Looking at Class: Film, Television and the Working Class in Britain

Book Description

Television and film not only entertain and reflect social change, they may also participate and influence these changes-the recent success of The Full Monty and Billy Elliot- show popular British comedy based on such painful social transformations.

Looking at Class brings together film and television practitioners with academic students of cultural and economic change to examine the media representation of the British working class in the twentieth century-a time of decline for the manual working class when a complex service-based economy emerged. The book covers a large range of genres from documentaries to soaps and shows that complex cultural transitions can be communicated clearly in prose as well as in screen drama.

Book Description

Skateboarders are an increasingly common feature of the urban environment - recent estimates total 40 million world-wide. We are all aware of their often extraordinary talent and manoeuvres on the city streets. This book is the first detailed study of the urban phenomenon of skateboarding. It looks at skateboarding history from the surf-beaches of California in the 1950s, through the purpose-built skateparks of the 1970s, to the street-skating of the present day and shows how skateboarders experience and understand the city through their sport. Dismissive of authority and convention, skateboarders suggest that the city is not just a place for working and shopping but a true pleasure-ground, a place where the human body, emotions and energy can be expressed to the full.The huge skateboarding subculture that revolves around graphically-designed clothes and boards, music, slang and moves provides a rich resource for exploring issues of gender, race, class, sexuality and the family. As the author demonstrates, street-style skateboarding, especially characteristic of recent decades, conducts a performative critique of architecture, the city and capitalism. Anyone interested in the history and sociology of sport, urban geography or architecture will find this book riveting.

Customer Reviews:

Production of Space.......2006-03-09

This book is an informative look into Ian Bordens extensive research into the history and culture of skateboarding, which illustrates alternative issues of architecture and production of space.

The beginning chapters are heavy reading and heavily referenced, but worth the time and effort. The later chapters go into an in depth and detailed look at skateboarding development and cultural issues.

He challenges readers to change their perception of architecture and spaces, and to look at how our own actions affect the space we occupy, by looking at skateboarding and its culture. He references Lefebvre who said, "Surely it is the supreme illusion to defer to architects, urbanists or planners as being experts or ultimate authorities in matters relation to space." He then goes on to talk about how the interaction addresses the physical architecture, yet responds with a dynamic presence not another physical object. Skateboarding produces space, but also time and the self. This book addresses how, architecture as a set of flows, as a set of experience and reproductions, can be embedded in the practices of architectural history - for as architecture is not itself a space, but only a way of looking at space. The rest of the book is a thoroughly researched look at skateboarding.

Its worthwhile noting that his is not a skateboarding magazine and is written in the academic tongue so is not easy to read. But worthwhile reading if you are interested in this field.

Appropriate This! Urban Space.......2005-03-21

Unmistakably and in so many ways, Iain Borden thinks that skateboarding is RAD! This sentiment comes through in nearly every one of his 267 pages on the subject, a sort of tribute to the urban arts of skateboarding. This is scholarship as panegyric ... but don't get me wrong, I'm largely with Borden in his readings and estimation of the radical nature and content and potential of skateboarding: it's RAD!

In this monograph, Borden's archive is largely skateboarding magazines. He talks some about zines and almost none about films, and the way he reads mags is simply (and a bit disappointingly) to quote from the alphabetic portions of those texts. This is not to say that this book is not replete with images, because it is -- photos, magazine pages, more photos, including even one of Borden in a pool at a skate park! love that moment in the text -- it's just that Borden is not a discourse analyst, so he doesn't break down and close read in the ways I might have wanted him too. But dude, he sure is an architectural theorist, and so what this book is is Borden dumping piles and piles of Lefebvre onto skateboarding in order to redefine architecture and make sophisticated sense of what might otherwise be considered a "mere" hobby.

That's right: Borden more or less erects a massive half pipe of Lefebvre's work on space and the city, rhythmanalysis, bodies, and the modern city, and then skates skateboarding and the spaces/landscapes that skateboarding takes place and shape in and around in RIGHT THROUGH that theoretical halfpipe. It makes for a yummy ride, if a bit of a repetetive one -- back and forth we go for all of those 267 pages largely riding on the simulacral wave that is the half pipe made out of Lefebvre. But since I dig Lefebvre, I was into the book.

Okay, but this is what Borden SAYS in this book, and what he claims, and what he ardently works to prove. He's mainly trying to say (aside from the statement that "Skateboarding is RAD!" which comes through on every page of this book, even though it is never expressly said) is that

*** get this *** Architecture is not buildings, and objects in our cities and lives are not texts, but that architecture is a sort of result of interactions of bodies in space. So the skater in the halfpipe makes something in excess of the pipe when he (and it usually is a he, Borden concedes; hot skater dudes populate this text while skate-grrls are few) goes for an arial, or does something unexpected with his body-board continuum. Skateboarding is just one way, and a very specific one, that space in the city is made and remade and created out of interactions of the skating kind.

Okay, so that seems to be his main idea, as I repeat it with flaws of all kinds, no doubt. He begins with chapters on wheels and boards, then moves to the skateparks (less interesting) and the urban appropriation of space/architecture by rampaging skater dudes (more interesting). This is where skating is radical, unlawful, wild ... RAD! Borden does a few other funny things: like saying skating is the parole to the lange of the boring everyday, or something like that. He's all theory-crazed, looking for any way he possibly can to see skateboarding as RAD! And he does. And it works.

I guess the main limitation of this book for me, and there were few, is the lack of critique. Borden doesn't see skateboarding as being nearly as commodified and caught up on "what's cool" and even a sort of coopted critique and radicalism as I see it to be. I think it's RAD, I guess, but in ways I wished he would have explored the commodification of it more, the rage and anger and ways that skating is perhaps misplaced and thus safe aggression and critique. I wanted it to be read not so much as RAD, but as a patterning with more facets, at least a few of them LAME. Without, it becomes some kind of cure-all activity, beyond human.

a major disapointment.......2004-08-19

Yes, I said it, and I stand behind it. I really had my hopes up for this one. There is so much that can be done, the title alone suggests creativity utilizing the imagination. Does it deliver? No. The book, wich I expected to be full of photography and articles showing how skateboarders use the surrounding architecture for creativity, is really just a sad piece that goes on to tell the history of skateboarding, with very little interesting photography at all. The written content itself is hard to keep your interest, even for a long time skateboarder as myself. Dont get me wrong, I am all for the history of skateboarding, hell, I lived most of it. But that should be and has been put in books and editorials that were labled as such. This was, as I said, a disapointment. I can only hope that someone will see this and spark the idea to do it right, unless I do it first that is.

Magic: The Gathering: Official Encyclopedia: The Complete Card Guide, Volume 2
Average customer rating:

magic the gathering volume 2

One from the master himself

Not as good as the first one but still good!

I Love this book!

This Book is so Good, It makes magic much funner

Magic: The Gathering: Official Encyclopedia: The Complete Card Guide, Volume 2
Beth Moursund
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Magic: The Gathering -- Official Encyclopedia, Volume 6: The Complete Card Guide

ASIN: 1560251506

Customer Reviews:

magic the gathering volume 2.......2001-08-16

though i dont have this book my friends say its an excellent book and I've seen it for my self and it is definatly a must buy

One from the master himself.......2000-06-25

Richard Garfield is the creator of Magic The Gathering card game. This book gives the reader an in-depth look into the game and shows the beautiful illustration that each card contains. This is a must have for all players and collectors of the card game.

Not as good as the first one but still good!.......2000-06-13

If you are a mtg collector, you definitely need this book. Although it is much "thinner" than Volume 1 but it's still a must for any serious mtg collector

I Love this book!.......1999-06-07

I collect the cards and I don't know how I would have known if they were rare or common cards if I hadn't found this book. It's the best!

This Book is so Good, It makes magic much funner.......1999-06-06

It so good it has tempted me to buy alot of Magic cards

Magic: The Gathering -- Official Encyclopedia, Volume 2: The Complete Card Guide (Magic the Gathering)

Average customer rating:

Worthwhile mostly for completists
The best book I have ever bought
Magic: The Gathering Encyclopaedia
An Encyclopedia, Nothing More
The first Official Guide

Magic: The Gathering -- Official Encyclopedia, Volume 2: The Complete Card Guide (Magic the Gathering)
Beth Moursund
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Magic: The Gathering -- Official Encyclopedia, Volume 6: The Complete Card Guide

ASIN: 1560252219

Book Description

The Official Encyclopedia Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 left off. This collector's edition cover features Ivory Charm from the Mirage series.

Customer Reviews:

Worthwhile mostly for completists.......2001-12-16

Volume 2 covers Mirage, Visions, 5th Edition, Weatherlight, Portal, and Arena League (only 1 page for this last). As always, this volume covers ONLY those expansions released between the publication of the 1st and 3rd volumes of the encyclopedia, and ends with a "Deckbuilder's Indexes" section. This last is the only reference to other expansions of Magic, so it actually isn't useful anymore; the deckbuilder information for the most current volume should be used instead. Frankly, this volume should not have been released until a few more expansions were out; it's skimpy, but if you want complete coverage of all Magic expansions, you're pretty much trapped; the 2 stars are for the material not available in other volumes.

The introductory material (i.e., the section before the expansions are presented) is a bare minimum in this volume: "How to Use this Guide" and "A Visual Guide to Magic Cards". The book isn't intended to teach a newcomer to play the game, or to explain much of Magic strategy; seek elsewhere for that sort of thing. On the other hand, each expansion covered in Volume 2, as usual, is provided with its own introduction, describing any new twists added for that set (including new types of decks that came about as a result), any noteworthy cards in that set, and a very brief description of the storylines affected by the expansion). Consequently, the entertainment value of the introductions is in inverse proportion to the number of broken cards in the expansion and the severity of the flaws, so the introductions in this volume are much more bland than those of Volume 1.

For example, Mirage's introduction, the longest in the book, covers the introduction of "instant enchantment" and "Charm" cards, and two special abilities introduced with this expansion, "flanking" and "phasing". The descriptions of these characteristics compare them with pre-existing (i.e., volume 1) spells and game mechanics, so you need to be familiar with Magic to get anything out of this. Similarly, new cards introduced as toned-down versions of old spoiler cards don't come with a detailed description of the old card (e.g. Final Fortune vs. old Time Walk). The story line description is given in 4 paragraphs, padded with lots of white space, followed by two equally padded pages of details of famous Mirage cards: Grinning Totem, Celestial Dawn, Hammer of Bogardan, Maro, Tombstone Stairwell, and Political Trickery.

After each expansion's introduction, all its individual cards are listed in alphabetical order, shown at about 3/4 actual size. The versions of Magic that included those cards (at the time of printing) are specified, as well as any errata. The artwork came out fairly well, but the flavor text for red cards is hard to read. My copy suffers from other printing problems as well (the non-flavor text came out blurred for some Mirage cards). Each card's name is printed separately below the card, but it's annoying to pay money for this.

The best book I have ever bought.......2001-07-02

The collectable card game Magic: The Gathering was first released in 1993. Since then, dozens of expansion editions have been created and discontinued. This first Encyclopedia (made in 1996) shows every card from the first 8 editions - from Arabian Nights to Alliances (made in 1996) - as well as the whole 4th Edition (the Basic set at the time). Most interestingly of all the cards that were Discontinued before the 4th Edition are also displayed. All of the cards pictured in the book have been out of print for at least half a decade, so this is most likely the only place where you will be able to see them. The guide is well made, all in colour, official looking, and excellently laid out by the people who created the game. The card images have been shrunk by about 25% so that 12 of them can be fitted onto a side, however, the artwork and text are still clear. The rarity of each card is also detailed. As well as the encyclopedia images, there is a foreward by the game's creator, an introduction to each set (with each sets best cards highlited), deckbuilder's indexes, images of promotional cards, misprinted cards and oddities, a history of the game, and a visual guide to Magic cards (teaching how to identify ones from different sets, e.g. cards in the Alpha set have more rounded edges). I have owned this book for three years and I still refer to it regularly....

Magic: The Gathering Encyclopaedia.......2001-02-22

What is the difference between Vol 1 and this book? Part of selling a book is to give the buyer an idea of what the book is about. Do I need to buy Vol 1? Is Vol 2 incorporating Vol 1 or an addition to? Unfortunately, I can't pluck the book cover off the monitor screen and read the back blurb to make that judgment for myself.

An Encyclopedia, Nothing More.......2000-08-21

This is a very good encyclopedia, with up to date cards, and even a discontinued & misprint section, both of which are interesting. The only problem with this book is that it is an encyclopedia. Nothing much else, besides an introduction to the book and each section, which should be expected. It gives no tips on, forsay, how to use the cards, or something to that effect. Overall it's a good book, if you're looking for an encyclopedia.

The first Official Guide.......2000-08-12

Among all 4 volume published, this is the most comprehensive, it contains every cards in magic during that time and this is the first - First Official Guide. Before having this guide, collectors have to keep track with Duelist or Inquest for a full list (in text). This book is not only a good book with all coloured pictures, it is also the best reference for any Magic Collectors. Highly recommended.

Book Description

Bulletproof your system before you are hacked! From the publisher of the international best-seller, Hacking Exposed, here is a brilliant new offering written with a passion for security that will help you make the necessary upgrades and take the essential steps to secure your network infrastructure. The concise and consistent approach breaks down security into logical parts, giving you actions to take immediately, information on hardening your system from the top down, and finally when to go back and make further upgrades.

Customer Reviews:

VERY good book on network security!!!.......2004-10-29

Practical, hands-on 'guide' to securing your environment. Even includes securing those pesky wireless network upstarts! Very nuts-&-bolts. Real world applications, as shown by Mr. Noonan's inclusion of various network equipment and its operations. From implementations of firewall ACLs, AAA, routers & switches command line/GUI consoles, to deployment of VLANs, DMZs and intrusion detection systems - this book has got it all!!! No network admin should not have this on their book shelf!

Must have security book.......2004-06-02

It is evident that the author has real world knowledge and experience. His writing style is clear and easy to read but he still keeps it too a high technical level. The author isn't afraid to get into specifics on how to secure your infrastructure. Too many authors today seem to write their security books with vague suggestions on security but don't really give you anything really solid. I began using this book as a reference immediately for a big project I had coming up it gave me the info I needed. This book should be on anybody's shelf that's serious about security

Just what the DR ordered..........2004-05-24

I have been reading networking and infrastructure books for over 15 years and there are a few that make the grade as a keeper.. (one that ends up on ebay or sold in a garage sale is NOT a keeper :) I have this as my new 'keeper' and it will stay by my side and make a few trips up and down the west coast in my trusty laptop bag.
The fact that there are examples of each 'fix' or procedure that is important is a goldmine of information. My favorite line was early in the book when Wes made the statement.

"If you don't have a firewall, stop reading this book right now and go buy or build one and implement it on your network."

Now, how many books actually tell you to put it down and go do something then show you HOW to if you run into problems or have some questions.
Wes really wants to help you in beginning those first steps to protecting your data and network all the while being able to talk to all levels who touch or SHOULD be touching security.
From the CIO/CTO/IS Manager all the way down to the guy sitting in from of a Cisco command prompt. They are all taken care of with this book in clear concise explanations and very easy to grasp diagrams..

Rating: Buy...

rob in kirkland

Good resource.......2004-05-24

This is a good resource that serves as a starting point for anyone in the unenviable position of needing to get a network into a more secure posture. If this is your role it is a must have. It covers a lot of ground in a "how-to" manner, instead of the normal books of theory. There are lots of screen prints and step by step instructions for setting up things like TACACS, IPSEC, firewalls, ACL's etc...

A must have!!.......2004-05-21

If you are a LAN administrator you NEED this book for the section entitled, "Do This Now!", and you'll find the later sections informative as well. If you are involved in network planning or security design this is a must have. The book is laid out well and easy to read with a good logical flow from one topic to another. The language the author chose to use makes it a much easier read than some of the other stuff out there I've seen. I'm definitely glad I picked this one up!

Security Sage's Guide to Hardening the Network Infrastructure

Average customer rating:

independent vendor analysis
Excellent!
The base knowledge you need to have for security
Excellent text for the 21st century network/security admins
Plain English but not "Dummies"

Security Sage's Guide to Hardening the Network Infrastructure
Brian Kenyon
Manufacturer: Syngress
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Hardening Network Infrastructure (Hardening)
Building DMZs for Enterprise Networks
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Hardening Network Security
Implementing Intrusion Detection Systems: A Hands-On Guide for Securing the Network

ASIN: 1931836019

Book Description

This is the only computer book to focus completely on infrastucture security: network devices, protocols and architectures. It offers unique coverage of network design so administrators understand how they should design and protect their enterprises. Network security publishing has boomed in the last several years with a proliferation of materials that focus on various elements of the enterprise.

* This is the only computer book to focus completely on infrastucture security: network devices, protocols and architectures
* It offers unique coverage of network design so administrators understand how they should design and protect their enterprises
* Helps provide real practical solutions and not just background theory

Download Description

Special Ops: Infrastructure will be the only publication that provides security and Information Technology (IT) professionals an in depth and comprehensive view of network devices, protocols and architectures. It builds on concepts presented in the original Special Ops book and provide detailed guidance on real world network threats and exposures. While most network security books focus on ancillary topics?such as operating systems, RDBMS, groupware, and other applications?this edition in the Special Ops series will concentrate strictly on the nuts and bolts of networks, such as routers, firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and the networking protocols that work in congress with them. Special Ops: Infrastructure will have over 200 pages dedicated to the most up to-date network layer attacks and mitigation techniques across an wide assortment of vendors and not just the typical attention paid to market leaders such as Cisco and Checkpoint. This expanded breadth will help reach a wider range of network engineers who may not have the budget to purchase and install best-of-breed hardware, but want to know how to make the most out of what they do have. In addition, this book provides detailed network architecture and design techniques to help lessen the impact or feasibility of potential attacks.

Customer Reviews:

independent vendor analysis.......2005-03-13

The book gives a tour of how to protect your computer network from intrusion. As you might expect, the authors devote substantial space to how you might design the network; often with a firewall and DMZ. Inevitably the firewall will be attacked, so there's a lengthy foray into the various attack vectors and your countermeasures. Variants of a Denial of Service are perhaps the most common attacks. However, there's no analysis of the most virulent form, a Distributed DoS.

I found the best strength of the book was its analysis of the various vendors offering products in this field. It's an up to date study of many key vendors. Cisco, Symantec and Novell, of course. But also much smaller entities like Tero and Net Continuum. The authors furnish an independent assessment of each company's main products.

Other chapters talk about things like routing protocols and network switching. Important certainly. But you can find this material in other networking books. If you are considering this book, go for its comparative advantage of the vendor studies

Excellent!.......2004-12-07

Every sys admin should read this.
Every network admin should read this.

Microsoft should read this :)

Seriously, great book, w/ great info!

The base knowledge you need to have for security.......2004-10-13

This is the minimum every network administrator should know about network security and is an excellent guide for administrators at the intermediate level of security knowledge. One of the things I really liked about the book was that it not only tells the reader how to secure their network but also tells them how to test the system using specific techniques and tools. This includes footprinting a network with tools like whois and DNS interrogation, monitoring traffic, and sniffing. The other great feature of the book is that it includes vendor specific attacks and defenses - the things the vendor won't be telling you. Some of the vendors mentioned include Check Point, PIX, Microsoft ISA Server, NetScreen, and Novell.

The authors also examine routing devices and protocols, network management and security, IPSec, VPNs, and security software. In addition to the internal network considerations the authors look at the items on the edge of the local network. These items include network switches and routers, including attacks and defenses by brand. They complete the book with a good discussion of internal network design including the importance of firewall selection and placement, Intrusion Detection Systems, and segmentation. Security Sage's Guide to Hardening the Network Infrastructure is highly recommended for people interested more in how to secure a network than how to hack one as well as how to test that security.

Excellent text for the 21st century network/security admins.......2004-08-25

Todays's network administrator needs to be armed with more knowledge than just Microsoft GUI management skills. This text discusses firewalls, routers, switches and intrusion detection networks, their importance in the enterprise, and how to deploy them in a secure fashion.
While directed towards the large enterprise, this book can also help the small and mid size businesses to maintain a secure network.
My only reason for 4 stars is Chapter 4 on Firewall Attacks and Defenses. The conclusions at the end of the chapter are great, but I would have placed the chapter at the end or as an appendix.

Plain English but not "Dummies".......2004-07-06

Why is it that when you need a good technical book it written way over your head or one of those "dummies" or "idiots guide" books? i'm not a rocket scientist but I graduated college and dont have time to read and re-read pages because they are written for other geeks to understand. whats great about the Sage guide is that it's not a "manual" -- it's like a conversation. the author talks to you like you are a human being and then when you're done you can do your job. other books (my boss bought me this one and the one with the bald biker gang guy on the cover) leave you with no "action" or thing that you can apply in real life. after reading this book, i immediately followed three of their suggestions and i have logs to prove that i've been stopping some attacks. Even better, our deputy director is now investigating buying vulnerability software for our unit based on the examples shown in the first part of the book. I think everyone that is looking to get a hold on the security of their own network needs to read this just once.

Average customer rating:

Hardening Network Infrastructure
Wesley, J Noonan
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/OsborneMedia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFS9RM

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