Book Review: LED Lighting: A Primer to Lighting the Future by Sal Cangeloso

LED Lighting: A Primer to Lighting the Future by Sal Cangeloso is a very good primer to the world of LED lighting.

It begins with a chapter on key feature of LED lights in an attempt to win you over.

The book is structured very well but has too few illustrations for my taste. The information it carries is very thorough but may turn off non techies.

Although I am an electronics engineer and am very interested in green technologies, I felt that the primer was not very successful in keeping me interested. Perhaps this is what primers are for and my expectations were misplaced.

Recommended for those seeking a thorough but short reference about LED lighting. Not recommended for non-techies.

About the author:
Sal Cangeloso is a life-long technology enthusiast who founded computer hardware site XYZcomputing.com in 2003. In 2007, he started working for Geek.com. He now runs Geek.com and ExtremeTech.com. Sal is an inquisitive guy who loves computers, cameras, and pretty much anything electronic. via Amazon.com

[Disclaimer: I got this book for free as part of the Oreilly blogger review program I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."] 

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Book Review: One Incredible Savior: Celebrating the Majesty of the Manger by Max Lucado

One Incredible Savior: Celebrating the Majesty of the Manger is a gift book that contains various copyrighted works form Max Lucado's other writings.

The book is structured very well and is very beautifully illustrated. The selected excerpts are very appropriate to the purpose of this gift book.

Although I am an avid Lucado fan and have read many of his books, I found this collection of various writings on related to Nativity a fresh and welcome effort.

Recommended for those seeking a Christian gift book that is not too heavy on Biblical references. Not recommended for Lucado's fans who are looking for a new book.

About the author:
Lucado was born in 1955 in San Angelo, Texas, and raised in Andrews, Texas, the youngest of four children. His father was an Exxon oil field mechanic who, Lucado remembers, always smelled of grease cleaner. "It makes it easy for me to see a God who is loving and kind--because my dad was," he says. His mother was a nurse who grew up working in the cotton fields.

Lucado went through a period of rebellion against his parents' values and their God during his teens and into college. But it wasn't long before he found himself drawn back to his roots, back to God. He married, spent time serving as a missionary in Brazil, and returned to the States, where he began working as a church minister and writing on the side.

From all accounts, Max Lucado is not a man consumed by sales, awards, and achievements. He often turns down media interviews since they impede on family and ministry commitments. He spends the bulk of his week serving as senior minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. And he is truly surprised by his own success--more impressed by his one-in-a-million wife and three amazing daughters than by his successful writing career.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers thru NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Book Review: The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Andy Stanley

The Principle of the Path is an easy-to-read guide on getting out of unsuccessful life patterns. I liked the way the author imparted lessons from his life taken from 'simple experiences' and relating them to the main principle that he writes about.Although he touches on the life of David and Solomon, he does it it a way that would not require anyone to open a Bible.

The book started with a good narrative although I found the introduction to the Principle a bit too wordy and at times taking the tone of something mystical. At times, I felt that Stanley took a lot of words to explain something simple but I think it is his way of saying that what he is saying is important and he is trying to explain it very carefully to drive his point.

I found Chapter 5 good and was worth the time that I spent reading the book. There is a lot of good points in that chapter and I think that if the rest of the book was like that chapter, I would have rated this book higher. But again, you have to read the first four chapters for chapter 5 to create the desired impact.

Overall, I found the book to be lengthy and at times discouraging as the author stressed about bad choices for  so long without offering any solution. I wish this book has a condensed form.

Recommended for those seeking a Christian self-help book that is not too heavy on Biblical references and has the time to read. Not recommended for those expecting something heavy or direct to the point.

About the author:

Andy Stanley serves as senior pastor of the campuses of North Point Ministries, including North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia; Buckhead Church in Atlanta, Georgia; and Browns Bridge Community Church in Cumming, Georgia. Each Sunday, more than twenty thousand attend one of these NPM campuses. Andy is the bestselling author of Visioneering, The Next Generation Leader, It Came from Within!, and How Good Is Good Enough? Andy and his wife, Sandra, have two sons and a daughter. Read more at Amazon's Andy Stanley Page 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Book Review: Google Power Search by Stephan Spencer

Google Power Search is a brief but direct book(let) on how to exploit Google's various search engine features. Although the things discussed in the first two chapters may be readily available in various blogs and forums, the contents of the rest of the book are very valuable. Some advanced and not-so-well-known features are also introduced.

I am glad to have found the book as the section on common operators help me immediately in avoiding frustration in looking for what I really want. Finding what I need on the first page of results rather than on the third page is really great.

Highly recommended for those who do a lot of searching on the internet, especially those who want to find them quickly.

About the author:
Stephan Spencer is an author of The Art of SEO published in October 2009 by O'Reilly and co-authored by Eric Enge, Rand Fishkin and Jessie Stricchiola.

Stephan is the founder of Netconcepts. Netconcepts started out as a web design and marketing agency, but over time morphed into a leading SEO firm. Stephan, and Netconcepts, had been heavy into the science of SEO since 1999.

Netconcepts was acquired in January 2010 by paid and organic search software/services agency Covario. Covario is one of those rare companies to have made it onto the Inc 500 list two years in a row -- in 2009 and again in 2010.

Stephan is the inventor of the automated pay-for-performance natural search technology platform GravityStream, now re-branded as Organic Search Optimizer.

He is a Senior Contributor to Practical Ecommerce and to MarketingProfs.com, and a columnist for Search Engine Land and Multichannel Merchant. He's also contributed to DM News, Catalog Age, Catalog Success, Building Online Business, Unlimited, and NZ Marketing magazine, among others.

Stephan is a frequent conference speaker on SEO and other online marketing topics for the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), American Marketing Association (AMA), Shop.org, Internet Retailer, SMX, IncisiveMedia (Search Engine Strategies), O'Reilly/TechWeb, PubCon, ECMOD, IQPC and IIR. His hundreds of speaking gigs have taken him around the globe -- everywhere from Berlin, London, Toronto, Santiago, and Auckland, to New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and places in between.

Stephan is an avid blogger. He blogs at Stephan Spencer's Scatterings, Natural Search Blog, Business Blog Consulting, Changes For Good, and Google, I Suggest... He's also been a contributor for the following group blogs: Searchlight (part of the CNET Blog Network), Shop.org Blog, and MarketingProfs Daily Fix.

Stephan is on the advisory board of CrowdGather.

He holds an M.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

[Disclaimer: I got this book for free as part of the Oreilly blogger review program I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."]

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Book review: Leading at a Higher Level - Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations by Ken Blanchard

I have been a fan of Blanchard ever since I read a copy of the One Minute Manager. Since then, I have bought and read most of the books in the series.

In Leading at a Higher Level, Blanchard covers all the principles that were imparted by the One Minute Manager Series. This book is a handy reference for all the principles.

However, the tone of the book is serious, unlike the light approach of the other books in the series. There were many references to the other books which can cause frustration to those who are not familiar with his other writings.

Overall, if you are looking for an all-in-one book covering Blanchard's Situational Leadership II leadership model, this is it. For those who enjoy lessons being presented in the form of stories, I wouldn't recommend this.

About the author:

Dr. Ken Blanchard is the cofounder and Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm that he and his wife, Margie Blanchard, began in 1979 in San Diego, California. In addition to being a renowned speaker and consultant, Ken also spends time as a visiting lecturer at his alma mater, Cornell University, where he is a trustee emeritus of the Board of Trustees.

Ken has received many awards and honors for his contributions in the fields of management, leadership, and speaking. The National Speakers Association awarded him its highest honor, the "Council of Peers Award of Excellence." He was inducted into the HRD Hall of Fame by Training magazine and Lakewood Conferences, and he received the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters International. Ken also received The Thought Leadership Award for continued support of work-related learning and performance by ISA--The Association of Learning Providers. Ken has been inducted into Amazon's Hall of Fame as one of the top 25 best-selling authors of all time. The business school at Grand Canyon University bears his name. In addition, Ken teaches students in the Master of Science in Executive Leadership Program at the University of San Diego.

Born in New Jersey and raised in New York, Ken received a master's degree from Colgate University, and a bachelor's and PhD from Cornell University. An avid golfer, Ken belongs to the Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland.

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