Life 2.0: How People Across America Are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a 17-year resident of Palo Alto, California, land of the $700,000 fixer-upper, and it's indeed a wonderful place to live if you can afford the price of admission: safe, excellent schools, a mild climate, pleasant & bicycle-friendly tree-lined streets, and a community life strongly flavored by proximity to Stanford University. Unlike a number of the subjects interviewed in Rich Karlgaard's Life 2.0, I have been fortunate to enjoy (?) commutes of 20 minutes or less. Downsides? A few: high mortgage, state income tax and property tax bills-EVERYTHING costs more here-congested rush hour and weekend getaway traffic, and a workaholic culture in which one schedules a dinner with friends a month or more in advance and it is rare for a long-time neighbor to be more than a passing acquaintance.
Nonetheless, in recent years my wife and I have often pondered whether we might enhance our family's quality of life by relocating to a smaller community. So far, in the last analysis, it has always come down to, "They don't have my kind of work [biotechnology research] there."
This sort of yearning is part of aging ("When you're young, you want to get away, when you're old you want to go back...") and is not unique to the nation's post-boom cultural and economic circumstances. However in Life 2.0 Karlgaard has identified a number of economic and social developments that in the next 1 or 2 decades could well synergize, transforming "yearning" to "megatrend." These include the aging of the huge baby-boom generation; the prediction, well-informed by history, that the next 10-15 years will likely see below-average investment returns and wage growth; and the huge impact of the information technology revolution that enables much knowledge-or service-based work to be done from anywhere and will doubtless catalyze a great leveling of the world's standard of living over the next two generations. In my opinion, he makes a compelling case.
This subject could easily have been the substance of a ponderous ethereal academic tome or a dry compendium of statistical analysis intertwined with cadaverous prose that would put 10,000 people to sleep if they were running from a napalm attack. Thankfully the author has instead chosen to illustrate his thesis in an engaging way through real people's experiences. The lengthier interviews are devoted to the more unusual and exceptional folks-entrepreneurs of various flavors-who have made successful transitions to stimulating, productive lives in "flyover country." Shorter "sidebars" are also included as excerpts of letters he has received from others who have found happiness and meaning, if somewhat more modest success, in smaller communities. I found the combination very enjoyable and read the book in but three sittings-a remarkable achievement for a 51-year old father of a lively six-year old son who normally takes a month or more to read a book! In addition Life 2.0 was for me a very thought-provoking read on several levels: both in its relevance to my personal circumstances and future, and in a more global (or at least national) sense.
What didn't work so well? As a pilot myself, I think the segments about the author's experiences in personal aviation might have been better integrated. Reading the first part of the book, I imagined that the aviation-related segments would serve as a metaphor for the broader theme, describing the author's own journey through a difficult transformation: finding fulfillment and satisfaction in mastering a new set of skills, finally opening up a completely new set of opportunities and experiences. Instead this theme seemingly just faded away as the narrative progressed and came to no satisfying conclusion. However, the subject and style of Life 2.0 foreshadow future revised editions containing at least updated information and perhaps additional stories. These future editions would also be an opportunity for the author to more tightly weave the theme of personal aviation into his tale.
I enthusiastically recommend Life 2.0 as a very interesting and enjoyable book that will make you think differently about your own life and our society's future. I plan to give it as a Christmas present to a number of family members and friends! In the meantime, my wife and I may make a few investigative visits and domestic inquiries in places such as Payson AZ, Columbia CA, Groveland CA, Albuquerque NM,...

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Do You Know Where Your Happiness Lies?In The Purpose Driven Life, I consider the question "What on earth am I here for?" This book considers another important question: "Where on earth should I be living?" Is where you live worth the stress? No one is forcing you to stay where you are. It's your choice. —From the foreword by Dr. Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven LifeWould you be happier if you lived somewhere else? A place where the quality of life is greater than the cost of living? Such places do exist—you just have to look a little harder to find them. The answer probably doesn't lie in the big coastal cities: the cost-of-living gap between those urban areas and the heartland is an immense chasm. And yet the "sophistication gap" between these regions is steadily shrinking—cable tv, computers, fax machines, cell phones, and broadband Internet access are making it possible to work almost anywhere.Forbes publisher Rich Karlgaard wanted to explore the new appeal of "flyover" country, and he decided to sky-hop around America in a single-engine Cessna, talking to people—those with a nose for entrepreneurship, a faith in technology, and the willingness to take a chance—who found their bliss in places like Green Bay, Wisconsin; Des Moines, Iowa; and Bozeman, Montana.America offers up scores of these gems—cities and towns with a winning combination of low cost of living and high quality of life—and Karlgaard provides an in-depth look at the country's 150 cheapest (and greatest) places to live.Life 2.0 is the story of those who are living larger lives in smaller places, and a road map for those who want to follow their lead.Where is your happiness? Check out Life 2.0's "150 Cheapest Places to Live" section, featuring dozens of cities and towns that offer the good life at a great price.

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Alden B. Dow: Midwestern Modern Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a beautifully done book reviewing the life and work of Alden B. Dow, a prairie school architect based in Midland, Michigan. I grew up in Midland, so I'm very familiar with his excellent work. It is nice to see it all in beautiful pictures.

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Alden Dow was a midwesterner by birth, but he lefta legacynational instature.

Active from the early 1930sthrough the late 1970s, Dow designed some six hundred projects-oftendaringly modern houses and religious buildings, schools and colleges, business and civic structures, andeven a new town in Texas. He changed the face of hishometown of Midland, Michigan, leaving it more than one hundred houses, officesand plants for The Dow Chemical Company, churches, banks,schools, and recreational structures. Nowhere isDow's genius more evident than in his Home and Studio in Midland, a National Historic Landmark. Alden B. Dow: Midwestern Moderntells the story of both this exceptional residence and the architect who spent a half century developing his vision of amore humane way of building.

Beginning with the family-his father founded The Dow Chemical Company-and the townthat encouraged him, the booktraces the life and work of Alden Dow as well as the intensely personalphilosophy that governedeverything he did. Thearchitect rejected the traditional concept of style and instead urged that buildings reflect theirfunction, inspire their users, and encompass the qualities of honesty, humility, and enthusiasm. "There isnever a finething unless it isoriginal," he suggested,emphasizing the need for creativity and quality. Dow's influences were numerous:nature, the organicarchitecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (with whom he studied briefly as part of the Taliesin Fellowship), reasonand practicality, the arts ofJapan, the color wheel, and, always, an unfailing sense of fun andjoy.
185 color, 220 black-and-white illustrations

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Eckhart Tolle's Findhorn Retreat: Stillness Amidst the World: A Book and 2 DVD Set Review

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(More customer reviews)If you loved 'The Power of Now' you will be blown away with the clarity and depth of this talk. Eckhart is one of the most important spiritual teachers alive and this CD set is one of his best talks. Highly Recommended to all who are ready to hear the truth and experience deep stillness and presence. Thank you Eckhart for this gift ~ the planet is in dire need of this message!

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A two-day retreat at Findhorn, Scotland — famous as a spiritual center on the leading edge of personal and global transformation — offered an ideal showcase for Eckhart Tolle's transformative concepts, documented in this exciting package containing a book and two DVDs that capture the author at his best. Using his trademark lighthearted but penetrating style, Tolle explores in depth the concept of stillness and how to achieve it. Only by doing so, says the author, can transformation occur. Stillness offers a doorway into the Now and to true personal enlightenment, according to Tolle. Too often, people become trapped in their mind-created sense of self. He explains the compulsions that drive people's thoughts as they analyze, interpret, and label every conscious experience they have. The result? An inability to perceive the sacredness in oneself and the natural world. Eckhart Tolle's Findhorn Retreat offers serene sanity in a world in desperate need of it.

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Electrifying America: Social Meanings of a New Technology, 1880-1940 Review

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(More customer reviews)Did you know, in the early days of electricity, the power went off at 11:00 pm each night? Or that electricity was billed at a flat rate of $1 per day? Or that most homes had only one or two outlets and a light bulb hanging from a string?
This book is a compendium of both fascinating facts and substantial histories of the development of residential electrical usage in our country.
I love old houses and historical information, and perhaps because of that, I found this book to be a fascinating read. Some parts of it were a wee bit dry, where he delved into some of the more technical aspects of this modern utility, but the majority of the book was a treasure.
After reading this book, and gaining an better understanding of the history of electricity, I'd say, without hesitation, that introducing the modern convenience of electrical current into our homes may be the most significant discovery of the last 500 years.

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How did electricity enter everyday life in America? Using Muncie, Indiana- the Lynds' now iconic Middletown - as a touchstone, David Nye explores howelectricity seeped into and redefined American culture. With an eye for tellingdetails from archival sources and a broad understanding of cultural and socialhistory, he creates a thought-provoking panorama of a technology fundamental tomodern life.Emphasizing the experiences of ordinary men and women rather than thelives of inventors and entrepreneurs, Nye treats electrification as a set oftechnical possibilities that were selectively adopted to create the streetcarsuburb, the amusement park, the "Great White Way," the assembly line, theelectrified home, and the industrialized farm. He shows how electricity touchedevery part of American life, how it became an extension of political ideologies, howit virtually created the image of the modern city, and how it even pervadedcolloquial speech, confirming the values of high energy and speed that have becomehallmarks of the twentieth century. He also pursues the social meaning ofelectrification as expressed in utopian ideas and exhibits at world's fairs, andexplores the evocation of electrical landscapes in painting, literature, andphotography.Electrifying America combines chronology and topicality to examine themajor forms of light and power as they came into general use. It shows that in thecity electrification promoted a more varied landscape and made possible new artforms and new consumption environments. In the factory, electricity permitted acomplete redesign of the size and scale of operations, shifting power away from theshop floor to managers. Electrical appliances redefined domestic work andtransformed the landscape of the home, while on the farm electricity laid thefoundation for today's agribusiness.David E. Nye teaches American history at theUniversity of Copenhagen. He has published books on Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, aswell as Image Worlds, a study of photography and corporate identities at GeneralElectric.

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Strategic Management for Hospitality and Tourism Review

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(More customer reviews)I find it really interesting and updated. I like the combination between theory and practice, and also the great case studies at the end.

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Strategic Management in the International Hospitality Industry: content and process, is a vital text for all those studying cutting edge theories and views on strategic management. Unlike others textbooks in this area, it goes further than merely contextualising strategic management for hospitality and tourism, and avoids using a prescriptive, or descriptive approach. It looks instead, at the latest in strategic thinking and theories, and provides critical and analytical discussion as to how and if these models and theories can be applied to the industry, within specific contexts such as culture, profit and non-profit organisations.

Key features:

Cutting edge approach: applies advance and recent strategic management views into tourism and hospitality field.
Critical treatment: provides critical discussions about whether and how strategic models/theories can be applied into the hospitality and tourism field.
Sensitive to specific contexts: As the tourism and hospitality industry has become one of the largest industries worldwide, discusses how strategic management concepts can be applied in different cultures and profit and non-profit tourism organizations.
With supporting case studies related to the strategy content, context and process, from international industries such as Radisson, McDonalds, Carnival Cruiselines and Disney, this text consist of five main sections: introduction, strategy content, strategy context, strategy process and cases. Each of the chapters within these sections has a thorough pedagogic structure consisting of a bulleted introduction, examples and vignettes, discussions points, exercises, case studies and further reading and web sites.

Strategic Management in the International Hospitality and Tourism Industry: content and process also provides online support material for tutors and students, in the form of guidelines for instructors on how to use the textbook, PowerPoint presentations and case studies plus additional exercises and web links for students.
* Comprehensive coverage of both traditional and contemporary perspectives within strategic management in the applied context of the international hospitality and tourism industry.* Critical discussions about whether and how strategic models/theories can be applied into the hospitality and tourism field. * Up-to-date case studies related to the strategy content, context and process from an international overview, including Carnival Cruiselines, Four Seasons Regent Hotels, Disney and McDonalds.* Web Support for tutors and students providing explanation and guidelines for instructors on how to use the textbook, and case studies with additional exercises and web links for students.

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Marketing Review

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(More customer reviews)I got this book for my Marketing 101 class and is not that bad. It used real like cases of all sorts of companies to explain the concepts outlined in the book. I personally am not a fan of reading, especially for school, but this book is pretty good. The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is because I HAD TO buy it.

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Marketing, 13/e, by Etzel, Walker and Stanton continues to be a popular, low-cost, paperback option in the Principles market.This text is thoroughly revised, completely updated, andcontinues to incorporate technology, and feature in-text and boxed examples that highlight global issues, technology, ethics, and applied decision making, chapter opening cases, and part-ending cases.Other marketing themes integrated throughout the text include critical and current themes such as global marketing, customer relationship management, small business and entrepreneurship. This edition features a completely new design, a new Student CD-ROM, a revised supplements package and an interactive web page.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Smart Communities: How Citizens and Local Leaders Can Use Strategic Thinking to Build a Brighter Future (Wiley Desktop Editions) Review

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(More customer reviews)Finally, an exceedingly hopeful book about how to effect meaningful change in a community, large or small. Here, Dr. Suzanne Morse, in her characteristic lively and to-the-point style, has given us a guide, repleat with documented examples of how to move the needle on those issues we're all too familiar with: poverty, lack of a board base of leadership, chidren's welfare. Armed with more than 10 years of hands on experience working with groups in communities all across the country, Dr. Morse's book, as well as many of her other supportive pieces such as What Works, guarantees us all that we no longer have to start at square one. If you were depressed by Robert Putnam's novel a few years back, Bowling Alone, which bemoaned the lack of citizen involvement in communities today, this book and the work of Dr. Morse will give you not only hope but the tools to join forces with others where you live to make a difference.
Read it for the cheer joy of finding out how this is done, and done well.Each chapter ends with, How to Get Started in Your Community, a virtual workbook for action. Her reference section will also help guide you in fruitful directions.Putnam's latest book, Better Together: Restoring the American Community, speaks of a hint that citizens are beginning to "bowl together". Dr. Morse's book is proof that they are and have been doing so effectively for the past decade.Enjoy--an exhilerating read.

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Based on the results of more than a decade of research by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change, Smart Communities provides directions for strategic decision-making and outlines the key strategies used by thousands of leaders who have worked to create successful communities. Smart Communities offers leaders from both the public and private sectors the tools they need to create a better future for all the community's citizens. Using illustrative examples from communities around the country, Smart Communities shows how these change agents' well-structured decision-making processes can be traced to their effective use of seven key leverage points: Investing right the first time Working together Building on community strengths Practicing democracy Preserving the past Growing leaders Inventing a brighter future

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The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America: 2-Volume Set Review

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(More customer reviews)I picked up this set because I immensely enjoy reading the Oxford Companion to Food and refer to it often.
Unfortunately, while the scope of the OEFDA is wide and many of the articles are informative and interesting, the quality of the writing is not as high as in the OCF. Perhaps Oxford University Press thought it needed to make this book "accessible" to Americans by limiting the authors to writing at an 8th grade level.
There also are factual inconsistencies throughout the book. For example, Ruffles potato chips are said to have been launched during either the 1950's or the 1970's, depending on which article about snacks you happen to be reading. This sort of sloppy editing and fact-checking is inexcusable, especially from a university press.
Bottom line: the OEFDA is an admirable attempt at creating a comprehensive survey of American food history, but there are some glaring flaws. I recommend starting with the OCF.

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Renewing American Compassion Review

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(More customer reviews)It is hard reviewing this book because although its message is very important it is also biased against what he calls 'liberals'. The only people I know who do volunteer work at homeless shelters are liberals yet he suggests that not only have the Democratic cabinets ruined the most unfortunate of our citizens but that liberal individuals themselves are guilty of marginalizing them and depriving them of humane treatment.
The reason why the book deserves 4 stars is because it calls communities and individuals to action and no matter what one's political sentiments are they should answer that call as a human being and not as a partisan.
As always, independently of the political associations the book or the author advertises, one should take things with a grain of salt and consult not only both sides of the issue but also proven factual information before making a decision on should act upon.

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Man on Wire Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a beautiful book that proves dreams do come true if you really want something bad enough and are willing to work hard enough no matter what the risk to reach that goal. It was Paris, 1968, when young 18-year-old street performer Philippe Petit saw a sketch of the proposed World Trade Center towers, and he was so awestruck that he drew a line between the two rooftops of the towers, and decided then and there that his ultimate goal was to one day walk on a high wire between the two towers. Over the next six years he perfected his craft. He did public performances atop Paris' Notre Dame in June, 1971, and he walked between the northern pylons of the world's largest steel arch bridge in Sydney harbor, as well as other high wire acts. One day in late summer 1974, Petit's dream came true. As thousands watched he made eights crossings between the towers, 110 stories above the ground, in less than an hour.
I think the most fascinating aspect about this story, was the lengths that Petit and his co-conspirators went to plan, train, and carry out this unauthorized feat. It's all here in vivid detail. And even if you didn't bother to read the text in this book, the photographs are amazing and breathtaking by themselves. This is a captivating memoir that captures the excitement, triumph, and joy of Petit's stunning achievement. Now that the towers are, sadly, gone, it's all the more important as a part of the towers history. I more than enjoyed this memoir, I was fascinated by it. It is certainly a positive and enlightening ray of hope for those who dream of the impossible!

Joe Hanssen

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Woodworking Business: Start Quickly and Operate Successfully: An Expert Woodworker Reveals The Keys To Succeeding In The Woodworking Business Review

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(More customer reviews)I find this book very informative and well written. Mr. Benitez has been in the field and has experience and information that anyone who wants to start a woodworking business needs to know. I really like the book for all it's practicality, but I believe it could have had more pictures. Overall this is a great book that will help you get started in the business and maintain it.

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Praise for Woodworking Business: Start Quickly and Operate Successfully:"Woodworking Business: Start Quickly and Operate Successfully is a must read with practical tips on every aspect of the woodworking trade. I would recommend this book to anyone in the woodworking profession. The insight within this book will do wonders for your business. It is one of the few books I have read more than once. This book is a remarkable tool that not only helped me in the beginning; it serves as a reference that I can look back on when I have questions about my business."Chris Looney"I would like to thank you for your latest book Woodworking Business:Start Quickly and Operate Successfully. It has been of immensevalue to me while I start up my own woodworking business. I soon discovered that it is an entire business plan and that alone has saved me hundreds of hours of writing and research. I particularly liked your simplified woodworking chapter which I intend toadopt to improve my profitability." Neil RogersOrder your copy of "Woodworking Business: Start Quickly And Operate Successfully" now and start making money with your skills.

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Visions of the East: Orientalism in Film Review

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(More customer reviews)Visions of the East explores mass media biases and prejudices towards the Arab. It's an easy, interesting read; it focuses on examples and backrounds as a means of illustrating the inherant reacism ("Arabism") in popular culture. Too often we don't realize the stereotypes being publicized are just that- stereotypes. Visions of the East reminds the reader to look deeper, to examine material before absorbing it. An excellent book for better understanding the rampant Eurocentrism in media and film and the reasons behind it.

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The Sheik. Pepe le Moko. Casablanca. Aladdin. Some of the most popular and frequently discussed titles in movie history are imbued with orientalism, the politically charged way in which Western artists have represented gender, race, and ethnicity in the cultures of North Africa and Asia. This is the first anthology to address and highlight orientalism in film from pre-cinema fascinations with Egyptian culture through the "Whole New World" of Aladdin. Eleven illuminating and well-illustrated essays utilize the insights of interdisciplinary cultural studies, psychoanalysis, feminism, and genre criticism. Other films discussed include The Letter, Caesar and Cleopatra, Lawrence of Arabia, Indochine, and several films of France's cinema colonial. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Dudley Andrew, Phebe Shih Chao, Mary Hamer, Marina Heung, Antonia Lant, Adrienne L. McLean, Janice Morgan, Alan Nadel, Charles O'Brien, and Ella Shohat.

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ZigBee Wireless Networks and Transceivers Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is excellent for learning ZigBee/IEEE802.15.4 and short-range wireless networking. I found this book very useful and it has answered many of my questions. I am impressed with its content and this book should be the definitive starting purchase for any ZigBee or IEEE 802.15.4 developer. I manage a small team of application engineers building proprietary wireless devices. We bought all three ZigBee books currently available on the market and we like this book the most.
Here are my comments regarding this book:
Pros:
1.Excellent introduction to ZigBee and IEEE 802.15.4. This book is well written and started us on the right track. The book goes beyond the basics.
2.This book contains a great introduction to the field of short-range wireless networking. Many of the materials discussed in this book (e.g., range calculations, battery life calculations, antenna selection, etc.) are useful and relevant, even if the short-range wireless networking standard is not ZigBee.
3.I liked the fact that the book comes with a website (http://www.LearnZigBee.com). We have used the calculators posted on the website to estimate battery life and various range extension calculations.
4. Coexistence is a challenge for us and this book answered most of my questions regarding coexistence of ZigBee with other proprietary wireless devices.Cons:
1. The last chapter is a review of other wireless networking standards (e.g., WirelessHART), but it does not go beyond the basics of these alternative standards. We wished to see more information about these standards.


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ZigBee is a short-range wireless networking standard backed by such industry leaders as Motorola, Texas Instruments, Philips, Samsung, Siemens, Freescale, etc. It supports mesh networking, each node can transmit and receive data, offers high security and robustness, and is being rapidly adopted in industrial, control/monitoring, and medical applications. This book will explain the ZigBee protocol, discuss the design of ZigBee hardware, and describe how to design and implement ZigBee networks. The book has a dedicated website for the latest technical updates, ZigBee networking calculators, and additional materials. Dr. Farahani is a ZigBee system engineer for Freescale semiconductors Inc. The book comes with a dedicated website that contains additional resources and calculators: http://www.learnZigBee.com Table of ContentsChapter 1: ZigBeeT BasicsChapter 2: ZigBeeT / IEEE 802.15.4 Networking ExamplesChapter 3: ZigBeeT / IEEE 802.15.4 Protocol LayersChapter 4: Transceiver RequirementsChapter 5: RF Propagation, Antennas, and Regulatory RequirementsChapter 6: Battery Life AnalysisChapter 7: Location Estimating Using ZigBeeT Chapter 8: ZigBeeT CoexistenceChapter 9: Related TechnologiesAppendicesKEY FEATURES* Provides a comprehensive overview of ZigBeetechnology and networking, from RF/physical layer considerations to application layer development. * Discusses ZigBee security features such as encryption. * Describes how ZigBee can be used in location detection applications. * Explores techniques for ZigBee co-existence with other wireless technologies such as 802.11 and Bluetooth. * The book comes with a dedicated website that contains additional resources and calculators: http://www.learnZigBee.com

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Lonely Planet Quebec Review

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(More customer reviews)Last year I had a conference/holiday trip to Quebec (City). I bought this guide and it made my life so much easier over there. The detailed maps of both Quebec City and the Quebec Region are a big help.
I used many of the recommendations in the book for sightseeing and tours. There are suggestions for the most popular places and also to get off the beaten track. Once I didn't follow the advice in the book, and it cost me extra money..... The guys have really checked out the place.


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Offers information on Montreal and Quebec City. This guide features a section on the eastern townships - the land of lakes, wineries and maple syrup - plus advice on activities such as skiing, snowboarding, dogsledding, ice fishing and snowmobiling.

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Rick Steves' Great Britain 2009 Review

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(More customer reviews)Rick Steves' travel philosophy is to travel better by traveling cheaper and closer to the people. If your idea of a dream vacation is sleeping on the eighth floor of a high-rise hotel for a fortune every night, this is the wrong book for you. If your idea of wonderful is to sleep in an exquisite four-poster bed at a Scottish B&B owned by a pleasant old lady who will talk to you for hours, all for about fifty bucks a night -- buy this book. Steves has three big strengths, which are all at work in this book: The most important, by far, is the accomodations. Steves consistently finds amazingly good buys among centrally located B&Bs with friendly owners. The only problem is that everybody knows this, so getting a room on short notice in the summer at one of his spots can be dicey. The second big strength is the practical guides to sights, which include lots of interesting little details that you won't find elsewhere while telling you in no-uncertain terms which sights are must sees and which ones you should skip. Over time, his picks may not always coincide with yours -- but I almost always found his stuff on-target. The third big-strength is Steves' travel philosophy, which is especially helpful to first-time travelers (or those venturing away from the Hilton for the first time). I highly recommend that you also check out Europe Through the Back Door, Steves' classic magnum opus, now in its 19th Edition.

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Take a walk through Shakespeare's hometown, explore the rugged and remote Isle of Skye, or enjoy the hip nightlife in Glasgow—it's all possible with Rick Steves' Great Britain 2009. Rick guides travelers through the best of this remarkable and diverse region, from the must-see sights of London to the quant villages of the Scottish Highlands. Rick offers expert advice, historical knowledge, and a healthy dose of humor, allowing travelers to experience all that Great Britain has to offer—economically and hassle-free.

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Vanishing Portland (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) Review

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(More customer reviews)I love old photos, especially photos of locations where you can see how things used to look and compare them to the current landscape. I ran across the book Vanishing Portland by Ray and Jeanna Bottenberg on our library RSS feed, and jumped on it immediately. It was a delight to see both early Portland images, as well as images I remember fondly since we moved here in 1968. While I don't completely share their tendency towards progress being cultural destruction, it is a bit sad to see what we gave up for things like parking garages and supermarkets...
Contents:
Acknowledgments; Introduction; Stores; Restaurants, Bars, and Nightclubs; Buildings and Streetscapes; Transportation; Products and Companies; Sports, Arts, Entertainment, and Media; Oregon Centennial Exposition; Bibliography
The book starts off with a brief history of Portland spanning the years from the 1840's through around the year 2000. You learn that Portland was very well-known for "shanghai-ing" sailors as forced labor on ocean voyages. You pass out in a bar, and you wake up at sea, unable to escape until the voyage was completed. Companies started, grew, died, moved... Exposition grounds had a history of serving as assembly areas for Japanese internment camps. World War II Liberty ships were produced in large numbers in local shipyards, and an entire city, Vanport, was built around that industry. Unfortunately, Vanport was wiped out when a levy broke and flooded 18500 home in less than an hour. After the history lesson, it's on to the pictures and images of days gone by. Stores such as Meier and Frank with horse and carriages out front. It's now a Macy's. Corno's Food Market, complete with huge fruit cutouts adorning the building (I remember those). It's now been torn down. Restaurants such as Waddle's right before you cross the I-5 bridge, with the famous clock and duck sign. It closed in 2004 for a Krispy Kreme shop, but ended up as a Hooter's instead. sigh...
There are images from Portland Wrestling, back in the days before the WWE (yes, I watched it every Saturday night). Wrestlers like Jesse Ventura and Rowdy Roddy Piper got their start here. There are all the old theaters that lined Broadway Street, such as the Oriental, the Broadway, the Fox, and the Orpheum. All are gone under those names, and only the Orpheum survived with major renovations to become a performing arts center. There's even the landmark location about a quarter mile from my house... the Steigerwald Dairy Company building that was in the shape of a milk bottle. It was remodeled as a 7-Up facility, then the bottle was enclosed to put a large 7-Up sign on the top. That recently gave way to, of all things, a Budweiser logo. Double sigh...
There are also some glimpses into how culture forces change. There was a chain of restaurants based out of Utah called the Coon Chicken Inn. One opened about a mile away from my house in 1930, and the buildings all sported a blackface character's head as a huge part of the entrance. Obviously as time progressed, that stereotype became far less acceptable, and the restaurant closed in 1959. I'm sure the same could be said for the Sambo's restaurant chain. The "Little Black Sambo" character became unacceptable, and even altering the basic advertising didn't keep it from closing down to the point of only the original restaurant still remaining.
I enjoyed the book quite a bit, and there were only a few places where the information attached to the picture was incorrect. I also could have done with fewer matchbook cover pictures in the restaurant section, but I guess it's hard to find pictures of some restaurants that were part of larger buildings. The book also screamed for a follow-up that would attempt to place the photographer at the same place today, taking the same picture at the same angle. Perhaps that'll be a photo project in all my spare time... :)

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Portland at the end of World War II was an international port and a powerhouse of the timber and shipbuilding industries. Oregon's largest city grew and changed in the decades that followed, adding new industries and population. It also endured reductions in shipbuilding capacity, a devastating flood, a declining timber industry, urban renewal, freeway construction, and social change. By the 1990s, a wave of globalization and big-box retail marketing swelled shipping at the city's port and swept away a surprising number of Portland's businesses, which remain in the fond memories of Portlanders. A few of these memorable icons include the stores Meier and Frank, J. K. Gill, Payless Drug, and Sprouse-Reitz; the restaurants Henry Theile, Jolly Joan, Tik Tok, Yaw's Top Notch, and Waddle's; the Jantzen Beach Amusement Park; the Portland Hotel; the Broadway, Fox, and Orpheum theaters; Henry Weinhard's brewery; the Ramblin Rod television show; and Portland Wrestling.

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Fodor's Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada, 10th Edition: With New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador (Fodor's Gold Guides) Review

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(More customer reviews)My fiance and I are going to Nova Scotia on our honeymoon this summer. This guide was the best one I've found. We're also going to Prince Edward Island and this book covers all of the Atlantic provinces. It even has sample itineraries which have been helpful because we are creating a honeymoon registry. Great buy! I would also recommend requesting free information from the tourist office of NS, they send out an informative brochure/book.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Fodor's Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada, 10th Edition: With New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador (Fodor's Gold Guides)

Fodor's. For Choice Travel Experiences.Fodor's helps you unleash the possibilities of travel by providing the insightful tools you need to experience the trips you want. Although you're at the helm, Fodor's offers the assurance of our expertise, the guarantee of selectivity, and the choice details that truly define a destination. It's like having a friend in Atlantic Canada!•Updated frequently, Fodor's Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada provides the most accurate and up-to-date information available in a guidebook.•Fodor's Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada features options for a variety of budgets, interests, and tastes, so you make the choices to plan your trip of a lifetime.•If it's not worth your time, it's not in this book. Fodor's discriminating ratings, including our top tier Fodor's Choice designations, ensure that you'll know about the most interesting and enjoyable places in Atlantic Canada.Experience Atlantic Canada like a local! Fodor's Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada includes choices for every traveler, from traveling coastal cliffs on stunning scenic drives, to chowing down at a lobster boil, to spotting majestic whales, drifting icebergs, or nesting puffins. •Indispensable, customized trip planning tools include "Top Reasons to Go," "Word of Mouth" advice from other travelers, and tips to help save money, bypass lines, and avoid common travel pitfalls.Visit Fodors.com for more ideas and information, travel deals, vacation planning tips, reviews and to exchange travel advice with other travelers.

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