Need something new to look at while mindlessly browsing the net? Check out PC Magazine's Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites! It's full of fun and useful websites that you might otherwise never come across in your attempts to navigate the ridiculously vast web of knowledge that is the Internet. I especially like footnote, which is ideal for the history lover and has a partnership with The National Archives to digitize historic documents; and Uncyclopedia, a site that is essentially Wikipedia's evil twin (not quite academic but fun to browse nevertheless!).
Monday, September 24, 2007
PC Magazine's Top 100 Sites
Need something new to look at while mindlessly browsing the net? Check out PC Magazine's Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites! It's full of fun and useful websites that you might otherwise never come across in your attempts to navigate the ridiculously vast web of knowledge that is the Internet. I especially like footnote, which is ideal for the history lover and has a partnership with The National Archives to digitize historic documents; and Uncyclopedia, a site that is essentially Wikipedia's evil twin (not quite academic but fun to browse nevertheless!).
New Books List
Now, an easy way to see new books and other resources available through the Library. Just go to our new title list on the Library website to see new nonfiction, fiction and audiobooks recently added to the Library's collections.
If you have an account with an RSS reader such as Google Reader or Bloglines, you can also subscribe to our RSS feeds of new title lists.
If you have an account with an RSS reader such as Google Reader or Bloglines, you can also subscribe to our RSS feeds of new title lists.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
In the GTCC Library Collection-William Gibson's Spook Country
The World We Live In-William Gibson's Spook Country
The godfather of the cyberpunk movement in science fiction continues his transition into telling tales about the here and now in Spook Country, which both is and is not a spy novel, as the title might lead you to think. There is plenty of cloak-and-dagger in Spook Country, but as in Pattern Recognition, Gibson's other novel set in the early 21st century, the cloak-and-dagger bits are really just the frame of a plot Gibson needs to spin out his observations about society, politics, homeland security, the war in Iraq, humans and technology, and even what I took to be a crack about Scientology. For those more familiar with Gibson's earlier novels such as Neuromancer or Mona Lisa Overdrive, do not despair-the sharp understanding of where we are going with our technology is here as well. Among other things, Gibson envisions a use of the Ipod that I'm fairly certain Steve Jobs never intends to happen. The usual cast of those living in the shadows of society and used by the powers-that-be is here as well. Gibson writes with empathy for those living in the cracks of the walls of the larger society around them.
Effortlessly written and dryly hilarious, Spook Country is also a dispassionate dissection of the policies of the Bush administration in matters of foreign policy and domestic security. I will leave it up to the reader to decide where Gibson comes down on these issues, but I will say it made me wince to think this might be how our neighbors to the north (Gibson is a Canadian national) really see us.
William Gibson-he has envisioned our future, and now he looks at our present. I'm not sure he approves of where we are, but no novelist is doing a better job right now of helping us understand where we are and just maybe, where we are going.
The godfather of the cyberpunk movement in science fiction continues his transition into telling tales about the here and now in Spook Country, which both is and is not a spy novel, as the title might lead you to think. There is plenty of cloak-and-dagger in Spook Country, but as in Pattern Recognition, Gibson's other novel set in the early 21st century, the cloak-and-dagger bits are really just the frame of a plot Gibson needs to spin out his observations about society, politics, homeland security, the war in Iraq, humans and technology, and even what I took to be a crack about Scientology. For those more familiar with Gibson's earlier novels such as Neuromancer or Mona Lisa Overdrive, do not despair-the sharp understanding of where we are going with our technology is here as well. Among other things, Gibson envisions a use of the Ipod that I'm fairly certain Steve Jobs never intends to happen. The usual cast of those living in the shadows of society and used by the powers-that-be is here as well. Gibson writes with empathy for those living in the cracks of the walls of the larger society around them.
Effortlessly written and dryly hilarious, Spook Country is also a dispassionate dissection of the policies of the Bush administration in matters of foreign policy and domestic security. I will leave it up to the reader to decide where Gibson comes down on these issues, but I will say it made me wince to think this might be how our neighbors to the north (Gibson is a Canadian national) really see us.
William Gibson-he has envisioned our future, and now he looks at our present. I'm not sure he approves of where we are, but no novelist is doing a better job right now of helping us understand where we are and just maybe, where we are going.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Jeff Kinard's New Book!
GTCC's very own Jeff Kinard has just published a new book! As a part of ABC-CLIO's "Weapons of Warfare" series, this book focuses on the history of artillery "from ancient dart firers and catapults...to the latest rapid-fire, rocket-propelled, laser-guided models." It can be found at the Jamestown Library on the new book display!From ABC-CLIO's website:
Title Features
- Includes case studies of the wars of Louis XIV, the Napoleonic wars, the American Civil War, and the Franco-Prussian War illustrating the impact of specific technical and strategic innovations in artillery
- Dozens of photographs and illustrations show various types of artillery, artillery mechanisms, and projectiles
- The only volume to offer an accessible, concise history of artillery weapons combining descriptions of all major technical and strategic innovations with coverage of their impact on and off the battlefield
- Highlights the contributions of artillery innovators throughout history, including Jean Baptiste de Gribeauval, William Congreve, the Krupp family, and John Dahlgren
- Illustrates the impact of artillery on the battlefield from the ancient world to the present and covers the latest trends in artillery including laser guidance systems and rocket-propelled weapons
**********************************************************************************
Review from Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA):
ARTILLERY: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF ITS IMPACT provides a wide-ranging survey of artillery's development and powers over the centuries, covering both its technical development and its use by leaders and nations over time. Military collections, especially those strong in overviews of military encounters with focus on equipment and its evolution, will find ARTILLERY a fine survey that blends historical background with a narrowed focus on battle equipment development.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)