Mr. Mob: The Life and Crimes of Moe Dalitz

Mr. Mob: The Life and Crimes of Moe Dalitz
Michael Newton | 2009-04-13 00:00:00 | McFarland | 328 | Criminals
Morris "Moe" Dalitz was America's most secretive and most successful mobster. As a major architect of the United States' national crime syndicate, Dalitz was active in various fields of organized crime from 1918 until his death, all while spinning a web of myth and mock-respectability around himself so dense that decades after his demise, most mistake the legend for reality. From Prohibition-era bootlegging to the Reagan years, no other individual was present at so many pivotal events in gangland history. It's impossible to fully understand the modern Mob without knowing about Dalitz, his career, and the cunning publicity campaign that transformed his image from thug to that of a revered philanthropist. This exhaustive biography tells the story of Dalitz's life and the syndicate that he and like-minded individuals built from scratch.
Reviews
Although I would be very interested in reading this book, I will not buy it as I feel it is over-priced for a paperback edition.

In my opinion, for the $40.00 price, you should at least get a hardback edition.

I think even the late Moe Dalitz would probably agree that he is being overpriced. But, if the book sell well at that price then the publisher made the right decision.
Reviews
I just finished this book, and I found it fascinating. The research is extensive--and well-documented. I don't understand the previous reviewer's vague comment about a mistake between pages 1-38. It's American and European history! Maybe if he had spelled it out, it might make more sense, but he seemed to be too busy complaining about the lousy binding. He should have called the publisher and got a new copy.



As far as I can tell, this is the only book completely about Moe Dalitz. There are bits and pieces about Dalitz in various books about the early days of the Mob, as well as ones on the building of Las Vegas. I thought the author did a thorough job of chronicling Dalitz's life and his pivotal role in Mob history. The reader is left to draw his own conclusions about how much influence Dalitz had--which I found was A LOT. If you're interested in the early days of the Mob and Vegas, this is the book for you.






Reviews
I received this very expensive paperback book very quickly after placing the order. I got as far as page 51 when the pages started pouring out of the very bad binding. It's a complete shambles and pretty impossible to read without taking the pages one by one and adding them to a binder clip.

I have no idea why this book is so costly-- over $40. Add to that a pretty bad inaccuracy found between pages 1 - and 38 and I'd say this is not a very satisfying read. Perhaps it gets better in a copy where the pages don't fall out of a brand new book.

Download this book!

Free Ebooks Download

Human Reliability Assessment Theory and Practice

Human Reliability Assessment Theory and Practice
Anthony J. Spurgin | 2009-10-08 00:00:00 | CRC Press | 304 | Engineering

A continually evolving discipline, Human Reliability Assessment (HRA) has elements of controversy from the definition of terms to the application of appropriate methods for the representation of human failure probability. The idea that human error is a random event is falling out of favor and the concept that humans can be set up to fail or succeed depending on context is gaining credibility. An in-depth exploration of current theories, Human Reliability Assessment Theory and Practice demonstrates how to model, change, and apply new approaches to a number of different high-risk industries.

The book covers data and data sources, choice of methods, training of individuals, use of simulators for HRA purposes, and the relationship between psychology, human factors, accident analyses, and human reliability. Author Anthony Spurgin has been in the forefront of HRA development for the past 20 years and has contributed to developing Human Reliability methods and tools that have been applied to the enhancement of nuclear power plant and space vehicle safety. He explores reactor performance and the demands it makes on operators to ensure plant safety. He also covers the roles of plant management in the decision-making applied to both design and operation. The book includes a number of accident studies that illustrate the key roles of operators and managers in accident mitigation and control.

The heart of HRA will always be to find creative ways of helping designers, management, operators, and authorities increase the safety and profitability of technological systems. Drawing on his personal experience, Spurgin reviews HRA from the viewpoint of the operator. The book uses examples from the nuclear industry, always on the forefront of safety, and translates how to apply the concepts to other high risk industries.

Reviews
This book is an excellent description of HRA including its evolution and the current tools and methods that are used in HRA community today. Pros and cons of each method are discussed. The case studies described in the book are very informative and shows how HRA can be applied to prevent accidents or mitigate accidents. One concern that I have is the issue of reproducability,.i.e., can two qualfied analysts or team of analysts produce the same results or be able to reconcile differences if they exist. This issue underscores the importance of peer review by qualified SMEs. In general, peer review is important in the field of probabilistic risk assessment.
Reviews
Review of Human Reliability Assessment: Theory and Practice by Anthony J. Spurgin





This is a well-written, concise book that provides a very informative and insightful treatment of Human Reliability Assessment (HRA). I would recommend it to anyone who is responsible for design, operation, and management of complex systems. At the heart of the book is a review of some of the catastrophic accidents that have occurred in various industries, such as the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear plants, the Bhopal chemical plant, and the Space Shuttle illustrating how plant conditions, training, procedures, or management decisions led the human operators to perform unsafe acts. These same events are then re-examined through an application of an HRA to demonstrate how HRA methods can be applied to prevent or reduce the likelihood of such catastrophic events.



Download this book!

Free Ebooks Download

Verification Techniques for System-Level Design (Systems on Silicon) (Systems on Silicon)

Verification Techniques for System-Level Design (Systems on Silicon) (Systems on Silicon)
| 2007-10-23 00:00:00 | | 0 | Miscellaneous


This book will explain how to verify SoC logic designs using `formal` and `semi-formal` verification techniques. The critical issue to be addressed is whether the functionality of the design is the one that the designers intended. Simulation has been used for checking the correctness of SoC designs (as in `functional` verification), but many subtle design errors cannot be caught by simulation. Recently, formal verification, giving mathematical proof of the correctness of designs, has been getting much more attention. So far, most of the books on formal verification target the register transfer level (RTL) or lower levels of design. For higher design productivity, it is essential to debug designs as early as possible. That is, designs should be completely verified at very abstracted design levels (higher than RTL). This book covers all aspects of high-level formal and semi-formal verification techniques for system level designs.

. First book that covers all aspects of formal and semi-formal, high-level (higher than RTL) design verification targeting SoC designs.
. Formal verification of high-level designs (RTL or higher).
. Verification techniques are discussed with associated system-level design methodology.

Game Character Design Complete: Using 3ds Max 8 and Adobe Photoshop CS2

Game Character Design Complete: Using 3ds Max 8 and Adobe Photoshop CS2
| 2006-06-16 00:00:00 | | 0 | Game Programming


A game is only as intriguing as the characters that inhabit its world. Game Character Design Complete demonstrates each step of modeling, texturing, animating, and exporting compelling characters for your games. You?ll learn how to model in 3ds Max from sketch references, texture in Adobe Photoshop, rig bones, and animate a character back in 3ds Max. Game Character Design Complete covers all aspects of character creation-from the technical to the artistic. Don?t worry if your artistic ability isn?t awe-inspiring. You?ll cover every aspect of the design process in easy-to-follow steps, including texturing and animating your character. If you have a working knowledge of 2D and 3D graphics, then you have all of the skills you need to begin creating cool characters for your games.

Gorbachev

Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev | 1999-11-15 00:00:00 | Columbia University Press | 300 | Economics
Here is the whole sweep of the Soviet experiment and experience as told by its last steward. Drawing on his own experience, rich archival material, and a keen sense of history and politics, Mikhail Gorbachev speaks his mind on a range of subjects concerning Russia´s past, present, and future place in the world. Here is Gorbachev on the October Revolution, Gorbachev on the Cold War, and Gorbachev on key figures such as Lenin, Stalin, and Yeltsin. The book begins with a look back at 1917. While noting that tsarist Russia was not as backward as it is often portrayed, Gorbachev argues that the Bolshevik Revolution was inevitable and that it did much to modernize Russia. He strongly argues that the Soviet Union had a positive influence on social policy in the West, while maintaining that the development of socialism was cut short by Stalinist totalitarianism. In the next section, Gorbachev considers the fall of the USSR. What were the goals of perestroika? How did such a vast superpower disintegrate so quickly? From the awakening of ethnic tensions, to the inability of democrats to unite, to his own attempts to reform but preserve the union, Gorbachev retraces those fateful days and explains the origins of Russia´s present crisis. But Gorbachev does not just train his critical eye on the past. He lays out a blueprint for where Russia needs to go in the next century, suggesting ways to strengthen the federation and achieve meaningful economic and political reforms. In the final section of the book, Gorbachev examines the "new thinking" in foreign policy that helped to end the Cold War and shows how such approaches could help resolve a range of current crises, including NATO expansion, the role of the UN, the fate of nuclear weapons, and environmental problems. Gorbachev: On My Country and the World reveals the unique vision of a man who was a powerful actor on the world stage and remains a keen observer of Russia´s experience in the twentieth century.

Download this book!

Free Ebooks Download

Passive and active structural vibration control in civil engineering

Passive and active structural vibration control in civil engineering
T.T.Soong, M.C.Costantinou | 1994-01-01 00:00:00 | Springer | 1 | Civil Engineering
In structural engineering, one of the constant challenges is to find new and better means of designing new structures or strengthening existing ones so that they, together with their occupants and contents, can be better protected from the damaging effects of destructive environmental forces such as wind, wave loads, and earthquakes. As a result, new and innovative concepts of structural protection have been advanced and are at various stages of development. Structural protective systems can be divided into three groups as shown in Table I. The technique of seismic isolation is now widely used in many parts of the world. A seismic isolation system is typically placed at the foundation of a structure which, by means of its flexibility and energy absorption capability, partially absorbs and partially reflects some of the earthquake input energy before it is transmitted to the structure. The net effect is a reduction of energy dissipation demand on the structural system, resulting in an increase in its survivability.
Download this book!

Free Ebooks Download

Nexus One For Dummies

Nexus One For Dummies
Dan Gookin | 2010-01-01 00:00:00 | For Dummies | 384 | Web Development
Exploit the full power of the revolutionary Google Nexus One superphone

Nexus One is Google's answer to Apple’s iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry. Covering a range of how-to topics, from the most useful Nexus One features and tricks of the core applications, to techniques to get the most out of the device, Nexus One For Dummies is the practical user's guide to the Google Nexus One smartphone.
Uses full-color to showcase all the features of the Nexus One, approaching each from the point of view of the user who is new to the technology or discouraged with the scant documentation and online support
Covers a broad range of topics, from setup and configuration, to texting, emailing, accessing the Internet, synching with a PC, using the camera, and expanding the phone's potential with new software
Written by the most popular For Dummies author, known throughout the world for his ability to make complex topics easy to understand with his fun and friendly writing style

Nexus One For Dummies empowers you to maximize the performance of Google’s superphone. After all, what’s the point of buying the world's latest, greatest smartphone and never understanding how the thing works?
Download this book!

Free Ebooks Download