The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes


Book Description

The truth is, the nits are out there.... What's weird about Samantha T. Mulder's birthday? (She has two of them: January 22 and November 21.) What's amazing about Mulder's cell phone? (It operates inside a metal boxcar, buried in a canyon, out in the deserts of New Mexico: anywhere!) Scully and Mulder, you have reason to be paranoid. Armed with keen detective sense, attention to detail, and a VCR, author Phil Farrand has done some forensic work of his own and dissected every technical foul-up, plot oversight, and alien intrusion on the X-Files(r). Paranormal he's not, but he'd like to know why T.A. Berube has a six-digit zip code or how the VCRs at the 2400 Court motel in Braddock Heights, Maryland, can play a tape after it's been ejected. Nitpicking? You bet. So join his conspiracy to have hours of mental stimulation and fun with: Equipment flubs Changed premises Plot oversights Fun facts Trivia questions Reviews of every show for all four seasons And more




The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers Volume 1


Book Description

Six seasons of bloopers, flubs, technical screw-ups, and picayune plot discrepancies for discriminating fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation Stardate 41153.7-46999.9 Starship Enterprise, Registry NCC-1701D We’re watching you. . . Is there a control panel inside the turbo lift? (No . . . except in the episode “Brothers”) Do or don’t personnel have to tap their badge to access their communicator? (Only when the writers feel like it) Yes, we’re fans. But we’re not unobservant. Some of us even have Vulcanlike logic. Author Phil Farrand figures that even if you love somebody, you can tell them about that dab of mustard on their upper lip. So here’s a compendium for Trekkers who are unafraid of pointing the finger at oversights, and who know it’s great fun to find the sloppy mistakes (or cost-cutting cheating) in a show that takes itself very seriously. So get your VCR ready and your mind set for hours of enjoyment and mental stimulation with: • Plot oversights • Production problems • Changed premises • Equipment oddities • Trivia questions • Fun facts • Covers every show for the first six seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation • And more!




The Nitpicker's Guide for Classic Trekkers


Book Description

Six feature films, the wildly successful television spin-off "Star Trek: The Next Generation," endless reruns, videotapes, conventions, a line of best-selling novels, and William Shatner's "New York Times" best-seller "Star Trek Memories" have kept the "Star Trek" spirit alive and well, even 25 years after its cancellation. Now this must-have book for all Trekkers -- which covers every episode of the original series, the pilot, and all six movies -- reveals all the bloopers, continuity errors, plot oversights, equipment malfunctions, and goof-ups that discerning, die-hard fans love to spot, but may have missed. Written especially for all those who find themselves thinking, "Hey, if the transporter is broken, why don't they just use a shuttlecraft?," this nitpicky volume includes Kirk's toupee watch; an examination of the logic of the miniskirted female crew members; number of times Kirk violated the Prime Detective and lots of trivia questions, fun facts, quizzes, and more. Live long and nitpick.




The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers Volume 2


Book Description

A follow-up to the first, best-selling Nitpicker's guide ferrets out the plot inconsistencies, scientific inaccuracies, and other foul-ups in the seventh, final season of the TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation.




PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files


Book Description

For six acclaimed seasons, FBI paranormal detectives Mulder and Scully have been chasing monsters and little green men and exposing government conspiracies, while espousing the mantras "trust no one" and "the truth is out there." This work takes a close look at the popular television series and shows how its style, character and narrative structure have continued to tease and please a wide viewing audience every week for six years. The first section examines the text of the series and the progression of its mythic story arc. This part also looks at the show's use of expressionistic techniques in both its visual and sound effects; the related tropes of self-reflexive humor, irony and the grotesque; and its ability to give the audience an occasional strong sensory jolt. The second section explores the context that has given rise to The X-Files phenomenon in the 1990s. The show's gothic horror tradition is established, and its contribution to the Zeitgeist of the 90s is also acknowledged.




Writing the Fiction Series


Book Description

The definitive guide to crafting a series! From the Hunger Games Trilogy to the Jack Reacher series, from Harry Potter to Harry Dresden, there's no denying that writers--and readers--have caught series fever. But if you're contemplating writing a series, there are plenty of considerations you'll need to make first. Writing the Fiction Series is the complete guide to ensuring your series stays hot after the first, fourth, or even fifteenth book. Inside, you'll learn how to: • Write a series that captures the hearts of readers and stands out in a sea of competition. • Find the focus of your series, develop your idea, and plan ahead. • Hone in on the two most important aspects of series writing: characters and consistency. • Utilize a variety of series organization techniques, complete with downloadable worksheets and checklists. • Market your series effectively and increase your sales. With insights from nearly 100 series authors and publishers, as well as "Grow Your Series Muscles" exercises, Writing the Fiction Series is the only book you'll need to write a series that sizzles.




Blindsight


Book Description

Hugo and Shirley Jackson award-winning Peter Watts stands on the cutting edge of hard SF with his acclaimed novel, Blindsight Two months since the stars fell... Two months of silence, while a world held its breath. Now some half-derelict space probe, sparking fitfully past Neptune's orbit, hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam. Whatever's out there isn't talking to us. It's talking to some distant star, perhaps. Or perhaps to something closer, something en route. So who do you send to force introductions with unknown and unknowable alien intellect that doesn't wish to be met? You send a linguist with multiple personalities, her brain surgically partitioned into separate, sentient processing cores. You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultrasound. You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won't be needed. You send a monster to command them all, an extinct hominid predator once called vampire, recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths. And you send a synthesist—an informational topologist with half his mind gone—as an interface between here and there. Pray they can be trusted with the fate of a world. They may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.




Media Spectacle


Book Description

Through analysis of several media spectacles - including the O.J. Simpson trial, Elvis, the X-Files and the Clinton sex scandals - Kellner draws insights into media, journalism, the public sphere and politics in an era of new technologies.




The Empowerment Manual


Book Description

The author of the award-winning Webs of Power provides a guide and toolkit to understanding group dynamics, facilitating communication and dealing with difficult people so those in collaborative organizations can generate cooperation, be more efficient and attain success. Original. 10,000 first printing.




Ask a Manager


Book Description

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together