Stutz Reviews

Well, there I was sitting on my bed with my new book. I opened the first page and didn't surface again for 9 days; it's that good i read it cover to cover, twice! I found it not only intellectually exciting, but also quite arousing; the way they talk about managed code gave me a right chubby one!

As someone who has spent a fair amount of time toying with and writing about managed code I have to say that I am in awe of the wisdom and clarity contained in this book. "SSCLI Essentials" transcends its subject matter (a research platform unlikely to be used much outside of academia) to be one of the best books I've ever read on Virtual Execution concepts. Java, the CLR, Smalltalk, and all other such environments ultimately have to solve the same problem (How to turn source code into executing machine instructions?). This book uses the SSCLI as a backdrop for exploring decades of VM research and explaining the historical forces influencing how and why this particular implementation (and by implication, Microsoft's commercial CLR) works.

The resulting volume is concise, fascinating, and thorough. Given the increasing importance of virtual environments in the computing world today I think most all working developers (including Java developers!) owe it to themselves to read this book. Even if you never plan to install or use the SSCLI codebase you'll benefit from Dave and friends' lucid explanation of the issues facing modern VM environments and how one particularly popular platform chooses to solve them.

Linux may be cool, but the documentation is horrible. There are tons of inconsistent HOWTO files, out of date FAQs, and a bunch of programmers that don't really see the problem. Whenever you want to do anything with Linux, you usually have to read every piece of documentation out there, and basically reverse-engineer a solution.

Most commercial Linux books for beginners (or at least for people who don't dig through C++ on a daily basis) are not well laid out. I should know - I wrote several chapters in one a few years back. They are usually organized by major system - a chapter on installation, one for video, one for sound, one for networking, and so on. But what if you want to write a book? Or record an album? Unless you can dig around on the web to find someone else doing the same thing, you are out of luck.

I'm glad that a book like this is out there. First, it is much more theoretical and philisophical than most approaches. That means it doesn't matter if you have RedHat 7.0 or 7.1 or whatever. It's just like if you are using a cookbook to make food - it doesn't matter if you use fresh-squeezed orange juice or Minute Maid orange juice, other than the difference in taste and texture - the basic lessons still apply.

I haven't seen other No Starch books, so I don't know if the look and feel is specific or part of the series, but it works. It's not a glossy, corporate taste - it's easy to flip through and fun to use. After reading a few pages to solve a problem, you're suddenly reading for hours and realizing that there are a lot of other things you could be doing with Linux - and that's the point. People don't need to be programmers to use a computer, and people can use their computer for more than email, web browsing and minesweeper. It's like you wanted a recipe to make some hamburgers, and you find a dozen new dishes you'll want to try for the next few weeks.

Great approach overall, and it's also very cool that you can download the entire thing for free at dsl.org, if you want to check it out first, or just have a copy on your local hard drive. I wish more books did this.

Overall, very excellent! Now I just need some more time to try out all of the things I've seen in here...

I use this book all the time at work where we are
using Linux more and more. This was first just for
Systems but now I am using Linux for my own productivity,
writing reports and printing. I love the power of the
commands and it's all in this book! I do take exception
to the reader below who wanted to change case of file
names "manually" - this person should reread the book's
intro as all Open Source software is out on the Internet
made by different people, this is what makes it so powerful.
But that is the joy of this book. It's format and coverage
makes it fill a gap that has been sorely needed in the
Open Source / Free Software community.

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This book may have had Debian as its base, but, this book can easily be used with any distribution. I have been using Linux for six years now, and I was able to learn commands that I didn't know even existed. Don't pay any attention to those who will give this book only three stars simply because they didn't read the books discription and bought the wrong book. This one is a real winner. I antipipate that this book will be in my library for some time to come because most of the books contents go over stuff that will most likely not change very much over time.

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Charles Dickens has been one of my favorite authors since I was forced to read him in high school. I had not picked up one of his stories since, but upon reading that David Copperfield was Dicken's personal favorite book he had authored, I decided to try him again. I was not disappointed. Dicken's creates an incredible cast of characters and paints a vivid portrait of 19th-century England. Aside from fulfulling those crucial elements of writing a novel, Dickens tells a terrific story. The initial serialization of the story into 19 monthly parts required Dickens to create many dramatic buildups and twists and turns that kept the audience buying the next installment. When it is all put together the novel is an unexpected roller coaster that has many climbs, dives, loop-the-loops, and sharp curves. In the end everything of course comes together beautifully and the characters all get their just desserts. This is yet another clinic by Dickens in how to write a well organized, though unpredictable, novel that maintains the interest of a reader through approx. 900 pages of writing. It is a wonderful experience that all lovers of good fiction should at least attempt.

Both critics and Charles Dickens himself generally class
"David Copperfield" as his "greatest" novel. The strains of autobiography and the rich array of comic and tragicomic characters give the reader the best of Dickens' wit and social outrage. As the years go by, though, people begin to speak of David Copperfield as a "set piece", a bit of Victoriana different in format but not in importance from a very natty
but a bit days-gone-by bit of antique furniture. This view misjudges the novel. This book presents a rich set of characters in a complex novel, deeply satisfying and in many ways still a very modern work. It's very hard to write about "good" and "evil" without descending into morality play, but this novel succeeds. The story is broken into three
"threads": a young boy, orphaned early, endures an unhappy childhood refreshed by periods of happiness (and comedy);
that same boy goes through late adolescence, and comes "into his own"; and finally, the narrator, now a man, sees the resolution of the various plot threads built through the early parts of the novel. Many Dickens themes are played out here--the superiority of goodness to affluence, the persistence and affrontery of fraud, and the way in which social institutions frequently hinder rather than advance their stated goals. The book does not read like a polemic, though--it reads like a bit of serial fiction (which in fact it was).

If you are hunting a good, solid read about values and
curious characters, David Copperfield stands ready to show you his world.

An excellent book, indeed. I must confess that, unlike many other commentors here, I had no feeling whatsoever for Dora- the born fool- and was not affected at all by her death, at which I was actually rather relieved, for I had wanted David Copperfield to marry Agnes all along.

The book is very interesting and the plot is very conplicated. If you dislike reading, give this book no thought. If you love reading, you are certain to read the story multiple times.

This book should be required reading for anyone contemplating a purchase of property on the eastern coast. While the "pulpit preacher" tone gets tired, we are seldom aware of just how much change occurs over a relatively brief period of time. Pay your money now or a million when your lot is under water in another 30 years.

I read this book while vacationing at Folly Beach, South Carolina. I loved the factual information especially the history of the development of the barrier islands However, the doom and gloom undertone predications got a little heavy handed after a while. It seemed like the book was a warning to anyone thinking about moving the the coast to stay away. Upon further inspection, it turns out that the "living with the coast" series was underwritten by FEMA!. An enjoyable read anyway.

For any person living or planning to live on the South Carolina I truly recommend this superb book. It is a perfect example of a strong combination of science and practicality. Of particular interest is the work of, Matthew Stutz. Stutz is a budding young star whose breakthrough work will we certainly be hearing more about in the future. I highly recommend you pick up this book for the knowledge of the South Carolina Coast and to get a preview of the genius of Dr. Stutz.

Hazardous Materials Injuries is a very usefull guide in the treatment of Hazmat injurys. I have found the protocols very usefull and detailed and it has both a numeric and alphabetic index. I would recomend it for all BLS and ALS responce units.

In what appears to be, sadly, Bruce Stutz's only book, Stutz introduces the reader to those who scratch noble livings out of a river that yields not much more than a few shad each spring. He journeys south from Hancock, NY, to Philadelphia, PA, to present the lives of riparian denizens fighting to maintain their source of income against our (federal and state) government's struggles to protect our beautiful, valuable, and fragile Delaware River Valley. Neither side in Stutz's book comes across as "right" or "wrong" because, well, both sides care deeply about this stunning river. The one lack in "Natural Lives, Modern Times" is the lack of photos or illustrations, beyond some attractive woodcuts heading each chapter.

"The Call of the Wild" is a sort of canine "Robinson Crusoe," where the main character finds himself marooned in a strange, harsh land far from his home and becomes increasingly savage as he adapts to his new environment. But whereas Crusoe's goal was to return to a state of civilization he found familiar and comfortable, Buck, the hero of Jack London's novella, simply drifts further and further into the primitivism that is his natural canine calling.

The story takes place during the Alaska-Yukon gold rush of the end of the nineteenth century, where large, strong dogs are in demand to run the sleds between Skagway on the Pacific coast and Dawson inland, a trip hundreds of miles long through bitterly cold weather and treacherous terrain. Buck, the 140-pound offspring of a St. Bernard and a Scotch sheep dog, is living in a nice home in the sunny Santa Clara valley of California when he is kidnapped by a gardener with gambling debts and sold up the Pacific until he is bought by two French Canadian couriers who immediately indoctrinate him into being part of a sled dog team.

This is a rude awakening for Buck, who must learn the strenuous routines of hauling the sled and running with the pack, all the while adjusting to the new climate and feeding patterns. Soon a rivalry develops between him and the lead dog, Spitz, but as he gains strength and ferocity, he manages to fight and defeat Spitz and take his position as the lead dog. London keeps Buck and the other dogs "in character" with this one important exception: he allows them to have human feelings of pride and achievement.

Buck passes from master to master as the route is traversed back and forth and different sleds come and go; but finally he finds his best master in a man named John Thornton, who nurses him back to health after a particularly cruel and inept driver nearly kills him with over-exertion. Buck becomes Thornton's most prized possession and accompanies his party to a remote mine to search for gold, where he helps the men with hauling and hunting. This expedition turns out badly for the men, though, when they are attacked by Indians; Buck, hearing the "call of the wild," completes his transformation into a wolflike warrior and seeks revenge.

The story of Buck's progression from a creature of comfort to a beast of burden to a leader of wolves has the mythic quality of a folk legend, a nocturnal warning of the thin line that separates dog and wolf. "The Call of the Wild" remains possibly the world's most famous canine yarn because we sense that its message is true to nature -- that all animals, including humans, gravitate toward the savage when removed from civilization and forced to rely on strength, agility, and cunning to survive.

Jack London's The Call of the Wild has staying power in the brutal world of literature. Only the very best books ascend to the top of the heap. Only a select few of those stay there for a hundred years. The Call of the Wild is one of these books.

The book is a relatively simple, straight-forward tale about Buck, a large mixed-breed dog stolen from his comfortable existence in California and sold as a sled-dog for the Yukon gold rush. Buck faces the trials and tribulations of the far North's harsh environment and harsher masters. This is a story of transformation. He must forget his trusting, dependent ways and fend for himself, fighting for his very survival. He digs deep, variously finding and losing both hate and true love, and ultimately discovering the elemental animal within.

The book's shortcomings are few. London employs a risky anthropomorphic narrative style--though he does it well. We see the action from Buck's perspective. But dogs don't talk, so there is very little dialogue. This results in more "telling" than "showing." The descriptions are sometimes a bit long, typical of turn-of-the-century writing style. And I was left wishing for more of the wonderful colloquial French-Canadian dialect we saw in the small smattering of dialogue.

The book is a fantastic transition choice for kids graduating from fluffy chapter books to more adult-like fare. The stark, life-and-death issues it confronts grab their interest and make life-long readers of them. In poetic irony, London's book is like the character within it: a survivor. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

Jack London has a knack for expressing the human condition. He uses the backdrop of the unforgiving Yukon and the main character Buck as a metaphor of a child growing up and trying to adapt to the everyday toil of being an adult of an unsympathetic world. Jack London can be like a modern day Aesop talking about his philosophies of the world. His character though strong and powerful on an individual basis was subjugated and dictated to the whim of his master no matter how he tried to establish dominance over the master he realized that he will suffer consequences if he doesn't conform to his master's wishes. Also as a part of the pack of other dogs he establishes control and struggles for dominance assuming that it is the only way to survive.

I disagree that this book on its own should be considered a book that is just for kids because I found a new depth reading this book and relate to the story and the author's motivation for reading the book. London was a person who was bored with the monotony of toiling with menial jobs and decided to look for adventure. How many people out there in the world today feel the same way as London frustrated with their living condition and need space to experience new ideas and sense the opulent and tangible treasure that the world has to offer. This book is a look into the psyche of London and any person that longs for something more than 'just another day at the office.'