Good, but a bit dated at this point.
926357
If you're looking for an introduction to JMX, this book gives good coverage of the concepts and techniques behind instrumenting your applications. However, if you're looking for information on the latest and greatest in JMX, especially anything related to JMX remoting, then you should look somewhere else. This book was written in 2002, before J2SE 5.0, and a lot has happened to JMX since then. Starting with J2SE 5.0, JMX is a core part of the Java standard library and the JDK ships with a highly usable remote management application called jconsole.
54018
While it's a great book, it's years out of date and I would love to have an update.
2494643
I quite enjoyed this book, especially the quasi case studies that made it easier to see how his tips could be implemented. I think a lot of this was more customer service and less sales, but that was fine with me.
This does need an update though. Texting and social media wasn't really the novelty he presented it as then, and definitely isn't now. A good read though.
1403830
The author does a good job of introducing concepts with useful examples that encourage the reader to work along.  There is also a number of interesting historical accounts of usage.

The book could use a bit of updating now though, ten years after being originally published in 1997.  In terms of computational power and encryption research, that's several generations, meaning recommended RSA key lengths have changed considerably and new encryption techniques are in use, most notably AES.  It's also unfortunate the book was not updated when it was translated to English in mid-to-late 1998 since the EFF DES Cracker had just completed it's historic 3 day crack of a DES message.  The book also doesn't mention the 1997 RSA Challenge which spawned that project (as well spawning the first successful DES cracking effort, DESCHALL, in 1997).

Lastly, the author provides unsubstantiated opinion at a few points in the book.  The most memorable being on page 209, where he responds to champions of data protection who oppose authorities gaining the ability to read encoded messages by saying that he "...lived altogether ten years under two dictatorships and value the democracy under which I have now lived nearly fifty years - despite some of its drawbacks.  That is why I would grant our government the right to control encrypted data traffic in justified cases - [possibly by depositing] the key with a state authority, while a private group would make sure that the state does not abuse this privilege."  He provides no justification for this opinion, or for the apparent disregard for his years under a dictatorship which one would think provided a healthy dose of skepticism about:
* a government promising to not abuse its power (where the "bar" for justification drops until it is really no longer even a bar)
* the ability of any group to effectively monitor the government for abuse
* the chance that the monitoring group itself hasn't been compromised by supporters of the government

Despite these short comings, it is definitely worth a read for what it is: a good introduction and a good historical reference.
928669
Not a bad intro to the subject, although the technology seems to be moving so fast that it is probably out of date already.  Easy to read and understand.
4689932
We need a newer version than a 2009 book!  This is helpful, but quite a few things have changed.
1208662
It was a great book when originally printed but some things are quite outdated now.  Still a good read though
493727
I edit a newsletter for a dog club.  I wish that this book was a bit more up to date (some of the illustrations are of dog breed standards that have "aged" when today dogs like show Dobermans have a longer ear crop).  It would be also be more convenient if the illustrations were available on a CD like in many of the newer Dover art books, to use as clip art for newsletters.

The actual rendering of the dogs is beautifully done.  I like the show pose dogs, but I really like the casual sketches and drawings of dogs at work or playing.

I also find it sad there is no mention of agility or rally training or showing.  There is only one picture of obedience working dogs, again, this is sad.  More illustrations of heeling, sitting, and other exercises would be useful.  And this section needs to be  brought up to date with rally.  It would also be nice to see some service dogs or therapy dogs at work.  Its says the book is a replication of a publication from 1962, and that is what it looks like...a 50 year old book that hasn't kept up to date with new accepted AKC breeds, breed changes in grooming and cropping and some of the new exciting strides forward in dog training and working.
1027144
This book has a lot of good advice in general about some of the issues in automated server management. Now that cfengine3 is out, however, a lot of the material here is obsolete because it relies on cfengine2. Cfengine3 is a major rewrite of the tool, so basically none of the examples here are totally relevant. An updated edition would be great, but it would probably mean basically rewriting the book from scratch.
2523102
This is a fine addition to any software developer's library. It's a little on the dated side, though. If you haven't read Code Complete, I would suggest you start there.
781356
Helpful, but very dated. I suspect it covers the foundational 80% of the advertising business, but advertising has changed substantially since this book was written. Technology has driven new tactics. It needs to be updated.

It's worth a read if you really desire to know about the innards of an ad shop, but you'll need to find what's current elsewhere.
2155910
This is the granddaddy of many of the strategy books of the last 25 years.  Like any granddad, it is full of wisdom, but some of it is a little dated and may not apply well to the current environment.

The book describes the two primary methods of competitive advantage - differentiation and cost leader, and then proceeds to go through and explore the various components of the value chain that allow for the development and execution of the strategies.

Unfortunately, my edition was a first edition from 1985, so many of the examples were dated, and they applied well to the days of GE and ITT of the early 80's, and less to the Citigroups of this century.  Not sure if Dr. Porter updated the book substantially since its intial printing - but I would recommend buying a newer edition if available.

Having said that, like graddaddy's wisom, the principles are important, and the theory solid.  It translates to modern times with a little effort - which says a lot after 25 years.
499456
Lots of good philosophy here, but the product is beginning to get dated.  As program functionality marches forward there will be things this book does not cover.
1662750
I'm about 75% done with this book, and while it has some good tidbits of info, it has one major problem: It's dated. Some of the summaries go as far back as 1980, I think there's one even from the 70's. If I would have known that half the summaries were so old, I definetly wouldn't have purchased it. While you can glean some nuggets of information from some of these summaries, most are just too dated to have much bearing on todays marketing aspects.

Some of the preditions, like the internet as an emerging technology and social aspects of marketing are interesting to be able to see how they came to fruition. I wouldn't have minded a few summaries from marketing past, but over half the book is devoted to summaries from the 90's while less than 25% is devoted to just early 2000. I think the latest article they have is from freaking 2004 - light years past when it comes to the internet and other marketing media.

I definetly would not purchase this book at it's full retail price. As an ancillary purchase to a more recent book,at 7$ that wouldn't be a bad deal. It's got some interesting information on different tactics and comes from the perspective of several high profile figures who bring different things to the table. As a bargain purchase, it's not a bad deal, but it seems like they just could have included some more recent books, especially with internet marketing being such a huge part of todays marketing.
2934846
I am sure that back in the day this book was very useful. I should have checked to make sure I had an edition date, as this one is from 2002-very dated information. I'll keep it as a reference, but am still not sure how much useful information I will glean from it!
3735054
At the end of 2008, be aware that this book is a bit outdated in his content.
4462859
It was somewhat dated, but I found it to be good at describing the china. Since the priced estimates were several years old, it was difficult to estimate the current values. Still, it was a good book.