Koncocoo

Best Technical Video

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. “I can’t think of a more prophetic, more thoughtful, more necessary – and yes, more entertaining – book about media culture.” –Victor Navasky, National Book Award-winning author of The Art of Controversy “All I can say about Neil Postman’s brilliant Amusing Ourselves to Death is: Guilty As Charged.” –Matt Groening, Creator of The Simpsons “As a fervent evangelist of the age of Hollywood, I publicly opposed Neil Postman’s dark picture of our media-saturated future.
Reviews
""Amusing Ourselves to Death" is an amazingly written and well-argued book. Today, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have bite-sized debates where one side speaks for 1 minute and the other side gets a 30-second rebuttal. Clearly, the people then were different from the people now in terms of mainstream intelligence. The reason, Postman argues, is that the people in Dickens' era were children of "The Age of Typography," and the people today (us) are the children of "The Age of Show Business," or "The Age of Television." This book was written in 1985, but don't be fooled; it still wields enormous relevance today -- The chapter titled, "Peek-a-Boo-World" as well as the "Information-to-action-ratio" theory outlined in it are particularly pertinent regarding the modern-day use of the internet, especially with portable laptops, tablets, and cellphones."
"The book comes in 2 parts."
"Postman brought many things to light that I had not even thought about."
"Very informative in content, even for an older book."
"The type of media itself profoundly changes us apart from the content of the media."
"But while they were sci fi dystopias imposed from the top-down to control society, Postman predicted we, the people, are racing toward our own destruction in pursuit of pleasure and leisure."
"The typographic vs telegraphic mind, questioning what is television, continuity/discontinuity, context/decontextualization, hell even acculturation and cultural imperialism are hinted here."
"This book will open your mind to facts about itself and the effects of an entertainment culture that you never even considered."
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Lonely Planet's Best Ever Video Tips
From the world's leading travel guide publisher comes Lonely Planet's Best Ever Video Tips, the latest title in the stylish and snappy "Lonely Planet's Best Ever" series . About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet guides have won the TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice Award in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Reviews
"it is a good book."
"These are a fun line of books."
"These are a fun line of books."
"Would Gladly purchase again!"
"A perfect gift for the traveler-types that have hippie leanings!"
"Excellent book."
"I was honestly expecting a bigger book (although I guessed I could have seen the page numbers in the description).The pictures and organization of topics is great, and it can be very inspiring at times."
"Refreshing to learn of world wide traditions that can build guiding principles for living a life of peace, connection and perspective."
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Screens and Teens: Connecting with Our Kids in a Wireless World
Exposes the lies that technology can teach your teen Guides you in countering those lies with biblical truths and helpful practices Shares success stories of families who have cut back on technology and prioritized each other. "If you’re a parent of teens or preteens, or you work with teens or preteens, you’ve undoubtedly experienced the phenomenon of teens stuck to their screens–whether it’s phones, tablets, computers, or other technology. In her latest book, Screens and Teens: Connecting With Our Kids in a Wireless World , Dr. Kathy Koch, helps parents and youth workers explore these topics and discover principles and practices to connect with teens who seem inseparable from their screens. technology and our deepest human needs;truths about today’s teens;less and more (less screen time, more family time);lies that come through to teens through technology;and the ultimate connectivity. That’s the truth” moments and there were some of those lightbulb, “Now it makes sense moments!” I’ve come away from Screens and Teens with some very easy-to-implement strategies and ideas as I navigate life with a teen and do my best to disciple her to become more Christ-like. I highly recommend Screens and Teens for parents, youth pastors, youth teachers–anyone who deals with teens regularly.
Reviews
"I was privileged to see her speak at the Texas Home School Convention."
"Kathy Koch is insightful and practical when it comes to working with the technology invasion."
"I believe that this book has helped me to change my thinking, and put things in proper perspective."
"Awesome information to put in perspective regarding teens and technology."
"Highly recommend!"
"awesome, God blessed book for all parents of teens."
"Great book about how the older generation can figure out the younger generation."
"Great book!!"
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Best TV & Video Engineering

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. “I can’t think of a more prophetic, more thoughtful, more necessary – and yes, more entertaining – book about media culture.” –Victor Navasky, National Book Award-winning author of The Art of Controversy “All I can say about Neil Postman’s brilliant Amusing Ourselves to Death is: Guilty As Charged.” –Matt Groening, Creator of The Simpsons “As a fervent evangelist of the age of Hollywood, I publicly opposed Neil Postman’s dark picture of our media-saturated future.
Reviews
""Amusing Ourselves to Death" is an amazingly written and well-argued book. Today, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have bite-sized debates where one side speaks for 1 minute and the other side gets a 30-second rebuttal. Clearly, the people then were different from the people now in terms of mainstream intelligence. The reason, Postman argues, is that the people in Dickens' era were children of "The Age of Typography," and the people today (us) are the children of "The Age of Show Business," or "The Age of Television." This book was written in 1985, but don't be fooled; it still wields enormous relevance today -- The chapter titled, "Peek-a-Boo-World" as well as the "Information-to-action-ratio" theory outlined in it are particularly pertinent regarding the modern-day use of the internet, especially with portable laptops, tablets, and cellphones."
"The coverage this book got after 2016 US primaries has further fueled the interest of those who are looking for gratification to find arguments that confirm to their views of the contemporary world. Under the influence of a biased yearning to find a way out of the 2016 US political landscape, this book is a panacea; it categorically puts the blame for this presumed gaffe on the evolution of show business in the coeval society. All that this book does is present an aha moment, something on the lines of ‘I knew it!’ Otherwise, any serious explorer of this topic should start with 1984 by George Orwell or Brave New World by Aldous Huxley instead of picking up this text."
"Although the book was written twenty years ago, it is even more relevant today. Will young people even be able to read books?"
"The future and the present seem startlingly similar to aldous huxley and neil postman's vision of it, and that is frightening."
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Best Transistor Engineering

Make: More Electronics: Journey Deep Into the World of Logic Chips, Amplifiers, Sensors, and Randomicity
If you finished the projects in Make: Electronics , or if you're already familiar with the material in that book, you're ready for Make: More Electronics . Experiment with sensors, analog ICs, power, and motors Charles Platt is a Contributing Editor and regular columnist for Make magazine, where he writes about electronics.
Reviews
"I was an engineering student in college (although not electrical engineering) so I was always kind of upset that after spending countless nights of my life doing all sorts of crazy math problems with respect to circuits, I didn't know something as simple as how a relay works, or how to build anything except maybe a simple circuit with a lightbulb and a resistor. This won't make you an expert in electronics, it is definitely on the simple side of things (like algebraic simplifications of mathematical models that are actually rooted in calculus or differential equations), but that's exactly what I was looking for. Seems steep but if you plan on making use of your new-found knowledge for the foreseeable future, you will be using these tools well after you've worked through this book."
"Challenge his tech skills without been overwhelming."
"great book for learning the basics."
"Fun book, I plan on buying a ket to try out the expereiments."
"Informative yet simple."
"Of course you need to know electronics!"
"This book's layout kept me turning it's pages to learn more."
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Best Video Reference

The Hollywood Book Of Scandals: The Shocking, Often Disgraceful Deeds and Affairs of More than 100 American Movie and TV Idols (Encore Film Book Classics 10)
You’ll get the deep dish on: * The William Desmond Taylor murder case. * Wallace Reid’s drug-filled finale. * Jean Harlow and Paul Bern’s deadly marriage. * Errol Flynn’s statutory rape trial. * Loretta Young and Clark Gable’s secret love child. * Liz Taylor’s seduction of crooner Eddie Fisher. * Judy Garland’s pathetic public meltdown. * Marilyn Monroe’s sad fate. * Bob Crane’s baffling ghastly murder. * The X-rated Rob Lowe sex video. * The sensational fallout of Woody Allen’s union with Mia Farrow. * The killing of rapper Tupac Shakur. `* O.J. JAMES ROBERT PARISH, a former entertainment reporter, publicist, and book series editor, is the author of many published major biographies and reference books on the entertainment industry including Whitney Houston: We Will Always Love You; The Hollywood Book of Extravagance; It’s Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks; The Hollywood Book of Breakups; Fiascos: Hollywood’s Iconic Flops; The Hollywood Book of Love; Jet Li; The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood; The Hollywood Book of Death; Gus Van Sant; Whoopi Goldberg; Rosie O’Donnell’s Story; The Unofficial “Murder, She Wrote” Casebook; Today’s Black Hollywood; Let’s Talk! Silent film star Wallace Reid's tragic death from drug addiction Errol Flynn's statutory rape trial Loretta Young and Clark Gable's secret love child Liz Taylor's seduction of crooner Eddie Fisher Judy Garland's pathetic public meltdown Bob Crane's baffling death The X-rated Rob Lowe sex video The killing of rapper Tupac Shakur Winona Ryder's infamous shoplifting spree and trial The Robert Blake murder trial. JAMES ROBERT PARISH, a former entertainment reporter, publicist, and book series editor, is the author of many published major biographies and reference books on the entertainment industry including Whitney Houston: We Will Always Love You; The Hollywood Book of Extravagance; It’s Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks; The Hollywood Book of Breakups; Fiascos: Hollywood’s Iconic Flops; The Hollywood Book of Love; Jet Li; The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood; The Hollywood Book of Death; Gus Van Sant; Whoopi Goldberg; Rosie O’Donnell’s Story; The Unofficial “Murder, She Wrote” Casebook; Today’s Black Hollywood; Let’s Talk!
Reviews
"My mother loves these Hollywood scandal type books and she read this one in an afternoon."
"Good behind the scenes stories... lots of information regarding each story."
"Another great addition to my collection of Hollywood stories about the rich and snotty folks who never can get enough of anything, especially their own egos."
"If you love gossip, scandals, Hollywood, or history this is a must read."
"I love to learn anything I can about celebrities and this is one of those books that I learn quite a bit about old Hollywood; I can't wait to buy all the other books this author has!"
"Really a great add to my collection."
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Best Video Guides & Reviews

The Screenwriter's Problem Solver: How to Recognize, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems
Now bestselling author Syd Field, who works on over 1,000 screenplays a year, tells you step-by-step how to identify and fix common screenwriting problems, providing the professional secrets that make movies brilliant-secrets that can make your screenplay one headed for success...or even Cannes. Learn how to: •Understand what makes great stories work. •Make your screenplay work in the first ten pages, using Thelma & Louise and Dances With Wolves as models. •Use a "dream assignment" to let your creative self break free overnight. •Make action build character, the way Quentin Tarantino does. •Recover when you hit the "wall"-and overcome writer's block forever. Whatever your problem, screenwriting guru Syd Field can help; he's written four previous books on screenwriting, teaches worldwide, and is "involved in the reading and writing of about a thousand screenplays a year." His fixes generally involve getting to know your characters or story better, through the use of automatic writing, biographical sketches, and the like. For examples of spectacular screenwriting, he offers excerpts from the screenplays for Thelma and Louise , The Shawshank Redemption , Pulp Fiction , Apollo 13 , and Silence of the Lambs . And you'll thank him for persuading you that, yes, "a problem is an opportunity, a challenge that will allow you to ultimately improve your craft."
Reviews
"An excellent guide, but you should read his book Screenplay – The Foundations of Screenwriting first in order to better understand his terminology."
"Fully appreciate the clear guidance through the maze of hidden screenwriting problems."
"This is helping me so much to get past the hiccups in my screenwriting."
"This is one of the best books I've read on the art of diagnosing and editing screenplay problems."
"everything that i had hoped for."
"I run into problems with scenes that don't fit and the book easily explains what to do."
"Bought it new and it arrived in great condition!"
"Good information."
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Best Video Direction & Production

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
From one of the co-founders of Pixar Animation Studios—the Academy Award–winning studio behind Coco, Inside Out, and Toy Story —comes an incisive book about creativity in business and leadership for readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Huffington Post • Financial Times • Success • Inc. • Library Journal “[ Creativity, Inc. ]. just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”— Fast Company Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”. Praise for Creativity, Inc. “Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success.” —Jim Collins, co-author of Built to Last and author of Good to Great “Too often, we seek to keep the status quo working. “Just might be the best business book ever written.” — Forbes “Achieving enormous success while holding fast to the highest artistic standards is a nice trick—and Pixar, with its creative leadership and persistent commitment to innovation, has pulled it off. Any reader of Creativity, Inc., Catmull’s new book on the art of running creative companies, will have to agree. Catmull, president of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, has written what just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.” — Fast Company “It’s one thing to be creative; it’s entirely another—and much more rare—to build a great and creative culture. Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success. Catmull’s book is quickly becoming the latest bible for the show business crowd.” —The New York Times “The most practical and deep book ever written by a practitioner on the topic of innovation.” —Prof. [Catmull] uses Pixar’s triumphs and near-disasters to outline a system for managing people in creative businesses—one in which candid criticism is delivered sensitively, while individuality and autonomy are not strangled by a robotic corporate culture.” — Financial Times “A wonderful new book . An immensely readable and rewarding book that will challenge and inspire readers to make their workplaces hotbeds of creativity.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Punctuated with surprising tales of how the company’s films were developed and the company’s financial struggles, Catmull shares insights about harnessing talent, creating teams, protecting the creative process, candid communications, organizational structures, alignment, and the importance of storytelling. [ Creativity, Inc. ] will delight and inspire creative individuals and their managers, as well as anyone who wants to work ‘in an environment that fosters creativity and problem solving.’” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “For anyone managing anything, and particularly those trying to manage creative teams, Catmull is like a kind, smart godfather guiding us toward managing wisely, without losing our souls, and in a way that works toward greatness. What Ed Catmull shares instead is his astute experience that creativity isn’t strictly a well of ideas, but an alchemy of people. In Creativity, Inc. Ed reveals, with commonsense specificity and honesty, examples of how not to get in your own way and how to realize a creative coalescence of art, business, and innovation.” —George Lucas “This is the best book ever written on what it takes to build a creative organization. Ed Catmull is co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation.
Reviews
"Managers, as well as anyone who wants to better understand how companies work and what elements are necessary to make and keep them successful, will appreciate Catmull’s insight on leadership, nurturing creative environment, and protecting it from invisible threats. After reading the book, I constantly find myself quoting the concepts and examples described there when talking to my husband or friends about their jobs or my own and discussing what works, what doesn’t, and why."
"Ed shared several amusing experiences creating these magnificent movies to illustrate management concepts."
"Mr. Catmull presents an impressive analysis of how corporate culture can negatively impact creativity, even when corporate leaders proclaim their support for creativity and truly believe they are doing everything they can to foster and support it."
"Whether you're just a Pixar fan, or you're looking for ways to improve your company, you can't go wrong with this book."
"It tells of how the company was formed and the various challenges and changes along the way as well as how the people in charge are constantly attempting to maintain Pixar as a separate entity from Disney after being purchased by the latter while fixing Disney's animation studios and making Disney a world class entity itself."
"The book is definitely about creativity and the creative process, but it's equally about business and management."
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