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1. Leazer says

   Have you ever flirted with the idea of opening a B&B? Many people have, but most don’t have any idea where to start. Jan Stankus’s book will tell you everything you’ll need to know whether you have one spare room or six.

   I admit I was thinking about the possibility of buying a larger house than we can afford and putting the unused space to use as a B&B. I needed information, but surfing the Internet was a long and time consuming job.

   I did end up with two trade journals, that I’ll tell you about later, but there is no web site that has the plethora of information in this book.

   This book is very well written. I actually sat down with it and read most of it straight through, like a novel. The index is so good you can easily go back to the topics you’ll need if you pursue the B&B route.

   Stankus doesn’t pull any punches when she tells what’s involved in owning and operating a B&B. I found out things like:

   * the difference between a B&B and an inn

   * safety concerns for yourself and your house

   * zoning issues and ordinances

   * insurance, fire laws, and other legal requirements

   * furnishing and outfitting your home

   * how to get in the guide books

   * applying to and using an RSA (reservation service agencies)

   * ways to market your B&B business

   * what’s involved in the B&B lifestyle

   * your competition – how to find it and use it to your advantage

   * how to price your rooms

   * determining your start-up costs

   * amenities – what are they and do you need them

   Included are: some useful web sites; a state-by-state list of the RSA’s; U. S. & Canadian tourist offices; and a number of various work sheets.

   Stankus also deals with issues such as allowing pets or children as guests, medical concerns, food preferences and allergies.

   There is enough information to give a reader a solid background in how a B&B works.

   Here are some other sources if you’re enamoured of the idea of a B&B:

   * look for local or regional classes (many times taught by owners of B&B’s)…

   As always, Globe Pequot’s “How To” series is chock full of useful information, reasonably priced, and delivers more than expected. I’ve decided B&B (or innkeeping) isn’t for me. But, if you want to explore the option for yourself, I can’t think of a better book to start with.

   January 6, 2010, 3:21 am
2. Oberlander says

   This is everything I was looking for in a book to learn about starting a B&B. The book arrived in a timely fashion and is easy to read and gives you a lot of good information. Highly reccommend.

   January 6, 2010, 9:27 am
3. Redman says

   After taking a seminar in Opening a Bed and breakfast, I found this book to be very informative and influential in my decision of opening my own Bed and Breakfast soon. Realizing it will take a few years to get it up and running successfully, I know that this will be my goal and I feel I will be very successful in this endeavor with the help of my husband.

   January 6, 2010, 3:06 pm
4. Raiken says

   Found this entertaining, fun, and highly informative. If you need encouragement in starting a b & b biz, this is for you! Great anecdotes that are amusing and educational. Good advice all around. Particularly liked the checklists.

   January 6, 2010, 8:56 pm
5. Underhill says

   This is the best book I have purchased. Very, very helpful info. This is a must buy

   January 7, 2010, 3:29 am
6. Oscar says

   Let me first say that I am one of the authors on this book. I don’t think authors can objectively review their own work in a forum such as this, so I won’t. This won’t stop me from rating it five stars to help reinforce the law of averages.

   I will, however, address a few reviews posted here. First and foremost, I am a huge fan of the Stealing series, and the authors that worked on each of the three previous books. But based on customer reviews and our own feelings on the matter, the authors unanimously agreed that boosting the story value of the book was a priority. After all, even security geeks deserve a good plot and decent characters if they take the time to read technical fiction. Books of this genre should also teach. By all fair reviews, this book does both. If you’re interested in straight fiction, or straight tech, you’ll find this book to only be half-good. If you’re willing to be entertained, and are looking to learn something cool about hackers and how they operate, this is the book for you. And there I go, drifting into a review.

   So let me address one other complaint: the lack of a “real” ending. Well, that’s our fault. There’s more to the series, and we know how it’s going to end, but we adamantly refused to slip another deadline, so the book went to print with a cliffhanger ending. Now we’re not out to sell more books or make your life miserable by leaving you hanging, but this book had to either wrap up where it did, or it would have been scrapped by the publisher, who had no real choice in the matter. As authors, we missed our deadlines, but we did it in order to improve the final product. I’m personally proud of the end result, and the reviews show that we have good reason to be proud.

   So to long-time Stealing readers, this book is different because we grew in our craft, and our EXTREMELY capable story editor (Scott Pinzon) held us to the standard of mainstream fiction. Will we make the New York Times best-seller list because of our efforts? No. But this book isn’t for those readers. It’s for those in and around technology that have read one to many straight technical books.

   So we would love to hear what you think. Post a review if you’d like, or if you just want to chat about the book, head over to the “book talk” section of my web site’s forums (you know where to find it- Google is your friend). I’d love to hear from you.

   j0hnny

   January 7, 2010, 9:06 am
7. Nessler says

   It’s nice when recreational reading overlaps with technical material, and the Stealing The Network series qualifies for that designation. The latest installment is Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow – The Chase For Knuth by Johnny Long, Timothy Mullen, Ryan Russell, and Scott Pinzon, and it’s an enjoyable read that is heavy on the technical how-to while maintaining a decent plotline.

   There’s basically two story-lines here… The first involves Robert Knoll Jr. and his father, and is a continuation from the last book. All the police surveillance and investigations are taking a toll on Junior’s life, so he decides to act on his father’s cryptic message to head down to Mexico with nothing much more than the clothes on his back (and a large amount of cash). He is contacted by people who work for his father, and is taken down to Costa Rica where Senior runs an on-line poker site. Everything that Junior wants is provided (top of the line, too), and he starts doing some programming and network intel for his father. But he really doesn’t have a clue as to what Senior is really up to…

   The second story-line involves an autistic kid by the name of Paul Wilson. As he grows up, he starts gaining an interest in computer hacking and solving puzzles involving gaining access to various network sites. He’s befriended by an on-line entity known as Rafa who is amazed at how Paul can pick up concepts almost immediately. It helps that he has a photographic memory and is wired such that these types of problems engage him. Rafa starts paying him for “research assignments”, and Paul is thinking that he’s actually doing legit security work. That, coupled with his intense interest in the martial arts, pretty much absorbs all his time. But he starts to understand a bit of what’s really going on when he starts to hack a mysterious local business in order to help out a woman in his dojo. She has an ulterior motive for wanting to use his phenomenal hacking skills, but it may get them both arrested or killed.

   From a plot pacing standpoint, I was pleasantly surprised. The other books tended to be a bit more “vignette” in nature, so the overall story suffered. At least here, the plot and technology actually supported each other. Again, it’s not New York Times best-seller action-adventure, but it works for this type of approach. Paul seemed to be a bit over-the-top in his skills, but that element was supported by his autism. It stretched credibility at times, but not so much that you started to laugh (or at least I didn’t). My biggest disappointment is that there was no plot resolution to either story-line, so it’s a given that you’ll need to read the next one to see how it turns out. The plotlines are converging, and the next book *should* be pretty good. Still, I would have liked a bit more payoff at the end.

   Regardless, this is an interesting book about hacking techniques (complete with code) all wrapped up in an action/adventure plot. I’ll be interested to see how they merge the story and carry it on in the next installment…

   January 7, 2010, 2:50 pm
8. Lalone says

   Remember “stealing the network, how to own the box” how groundbreaking and fun it was to read, an intesely technical, multifaceted thriller. Remember reading the next two books, how to own an identity and how to own a continent, glued to the pages as the authors seemlessly twisted what started off as an unorganised collection of stories in the first book into a over arching plot in the next two.

   Now forget all that because the excellent story format of the first three books has been dumped. The whole book now is written by just three guys and they’re not very good writers. Knuth the shadowy arch villian escapes the clutches of the NSA only set up seedy poker website and spend his time sampling the local prostitutes. We meet a new character pawn, who is a naieve ninja(literally) hacker extrodinaire, the only way he could be more awesome would be if he was a pirate as well as a ninja. How someone could be such an accomplished hacker and so freaking naieve I have no idea, you’d think the person who spends his whole day breaking into other peoples computers would be a little bit more paranoid about his interpersonal interactions instead of just trusting every person who tries to exploit him.

   To top it all off, nothing happens in this book, we introduce 3 new characters and that is it. Nothing else of consequence.

   I can only assume the authors got greedy and decided that they didn’t want to cut anyone else in on this book so they could take all the money for themselves. They also seems to have decided that 1 book wouldn’t give them enough money so they artificially elongated it and turn it into 2 books, hey maybe it’s a triology who knows, this could be the next Star Wars, they can all be George Lucas.

   Basically if you loved the other 3 books steer clear of this one, it stinks.

   January 7, 2010, 8:50 pm
9. Ur says

   Did you enjoy the previous three Stealing the Network books? Are you looking for more? Then move along now, nothing to see here.
   The prior books were interesting because they introduced the reader to new ideas or new angles on old ideas, then moved on without belaboring them. If you wanted more details, there were often URLs provided. The last two tied the stories together with the intriguing Knuth character. But the folks running the project chose to switch to a new format, with fewer characters and stories, not to mention fewer authors, and fewer ways to split the profits.
   After three books with the same (proven) formula, it’s understandable the authors would want to try something new. Alas, it’s a disaster.

   Welcome to “How to Own a Shadow,” aka “The SQL Injection Adventures of Pawn.” Pawn is one of the new characters in this volume, and is the first StN character I hoped would get shot to death by the cops in a mini-mall parking lot. Yes, he’s that irritating. Particularly after reading 40 pages about his childhood as a high-functioning autistic (or something like that), and around 100 pages of him performing SQL injection attacks. Most of which is totally unrelated to Knuth. Note to the authors: SQL injection is interesting, but if you want to write a book about it, just write a book about it. I even gave you a title, what more do you want? You can even recycle much of this book, like you recycled part of the last one here.

   Oh, you noticed the real subtitle of the book, “The Chase for Knuth.” First, one chases _after_ fugitives, and hunts or searches _for_ them. Not that it matters, because there’s not much chasing or hunting going on in this book. There isn’t much Knuth, either. We see him in the first hundred pages, which is mostly about his son analyzing poker software. That’s the last we see of either of them. Because, really, this is “The Biography of Pawn.” We do get 50 pages of Knuth at the end of the book, but don’t get excited: it’s all from the last book, added as obvious filler.

   Speaking of filler, there’s a 17 page advertorial thrown in for BiDiBLAH, which is commercial software by SensePost. Oddly enough, they’re listed as technical advisors for the book. I’m sure it’s a fine app, but the authors have forgotten about Knuth again, since it has nothing to do with the story. If it had been relevant, it might have been a less obnoxious addition.

   Not everything is bad. There’s a brief bit about RFID, which of course turns into how to use RFID for SQL attacks. We get to meet Knuth’s supposedly dead wife, and a charming shrew she is. All in all, though, this book isn’t worth reading unless you’re a truly devoted fan of the series, or SQL. I’m still a fan of the previous books, and I hope the authors can recapture what made them so intriguing for their next book. I won’t be buying that one until I’m sure it’s not Book Two of the Pawn Saga, however.

   January 8, 2010, 3:08 am
10. Rockford says

    This book was excellent for someone interested in technology but has a hard time reading dull technical books. I have been interested in digital security for a while, but until recently hadn’t played around with SQL injections. I was interested in learning more about them and pleased to see that this book offered an excellent primer on SQL injections in the form of a story, which held my interest. In addition there was a cool primer on RFID hacking which I really enjoyed. The supporting story was intriguing and kept me reading to find out what happened next.

    There was a cliffhanger ending, and now I’m really looking forward to the next one.

    January 8, 2010, 8:50 am
11. Edmonds says

    This book is hard to put down! It was like looking into a window of the underground world that most people, even those in the Information Security Industry, are unaware exists. The technical aspects in thoe book gave the storyline a credibility that other books lack. The characters were colorful and well developed. The book opened my eyes to the very real threat of identity theft and how identities are “harevsted” and used as currency on the blackmarket by organized crime and malicious entities such as terrorist organizationa. Great read that will not diassapoint you.

    January 8, 2010, 2:44 pm
12. Tatum says

    I give it 5 stars because not only is it a great hacker thriller but the use of character names from the 80s movie Real Genius cracks me up. Its like the movie’s sequel.

    January 8, 2010, 8:42 pm
13. Tagay says

    This book is a good read for people who are technical, but not information security experts. I see from Amazon that there are other books in the series; I will definitely be reading them soon.

    It is a fictionalized account of people (on both sides of the enforcement/criminal side) who are dealing with identity theft and forgery. I would recommend that anyone who has questions about identity theft gives this book a look – it’s definitely opened my eyes.

    The technical sections are useful illustrations for those who understand them, but the main thrust of the book is in the concepts applied. Anyone who does not understand the details of the technical approaches would still be able to understand the plot movement and basic areas where they may want to bolster their own identity security.

    January 9, 2010, 2:45 am
14. Underwood says

    I reviewed the first Stealing book in May 2003, and the second in September 2004. I liked the two earlier books, and the third book — Stealing the Network: How to 0wn an Identity (STNHT0AI) — is also a fun read. The book is most impressive when it outlines plausible scenarios for identity theft, penetrating wireless networks, and compromising Hushmail. Although some of the writing is rough, I still recommend reading this book.

    I’d like to point out a few aspects of the book that hooked my attention. First, Ch 3 explains how to assume a college student’s identity. 1. Steal pre-approved credit card applications from neighborhood mailboxes. 2. Identify a likely target, and find that person’s date of birth and parent’s names using online family tree databases. 3. Buy NetDetective and obtain the target’s SSN. 4. Get a real driver’s license from a thief who stole DMV equipment. 5. Intercept at mail box the credit card applied for in step 1. 6. Apply for a real birth certificate using the credit card obtained in the previous step. 7. Intercept at mail box the real birth certificate mailed to the target’s home. Aside from the SSN acquisition, that scenario is plausible and incredibly scary!

    The second scenario that left a lasting impression appears in Ch 8. Jay Beale explains how to compromise and read mail exchanged through Hushmail. The crux of the matter is obtaining control of Hushmail’s DNS servers. At the end of his chapter, Jay notes that Hushmail’s DNS servers were compromised in April 2005. I thought his chapter contained the best mix of story and clear technical explanations found in STNHT0AI.

    It is very helpful to have read at least the previous Stealing book prior to STNHT0AI. At times it felt like I was watching the second Back to the Future movie, where Marty sees different aspects of events that took place in the first movie. I was also completely shocked by the hints left at the end of the book, and the abrupt ending left me waiting to resolve the cliffhanger. I look forward to reading Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow later this year.

    January 9, 2010, 9:16 am
15. Deane says

    Good story, followed through pretty well from STN:Continent, which I haven’t read in quite some time, so I didn’t really do much cross-referencing, so take that comment for what it’s worth. My two major issues with the book were:
    1) Apparent lack of proofing whatsoever. In some cases it appeared that the author had stopped typing mid-sentence and picked up some time later, forgetting what exactly they had said because they had previously stopped typing mid-sentence. (re-read for example) At one point a whole paragraph was in there twice in a row. This sort of thing frazzled me a bit as I was reading it, and took away from the immersion to an extent. Each chapter was written by a different author so this is not a consitant trend through the entire book. There is some good writing in there as well.
    2) More story, less technical stuff. This seemed a bit more ‘novel-y’ than the previous books, I kind of didn’t like that aspect of it. That was just me though. Some of it was pretty good though, and a fun read, like the chapter about Knoll Jr. as well as the Blacktower chapter. All-in-all, I’d have to say that I liked the first STN [:box] the best, but that’s just me. The cohesiveness of the story between chapters seemed to be better in this one [Identity] than STN:Continent, though.

    Overall I give it three stars because I am a grammar nazi but you might enjoy it more. I recommend it if you’ve read the previous ones.

    January 9, 2010, 2:35 pm
16. Izell says

    _Stealing the Network: How to Own the Box_ has 10 stories with a first person narrator, who is either an attacker, or in two cases, a defender. While the characterization isn’t up to the standards of (good) commercial fiction* in most cases, it makes the technical medicine go down easier and gives a picture of who and why people do this stuff. That picture is useful in making an abstraction feel more like a concrete threat.

    I think this would be a good intro for a non-technical manager of security staff who needs to know why we have to worry about these things. It’s a faster read than Bruce Schneir’s admirable _Secrets and Lies_, which is a straight discussion of how to think about security, and probably more rigorous and complete. This offers specific examples and leads to many similar lessons. I will read the next one, How to Own a Continent, when its turn comes up in the queue.

    One quibble: for a book published in 2003, with a chapter that mentions Snort a couple of times, I was disappointed in the Laws of Security Appendix. Specifically, the Law that “Any IDS can be Evaded” contains some material that is way out of date. To state that “free ones are starting to come available” at least a decade after Shadow, and at least a couple of years after Snort surpassed proprietary intrusion detection solutions, is a bit, well, weird. Snort is big time – Checkpoint just bought the company that writes it. The two chapters telling a defender’s tale refer to Snort.

    Also, I’m not convinced of the law’s validity. The escalation between intrusion evaders and detectors is an interesting one but I think IDS has the advantage in this go-round. We can detect it, if we’re watching the right things. Many of the evasion techniques are themselves alertable!

    Apart from that, I found myself nodding in agreement with most of what was said. This taught me some things, and I’ve read pretty widely. This title is available cheap if you look at used. Check it out.

    *It’s at least better than Tom Clancy, whose plots are the only thing separating him from pure cheese, the male equivalent of a romance novel.

    January 9, 2010, 9:30 pm
17. Delgado says

    While they present this as a work of fiction, there is a large amount of information that can be immediately applied to your own situations. The authors mention that the stories come from real-life experiences or observations, and it is very easy to believe them. This is a great read for any network engineer or network administrator though don’t read it at night, case some of the stories can be a little frightening, and you don’t necessarily want the nightmares in your sleep.

    January 10, 2010, 2:47 am

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