August 12th, 2010 § § permalink
Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran by Roxana Saberi
On the morning of January 31, 2009, Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American journalist working in Iran, was forced from her home by four men and secretly detained in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. The intelligence agents who captured her accused her of espionage—a charge she denied. For several days, Saberi was held in solitary confinement, ruthlessly interrogated, and cut off from the outside world. For weeks, neither her family nor her friends knew her whereabouts.
After a sham trial that made headlines around the world, the thirty-one-year-old reporter was sentenced to eight years in prison. But following international pressure by family, friends, colleagues, various governments, and total strangers, she was released on appeal on May 11, 2009. Now Saberi breaks her silence to share the full account of her ordeal, describing in vivid detail the methods that Iranian hard-liners are using to try to intimidate and control many of the country’s people.
In this gripping and inspirational true story, Saberi writes movingly of her imprisonment, her trial, her eventual release, and the faith that helped her through it all. Her recollections are interwoven with insights into Iranian society, the Islamic regime, and U.S.-Iran relations, as well as stories of her fellow prisoners—many of whom were jailed for their pursuit of human rights, including freedom of speech, association, and religion. Saberi gains strength and wisdom from her cellmates who support her throughout a grueling hunger strike and remind her of the humanity that remains, even when they are denied the most basic rights.
Between Two Worlds is also a deeply revealing account of this tumultuous country and the ongoing struggle for freedom that is being fought inside Evin Prison and on the streets of Iran. From her heartfelt perspective, Saberi offers a rich, dramatic, and illuminating portrait of Iran as it undergoes a striking, historic transformation.
Roxana Saberi
Roxana Saberi
Saberi moved to Iran in 2003 to work as the Iran correspondent for the U.S.–based Feature Story News. She filed reports for organizations such as NPR, BBC, ABC Radio, and Fox News, and was working on a book about Iranian society when she was arrested on January 31, 2009. She was released on May 11, 2009.
Saberi grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, the daughter of Reza Saberi, who was born in Iran, and Akiko Saberi, who is from Japan. She was chosen Miss North Dakota in 1997 and was among the top ten finalists in the Miss America Pageant in 1998. She graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, with degrees in communications and French.
Saberi holds her first master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and her second master’s degree in international relations from the University of Cambridge.
August 11th, 2010 § § permalink
August 10th, 2010 § § permalink
Now you can get more out of your handheld device with help from this easy-to-follow guide. How to Do Everything with Your Palm Powered Device explains how to master the latest features, tools, and shortcuts in clear, straightforward language. Learn to configure your PDA’s preferences, HotSync with your PC, schedule appointments, prioritize tasks, and view your address book. You’ll also find out how to utilize different wireless options, access e-mail and the Web, turn your PDA into a mobile office, play music and movies, password-protect your PDA, and so much more. Maximize the capabilities of your Palm OS handheld and make your life not only more efficient, but also more fun. Configure your PDA and enter data using Graffiti, the onscreen keyboard, Palm Desktop, or Outlook Perform wired or wireless HotSyncs Turn your PDA into a GPS navigation system Implement foolproof security measures and safeguard your personal information Access the Internet and send and receive e-mail Schedule appointments and keep track of contacts, tasks, and expenses Use your PDA as a full-fledged laptop replacement Connect your cell phone to your handheld device Play games, listen to music, take photos, download podcasts, and more Troubleshoot, accessorize, and upgrade your PDA.
Get the most out of your iPhone by learning how to use all of its powerful capabilities. Filled with tips, tricks, and shortcuts, How to Do Everything with Your iPhone shows you how to set up your iPhone, make calls, manage voicemail, and load contacts. But that’s just the beginning. You’ll also learn how to send and receive email, look up turn-by-turn directions, listen to music, plan your week, play videos, and so much more. Plus, you’ll find out how to install third-party applications and even use your iPhone with different carriers. Now that you’ve got the hottest handheld on the market, take it to the limit with help from this hands-on guide.
Experience the thrill of using Apple’s newest and most exciting version of Mac OS X with help from this practical guide. You’ll easily master the many new features and functions—including Spotlight, which lets you find anything; Dashboard, which keeps useful information at your fingertips; and Automator, which allows you to perform repetitive actions with a single click. Manage your music and synch it to your iPod, organize your contacts, share your calendar, and much more. Discover simple methods for networking your Mac and get tips for keeping your system virus-free. How to Do Everything with Mac OS X Tiger will help you take full advantage of this feature-rich operating system so you can save time, work efficiently, and have more fun!
Crop, color, print, edit, and repair images with this easy-to-follow guide to Paint Shop Pro. Restore and revive images through editing, color correction, and other techniques designed to help you achieve professional results. Author Dave Huss delivers useful information in cookbook fashion, leading you step-by-step through projects such as improving a dull digital camera photo, creating an image for displaying on eBay or another Web site, repairing a damaged photograph, animating your Web site, and more. No matter your experience or knowledge level, How to Do Everything with Paint Shop Pro 8 will give you easy-to-understand information to help you improve virtually any graphic image in no time.
Now you can enjoy all of your digital media on your PC or TV easily with Windows Vista Media Center! Filled with expert tips, this hands-on guide explains how you can watch and record TV shows, download movies and music, view your photos and videos, and so much more–all through one, integrated system. How to Do Everything with Windows Vista Media Center shows you how to configure this versatile tool for optimum quality and performance and how to make the most of all of its powerful–and fun–features.
Create and share sophisticated electronic documents easily using Adobe Acrobat 8 and the helpful tips in this hands-on guide. How to Do Everything with Adobe Acrobat 8 shows you how to generate Adobe PDF files that retain the look and feel of the original documents, edit PDFs, collaborate with other users, and optimize PDFs for print or the web. You’ll also learn to secure your PDFs and maintain document integrity. Covering both Adobe Acrobat Standard and Professional editions, this book makes it easy for you to take full advantage of all the new and improved features of this powerful program.
Maximize the powerful features of the latest release of today’s most popular desktop database program. How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office Access 2007 shows you how to create and customize an efficient, multi-user database, retrieve, interpret, and share your data, secure your information, and much more. Designed to help you get things done quickly and easily, this user-friendly guide is your all-access pass to Access 2007.
Get more out of Excel than ever before with help from How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Learn how to create powerful and easy-to-use spreadsheets and bring yourself up to speed on all the new and improved features available in Excel 2007. Discover how to enter and format data, use graphics effectively, create formulas, build tables to store and analyze data, and share workbooks securely with other users. You’ll also learn how to save files to intranet sites and Internet servers, and publish workbooks to Web pages. Plus, you’ll find valuable shortcuts that will make it even easier to use the world’s most popular spreadsheet application.
Reach a targeted and influential audience using the medium that’s gone from underground scene to mainstream. How to Do Everything with Podcasting walks you, step by step, through the process of creating, broadcasting, and promoting your own podcast. You’ll get tips for targeting your audience, refining your content, integrating various technologies, and profiting from your podcast. You’ll also discover how businesses can use podcasting as a fresh, inexpensive way to communicate with customers, investors, and employees.
Get the most out of your Pocket PC, Pocket PC Phone, or Smartphone using the latest Windows Mobile software and this easy-to-follow guide. Learn fast and simple ways to manage all types of information-from everyday essentials such as scheduling appointments and storing addresses to balancing your checkbook and reading email-no matter where you go. Written in a step-by-step format, How to Do Everything with Windows Mobile shows you how to share data with other wireless devices, play music, watch videos, send messages, write letters, and much more. Whether your needs are business or pleasure, this handy guide will have you fully utilizing all of the expanded features and capabilities of your Windows Mobile device.
With coverage of the iPod classic, iPod touch, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, and iPhone, How to Do Everything with iPod & iTunes shows you how to download and play podcasts and videos, load your calendar and contacts, choose accessories to add versatile features, and even use your iPod as an external drive. You’ll also get detailed advice on managing your iTunes library, enhancing audio quality, syncing multiple iPods to the same computer, and much more, all in an easy-to-follow format.
August 9th, 2010 § § permalink
Master all the versatile capabilities of the hot handheld that’s taking the world by storm. How to Do Everything: BlackBerry Storm2 shows you how to set up and customize your device, make calls, manage contacts, send and receive messages, snap photos, and capture video footage. You’ll learn how to download and install all kinds of apps, map with GPS, play games, listen to music, create playlists, and so much more. This hands-on guide covers it all!
Fully revised and updated, this easy-to-use guide covers the iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iPhone, and iTunes–including the App Store. Download music, podcasts, videos, games, and applications; load your calendar and contacts; select accessories; and connect to the Web. Discover how to easily manage your iTunes library, convert file formats, use networking features, troubleshoot your device, recover data, and so much more. How to Do Everything: iPod, iPhone & iTunes, Fifth Edition covers it all!
Get the most out of your Mac, whether you’ve got an iMac, MacBook, and Mac mini. How to Do Everything: Mac, Second Edition shows you how to configure and customize your Mac and put all of the built-in tools to work right away, such as iTunes, Mail, Safari, and iLife. Learn all about the cutting-edge new Mac OS X Snow Leopard features, including 64-bit support, Grand Central Dispatch, QuickTime X, and enhanced performance. Hardware, peripherals, networking, and maintenance are also covered in this easy-to-follow guide.
Now that you’ve got a netbook, it’s time to find out how to maximize all of its capabilities. How to Do Everything Netbook explains how you can keep your netbook running at peak performance by limiting how many programs you run concurrently and what you download. Learn the best ways to connect to the Internet, secure your system, install software, use web-based programs from Microsoft, Google, and others, add memory, and troubleshoot your netbook. You’ll also get helpful tips for working with Windows and Linux operating systems.
This easy-to-follow guide shows you how to get the most out of the innovative smartphone built on the Palm webOS platform. How to Do Everything: Palm Pre helps you navigate the interface, load data from various sources, and use all the communication features–phone, email, and messaging. You’ll surf the Web, snap photos, enjoy multimedia, download cool apps, and keep your Pre running at peak performance. This one-stop resource covers it all!
Turn your Treo 700p into your mobile office and entertainment center with clear and easy-to-implement expert advice for beginners and seasoned Treo lovers alike. Learn the basics, like making phone calls, reading and sending e-mails, and connecting to the Web, then dive into editing memos and spreadsheets, giving PowerPoint presentations, and managing your finances. But the Treo is not just about working on the go–make sure you have fun too. Watch movies, listen to music, take and send pictures and video, and play games. Get more out of your Treo than ever before with help from How to Do Everything With Your Treo 700p.
Bring clarity to your PC experience with Windows Vista and this easy-to-use guide. How to Do Everything with Windows Vista shows you how to take full advantage of all the powerful and fun features of this revolutionary new operating system. Learn to customize your settings, connect to the Internet, set up a home network, secure your system, and connect peripheral devices. You’ll also discover how to maximize all of the entertainment capabilities–games, music, photos, video, and more.
Now you can take professional-quality shots every time-no matter what kind of digital camera you’re using. Completely updated for the latest technologies, How to Do Everything: Digital Camera, Fifth Edition shows you how to take full advantage of all of your camera’s features and settings. You’ll learn the fundamentals of photography, composition, lighting, and exposure, and get techniques for different subjects and situations. The book also explains how to use a variety of photo-editing tools and offers expert tips for storing, sharing, and printing your photographs.
How To Do Everything With Microsoft Office Word 2007 makes it easy for both beginners and experienced users to master the powerful features and new interface of Word 2007. You will learn to create professional-looking documents effortlessly. Practical examples and step-by-step instructions make even the most complex features simple to grasp, while workarounds show you how to circumvent common problems.
Get the most out of Google products and services with help from this easy-to-use guide. How to Do Everything with Google Tools shows you that Google is so much more than a search engine, offering other features such as shopping, mapping, blogging, advertising, and much more. You’ll also learn to use the email, communication, document, and spreadsheet tools that make up Google Apps. This book shows you how to maximize the Google tools that can make your work more efficient, your business more profitable, and your online experience more fun.
Use this amazingly practical and powerful Microsoft Office application like a pro with help from How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office Infopath 2003. You’ll learn how to design and customize electronic forms and easily integrate form data into a wide variety of systems and applications. Create simple to complex forms and master the built-in formatting options including layout tables, borders, color schemes, and more. Filled with step-by-step essentials and real-world examples, this book shows you how to take full advantage of InfoPath’s key features so you can save time and streamline the information-gathering process.
August 6th, 2010 § § permalink
This year, we will see the release of a non-fiction book by Tony Parsons in which he writes about life, death and breakfast. Long before he became a bestselling novelist, he was an award-winning journalist. In this dazzling collection of essays, he captures all facets of modern life in his sometimes outrageous, often controversial, and wildly entertaining perspective.
Men and women (again…???). Straying and staying (eenie meenie minie moe…). The sound of real guns (I’ve only heard these on tv and movies) and the fashion for fake breasts (wonder if he would include fake lashes, fake teeth, fake forehead, fake smile…). The myth of the mid-life crisis (I thought it wasn’t a myth!) . How true love and learning to box can save the modern male (how many of you out there actually knows how to box?). Car envy (I certainly have that feeling considering I drive an old Proton Wira while other car owners in my neighbourhood drive nice new versions of BMWs, Mazdas, Peugeots, and my fav little Smart cars), airport security (I was once asked why I’d rush to the converyor belts for the bags collection in KLIA – well, I answered I was afraid my luggage would go missing), why did football become rubbish (really, it did.. then what was World Cup 2010 about?) ? and when should a man settle down (this, I really want to know…)?
My apologies for the italics interruptions, Oh well…. I will just wait, like the rest of you for Tony Parsons to answer all these questions. Life, death and even a bit of breakfast… all served up with a side of common sense, lightly-buttered passion and lashings of hilarity!
***
Okay now… enough of my bewilderment and amusement of the above title.
Congratulations, the 3 winners for Contest #14 are:
Sidra Naim * Felicia * Charles
Each of you has just won a copy of Tony Parson’s “Men From Boys” (ISBN 9780007327751, valued at RM 59.90 each).
Emails will be sent to winners by Monday (9 August 2010)
The books are given, courtesy of MPH Distributors Sdn Bhd.
* I seriously do not know what the prize of the next contest is … *
August 6th, 2010 § § permalink
August 4th, 2010 § § permalink
Independence Day by Richard Ford
Hailed as a major American novel, Independence Day is a relentlessly thoughtful, heart-wrenching, yet hilarious portrait of an ordinary American man. Wickedly realistic details and dialog entice you to see modern life filtered through the first-person narrator’s complex and evolving consciousness. Apparently directionless since his divorce, Frank Bascombe migrates from one non-committal relationship to another. He freely indulges his tendencies to self absorption, over-intellectualization, and neurotic ambivalence. But all of that changes one fateful Fourth of July weekend, when, armed with the Declaration of Independence, he embarks on a mission to save his troubled teenaged son. Author of The Sportswriter, Richard Ford has won wide recognition as one of our most talented living novelists. Richard Poe’s deep, resonant voice augments his powerful characterizations and puts you on intimate terms with one of the most unforgettable characters in American fiction.
United States celebrates Independence Day on July 4 yearly while Algeria, Cape Verde and Venezuela celebrate Independence Day on July 5 yearly.
Richard Ford
Richard Ford
Distinguished American writer Richard Ford is best known for a trilogy of prize-winning novels featuring one of the most unforgettable, deeply resonant characters in contemporary American fiction: Frank Bascombe, a middle-aged Everyman from suburban New Jersey.
August 3rd, 2010 § § permalink
August 2nd, 2010 § § permalink
BenQ nReader K60
BenQ nReader K60
BenQ has launched the first of many devices to come in its nReader series of devices. The first model is simply called the K60. They are owned by Qisda, a Taiwan company with initial rollout in Asia.
- Six-inch touch screen facilities operation by instinct, enabling readers to select, buy, and search books at one finger tip easily.
- Network: nReader is just like a mobile bookstore, allowing entrance to consumers via 3G wireless network card or WLAN for buying, reading, and storing books anytime, anywhere.
General Features
Printed book-like visuals
- High 800×600 resolution, 16-level grayscale e-paper text display area provides a book-like reading experience free of glare and clear legibility both indoors and out.
- Designed with a book’s proportions, adhering to the principle “form follows function”, with no extraneous colors or visual clutter to distract from the pure pleasure of reading.
- Understated aesthetic, with the housing’s soothing pearly hue chosen to avoid the distraction of unnecessary color.
- To allow the user to stay focused on the display area, the surrounding bezel curves gently back.
Svelte and sleek
- At a mere 248 grams, light in your hands—and in your bag.
- 11 millimeters thin, like a magazine.
Sophisticated design
- Leather-like slipcase: The back of the nReader K60 is textured for theluxuriousfeel and sure grip of a leather-bound volume, and an extra touch of elegance.
- Easy navigation: Near the edge of the bezel you’ll find conveniently positioned buttons for “turning” pages to either advance or go back in a book. The buttons are set off with elegant trim that also serves to make them identifiable by touch alone so you can move through the book while giving your full attention to the text.
- Meticulously sculpted: From whatever angle you view the nReader, you’ll be struck by the attention to detail. Interface ports are located on a panel that slopes down from the top edge of the bezel, hiding them from view and eliminating a source of visual distraction when you’re reading—and contributing to the nReader’s clean, uncluttered looks.
- Long battery life, uninterrupted reading: Electrophoretic e-paper consumes little power, enabling enough battery life to last 2 weeks.
Environment-friendly packaging
- Shifting from printed books to e-books saves trees—one for every 53 books.
- Over 80% of the packing boxes is composed of recycled paper.
- No PVCs or styrofoam is used in the packaging, with pulp molding or paper cushion used instead, along with soy ink for printing.
BenQ nReader K60
BenQ nReader K60
BenQ nReader K60
BenQ nReader K60
BenQ nReader K60
BenQ nReader K60
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