The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town

Book Description

Revised and updated to cover the Clash's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the band members' post-Clash careers, The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town now includes the first full account of Joe Strummer's "Wilderness Years," his triumphant comeback with the Mescaleros, and his sudden and tragic early death. Extensively revised and updated from both its 1995 and 2001 incarnations, The Clash traces the band members' progress from dispiriting rehearsals in damp London basements to packed American stadiums. A fascinatingly detailed account of the first band to take punk's radical politics to the masses and survive for a decade against all the odds, it also offers an intriguing investigation into the gap between rock mythology and rock reality.

Customer Reviews:

This Doesn't Deserve Even One Star.......2005-11-15

Oh, what a bitter little man is Marcus Gray. I don't know how anyone can excuse this hate festival of a "book." All that Gray does is make personal attacks (mostly on Joe Strummer), and claims that his purpose is to take apart the myth of the Clash. No. He clearly has a major bone to pick with them (especially Joe Strummer.) I gained no new information from this book, nor was I entertained by the "author's" writing style. The only thing that we know for sure about these four guys is that they made great music, and were human beings, no more or less flawed than any of us. The only thing that we know for sure about Gray is that no one will write a biography about him, nor, in the spirit of this "author," will anyone, but the handful of people who may consider him a relative or friend, notice when he exits the planet.

THE ONLY CLASH BIO THAT REALLY MATTERS.......2005-05-15

With each edition of Last Gang in Town, Gray's research has grown deeper and more comprehensive, and his analysis all the more cutting because of it. Gray's opinions on the band's motivations may not be to everyone's tastes, but the man has paid his dues and deserves to be heard. If you are a hardcore fan, this book is your godhead. It's the closest thing to actually having spent all your time with them. Some strung-out liggers may believe they have the inside track based on their short or casual relationship to them, but Gray digs past the sentiment and the nostalgia and does his best to recreate the world of the Clash and the world that they lived in.

There has been a lot of comment on Gray's thesis: namely, that the Clash were not nearly as Olympian as Sony's propaganda officers would have you believe. You can quibble on the specifics, but Gray does you the favor of laying out his case meticulously, like a prosecuting attorney. Make no mistake, the man is as dedicated a fan as anyone on the planet, but he doesn't let his love for the music and for the band color his judgement. The Clash were not superheroes, they were a deeply flawed group of men, as are most Rock and Rollers, and as are basically all Rock and Rollers of the Clash's stature.

I've read the other Clash bios, everything from Kris Need's scandalously plagiaristic cash-in to Pat Gilbert's earnest and deferential tribute and nothing even comes to close to the width and breadth of Last Gang. Even if you disagree with Gray-hell, even if you violently disagree- you will be blown away by the sheer abundance of fact that this book offers. You will understand the world the Clash lived in and the challenges they faced. Last Gang is true to the spirit of the Clash by taking no heroes, only inspiration

Last Gang Top Notch.......2004-09-21

For The Clash fans, this is the book you wanted to read, but thought had never been written. Massively thick with small printing, this book, like The Clash, offers you more for your buck. Knowledgeable and relevant musically and socially, for a Clash fan, there is no better book out there.

Best book on the Punk movement in England I've ever read!!.......2004-08-23

OK, you may think I'm biased, having worked with Marcus centuries ago, before I moved to the US, when I general managed a retail book chain in London and he was senior asistant in the largest store - was I surprised to see his photo iside the back jacket of the hardcover of the Last Gang In Town! - but I don't agree with some of the reviews of this book.

Sure if you want the "I was there with the band..." fairly superficial stuff go with Johnny Green's book on the Clash, but if you want a well researched, no punches pulled book, go for this one - on the Clash or just about any band for that matter.

Having seen the Clash sometime in 1976 (?) when they were a 5 piece (with Keith Levine, later with John Lydon's PIL), I thought they were the worst band I'd ever seen, but later liked them more & more, even when, after singing about being bored with the USA, they ended up, in my opinion, wanting it to embrace them, and became more like the Stones than anyone else.

Maybe that's why Americans like(d) them so much - more than the band I found myself listening to after my friend at the time got me to a few Jam shows (now that was a band that, despite drifting more to a soul sound later in their career, never sounded anything but English!)

As far as a review of this book goes - I'm not doing a great job, I guess, but hopefully establishing my credentials as well as reminiscing a little. Back on track - this is, as others have said, a great book on a great band that seems as popular now among many as it ever was. If you want to read an in depth book on a band when music meant something & for a while at least wasn't (just?) a commodity, get this.

I've been around for a long while (in my late teens in the late 60's - yeah - I'm ancient) & I've seen a lot of bands, listened to all sorts of music & read a lot of books on music. I can't recommend this book enough!

Not For Casual Fan.......2004-07-15

This book by Marcus Gray describes in painstaking detail the major and minor events leading up to and through the end of The Clash's career. Last Gang in Town doesn't pull any punches and points out all the inconsistencies and contradictions of The Clash, while showing how important the really were. But, the book is so in-depth that it doesn't even get to the actual Clash until about page 100. If you're a major fan it's a great book and well worth the read. But if you're only a casual fan, I would suggest A Riot of Our Own by Johnny Green. It's much shorter and to the point with plenty of humor .

Book Description

JPEG2000: Image Compression Fundamentals, Standards and Practice is an essential reference for professional engineers and academic researchers in the fields of communication, image processing, signal processing, information theory, and multimedia. It has specific applications for those involved in the development of software and hardware solutions for multimedia, internet, and medical imaging applications, and for those pursuing research in image and video compression.
The book is suitable as a primary text for a course in image compression; it would also be helpful in the context of a more general class covering multimedia compression at an in-depth level. Final year engineering undergraduate students pursuing projects in multimedia compression and/or communication would also find the book a useful tool.
JPEG2000: Image Compression Fundamentals, Standards and Practice is written in four parts, to serve the interests of a wide readership.
Representing about half the total text, Part I of the book provides a thorough and up-to-date background in the fundamentals of image compression, including topics not previously brought together in a single volume.
Part 2 contains a complete description of the JPEG2000 standard. This description is written in such a way as to be completely self-contained from an implementation perspective, while it contains numerous references to the fundamental developments in Part 1. Together, Parts 1 and 2 serve the complementary roles of explanation and exposition in relation to both the JPEG2000 standard and modern image compression techniques.
Part 3 of the book is devoted to the implementation and exploitation of the JPEG2000 standard, containing guidelines, suggestions, and analyses for both software and hardware oriented applications.
Part 4 describes other key image compression standards, namely JPEG and JPEG-LS. The purpose of this material is to allow the reader to compare the capabilities and complexity associated with these standards with those of JPEG2000. This final part of the book also serves to provide a practical demonstration of some of the fundamental techniques introduced in Part 1 which are not demonstrated by the JPEG2000 standard.
About the CD-ROM: Included with the book is a compact disc containing documentation, binaries, and all source code to the Kakadu software tools. This software provides a complete C++ implementation of JPEG2000 Part 1, demonstrating many of the principles described in the text itself. The software is frequently referenced from the text as an additional resource for understanding complex or subtle aspects of the standard. Conversely, the software makes frequent reference to the text and has been written to mesh with the terminology and notation employed therein.

Customer Reviews:

The book is one of the worst of books I have read.......2003-04-02

If one wants to learn jpeg2000, he can look for some papers and source codes which are better than this book.
If one wants to learn theory of image coding, he can read some other books much better than this book.

This book is only for fools.

Great Work.......2003-01-01

The author of this book is a genius. His work should be required reading for all. Definatly one of the great minds in our time.

Know why you're buying this book.......2002-05-04

This book is quite good but any potential buyer should know exactly why he would buy it and if it really matches his expectations. Indeed, this book is hardly a helper in implementing jpeg2000, but more a reference book for highly skilled image processing professionals/researchers. It is divided in two parts: the first part is about general image processing topics and provide some explanation about the choices made for jpeg2000. It is the "theorical" part. The second part is about jpeg2000 itself. The latter could have been much more practical and better directed to implementors. In fact, I was thinking of this book being able to clarify some aspects of the norm that are quite blur, but I find the way it is written, even for the second part, overly complicated and scientifically oriented, not "engineering" oriented. Most of the topics are better explained in the norm itself than in this book, even if the latter is much more detailed. Clearly there is room for another book on the topic but this time directed to implementors, with less theory, less scientific notations, are more, much more, real world examples working on real bit-streams.

Display Interfaces: Fundamentals & Standards

Average customer rating:

Display Interfaces: Fundamentals & Standards
Robert L. Myers
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471499463

Book Description

Display technology is evolving at an impressive rate with LCD and flat panel technologies gaining an increasing market share over traditional CRT display applications. Focusing on the development of new industry standards, this timely exposition of display systems and applications covers display timings, interfaces, specifications, measurement procedures and all forms of display control and identification.
· Reviews interface and graphics subsystem standards, including FPDI (Flat Panel Display Interface), P&D (Plug and Display) and Intel's Digital Video Interface (DVI)
· Compares and contrasts current and future developments of television and computer industry standards
· Describes the major new display system applications (HDTV, notebook computer, cellphone, cockpit instrumentation etc) and illustrates how user needs have dictated technological requirements (eg power, size and bistability)
· Provides an accessible treatment of current and future display device development, including guidance on selecting devices gor particular applications
Designed to meet the needs of professionals using and implementing display technologies and as a reference for those developing new display systems, this text is a valuable resource for display technology developers and system integrators, video graphics interface engineers and professionals. The comprehensive coverage of this leading edge topic makes it also of interest to postgraduate students in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Download Description

Display technology is evolving at an impressive rate with LCD and flat panel technologies gaining an increasing market share over traditional CRT display applications. Focusing on the development of new industry standards, this timely exposition of display systems and applications covers display timings, interfaces, specifications, measurement procedures and all forms of display control and identification. · Reviews interface and graphics subsystem standards, including FPDI (Flat Panel Display Interface), P&D (Plug and Display) and Intel's Digital Video Interface (DVI) · Compares and contrasts current and future developments of television and computer industry standards · Describes the major new display system applications (HDTV, notebook computer, cellphone, cockpit instrumentation etc) and illustrates how user needs have dictated technological requirements (eg power, size and bistability) · Provides an accessible treatment of current and future display device development, including guidance on selecting devices gor particular applications Designed to meet the needs of professionals using and implementing display technologies and as a reference for those developing new display systems, this text is a valuable resource for display technology developers and system integrators, video graphics interface engineers and professionals. The comprehensive coverage of this leading edge topic makes it also of interest to postgraduate students in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Fundamentals of Digital Television Transmission

Average customer rating:

Excellent

Fundamentals of Digital Television Transmission
Gerald W. Collins
Manufacturer: Wiley-IEEE Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0471391999

Book Description

The first comprehensive, single source reference on what engineers and managers need to know to migrate successfully from analog to digital TV systems. Well-known industry consultant Gerald Collins describes all major digital TV transmission standards and provides practical guidance on the implementation, operation, and performance of the major transmission systems in current use worldwide.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2001-02-23

The detail included in this book is wonderful. For a person trying to learn the basics and move on to advanced thinking about Digital Television this is a must read. Mr. Collins comes from a background in HDTV and can really explain the process to even a novice like myself.

Book Description

OpenCable Architecture is the only resource available that discusses the new standard, OpenCable, which brings digital TV, data, and interactivity to the TV. The book will trace the evolution of digital cable TV systems demonstrating that OpenCable draws on such roots and adds a standard cable industry consensus to them. The book will concentrate on the OpenCable Network Architecture (the headend, optical transport, distribution hub, hybrid-fiber coax, and set-top terminal equipment) and describe how these components are interconnected. The style of the book will be targeted at the educated layperson and will explain key concepts in practical terms rather than focusing on how complicated the technology can be. The book will build the concepts chapter-by-chapter so that the final chapters will discuss complicated network issues, such as statistical multiplexing, quality of service, and blocking in a straightforward manner.

Customer Reviews:

Believe it or not, a real page-turner!.......2000-10-28

No kidding. Michael Adams has taken very complex technical subject matter and crystallized it in a conversational, easy-to-read manner, injecting personality and humor to make the text thoroughly enjoyable. Very refreshing approach to material that is usually inaccessable to non-engineers. Highly recommended for anyone in the broadband networking arena. Calculus is not a prerequisite!

The fastest way to get up to speed on digital cable.......2000-02-05

If you need a way to get employees, vendors, customers or anyone else up to speed quickly on how cable television networks are being re-designed for digital and interactive services, this is the book for you. It clearly and concisely covers the widely varying technical issues involved in designing broadband systems. I think it will a handy reference tool to both technical and non-technical readers.

Excellent source of information on OpenCable architecture.......2000-01-26

The opencable industry has great promise and potential. In its early formative stage, various industry participants (hardware and software developers, service providers, cable MSO engineers, etc.) really need and will benefit greatly from this book.

Michael Adams has done a great job of pulling together various information pieces in a coherent framework in an understandable and easy to read manner: history, rationale, process, market and technical details of the OpenCable architecture; current status and future direction. I recommend this book highly.

Satish Thatte, Director, Product Management & Standards LG Electronics Research Center of America Princeton Junction, NJ

OpenCable Overview.......2000-01-18

Although I have been reading a lot of OpenCable documents, there was a wish to have a book that gave the overview and connected the pieces together. That book has now arrived. I can recommend it to all that like to have more knowledge on digital cable and the overview of opencable.

Opencable thoroughly explained.......2000-01-16

Although I have been reading a lot of documents related to OpenCable, I was looking forward to a comprising work, where all was coming together. That book is now available. The good structure and well managed balance between the bigger picture and the details makes this is a very interesting book for a wide audience in the North American cable community.

Average customer rating:

FUNDAMENTALS OF DIGITAL TELEVISION TRANSMISSION
GERALD W. COLLINS
Manufacturer: JOHN WILEY AND SONS LTD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N5FJ94

Book Description

Have you tried using an "automated" GUI testing tool, only to find that you spent most of your time configuring, adjusting, and directing it?

This book presents a sensible and highly effective alternative: it teaches you to build and use your own truly automated tool. The procedure you'll learn is suitable for virtually any development environment, and the tool allows you to store your test data and verification standard separately, so you can build it once and use it for other GUIs. Most, if not all, of your work can be done without test scripts, because the tool itself can easily be made to conduct an automatic GUI survey, collect test data, and generate test cases. You'll spend virtually none of your time playing with the tool or application under test.
Code-intensive examples support all of the book's instruction, which includes these key topics:

Building a C# API text viewer
Building a test monkey
Developing an XML viewer using xPath and other XML-related classes
Building complex, serializable classes for GUI test verification
Automatically testing executable GUI applications and user-defined GUI controls
Testing managed (.NET) and unmanaged GUI applications
Automatically testing different GUI controls, including Label, TextBox, Button, CheckBox, RadioButton, Menu
Verifying test results

Effective GUI Test Automation is the perfect complement to Li and Wu's previous book, Effective Software Test Automation: Developing an Automated Software Testing Tool. Together, they provide programmers, testers, designers, and managers with a complete and cohesive way to create a smoother, swifter development process—and, as a result, software that is as bug-free as possible.

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Effective GUI Test Automation Developing an Automated GUI Testing Tool
Kanglin Li
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7ECRM

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