DAVID LANE

As one of the first investigative journalists to publicly question Berlusconi's fitness for government, Economist writer David Lane helped sparked a furore in Italy. Now, after years of research and using many unique documents and material, including numerous in-depth interviews with senior magistrates, top lawyers and a former President, he reveals the truth about Berlusconi's life and career: his dubiously acquired wealth and secret offshore companies; his shadowy business associates; his links with noted mafia figures; his extreme right-wing contacts and lingering sympathy for the high days of Italian Fascism; his scandalous manipulation of the legal system; and the staggering conflicts of interest that enable him to exploit his money and media to silence opposition. Berlusconi's Shadow is also an exploration of the dark underside of Italy today: a nation still steeped in violence and corruption, where bribery and back-handers are commonplace and the Mafia seems unstoppable. It is a crisis which, Lane shows, matters now more than ever and we cannot afford to ignore.

There are many reasons for serving up dynamic content from a web site: to offer an online shopping site, create customized information pages for users, or just manage a large volume of content through a database. Anyone with a modest knowledge of HTML and web site management can learn to create dynamic content through the PHP programming language and the MySQL database. This book gives you the background and tools to do the job safely and reliably. "Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL," Second Edition thoroughly reflects the needs of real-world applications. It goes into detail on such practical issues as validating input (do you know what a proper credit card number looks like?), logging in users, and using templates to give your dynamic web pages a standard look. But this book goes even further. It shows how JavaScript and PHP can be used in tandem to make a user's experience faster and more pleasant. It shows the correct way to handle errors in user input so that a site looks professional. It introduces the vast collection of powerful tools available in the PEAR repository and shows how to use some of the most popular tools. Even while it serves as an introduction to new programmers, the book does not omit critical tasks that web sites require. For instance, every site that allows updates must handle the possibility of multiple users accessing data at the same time. This book explains how to solve the problem in detail with locking. Through a sophisticated sample application--Hugh and Dave's Wine Store--all the important techniques of dynamic content are introduced. Good design is emphasized, such as dividing logic from presentation. The bookintroducesPHP 5 and MySQL 4.1 features, while providing techniques that can be used on older versions of the software that are still in widespread use. This new edition has been redesigned around the rich offerings of PEAR. Several of these, including the Template package and the database-independent query API, are fully integrated into examples and thoroughly described in the text. Topics include: Installation and configuration of Apache, MySQL, and PHP on Unix(R), Windows(R), and Mac OS(R) X systems Introductions to PHP, SQL, and MySQL administration Session management, including the use of a custom database for improved efficiency User input validation, security, and authentication The PEAR repository, plus details on the use of PEAR DB and Template classes Production of

Berlusconis Shadow is also an exploration of the dark underside of Italy today: a nation still steeped in violence and corruption where bribery and back-handers are commonplace and the Mafia seems unstoppable. It is a crisis which Lane shows matters now more than ever and we cannot afford to ignore. David Lane has lived in Italy for thirty years. Business and finance correspondent for The Economist since 1994 he has also written for the magazine and for the Financial Times on Italian political and social affairs.