Books about Demystifying from Amazon.com

Often referred to as the "black art" because of its complexity and uncertainty, software estimation is not as hard or mysterious as people think. However, the art of how to create effective cost and schedule estimates has not been very well publicized. While the average software organization can struggle with project costs that run double their original estimates, some of the more sophisticated organizations achieve results with estimation errors as low as 5-10%. These best-in-class organizations use scientific techniques that are not cost-effective, however, making them of limited use to most software development organizations. To address these issues, Software Estimation focuses on the art of software estimation and provides a proven set of procedures and heuristics that software developers, technical leads, and project managers can apply to their projects. Instead of arcane treatises and rigid modeling techniques, award-winning author Steve McConnell gives practical guidance to help organizations achieve basic estimation proficiency and lay the groundwork to continue improving project cost estimates. This book is organized from simple tips to more advanced ideas; it does not avoid the more hairy mathematical estimation approaches, but the non-mathematical reader will find plenty of useful guidelines without getting bogged down in complex formulas..
Price: $22.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Demystifying Grantseeking is an inspirational and instructional guide to grantseeking The authors--successful grantseekers in their own right--show you how to overcome the common fears fundraisers often experience and offer sound, practical advice to successful grantseeking. The book provides you with a systematic and logical way of searching for grants, and helps to identify which foundations to approach so fundraisers don't waste time on dead-end proposals..
Price: $16.71 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Gold is a sterile asset that yields neither interest, dividends nor rentals and costs money to hold, but its price has surged to record levels, doubling since 2001.  Why? Who is buying it and what are their reasons?  How is its performance linked to the condition of the world economy and, especially the health of the US dollar?  And, most pressingly, how can you decide whether it represents a useful way of diversifying your portfolio, an asset you should include in your pension provisions – a good investment or an overvalued bandwagon?

Goldwatcher explains the pros and cons of gold as a twenty first century investment – when investing makes sense, when prices make sense and when they don’t.  The book addresses everything the independent investor needs to know about investing in gold.  It  addresses gold’s history as a repository of value; what drives supply and demand, why and how the US dollar and global macroeconomic factors affect gold price, how experts in the filed of money management see its prospects and when prices are reasonable.  Situations are explained in which gold will be invaluable to investors as stateless money that keeps its value even in the worst of times; a niche investment with value underpinned by scarcity; an investment to include in a portfolio to spread risks; and a suitable investment to include in pension provisions.

As unbiased analysts the authors are neither bulls or bears, rather they examine different scenarios that could play out in currency and financial markets, the effects they would have on investors, and what investors can do to protect themselves from adverse developments..
Price: $20.93 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This book is designed to teach the beginner a basic vocabulary of 100 Arabic words—covering 8 everyday topics: around the home/ clothes/ around town (including transportation)/ countryside/ essentials/ opposities/ animals/ parts of the body..
Price: $5.41 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Why does this word have an accent? When do I use ser and estar? Why por and not para? I don't understand the difference between the imperfect and the preterit The subjunctive? I give up! Do these questions sound familiar to you? If they do, you have the right book. I had the same exact questions when I was studying Spanish. Now, I know them well enough to explain in this book. I have to admit that I don't always know the reason why I use one form instead of another; I learned a lot just from reading and listening to spoken Spanish..
Price: $12.55 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The directors of one of the country’s most admired preschools, the 92nd Street Y Nursery School in New York City, draw on their fifty years of combined experience—as educators, admissions directors, parents, and respected leaders in early education—to give parents of children between the ages of three and five the guidance they need to feel confident and empowered. Authoritative, comprehensive, and tremendously reassuring, here’s a no-nonsense guide to navigating nursery school life both at home and in the classroom, and a celebration of a very special time in the life of a child.

The early years of childhood are a singular time in the life of a family, a period of unparalled growth and discovery for parents as well as for children. It’s a time of unique closeness, of physical and emotional intimacy and intensity. And it’s at precisely this time that a child today takes his or her first steps into the world beyond the cocoon of home and family. This can be exciting, gratifying, glorious; it can also be a source of ambivalence and anxiety. For many parents, letting go of our children is one of the greatest challenges we’ll ever face.

Nancy Schulman and Ellen Birnbaum’s Practical Wisdom for Parents is a response to the hunger for practical information that accompanies this incomparable epoch in the life of a child, the result of thousands of relationships with young children and their families. What should we look for in a preschool? How can we best assess what kind of preschool is right for our child? How can we help our children prepare for the increasingly pressurized interview process, and how can we prepare for it ourselves? What are the most effective and painless strategies for separation, discipline, toilet training, and bedtime? How can we stimulate our children without overscheduling them, and where should we draw the line? What are the best books, toys, and activities at every stage, and how can we best support and encourage a child’s early social and intellectual development, at home as well as at school?

In the classroom, in parent workshops, in the admissions office, and as parents themselves, Nancy Schulman and Ellen Birnbaum have devoted their lives to listening to and understanding children between the ages of three and five. Practical Wisdom for Parents is as warm and humorous as it is reassuring and wise: a marvelous resource from two experienced, knowledgeable educators.

.
Price: $2.84 [Notify me when price goes down.]

What is WebSphere? is the reference you need to start understanding, managing, and capitalizing on an IBM based, WebSphere infrastructure. As a developer, mentor and technical trainer, the author, Cameron McKenzie, has been preaching the virtues of WebSphere for years. However, in his sermons, the same questions keep coming up, over and over again. What is WebSphere? tackles those questions in a funny, informative and easy to understand manner. This book is the best tool around for demystifying IBM's middle-tier technology. What is WebSphere? tackles those 'need to know' questions to which both WebSphere soldiers and J2EE neophytes need to have the answers. If you want to learn about WebSphere in a hurry, but you don't want to read a 700 page textbook that is littered with unreadable code, this is the book for you. In fact, the author promises right off the bat to demystify WebSphere without throwing all sorts of HTML and Java code in your face. Of course, the author breaks that promise on about half a dozen pages, but the sentiment remains. Whether you're a DBA, a senior systems analyst, a project manager, or a Java developer, there is knowledge in this book that you absolutely need to have..... The sections on demystifying J2EE and the WebSphere runtime environment will empower project managers to make more effective management decisions. The section on connection pooling and JDBC management will enlighten DBAs. The advanced sections on WebSphere classloaders, Java Naming (JNDI) and session management will enable developers to better leverage the services afforded to them by the WebSphere Application Server. And the sections on the WebSphere runtime will help J2EE architects make more enlightened infrastructure decisions. It doesn't matter who you are - if you are using WebSphere, you need the knowledge contained in this book! Order your copy now! www.portorials.com www.scja.com.
Price: $54.98 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Your First 100 Words in Korean removes all the intimidation from learning a language that uses a non-Roman alphabet or script. Learners are shown how to decipher and read the script while they learn 100 primary Korean words.

Detachable flash cards illustrate each word and make learning simple. Enjoyable games and puzzles--such as word searches and matching exercises--reinforce recognition and reading skills.

.
Price: $6.20 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In this newly revised edition of the award-winning Come to Your Senses: Demystifying the Mind-Body Connection, Dr. Stanley Block offers his Ten-Day Plan to optimize your life -- a breakthrough program that has helped people all over the world heal from post-traumatic stress syndrome, combat trauma, substance abuse, mental illness, pain, and depression.

The easy-to-apply method uses Identity System "resting" techniques that enable you to recognize and defuse the self-defeating mental tug-of-war that exists in all of us. Learn how stress, fear, and thought activate the sympathetic nervous system with increased tension, pain, insomnia, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. By literally "coming to your senses" of taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound, you begin to control negative responses, free yourself from a paralyzed state of mind, and live a happy, balanced life.

The response is amazing because the results are immediate -- ten days is all it takes -- Dr. Block's techniques take no time out of a busy schedule, they are simply incorporated into whatever activity you are engaged. Bridging the Identity System empowers you to work from your own strength and wisdom to deal with situations that arise in your life.

.
Price: $4.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Parents of a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) need clear, comprehensive information to decipher the complex, behavior-based diagnostic evaluations and definitions. This guide for lay readers clarifies the process of diagnosis for parents who don't fully understand it or wonder whether there is another ASD diagnosis that's more appropriate for their child. DEMYSTIFYING AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS is also an excellent tool for families who suspect their child has an ASD but doesn't yet have a diagnosis.

Bruey explains the five types of autism that fall under the ASD umbrella:

Autistic Disorder
Asperger's Disorder
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
Rett's Disorder
Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified(PDD-NOS)

She spells out the distinctions among these categories and demystifies the technical jargon so parents better understand how professionals assess the different types of autism.

Because diagnosis can be the basis for determining appropriate treatment, Bruey stresses the importance of getting one as early as possible. Intervention before age five has been shown to lead to the most successful prognosis for children with ASD, and this guide helps parents to evaluate their own and others' concerns about their young child's behavior. The book provides details about the professionals involved in the diagnosis, and the testing tools. Families learn how to participate in the process and play a critical role. Bruey also includes some basics about medical and behavioral treatments, and where to go for more in- depth information.

With more children diagnosed with ASDs than ever before, parents need reliable advice and information to make sense of their child's diagnosis. This invaluable guide is their answer. It can help families, as well as educators and caregivers, unlock many of the mysteries and nuances behind the ever-evolving diagnostic process..
Price: $11.30 [Notify me when price goes down.]