The Wired Tower


Book Description

The Wired Tower: Perspectives on the Impact of the Internet on Higher Education brings together leading thinkers and doers to assess the new realities of the Internet in higher education. Edited by Blackboard, Incorporated Chairman Matthew Pittinsky, the book identifies key drivers of technology-related change, five transformative Internet-based learning practices most likely to succeed and explores every facet of Internet-related change. The book also includes original contributions from Neil Postman (The End of Education) and Arthur Levine, President, Columbia University Teacher's College.




Circular


Book Description




The Long Tail


Book Description

What happens when the bottlenecks that stand between supply and demand in our culture go away and everything becomes available to everyone? "The Long Tail" is a powerful new force in our economy: the rise of the niche. As the cost of reaching consumers drops dramatically, our markets are shifting from a one-size-fits-all model of mass appeal to one of unlimited variety for unique tastes. From supermarket shelves to advertising agencies, the ability to offer vast choice is changing everything, and causing us to rethink where our markets lie and how to get to them. Unlimited selection is revealing truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it, from DVDs at Netflix to songs on iTunes to advertising on Google. However, this is not just a virtue of online marketplaces; it is an example of an entirely new economic model for business, one that is just beginning to show its power. After a century of obsessing over the few products at the head of the demand curve, the new economics of distribution allow us to turn our focus to the many more products in the tail, which collectively can create a new market as big as the one we already know. The Long Tail is really about the economics of abundance. New efficiencies in distribution, manufacturing, and marketing are essentially resetting the definition of what's commercially viable across the board. If the 20th century was about hits, the 21st will be equally about niches.




The Man Who Walked Between the Towers


Book Description

The story of a daring tightrope walk between skyscrapers, as seen in Robert Zemeckis's The Walk, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In 1974, French aerialist Philippe Petit threw a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center and spent an hour walking, dancing, and performing high-wire tricks a quarter mile in the sky. This picture book captures the poetry and magic of the event with a poetry of its own: lyrical words and lovely paintings that present the detail, daring, and--in two dramatic foldout spreads-- the vertiginous drama of Petit's feat. The Man Who Walked Between the Towers is the winner of the 2004 Caldecott Medal, the winner of the 2004 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for Picture Books, and the winner of the 2006 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video.










Theories of the Mobile Internet


Book Description

This volume proposes the mobile Internet is best understood as a socio-technical "assemblage" of objects, practices, symbolic representations, experiences and affects. Authors from a variety of disciplines discuss practices mediated through mobile communication, including current phone and tablet devices. The converging concepts of Materialities (ranging from the political economy of communication to physical devices) and Imaginaries (including cultural values, desires and perceptions) are touchstones for each of the chapters in the book.







Electricity


Book Description




Stand-Alone and Hybrid Wind Energy Systems


Book Description

Wind power is fast becoming one of the leading renewable energy sources worldwide, not only from large scale wind farms but also from the increasing penetration of stand-alone and hybrid wind energy systems. These systems are primarily of benefit in small-scale applications, especially where there is no connection to a central electricity network, and where there are limited conventional fuel resources but available renewable energy resources. By applying appropriate planning, systems selection and sizing, including the integration of energy storage devices to mitigate variable energy generation patterns, theses systems can supply secure reliable and economic power to remote locations and distributed micro-grids.Stand-alone and hybrid wind energy systems is a synthesis of the most recent knowledge and experience on wind-based hybrid renewable energy systems, comprehensively covering the scientific, technical and socio-economic issues involved in the application of these systems.Part one presents an overview of the fundamental science and engineering of stand-alone and hybrid wind energy systems and energy storage technology, including design and performance optimisation methods and feasibility assessment for these systems. Part two initially reviews the design, development, operation and optimisation of stand-alone and hybrid wind energy systems – including wind-diesel, wind -photovoltaic (PV), wind-hydrogen, and wind-hydropower energy systems – before moving on to examine applicable energy storage technology, including electro-chemical, flywheel (kinetic) and compressed air energy storage technologies. Finally, Part three assesses the integration of stand-alone and hybrid wind energy systems and energy technology into remote micro-grids and buildings, and their application for desalination systems.With its distinguished editor and international team of contributors, Stand-alone and hybrid wind energy systems is a standard reference for all renewable energy professionals, consultants, researchers and academics from post-graduate level up. - Provides an overview of the fundamental science and engineering of stand-alone hybrid and wind energy systems, including design and performance optimisation methods - Reviews the development and operation of stand-alone and hybrid wind energy systems - Assesses the integration of stand-alone and hybrid wind energy systems and energy storage technology into remote micro-grids and buildings, and their application for desalination systems