COM+, the next generation of COM, DCOM, and MTS, is here! Now best-selling author Roger Sessions offers an unbiased introduction to COM+ and the fascinating world of Component-Oriented Middleware (COMWare). In this book, you'll learn the new features of COM+ and how it fits in with other Microsoft technologies, how COM+ compares to CORBA 3.0 and Enterprise JavaBeans, and how to plan your future N-tier enterprise applications. To demonstrate how Microsoft's middle-tier technologies are being utilized in some of today's largest applications, Sessions then presents three case studies from Dell, Silknet, and Acentris-complete with business requirements, architectural overviews, system benchmarks, and lessons learned. Whether you're an IT executive planning your company's middle-tier strategy, a programmer trying to understand the new features of COM+, or an analyst interested in the differences between COM+, EJB, and CORBA 3.0, this book is for you. Advance praise for Roger Sessions's new book: "Roger has a gift for relating the somewhat esoteric topic of distributed computing to the everyday world. COM+ and the Battle for the Middle Tier provides a fine introduction to the problems addressed by the middle tier and the solutions offered by Microsoft's COM+."- MARY KIRTLAND Program Manager, Microsoft Corp. "Although I often don't agree with Roger Sessions's opinions and conclusions, I always enjoy reading his work. This book on COM+ is no exception. Roger uses simple real-world scenarios to explain very complex concepts about distributed computing,components, and scalable transaction processing, and his frequent play on words had me laughing out loud. For those who are true believers of the Microsoft way, this book may become your bible. It certainly will provide you with plenty of arguments to defend your technology choice. For those who believe in CORBA and EJB, this book will help you understand the strong appeal that Windows NT and COM+ have. (But keep the faith and don't be swayed.)"- ANNE THOMAS Senior Analyst, Patricia Seybold Group Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/

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This text contains information on database and information systems presented at the 5th IEEE international symposium on Object-Oriented Real-Time Distributed Computing (ISORC 2002).

"Four score and seven years ago..." begins Abraham Lincoln's beautiful speech commemorating the three-day battle that turned the tide of the Civil War. The South had been winning up to this point. So how did Union troops stop General Robert E. Lee's invasion of the North? With black-and-illustrations throughout and sixteen pages of photos, this turning point in history is brought vividly to life.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy sheds light on issues of real-world international relations

How the First World War influenced the author of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy: “Very much the best book about J.R.R. Tolkien that has yet been written.” —A. N. Wilson As Europe plunged into World War I, J. R. R. Tolkien was a student at Oxford and part of a cohort of literary-minded friends who had wide-ranging conversations in their Tea Club and Barrovian Society. After finishing his degree, Tolkien experienced the horrors of the Great War as a signal officer in the Battle of the Somme, where two of those school friends died. All the while, he was hard at work on an original mythology that would become the basis of his literary masterpiece, the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In this biographical study, drawn in part from Tolkien’s personal wartime papers, John Garth traces the development of the author’s work during this critical period. He shows how the deaths of two comrades compelled Tolkien to pursue the dream they had shared, and argues that the young man used his imagination not to escape from reality—but to transform the cataclysm of his generation. While Tolkien’s contemporaries surrendered to disillusionment, he kept enchantment alive, reshaping an entire literary tradition into a form that resonates to this day. “Garth’s fine study should have a major audience among serious students of Tolkien.” —Publishers Weekly “A highly intelligent book . . . Garth displays impressive skills both as researcher and writer.” —Max Hastings, author of The Secret War “Somewhere, I think, Tolkien is nodding in appreciation.” —San Jose Mercury News “A labour of love in which journalist Garth combines a newsman’s nose for a good story with a scholar’s scrupulous attention to detail . . . Brilliantly argued.” —Daily Mail (UK) “Gripping from start to finish and offers important new insights.” —Library Journal “Insight into how a writer turned academia into art, how deeply friendship supports and wounds us, and how the death and disillusionment that characterized World War I inspired Tolkien’s lush saga.” —Detroit Free Press

"A collection of ten short stories that all take place in the same day about kids walking home from school"--

2021 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Juvenile Mystery From award-winning author Taryn Souders comes a charming, southern middle grade mystery perfect for fans of Stranger Things and the Masterminds series. The whole town is talking about what's buried beneath the playground... Windy Bottom, Georgia is usually a peaceful place. Coop helps his mom at her café and bookstore, hangs out with his grandpa, bikes around with his friends Justice and Liberty, and is determined to live up to his dad's legacy. Windy Bottom is full of all kinds of interesting people, but no one has ever caused a problem. Until now. And somehow, Gramps is taking all the blame! It seems like there are a lot of secrets that were buried in their small town after all... Will Coop and his friends get to the bottom of the mystery and clear Gramps's name before it's too late? You will love Coop and his adventures if you are looking for: Mystery books for kids 9-12 Heartfelt and quirky stories for young readers Kids detective books 5th grade mystery books

In this insightfully honest and moving memoir about the realities of teaching in an inner-city school, Ed Boland "smashes the dangerous myth of the hero-teacher [and] shows us how high the stakes are for our most vulnerable students" (Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black). In a fit of idealism, Ed Boland left a twenty-year career as a non-profit executive to teach in a tough New York City public high school. But his hopes quickly collided headlong with the appalling reality of his students' lives and a hobbled education system unable to help them. Freddy runs a drug ring for his incarcerated brother; Nee-cole is homeschooled on the subway by her brilliant homeless mother; Byron's Ivy League dream is dashed because he is undocumented. In the end, Boland isn't hoisted on his students' shoulders and no one passes AP anything. This is no urban fairy tale of at-risk kids saved by a Hollywood hero, but a searing indictment of schools that claim to be progressive but still fail their students. Told with compassion, humor, and a keen eye, Boland's story is sure to ignite debate about the future of American education and attempts to reform it.

This volume of The Handbook of Research in Middle Level Education is a significant contribution to the literature on middle level schools because it is written specifically with policymakers in mind. Middle level scholars have illuminated the most important issues concerning the education of young adolescents of which policymakers must be knowledgeable. It is only by having informed policymakers that middle level schools can truly thrive and provide the kind of education that every young adolescent deserves. The future of our country depends on it.