The Sonification Handbook


Book Description

This book is a comprehensive introductory presentation of the key research areas in the interdisciplinary fields of sonification and auditory display. Chapters are written by leading experts, providing a wide-ranging coverage of the central issues, and can be read from start to finish, or dipped into as required. Sonification conveys information by using non-speech sounds. To listen to data as sound and noise can be a surprising new experience with diverse applications ranging from novel interfaces for visually impaired people to data analysis problems in many scientific fields. This book gives a solid introduction to the field of auditory display, the techniques for sonification, suitable technologies for developing sonification algorithms, and the most promising application areas. The book is accompanied by an online repository of sound examples.







Tsunami Warning and Preparedness


Book Description

Many coastal areas of the United States are at risk for tsunamis. After the catastrophic 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, legislation was passed to expand U.S. tsunami warning capabilities. Since then, the nation has made progress in several related areas on both the federal and state levels. At the federal level, NOAA has improved the ability to detect and forecast tsunamis by expanding the sensor network. Other federal and state activities to increase tsunami safety include: improvements to tsunami hazard and evacuation maps for many coastal communities; vulnerability assessments of some coastal populations in several states; and new efforts to increase public awareness of the hazard and how to respond. Tsunami Warning and Preparedness explores the advances made in tsunami detection and preparedness, and identifies the challenges that still remain. The book describes areas of research and development that would improve tsunami education, preparation, and detection, especially with tsunamis that arrive less than an hour after the triggering event. It asserts that seamless coordination between the two Tsunami Warning Centers and clear communications to local officials and the public could create a timely and effective response to coastal communities facing a pending tsuanami. According to Tsunami Warning and Preparedness, minimizing future losses to the nation from tsunamis requires persistent progress across the broad spectrum of efforts including: risk assessment, public education, government coordination, detection and forecasting, and warning-center operations. The book also suggests designing effective interagency exercises, using professional emergency-management standards to prepare communities, and prioritizing funding based on tsunami risk.




What If God Wrote Your To-Do List?


Book Description

What is God Asking You "To-Do" Today? When you talk to God about His plans for you, do you tend to focus on the far-off future? Big-picture thinking is great, but don't miss out on what the Lord has in store for you today. These 52 easy tasks will help you embrace opportunities to grow closer to God, reach out to others, and take better care of yourself. This is a to-do list for your soul. Read a Psalm, talk to a neighbor, or right a wrong. These are just a few examples of the simple activities that will enrich your everyday life. God is calling you to make the most of each day and live life to the fullest!




English Literature


Book Description

"English Literature: Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English-Speaking World" by William J. Long resents the whole splendid history of English literature from Anglo-Saxon times to the close of the Victorian Era. It's a useful and interesting guide for students as well as teachers of English literature, specially European and American, despite over a hundred years passing since the time of its first publication.




The Investment Checklist


Book Description

A practical guide to making more informed investment decisions Investors often buy or sell stocks too quickly. When you base your purchase decisions on isolated facts and don't take the time to thoroughly understand the businesses you are buying, stock-price swings and third-party opinion can lead to costly investment mistakes. Your decision making at this point becomes dangerous because it is dominated by emotions. The Investment Checklist has been designed to help you develop an in-depth research process, from generating and researching investment ideas to assessing the quality of a business and its management team. The purpose of The Investment Checklist is to help you implement a principled investing strategy through a series of checklists. In it, a thorough and comprehensive research process is made simpler through the use of straightforward checklists that will allow you to identify quality investment opportunities. Each chapter contains detailed demonstrations of how and where to find the information necessary to answer fundamental questions about investment opportunities. Real-world examples of how investment managers and CEOs apply these universal principles are also included and help bring the concepts to life. These checklists will help you consider a fuller range of possibilities in your investment strategy, enhance your ability to value your investments by giving you a holistic view of the business and each of its moving parts, identify the risks you are taking, and much more. Offers valuable insights into one of the most important aspects of successful investing, in-depth research Written in an accessible style that allows aspiring investors to easily understand and apply the concepts covered Discusses how to think through your investment decisions more carefully With The Investment Checklist, you'll quickly be able to ascertain how well you understand your investments by the questions you are able to answer, or not answer, without making the costly mistakes that usually hinder other investors.




...Then Just Stay Fat


Book Description

For a couple of years, Shannon Sorrels has wanted to put out a book about fitness and weight management, a book that's entertaining, motivating and a tad bit pointed, sort of a Dave Barry and Erma Bombeck meets Dr. Oz and Bob Greene -- definitely not your traditional this-is-how-to-lose-weight manual. A multi-degreed certified personal trainer and owner of an award-winning fitness training and nutrition studio in Phoenix, Sorrels has heard every excuse for not exercising and committing to a weight-management program: I?m too busy I?ve been out of town TV was good last night I had to go out to dinner a lot this week I?ve been sick The conference lunch had bad food choices My job is stressful I?m PMSing I?ve been busy I?m backed up (and I don't mean scheduling) They made me a cake I?m too busy I need wine I?m genetically fat My family is sick I?m allergic to South African bee pollen My car is at the shop My dog is sick These are new shoes My metabolism thinks I?m starving My child failed a test Dunkin' Donuts had a sale I usually weigh-in in the morning The soft serve yogurt with Oreo toppings was for calcium I?m too busy My cat is sick Beer helps me relax My tree fell over I forgot to wash my workout clothes I?m tired These are different clothes My pinky nail fell off My fridge died; I had to eat it all The moon is out of phase with Jupiter I?m too busy And to the people who made those excuses, she has wanted to say, then just stay fat.? Sorrels knows of what she speaks. The word ?diet? has been part of her vocabulary since she was 9 years old. She spent many years upset, depressed, frustrated and confused. She lost weight and then gained it back. She read books, listened to tapes and joined programs. She fumbled around until she figured it out, and when she did she changed careers and started Physix. She also found a way to share her thoughts and frustrations: writing. This book isn't a step-by-step weight-loss or fitness plan. There already are plenty of those, and Sorrels doesn't agree with most of them anyway. Instead, it is intended to motivate and entertain, spur some heated debates ? and maybe even put an end to all of the excuses.




Transportation Decision Making


Book Description

This pioneering text provides a holistic approach to decisionmaking in transportation project development and programming, whichcan help transportation professionals to optimize their investmentchoices. The authors present a proven set of methodologies forevaluating transportation projects that ensures that all costs andimpacts are taken into consideration. The text's logical organization gets readers started with asolid foundation in basic principles and then progressively buildson that foundation. Topics covered include: Developing performance measures for evaluation, estimatingtravel demand, and costing transportation projects Performing an economic efficiency evaluation that accounts forsuch factors as travel time, safety, and vehicle operatingcosts Evaluating a project's impact on economic development and landuse as well as its impact on society and culture Assessing a project's environmental impact, including airquality, noise, ecology, water resources, and aesthetics Evaluating alternative projects on the basis of multipleperformance criteria Programming transportation investments so that resources can beoptimally allocated to meet facility-specific and system-widegoals Each chapter begins with basic definitions and concepts followedby a methodology for impact assessment. Relevant legislation isdiscussed and available software for performing evaluations ispresented. At the end of each chapter, readers are providedresources for detailed investigation of particular topics. Theseinclude Internet sites and publications of international anddomestic agencies and research institutions. The authors alsoprovide a companion Web site that offers updates, data foranalysis, and case histories of project evaluation and decisionmaking. Given that billions of dollars are spent each year ontransportation systems in the United States alone, and that thereis a need for thorough and rational evaluation and decision makingfor cost-effective system preservation and improvement, this textshould be on the desks of all transportation planners, engineers,and educators. With exercises in every chapter, this text is anideal coursebook for the subject of transportation systems analysisand evaluation.




Skilled Interpersonal Communication


Book Description

Previous editions ('Social Skills in Interpersonal Communication') have established this work as the standard textbook on communication. Directly relevant to a multiplicity of research areas and professions, this thoroughly revised and updated edition has been expanded to include the latest research as well as a new chapter on negotiating. Key examples and summaries have been augmented to help contextualise the theory of skilled interpersonal communication in terms of its practical applications. Combining both clarity and a deep understanding of the subject matter, the authors have succeeded in creating a new edition which will be essential to anyone studying or working in the field of interpersonal communication.




The Design and Engineering of Curiosity


Book Description

This book describes the most complex machine ever sent to another planet: Curiosity. It is a one-ton robot with two brains, seventeen cameras, six wheels, nuclear power, and a laser beam on its head. No one human understands how all of its systems and instruments work. This essential reference to the Curiosity mission explains the engineering behind every system on the rover, from its rocket-powered jetpack to its radioisotope thermoelectric generator to its fiendishly complex sample handling system. Its lavishly illustrated text explains how all the instruments work -- its cameras, spectrometers, sample-cooking oven, and weather station -- and describes the instruments' abilities and limitations. It tells you how the systems have functioned on Mars, and how scientists and engineers have worked around problems developed on a faraway planet: holey wheels and broken focus lasers. And it explains the grueling mission operations schedule that keeps the rover working day in and day out.