1984 (Signet Classics)

Author: George Orwell
Publisher: New American Library
Pub.date: January 1, 1961
Paperback: 182 pages

1984 is possibly the definitive dystopian novel, set in a world beyond our imagining. A world where totalitarianism really is total, all power split into three roughly equal groups--Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania. 1984 is set in Oceania, which includes the United Kingdom, where the story is set, known as Airstrip One.

Winston Smith is a middle-aged, unhealthy character, based loosely on Orwell's own frail body, an underling of the ruling oligarchy, The Party. The Party has taken early 20th century totalitarianism to new depths, with each person subjected to 24 hour surveillance, where people's very thoughts are controlled to ensure purity of the oligarchical system in place. Figurehead of the system is the omnipresent and omnipotent Big Brother.

But Winston believes there is another way.

1984 joins Winston as he sets about another day, where his job is to change history by changing old newspaper records to match with the new truth as decided by the Party.

"He who controls the past, controls the future" is a Party slogan to live by and it gives Winston his job, but Winston cannot see it like that. Barely old enough to recall a time when things were different, he sets out to expose the Party for the cynically fraudulent organisation that it is. He is joined by Julia, a beautiful young woman much in contrast with Winston physically, but equally sickened by the excesses of her rulers.

You will meet many recognisable characters, themes, and words which have become part of our everyday life as you read 1984. Where did Big Brother first appear? Certainly not on Australian TV! Written in Orwell's inimitable journalistic style, 1984 is a tribute to a man who saw the true dangers of historian Lord Acton's (1834-1902) statement: "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Link : George Orwell - 1984 (Signet Classics).

Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers : 49 Easy-to-Follow Recipes to Fix Problem Photos and Create Amazing Effects

Author: John Beardsworth
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Pub.date: November 8, 2005
Paperback: 176 pages

Layer blending modes have been part of Photoshop for years, but because they're not easy to understand at first glance, this immensely useful feature tends to get overlooked. Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers is the only recipe-format book that covers blending modes specifically for digital photographers.

The book covers:

• Changing hue, saturation, luminosity, and color
• Correcting basic color shifts
• Repairing highlights
• Sharpening or softening focus
• Adjusting lighting for subtle or dramatic effects
• Controlling contrast
• Creating surface effects and textures
• Adding interest to landscapes and urban scenes
• Enhancing portraits of children and adults
• Simulating graphics arts techiques

and much more.

Unlike Photoshop's built-in filters, blending modes don't change the actual pixels that make up an image, so their effects are completely reversible. There are over 20 blending modes in Photoshop CS2, which range from those which darken and lighten images (such as Darken, Multiply, Lighten, and Screen) to modes that increase contrast (such as Overlay and Hard Light) and adjust color (such as Hue, Color. Luminosity, and Saturation).

In addition to covering each blending mode in detail, John Beardsworth, a London-based photographer and author, takes the reader through a whole collection of recipes that demonstrate how to use blending modes alone or in combination to fix problem photos, add subtle effects, and create dramatic images that are truly unique.

With clear, step-by-step instructions, real-world projects, an easy-to-follow format, and hundreds of full-color examples, Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers is shows you how to use blending modes to achieve a wide range of image adjustments and special effects-without having to first learn everything there is to know about Photoshop.

Review by T. Michael Testi :

If you have ever tried to work with Photoshop's layer blending modes, you probably found that they are not always easy to understand; so much so that many times this feature is overlooked. Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook For Digital Photographers, using its recipe–format style that made the O'Reilly Digital Studio series famous, will help you on your way to understanding this specialty feature.

What are blending modes? The basic answer is that they are effects that allow one layer to interact with another layer — that is, blend. In CS2 there are over twenty blending modes. They range from those which darken and lighten an image to ones that increase contrast and others that manipulate color.

Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook breaks out into four sections beginning with "Introduction to Blending Modes". Here Beardsworth sets forth the basic concepts of blending modes. He explains why and when you would want to use blending modes and he describes two main reasons to use them — one as a flavor, the other as an entrée! That is, sometimes you want to make a small subtle effect — a flavor. Or sometimes you want an in-your-face statement to be made — an entrée.

The next section, "Blending Modes in Detail", takes you through each of the blending modes that are available in Photoshop CS2. For example, Color Burn — the author explains that it is the third member of the Darken group. He explains how it works, and gives some examples of where it can be used as well as an example of using it with the Gaussian Blur.

Then the author gets into what Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook is all about, the "recipes." The recipes are simple, short effects that you can add to your images to give them that little nudge to make them more effective. You will find that you can add a little glow to highlight a face, or to make the skin look softer. There are sharpening techniques and hard shadowing techniques.

The whole point of the book is to allow you to learn simple specific techniques without having to learn everything else about Photoshop. You will learn to manipulate the colors, hues, and saturation as well as working with color shifts. You will be able to adjust lighting, control contrast, and add surface effects and textures. You can even go over the top by adding special color, graphic, and drawing effects to your images.

I found this book easy to read. It has clear, easy to follow instructions that will allow someone with minimal Photoshop experience to make great enhancements to their photos. There are 49 recipes that are highlighted with colorful examples that will have you saying "I never knew you could do that!"


Link : John Beardsworth - Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers : 49 Easy-to-Follow Recipes to Fix Problem Photos and Create Amazing Effects.

Gun Camera - World War II: Photography from Allied Fighters and Bombers over Occupied Europe

Author: Keeney, L. Douglas
Publisher: Motorbooks International
Pub.date: January 15, 2001
Paperback: 132 pages


The air war over occupied Europe and Nazi Germany is illustrated from the unique and dramatic point of view of gun cameras mounted on Allied aircraft. The story begins as American bombers fall prey to Nazi flak and fighters and continues through the recapture of European skies as seen from American P-51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts and British Spitfires. Also depicted are breathtaking images of ground strafings and crews coaxing crippled bombers into perilous belly landings.


Link : Keeney, L. Douglas - Gun Camera - World War II: Photography from Allied Fighters and Bombers over Occupied Europe.

PC World - February 2009

Link : PC World - February 2009.

War in Human Civilization

Author: Azar Gat
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Pub.date: November 16, 2006
Hardcover: 848 pages


Why do people go to war? Is it rooted in human nature or is it a late cultural invention? How does war relate to the other fundamental developments in the history of human civilization? And what of war today - is it a declining phenomenon or simply changing its shape? In this truly global study of war and civilization, Azar Gat sets out to find definitive answers to these questions in an attempt to unravel the 'riddle of war' throughout human history, from the early hunter-gatherers right through to the unconventional terrorism of the twenty-first century.

In the process, the book generates an astonishing wealth of original and fascinating insights on all major aspects of humankind's remarkable journey through the ages, engaging a wide range of disciplines, from anthropology and evolutionary psychology to sociology and political science.
Written with remarkable verve and clarity and wholly free from jargon, it will be of interest to anyone who has ever pondered the puzzle of war.

Reviews:

"War in Human Civilization is indeed the ambitious, sweeping book that the author set out to write. Both its scope and scale are impressive as is the wide range of sources and disciplines whose theories and methods are brought to bear on the 'riddle' of war.... The coverage and the deft weaving together of so many central theories on human behavior make this a book worth examining."--Michael S. Neilberg, Journal of Social History

"An immensely ambitious work covering not only history but archaeology, anthropology, ethnography, demography and economics, to name but a few... its weight of learning is borne aloft by the author's enthusiasm for his subject and takes his readers with it. If only there were more scholars like this." Michael Howard, TLS Books of the Year

Link : Azar Gat - War in Human Civilization .

Exploring the Moon: The Apollo Expeditions (Springer-Praxis Series in Space Science and Technology)

Author: David M. Harland
Publisher: Springer; 1 edition
Pub.date: May 14, 1999
Paperback: 411 pages

Exploring the Moon focuses on the exploration carried out by the Apollo astronauts while on the lunar surface, and not on the technology of getting there.

It is a story of the great adventure of exploring the Moon, and combines the words of the astronauts themselves with the photographs they took. Exploring the Moon is a lunar travelogue, a minute-by-minute account of what the astronauts did, said and felt, enhanced by their subsequent reflections. As you read this book, you will seem to walk with the astronauts as they explore...

David Harland concentrates on the final three Moon landings - Apollos 15, 16 and 17 - each of which spent three days on the lunar surface and used the famous "lunar rover" vehicle to get around. The three missions accounted for three-quarters of all lunar surface activity to date.

Although you can read the text for its description of a unique human adventure, the work of the astronauts is related to studies of lunar geology and will enable those interested in planetary geology to understand how a "field trip" on the lunar surface was conducted. There is also a "before and after discussion" of the results of the Apollo programme.

If you have ever asked yourself What did the astronauts do on the lunar surface? What did they say while they were there? What did they photograph? How did their discoveries alter our understanding of lunar geology? Will we ever go back to the moon? If so, Exploring the Moon is the book for you. This unique insight into the three Apollo missions (15, 16 and 17) answers all these questions and much more. Using the actual transcripts of what the astronauts said to each other whilst carrying out their duties, and numerous photographs taken at each step of the exploration, this book provides a graphic illustration of what can arguably be described as Mankinds greatest feat of exploration.

Here is a uniquely readable contribution to studies of lunar science.

Review:

"...a new way of recounting the Apollo missions; it places the reader on the rover with the astronauts." -- David Schrunk, Author of The Moon, Resources, Future Development and Colonization, from pre-publication reviews

"Exploring the Moon is your travelogue. The author has assembled a detailed guide to what the astronauts did during their stays on the lunar surface. Harland provides the on-the-surface narrative that Full Moon (Alfred A. Knopf, 1999) lacks..." -- Sky & Telescope, August 1999

"David Harland probably knows more about the nuts and bolts of the Russian and American space programmes than any other author and it shows.... Throughout, NASA's astonishing technical achievement shines through." -- The Sunday Express, July 4, 1999

"It could become a classic 'must have' for anyone who has a desire to know what it was all about. It is astonishing that it hasn't been done before." -- David Woods, from pre-publication reviews

"A detailed guide to what the astronauts did during their stays on the lunar surface. Walk(s) the reader through the prospecting excursions and then incorporate(s) decades of subsequent analysis to put the explorations of dust, rocks, craters, and rilles into geologic context."
SKY & TELESCOPE

LUNAR & PLANETARY INFORMATION BULLETIN
"EXPLORING THE MOON is very well illustrated…All aficionados of the Apollo program will find much to appreciate in [this book].”

"…this is an interesting account of one of the most extraordinary decades in history…a very different book. David Harland probably knows more about the nuts and bolts of the Russian and American space programs than any other author and it shows.”

Link: David M. Harland - Exploring the Moon: The Apollo Expeditions (Springer-Praxis Series in Space Science and Technology) .