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Radical Evolution - The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds- Our Bodies -- and What It Means to

5 stars ("Enhanced Humans": Never Sleep and They Have Artificial Vision.) - Nanotechnology, communication technology, information technology, robotics, drugs, biology, and genetics all come together in this new book. I had a quick read and heard the author talk at some length on the radio about the book and the subject. From the book and from listening to the author, one is convinced that this is a solid effort. The book gives an overview of new technologies and drugs. The drugs are not your normal medications. They do things such as extend memory. The technologies can give us things such as artificial hearing and artificial sight. He describes how we can use electronic sensors in the brain to control robotics to help the handicapped move limbs. In the past we might have thought that some of these drugs and technologies would be radical, or far off in the distant future, but now many of the technologies are here. The author is an editor and a reporter at the Washington Post. He has published a number of articles and books including Edge City: Life on the New Frontier and The Nine Nations of North America. The book is entertaining, and the story and writing are probably better than if written by a scientist. In his radio interview, he said that he had travelled extensively to prepare for the book, absorbing new ideas and technologies being tested by drug companies, various universities, government agencies, and in other private industry. According to the author, the products of that research are here or are coming soon. Part of his challenge was to write a book that brings the reader up to date without sounding too crazy, or too techie, or too far out. If he just presents a lot of "gee whiz" chit chat, the reader will be turned off. After all, he is a Post writer, not a hack gadget salesman. So, he has attempted to explain the social impact as he goes through the book. Also, he does not want to give the impression that it is science fiction that we have here. It i...
Doubleday :: Science & General :: Technology :: Sociology :: Social Aspects :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Risk assessment :: Philosophy :: General :: Ethics & Moral Philosoph :: Radical Evolution - The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds- Our Bodies -- and What It Means to

 

Developmental Psychology - Childhood and Adolescence with InfoTrac

Developmental Psychology : Childhood and Adolescence (with InfoTrac)...
Wadsworth Publishing :: Psychology & Psychiatry & Counseling :: Social aspects :: Psychotherapy - Counseling :: Psychology :: Psychological aspects :: Physiological aspects :: Aging :: Adu :: Developmental Psychology - Childhood and Adolescence (with InfoTrac)

 

Emotional Intelligence - Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

5 stars (Neurology of emotions) - This book does an excellent job of explaining how the brain is overpowered by emotions. You also learn that if you are in an extreme state of emotional arousal, your rational ability is impaired. To deal with emotions, I strongly recommend Rosalene Glickman's book, Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self and the Optimal thinking emotional mastery wallet cards. In the Optimal thinking resources, you receive a clear explanation of each emotion, why they are caused and how to be deal with each troublesome emotion. You are provided with questions to understand and resolve them. Both of these books are excellent. 4 stars (Good overview of how emotions affect - and sometimes rule - our lives) - I suppose I was first interested in this book, which has been around quite some time now, by the often quoted assertion that emotional intelligence - EQ - is now more important to career development and job performance than IQ. What I found was a good explanation of how humans are affected and sometimes governed by their emotions. The book is one of an interesting genre - popular social science, a bit like the work of Malcolm Gladwell - and I must admit it had me gripped to start with. By the end of the book, I was a bit over it, because it tends to look at how EQ can be boosted in kids and obviously being a fully-grown adult I was interested to know how I could boost my own EQ and in doing so boost my chances of early promotion, unfathomed success and early retirement. The book is pretty good at explaining the process of emotional reactions and I love the phrase "emotional hijacking" - when our emotions take over. I suppose the real value in this book is understanding as a whole how your brain works and what exactly your emotions are. If this has contributed anything to my quality of life, it is probably the realisation of how emotions follow patterns and how simple facial gestures, such as rolling your eyes, can trigger an adverse r...
Bantam :: Self-Help & Success :: Social aspects :: Self-Help :: Psychology :: Personal Growth - Success :: Emotions and cognition :: Emotions :: Daniel Goleman :: :: Emotional Intelligence - Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

 

The Privileged Planet - How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery

1 stars (Elevation of the ego to a new level) - The proponents of this Intelligent Design worldview based book and some reviewers here see this book as a breath of fresh air to put purpose back into a directionless, material based culture. The first premise that evolution,Copernicus and science has taken away our purpose in life is not valid to me. Science has only enhanced our understanding of life and it's task is not to provide a purpose in our lives because like religion that is a subjective experience. Science explains how things work and does not presume to answer why we are here. I think that the philosophy of this book and other ID dogma does the opposite of restoring a purposeful based view of life. It only adds to the self-absorbed pathological sickness that infests many individuals in the American culture...the sense of being special, divinely ordained to be the center of the world and a gross sense of entitlement. Everything then was created just for us. Believers are superior to athesist and agnostics,Christians are superior to non-Christians, Americans are superior to other cultures and now the ego even goes out further... the earth was designed and placed so humans(specifically Judeo-Christians) could appear,evolve and be the priviledged observers of the cosmos and discover the creator. That is obscene, absurd and ludicrous to propose such a thing in a universe with literally billions of galaxies and 15 billion light years across. In the midst of all that space, how likely is it that the lifeforms on one tiny orbital body would have the "truth" nailed down in their corner. Is it some grand purpose that stellar objects go super-nova and explode perhaps wiping out billions of life forms that may be in the vicinity. Or how about that some galaxies are on crash courses that will cause future destruction. Is it purposeful that the sun will one day go cold and all life on this planet will cease to exist. Or what about asteroids that have and ma...
Regnery Publishing Inc :: Science & General :: Solar systems :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Religion & Science :: Planets :: Philosophy & Social Aspects :: General :: Earth :: Discoveries :: The Privileged Planet - How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery

 

Doing Cultural Studies- The Story of the Sony Walkman Culture- Media - Identities- Vol 1 Culture

Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman (Culture, Media & Identities, Vol. 1) (Culture, Media and Identities series)...
SAGE Publications :: Language Arts & Disciplines & Communication :: Technological innovations :: Soni Kabushiki Kaisha :: Sociology - General :: Sociology :: Social aspects :: Social :: Doing Cultural Studies- The Story of the Sony Walkman (Culture- Media - Identities- Vol 1) (Culture

 

Understanding Your Users- A Practical Guide to User Requirements Methods- Tools- and Techniques

5 stars (Must for usability and product design professionals) - Courage and Baxter did an amazing job writing this book, thank you! I really liked the fact that this book is based on years of realworld experiences from commerial high technology company. They have very good examples from real projects - which is a plus. Like the book said, it's very practical! You can use it out of the box from day 1. As a product design professional with years of experience in this field, book confirmed some of the techniques and approaches that I have been using (but I couldn't share it due to commerical reasons). It also covered topics that I wasn't very familiar with. I especially enjoyed reading the section on group task analysis. Book is organized very well, high quality paper, with great visual examples and photos! I would also highly recommend this book for product managers, so hopefully they can write better requirements and specifications. 5 stars (Unflinchingly practical tour de force of usability...) - Baxter and Courage provide a rich, accessible toolbox of diverse yet interrelated usability methods that will enable a designer (UI, UE, IA, etc.) to understand user goals, values, and purposes. As a design professional without a human factors background I find this incredibly useful at the office! A handy reference guide with case studies and sample projects, there is also an undercurrent of strategic thought in terms of how to approach and intepret usability methods, thus complementing the designer's iterative art. This book should also benefit design students and educators, who may be seeking a robust compilation of methods that speaks to the "real world" of adroitly performing usability to advance a design's evolution. 5 stars (A Very Usable Guide to User Requirements) - Courage and Baxter have assembled an extremely thorough, practical, and readable guide to a diverse array of user requirements methods available to the usability and design professional. "Und...
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc :: Technology-General :: Computers-Social Aspects - Human-Computer Interaction :: Computer Bks - General Information :: Kathy Baxter :: Catherine Courage :: :: Understanding Your Users- A Practical Guide to User Requirements Methods- Tools- and Techniques

 

The Last Shot - City Streets- Basketball Dreams

5 stars (For Any One Who Truly Cares) - This book was the best written and best depicted book I have ever read. From the beginning it was raw and real. For any one who truly cares about and loves basketball this is a must read. This is as raw and real as it gets in the basketball world. 5 stars (Four inner city kids looking for a way out) - This is probably the best book i have ever read. What it lacked in description in made up for in plot. I never wanted to put this book down! I was amazed at some of the hardships these kids go to, and reading this book can really onpen ones mind. You will be truly inspired and facisinated as i recommend this book to even people with little interest in basketball. I also must say that Stephon Marbury was not a character that was portayed with detail in this book, and you were not overly intersted to know what would become of him. 4 stars (Good story, could have been a great book with better writing) - I found this to be an interesting story and a pretty good book. I thought the descriptions of the coaches' recruiting antics were very enlightening and well written. Being able to use some of the real names, particularly very well known ones such as Stephon Marbury and Jim Boeheim, added a lot to the credibility of the book. Where I found this work to be lacking was in the descriptive writing. Really good writers construct word pictures that are vivid and allow the reader to better experience the story being told. I didn't find the writing quality in this book that would have made me rate it a 5 star effort. This author's style seemed to me to be more like a newspaper reporter's - limited to a fixed amount of space and more focused on the basics than the aesthetics. Outstanding books also need to deliver the aesthetics in the form of well painted word pictures. I wish this book had been stronger in that area. ...
Mariner Books :: Sports & Recreation & Basketball :: Youth :: Sports & Recreation :: Sports :: Social aspects :: Recreation :: New York (State) :: New York :: Basketball - General :: Ba :: The Last Shot - City Streets- Basketball Dreams

 

American Sports- From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Televised Sports- Fifth Edition

American Sports: From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Televised Sports, Fifth Edition...
Prentice Hall :: History & General :: United States :: Sports (General) :: Sports & Recreation :: Sports :: Social aspects :: History- World :: History - General History :: History :: G :: American Sports- From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Televised Sports- Fifth Edition

 

Get Your Own Damn Beer- I-m Watching the Game- - A Woman-s Guide to Loving Pro Football

5 stars (For Novices and Those Who Think They're Pros, Too!) - My knowledge of football is limited but I've always enjoyed the game. Holly Robinson Peete writes with humor as well as honing in on the "fears" of women who don't understand the game. I learned a lot and refer to it as I watch this year's onslaught of games. She also provides interesting anecdotal comments and facts about the history of the game and its famous and infamous players. 5 stars (Finally!! It all makes sense) - As a true b-ball fan, I never really appreciated the great american sport of football. I became more and more intrigued by the sport as I followed our Carolina Panthers to the Superbowl, season before last. Although I religiously watched all of the playoff games, I certainly couldn't hold my own in a conversation about the games. But now I have to say I believe I can. Holly, girl, you did the dog gone thing. Men even seemed to be the impressed by the mere fact that I was reading a book about football (as I found at the airport earlier this week). This book is fun, sassy and informative. I can hardly wait until this season's opener. Bring on the beer, wings and yes, even ice cream. I'm lovin' it! ...
Rodale Books :: Sports & Recreation & Football :: United States :: Terminology :: Sports & Recreation :: Sports :: Social aspects :: Football - General :: Football :: Marcus Allen :: D :: Get Your Own Damn Beer- I-m Watching the Game- - A Woman-s Guide to Loving Pro Football

 

Friday Night Lights- A Town- a Team- and a Dream

5 stars (Friday Night Lights) - Friday Night Lights is a true story about a football team in Odessa, Texas. Odessa is all about football, attracting at least 20,000 people a game every Friday to watch the Permian Panthers try to win another game against their opponents. It became a way of life. It was every boys dream to wear the black and white jerseys of the Permian team. Only a select few had the chance to play for them. The 1988 football team of the Panthers was on a quest to win the state championship and would do anything it took to make it there. Boobie Miles is one of those competitive players who wanted only to win. Although he did not get the chance because of him shattering his foot. Finally after months of training, they were at the final game to see who went to the state championship. Their opponent was Carter High of Dallas. They were a lot bigger than Permian but they both wanted the same thing; to win. Although Permian High played good game, they lost to the Carter High Cowboys. After the defeat, all of their names on the magnets that were used as locker tags just got thrown into a box to be buried and forgotten like all the prior losing teams that hadn't won in the High School of Permian. It was over. The Cowboys ended up winning the state title a week later. My favorite part in this novel is the games and practices that were described in the book. It made me think of what I did every day from 3:30 to 5:00. This book is different from some of the other books that I have read. Normally a book has a happy ending where everyone gets what they want or that everybody is happy. Not in this book. In this book you think that the football team is going to win but instead they lose and do not have their names in the Friday night lights. 5 stars (The Bright Lights) - Friday Night Lights is a superb chronicle of the 1988 football season for the Odessa-Permian High School Panthers in Odessa, Texas. Writer H.G. Bissinger moved his family from Philadelp...
Da Capo Press :: Texas :: Sports & Recreation :: Sports :: Social aspects :: Permian High School (Odessa :: Tex ) :: Permian High School (Odessa :: T :: Odessa :: Football - General :: Fo :: Friday Night Lights- A Town- a Team- and a Dream

 

What-s My Name- Fool- Sports and Resistance in the United States

1 stars (Whites Who Think They Know Blacks) - I always have to thank white people for helping us niggers on how to read and interpret Black history. Zirin's book is full of such nonsense. The Jackie Robinson drama is a case in point. The FACT is that a man whose professional function is to hit a cow-covered ball of yarn & rubber with a polished twig ought not be representing the Black race in ANY forum--THAT is the OUTRAGE! Zirin loves Jackie Robinson, but whilst gov't whites imposed apartheid on ALL Blacks in America, Robinson chose to promote the white side against a Black man, Paul Robeson, who openly condemned ALL racism within the American SYSTEM. Robinson was used and abused by his handlers, and to choose white supremacy. And Zirin says nothing of Robinson's role in the demise of the Negro Leagues. Whites, like Zirin, who like to apologize for Blacks who "play ball" with racism just call them "complicated"--apparently too "complicated" for us field niggers to understand. Zirin's assessment of what will solve Black people's problems is irrelevant. Some oblique reference to "multiracial unity" is so facile and glib it is comical. He is as out of place making these comments as Robinson was in front of the HUAC. "Ownership" of sports for whites seems to work for them just fine, thank you. Mr. Zirin's book contains not a single condemnation of the current racist ownership regime. In fact, I'll buy the book that names the names of the racists in the sports world and deciphers their many schemes and acts of white treachery--but it is not forthcoming from Zirin or anyone else who benefits from the status quo. Economic monopoly of Black talent works for them--and it will work even better for us! In any event we'll tell you AFTER we try it, OK Mr. Zirin? We''ll let you know. 2 stars (What gives books by journalists a bad name.) - As one who reads and writes sport, and is a political progressive, I was looking forward to a book that took on the sports establishment. ...
Haymarket Books :: Sports & Recreation & General :: United States - 20th Century :: United States :: Sports & Recreation :: Sports :: Social aspects :: General :: Dave Zirin :: :: What-s My Name- Fool- Sports and Resistance in the United States