And It Don't Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years

Book Description

In September 1979, there was a cosmic shift that went unnoticed by the majority of mainstream America. This shift was triggered by the release of the Sugarhill Gang's single, Rapper's Delight. Not only did it usher rap music into the mainstream's consciousness, it brought us the word "hip-hop." And It Don't Stop, edited by the award winning journalist Raquel Cepeda, with a foreword from Nelson George is a collection of the best articles the hip-hop generation has produced. It captures the indelible moments in hip-hop's history since 1979 and will be the centerpiece of the twenty-fifth-anniversary celebration.

This book epitomizes the media's response by taking the reader on an engaging and critical journey, including the very first pieces written about hip-hop for publications like The Village Voice--controversial articles that created rifts between church and state, the artist and journalist, and articles that recorded the rise and tragic fall of the art form's appointed heroes, such as Tupac Shakur, Eazy-E, and the Notorious B.I.G. The list of contributors includes Toure, Kevin Powell, dream hampton, Harry Allen, Cheo Hodari Coker, Greg Tate, Bill Adler, Hilton Als, Danyel Smith, and Joan Morgan.

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A Fresh Look at America's Culture, Safety, and Freedom

Searching for Meaning

The Era of Our Discontent

Reversing Spengler's "Decline of the West"

Training or Education?

This Unbearable Boredom of Being: A Crisis of Meaning in America
Genrich Krasko
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment: Rediscovering Passion and Wonder

A Philosophy of Boredom

Boredom: The Literary History of a State of Mind

Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl's Principles at Work

The Doctor and the Soul: From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy

ASIN: 0595313094

Book Description

The late Dr. Viktor Frankl, one of the greatest minds of the 20th century and the author of the bestselling book, Man's Search for Meaning, wrote over 50 years ago: "Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for."

The gist of this book, This Unbearable Boredom of Being, is that the most burning problems of today's America: crime, drugs, greed, ugly gender polarization, disintegration of family, decay in morals, racism, and so on, are the direct consequences of a crisis of meaning that has engulfed America. The author, Genrich Krasko, an acclaimed scientist and follower of Viktor Frankl, analyzes the causes of this existential crisis.

Genrich Krasko identifies one powerful factor that plays an enormous and decisive role in exacerbating our crisis and virtually all our problems: the degradation of our educational system. He also discusses the roots of this degradation and a future, true, educational reform. However, what Genrich Krasko suggests is almost diametrically opposed to the measures that are being widely discussed (and implemented) today.

This Unbearable Boredom of Being is an eye opener. It will also help you to envisage a new America, healthy and flourishing, a light unto the nations.

Customer Reviews:

A Fresh Look at America's Culture, Safety, and Freedom.......2006-03-20

In this book, "This Unbearable Boredom of Being," Dr. Genrich Krasko gives us a fresh look at both the dangers and possibilities residing in America's culture and its educational system. Dr. Krasko brings not only the perspective of an independent mind and fresh eyes but that of a man who is widely read in many areas in the humanities as well as in diverse areas of human endeavor and thought. With his practical and creative mind, Dr. Krasko probes beneath the surface of our current crises and offers practical solutions. This book addresses issues ranging from sex to science, from drugs to politics, and the paradox of empty lives in a land of material plenty and spiritual poverty. Dr. Krasko gives us not only WAKE UP call but also a WAY OUT path.

Searching for Meaning.......2006-02-06

Genrich Krasko, a physicist by education, is a keen student of the works of the late Dr Viktor Frankl. It is this unique combination of the critically objective orientation of a natural scientist and the deeply personal quest to find meaning in life that is brought to bear on the writing of this rather unusual and highly thought-provoking book by the author.

The author is clearly an ardent believer that as human beings, we are endowed with a freedom to find and realize life's meaning contained in the tasks, responsibilities and challenges we are faced with throughout our lives. Our response in performing these tasks, embracing these responsibilities and heroically meeting life's challenges, gives shape to our commission and calling as human beings and allows us to give our lives stature and meaning. The unique slant of this book is that these truths are considered not only within an individual life context but also within the broader framework of American society. The author espouses the belief that the call to lead a highly accountable life not only addresses every individual person but also every nation and, in this case, the American people. How does American society shape in the light of these demands for meaningful living and how, particularly, does it give an account concerning the education of its young?

Genrich Krasko was born and educated in Russia, and this book is particularly interesting because it is an expression of an immigrant's personal experiences in his adopted homeland. The adjustment to his new home with the personal responsibility of raising a family and caring for a grandchild in a society earmarked by freedom and affluence, challenged his scientific mind and brought many sharp insights to bear on the nature of American society with a vivid realization of the unique challenges it faces. The author's basic contention is that freedom without the challenge of responsibility and the realization of values that transcend the immediate, here and now luxuries and pleasures can only end in the senseless void which Frankl described as an existential vacuum. The happiness secured through instant gratification is short-lived and empty of any real life content. Drug abuse, addiction, lawless and violent, decadent and indulgent behavior are all efforts to relieve what is, as the author illustrates, an unbearable boredom of being.

The book will appeal to anyone interested in understanding the existential challenges facing affluent society, and will be of particular interest to the American reader.

The Era of Our Discontent.......2005-08-08

The decline of true education has created a crisis that has infected society. Many people, especially young people, are truly bored and have no compelling meaning in their lives.

The reasons for the decline include: the emphasis on training rather than on education; the concern with giving students a positive self-image; the attack on the existence of truth by cultural relativists, and a growing anti-intellectualism. All conspire to produce students that do not care deeply about anything, so they are bored. The search for meaning is replaced by the pursuit of pleasure.

Krasko has analyzed this phenomenon in a variety of contexts ranging from drug use to entertainment; from the failure of the grade schools to the relation between the sexes. Through it all, he stresses the difference between "training", and humanistic education. The former prepares students for a job; only the latter can provide students with a basis for finding meaning in their lives.

Krasko's most important intellectual forebear is Viktor Frankl, who added the desire for meaning to the desire for sex and power in traditional psychoanalysis. Frankl's thesis is one of those basic truths that are obvious once stated and Krasko points out that ignoring this is at the heart of the current crisis in education and in society

This is a deep and thought-provoking book, yet so well organized and presented that it is eminently readable. It is full of compelling ideas and practical suggestions for reform. Once started, it is hard to put down and readers will find themselves going back to it repeatedly as they consider the consequences of Krasko's thought.

Parents, teachers, school boards, curriculum committees and academic administrators should all read this book. They will be richly rewarded.

Reversing Spengler's "Decline of the West".......2004-12-31

In his influential "The Decline of the West," the German historian Oswald Spengler saw little hope for civilization. More than eighty years later, the physicist and humanitarian Genrich Krasko believes that a thorough overhauling of the American educational system can reverse the "decline" and usher in an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity. Krasko argues in "The Unbearable Boredom of Being" that "poor education is the main cause of almost all the problems our society is facing today." The evidence is overwhelming. Content to let machines and unscrupulous political and commercial manipulators do what passes for thinking, we have become a semi-literate society. In nearly 300 pages of stimulating analysis, Krasko offers a number of well thought-out ways to reform the educational system and in so doing achieve America's promise. This is an unusually provocative book.

Training or Education?.......2004-12-25

I read this book with great interest. It is not a secret that our educational system is in crisis. As a university professor, I have observed that the U. S. educational system places a much greater value on training rather than education. That is, the students at my engineering school appear to appreciate professional training more than broad knowledge of basic science principles. Unfortunately, such approach may lead to a decrease of cultural and ethical meaning of education.

The author passionately addresses this issue in his book when he emphasizes the underestimation of the humanistic role of education in our society. Being familiar with the culture and educational system of Soviet Russia he makes interesting and useful comparisons between different systems of education.

Undoubtedly the book addresses a very important issue and it would be great if it would stir a serious discussion of the problem. Of course this will depend, in the first place, on how many people will read the book. Thus, I hope this important book becomes more widely available.

Book Description

Literally a classroom-in-a-book, this engaging volume enables virtually anyone with a band saw, rotary power tool and a few of the most common cutting burrs to bring birds, fish, and even penguins to life beautifully! Professional artist-woodcarver Gene Larson demonstrates in words and pictures why he concentrates on simplicity of form, and how even a beginner can use a block of wood the way a sculptor would use a piece of marble.

With a unique ability to reduce a complicated subject to its most basic components, Gene provides step-by-step guidance (from the wood block up) on the creation of shapes that have the look and "feel" of great works of art. Beginning with the selection of the right wood, stressing the simplicity that conveys and impression of so much more, and ending with a proper finish. Gene shows you how to create works he calls "sketches in wood." You and your friends will surely call them works of art.

, Over 300 color photos, patterns, 8 1/2" x 11"

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"Any sufficiently advanced technology," said 2001 author Arthur C. Clarke, "is indistinguishable from magic." By that standard, those of us who carry wireless phones and palmtop computers have been running around with more magical devices than the average character in a Harry Potter novel. How Wireless Works aims to strip wireless of its mystical characteristics, and succeeds wonderfully with illustrations and highly modular text. The proven How It Works series format suits wireless technology very well, largely because wireless services can be explained as stories (the handset sends the dialed number to the nearest base station, which contacts its switching center, which routes the call, and so on). Preston Gralla, a great explainer of technical subjects who's written several fine books, makes great use of the "enhanced comic book" style to show what talks to what, when, and why. He doesn't oversimplify, either. Though reading this book won't fully prepare you for a job at a wireless service provider, it will enable you to speak intelligently about the differences among various mobile telephony standards.

It's very hard to find fault with this book. All the latest technologies receive attention, including the emerging Voice XML (VXML) concept and the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) standard that sees widespread Japanese use in NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service. Gralla also does his readers a service by explaining activities like mobile-phone service theft. --David Wall

Topics covered: Ways of communicating voice, data, video, and pretty much anything else over distances, without having a wired connection. This covers the whole range of technologies, from old-fashioned AM radio to swanky new services like third-generation (3G) mobile and location-based services. Internetworking is explained in the context of the unplugged Internet, and short-range wireless specifications like Bluetooth get attention, too.

Book Description

How Wireless Works, Second Edition continues in the How It Works series tradition by explaining every aspect of wireless communications, from the remote control on your coffee table to the most sophisticated wireless Internet networks. This book will provide you with a basic technical background on wireless technologies, including infrared, radio-frequency, WiFi, and RFID. You'll also go inside each technology's strengths and weaknesses, so that you'll know which technology is best suited to a particular application. In part, you will learn about:

How data rides on the wireless waves.
How radio and television broadcasting work.
How cellular networks, cells and base stations work.
How Wifi works at home and at the office.
Privacy and security in a wireless world.

Four-color illustrations will take you through the inner-workings of each individual wireless networking component and then show you how they all work together. If you're in the market to buy wireless equipment, this book will also help you figure out what is the best deal for your money as it will explain the differences between competing industry standards. If you have always wanted to know how wireless works, this is your book!

Customer Reviews:

Great illustration of the basics.......2007-10-05

A previous reviewer wrote "takes one concept and manages to fill an entire book" as being a negative. The author makes it clear up front that all these technologies use the same basic concept - attaching data to a wave and sending it - so what do you expect?? I'm a wireless engineer and thoroughly enjoyed how the author laid out each technology in a step-by-step fashion, complete with full color illustrations and interesting side notes. I originally picked this book up at the library, but decided I needed my own for quick and enjoyable reference.

Weak book.......2007-08-08

I generally like this series, but this one is weak. Takes one idea and manages to fill up an entire book.

Good book for beginners.......2004-05-30

This book fulfills its role as the very first book one may wish to read if he/she knows nothing at all about wireless technology and wants a broad overview of the subject. The colorful pictures and brief text descriptions makes the book accessible to newbies. The reader is then prepared to move into more advanced books on this interesting subject.

misleading content coverage, misleading title.......2003-06-02

CAUTION: DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR ANY KIND OF IN-DEPTH COVERAGE OF WIRELESS BASICS.

Great book!.......2001-10-31

If you want to know how any kind of wireless technology works, this is the book for you. Whether it's wireless networks, wireless Internet access, cell phones, WAP, pagers, WSDL...it's all here. The introductory material is great for anyone wanting to understand concepts like how data and information can be sent wireless, how the electromagnetic spectrum works, etc. And even the more complicated material is easy to follow --- the illustrations are clear and are great for explaining wireless concepts. Anyone interested in wireless technology should get this book.

The book of wireless,: Being a clear description of wireless telegraph sets and how to make and operate them, together with a simple explanation of how wireless works,

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The book of wireless,: Being a clear description of wireless telegraph sets and how to make and operate them, together with a simple explanation of how wireless works,
A. Frederick Collins
Manufacturer: D. Appleton and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Wireless OFDM Systems: How to make them work? (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science)

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I'll give you a middle of the road assessment
Professionally Very Poor
Waste of money...
Review by: Zongsen Wu, Shaowen Song and Tianying Ji

Wireless OFDM Systems: How to make them work? (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1402071167

Book Description

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) has become the technology of choice for broadband communication in a wireless multipath environment. For instance, it will be used in next generation wireless local area networks (WLANs) and broadband fixed wireless access networks. Although the theory of OFDM is well developed, implementation aspects of OFDM systems remain a challenge.
Wireless OFDM Systems brings together the broad and extensive experience of the editor and contributors by providing a comprehensive overview of OFDM implementation issues and OFDM based WLAN systems. The book starts with a discussion of indoor propagation channels, followed by an overview of the basics of OFDM, HIPERLAN/2 and IEEE 802.11a standards. Next, readers are lead through a complete design cycle of an OFDM transceiver, starting with channel estimation and synchronization functionality, and carried through to actual realizations. The different influences of the radio front-end on OFDM communication performance are detailed in the next chapters as well as many OFDM practical problems related to non-linear power amplifiers. The authors conclude with illustrations of several practical implementations involving wireless OFDM transceivers.
Wireless OFDM Systems is a must have reference work for wireless communication designers who are building wireless OFDM transceivers.

Customer Reviews:

I'll give you a middle of the road assessment.......2007-05-29

Reading the few reviews of this book you would either think that it stinks or that it is a gift from the gods. Both ideas would be a bit off the mark. In fact, based on the reviews (and the price) I avoided buying it for a while. Until one day during a course in UCLA with fred j. harris I heard him recommend this book. So I bought it.

Here are the bad things about the book, as I see it:
- The price is ridiculous, but hey we all know the racket that the likes of Kluwer Academic Press run, don't we? Hugely over priced academic books for hardbacks with AWFUL typography. You would think that with all the money they are making from us they would have enough to upgrade their printing systems.
- Yes, the book has a couple of error warnings from whatever text editor they used to write this book.
- Yes, it does not LITERALLY tell you how to make OFDM systems work, but, come on guys are you really that literally minded? This criticism may be true but it speaks more of the reader than of the writer.

And now the good stuff:
- Chapters 3, 6, and 7, are worth the price of the book (particularly 6 and 7).
- Chapter 6 on synchronization gives a very good systems view of OFDM. Anybody working on the implementation of OFDM-based real-time systems would profit from it.
- Similarly Chapter 7 on the impact of front-end effects is very good for somebody working on development.

If you are looking for a book to help you with your research topic in school this is not the book for you. But, if you are a DSP or Systems engineer working on the development of a real-time OFDM/OFDMA system, I can assure you that you will appreciate this book at least for the chapters I mentioned.

Professionally Very Poor.......2004-06-29

I have invested all my efforts to understand what the authors are saying. Oops! I couldn't make it.
The authors have put together very little piece of work (compared with the amount of good work published in various journals/conferences etc), but the title of the book is really flamboyant, proving "much ado about nothing".
I do agree with some people on the review of other OFDM books about the poor FFT/IFFT explaination in this book. The book does not even have a nice system model which the readers can follow. Throughout the book, the authors provided only a birds-eye-view of the problem and the solutions (in all aspects of the system design). No analysis of whatsoever. The chapters are not even edited properly, as you can see some funny statements in the book (page.125, "Error! Objects cannot be created from editing field codes", page.54, "Error! Reference source not found").

This book is very similar, in spirit, to the books of Ramjee Prasad and Van Nee, and Heiskala and Terry. The authors have provided references to their own work, without considering the good works put up by the fellow researchers in OFDM.

Over all, this is one of the pathetic, over-priced books from Kluwer. My recommendation is: don't read it, even if you get this for free.

Waste of money..........2003-12-10

As the title of this book suggests the authors try to give the reader the essential background knowledge on implementation aspects of an OFDM system.
As usual, the book starts with a short introduction to the propagation model, OFDM transmission and the essential building blocks of such a communication system (e.g. coding).
In fact, most of these description do not go much into detail, rendering these chapters useless for experieced readers.
Even the synchonization and channel estimation, which are the essential components of a receiver are described very sketchy.

Moreover several chapters of this book are presenting the design of a WLAN receiver IC without going into details. There is only little more information than you could get from reading the authors' papers about their simulation system and their receiver ICs. If you expect a book that helps you to get around the problems in OFDM system design, you will be disappointed for sure.

All in all the book is a nice introduction to OFDM, but in no way a "how-to make it work" book. Regarding the content of the book and the low quality of the pictures, a price of 150$ (12/2003) is overpriced.

Review by: Zongsen Wu, Shaowen Song and Tianying Ji.......2003-05-15

"This book...gives a comprehensive overview of the implementation of OFDM systems. It capitalizes on the large experience of the authors with the implementation of OFDM base WLAN system. For those who study or work on broadband communication in a wireless multipath environment, this book is a useful and easy-to-read reference monogram." Zongsen Wu, Shaowen Song and Tianying Ji , Physics and Computing Dept., Wilfrid Laurier University , ON

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Wireless telephones and how they work
James Erskine-Murray
Manufacturer: S. Lockwood
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000884712

5 hurdles to mobile and wireless deployments ... and how to overcome them: today's work force is demanding mobile, flexible, and real-time access to critical ... An article from: Mobile Business Advisor

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5 hurdles to mobile and wireless deployments ... and how to overcome them: today's work force is demanding mobile, flexible, and real-time access to critical ... An article from: Mobile Business Advisor
Bob Vieraitis
Manufacturer: Advisor Publications, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Mobile Business Advisor, published by Advisor Publications, Inc. on November 1, 2003. The length of the article is 3574 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: 5 hurdles to mobile and wireless deployments ... and how to overcome them: today's work force is demanding mobile, flexible, and real-time access to critical data. But, you're bound to encounter a few potholes along the road to anytime-anywhere computing.(Mobile Enterprise)
Author: Bob Vieraitis
Publication: Mobile Business Advisor (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2003
Publisher: Advisor Publications, Inc.
Volume: 21 Issue: 5 Page: 20(5)

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Como Funcionan Las Redes Inalambricas/ How Wireless Works (Tecnologia Multimedia / Multimedia Technology)

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Como Funcionan Las Redes Inalambricas/ How Wireless Works (Tecnologia Multimedia / Multimedia Technology)
Preston Gralla
Manufacturer: Anaya Multimedia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Unlicensed and unwired: the FCC's signal achievement: wireless networks are changing how we view communications networks.(Federal Communications Commission): An article from: State News

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Unlicensed and unwired: the FCC's signal achievement: wireless networks are changing how we view communications networks.(Federal Communications Commission): An article from: State News
Wayne Hall
Manufacturer: Council of State Governments
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Wireless Networks | Networking | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007URCKO
Release Date: 2005-07-13

Book Description

This digital document is an article from State News, published by Council of State Governments on September 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1308 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: Unlicensed and unwired: the FCC's signal achievement: wireless networks are changing how we view communications networks.(Federal Communications Commission)
Author: Wayne Hall
Publication: State News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2004
Publisher: Council of State Governments
Volume: 47 Issue: 8 Page: 10(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The book of wireless telegraph and telephone: Being a clear description of wireless telgraph and telephone sets and how to make and operate them, together ... a simple explanation of how wireless works

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The book of wireless telegraph and telephone: Being a clear description of wireless telgraph and telephone sets and how to make and operate them, together ... a simple explanation of how wireless works
A. Frederick Collins
Manufacturer: D. Appleton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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The Book of Wireless: Being a Clear Description of Wireless Telegraph Sets and How to Make and Operate Them; Together with a Simple Explanation of How Wireless Works

Manufacturer: D. Appleton and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GSLRPI

How wireless works, (March of time series. Physics [1])

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How wireless works, (March of time series. Physics [1])
Stuart Legg
Manufacturer: Longmans, Green and Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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