chart Books

I struggled with this book. It has some great ideas, but it reminds me of the last hour of the film version of The Return of the King or the entire King Kong by Peter Jackson. Where's the editor?

The good and the bad:
1. He gives concrete examples of how to use visual thinking and gives you tools to figure out what to do.
2.It's a 300 pages book talking about visual thinking. Okay. I read it on the Kindle, so I don't know really how big the pictures are. But the point remains - it is overly long. A full third of the book is taken up by a case study on selling B2B software.
3. Which, by the way, made no sense whatsoever. He starts by saying, "Let's map our customers." And then proceeds to put them all in a single company. It's quite possibly the worst case of profiling a customer base I've seen.

All in all, it's a good book. But focus on the SKIMMING, not the reading.

I'm not good at drawing, but that doesn't stop me from occasionally using a whiteboard to visually communicate ideas. Communicating ideas isn't about creating a Picasso or a Rembrandt. Stick figures are welcome!

The visual process contains four phases:

* Look: Orient yourself and know which way is up, where you are, and identify.
* See: Explore the five W's (who, what, when, where, and why) plus how many.
* Imagine: No SQUIDS here (it's SQVID (simple, quality, vision, individual attributes, delta (change)).
* Show: Telling the story with visuals.

Roam takes you through complicated examples -- typical business problems. For example, a training department had hundreds of documents and couldn't see anything anymore. After analyzing all of their work, the team created a visual process to break it down. The story becomes clearer.

I appreciate that Roam provides many examples. He also walks through several case studies of putting visual process to work. It may take some time to get the hang of the process and turning complicated ideas into visuals the audience can absorb with little thought.

This isn't the kind of book where you can scan a few pages and suddenly come up with a way to explain that doo-dad. I think the book could stand an appendix or chapter on how to draw basic figures. I couldn't even copy some of the simple drawings. Also, the software information needs to include Smartdraw. Although, not as powerful as Visio, it's more affordable.

Sales people can use the book to learn how to communicate their complicated products or services to prospects. Web design agencies can communicate their solutions for a Web site's architecture. Presenters can stop posting busy charts and use these drawings to quickly get a point across. The visual process comes in handy for many situations and I believe it's a good skill to have.

I also learned something else while attempting my first drawings after reading the book. I tried to use Visio to create them, but it didn't have what I wanted and it took too much time. Two drawings took about 10 to 20 minutes.

The premise of the book is that any problem, idea, or presentation can be solved using pictures - hand drawn pictures. Roam argues that everyone is visual, even those who say they aren't. He gives a few frameworks to work from as you prepare to draw out maps, charts, and pictures to present your ideas. I found them very helpful and refreshing. Roam also uses pictures significantly throughout the book which are also helpful.

In addition to Dan Roam saying that hand drawn pictures are more powerful than PowerPoint, Stephanie Palmer in her book Good in a Room: How to Sell Yourself (and Your Ideas) and Win Over Any Audience, also argues the same thing. My experience has been that they are both right. It really is much more captivating and easier to remember when I watch people draw out ideas in front of me rather than looking at a pretty computer generated graphic.

Typically I don't buy many books-- we have a good local library, so I buy only those that are 1) very interesting and 2) worth referring to later. This book is both. It is marketed as a book that shows how to develop business presentations by drawing the charts in front of the audience rather than relying on pre-made PowerPoint slides. Anyone, however, who needs to learn how to display data to convince others (data visualization) will find this book useful.

The good: it is an easy and fast read, with little jargon, and with good explanations of the various ways to display data. The chapter, "Frameworks For Showing," alone makes the book worthwhile to purchase. When do you use a timeline, or a flowchart, or a multivariable plot? This chapter explains all.

The bad: the drawings, while clever and creative, are at the lower end of my ability to read the writing. (And I have very good eyes.) A paperback version with the drawings much larger would be very helpful.

Very worthwhile.

Dan Roam's "Back of the Napkin" is an important first step in teaching business people how to compose problems visually. However, it's definitely a rookie effort, heavy on sizzle but light on steak.

Roam spends nearly half the book explaining how our minds process information. Okay, fine. Kind of like a book on how to build a house explaining what is a hammer, a saw, a drill. Then Roam proposes some different ways to draw the different ways the brain processes information. Kind of like showing that a hammer is good for nailing wood together, a saw is good for dividing wood in half, and a drill is good for drywall and screws. The reader cannot wait to see how this will all fit together - "This is going to be good!". Finally, Roam throws out an example of how to pull it all together to solve a problem.

Unfortunately, the example is overly-easy, explores many blind alleys, and finally arrives at a solution that is fundamentally flawed. Roam's case study shows flat sales for a proprietary software company for two years. Roam's analysis shows $78 million in proprietary software will be purchased next year vs. $48 million in open source. The solution - convert their software into open source. Huh? Leave a $78 million industry to a single competitor to compete with two other open-source vendors for a $48 million industry? What kind of solution is that? Will you fire all your developers and hire open source developers? Will you force your existing customers to move to open source too, or just abandon them?

In the end, after many chapters of "wait till you see this" type posturing, Dan Roam never delivers the goods. I don't doubt Roam's sincerity, and hope he will continue to iterate on his models until he comes back with something that actually works.

Handy and durable but only covers the central part of Paris and leaves out too much of what you may need.

It was not as easy to read as I'd expected. Having to turn it over made it awkward. I found it not as good as a free paper map I picked up in Paris several years ago. However, the laminated surface is a plus.

these maps are great for city center and heavy traveled areas near city. Be sure to review them before you leave to be sure they cover the area you will be in because they are mostly city center and heavy traveled areas near city. these maps are compact and easy to carry while traveling in city. they also have public transit information so you have it all in one easy to carry fold and laminated map. Did not use for driving but why drive in Europe? I would buy these for all my city travels.

I needed to add on a few dollars to get the free shipment for my books, but the map is very difficult to read. It fails to clearly show the subway routes. I have seen much better maps of Paris. It is also nicely laminated, but too large to carry!

I generally like the "Streetwise" series of laminated maps, and their Paris map is no exception. It is compact, clear, easy to use, and exceptionally durable. It covers the city center of Paris, and the front side centers along the middle of the city with the Seine River running roughly along the midline. Northern and southern extremities, an index, and a Metro map are located on the back. All in all it is exceptionally useful for both planning a trip in conjunction with a guidebook as well as actually maneuvering on the ground in the city.

The most important landmarks are well defined on the map, and the information presented is accurate and current in my experience (it was revised in 2008). If you want to get out of central Paris you will need another map. Every map is designed for a specific purpose, and this one is designed for use by tourists of central Paris; for this purpose this map is exceedingly well suited, and I recommend it unequivocally.

I have never received this product and I have filed a claim to receive my money back. I have not heard from the seller or Amazon about my claim. I am expecting to have my credit card credited for the amount of the purchase. This was a horrible experience. The book did NOT come and so we purchased it at the college bookstore. It did not save any money or time ordering from Amazon and now it is one huge hassle to get my money back!

Item arrived on time. Cover of book intack, however, that was all that was intack. The pages were like a deck of cards - not bonded to the cover. Not what I expected, especially after the price of the item and the vendor's description. Needed it desperately for school, therefore, was forced to keep item.

The book was used but looked brand new, came quickly and with it looking so clean, I should have no problems selling it back. Thanks!

If students plan to do well in class, this is definitely a got to have study guide for any student taking beginning Psychology.

I got this book very quickly and in great shape! I believe I did a great buy! I definately recommend buying from here.

This book was just not funny. I think a bunch of seventh graders could have written most of the entries. I wish had not purchased this book.

If only high-school geography had been this funny! I bought this book as a gift for my brother and had to peek inside and couldn't put it down from laughing so hard! I may have to order another copy for my brother...Good thing his birthday is still over a month away!

The more you know about the world the funnier this book is. It spoofs cliches, ignorance and the world at large. Clever, funny and very entertaining.

I got this for my boyfriend's birthday gift. He loves the Onion "News" site, and was a Geography major in college (perfect, right?) I don't think there was a moment, until he was finished, that he wasn't carrying the thing around with him. He loved it, and I have to admit, I liked what he read out loud, too. It's great.

Perhaps a better title for this book would be "Our Tragic World." Very few of the topics discussed here are dumb or funny. For instance, the Balkan section shows Croatia as the country of land mines. "Where all roads lead to serious injury." Bosnia is the country of war crimes. "Everyone is guilty of a genocide or two." Serbia is the country of ethnic cleansing. "Guy with Croat still stuck to sole of his boot." Is this funny? Really? Come on.

My fiancé was born in the Balkans and raised in Croatia. Several of his friends fought in the war on both the Serbian and Bosnian sides. Two of his Bosnian friends from Sarajevo were forced to fight. So reading "everyone is guilty of a genocide or two" is really not funny. Not when someone you know has gone through it.

The worst part is The Onion doesn't get the facts right. Effective satire gets all the facts right and then sarcastically alters how the subject is approached. In "Our Dumb World" some of the cities are located in the wrong place or spelled wrong. At the very least, the info should be accurate.

I do understand The Onion's humor. I own 2 of their books Dispatches from the Tenth Circle and Our Dumb Century and they are hilarious. I recommend buying one of those 2 books, but not this one. They have written about war and poverty before and done a brilliant job of it. A good example is when they wrote about a Barnes & Noble in Cambodia. They managed to denounce the tragic things going on in Cambodia, while at the same time pointing out our ridiculous comforts in America. That was true satire and it was done well.

However there is a fine line between witty satire and insensitivity. This book crosses the line in an unfortunate way every time. Instead, I recommend one of the other 2 Onion books I mentioned.

I really enjoy this map. It is just what I wanted and it arrived within 2 days of ordering. GO AMAZON!!

The map is nice and huge.. packaging was really nice.. arrived in pretty good condition... betters the geographic knowledge knowledge..

This is a very nice map for the price. Good clear text and all the major cities. However, my only complaint is that it came flat in the mail. So there are creases every inch or so that I cannot get out. I suggest this should be shipped in a hard tube. Take your chances.

-Dale

This is a great map and not just because of its price. I was looking for a map that was updated, large, and colorful. And that's exactly what I got.

I actually like the fact that the map is not the paper typically used for posters (it feels more like printer paper) because there isn't a glare effect from light; useful because I'd rather not have to shift, twist, and turn just to read it. Also, the quality doesn't strike me as being any lower. You can always laminate it as well- we have a similar map that is laminated and (if you don't mind the glare) it looks very, very nice.

I have to reiterate how colorful this map is! A good buy for anyone, especially those who will use it fairly often and beyond "decoration."

It took me a while to discover that my kids were not going to learn any geography in school. About the time my 10 year old asked me what the capital of London was, I started shopping for maps.

Because the world changes so rapidly now, I decided to order maps large enough for a 6 and 10 year old to look at and comprehend, but cheap enough to be replaced once the borders of various countries are re-done.

The positives - this map is correct, it's large (we tacked them up in the hallway to the kids' rooms) and it's very colorful, which is good for 6 year olds.

The negatives - it's not laminated, now if I was buying this for myself that would be fine, but the paper is also some strange form of paper that attracts and holds small sticky fingerprints. Being maps, little fingers are naturally attracted like magnets.

If you are making the purchase for an adult or a classroom, or if you intend to frame it, then I highly recommend this map. If you are buying for little ones, I'd spend the extra money to get a laminated version.

One last note - if you purchase from Amazon, they are not particularly well packed. They put them in a tube that is too large for the map so it bangs around and the ends get a bit bent up. Also they don't tape the ends of the tube so I had to have a second one sent after my first tube arrived empty and without ends on it.

I've been following Jessica Hagy through her blog for over a year now and I was incredibly excited when her book came out. This is a collection of some of her published notecards as well as a few which were never published. This is definitely a collection of some of her best, that will make you laugh and make you think.

If there was anything that I wish, it would be that there are more note cards. The book is for too short with most cards that I'd already seen. I'd definitely recommend it for someone who hasn't read her postcards before, or is simply interested in have a few random ones around.

Fabulous little book - funny, topical, wickedly subversive in spots. Wish I was this clever!

With Indexed you get as advertised . . . short, nerdy and oddly attractive; but if you skip it you will not miss it.

This is a great little idea -- key word little. It does not stretch to fill a whole book. Moderately entertaining, a few thought-provoking ideas. In my opinion, not worth this many pages.

I help companies sell more. Specifically, I help companies sell technical products. In this effort I speak to groups all over the country. I find that good visuals make a good presentation. I purchased "Indexed" to open my mind to better visuals.

This book can be used one of two ways. First, it is a funny and quick "read" (and I use this term loosely because there are very few words - it is visual). Secondly, this book can be reviewed often to stimulate visual representations for your own ideas....

It's not for everybody, but it works for me.

Frank Hurtte
River Heights Consulting

Steve Nison is truely the father of Japanese Candlestick into the western. He explained why candles are made and how the candle can be a signal to get into a trade and when to get off. The convergence of East and West makes my trading more manageable and honestly, I have "profit"-ed after reading this book. Very highly recommended!

If you want to learn candlestick stock trading this is the only
book you will ever need. It's very good. It has lots of pictures.

I am a begginer in studying the financial markets and I found this book great because besides japanese candlesticks I learnt about western technicals too. The subjects are well explained and easy to understand.

I went to a Steve Nison seminar first. Once Home I bought his book to review. The book is very informative. Well worth a Few reads and study.

The book by Steve Nison is certainly an indispensable tool for anyone who wish to invest their hard-earned cash in the stock market. It prepares you before you decide either to purchase, or sell, to stay or leave.

This handy maps are great. Be sure to review them before you leave to be sure they cover the area you will be in because they are limited to city center and specific highly traveled areas around city center but these compact maps are durable and have all the detail needed. They also include public transit. I would buy these for all my city travels.

This is a good, detailed and waterproof map. It is quite helpful for the heart of London. It is however small and a little hard to read. I am here as a tourist and when I reach in to my bag I always pull out the free tourist map that the hotel gave me. The free one is easier to read and marks the tourist sights a little better. If you are just coming for a short holiday, you really don't need to get a map in advance. Get one from your hotel when you check in. If you are moving here it is a good quick reference, but many Londoners use the more extensive A to Z.

Although this small, laminated, folding map will fit in you pocket or bag it was hardly ever there. On my recent trip to London I usually had it in my hand along with the London Mapguide. It is perfect for tourist wanting to see as much as possible within the city. It is very detailed with all the famous landmarks highlighted & color coded. It also has a list of the streets & other places of interest in ABC order with their position on the map, along with a subway map. Highly recommend!!!

You're going to need a map in London. This is a well crafted graphic, easy to read and understand, and appears to be constructed well enough to withstand lots of references, and probably lots of exposure to London weather.

I have used many Streetwise maps throughout Europe, and they remain my favorites overall for ease of use and utility of information presented. Some have criticized this map as only being of central London, and that's true: that's also why the official name of the map is "Streetwise London Centre City." Certainly maps covering more of London exist, but they would be illegible if reduced to this size. Likewise, more detailed maps exist, but to retain the convenient size the area of map coverage would have to be greatly reduced.

All maps are designed for a purpose, and in this case the purpose is for touring central London's major streets and attractions, and for that purpose this map excels. It is an excellent balance of comprehensive information and good legibility and should suit most tourists well. The map was revised this year (2008) and contains current information in my experience. I had no difficulty finding popular (e.g., Buckingham Palace) and less known (e.g., The Dali Universe) destinations alike with this map. Although I had several maps with me, after a day or so this was the one that I reached for first. The map does have an inset map of the London underground routes and stations, and the stations themselves appear on the main map as well. I recommend the "London Underground" map by Streetwise as well if you plan on making use of the tube a lot.

I have used many brands of maps all over the world, but for ease of use, legibility, and durability, I prefer the Streetwise series of maps.

This pamphlet is very well written and a bit fun learning to use! It arrived in a very thoughtful bubble wrap envelope that made sure it arrived to me in a flat and unbent condition. I used right out of the package. Yep after I learn all these chords the ladies are gonna be lining up to talk to PeNName!

Just started using it and so far it is helping my daughter and I learn basic guitar

I was very disappointed with this product. It has VERY FEW chords listed; and for the price, I expected at least a book of chords. I would hardly call this a booklet!

This is a great tool for the very beginning guitar learner.
When I have more time to devote to guitar playing I will use this product a great deal.

This booklet (only 8 pages long) is ok for giving you some starting chords to play simple tunes with. In fact, there are only 3 pages of chords and 5 pages of information about guitar tuning, guitar fret notes, common chord combo's, and basic guitar positioning.

You can easily get this info on the internet. I'd suggest getting a more comprehensive book on chords or a guitar method book.

very good graphics and print quality. The only -ve is that the paper is very thin (for this price don't expect better). Spend few more and get the laminated one. Happy with what I got for the price!!!!

I was happy to see that this map had major roads on it in light-grey. Not overpowering, but you can get a good view of them. Map was in perfect condition rolled up. (The plastic package was marked $4.95 and I paid $5.95, but worth it!)

This is a good map, it is bigger than I thought it would be. I love it.

This is a nice map. I use it in my kindergarten class. I laminated it for durability and hope to be able to use it for many years.

I purchased this and the "World Map" together from Amazon, since they are made by the same company on the same material, much of my review will be the same:

I was hunting for maps large enough for a 6 and 10 year old to look at and comprehend, but cheap enough to be replaced once things change or the kids did too much damage to it.

The positives - this map is correct, it's large (we tacked them up in the hallway to the kids' rooms) and it's very colorful, which is good for 6 year olds. It has time zones, capitals, waterways, and mountain ranges all clearly marked

The negatives - it's not laminated, now if I was buying this for myself that would be fine, but the paper is also some strange form of paper that attracts and holds small sticky fingerprints. Being maps, little fingers are naturally attracted like magnets.

If you are making the purchase for an adult or a classroom, or if you intend to frame it, then I highly recommend this map. If you are buying for little ones, I'd spend the extra money to get a laminated version.

One last note - if you purchase from Amazon, they are not particularly well packed. They put them in a tube that is too large for the map so it bangs around and the ends get a bit bent up. Also they don't tape the ends of the tube so I had to have a second one sent after my first tube arrived empty and without ends on it. (It was actually the world map that was missing from the tube, but this one was packed in the same manner)