Better than 2nd Edition, but could have been more.
344640
My gaming group owns two different copies of this book.  One is a first printing and the other is a second printing, both in hardback.  The second printing is more concise than the first, but there are still plenty of  ambiguous paragraphs where you simply hand the book to a lawyer and ask for  an interpretation.  But it's still better than the first printing of the  book, which we use under the short leg of the table.  There are more  errors, omissions, and conflicting passages than in the US tax code.  Example:  first printing does not give a limit to the number of points that  can be gained from taking disadvantages.  Second printing, if you read far  enough, eventually says that the limit is 15 points.  When this discrepency  was found, half of our group had used one printing and the other half had  used the other, and the differences in the characters created was fairly  extreme.
Despite the problems, we still use Skills and Powers more than  the Player's Handbook, mostly because of the ability to customize the  characters with different abilities.  One note however, when customizing  wizards and clerics, I've found that you're better off using Spells and  Powers as your primary source.
The updated psionics chapter was a nice  touch, and I realize it was meant for Dark Sun more than anything else, but  it would have been nice if they had updated to a system that was still  mostly compatible with the Monstrous Compendium entries, as opposed to  having to completely revamp a psionic creature so that it is consistent  with our psionicist PC before being able to use it.
2861223
Before I start nitpicking, let me begin by saying that this book is great. As far as other reviewers feel about Weiss's personal opinions about games, I WELCOME them. The author would be performing a disservice by not warning collectors about duds before we unload a hefty amount of cash on them.

Now let's talk about room for improvement. For the price, and the type of book (hardbound compendium), I expected something with more keepsake quality.  The pages are thin, and all of the photos are in black and white, which in my opinion deters from what the pictures are trying to convey.

While this book is thorough in describing each game for each system, the essays on the systems themselves are all rather short, 1-2 pages. A longer passage, including more hardware specs, history, and even company politics at the time would have been great.

But at the end of the day, it's a welcome addition to my library. As part of a dying breed, I love being able to walk over to my bookshelf to look up a game, rather than having to google it. Great job, Brett. Perhaps a 2nd edition will knock it out of the park.
377846
I normally prefer to buy used copies of books, and the earlier the edition, the better! However, in the case of Crockett's _Card Weaving_, I would strongly recommend purchasing the newer edition, even if that means buying a new copy rather than a used one. The first edition, from the 1970s, provides a reasonably good introduction to the history of the craft and its basic maneuvers, but the sample patterns are unclear and not especially attractive. If this were my first introduction to the craft, I would not be particularly interested to learn more -- especially compared to the gorgeous, intricate examples of tablet weaving you can find on sites such as Pinterest.

The updated version, which I found at the public library, has better pictures & patterns, and the overall organization of the book is better. Working through the 1991 (newer) edition will give you a much more coherent sense of how the craft operates.
989592
I found this book to be a good update on the new stuff in HTML5, including good information on some accessibility issues. However, some things are already out of date, since HTML5 & HTML5 browser support has changed since this book was written, and a 2nd edition is soon to be available.

It's important to note that this book is not for the beginner. The reader should already be somewhat familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Also, this is not a reference book, so don't count on that. If it were a reference book, it would be A LOT bigger and probably less beneficial.

Some have mentioned the humor in this book. Let's just say it is "childish" and "sophomoric"; the authors must have an underlying desire to be "megahunks". But many may find this type of humor funny (depending on the type of humor they like), and some could find it offensive and/or annoying and/or unprofessional.

But I wouldn't buy this edition with the 2nd edition coming soon. HTML5 and user agent support for HTML5 have changed and HTML5 is still not final (though it's true that a lot is still the same and would still be useful). I would recommend waiting for the upcoming 2nd edition, unless you have to have this now for some reason.

Because this book is already out of date (it was written Nov 2009 to May 2010) & the 2nd edition is upon us, I only feel comfortable giving the 1st edition 3 stars, but if the 2nd edition is just as good as the 1st edition was when it was first released, then I would probably have to give the 2nd edition 4 or 5 stars (leaning toward 5)... so I recommend the 2nd edition instead (I have the 2nd edition on order).
276150
The AD&D 2nd Edition Complete Thief's Handbook is a neat guide for DMs and PCs alike who wish to flesh out the role of the thief in any party or campaign.  This book includes specialized kits (subclasses of Thief), thief-oriented equipment (both magical and mundane), a very detailed section on thieves guilds, and ideas on incorporating more complex storylines involving this class.
The one gripe I had with this (as I have with 2nd Edition in general) is the lack of distinction between kits of different classes.  For example, you could call yourself an Assassin and be of either the Fighter or Thief classes.  There really should have been more of a separate label for such kits in each class so it is clear that when one is an "Adventurer" for example, you would know what their general class orientation is.
Overall, I recommend this book for gamers of the AD&D 2nd Edition genre who wish to flesh out and expand the role of the thief in their games.
144069
This book covers an interesting selection of topics (as Prof. Goodman describes in his excellent review), but I wished for a more engaging presentation. The  exposition is often rather concise, frequently no more than a page or two followed by exercises. Since the results of the exercises are often relied on in the sequel, the reader acutely feels the absence of solutions, hints and closed-form ("show that..." type) problems. The book is moderately illustrated, but not quite adequately for an undergraduate textbook. Its description of isometries in hyperbolic geometry relies heavily on words and algebra, even though these transformations are very difficult for a beginner to visualize. Ditto for even the humble M&ouml;bius transformation, for which Wikipedia will give you a better gut-level understanding. The notational choices, especially using 'r' for both rotations and reflections (albeit in the latter case with a bar over it), are sometimes unfortunate.

The author claims that basic linear algebra and calculus, along with dollops of group theory and point-set topology (open, closed and compact sets) are sufficient background. But familiarity with a bit more topology (e.g., homotopy and a basic understanding the idea of genus) will help, since the book's treatment of the topological material is lightning-fast. And having a course in complex variables under one's belt will make it much easier to appreciate what's so beautiful and unifying about the material presented here.

To calibrate: I'm not a mathematician or in school; this was purely hobby reading. I had hoped that this would be a relaxing read during a snowy year-end holiday, but I found myself getting annoyed with the author's not-quite rigorous, not-quite user-friendly approach. The book is already 20 years old, so maybe it's time for a revision -- especially since math graphics software is now widely available, and Springer has begun printing in color. I hope a new edition could be produced with more informative illustrations and at least a partial set of solutions or hints. For now: a 1 star deduction for the total absence of aids to exercises, and another minus .5 for the stylistic stuff.
597506
Before you consider purchasing this book, I strongly suggest you try to find the second edition, which, while less comprehensive, is better organized.  In addition, a comparison of the two finds that some of the best images in the second edition were not carried over to the third.

The worst shortcoming of both editions is the lack of images of fully grown trees.  It's nice to know what the leaves look like but, if you are trying to identify a particular plant or select one for your garden, you need much more than is provided here.  Of course, with the incredible number of Acer Palmatum cultivars, it is unlikely any one book can do more than scratch the surface.

Nevertheless, the second edition is the first book on Japanese Maples I would buy - as a matter of fact, I just bought one after mine wandered.
38371
There's a lot to be said in favor of this book, I must acknowledge right up front.  It does contain quite a few tabulated filter designs, and Mr Lancaster teaches a fairly straightforward approach to selecting from among them and scaling them to fit the user's needs.  The print quality is good, too.

On the other hand, it is a less complete book than I remembered it being from the days when I could still find my original copy.  There are some gaps in treatment of notch filters, for instance, and less thorough coverage of some other types than I would have liked.  I'm also not sure why he shunned everyday filter terminology like "Butterworth" and "ripple" in favor of dumbed-down alternatives like "flattest response" and "dips."  And, being yet another reprint of the Second Edition, there has been no effort to update information on better op-amps that are available now, or to modernize the active filter applications that wrap up the book.

Add to that the downright HEFTY price tag for this relatively slim reprint!  Taking those reasons together, if I'd had the opportunity to glance through this volume in a store before buying, I probably wouldn't have done so.  I ordered it more for sentimental reasons than anything else, but now that I can once again see its limitations for myself, I realize I would have been far better off putting that money toward a newer filter design book, such as the latest edition of Williams and Taylor.

On the other hand, if you need the easy to use cookbook kind of information this book contains, and you do not foresee buying more than one book on the subject of active filters any time soon, then this book might very well be worth the price to you.  What it DOES contain would be hard to find in any single other book.  You'd probably have to search through two or three other works, and who knows how much you'd spend doing that.

So, bottom line, I think it's fair to say that if you're looking for an all-in-one general resource on electronic filters, this is the one to have despite the price.  But if you already have some other filter handbooks and a background in the subject, this one might not be a very good dollar value for you.
401050
I bought this book in Dec. 2010, just after it appeared in O'Reilly's web page and read it all from cover to cover in a few days. I liked it a lot, particularly for its breadth and its insight into first-hand approaches as finding power-laws and graphical analysis, which I believe are extremely important aspects in operative day-to-day data analysis. On the other hand I believe the book could have been much better had the author avoided some unfortunate pitfalls. Errors in some formulas, as other reviewers pointed out, are unforgettable and show a bit of trepidation on the part of the author and the editor. Other are comparatively minor but still make the book fall a little short of my expectations, for example (but this is my personal opinion) I hoped that the section on principal component analysis would have more mathematical detail. The choice of software is understandably limited, but I found the omission of PDL, the Perl Data Language, a bit unfortunate given its enormous capabilities for data processing. Overall, a good and relatively inexpensive book that is worth the data analyst bookshelf.
4187082
This book is necessary for anyone wanting to run the D&D 3rd Edition game. It is helpful for anyone wanting to play the game, so that they can familiarize themselves with the kinds of creatures they can expect to encounter in the course of the game.  In that regard, it fulfils its function well. If you're starting to play 3rd edition D&D and are wondering whether to get this book, my answer is that I highly recommend it.

 But it's too short. Not only in quantity of monsters, but also in the description of those monsters themselves. Given the quality of the previous edition, it was a bit of a disappointment. The creature descriptions lack the brief ecology and background information, so that the descriptions consist of a collection of creature special abilities, and little else. Adaptability aside, that information from the 2nd edition manual was helpful from time to time in understanding the nature of the creatures, to allow the DM to run them better. This brevity of creature description means that creatures are not allotted a page each, which give the manual a somewhat crammed appearance. Many of the subtypes are omitted for no clear reason. Only two types of Genie are presented, the djinn and the efreet - the marid and the dao, most notably, are absent.

 Another possible flaw I see in it is that the new XP system is far too generous with the weak monsters. It may well have been the intent of the system designers, but in this edition, 1st-3rd level characters now get 75 XP from killing a goblin (CR 1/4). That might be a bit too much for some DMs' taste.

 But there is also much that is good about this volume. I really like the idea of template creatures. The concept is that certain creatures are individuals who were formerly or simultaneously other things. For example, each vampire, lich, or lycanthrope was some sort of character type first. By taking the character and applying the template, these old cutout monsters all become unique.

 I also like the artwork in this book. The monsters no longer look like 2-dimesional comic-book line drawings. I don't agree with all the artists' concepts of the creatures (the minotaur is too hairy, for example), but I do think the quality of the work is improved over previous editions.

 I also like that each creature is given a full set of ability stats. Creatures' hit points are affected by high or low Constitution scores. Creatures' attack and damage rolls are affected by high or low Strength. The drawback to this is that some creatures are listed as doing damage that will never actually do any damage. The Skeleton (tiny) does 1-2(-2) points of damage. According to these numbers, it has a 50% chance of actually healing a point. Of course it doesn't work that way, but they should have included measures to make sure that the damage never ended up negative.

 Definitely worth getting, but far from perfect. I hope that future monster supplements will return to the more readable one-monster-per-page format. But this one is still pretty good, even with that flaw.
3180799
I thoroughly enjoyed the first edition of this book. Many authors simply list the miseries of urban areas without offering real solutions. Duany, et al. break from that and actually provide concrete proposals that could improve our living experience. In my understanding, the second edition is not much more than a reprint of the original with a new cover and a new preface. If you are looking to save money, buying the first edition instead of the second edition will do.
2370221
I've had 2nd edition for some time, and it was serving me well as a reference to security. The only thing I was surprised to miss in the 4th edition was an appendix (just like in 2nd edition) specifically about HIPAA security requirements. Perhaps they're less important for the newest iterations of the CISSP exam, I'll find out some time later this year :-)
2354250
All in all, this book is very well written, especially if compared to other books in similar titles. Concepts are explained concisely and no extra irrelevant materials covered. That said, it still can be improved in two areas:
1. This book is very useful if you read it together with the companion wookbooks. The book I read was for weblogic, which, unfortunately, was kind of out dated. It took a while to get the first example up and running. After that, the rest is quite smooth.
2. The later part of the book, starting from chapter 12, seems to be done more in a rush. Even the writing style was kind of different from earlier chapters. Also there were quite some repetitions that probably could be omitted and replaced with more elaboration and examples of the topics.
4738076
I am reviewing the 5th edition I received when I bought the book last year. Coming from book 1's 6th edition, the difference in style and formatting is jarring. There is more and more complex content to get through compared to book 1, all of which is necessary but also a slog to fully learn. This content, I think, is where many people will burn out, and you had better have learned the entire vocabulary from book 1 going into book 2, or you're in for some pain.

This is where I took off a star for the rating: Exercises. There simply aren't enough, especially for those people who learn primarily through exercises. Properly learning the conjugations and tenses presented requires way more than what's provided. There really should be a separate workbook to truly get these concepts reinforced.
3227535
The second edition is vastly improved over the first, which I did not recommend.  I give a solid 4-star recommendation to the second edition of this text.  The second edition is a good, but not perfect selection from world religious traditions.  I think the average student will find it has helpful resources in bringing further insight into the moral, spiritual and religious beliefs of a variety of world religions.  The text is solid all-around in its representation of religion, with the exception of the introductory chapter, which is still badly fragmented and too-brief in its overview of thinkers and perspectives in religion.  I wish the chapter on Hinduism had at least a fragment on the Bhagavad-Gita, but overall I would say this is a good selection of religious texts.
4809091
I bought this 3rd edition to replace my 2nd edition which finally split open from years of use. I know the official review says "significantly enhanced," but as far as I can tell, aside from an appendix with some small photos of casting, the content is the same. Many revised editions of textbooks have a foreword describing the revisions, but I could not find one in this book. I also found the print harder to read. I would recommend that you buy the 2nd edition if you can find a copy significantly cheaper in good condition.

Would welcome any factual corrections and will edit my review accordingly.
3260918
Having the 5th edition and hearing so many better things about this edition, needing it for a few assignments (I could have probably gotten by without it), I decided to go ahead and order this. There are some things I like this one over the 5th edition, but other reasons I like the current edition.