This is an interesting concept: a set of recordings of Shostakovich's wartime symphonies.The result: well worth the effort.The listener is treated to the little-performed Fourth Symphony; Shostakovich was beginning to develop his own style, and this is something of a bridge between his first three symphonies and the Fifth.There are many recordings of the Fifth and Seventh, and these stand with the best of them.The Eighth is a personal favorite of mine. Very heavy music, but also very, very good.The Ninth is a lighter work; Shostakovich also feared comparisons with Beethoven's Ninth, so he took a safe way out.Patrick Jost
I really wanted to like this book, as well as another by the same author: A Tour of the Calculus.The battered scan should convince you that I DID read this book…some parts several times…David Berlinski clearly knows his mathematics, and his "formula" of explaining things through historical anecdotes, should work, but it doesn't.The problem is that the anecdotes start, very quickly, to seem forced. You just *know* that they did not happen.In addition, there are many other books-some reviewed here-that do a much better of of accomplishing what Berlinski set out to do.Patrick Jost
Very minor issue: the mail database conversion lost two of my passwords. Not a big thing, but mail says a server is "offline" when it doesn't have the password, it should ask for the password.The improved performance and extra features of Preview more than make up for this, though.Patrick Jost
I have to admit-I was not a "fan" of Watchmen until the film came out.I would agree with many reviewers that without some familiarity with Moore's novel, the film could be confusing.I know there are purists who think Snyder should have filmed it panel-by-panel, I don't completely disagree with them, but that may not have been practical.This DVD was on sale at the place where I got the Snow Leopard upgrade. I noticed it was Blu-Ray at checkout, and nearly did not buy it. I had noticed the "digital copy" designation, and they said I would, in fact be able to view the movie. I like the movie, but was not familiar with the "digital copy" concept, so I decided to give it a try (worst case: return it).The digital copy option worked perfectly. I put the DVD into the iMac, and iTunes took care of the rest. The download was fast, and now I have Watchmen!Patrick Jost
I have been a Mac user since 1984, and have trouble finding fault with the company or its products.The iMac, combined with a few pieces of software (e.g., Mellel, the world's greatest word processor) make it an unparalleled business tool.I had no problems with Leopard but was understandably curious about what improvements Snow Leopard might bring.When I learned of the early release of Snow Leopard (on August 28, 2009), I decided that would be "Snow Leopard" Day!The installation was painless-put in the DVD and go, just as it should be. The installation took just under an hour. I had seen reports of problems with restoring Internet access, but I did not have any.The only moment of concern was with Mail-it did take about 5 minutes to rebuild the mail database, but there's a lot of mail to go through!I have used it for about 12 hours, and have noticed increased speed, especially with opening documents. The new features in Preview are nice, and it is now the way to go for viewing documents.I still like Firefox, but it is obvious that Safari will win any speed test, so I may be using it for intensive browsing.
The upgrade is well worth the $29.99, and confirms the iMac as the leading business productivity tool!
Patrick Jost
Bruce Schneier's 2004 Secrets & Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World is still an extremely current book.It is nontechnical yet detailed, providing information what various technologies do and their implications. The organization is effective and interesting: Landscape, Technolgies, Strategies, with an excellent discussion of who the "bad guys" (such as they may be) are, what they want, and how to deal with them.Highly recommended.Patrick Jost
I can't say enough good things about Dover Publications. I've done business with them for years, and will continue to do so. Take a look at their site.
This book, The Nature and Power of Mathematics, by Donald M.Davis, is just amazing. Davis begins in familiar territory, covering Greek mathematics (including π), then moving into Non-Euclidean Geometry and other topics, including a very lucid treatment of cryptography.
A bargain at $19.95. Very readable, well made, with nice illustrations.
Patrick Jost
This is an interesting concept: a set of recordings of Shostakovich's wartime symphonies.
