Cassell Directory of Publishing 1999 : Uk, Commonwealth and Overseas

Book Description

Practical Network Cabling is an excellent reference if you need to learn network cabling or need a unified source of information on any network cabling scheme. This book provides clear and straightforward text explaining all types of network cabling issues from specification to installation to ongoing maintenance. A highlight of this book is the superb quality of the illustrations showing various cable types and connectors. After reading this book you will be able to design the right cabling system for LANs or WANs of any size or complexity, identify all types of cabling and connectors and their advantages and disadvantages, specify the right quality and type of cables and connectors for a given application, install wiring, connectors, closets, terminators, of any cabling type, and prevent, troubleshoot, and fix cabling problems.

Download Description

Practical Network Cabling is an excellent reference for anyone needing to learn network cabling or who needs a unified source of information on any network cabling scheme. While there are many books at the electrical engineering level on network and other cabling, there are very few for the new professional in the field or students learning this in technical career training. This book written by two expert networking authors provides clear and straightforward text explaining all types of network cabling issues from specification to installation to ongoing maintenance. A highlight of this book is the superb quality of the illustrations showing various cable types and connectors. The illustrations are of similar quality to what is found in popular magazines and are drawn in a highly detailed 3D style that outshines the murky photos and bitmapped amateur sketches in other books. After reading this book the user will be able to Design the right cabling system for LANs or WANs of any size or complexity, Identify all types of cabling and connectors and their advantages and disadvantages, Specify the right quality and type of cables and connectors for a given application, Install wiring, connectors, closets, terminators, of any cabling type, and Prevent, troubleshoot, and fix cabling problems.

Customer Reviews:

My Run at Networking.......2003-08-20

I am not a beginner at networking, but certainly not a longtime professional,either. I rate your book at four stars because it helped me to do a very good job on a rather lenghthy project for someone else. I used information only from the book, and the project turned out very well.I don't expect to have to go back to the job because I did the work, as they say, "by the book".I enjoyed reading your book, as well as using your book. Thank you.

Not Enough Depth.......2001-05-15

This book falls into the category of books that provide a survey of a field, useful for a beginner but certainly not for an advanced network administrator or cabling installer. For example, I needed to send instructions to an electrician at a remote site in Alaska on basic cabling techniques so that he could set up a small LAN using best practices. Unfortunately, this book lacked a basic procedure on how to punch down strands of 4-pair on to a punch down block. Another example, the 568a / 568b issues are poorly explained. Therefore, if you need real, hands-on information for an implementation, then move on to another book, perhaps one from BCSI, or perhaps the Sybex book by Groth and McBee.

Excellent Resource for Network Administrators.......2000-03-29

An excellent source for network schemes, cabling options and investments in cabling. Derfler's book contains many vivid diagrams of cable and the book is easy to navigate and understand

Book Description

Reprising the success of our first collection showcasing amazons of the Amazon, SQP proudly presents a whole new team of green queens! There's just something about big, bountiful gals flying over the treetops and wrestling lions all day that's endlessly fascinating to the average red-blooded American male! To illustrate such woodland hijinks, an international array of artists have been assembled! Savage art by Arantza, Blas Gallego, Mitch Byrd, Liam Sharp, Rich Larson, Bob Rhett, Mike Hoffman, Roca, Tomas Giorello and many others. Cover painting by Blas Gallego.

Average customer rating:

I laughed until tears were rolling...

You'll laugh out loud!

You feel my pain!

Still Laughing Out Loud!!!

The Woman Who Is Always Tan and Has a Flat Stomach (And Other Annoying People)
Lauren Allison , and Lisa Perry
Manufacturer: Castle Pines Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Love, Sex & Marriage | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0976657600

Product Description

The perfect book for women who are annoyed by perfect women! Laugh-out loud funny for women (but men love it, too!). Written in short chapters for a quick-read - perfect for on the plane or on the beach, or for the 2 minutes you have at the end of the day before falling asleep! A great gift for birthdays, holidays - but priced affordably so you can give one to a friend for no reason at all. Put one in your guest room - your guests will love it!

Customer Reviews:

I laughed until tears were rolling..........2007-01-09

What a great book to lift your spirits and make your day! Funny, insightful and a quick read. These authors are quite clever. I could relate to many of the chapters and it became a Christmas gift for everyone on my list. After all, laughter is the best medicine!

You'll laugh out loud!.......2006-06-09

Have you ever started a project and been so proud of it--until you were annoyed by someone who did something similar, but five thousand times better?

Did you ever make a mistake and have someone say "I told you so?"

Have you ever walked into the house of one of your children's friends and asked yourself, "Where am I? Who can keep their house so clean with kids running around?"

Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry use their expertise as public speakers to bring us a collection of a few of their own personal annoyances. They tell us stories about their children, their husbands, how they have tried to keep up with their over-enthusiastic and talented neighbors and acquaintances. They also write about mistakes they have made that annoyed them and others.

This book is a very humorous look at some of the annoying actions and habits of other people. It gives us a chance to laugh away our own stresses caused by annoying people we know--by showing us some of the world's other annoying people. I enjoyed the laughter it brought me a lighthearted look at some of the things that can cause annoyances in this world.

Armchair Interviews says: Need to laugh out loud? This book has a humorous look at every-day problems and people--you know, those annoying ones, those perfect ones!

You feel my pain!.......2005-08-10

I'm constantly surrounded by "perfect" women and I love the fact that each of them has been featured in this book! The authors feel my pain and I'm glad to see I'm not alone. The book was more than funny, it's real.

Still Laughing Out Loud!!!.......2005-08-10

This book was amazing! So hilarious. Not only was it a fun and easy read, but it has really helped me find humor in those annoyingly "perfect" people we all know. Allison and Perry use exceptional wit, charm and honest humor in this comic masterpiece. I find myself thinking of things I read in the book, and still laughing out loud!!! A must read! (and not just for women. My boyfriend LOVED it!!!)

Book Description

Screenplay version of Odysseus: Greek immigrant goes from rags to riches.

Book Description

An abundant selection of incisive writings from The New Criterion, the magazine that has emerged as the foremost voice of critical dissent in the culture wars. No one who reads this volume can be in any doubt what the cultural war in the U.S. is all about, or who ought to win it. --Paul Johnson, Wall Street Journal

Customer Reviews:

Partisan Criticism=Good Criticism.......2006-06-17

Although I tend to disagree with a lot that's in here the criticism is nevertheless quite good. If you enjoy art & cultural criticism then this is a wonderful compilation to dig into.

The Fiction of Joseph Heller: Against the Grain

Average customer rating:

The Fiction of Joseph Heller: Against the Grain
David Seed
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

AGAINST THE AMERICAN GRAIN ESSAYS ON THE EFFECTS OF MASS CULTURE

Average customer rating:

AGAINST THE AMERICAN GRAIN ESSAYS ON THE EFFECTS OF MASS CULTURE
Dwight MacDonald
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LA4FH8

Banking on Murder: Three by Emma Lathen : Death Shall Overcome, Murder Against the Grain, a Stitch in Time

Average customer rating:

Banking on Murder: Three by Emma Lathen : Death Shall Overcome, Murder Against the Grain, a Stitch in Time
Emma Lathen
Manufacturer: Macmillan Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0025688707

Against the American Grain (A Da Capo paperback)

Average customer rating:

Still readable after all these years
A brilliant, witty collection that demands reisuue.
Cultural Commentary from a Proud Elitist

Against the American Grain (A Da Capo paperback)
Dwight MacDonald
Manufacturer: Olympic Marketing Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0306802058

Customer Reviews:

Still readable after all these years.......2007-07-26

I recall this tome from my youth to today's readers primarily for the first essay in the book, "Masscult & Midcult," which first appeared in Partisan Review in 1960. MacDonald, who was on the staff of the New Yorker magazine for many years, sees Masscult as "a parody of High Culture." He identifies "the enormous output of such new media as the radio, television and the movies" as "almost entirely Masscult." (p. 3) The idea is that the product which is fed to the masses is not art at all but instead a kind of ersatz denaturing of art similar to bleached white flour. "Masscult offers its customers neither an emotional catharsis nor an aesthetic experience.... The production line grinds out a uniform product whose humble aim is not even entertainment...but merely distraction. It may be stimulating or narcotic, but it must be easy to assimilate." (pp. 4-5)

Curiously MacDonald was right in the same way that Marshall McLuhan was right in his Understanding Media (1964) in which he famously wrote that "the medium is the message" and in a later work, "the medium is the massage." Masscult massages the couch potato, deadens the critical faculties of the mass mind and renders the average person fit for compliance with the needs of the corporation and the power structure. MacDonald and McLuhan predicted the world of today some 45 years ago. They foresaw the rise of the tabloids, the consolidation of the "news" into a product for the masses as a means of controlling them through a whitewash of political unreality in which attention is focused on the lives of celebrities and their antics along with lurid crime stories and fictions about what our government is doing here and abroad--all designed to serve the interests of the ruling class.

What to do with the unwashed masses has always been a problem for the powerful. In ancient Egypt they were enslaved and made to build pyramids. It is not easy to rebel or even to think when you are physically exhausted. In today's society the masses are overstuffed with Big Macs and super sized with Big Gulps and reruns of "Friends" and reshowings of Masscult movies like Rocky and Meg Ryan comedies or the latest MOW from Lifetime television.

But where MacDonald was wrong is in his highbrow discrimination about what is art and what isn't. True Norman Rockwell, whom he dismisses as kitsch in the same way we dismiss Thomas Kinkade, is not art--or at least not yet. But perhaps Norman Rockwell will be art someday. Shakespeare was not art to Christopher Marlowe or Francis Bacon. Shakespeare played to the mass mind of the time with tales of kings and queens and heroic princes. He provided titillations in his bawdy humor and in his comedies. Yet there can be no question of the artistic quality of his work.

The point is that it is nearly impossible for critics to objectively critique and evaluate their own culture, the culture in which they are currently immersed. We have no real objectivity. It is like history can only be written by historians after the fact of the events. To write a history of current events is to write from a position of extreme prejudice because we have no perspective upon which to judge those events partly because we do not know where those events will lead.

The same is true of artistic endeavors. MacDonald dismisses not just Norman Rockwell but the musical South Pacific, rock and roll, and the works of James Michener as "ephemera." Clearly there is room for disagreement, but even today we cannot be sure which products of our culture will be remembered and appreciated by future generations and considered art. Rock and roll may become like classical music in that it is no longer popular but is still played and improvised upon, listened to and appreciated by millions. Someday rap may be considered something more than ghetto noise.

I guess what delighted me as a young man about MacDonald was his ability to satirize the culture. Here is an insightful passage: "Life is a typical homogenized magazine, appearing on the mahogany library tables of the rich, the glass cocktail tables of the middle class, and the oilcloth kitchen tables of the poor. Its contents are as thoroughly homogenized as its circulation. The same issue will present a serious exposition of atomic energy followed by a disquisition on Rita Hayworth's love life; photos of starving children picking garbage in Calcutta and of sleek models wearing adhesive brassieres; an editorial hailing Bertrand Russell's eightieth birthday (A GREAT MIND IS STILL ANNOYING AND ADORNING OUR AGE) across from a full-page photo of a matron arguing with a baseball umpire (MOM GETS THUMB); nine color pages of Renoir paintings followed by a picture of a roller-skating horse..." (p. 12)

Midcult fares a little better with MacDonald. He identifies writers like John Steinbeck, Pearl Buck, Irwin Shaw, Herman Wouk and John Hersey as its typical purveyors. He includes "the Revised Standard Version of the Bible" as Midcult, adding that it destroyed "our greatest monument of English prose, the King James Version." (p. 38) Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and Thornton Wilder's Our Town are singled out for special Midcult recognition and analysis. The irony of course is that it is Dwight MacDonald himself who is nearly forgotten while Hemingway and Wilder live on. But were MacDonald alive today he would no doubt note that ours is still a mass and midbrow culture, and so that is to be expected.

The book also contains essays on Mark Twain, James Joyce, James Agee, on "The Decline and Fall of English," "Howtoism," and what MacDonald calls "The Triumph of the Fact."

Recommended reading for aspiring critics and students of culture.

A brilliant, witty collection that demands reisuue........2000-07-11

There's not much I can add to David Montgomery's review -- an excellent one -- about the intellectual assumptions and findings of this book. Macdonald is an elitist, and if that bothers you, then you might as well pass on this collection. What I think David Montgomery failed to mention, however, is Macdonald's superlative style. He's the most entertaining of the 'New York Intellectuals' -- more fun than Irving Howe, less stuffy than Philip Rahv, less egotistical than Mary McCarthy. (A good indication of Macdonald's openness to the opinions of others is his printing of George Plimpton's dissent on Hemingway.) I suppose the tension between High Culture and Masscult, which so occupies Macdonald in these pages, is still apparent today, although I think he might argue that Masscult has completely overrun High Culture; but what makes these essays appealing now, forty years after some of them appeared, is the felicity of Macdonald's style and the fecundity of his wit. A collection of Macdonald's best essays, put together by a sympathetic editor, might help restore his fading reputation.

Cultural Commentary from a Proud Elitist.......2000-05-13

"Against the American Grain" is a collection of essays and critical reviews that Macdonald wrote between 1952 and 1962. The pieces cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from appraisals of the works of Twain, Joyce, and Hemingway, through the rewriting of the Bible, to the decline and fall of the English language. One theme, however, is paramount throughout: the influence of Mass Culture on High Culture. Although Macdonald sees this conflict stretching back for two centuries, it greatly intensified during the 1950s. (One can only imagine how he would perceive the situation today.) No longer were art and thought the exclusive province of an educated minority. As the masses became more and more educated, prosperous, and politically aware, they also became increasingly involved with the cultural scene. That, unfortunately, resulted in a vulgarization of the traditional (high) culture.

The Mass Culture ("Masscult" is his term) is not really culture at all. It is a parody of High Culture, a commodity created especially for the marketplace. It is not simply unsuccessful or bad art. Rather, it is non-art, even anti-art. Masscult offers its customers "neither an emotional catharsis nor an aesthetic experience." It asks nothing of its audience and it gives nothing to them. Its goal is not even entertainment, but merely distraction.

Macdonald draws his distinctions between High Culture and Masscult along subtle, yet easily understood lines. The works of James Joyce, for instance, were High Culture; the works of James Michener, Masscult. Chaplin and Welles were proprietors of High Culture; Wyler and DeMille were Lords of Kitsch. Picasso, as opposed to Norman Rockwell. Early-Hemingway versus Late-Hemingway. Rogers and Hart versus Rogers and Hammerstein. Stravinski versus Elvis. Masscult is impersonal and ignorant of standards, "totally subjected to the spectator." High culture is "an expression of feelings, ideals, tastes, visions that are idiosyncratic and the audience similarly responds to them as individuals." High culture is the expression of a singular, unique vision; the creation of an artist.

Since this conflict between High Culture and Masscult had been in existence for over two hundred years, why did it become a pressing issue during the Fifties? Macdonald sees this time as a period of increasing sophistication. "The West has been won, the immigrants melted down, the factories and railroads built to such effect that...the problem has [become one of] consumption rather than production." The work week had shrunk, real wages had risen, college enrollment had skyrocketed, and the country was enjoying an unprecedented standard of living. Money, leisure, and knowledge-"the prerequisites for culture"-were more abundant and widespread than ever before. Consequently, the average person (Ortega y Gasset's "mass man") had the ability and the inclination to partake of culture. Unfortunately, the traditional High Culture, the avant-garde, was beyond both the ken and the taste of the mass man. He turned instead to something that was more palatable and easily digestible, something that he could appreciate, and even understand, with a minimum of exertion: Masscult. This rise of the mass man coincided with the rise of television (the altar of Masscult), the spread of the inexpensive, quality paperback book, and the long-playing record, all of which slaved to bring Masscult to a vast audience thirsting for kitsch.

Macdonald believes the solution to the problem of the spread of Masscult is an attempt to define two cultures, one for the masses and one for the classes. (By "classes" he means not a social or economic elite, but an intellectual one.) He believes that there already exists a dichotomy between two cultures and it is in our interest to keep them separate. There cannot be a broadly democratic culture on a high level, not because the elite forcibly exclude the masses, but rather the great majority of people have never cared enough about such things to make them an important part of their lives. That is as it should be. "Let the masses have their Masscult [and] let the few who care about good writing, painting, music, architecture, philosophy, etc., have their High Culture." A truly elegant, if arrogant, solution.

Average customer rating:
Against The American Grain - Essays On The Effects Of Mass Culture
Dwight MacDonald
Manufacturer: Vintage Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QRKCTQ

Average customer rating:
Against The American Grain - Essays On The Effects Of Mass Culture

Manufacturer: Vintage Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I749N4

Average customer rating:
AGAINST THE AMERICAN GRAIN ESSAYS ON THE EFFECTS OF MASS CULTURE

Manufacturer: Vintage Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HQXM1G

Average customer rating:
Against the American Grain Myth & Histor
Vera M Kutzinski
Manufacturer: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV+PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SMZR9O

Average customer rating:
Against the American Grain, Essays on the Effects of Mass Culture
Dwight MacDonald
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000RFSPA0

Book Description

Predator or prey—which one will you be?
·Detailed maps cover all levels
·Tested strategies for Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Bombing Run, and Double Domination
·Strategies to build the ultimate Championship team
·Full weapons and items descriptions chock with tips and tricks for each
·Breakdowns and bios for every character
·Secrets and cheats inside—get the drop on your opponents

Book Description

The moment you've been waiting for is finally here. Maximum PC has expanded its bestselling "Building a Dream PC" issue to bring you the more complete Maximum PC Guide to Building a Dream PC. This full-color layout packed with pictures, illustrations and infographics that will show you how to build the perfect PC from the ground up. Written by the top two voices in PC hardware technology, Maximum PC and Que, you will also learn how to tune, optimize and backup your dream PC once it's built. No stone is left unturned in this step-by-step guide, as it gives you tips on how to find the best prices on parts, assemble the PC and tweak the BIOS to maximize performance. PC lovers, look no further-your lifeline is here!

Download Description

Sure, there are many books on PC building on the market today. But none of them takes the no-holds-barred approach you've come to know and love in Maximum PC. This concept is based on Maximum PC's bestselling "Build a Dream PC" issue, which is seen by over 300,000 readers. This book cuts through the marketing hype and shows readers just how to build the perfect PC from the ground up. Better yet, once their dream PC is built, the book shows readers how to tune, optimize and backup their pristine environment. Best of all, this book was written by the two top voices in PC hardware technology - Maximum PC and Que! This is the one PC hardware book that no hardware geek or wannabe should be without. Buy one for the geek you love!

Customer Reviews:

Well worth your money.......2007-03-26

I bought this book in '05 when I got the itch to build my own system. I haven't read any other similar books to compare it to, but I can say the guidance and technical info was very, very helpful. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their knowledge of pc's.

It might be good, but you may not see it........2006-03-29

It is not printable. It is only good to buy it if your eye sight is very good and you are prepare to spend hours reading in front of the screen.

Good Beginner/Intermediate Level Book.......2005-08-15

Good starting book for those who know about computers and are ready to start learning the ins and outs of how the components work and how they work together.

You really could start building a machine with this book, I wouldn't suggest doing so (if this being the only book you have read concerning building a computer), but you could.

Building or not, useful for evaluating hardware.......2005-01-18

I'm not a hardware guy, so when I wanted to build a maxed-out PC I didn't have a clear idea of what to look for. Using this book together with Scott Mueller's 'Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 15th Anniversary Edition', I was able to quickly prepare myself to evaluate what was on the market.

I did a lot of searching for reviews, especially by users, of all the products recommended and I found that the book was spot on. Tip: CNet is particularly useful for user reviews, but particularly worthless for editor reviews.

For anyone not up-to-date on product lines, I'd recommend going to manufacturer's pages, such as Intel, to compare models and capabilites, since this kind of information quickly becomes outdated. This helps to get a pretty clear notion of what the state of the art is and what you lose by backing off one step.

I ended up having the machine built in a package deal I found online where I could configure all my own options. Everything I wanted was available, and the amount I would have saved by doing my own build and, almost more importantly, burn-in, was not worth it. I can't imagine being more satisfied with the results. Dell and Gateway are dead to me now.

good assemblage instructions.......2004-10-15

Tinkerers rule! At least, you had better believe this, if you want to benefit from this book. Smith is talking to hands on hobbyists, which want truly unique machines. Often heavily souped up. The pages of the book are in colour, which helps show even motherboards and videocards as pretty. Candidly, those of you who think this is impossible should pass on this book.

The text goes through the basics of each type of component, for virtually all the types that can go into a computer. As already mentioned, motherboards and videocards. But also power supplies, memory, monitors etc.

It is important to note that the photos are not just of isolated items. Several series of photos show clearly how to install a component. The colour photo sequences are well done. More useful than traditional black and white sketches that vendors might supply. These are common because vendors have slim margins, and more elaborate colour diagrams are costly. So the book tries to address this gap, amongst the issues it addresses.

Maximum PC 2006 Guide to Building a Dream PC

Average customer rating:

Maximum PC 2006 Guide to Building a Dream PC
Will Smith
Manufacturer: Que
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0789734109

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books