although perhaps a bit "over the top", are instructive and like much good fiction, leaves his readers with a more focused lens for interpreting the world around them.

So why I am disappointed?The answer is that these books could have been so much better with disciplined editing.The motivation for murdering obscure journalists and nuns are implausible, even for the minions of Hell, and a prophesy or some other motivation should have been provided early in the book which would explain why these groups were specifically targeted.Numerous other plot flaws abound, many of the characters are one dimensional stereotypes, and the dialog is extremely stilted in places.

O'Brien has a wonderful imagination, and writes instructively.(One hopes that his characters' literary and theological name dropping will inspire readers to pick up Aquinas, Czeslaw Milosz, and Hans Ur von Balthasar) His books are still worth reading despite their flaws. He simply needs to be paired with a better editor who can help offset his weaknesses and help him to bring his work to the next level.We need someone like O'Brien writing works that are at the level to become literary classics.

Excellent book
This is O'Brien's last book from the "Children of the last days" series. It's quite fat, but I have read it in a few days (during my exams week :-). I highly recommend it for anyone who read previous books. I am not a native english speaker, but I had only little problems reading it. Go and get it!

Beauty
This novel is about beauty.It is my favourite book, and is closely followed by all the rest of the Children of the Last Days series.I'm not a catholic; I'm not even a Christian (gasp!), but this book has made me think a great deal about a deeper meaning of life.

Excellent but meandering
Michael O'Brien continues his excellent Children of the Last Days series that began explosively with Father Elijah in this third part of the Delaney family trilogy (the first two books are Strangers and Sojouners and Plague Journal).

O'Brien is obviously an excellent writer, but he tends to be overly didactic in his novels. A better editor could have helped with that. O'Brien, as most talented writers do, also overwrote his novel. And, again, a better editor could have helped him pull out the extraneous material which could have been included in a collection of short stories in an additional book.

Having said that, O'Brien continues to show keen insight into issues that haunt Western society and the Western church. A committed Christian with traditional Catholic faith, he decries the secularization of the church, including the domination of our lives by television. He presents a bleak view of Western governments, filled with nefarious conspiracy theories that are both audacious and plausible at the same time.

As huge as this book is, O'Brien keeps his readers turning their pages because of his wonderfully human characters and intriguing plot.

fascinating and riveting
This, along with Fr Elijah, is the best book I have ever read. There are many stories within stories, and so wonderfully written. I hate to even hint at what is in it, just to say if you are interested at all in contemplating man and our possible future, read it. Don't open the pages with any preconceived notions, just read.

After 911 some people said they would give up some freedoms for more safety. hmmmmmm ... Read more

Amazon.com
Setting: A small town on the Oregon Coast

Sensuality: 6

Art gallery owner Octavia Brightwell turns down six dates with handsome NickHarte before she finds the courage to say "yes." She knows that not only doesNick have a "no-commitment" reputation, but he's also a member of one of EclipseBay's foremost families. Octavia, on the other hand, is the niece of theinfamous woman who started a feud between Nick's grandfather and anotherprominent family, the Madisons, years ago. Sheer attraction wins out, however,and after one date, Nick is determined to make Octavia more than his dinnerpartner. Before the two have time to explore their relationship, a valuablepainting is stolen from Octavia's art gallery and when the town names her as theprime suspect, she turns to Nick to solve the mystery. The investigationunravels an old scandal, heals a broken friendship, and forces Nick and Octaviato face and resolve the passionate attraction that binds them.

In this third tale in Jayne Ann Krentz's trilogy about life and love in a smalltown on the Oregon Coast, readers get to revisit the quirky characters thatpopulate Eclipse Bay. The supporting cast also includes the fascinating membersof the Harte and Madison families who starred in prior books. While the mysteryelement in the plot is light, the banter between hero and heroine is fun, andwatching these two tread warily through the land mine-strewn road of theirdeveloping relationship is a pleasure. --Lois Faye DyerDownload Description
A special message from Jayne Ann Krentz. Dear Reader:Summer has arrived in Eclipse Bay and things are definitely heating up between the Hartes and the Madisons. It seems that the mysterious new gallery owner, Octavia Brightwell, is thinking about having a scandalous fling with that rogue Nick Harte before she leaves town. As far as Nick is concerned, a short-term affair sounds perfect. But it isn't going to be easy. One big obstacle is Mitchell Madison. For reasons of his own, Mitchell has taken it upon himself to play guardian to Octavia. He's made it clear that if Nick fools around with her, there will be a price to pay. And then there's Nick's young son, Carson, who has his own agenda where Octavia is concerned. He doesn't want his father messing up his plans. Summer in Eclipse Bay is going to be eventful this year. Some long-buried secrets from the infamous Harte-Madison feud are about to surface. The past and the present are on a collision course. I hope you'll join me to watch the fireworks. Happy reading . . . Jayne Ann Krentz ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

End of the Trilogy
The end of the trilogy and by far not the best of the 3 books.Hannah and Rafe's story was the best and it goes downhill from there.The next two aren't bad just not as good and I really enjoyed the secondary characters but got tired of the references that because you are a Harte you act this way or a Madison acts this way.

In this book I couldn't warm up to Octavia for some reason. She seemed manipulating and just so sassy to Nick, not that he didn't have his hang-ups with relationships. It seemed they are at odds with each other and then suddenly they are in love.The saving character in this story is Carson and his character added some funny moments.

I found myself skimming a lot in this one.For some reason it just didn't hold my interest.As I said I wouldn't really say it was bad just not as well written as the first one and then Gabe a Lillian's story wasn't as good as the first book but better than the last one.I thought the "Curse" thing was over done. It's all their friends and family talked about.In real life it would have been somewhat embarrassing. Even people who didn't know Nick that well, would say things to him about it.Everyone kept blaming Nick but Octavia made it clear to everyone many times she was leaving the end of summer. IT was those things that just didn't come together for me.IT started getting on my nerves and when a book of fiction gets on my nerves, I usually give up on it but did finish it and knew pretty much how it would end. It was just the getting there that was the problem for me.

I'm still new to JAK books so not sure of her writing style.I started with Deep Waters and liked it so much but haven't read another I liked as well yet.I will continue to try a few more.I have read so much of Nora Roberts, Luanne Rice, Susan Wiggs, Catherine Anderson and wanted a different author for awhile so maybe just have to get used to the different style.

Terribly average . . .
I listened to this as an unabridged audiobook and if it weren't for the fact that I was trapped in a car with no other form of entertainment to be found I more than likely would've given up on this one mid-way through.The characters were too blah to hold my attention and their attraction to each other just didn't come alive for me.

It turns out this story is the third in a series but it easily stands alone since its plot isn't exactly complicated.Octavia Brightwell is relatively new to Eclipse Bay and runs a successful art gallery.She arrived in Eclipse Bay to soothe the rift between the Madison & Harte families that her dear departed aunt caused years earlier.Once Octavia realizes the feud has been mended without her help she decides it's time to leave Eclipse Bay.She's also desperate to get away from gorgeous, heartbreaker Nick Harte who continually pesters her for a date. When she finally makes up her mind to high-tail it out of town she agrees to the date with Nick (don't ask).They soon become romantically entangled and banter back and forth denying their true feelings.Before long the two find themselves partners in the search for a valuable missing painting and, well, I bet you can figure out the rest . . .

These two are very much stock characters.We have Nick who lost the love of his life years earlier and has never allowed himself to fall in love again (and has a reputation for loving `em and leaving `em before the night is over) and then we have the "free spirit" Octavia who sort of floats through life and avoids romantic entanglements. Stock characters are all fine and good when they're written with depth and emotion but these two were just flat out bland and their relationship lacked any sort of spark.Nick also has an annoying habit of referring to Octavia as a "fairy queen" that made me cringe every time he uttered the words.

There are also pop-up appearances by characters who I only guess starred in previous books.They add a little to the story but their visits did not convince me that I need to search for the previous books in this series.There are also far too many over the top weird/quirky/cult-y/odd speaking secondary characters populating this story to be believed.

The few bits of fun banter and Nick's enjoyable little boy Carson are about all that I'll be remembering about "Summer In Eclipse Bay" once I finish writing this review.

ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVS BY JAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was very interested in reading this book because the very fisrt book that got me into her was A SHARED DREAM. It had a good story line as well as summer in eclipse i still havent had the chance to read the first two but if theyre anything like this one im sure ill buy it and read it.
JAK makes it so easy to read her books and enjoy them that its hard to put them down.
KEEP ON ROCKIN'

Just so-so.
I think I've burnt out on Jayne Ann Krentz.The chemistry between her main character never sizzles, it just slow simmers.And I'm so tired of her cliched characters: the cold, uptight, calculating, corporate male hero and the emotional/spiritual, free spirit heroine.Tired, tired, tired.On top of that, the plots are boring.I give up on this author.

A Repeat of the First 2 Books in the Series
All 3 books in this series are so similarly written I almost felt as if I was reading the same story 3 times.I thought the first book (Eclipse Bay) was absolutely fabulous, but don't bother reading the other two.Switch some names around and throw in a kid and you'll have the same book all over again.I thought the author could have been a little more creative in the differences between the stories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Classic like Rich Stevens books
Back in 80's when unix network programming was a black art, Stevens book on Unix Network Programming showed the way to common programmers about how to write something magical in unix/c/sockets. I can only compare this book with the same spirit.

By reading the book and practicing the exercises in the accompanying CD, it is almost guaranteed someone will not only become a good java programmer but it will also help to extend and share the knowledge of creating tools. Writing good code in java is not simple. This book clearly explains what is really needed from a user perspective to become a good programmer and team-oriented productive resource using eclipse.

The first part explains what a freely available Eclipse can do for you. This is the most comprehensive introduction I have seen so far. It will teach you the smartest way to deal with java projects from a life cycle perspective - create, test, debug and maintain. Each chapter is clear and concise. Tips and tricks are every where.

The second part explain that extending and customizing eclipse is no rocket science. It is hard in a way but definitely manageable even for a starter. Referencing eclipse api is a must while reading this part. I wish some concise reference (like O'Reilly's "...nutshell" book style) would have helped the programmer a lot.

The third part is a gem. Added to the explanation of materials of each chapter, it went far beyond. Just by practicing the examples will take the user to a commanding position. This part also makes the book a handy desk reference on using eclipse tools. I'd also recommend the reader to take a look at the eclipse.org site to check the plug-ins. A lot of them are very useful and free too.

Overall, this book is excellent. In my opinion, this book is one of the major contributors to the community in the increasing the popularity of using eclispe tools, customizing and enhancing it.

If you use (or want to use) Eclipse, you will need this book
Target Audience
Java developers who want to learn how to use the Eclipse IDE or how to develop enhancements for the Eclipse framework.

Contents
This book is a comprehensive coverage of the Eclipse framework, both from the perspective of using the tool and writing extensions to Eclipse.

The book is divided into 3 parts:

Part 1 - Running Eclipse - Getting Started; Using Eclipse; Using Java Development Tools; Debugging Java; Teaming Up With Eclipse; Eclipse Configuration Management

Part 2 - Extending Eclipse - Overview Of The Eclipse Architecture; Getting Started: Plug-in Development; Action Contributions: The Integration Fast Track; The Standard Widget Toolkit: A Lean, Mean Widget Machine; Dialogs And Wizards; Views; Editors; Perspectives; Workspace Resource Programming; Managing Resources With Natures And Builders; Resource Tagging Using Markers; Contributions Revisited; Advanced Plug-in Development; Creating New Extension Points: How Others Can Extend Your Plug-ins; Serviceability; Developing Features; Providing Help; OLE and ActiveX Interoperability; Swing Interoperability; Extending The Java Development Tools; Building A Custom Text Editor With JFace Text

Part 3 - Exercises - Using Eclipse; Using The Java Development Tools; Debugging Java; Using CVS With Eclipse; Modifying Your Configuration With Update Manager; Using The Plug-in Development Environment; Feature Development And Deployment

Review
As an IBM software developer using Domino and Notes, I'm hearing more and more about WebSphere Studio Application Developer.That's the IBM WebSphere Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is built upon the Eclipse framework.But just what is Eclipse, and why is it so important to you as a developer?This book will help you answer those questions.

The book serves two purposes.Part 1 of the book will allow you, as a Java developer, to understand how to use the tool to code and test your programs.They also devote coverage to how CVS, the open source version control tool.Even if you're not interested in extending the Eclipse tool for your own use, this first part of the book would be worth the purchase.

Part 2 gets into how the Eclipse framework can be used to write your own tools to integrate into the environment.Granted, this part of the book won't necessarily appeal to everyone, as some of you will only want to use the core functionality of Eclipse as an IDE.But you can think of this section as a lesson on the internal architecture of Eclipse.The more you understand about the tool, the more effective you can be with it.

And finally, you have the third part of the book that consists of a number of exercises to bridge the gap from theoretical to practical.Taken as a whole, working through this entire book will give you a solid foundation in Eclipse.

And for Notes/Domino professionals...I think a case could be made that you should seriously consider buying this book to prepare for your future.ND8 is projected to be a rich client built on this platform.By reading up on it now, you'll be prepared for what's coming.And if you're a business partner who builds tools for the Notes/Domino client, you'll need this information to start to figure out how you can transition your business in the future.Don't let it sneak up on you.

Conclusion
If you're thinking about diving into the Eclipse world, get this book.And if you're already an Eclipse user but want to make changes to your environment, this book will give you the information you need to start down that path.

Great Organization and Well-written
This helpful and extremely well-written book is really many books in one. The Java Developer's Guide to Eclipse provides a coherent, organized, and well-written reference for using the Eclipse platform and developing plugins.In addition to the basics, the book covers such advanced topics as Eclipse Configuration Management and Providing Help.One section of the book provides a comprehensive set of exercises that enable you to get hands-on experience working with Eclipse.

The book is organized into three sections, each geared towards a different level of experience with Eclipse.While you may make use of all three sections, the organization of the book helps you to quickly find and focus on the material that you need.

The information provided with Eclipse and the Web sites that support it is considerable.The great aspect of this book is that it offers so much usable content in one convenient source, while providing additional information to supplement the online help already provided with Eclipse.

Great Eclipse resource
I was initially disappointed that this book did not cover JUnit and that it was based on Eclipse 2.0; however those issues aside this book is a great resource on Eclipse written by folks on the development team. I am using Eclipse 2.1.1 and there are some differences for some things, but most are minor. The book is divided into three parts with Part Two having two sections. Part One focuses on the Eclipse development environment. In this section, there some very good tips about using Eclipse. I particularly liked the chapter on using CVS with Eclipse. There was some practical advice given about how to deal with issues one would encounter in projects while using Eclipse and CVS.

In chapter one, the authors challenge Eclipse veterans to read it with "bet you didn't know how to ...". There are some great keyboard shortcuts and other features of Eclipse that surprised me. There is a blind programmer on our staff that will get great mileage out the keyboard shortcuts.

Part Two is about creating plug-ins for Eclipse. At first, I was moderately interested in some plug-ins, but after digging into this section, I already have a couple of plug-in ideas that I want to pursue. The authors make it seems like a very natural thing to do. Part Three is composed of exercises on using Eclipse for Java development, with CVS, for debugging, for updating your Eclipse, for Plug-in Development Environment (PDE), and for feature development. The exercises are step-by-step instructions relating to certain chapters in the previous parts. Read the chapters first, but do these exercises!

If you are using Eclipse for development, this book has a wealth of information from those in the know. After all, WSAD is basically a bunch of Eclipse plug-ins.

Great intro to Eclipse and Plug-In Development Guide
Learning Eclipse, the open-source IDE and tool platform, can be a
daunting task.While a plethora of on-line resources exist for
learning.... knowing where to start, and
remembering what you've read, can be challenging.Finally a book
with much of this in one place: The Java Developer's Guide to Eclipse.

As a long-time lover of books, expecially Java books, I find that
learning from online resources on the web can be sufficient, but
often it's hard to know what you've read, where you stopped, where to
find something, etc.Especially when you're learning something very
new, or very complex, having it all in your hands can be comforting.
(And you don't have to close the book during takeoff and landing.)

Written by Eclipse experts with experience using *and teaching* other
developers in its use, the chapters and exercises are well thought
out.The authors are instructors with experience in teaching Eclipse
to software developers, so have a good knowledge of Eclipse and how
to present and explain it.

This book contains three parts:Using Eclipse as an IDE for
Java developement, Extending Eclipse with plug-ins, and exercises
for all of the above.While a few other books are available on using
Eclipse as an IDE, this is by far the most comprehensive
book on extending it by developing plug-ins.

This book is unique in its thorough coverage of plug-ins (extending
Eclipse: want a new popup menu? code reformatter? Write it yourself!)
but don't overlook its good introduction to using the
Eclipse IDE itself for developing Java code, as well as a great
chapter on using CVS and the Eclipse interface to CVS
code respository that is part of the standard download.

The exercises on using Eclipse and building plug-ins are great, and often walking through the exercise
(resources included on the CD with the book) reinforces or sheds
additional light on what is covered in a chapter. At times
I jumped directly to the exercise after only briefly reading
the associated chapter information, and the hands-on learning
accomplished in this manner was great for this impatient Java
developer.

I took the IBM class with the same name as the book, and found
the exercises in the book similar, if less extensive than, those
included with the course.But the basics are there, including
the exercise that introduces action sets etc. that I referred
to several times in my first plug-in development.A lot of my
code started with the exercise code and grew from there.As I worked
through subsequent chapters and exercises, I came to a clearer
understanding of what had been done in the previous code imported
in the exercises, yet I was already up and running in terms of
developing my plug-in.

The book is written to Eclipse 2.0, with a few comments regarding
changes for version 2.1.While it would be nice to have the minor
2.1 changes reflected in the book, I know the authors had to stop
somewhere to get published.This was the first Eclipse book
published, I understand.

Excellent, and highly recommended for all Java developers wanting
to use Eclipse, and especially for those wanting to develop
plug-ins for extending Eclipse to their own applications. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Heartfelt & insightful but not a self help guide
I purchased this, along with several other books, to try to find help for a loved one suffering from B.P.

This book was by far the easiest to read, and was far more insightful than the outdated "I Hate You-Don't Leave Me* Understanding the Borderline Personality" book (it isn't a bad book, but it is in dire need of updating).

Pros: Gives an excellent insider's view of what having Borderline Personality is like.Gives great case examples of real people who have been successful in their treatment of B.P.Gives an in-depth look, from the patientsf eyes, of DBT Dialectical Behavior Therapy; which has been shown to be effective in treating B.P.Easy to read, yet at the same time engaging.

Cons: Poorly organized, seems to jump around a bit much; too many acronyms make it difficult to remember who the author is referring to.Not a self-help manual or a guide to helping people with the disorder.More of a portrait of B.P. from an insiderfs perspective.

I recommend this book for anyone who is looking to better understand this disorder, as well as anyone with a loved one suffering from B.P.It will help dissolve many of the common stereotypes associated with the disorder.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the ability to enroll in a long-term hospital program that specializes in B.P.The book may be a bit frustrating for those of you, who like me, are trying to orchestrate some level of decent care from the meager resources that are available.

It's worth reading, but remember that it is only a portrait of how a handful of women overcame their disorder in what sounds like an exceptional facility (which, sadly, has now been closed).

Good Material, Just Not Balanced
I'm the webowner of Borderline Personality Disorder Today. Theauthor has some really good material in the book about DBT and how it hasassisted her in her own recovery. I believe sharing her experiences as anin-patient at Highland Hospital are particularly important. However, thebook focuses on only one aspect of recovery as if DBT is the *only* avenuethere is to recovery from the BPD. Medication is not discussed which isextremely vital especially with what the research is saying about howhelpful medications are in providing assistance with many of the BPDsymptoms. The only thing I disagreed in the book was her statement"While disability is a godsend for many former patients who do nothave sufficient financial resources, the public needs to be made aware thatsuch a resource is an enabler rather than a tag of inability." I haveread that as many as 33 % of BPDs are disabled, not because they want to beenabled, but because their illness has truly prevented them from sustaininga job. Would I recommend you buy the book? Yes, there is some good materialthere there that is important for BPD recovery.

Heartfelt, Understanding, but flawed.
As a therapist, Melissa's personal accounts are inspiring and heartfelt.She presents many of the difficulties of this disorder in an understanding & compassionate way.Very happy to see her inclusion of DialeticBehavior Therapy info & materials.However, I don't think the book isvery well organized.Example:Chp. 2 on Inpatient Therapy seems a bitpremature & could be frightening to clients who are new to theawareness of their diagnosis. There are examples (the one of the otherpatients using restraint on another patient) that if they are questionable,and I believe they are, shouldn't have been included.I would hesitate torecommend this book to my clients because of such examples although I amalways looking for new materials to inspire hope in my clients and to gettheir cooperation for the use of DBT materials.I would encourage Melissato do a revised version looking at content organization, making the writingmore fluid, and the use of appropriate helpful examples.

Excellent for anyone seeking understanding of BPD.
Written in first-person by someone who truly knows Borderline Personality Disorder, this novel-that-reads-like-non-fiction is A MUST for those who wish to understand and help a loved one with this illness.The writergives a portrait of several other patients, thus providing a poignant lookat the shapes and intensities BPD can have.

I would recommend this book to everyone.
Eclipse is a wonderful book. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know about Borderline personality disorder. It describes the illness in a positive light, and explains what it is like to have this vicious disease.It is very obvious that the information given by Melissa Ford Thornton isdue to personal experiences. She describes the pain a borderline suffers,and also the Joy and fear they feel at getting better. She truly informspeople in a positive way. ... Read more

Book Description
A string of smashing victories by the forces of the sinister aliens known as the Yuuzhan Vong has left New Republic resources and morale stretched to the breaking point. Leia Organa Solo, estranged from her husband, Han, oversees the evacuation of refugees on planets in the path of the merciless invaders. Luke Skywalker struggles to hold the fractious Jedi Knights together, even while one of them undertakes a bold but reckless undercover mission.

Manipulating their alliance with the amoral Hutts, the Yuuzhan Vong leave a cunning trail of vital information where New Republic agents are sure to find it--information the desperate defenders cannot afford to ignore: the location of the aliens' next target.

Then Han Solo stumbles into the dark heart of raging battle, thus beginning a furious race against time that will require every skill and trick in his arsenal to win... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (58)

3.5 stars - At least it puts Han Solo back in play
I'm not really sure why this book, which is the 5th volume in the massive New Jedi Order series and the closing volume of James Luceno's Agents of Chaos duology, was titled Jedi Eclipse, when the Jedi play such a minor role in this one. Even though another Jedi Knight dies in this book, the real star of this "series within a series" is Han Solo. Everyone else is just along for the ride.

While the Yuuzhan Vong invasion was still the focal point of the story, this book felt like one of the pre-NJO Star Wars novels where the characters go their separate ways only to have their adventures bring them all back together for a dramatic action sequence at the end of the book. Han spends much of the story helping his new partner Droma track down his missing kin, Leia travels to Hapes to elist the Consortium's aid in the conflict, and Jacen and Anakin Solo travel to the reactivated Centerpoint Station. In the end, all points lead to (I'm not saying where, as it is a major plot point).

I found it more than a little disturbing when I went back and reread these New Jedi Order novels in a post-9/11 world, as there are definite parallels between the Yuuzhan Vong's ideology and the fundamentalist Islam that has been the source of so much misery. The matter of refugees also brings to mind post-Katrina New Orleans; only in these novels the enemy actively torments the refugees.

Luceno definitely has an appreciation for the Star Wars characters, and seems quite knowledgeable about the vast Star Wars history. He also knows how to write a rollicking adventure story, which despite the grim overtones of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Jedi Eclipse certainly was. I still prefer the NJO novels that focus on the larger conflict, but the Agents of Chaos series was an enjoyable side-story, and were particularly useful in that they pushed Han Solo back into action, which is not going to be good news for the Yuuzhan Vong!

Not much here unfortunately...........just filler.
Well, im back again.Sorry to keep ya waiting a bit longer than usual.I do however have an explanation.It is because this installment simply doesnt go anywhere.The pay off appears in the last 48 pages and that simply is not acceptable to me.There is no buildup, no suspense at all.I had a hard time wanting to continue the book.It sat on the shelf for days on end wanting to be read to the finish line but alas....................Hero's trial was fantastic.It had everything in it for me.All the ingredients were there.This one should go further since it is part 2 of the duology but it just doesnt.Ive enjoyed the last 4 books quite a bit, but this one is the worst of them so far in terms of keeping the interest goin.It is definitely NOT a page turner.It is however written very well.The characters are all represented well, with the exception of a few, like Luke and Mara who barely see any page time.The characterizations though are dead on good.The book also appeared rather fragmented with too much going on, too many subplots that were confusing to follow at all times.Of course read it, its Star Wars, but its overshadowed greatly by those that came before it.

#5
ive only read this far so far but will put out reviews as i read the rest of the series.this was an excellent book as was its [predecessor agents of chaos 1.mara may have found a cure to her ailment.but is it permanant?han goes back to his old scoundral like days.he still has his good side as he does great things for the war effort but in his own time hes become quire reckless.leia gets the blame for a lot of bs stuff going on in the world.she even has ppl fighting over her at one point.one of her old would be suitors no less.anakan gets a weopon of mass destruction working again but will he use it?the ever oppurtunistic lando even starts bringing in refugees.the republic tries to be friends with rhe hutts also.all trust seems to dissipate everywhere!even c3-p0 begins worrying about deactivation like an old person would dying.the vong make prisoners massage thier living ships heart so itll runbetter.the being turns a lot of ppl into veggies or corpses.however a jedi resists its tortures.the vong killed enough stuff now that the core worlds like where corascant is were looking like good targets.like i said,as i read more,ill report more.the 2nd best book so far!

Filler, and Little more
While I have been a big fan of the New Jedi Order, I can't say this book is included. Much of this book is filler, with little happening that is actually relevant to the rest of the series.

The book itself is not poorly written. Lucena does a good job getting his points across, but sadly there are few points to be made. What exciting parts there are are short, so action is not the main focus at all.

The characters themselves are not very interresting in nature, Roa, who was the main focus of Han's journey, now takes a back seat and is almost inconsequential to the plot anymore. I'm not sure that Han even remembered he was looking for Roa. The Ryn Droma, who I liked at first, has now become pretty lame and repetitive, never changing his reactions.

If I were to go back and read through the series again, I would honestly skip this book. I couldn't get into this book at any point, and honestly believe that Lucena should have made Agents of Chaos I longer and finish the story, rather then creating the second novel.

Book Jumps To Much
This was an ok book. I did not care for how it skipped around all the time from character to character point of view. It could be better if it was more uniform and flowed together more. ... Read more

Book Description
Solar eclipses are indeed awe-inspiring spectacles if you can watch from the ideal location—in the path of a total event. Being in the right place at the right time, however, may be difficult. Here is the long-awaited handbook for both serious and amateur eclipse viewers.

Wolfgang Held, director of the Kepler Observatory, provides intricately detailed information on the best places to see the many solar and lunar eclipses that will be visible during the next twelve years, from 2005 until 2017. Easy-to-follow, high-quality maps are included, which are especially useful when the ideal spot for viewing is in a remote area.

Wolfgang Held also offers interesting and practical answers to question about the relationships between human beings and the Sun and Moon, thus opening up the reflective dimension of these phenomena. He provides comprehensive background information for each eclipse and hundreds of useful tips on how to make the most of these brief, awe-inspiring phenomena.

Eclipses 2005 - 2017 is bundled with safety glasses to protect the eyes during solar eclipses.

Anyone interested in eclipses will want this practical handbook. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Seeking Reason Beyond Reason
Despite its compact size, Max Horkheimer's Eclipse of Reason is a potent manifesto against the instrumentalization of Reason in the Enlightenment, which led to a culture in which the most barbaric of acts - the Holocaust, with all of its mediatized manipulation under the Nazis - could take place.At points a whirlwind tour through some of the major trends in intellectual history since Plato, The Eclipse of Reason can be as dense as it is potent.It will reward only a close and careful reading.

"Progress threatens to nullify the very goal it is supposed to realize - the idea of man" (v).This sentence, contained in the Preface, concisely states the main concern that animates the entire book.The Enlightenment comes in for heavy critique throughout these pages, for in separating reason from religion it "retained God, but not grace" (11) and effectively killed metaphysics.Having cut itself off from any notion of a grounding worldview, it finds its ultimate expression in the development of the American worldview, as best expressed in the only philosophical movement to have ever grown up out of America's own soil: Pragmatism, which Horkheimer writes "reflects a society that has no time to remember and meditate" (30).

The lack of time and transcendence - the lack of any fundamental notion of Truth, which is fundamental to American liberalism - helps undermine any and all notions of beauty as a revealing of Truth.The reduction of everything to mere practicality robs humanity of something fundamental to it, which is contained in the work of art: seeing something beyond ourselves, outside of ourselves.Practicality reduces everything to a mere tool: and this is the essence of totalitarian violence.

Digging deeper, Horkheimer reaches back to the very origin of modern thought on the individual: Socrates.This individualism grows with the Reformation, and then the Enlightenment; against this rise in individualism is itself the huge shifts in Christianity that began in earnest with the Reformation: a Christianity that, like Hamlet, has lost its Christian faith but not its Christian soul (93).The collapse of the medieval worldview and the loss of the Church as the central authority meant that the Christian conception of self - and individual made in the image of God, thus invested with infinite worth and given the opportunity of moral choice - would continue without the Christian concept of authority.This individual would, however, even lose its cosmic worth as technology progressed; the individual would eventually become nothing more than an economic unit.

In the end, all of this leads to the death of philosophy, meaning that "irrationality still molds the fate of men" (106).Thus, Horkheimer's conclusion is worth quoting in full: "If by enlightenment and intellectual progress we mean the freeing of man from superstitious belief in evil forces, in demons and fairies, in blind fate - in short, emancipation of fear - then denunciation of what is currently called reason is the greatest service reason can render" (126).

Reason as Failure
Horkheimer's book, Eclipse of Reason deals with the concept of "reason" within the history of Western philosophy. Horkheimer defines true reason as rationality. He details the difference between objective and subjective reason and states that we have moved from objective to subjective. Objective reason deals with universal truths that dictate that an action is either right or wrong. Subjective reason takes into account the situation and social norms. Actions that produce the best situation for the individual are "reasonable" according to subjective reason. The movement from one type of reason to the other occurred when thought could no longer accommodate these objective truths or when it judged them to be delusions. Under subjective reason, concepts lose their meaning. All concepts must be strictly functional to be reasonable. Because subjective reason rules, the ideals of a society, for example democratic ideals, become dependent on the "interests" of the people instead of being dependent on objective truths.

Horkheimer is writing in 1946 and is influenced by Nazi power in Germany. He is outlining how the Nazis were able to make their agenda appear "reasonable". He is also issuing a warning against this happening again. Horkheimer believes that the ills of modern society are caused by the misuse and misunderstanding of reason. If people use true reason to critique their societies, they will be able to identify and solve their problems. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Setting: Eclipse Bay, Oregon, present day
Sensuality Rating: 6

Multimillion-selling author Jayne Ann Krentz weaves a classic tale of a rich girl and the town's bad boy who grows up to be very, very good. Eight years have passed since Hannah Harte laid eyes on Rafe Madison--eight years since Hannah risked her reputation by providing Rafe's alibi for a murder he did not commit. Drawn back together by a strange bequest, Hannah and Rafe must first try to figure out how to share their dreams for the old seaside manor they've inherited and then determine who's willing to try anything, even murder, to stop them.

Hannah is astonished to find that the rebellious Rafe, who once loved living up to his family's unsavory reputation, has shed his bad boy ways and become quite a success. And Rafe is equally disturbed to realize that the naive girl he met on a beach one night long ago is all grown up--and how! The first in a new trilogy from perennial favorite Krentz is a tantalizing reminder of the attraction of opposites. Readers will be waiting with bated breath for the sequels. --Alison TrinkleBook Description
Their grandfathers hated each other.Their fathers hated each other.And as the next generation of the Hartes and Madisons, Hannah and Rafe are expected to hate each other too.But Hannah Harte remembers the long-ago night on the beach that revealed Rafe as much more than just "that disreputable Madison boy."And Rafe remembers the heroic gesture that proved Hannah's fierce spirit was stronger than any feud - and saved him from near-certain imprisonment.Now - reunited by a surprising inheritance after years of living their separate lives - Rafe and Hannah return to Eclipse Bay, and the hostilities that still divide, and bind, their families.And they are discovering something that is at once delightful and deeply disturbing... They don't hate each other.Not at all...

"If you want a book... that has snappy dialogue, great one liners, romance, and a little mystery, this is the book for you." (Amazon.com)Download Description
Eclipse Bay has grown and flourished on the rugged Oregon coast, where the shore can be rocky and forbidding, full of sharp cliffs and hidden coves. Eclipse Bay by Jayne Ann Krentz, this small town is also filled with secrets as treacherous as the landscape and rivalries as fierce as an ocean storm. Their grandfathers hated each other. Their fathers hated each other. And as the next generation of the Hartes and Madisons, Hannah and Rafe are expected to hate each other too. But Hannah Harte, a successful wedding consultant with a skeptical view of marriage, remembers the long-ago night on the beach that revealed Rafe as much more than just "that disreputable Madison boy." And Rafe remembers the heroic gesture that proved Hannah's fierce spirit was stronger than any feud and saved him from near-certain imprisonment. Now reunited by a surprising inheritance after years of living their separate lives Rafe and Hannah return to Eclipse Bay, and the hostilities that still divide, and bind, their families. And they are discovering something that is at once delightful and deeply disturbing? They don't hate each other. Not at all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (59)

Ready to settle back and enjoy an excellent family oriented romance?
Ready to settle back and enjoy an excellent family oriented romance? The first book of this trilogy will suit you very well. Like the Capulets and the Montagues of Romeo and Juliet fame, the Hartes and the Madisons of Eclipse Bay have been at war for two generations. Over a woman, of course. So when grown-up bad-boy Rafe Madison, whose only youthful aspiration in life was to stay out of jail (harder than you think when every local misdemeanour was likely to be pinned on him), inherits a mansion with Hannah Harte, good girl turned wedding consultant, the folk of Eclipse Bay sit back with glee and wait for drama to erupt. JAK doesn't disappoint with her characters - Rafe is an enigmatic, aloof man with lots of secrets (and oozing oodles of power along with oodles of yummy testosterone). He's vastly changed from the youth Hannah remembers; he's become irresistible, sexy, moody and powerful. And absolutely scrumptious in bed! Then, when something nasty happens, Hannah and Rafe present a united front against the enemy. How shocking that they're - gasp - living together! Totally entertaining romance.

Eclipse Bay
Enjoyed the book but pages 91 thru 138 were printed twice and pages 139 thru 186 were left out of the book

loved it!
Loved this book. so refreshing from other romances that slap in tons and tons of sexual scenes with no plot or dialog. The writing is excellent. She is now my very favorite author.

Borrow it, don't buy it!
A quick read, quite stereotypical, interesting twists and turns.Unfortunately the writer feels the need to pound into our heads how the Hartes and the Madisons don't get along, how a Harte wouldn't do this or that, and a Madison would.It gets annoying because it is written on just about every page.Luckily, the story is interesting enough that you can get by it...barely.I won't read the next two in the series though because the constant Harte and Madison thing is just too irritating.

puzzled by the high ratings of this book: again steriotype!
I have to admit that I am totally puzzled by the high ratings this book has received. Unfortunately the main story line and romance was totally lack of attraction and humour. After years of living their separate lives, Rafe and Hannah return to Eclipse Bay: it is a well-known start. Jayne Ann Krentz is very talented but still using the old fame of hers and repeating herself, perhaps she takes it for granted. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Good Refrence Book
Good book to get the wiring diagrams, information, and other needfull things for the eclipse.

Decent.....could be better
I have used this book to replace a thermostat, spark plugs, wires, and a PVC.

It has great directions, (don't expect the pictures to be a lot of help on 90% of the projects you have to do).

My only real complaints about this book are:
1.They do not always show the Mitsu Eclipse pictures, sometimes it's from the Talon, the 2.4L Eclipse, the 6v eclipse, etc.

2.They have directions like "remove coil over cables" and there are no directions on how to do this.(It's not rocket science but if you are buying this on how to properly remove and put back together important parts of your car, this can be a little annoying).

Overall, good for the do it yourselfer, otherwise, just bring your car to a mechanic. ... Read more

Book Description

The Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) is a framework and code generation facility that lets you define a model in any of these forms--Java interfaces, UML diagram, or XML Schema. EMF doesn't require a completely different methodology or any sophisticated modeling tools. All you need to get started with EMF are the Eclipse Java Development Tools. EMF relates modeling concepts directly to their implementations, thereby bringing to Eclipse-and Java developers in general-the benefits of modeling with a low cost of entry. Unlike most tools of this type, EMF is truly integrated with and tuned for efficient programming. It answers the often-asked question, "Should I model or should I program?" with a resounding, "Both." This book, written by the lead architects of EMF, provides both an introduction and tutorial to how to leverage and work with this powerful framework. In addition to the new coverage this book provides:

Book Description

Agile Java™ Development With Spring, Hibernate and Eclipse is a book about robust technologies and effective methods which help bring simplicity back into the world of enterprise Java development. The three key technologies covered in this book, the Spring Framework, Hibernate and Eclipse, help reduce the complexity of enterprise Java development significantly. Furthermore, these technologies enable plain old Java objects (POJOs) to be deployed in light-weight containers versus heavy-handed remote objects that require heavy EJB containers. This book also extensively covers technologies such as Ant, JUnit, JSP tag libraries and touches upon other areas such as such logging, GUI based debugging, monitoring using JMX, job scheduling, emailing, and more. Also, Extreme Programming (XP), Agile Model Driven Development (AMDD) and refactoring are methods that can expedite the software development projects by reducing the amount of up front requirements and design; hence these methods are embedded throughout the book but with just enough details and examples to not sidetrack the focus of this book. In addition, this book contains well separated, subjective material (opinion sidebars), comic illustrations, tips and tricks, all of which provide real-world and practical perspectives on relevant topics. Last but not least, this book demonstrates the complete lifecycle by building and following a sample application, chapter-by-chapter, starting from conceptualization to production using the technology and processes covered in this book. In summary, by using the technologies and methods covered in this book, the reader will be able to effectively develop enterprise-class Java applications, in an agile manner!

Customer Reviews (44)

More a Manifesto for Agile Development than a tutorial...
This book tries to cover too many things. The book is more a Manifesto for Agile Development from an experienced programmer than a technical book.

Thus this small book misses all the details any technical person would like to see. The book is definitely not a comprehensive API guide to Spring or Hibernate, nor does it intend to be. The author repeatedly said : "more to come later" or "we'll see this in later chapter" etc. But that moment never arrived...

The books can be used to get an overall idea for a manager or a programmer who is totally a newbie to the concepts.

The more interesting part is on Agile Development where it seems to be a Manifesto but definitely not a tutorial.

Do not purchase this book if you don't need a 250 page resume!
I can not believe how anybody who has read this book would honestly give it a 5 star. I read the whole book, waiting for that moment that I could say: Oh, that's what the author meant by repeatedly saying: "more to come later" or "we'll see this in later chapter" etc.That moment never arrived. This book looks like a hurried and lousy compilation of 5 day presentations on each subject that this books claims to cover, without proper editing and attention to detail.
I read the book riding the metro in Washington DC and I can honestly say that I would rather see DC tourists block the left side of the escalators in the metro stations on a busy rush hour day than read or refer to this book again

Believe what he said!
Somewhere in the initial few pages, the author give his readers a few options before reading (or buying for that matter) this book. One of them was to trust his advice, agree that Spring+Hibernate+Eclipse are cool technologies and scrap the idea of this book.

I continued reading but now I recommend accepting his idea and save some bucks or buy something more useful, maybe separate books on Spring and Hibernate (btw, Spring in Action 2nd Edition is now available). All of these are surely good technologies but the book never goes into detail of any one of them (and it was not supposed to) and for installation/setup refers you to "latest installation instructions".

Without the depth of details on any particular technology, and lack of instructions on making you up and running makes this book feasible only for a small window of people who want to try out and be "convinced" themselves personally before eventually buying separate books on each technology.

I did not comment on the content because content comes after the 'purpose' of the book. For me its a two-star book and does not even require a content review (read other reviews for content if you really want to buy this).

Nice idea...but simplistic and patchy
I like the concept of this book. Combining a whole bunch of ideas that these days are well proven and likely to result in well written software and productivity gains.

Agile, Java, Eclipse, Hibernate, Spring. All stuff that I am working with right now. Seems the perfect book to fill in the gaps in my current knowledge.

Unfortunately, though the author may be a fine developer, he is not a great writer. This book to me had serious flaws, and unfortunately, I learnt oh so little.

The book barely scratches the surface, glossing over any real detail and bringing not much more than what you'd get reading the home page of the respective products.

Some may like the ultra-casual writing style, but I found all his diversions and personal asides distracting. Granted, it's easy to read when the writing resembles that of a spoken conversation. But I found the book to be disorganised, fragmented, and having a rushed quality to it. And just too lacking in depth.

I realise that the author was attempting to cover a lot of ground (as he points out more than once) but this book could have been so much more concise. For example, he wastes his (and my) time reviewing alternative IDEs when already admitting he is totally smitten with Eclipse. If the author just hadn't been so keen on personal asides and spent a bit more time getting the structure of the book right, he could have covered the subject matter in much more detail.

OK, so this book might be good if you want a crash-course in all those fantastic open source products. It might save you some time in getting your basic application up and running, if you've never used any of these products before. But if you're already familiar with them, or don't mind reading some online documentation, or don't mind having a quick play yourself, then your hard earned cash may be more wisely spent elsewhere.

May not be for programmers
This book tries to combine so many things in to one. Thus it looses the detail any technical person would like to see. It skims over Extreme Programming, RUP without saying much about it - it is understood as it is not the focus of the book.

The architecture it discusses is just a three layer one, which I believe any programmer would know before hand. This talks about lot of freewares and then it goes through Hibernate and Spring, which I believe is not enough for a technical person. The books can be used for overall idea for a manager or a programmer who is totally new to the concepts. ... Read more

Book Description
FBI Agent Nick Bellamy's world is shattered when the phantom assassin he's been tracking for years brutally murders his wife.Now a broken man driven by vengeance and guilt, Nick is suddenly drawn into an investigation of a ghastly plot to annihilate the human race as well as a 1960's top-secret government project, Mortal Eclipse, which resulted in the accidental release of a monstrous, unearthly killer.Nick must reconcile his personal demons as he battles a sinister underworld of murderous mutants and witches in order to save mankind.But time is running out . . . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Scary Thriller
WOW! I took a chance on this new author and was I surprised.Everything that I read in the Midwest Book Review this month about David Brookover is true.He does write like Stephen King and Dean Koontz!The characters are fun and very believable and the plot is a real thrillride and spookfest rolled into one.I hope this author is not just a one-hit wonder"." I hope more books with the same intensity are on the way!

Roller Coaster of a book.
When I was finished reading this book I felt like I just got of a rollercoaster. Mortal Eclipse is a very exciting thrill ride through horror suspense and even a little romance.I for one can't wait to read Mr. Brookover's next book in hopefully a long line of exciting books to come.

A spell-binding story!
I just finished reading Mortal Eclipse. It is a suspenseful and chilling story that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the beginning to climatic end. Nick Bellamy and the other cast of characters are well developed and together their interaction weaves a story that moves at lightening speed. Continue the good work Mr. Brookover- I can't wait for your next book!

Fun, scary plot
Reading Mortal Eclipse was like riding a rollercoaster - the suspense grabbed me from the first chapter and didn't let go until the very end - with a good scare over every hill.What a ride!Nick Bellamy is a worthy hero, and I'd like to read more scary stories about him in the future - hint, hint!Thanks to Mr. Brookover for a thoroughly enjoyable read. ... Read more

Book Description

The second of a two-book series about business intelligence and reporting technology, Integrating and Extending BIRT introduces programmers to BIRT architecture and the reporting framework. Built on the Eclipse platform, this exciting technology makes it possible for programmers to build and deploy customized reports using scripting and BIRT APIs. In addition, programmers can extend the BIRT framework by building new plug-ins using the Eclipse Plug-in Development Environment.

This book describes the key components of BIRT architecture, applications, and engines, including installing, deploying, and troubleshooting the Reporting and Charting engines in an Enterprise Java application-server environment.For developers who wish to incorporate custom business logic in their reports or access data from Java objects, the book describes BIRT's extensive scripting capabilities in JavaScript and Java. For developers who want to extend the BIRT framework, the book describes the key extension points to use in creating customized report items, rendering extensions for generating output other than HTML or PDF, and Open Data Access (ODA) drivers for new data sources.The book provides extensive examples of how to build plug-ins to extend the features of the BIRT framework.

Topics discussed include

• Installing and deploying BIRT

• Deploying a BIRT report to an application server

• Understanding BIRT architecture

• Scripting in a BIRT report design

• Integrating BIRT functionality in applications

• Working with the BIRT extension framework

Customer Reviews (1)

Explains org.eclipse.birt for Java customisation
This book is an impressive extension on "BIRT: A Field Guide to Reporting". The latter described BIRT to a newcomer, showing how to use its features. With a minimal discussion of scripting for customisation. While the scripting certainly involved programming, it was rather minimal, and most of the text showed a declarative layout approach to using BIRT.

The Integrating book is the sequel. Strictly a programmer's book. It assumes you've read the earlier book. But now you need to take the customising [much] further. So here the text shows how to program in Java, not just JavaScript. Essentially, the bulk of the book explains the package org.eclipse.birt, which is freely available and has been built out with many classes. The problem to a programmer is the sheer multitude of those classes. An embarrassment of riches which the book tackles.

Some classes relate to customising the UI. There is a charting API built on top of Java Swing. So you can key off your pre-existing Swing expertise. Swing is pretty easy to learn, and the BIRT graphics classes seem to continue this property.

The only possible problem might be if you prefer SWT widgets for the better native look and feel. But the BIRT contributors correctly decided to support the most popular widget set, which is Swing.

Other BIRT classes relate to getting data at the back end, from various possible sources. ... Read more

Book Description
Eclipses play a crucial role in the fates of nations and the lives of individuals. Nationally known astrologer Celeste Teal draws on nearly thirty years of astrological experience to explain and illustrate how eclipses act as cosmic telegrams about the current state of our world, our personal lives, and our relationships with others.

Eclipses illustrates how recent and historical events can be linked directly to eclipses, and provides predictions for their effects on world events in the next decade and beyond. Readers will explore the effects of prenatal eclipses on the natal chart, as well as past, present, and future eclipses. While eclipses are often mentioned in monthly horoscopes, no other book has ever attempted to demonstrate how these heavenly events are observably connected to both world events and personal affairs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Good astrological points, odd presentation
This book contains some useful information and a few handy tables for working with recent eclipses. It would have been about half its size if the editorializing about history and politics was left out.I prefer more straightforward books about universal (commonly called mundane) astrology, like Time And Money: The Economy And The Planets, or Planetary Stock Trading III.Much of the medieval eclipse lore is cheerfully refuted, but the concept of overlapping powerpoints from active eclipses is not really exploited in a way that makes (what I perceive to be) the central premise of the book to stand out.She draws conclusions about personal eclipse effects that are similar to my own, but many of the examples are anonymous individuals with no verifiable horoscopes or histories.This means that we have to trust that these conclusions are real.We also have no way of knowing if the events and changes described are the results of eclipses, progressions, directions, time lords, dasas, black years, solar returns or some combination thereof.Although I do not doubt the integrity and good intentions of the author, I think that verifiable charts of famous people would have better served the book's purpose.However, the book is not a waste of time for a new student of astrology, in that it has lots of interesting tidbits of information, and can be a springboard to books such as New Dimensions by Charles Jayne, Eclipses: The Powerpoints of Astrology (An Aquarian Astrology Handbook), and others.Plus, it's fun - I never thought of looking at the connection between eclipses, Roswell and UFO's before.

Excellent!
I really enjoyed this book from Celeste Teal, as I do all of her books. My only complaint is... the book ended too soon. I received it and read it all in one afternoon!

A Book I Can Use On A Planetary Scale
This is NOT one of those books on astrology with a title that sounds like its something you need, that starts off well-intended and becomes a wallowing, multi-tangented meandering about the landscape, dragging you through endless cul-de-sacs of examples you can never use in real life.

Then there are other astrologers who seem intended on using astrology like a pipe wrench to twist your perspective to their world view with a seemingly Stalinist interpretation of an innocent Zodi