Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak [Paperback]

Barbara Outland Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2006

Silver Bullets isn't about understanding the technology of standard, interoperable data; it's about why the technology is important and how you can use it. If you care about effective operations, no matter your job title, this book is for you. Interoperable data is a major game changer for business and information technology, government and commercial, national and international organizations. This book will let you make it happen, versus wondering what happened and how you were left behind. As Frederick Brooks famously noted in The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, there is no single-approach solution - no Silver Bullet - that delivers significant improvements in productivity, reliability, or simplicity. But in Silver Bullets, Pete O'Dell shows how a single concept - standardized data interoperability - yields improvements in any industry to which it is applied. O'Dell builds his case by reviewing the past. From the Great Wall of China to shipping containers, from punched cards to the VISA network, standardization has fueled enormous breakthroughs. O'Dell investigates current data standardization including XML and the Common Alerting Protocol, using case studies to illustrate success stories ranging from homeland defense to diabetes management. Finally, O'Dell offers practical suggestions on how to get started with interoperable data and points to emerging leaders in commercial, governmental and not-for-profit fields. This accessible, plain-spoken book is full of parables, anecdotes and stories, delivering humor as well as insight. Reading it enables you to make practical decisions about your organization's future and growth. Silver Bullets shines a clear light into your inoperable future.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Barbara Outland Baker is an English Professor at Moorpark College in Southern California, as well as a freelance writer and author. She earned her B.A. in English from San Diego State University and her Secondary Credential and M.A. from California State University, Los Angeles. Barbara has written a speed reading textbook, Reading! The Success Formula, as well as co-authored Master Readingin collaboration with UCLA and R.E.A.D. She has written numerouspublished articles, covering subjects, such as tole painting, guidedimagery, and Jack LaLanne's healthful philosophy. With her 2003manuscript having captured the media's attention, Barbara enjoyedexposure through talk radio, print interviews, live television, andbiography shows, such as Inside Edition and E-True Hollywood. During her stint at San Diego State,this college coed met a man who invited her into his realm. At twenty-one, Barbara accepted his invitation to enter into the world ofbodybuilding to become the woman by Arnold Schwarzenegger's side. During his bodybuilding ascent and Hollywoodentrée, she knew this icon like no person could. The author spent sixyears dating and living with Mr. Olympia and another six writing hertale. She has produced an original, intimate, provocative true story. Although few compare to Arnold in evoking readers' interest, Barbara also has become an engaging character, one worth getting to know. Retiringfrom education in 2007, Barbara is enjoying the transition fromteaching writing to producing writing. She now resides in two states,as professor in Southern California and as looming retiree in Northern Dallas. She and her husband John now officially reside in McKinney, Texas, having exchanged the Golden Poppy for the Yellow Rose. They are joined by a California exodus of family members who have chosen to make the Lone Star State their next round in life's extraordinary journey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (August 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1425952224
• ISBN-13: 978-1425952228
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,332,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insight into Arnold, September 7, 2006

By 

Whitney S. Christiansen "Promotional Project ... (Bloomington, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak (Hardcover)

In her memoir, Barbara Outland Baker remembers her days as Arnold Schwarzenegger's first American girlfriend in the turbulent late 60s and early 70s. They dated for six years, and she explores both the happy and the not-so-happy times. However, she never stoops to revenge. Instead, her memories of a young Arnold are warm and touching. This Arnold is the insecure foreigner whom most contemporary Americans either forgot or never knew. This is the story of Arnold forging his career out of broken English and hours of body-building. But this book is more than just another biography of Arnold. Barbara's story is all her own. This is a story of a woman struggling to learn who she is the in shadow of a Titan. This is the story of a woman fighting to cast her own shadow. As such, she touches a nerve in every young woman who has ever sacrificed herself for someone she loved. Hers is a long and winding journey, and she took me right along with her.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Well Written Book, April 21, 2007

By 

K. Dimmick "kdimm" (TN. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak (Paperback)

A very well written and informative book about the early years of Arnold and his first love after arriving in America in the late 60's.
While reading this book one actually feels the emotions of the writer to a certain extent.

If you are interested at all in the story of Schwarzenegger and what he was like before his extreme fame,this is the one book you need to read.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a bit whine fest, July 12, 2007

By 

Craig Meiners (Pleasant Grove, UT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak (Paperback)

I purchased this book hoping to learn more about Arnold. I found that this book is about Barbara, not Arnold. Arnold is just one of the main characters. She keeps writing adjectives about Arnold, but never really says why. I learned very little about Arnold that I didn't already know.

What struck me most was that Barbara knew from day 1 that Arnold was wrong for her, but she dove in anyway, and then wondered why life didn't turn out the way she wanted. She wanted to change Arnold into what kind of a man she wanted. That never works, but so many women think they can pull it off.
Later, she wonders where all the good men are. Well here's a newsflash, Barbara: You are not a good woman, how do you expect to get a good man?
She gave up all her morals and then wondered why she wasn't happy.

She also missed out on a wonderful opportunity to learn from a great man. Arnold may be flawed in many ways, but he knew how to be successful. So often during this book I wanted to scream, "HEY, Barbara, can't you see why Arnold is successful and you aren't? Arnold does it right, you don't." Arnold tried to inspire her to greatness, but she just selfishly wanted Arnold all to herself, to the exclusion of even his best friends. That's not love, that's obsession and ownership.

Frankly, I don't know why Arnold even put up with her for so long.
She says that they had good times, but once I finished the book, I wondered why they ever stayed together. It sure seemed to me that the good times were severely few and far between for Barbara.

I would recommend this book to teenage girls, as a don't-let-this-happen-to-you warning.

Well written, it kept my interest, but I am glad I am done with it.