With Nails the Film Diaries of Richard E

Customer Reviews:

Hilarious and insightful.......2007-05-30

I just got this book recently after seeing Richard E Grant interviewed on TV (in NZ). He came across so well in the interview, funny, and insightful, and rather cute too... Hearing that he's a writer I decided to check out his books. Within two pages I was laughing out loud, and then a little further on I had tears in my eyes (no not from laughing, but from a reading his account of the birth and death of his first child).

Grant has an interesting way of writing - stream of consciousness, and it really works well, taking the reader along for the ride. At a quick glance the writing is similar in a way to Tom Wolfe (father of New Journalism) who is well known for writing in that stream of consciousness vein. But whereas Tom Wolfe's writing comes across as purely observational - there's no emotion, he's just retelling what he sees... Grant's writing is more personal, he has great observational strengths, but it's his insight, perceptions and intelligence that really jumps out from this book.

I love the book, and can't wait to get my hands on The Wah Wah Diaries, and also his novel, By Design.

Totally agree with other comments on this book - Grant's style just makes it feel like a conversation between the him and the reader, and as one reviewer said: "leaves the reader aching to meet Grant in person to continue the dialogue".

And completely feel the same as the other reviewer who said that finishing the book felt like losing a best friend - I so didn't want to finish reading the book - I wanted to continue the conversation - I was enjoying it so much.

Totally worth getting hold of this book.

From Withnail to stardom........2002-02-02

Richard E Grant's film diaries are fascinating for anyone wondering about the machinations of the film industry. It covers everything from his earliest job in the film "Withnail and I" (which launched his career)through to working on "Hudson Hawk", LA Stories" and many more. He comes across as so affable and totally appreciative of his fame and new found financial security. The personal stories involving his wife's miscarriage and death of his father tug at the heartstrings.
I'm sure Grant is the sort of guy you coould meet on the street or in a pub and have a good chat with, not one of these pretentious Hollywood bores.Merely someone who has paid his dues and truly deserves to be where he is today.
If you read this Mr Grant, all I can say is hurry up with the second lnstallment of your film diaries. You've worked on so many films in the past few years that another book MUST be in the works. A book that I can't wait to read. If for nothing else for your recollections of working on SPICE WORLD:The MOVIE!!
Funny,poignant and truly endearing.

i beg to differ.......2001-10-26

reading the other reviews, i have to wonder if I read the same book they did! I got this HOPING it would be a witty and amusing dishy book on Hollywood life, instead it reads like a long scattershot set of "and then i did this, and then i went there". A sample paragraph is how he went to restaurant X, and then flew to city Y, to promote movie Z, then he called his wife, then he said hello to actor W, who said he liked his work. Yawn.
I gamely plowed through the first half, then gave up.

Witty and entertaining.......2001-07-25

This is quite an entertaining book that traces Richard E. Grant's career from his very early days in WITHNAIL & I all the way through to his role in the Spice Girls movie, SPICEWORLD. A varied career indeed. It's fascinating to read about his rollercoaster ride through filmmaking, bouncing from gigantic bombs to critical successes in a seemingly random fashion.

This is a captivating look at the behind the scenes activities from several movie sets, yet Grant manages to keep both his feet firmly planted on the ground even when meeting and socializing with the biggest of stars. The result is an often hilarious tour of the madness and method that goes into making films. We encounter several very famous people within this text: Grant parties with Madonna, receives multiple high-fives from Bruce Willis, accepts strange fan-mail from Steve Martin and gets stuck on a never ending film-shoot in Budapest with Sandra Bernhard. Each of them are seen through his grounded eyes and interacted with in his neurotic, slightly sarcastic manner.

Although this is not even a complete account of all (or most) of the films that he has acted in throughout his career, there are a few places where his private life does occasionally intersect on the pages of his diaries. There are some extremely tear-jerking moments, the most moving of which is during the shooting of WITHNAIL & I where he is caught going back and forth between the film work and his wife's pregnancy complications. The book is a whirlwind of emotions and random observations. It's slow and thoughtful during the breaks between shooting, but quickly speeds up to a breakneck pace when the real work begins.

This is a great book for anyone who has the slightest interest in a behind the scenes peek at the movie industry from someone who doesn't have their head already in the clouds. Richard E. Grant shares his philosophies, his outlooks and his wit with us in these diaries and they come highly recommended.

My Favourite Book of All Time.......2001-02-18

Richard E. Grant takes his readers on a hilarious journey through his experiences in the film industry. His writing is sharp and incisive with no hint of egotism creeping through. Throughout the entire memoir, Grant is on the same plane as any working-class person in the world - this allows for him to connect with his reader, and at the same time, it makes his experiences, such as meeting a plethora of celebrities or attending all sorts of bizarre parties, all the more unbelievable and hilarious. With Nails is a book that can be read over and over again: Grant delivers so many bitchy, shrewd observations that, upon rereading, rear their barbed, comic heads.

Richard E. Grant is probably someone you've never heard of. He has always been a supporting actor, and has starred in a few dud pictures such as `Hudson Hawk' and `Pret-a-Porter'. The great thing about With Nails is that he's not afraid to admit his own, or his movies' failures and foibles. At the same time as he delves into his film diaries, Grant discusses some extremely personal experiences with the reader, such as the death of his baby girl only 36 hours after delivery: "she was the size of my hand" he laments.

It's moments like those in With Nails that remind the reader that Richard E. Grant is just a normal guy who has inadvertently stumbled into the totally bizarre and foreign world of Hollywood. For goodness sake, the man was born and raised in Swaziland, Africa! It's amazing that, despite his successes and run-ins with celebrity, he remains totally grounded. Just like your next-door neighbour. Just a guy that has had a tremendous run of luck and has described his whole way-out trip along the way.

This book is so excellent, so funny, so amazing... it's my favourite book of all time. Definitely get it. You won't regret it.

Book Description

While the literary world is filled with international cookbooks, as well as cookbooks for children, none combine both features as does Multicultural Cookbook of Life-Cycle Celebrations. Webb covers the celebrations and the recipes that take a person from cradle to grave. Arranged by region and country, the latest multicultural cookbook is an ideal resource for all classes that use culinary customs to bolster curriculums, presenting more than 250 authentic recipes, it includes interesting introductions about each celebration.

Customer Reviews:

"A" for effort; but some fact-checking and editing needed.......2001-06-25

"The Multicultural Cookbook of Life-Cycle Celebrations" presents more than 500 recipes (from about 140 countries) for foods eaten at important "life-cycle celebrations", e.g., birth, coming of age, marriage, housewarming, etc. The recipes are accompanied by introductory texts containing cultural and geographic information. The recipes are modernized and streamlined for cooks in the developed world (e.g., canned and frozen foods are used in place of less processed counterparts, more common ingredients are often substituted for rarer ones); this may be a good thing or not depending on what you're looking for. The book is aimed at students and has a class-project feel to it. While there is much to admire here, I found several things that concern me. Consider the following from the "Africa" section of the book:

1) A recipe from Tanzania with the Swahili title "Ndizi na Nyama" is called "Stewed Tomatoes with Bananas". "Ndizi" means "Banana" (or "Plantain"), "na" means "and", and "Nyama" means "Meat", but there is no meat in the recipe. Maybe the recipe is "Ndizi na Nyanya" (i.e., "Bananas and Tomatoes").

2) A recipe from Gabon for "Gâteau" is a recipe for French bread. "Gâteau" is the French word for "cake", and "pain" is the French word for "bread". The text explains that people in Cameroon and Gabon use the word "gâteau" (instead of "pain") to refer to bread. I lived in Gabon for two years and will be the first to admit that the French language as spoken in Africa often differs from that in France, but I never met anyone who called bread anything other than "pain". Perhaps things are different in Cameroon. (Interestingly, the Gabonese almost always did use the word "gâteau" to refer what the rest of the French-speaking world call "beignets", that is, "doughnuts".)

3) Why does a recipe in the "Egypt" section for "Egyptian-Style Eggplant Salad" have the title "Auberginen auf Ägyptische Art" (which is German for "Eggplant in the Egyptian Style")? I don't get it.

4) Why call the "stiff cornmeal porridge", which is eaten all over Sub-Saharan Africa, by its Lesotho name "Putu" even when it appears in dishes from other countries where it is called by other names? The more common Eastern African name, "Ugali", is never mentioned.

These may seem very small matters, and they don't affect the quality of the recipes, but they make this reviewer begin to wonder about the rest of the book, especially unfamiliar recipes. Despite the fact that most of the recipes and related texts seem correct (as far as I can tell), until this book gets a complete going-over by a team of fact checkers, I cannot recommend it.

A highly recommended addition to the adventurous cook.......2001-02-24

Drawn for all corners of the world, the recipes found in Multicultural Cookbook Of Life-Cycle Celebrations are organized by nations of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, North and South America, and the islands of the sea. From Yegomen Kitfo (Collards with Spiced Cottage Cheese), Talamee (Syrian Loaf Bread), and Kielbasa z Kapustoy (Sausage with Cabbage), to Vadas (Fried Lentil Puffs), Bacalaitos (Fried Cod Fritters), and Los Camotes (Candied Sweet Potatoes), these dishes represent the complete spectrum of cultures, countries, and culinary customs. Multicultural Cookbook Of Life-Cycle Celebrations is a highly recommended addition to the adventurous kitchen cook and a super reference for ethnic "theme" dinners and dining clubs.

Multifaceted Masterpiece.......2000-12-31

This is a reference book packed with information on the history, population, celebrations, customs, rituals and feasts of many countries and cultures of the world. It has proven valuable for students writing papers on "A Typical Day In The Life Of A Syrian Teenager", as well as brides planning an authentic French wedding complete with Croquembouche and Beignets Souffles. Extensive explanations are given, at the beginning of the book, for necessary ingredients and common techniques in the recipes listed. This is wonderful for young adults, and the definitions are thorough every step of the way. An excellent book to have in your own cookbook collection.

Average customer rating:

Fun game

Car Wars: Card Game
Steve Jackson
Manufacturer: Steve Jackson Games
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Misc. Supplies
ASIN: 1556345534

Customer Reviews:

Fun game.......2007-07-04

Fair warning - the theme of the game is shooting up other cars with machine guns, rockets, flame throwers etc. If this does not appeal, they also have a game with virtually identical rules, except it is between "battle cattle".

That said, the violence is fairly abstract, and the game is quite fun. From a game mechanics perspective, it is quite simple to learn and play. My son (being a gamer's child) is not typical, but could have started playing this by age 5 with no problem. I'd imagine by 2nd grade pretty much all kids could master the simple addition and subtraction.

Each player has a car, which 4 sides (front, rear, right, and left) with 12 hit points. They can play weapon cards that cause damage ranging from 3-6 points. There are also a variety of defensive cards (armor, swerve, etc.) that can stop or reduce the damage. One lack, is that all the cars are the same (different graphics, but same damage points), but we are planning to design some custom cars that will help out the variety a bit.

This is much easier to play than the original car wars game, but much less varied. I'd recommend this for preteens. I think hardcore gamers will become bored after a while, but I don't mind playing it once in a while with my kid. One thing I hope it will do is eliminate the desire to play Mill Borne (another game my car crazy kid like to play) - my chief complaint with Mill Borne are the boring periods where you sit around drawing cards to make things start happening again. There are no obvious problems like that with the Car Wars card game.

Book Description

Contains everything that a project team needs to know about the development and deployment of Web services with the IBM WebSphere product family. Included will be examples for all development artifacts in a format that can be reused in the reader’s project. It combines the authors’ own practical experiences with consolidated information on the latest product capabilities in a unique approach that allows the book to be easily accessible to a broad spectrum of readers. Finding a balance between a euphoric/optimistic and down-to earth/realistic view on the subject, this book will be an essential part of every Web service developer’s bookshelf.

Customer Reviews:

Review of Web Services.......2007-01-10

I like this book and am still reading it and I think I can pick up lots of skills and knowledge about Web Services. One more thing I want to mention here is that I accidentally hit a button on amazon web pages for purchasing this book so I ended up buying 2 copies of this book, a hard copy and a soft copy. I should get refund on the soft copy becuase I never review it online. The following is the part of the order info for the soft copy:

Order #: D01-8384140-5827130
Subtotal of items: $ 11.99
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Total before tax: $ 11.99
Estimated Tax: $ 0.00
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Total: $ 11.99
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Total for this Order: $ 11.99

IBM SOA Explained.......2006-03-19

This book excells in explaining the IBM Toolsets and their applicability in the Web Services and SOA area. Unfortunately they are for version 5 and a version 6.x addendum would be great.
Having said that working the examples into version 6 format is good practice and not too much sweat.
This book provides all the coverage you need if you are dealing with the IBM WebSphere kit (all the IBM Redbooks are also a great help!)

If you had time or money for just one book on web services..........2005-11-10

If you had to time or money for just one book on Web Services, this would be it. The book truly delivers on different perspectives namely, business, training, architecture, development, operational and "future". You start by learning enough to convince your boss (or clients, in my case) of the benefits of using your approach and then proceed to master the whole XML based implementations as well. Dense read, though: there is enough material in each chapter to cover an entire book. If you are a java programmer, it makes it even better, most probably because the book came out in 2003 when Microsoft .NET was still pretty clueless about all this web services stuff anyway. Even the J2EE world is way ahead of the book in terms of implementation. Still an excellent read, so my only request would be...a second, updated edition!

Textbook Review.......2004-08-09

Review:

"Perspectives on Web services: Applying SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI to Real-World Projects" Zimmermann O., Tomlinson M., Peuser S.; Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., Secaucus, NJ, 2003.

This voluminous text is essentially about the classic man-machine relationship model.

The reviewer became interested in this topic and monitored the slowly evolving field until 1962 when he published a paper entitled "Shaping and Controlling Human Behaviour in Man-Machine Systems"; Proceedings of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Industrial Administration and Engineering Production Group, Vol. 177, Number 34, pp 935-950; 1963 (1 Birdcage Walk, Westminister, SW 1).

He presented the Performance System Spectrum with Man at one end and the Machine at the other. In between these two extremes he defined and illustrated a multitude of combinations including Simple Man-Machine, Complex Man-Machine, Men-Machine, Man-Machine-Man, Man-Machine-Men, and Men-Machine-Men.

By 1963, time-sharing and remote operator terminals had evolved and the computer systems were mainframe...the personal computer and the Internet, if they were envisioned at all, would have been considered purely science-fiction. In relation to the Men-Machine-Men system, he wrote: "...the total system has become so complex, with so many inputs from and outputs to human(s), that design engineers tend to move towards a fully automated system..." In the more than four decades which followed, the flood of computerized systems (and computer acronyms) increased as anyone reading this can testify. And that brings us to today...and Web Services.

We shall see that Web Services satisfies the definition and is a Men-Machine-Men system. To quickly understand what Web Services is the average reader shouldn't start with the text under review but with an excellent article, "The Web Within the Web," Enrique Castro-Leon, IEEE Spectrum, February 2004, pp 42-46. Examining this paper first and then delving leisurely into "Perspectives on Web Services: Applying SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI to Real-World Projects" will have a higher payoff even for those readers who are experienced software engineers, developers, analysts, and systems architects.

Castro-Leon presents a concise thumbnail view of this emerging concept. He argues that "...dusty, musty databases filled with useful data that would be far more useful if linked with other, equally dusty databases; enormous databases that are locked up inside ancient mainframes and quaintly archaic minicomputers; lonely databases residing on specialized file servers throughout an enterprise (pronounced business); even modern databases on Web servers...(are) stuck in long-obsolete proprietary formats or accessible only through hypermodern scripting languages..." Further, "... Web services are a way programmers can make their databases available across the Web , let other programmers access them, and tie these disparate databases together into services that are novel, perhaps even wonderful..." This, of course, is the basic reasoning for improving the Machine part of the Men-Machine-Men performance system.

"...Web browsers have liberated us from the tyranny of specific hardware and the near monopoly of the Windows operating system...(because of)...the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, which provides a standard for the way Web pages are downloaded from a Web site to a computer, and the generic nature of Web pages themselves..." The Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) ",...was designed to encode things that will be viewed by people, rather than processed by another machine. HTML mixes formatting commands...with data because it was designed as a display language..." Castro-Leon continues: "...if Web services are to build powerful networks of collaborating databases and services, the first step is replacing HTML with something more compatible with the world of databases, something that can be understood by another computer...such a new language has been developed...a subset of HTML, called XML, for Extensible Markup Language..."

This movement to improve the Machine subsystem did not end with the invention of XML. There had to be some mechanism to move XML data rather than HTML across the Internet. This was SOAP --- Simple Object Access Protocol --- a generic wrapper which is an envelope recognized and accepted by Web browsers and servers. Together, XML and SOAP give Web Services interoperability.

However, another specification was needed called UDDI ---Universal Discovery, Description and Integration --- which, as Castro-Leon states, "...lets Web Services look for databases (by Machine) in the same way that Google lets humans look for Webpages..." But the process didn't end with the development of UDDI. There had to be a standard which allowed the Machine to determine what is at a site once it has been identified. This standard was WSDL --- Web Services Description Language. All of these protocols took years to develop....and the improvements continue to this day.

Having presented an overview of Web Services from Castro-Leon, it is now time to review the 648 page text entitled, "Perspectives on Web Services: Applying SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI to Real-World Projects" This is in essence a "how-to" or a "cook" book, using an old world term, which goes into exquisite detail about how these software elements work inside the Machine and how to utilize them effectively and profitably. One might describe it as a "Web Services for Dummies" type of text but written at a much higher intellectual and professional level. The occasional humor is within acceptable limits and not extreme.

In the Men-Machine-Men model, the Machine is represented by all of the computer systems in the Internet world-wide and includes SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI as software and all of the hardware world-wide. The Men at one side are all the humans dealing with the Internet as users while the Men on the other side of the Machine are all the software people feeding the Machine world-wide with data and graphics which are then manipulated inside the Machine by SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI. You can visualize that the users might have a population of millions and possibly billions of individuals and the software people might represent a population of millions of individuals. That is why this volume on Web Services is an important reference today as the system is being implemented --- but there is a cautionary poem by the systems guy Kenneth Boulding regarding this Machine:

A system is a big black box
Of which we can't unlock the locks,
And all we can find out about
Is what goes in and what comes out.

Perceiving input-output pairs
Related by parameters
Permits us, sometimes, to relate
An input, output, and a state.

If this relation's good and stable,
Then to predict we may be able.
But if this fails us - heaven forbid
We'll be compelled to force the lid!

Having forced the lid --- you are now inside the Machine! The book is structured using the "goto" branching command. The authors encourage the reader to study a section and then decide to continue on or "goto" a different section. In fact, they suggest not reading from cover-to-cover at all but selecting those parts directly related to the reader's job role.

The text is neatly divided into Perspectives chapters which follow a typical project sequence: Business, Training, Architecture, Development, Operational, Engagement, and Future. The authors state that they and their anticipated readers are "technical people" and their approach in writing was shaped in that way

Chapter 1 is The Business Perspective. In 30 pages they discusses definitions, EAI (Enterprise Application Integration), B2C (Business-to- Consumer), B2B (Business-to-Business), A2A (Application-to-Application), H2A (Human-to-Application), and potential inhibitors to decision-making. The Case Study of a fictitious insurance company is introduced which will be threaded throughout the book. Some of the flowchart models are clearer than others.

Chapter 2 is The Training Perspective. A better term for this perspective would be the "technical information" found in a manual used by individuals for self-instruction to learn about the software. 123 pages are devoted to a tutorial of concepts and technologies but the reader is not expected at this point to be able to apply them.

There is an overview of WebServices concepts and detailed information on the XML markup language including namespaces and schema. Attention to given to SOAP message formats and encoding. This is followed by WSDL, the interface description, containment structure of WSDL documents, and binding-related document elements. There are descriptions of UDDI's registry structure, identifier bag, category bag, binding template, tModel structure, linking to a UDDI registry, an API (Application Programming Interface) overview, and brief mention of WSIL (Web Service Inspection Language). There many well-designed coding sheet examples which would make sense to experienced programmers but probably not to novices.

About 86 pages are assigned to Chapter 3: The Architecture Perspective. The authors provide an introduction to Web Services architecture oulining paradigm changes, J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) and defining Web Services as the software part of the Machine. WSA (Web Services Architecture) is explained with the use of stacks and a disclaimer is provided since not all of the terms are universally accepted. WSA building blocks and component walkthrough is covered. Explanations are given for WS principles, Generic vs. Generated API, design patterns, business patterns, architectural patterns (microflow, intermediary, and interceptor/pipeline) and process choreography including public-to-private process mapping. Architectural decisions are outlined along with service matchmaking. In addition, NFRs (Non-Functional Requirements), gaps and countermeasures and SOAP Section 5 encoding are discussed. Finally, XML-based, WS, and application layer security are explained. There is a useful FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section ending the chapter.

Chapter 4 is The Development Perspective. Consisting of 192 pages, this chapter has a considerable amount of meat and consequently may cause indigestion for the vegetarians among us. The authors state that a reader should have a "...solid reading comprehension of J2SE and J2EE APIs..." It is written at a fairly deep level of detail related to reader motivation and categorizes this interest as: casual, steady or junkie. There is an emphasis on "goto" branching. Most of the coding examples are also found on Springer websites.

The introduction to the development of WS in Java presents the WebSphere Studio Workbench and Eclipse.org. WebSphere SDK (WSDK), the Emerging Technologies Toolkit (ETTK), and Apache SOAP 2.3 are described with some caveats regarding known flaws. This is followed by JAX-RPC and Apache Axis, definitions, an introduction to WS for J2EE and JSR 109 and the WSDK Toolkit.

At this point, starting on page 259, the first example or case in The Case Study is considered --- all the prior pages having been dedicated to technical information to bring the reader up to speed. The authors refer to the example as a "sample" and it is, of course, a simulation where the case problem is run on the WS model being described so the reader can learn how to do it later in real-life. More precisely it is a training simulation testing (with some debugging) of the solution provided by the authors....the author's terminology will be used here.

The case scenario involves several fictitious insurance companies. In terms of the Performance System Spectrum, this scenario deals with the Men-Machine-Men model with Men being Internal Users and the Machine processing risk and fraud management matters. Business logic requirements are considered and "The Great Debate" over Apache Soap or JAX-RPC occurs, followed by configuring and building the sample. To build RPC/Encoded Services for Java the bottom-up and top-down approaches are reviewed. There is a discussion of building EJB (Enterprise Java Beans) WS with Apache SOAP, and using the WS Wizard. The process of exploring and modifying generated files is described. Building EJB WS with JAX-RPC and JSR 109 follows, In addition, exploring generated server side files, updating the project build paths, modifying generated files, and testing the deployed service are briefly delineated.

The reader is encouraged to build RPC/encoded services from WSDL first creating WS from WSDL using Apache SOAP and then testing the WS client. There is also the process of creating WS from WSDL using JAX-RPC/JSR 109 and updating the WSDL document and installing the SOAP Router, and finally testing the WS. A section is devoted to programmatic access to WSDL, using the WSDL4J toolkit, testing the JWSDL application and creating JWSDL clients with JAX-RPC and JSR 109. The reader learns to use WS-Inspection to build service indices from Java and also with Apache Soap and to configure WSIL4J.. There many excellent figures illustrating this part of the simulation. At this point, the text moves ahead to the use of UDDI.

There are discussions of UDDI access from Java and browsers, using UDDI with Apache SOAP and also with JAX-RPC and JSR 109, using other Web Services bindings, creating a document/literal Service from WSDL and a document/literal Service Client. A secton is dedicated to orchestrating Web Services and use of the Process Editor. The reader learns about using attachments with SOAP, using SOAP headers and finally exporting the completed sample. While space is assigned to finding more information, there isn't any for FAQ which could have been useful at this stage. Some System Administrators have argued that constructing the application in this chapter was the easy part. The next stage deals with implementing it in a production environment and might be viewed as more difficult.

Chapter 5 presents The Operational Perspective which the authors have truncated to 79 pages and rely on the experience of the reader to fill in some technical gaps. There are many specific references to coding samples in .zip format on Springer websites. This chapter deals with the system architecture hosting the software and we are now deep inside the Machine in the Men-Machine-Men system --- and continually aware of Boulding's admonition: "....If this relation's good and stable, Then to predict we may be able. But if this fails us - heaven forbid, We'll be compelled to force the lid!..."

There is a discussion of topology, standalone topology, additional components,and clustered and managed topology. Reference is made to the Access Management Subsystem, load balancing and high availability support. At this point, the Case Study simulation of a fictitious insurance company continues and for the remaining pages is interspersed with tutorial information .

There are explanations of Deploying Web Services, the WebSphere Application Server, deployment and configuring the application server. There is information on JDBC configuration, JAAS authentication and Cloudscape, and restarting and testing the installation. Next comes Deploying Services, wsadmin, ANT; working on the private UDDI Registry, including configuring and adding WSDL documents to the UDDI Registry. Descriptions are provided for testing, clustering, and node agents; working with the IBM HTTP Server, starting, testing clusters, and finally cold standby.

Attention is given to Securing the WS Implementation: security threats, countermeasures, WS-Security, and future WS-Security extensions, Securing WS with HTTPS and SSL --- as the simulation continues. The chapter closes with the WS Gateway and how to configure it, deploying a WS to the Gateway, updating and client testing. Frequent mention is made of specific websites to support the simulation so the reader is not completely alone with just the text.

Chapter 6 is The Engagement Perspective of 27 pages and a typical reader would sense that the end is in sight!! This chapter reviews many technical points emphasized in the Case Study simulation and adds the following: Planning a WS Development Project, Outlining Requirements and High Level Design, Planning and Staffing, Running the Project, including testing and going live, Success Factors, Elements of Risk,lessons learned and design advice. There is a final look at the Case Study simulation.

The Future Perspective appears in Chapter 7. The authors briefly identify SOAP Version 1.2, WSDL Version 1.2, UDDI Version 3.0, and grid computing for the immediate future. The Semantic Web including RDF and OWL are mentioned and they provide mid- and long-term visions.

The chapter concludes with "Now enjoy the first project in which you apply and exploit this hot technology!"

There are rather complete coding steps, flowcharts, and screen displays in the boilerplate content of the Appendix including: Building the Case Study Policy Systems, Java to XML Mapping, and C# --- and 87 References for those who desire additional background.

As Castro-Leon in summarizing his IEEE Spectrum article said: "...the semantic Web's benefits won't be seen for some time; Web Services are here today...it will connect almost every island of data, software, and device on the planet..." The reviewer believes that this volume which introduces Web Services is a valuable asset in the drive to improve the Men-Machine-Men system which we call the Internet.

Leonard C. Silvern
Systems Engineering Laboratories
Clarkdale, AZ

A must-have for successful webservice projects.......2003-11-08

My primary reason for buying this book was the eye-catcher word "Real-World Projects" in the subtitle. I'm a professional developer/architect of enterprise size IT-projects and the fastest way for me to learn new things is by using examples. So in fact the "Development Perspective" chapter was the first chapter I've read and found it very useful if you are going to use WebSphere 5 in your project.
I was pleased to see that the next chapter "Operational Perspective" actually deals with questions regarding deployment and configuration. This is something most books are missing and many projects underestimate the importance of these aspects for a successful rollout.
Finally after reading two very useful chapters (written in an enjoyable style), I've decided to give the other chapters also a try and I wasn't disappointed. This book covers all important aspects for a successful webservice project and I strongly recomment it if you are going to start such a project.
During my time as a technical lead at Hewlett-Packard, I've got the opportunity to participate a pretty expensive software architect workshop. I was pleased to see lots of "Does and Dont's" I've learned in this workshop in the "Architecture Perspective" chapter of this book.
I finally ended up in reading all chapters of the book. I haven't read all pages of this book because of my previous knowledge and because of the excellent offered shortcuts within this book. But the time I've spent reading the rest was a rewarding investment. Whatever role you are going to play in a webservice project: you will find something useful within this book.
And finally don't forget: even Grady Booch thinks this book is a must-have. He wrote a nice forword for the book.

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