Pension Plans at Risk: A Potential Hazard of Deficit Reduction and Tax Reform

Customer Reviews:

Gamer geeks.......2006-03-09

The twenty-ninth Nodwick story is a comic for gamer geeks of all stripes -- both D&D fans and video game geeks. Aaron Williams has fun with pixels and puns in one of the lighter stories in this series... well, they're ALL light, but this one is more so.

The Legion of Princesses has been attacked by the evil Count Repugsive (can you tell he's a bad guy?), and their leader manages to send a distress call to the nearest people -- Artax, Nodwick, Yeager and Piffany. She tells them that the Bits of Reality that the princesses guard have been stolen or scattered, and the world will end if our heroes don't get them back.

Unfortunately, Repugsive uses the Bits to make things harder -- Nodwick is turned into a little pixelated figure, and Piffany and Artax can only give gaming hints. Can Nodwick free his friends from Repugsive's schemes, rescue the princesses, gain more lives, and get the cheat codes so they can get out of there?

Don't worry, Williams doesn't force you to watch as every one of the one-hundred-and-twenty-eight bits is retrieved. If he did, this comic would be at least as long as Robert Jordan's latest book, and I don't think anyone wants to see a single adventure that long.

While the pixelated figures look kind of blurry, it's fun to see Williams exploring a different kind of gaming, and having some fun with it too (Nodwick simply jumps over undead soldiers). And the more absurd the situation, the better this tongue-in-cheek dialogue gets ("Say A to continue. Say B for more options." "I said surrender or perish!").

D&D devotees and gamers geeks alike will enjoy the twenty-ninth Nodwick, as our heroes find out how wonderful the third dimension really is. Or whatever.

Book Description

Verl Frehner's book, The Mysterious Howard Hughes Revealed, is a revealing new book, on a somewhat seasoned subject. It is an extensive and comprehensive work about the life of Howard Robert Hughes. It is biographical in nature and is thought to contain the most complete, in-depth, far-reaching, and extensive first-hand personal information available about him. As such, it promises to provide the reader with numerous additional insights into this man.

Under normal circumstances this book about Howard Hughes would normally have been written years ago. Despite this, the mystery and intrigue attributed to him has only partially mellowed with the passing of time. The "wall of reclusiveness" that he created to isolate himself from the media produced a shortage of information about him that still "begs" to be satisfied.

The content of this book accomplishes what most people want to know about him--what he thought, what he said, what he felt, what he did, and what he was about, in his everyday business and private-time activities.

Much of the basic information in The Mysterious Howard Hughes Revealed comes from a confidential employee to Howard Hughes named Chuck Waldron, who shares, in a very respectful and forthright manner, some of the very human characteristics that Howard Hughes possessed. It is through this "confidential employee," and many other sources of information, that the reader is allowed to see the strengths, weaknesses, and even the oddities of Howard Hughes.

By design, the thrust of this story begins on January 1, 1970, and tells of the last seven years, three months, and four days in his life, until his death on April 5, 1976 (Howard Hughes' most reclusive years). Against this frameword there is much more information included and inserted in the numerous "flashbacks" about his personal life found in records, recordings, stories, and historical events that parallel his entire life and adds significantly to the Howard Hughes story.

Product Description

What forbidden temptations ignited the iconic romance of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, or Howard Hughes and Gene Peters, or Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz? What was the spark? Was it a steamy movie set affair or innocent case of love at first sight. What were the emotions that bound them together or tore them apart? Take a peek inside their secret lives as we uncover the real stories behind the glittering curtains of fame and legend. Listen to Desi Arnaz Jr., Carol Burnett, and Madeline Davis. Hear the words of Bob Carroll, Ann Miller, Jane Russell, and ex-showgirl Gloria Pall as they reveal the beginnings and ends, the romances and heartaches of the celebrated men and women who became the Famous Hollywood Couples.

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Tribeca Talks: The Innovators
Legato, Nasar, Pierre, Robert, Sylvia Hohenberg
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000AAVA6S

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Howard Hughes em Hollywood

Manufacturer: FRENTE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Portuguese | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 858616643X

Made in Heaven Who was Married to whom for How Long Unscrambling the marriages & Children of Hollywood Stars, Birth & Death Dates, includes Barbara La Marr, Howard Hughes, Judy Garland, Rudolph Valentino , Blanche Yurka, Kay Lenz, Mercedes McCambridge,

Average customer rating:

Made in Heaven Who was Married to whom for How Long Unscrambling the marriages & Children of Hollywood Stars, Birth & Death Dates, includes Barbara La Marr, Howard Hughes, Judy Garland, Rudolph Valentino , Blanche Yurka, Kay Lenz, Mercedes McCambridge,
illustrated with photos in B/W Victoria Houseman
Manufacturer: Bonus Books, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JD21RI

Book Description

Are Joey, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe and Monica your best friends? Did your children learn about the birds and the bees from Ally McBeal? You're not alone. Research shows that TV has become such a part of our lives, it actually has taken over the roles once held by cherished family members.

Glued to the Tube explores the strong influence TV has over family interaction and communication. Using hundreds of reliable research studies and statistics, this book breaks down familial responsibilities into categories such as friend, family manager, arbitrator and sexual advisor, then shows how television has taken over these roles, and how it has performed.

While it may be easy to identify TV's presence in society, Glued to the Tube goes one step further, exposing how:

The ratings system is set up to woo younger audiences Common depictions of race and religion isolate viewers Prime-time programming manipulatesadults and children alike Network television attempts to teach us all how to live--from what to buy to how we choose and communicate with our partners

Author and media ecologist Cheryl Pawlowski relies on numerous studies and her own research to conclude that the modern family is competing with the tube to its own detriment. Pawlowski offers practical ways a family can break free of the television addiction.

Customer Reviews:

Well-documented parts mixed in with hidden agendas.......2004-03-05

This book has both good and bad points. Powlowski relies on numerous studies to develop her thesis that TV has become a cultural addiction, and these parts of the book are excellent. For example:

a) She offers that TV is the "vanguard of consumerism" that has tremendous impact on our lives

b) That TV is becoming a family manager without us noticing

c) How TV is "a misguided cure for boredom"

However, there is a dark side to this book as well. Readers should be warned that Powlowski uses this book as a whipping boy to explain why our culture does not match her political views. For example:

1) TV is to blame for why we are not all feminists ('Womanhood on TV' pg. 87-104). She seems to believe that we are all natural feminists and TV moves public opinion in the opposite direction, e.g. "Despite a growing number of strong female role models on TV, the overwhelming message remains little changed [that] women are second class citizens". This is ridiculous. One can look at non-TV cultures (Muslim, Amish, pre-1950 USA) and come to the opposite conclusion - that TV seems to encourage feminism. In truth, the general public is simply not big on feminism and TV simply reflects this view. Regardless, Powlowski offers no evidence for her opinion.

2) TV is why men gravitate towards manhood and machoism. ('TV and Manhood' pg. 91-95). Powlowski believes TV has made the naturally sensitive and soft man into a brute. TV is to blame for 80% of teens finding it "acceptable to use force if the couple was married" and men's propensity for "violence, misogyny". She is very concerned with ensuring "Manhood needs to be redefined in a way that allows women equality". Of course, again she offers no evidence for this correlation, and it's not hard to find many misogynist cultures that are not TV based (try ancient Greece, Rome, etc.).

3) How the printing press ('The Printing Press' pg 14-16) provided intellectual freedom for all except Catholics, who remain dumb and sheepish. For example, "Ordinary husbands and fathers achieved a new position that Catholic men entirely lacked" and that "Catholics were required by the church [sic] to rely on a priest for scriptural interpretations" as if the printing press was outlawed for Catholics (it was invented by a Catholic). Again, Powlowski seems to have her personal beliefs and is intent to pass them on.

Overall, this book has well-documented parts mixed in with personal biases and unsupported whoppers. However, if one can struggle through the latter and take it with a grain or two of salt, it's not a bad read.

ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL-BUT SCAREY!!!!!!.......2002-05-06

This book surprised me with its "pro-family" statement and the research to back it up.Dr Pawlowski is very thorough and wonderfully straight forward in her writing.The book is divided into 3 sections.The first ("How Did We Get Here?") gives a history of media in general and specific to television.The second section ("Stolen Roles) has 7 chapters each dealing w/ a different role that TV is or has taken from the family.The third section ("What The Future Holds") talks about what you can do about the hold and enormous influence TV has on today's society.The BEST thing about this book is the research evidence Did you know that there are more households w/ TV than indoor plumbing?Did you also know that children growing up today who watch TV will most likely spend 10 yrs of their lifetime watchng the tube?This book really has made me take a hard examination of TV (media in general) and MY viewing habits.The hold that this invasive media has on our lives is extremely frightening.I am recommending this book to all my friends and family.

TV-Today's Plug in Drug.......2001-09-01

An excellent book filled with research and the author's personal opinion as to how TV has become an important influence in our lives. Today's family views TV as another one of its' members. I was able to relate to many of the author's examples of how society has become addicted to TV viewing. Her practical solutions on how to break free of TV's influence were worth reading. I especially enjoyed the way she cited examples of how many TV shows of the past and present have influenced and are influencing the behaviors and attitudes of our society. I totally agree with the author that TV is definitely the plug-in drug of our society. I have recommended this book to friends and family members alike and will continue to do so in the future.

Excellent Resource for Families.......2001-03-08

As someone who is "glued to the tube" this book illuminates various issues with television and its impact on the family unit. It is well-written and an easy read for anyone. Pawlowski supports her ideas with an array of statistics and research, but the book does not get bogged down with numbers. This should be read by anyone who watches more then two hours of television a week (read everyone in the U.S.).

i loved this book!.......2001-01-26

this book is just wonderful! it not only shows the impact of tv on society today, but it gives advice on how to lessen its powerful grip. a must for anyone who feels that they are 'glued to the tube'!

Television Anonymous.(Glued to the Tube: The Threat of Television Addiction to Today's Family )(Review): An article from: Video Age International

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Television Anonymous.(Glued to the Tube: The Threat of Television Addiction to Today's Family )(Review): An article from: Video Age International

Manufacturer: TV Trade Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Video Age International, published by TV Trade Media, Inc. on October 1, 2001. The length of the article is 897 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Television Anonymous.(Glued to the Tube: The Threat of Television Addiction to Today's Family )(Review)
Publication: Video Age International (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2001
Publisher: TV Trade Media, Inc.
Volume: 21 Issue: 6 Page: 18

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Pessimistic

"Clearly the answer is...???"

Some illogical answers and, doesnt actually raise your IQ.

A Good First Try

Great....But something's missing

IQ Booster: Improve Your Iq Performance Dramatically
Erwin Brecher
Manufacturer: Sterling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Complete Book of Intelligence Tests: 500 Exercises to Improve, Upgrade and Enhance Your Mind Strength (The IQ Workout Series)

Test-Prep Your IQ, 6/e (Test Prep Your Iq)

Building Mental Muscle: Conditioning Exercises for the Six Intelligence Zones (Brain Waves Books)

Keep Your Brain Alive: 83 Neurobic Exercises

Your Miracle Brain: Maximize Your Brainpower, Boost Your Memory, Lift Your Mood, Improve Your IQ and Creativity, Prevent and Reverse Mental Aging

ASIN: 0806994223

Book Description

Raise your actual IQ score by mastering these tests. Expand your powers of lateral thinking. Solve problems quickly with this foolproof method. Increase your overall "test confidence." Using visuo-spatial and lateral thinking techniques, along with other mind-stretching methods of looking at test questions, this unique preparation can actually help you get high scores on IQ tests! Learn how to analyze each question and figure out a quick way to answer it. When you understand the principles, it's easy to pass with flying colors. Have hours of fun with these mind-bending puzzles, and feel a real sense of achievement when you see your next IQ score! 128 pages, 7 3/8 x 9 5/8.

Customer Reviews:

Pessimistic.......2005-02-23

This book thinks that I have an I.Q. of a 120 and that I may improve it to a level of 132. I probably better not believe what the book thinks because I usually fall flat on my face in an embarrassing place when I believe something or someone who tells me something like that.

"Clearly the answer is...???".......2002-07-14

Q: 2 is to 4 as 4 is to ? (16, 30, 8, 12)
A: "Clearly the answer is 8."

The above is taken as an excerpt from the book. But isn't 2 the squareroot of 4? And therefore with 4 being the squareroot of 16, isn't 2 is to 4 as 4 is to 16? Clearly the answer is not "Clearly 8". I am searching for a book filled with true logic challenges, not frustrating assumption and ignorance. Can somebody please recommend?

Some illogical answers and, doesnt actually raise your IQ........2002-07-02

Ok, I gave the book 3 stars because it contained ok iq tests, but I have two problems with the book.

1. Some of the answers to the questions were just plain illogical, and sometimes if an answer was deduced that logically fit, it was not also in the back. THe logic used to discover some of the patterns was just stupid in some cases, as it wasnt something that relied on intellilect, more something that relied on being used to iq tests.

2. The fact that the author says he is raising your iq is a little bit inaccurate. I just briefly read over the section about how to answer the questions (after doing both tests), and it seemed like he pretty much told you how to answer a lot of the questions on the "after test"...including some of the illogical ones might I add.

I scored a 143 on the first test, and a 135 or so on the second one... I didnt read the advice given, and that is probably why the second score is lower..i'm not blaming the book by any means. Anyway, if anyone out there got a score of 150+ WITHOUT reading any of what he said for the after test, email me, i'd like to hear actually.

A Good First Try.......2000-08-25

First, the bad stuff; most of the book is practise test material, the author having decided to prove his contention that you can raise your IQ dramatically by reading his book and applying the lessons. There's very, very little here in terms of practical methods and techniques which you can apply; and most of it is pretty common sense stuff, like "there isn't much you can do with this particular type of question, other then try various approaches until one works".

On the positive side: the book is relatively inexpensive, it does contain SOME worthwhile information - certainly enough to justify its modest purchase price - and it does provide a good quantity of current IQ test questions. And therein lies its true value.

I firmly believe that the best way to do well on any kind of test is to become familiar with the material; and with IQ tests, the way to learn to do better is to do IQ tests. There are certainly enough of them out there, and doing the tests will do two things for you: first, you'll become better at solving problems, as your brain becomes more agile; and secondly, you'll start to recognise identical (and very similar) questions. You can only be tripped up by a trick question once, and there just aren't that many unique trick questions out there.

When the author revises his book, I'd invite him to quadruple the size of the test tips section. For example, he does include a very interesting collection of words that can be tacked onto the front or back of another word to make a new word - for example, SUN can be tacked onto SHINE to arrive at SUNSHINE. This is useful in solving the "what word can be added to the front of each of the following words, to arrive at new words" sort of question. I'd like to see a much larger list. I'd also like to see a relatively recent stanford/binet IQ test, rather then the authors nicely done, but unofficial, test. And standard questions from commonly used IQ tests - even a list of 500 or so questions - would be very helpful.

The bottom line is, you can raise your IQ dramatically by practising on a lot of IQ tests ahead of time. By bringing this point to the fore, the author has given test takers a valuable edge. The author could increase the size of the edge by increasing the number of tips, and by including more - and more commonly used - test questions.

Great....But something's missing.......1999-09-09

Well, well, let me see, hmm. It was a good book in that it increased my IQ by about 15 points. And I advice anybody that is about to take an IQ test in school, to read this book before taking. As the person who commented above, lots of space are not used, and much of the book were tests, rather than techniques taught. I also have another problem with this book. The author emphasizes how unbiased he liked his tests to be. But it seemed as though his vocab section was kinda culture-bias. Most of my errors were in the vocab section, and this resulted in the decreasing of my IQ score by about a 15 pt difference from my IQ results in school. Thus, in total, the book didn't increase my IQ. However, it was fun while doing it! Anybody who's anybody should read this book.

Book Description

As an animator, it's difficult to watch movies or animated films without thinking about the directing quality or technical aspects of the production. But when that movie pulls you in and draws you to the characters and their plights, you really experience the story. As an animator, it's difficult to watch movies or animated films without thinking about the directing quality or technical aspects of the production. But when that movie pulls you in and draws you to the characters and their plights, you really experience the story. Storytelling Through Animation provides an in-depth guide to the process of conceiving, planning, and producing an animated or live action media production. It covers specific information for many forms of visuals, including traditional cel, stop motion, Flash, or 3D CG with a focus on the most critical aspect of any production- the story. The book is written for filmmakers, animators, producers, editors, directors, game creators, and anyone who has the task of telling a story visually. It teaches the principles, real-world techniques, tricks, tips, and creative and visual fundamentals key to great animated storytelling. Using detailed explanations of principles and techniques and a variety of film examples, it guides animators through every step of the production process, and teaches them how to infuse their story and develop emotional connections in every part of the production. It provides systems and checks and balances that can make projects smoother and storytelling better at any level or budget. In addition, it explores all of the concepts and techniques needed for animation, including visual theory, motion, animation techniques, and their live action counterparts, character animation, composition, production, lighting, rendering, editing, and compositing. Finally, the book helps to create critical and realistic critiquing skills for evaluating and creating emotional connections with the audience. After reading this boo

Customer Reviews:

Like sucking molasses through a straw.......2006-11-15

I've read a lot of animation books over the years, but this is one I don't think I'll ever look at again. Most of these "one stop shop" type books that cover every single aspect of filmmaking end up not saying much no matter how long winded they are.

There's no shortage of information in this book. The problem is little, if any of it is in a form you can be readily applied to your own work. Complex thoughts with little elaboration. Highly visual ideas with no pictures explain things. Just a glut of film making tibits with little actual learning.

The CD content is better than ones in some other books I've read, but it doesn't help if the disc takes the place of illustrations in the book. That way I'm forced to be at my computer while I'm reading to get the most out of the book. Overall I think the CD added more to the price of the book than it did the content.

For my time and money, books like CGI Filmmaking: The Creation of Ghost Warrior are a much better buy.

My review.......2005-09-18

Lovely book, it has very interesting bits of information to guide students in animation.

The Story of Telling a Story Using Animation.......2005-04-24

First, this is not a book on the mechanics of producing animation. Instead it is a book that comes before that. It's about how to tell a story through animation. It's about the first steps that must be done right if the story is to be told at all.

It all begins with the story. Without a story, animation is just a bunch of pictures. How do you make the story better? How do you make it fit animation as opposed to live action?

How do you create the character? How do you make the image, the story give the character a personality? What kind of a background, a world do you design?

From here the book goes through the whole production process. Once again, this is not a book on how to use a software package to produce the animation, it's a step before that. The author is a professional at film making. In addition he interviews quite a number of professionals from the major studios to get their view of the process.

Finally the CD included with the book include film strips that you can use to evaluate just how well these guys did in following the precepts of the book.

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