Books about World system from Amazon.com

Selected as one of the "Best Books on Innovation, 2008" by BusinessWeek magazine. .

Named the "Best Human-Capital Book of 2008" by Strategy + Business magazine

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A crash course in the business of learning-from the bestselling author of The Innovator's Dilemma and The Innovator's Solution�

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"Provocatively titled, Disrupting Class is just what America's K-12 education system needs--a well thought-through proposal for using technology to better serve students and bring our schools into the 21st Century. Unlike so many education 'reforms,' this is not small-bore stuff. For that reason alone, it's likely to be resisted by defenders of the status quo, even though it's necessary and right for our kids.
We owe it to them to make sure this book isn't merely a terrific read; it must become a blueprint for educational transformation.".
--Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education

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�A brilliant teacher, Christensen brings clarity to a muddled and chaotic world of education.�
--Jim Collins, bestselling author of Good to Great. .

According to recent studies in neuroscience, the way we learn doesn't always match up with the way we are taught. If we hope to stay competitive-academically, economically, and technologically-we need to rethink our understanding of intelligence, reevaluate our educational system, and reinvigorate our commitment to learning. In other words, we need �disruptive innovation.�

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Now, in his long-awaited new book, Clayton M. Christensen and coauthors Michael B. Horn and Curtis W. Johnson take one of the most important issues of our time-education-and apply Christensen's now-famous theories of �disruptive� change using a wide range of real-life examples. Whether you're a school administrator, government official, business leader, parent, teacher, or entrepreneur, you'll discover surprising new ideas, outside-the-box strategies, and straight-A success stories.

You'll learn how

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• Customized learning will help many more students succeed in school.
• Student-centric classrooms will increase the demand for new technology.
• Computers must be disruptively deployed to every student.
• Disruptive innovation can circumvent roadblocks that have prevented other attempts at school reform.
• We can compete in the global classroom-and get ahead in the global market.

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Filled with fascinating case studies, scientific findings, and unprecedented insights on how innovation must be managed, Disrupting Class will open your eyes to new possibilities, unlock hidden potential, and get you to think differently. Professor Christensen and his coauthors provide a bold new lesson in innovation that will help you make the grade for years to come.

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The future is now. Class is in session.

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Price: $17.67 [Notify me when price goes down.]

After 19 years as an evangelical preacher, missionary, and Christian songwriter, Dan Barker 'threw out the bathwater and discovered there is no baby there.' Barker, who is now co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (America's largest organization of atheists and agnostics), describes the intellectual and psychological path he followed in moving from fundamentalism to freethought. The four sections in Godless--Rejecting God, Why I Am An Atheist, What's Wrong With Christianity, and Life is Good!--include chapters on bible problems, the historicity of Jesus, morality, the Kalam Cosmological argument, the unbelievable resurrection, and much more. Barker relates the positive benefits from trusting in reason and human kindness instead of living in fear of false judgment and moral condemnation. Godless expands the story told in Dan's 1992 book, Losing Faith in Faith--the two books overlap about 20%--but a lot has happened in 16 years, and Dan updates the story with four new chapters, including 'The New Call' (lessons from the debate circuit), 'Adventures in Atheism,' and 'We Go To Washington' (FFRF's Supreme Court lawsuit, in which Dan was a plaintiff)..
Price: $8.58 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Transit Maps of the World is the first and only comprehensive collection of historic and current maps of every rapid-transit system on earth. Using glorious, colorful graphics, Mark Ovenden traces the history of mass transit-including rare and historic maps, diagrams, and photographs, some available for the first time since their original publication. Transit Maps is the graphic designer’s new bible, the transport enthusiast’s dream collection, and a coffee-table essential for everyone who’s ever traveled in a city..
Price: $11.51 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This valuable little book offers a thorough introduction to the open-source electronics prototyping platform that's taking the design and hobbyist world by storm. Getting Started with Arduino gives you lots of ideas for Arduino projects and helps you get going on them right away. From getting organized to putting the final touches on your prototype, all the information you need is right in the book.

Inside, you'll learn about:

• Interaction design and physical computing
• The Arduino hardware and software development environment
• Basics of electricity and electronics
• Prototyping on a solderless breadboard
• Drawing a schematic diagram

And more. With inexpensive hardware and open-source software components that you can download free, getting started with Arduino is a snap. To use the introductory examples in this book, all you need is a USB Arduino, USB A-B cable, and an LED.

Join the tens of thousands of hobbyists who have discovered this incredible (and educational) platform. Written by the co-founder of the Arduino project, with illustrations by Elisa Canducci, Getting Started with Arduino gets you in on the fun! This 128-page book is a greatly expanded follow-up to the author's original short PDF that's available on the Arduino website..
Price: $7.25 [Notify me when price goes down.]

If you're ready to create web pages more complex than those you can build with HTML and CSS, Head First PHP & MySQL is the ultimate learning guide to building dynamic, database-driven websites using PHP and MySQL. Packed with real-world examples, this book teaches you all the essentials of server-side programming, from the fundamentals of PHP and MySQL coding to advanced topics such as form validation, session IDs, cookies, database queries and joins, file I/O operations, content management, and more.

Head First PHP & MySQL offers the same visually rich format that's turned every title in the Head First series into a bestseller, with plenty of exercises, quizzes, puzzles, and other interactive features to help you retain what you've learned.

• Use PHP to transform static HTML pages into dynamic web sites
• Create and populate your own MySQL database tables, and work with data stored in files
• Perform sophisticated MySQL queries with joins, and refine your results with LIMIT and ORDER BY
• Use cookies and sessions to track visitors' login information and personalize the site for users
• Protect your data from SQL injection attacks
• Use regular expressions to validate information on forms
• Dynamically display text based on session info and create images on the fly
• Pull syndicated data from other sites using PHP and XML

Throughout the book, you'll build sophisticated examples -- including a mailing list, a job board, and an online dating site -- to help you learn how to harness the power of PHP and MySQL in a variety of contexts. If you're ready to build a truly dynamic website, Head First PHP & MySQL is the ideal way to get going..
Price: $28.21 [Notify me when price goes down.]

An offering of up-to-date words of inspiration and guidance for every day of the year presents brief, poetic aphorisms, meditations, and more, based on each day's single Taoist principle .
Price: $10.02 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Fast and fun to read, Taking Your iPod touch to the Max gives you all the tips and techniques you could ever think of to make the most of your Apple iPod touch. Erica Sadun is an expert at hacking devices to discover undocumented tricks, and this book reveals everything and more about the functionality of the iPod Touch. But before that, Sadun will give you the best, most efficient, and fun–to–read introduction to the basics of using the iPod touch that you will ever find.

What you’ll learn

• iPod touch basics
• E–mail using iCal
• Surfing the Web with iPod Touch using Safari
• Expanding the main menu using third–party software
• Using iTunes, games, iBooks, etc.
• Connecting to the TV and ripping DVDs
• Hacking OS X Leopard to run apps on the iPod touch
• Getting contract–free VOIP
• Saving on accessories and what you really need.

Who is this book for?

Anyone who has an iPod touch and wants to get more out of it, learn how to connect to other devices, or tinker with it.

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Price: $17.66 [Notify me when price goes down.]

For the first time ever, a former high-ranking member of the Church of Scientology is lifting the lid on life inside the world s fastest growing cult. The Complex reveals the true story behind the religion that has ensnared a who s who list of celebrities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and convinced thousands of ordinary people to join up.

Duignan describes how two years ago he staged a dramatic escape from the elite paramilitary group at the core of the Church, the Sea Organisation, and how he narrowly evaded pursuit by Scientologists from the Office of Special Affairs. He looks back on the 22 years he served in the Church s secret army and describes the hours of sleep deprivation, brain-washing and intense auditing or religious counselling he endured, as he was moulded into a soldier of Scientology. He talks about the money-making-machine at the heart of the Church, the Scientology goal to Clear the Planet and Get Ethics In , the training programmes, the Rehabilitation Project Force and the punishments meted out to anyone who transgresses, including children. We follow his journey through the Church and the painful investigation that leads to his eventual realisation that there is something very wrong at Scientology s core.

The beliefs of the Church of Scientology might sound like something from a science fiction book but The Complex reveals that the Church s growing power base is a shocking reality..
Price: $16.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Get the fast answers--in full color--that make learning the new Windows Vista operating system plain and simple! Windows Vista helps you more effectively use your PC--with simple ways to find and use your information, enjoy your digital media, and connect to technologies and people. This no-nonsense guide helps you learn the easy way to navigate this new operating system with numbered steps and concise, straightforward language that show the most expedient ways to learn a new skill or solve a problem. You'll discover how to perform everyday tasks and answer your own questions quickly--learning the essentials for customizing your desktop, setting up a home network, managing digital media, publishing files to the Web, and more. With PLAIN & SIMPLE, you don't have to wade through superfluous details. This easy-to-use book delivers fast, precise information--exactly how and when you need it!.
Price: $9.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Designing a good interface isn't easy. Users demand software that is well-behaved, good-looking, and easy to use. Your clients or managers demand originality and a short time to market. Your UI technology -- web applications, desktop software, even mobile devices -- may give you the tools you need, but little guidance on how to use them well.

UI designers over the years have refined the art of interface design, evolving many best practices and reusable ideas. If you learn these, and understand why the best user interfaces work so well, you too can design engaging and usable interfaces with less guesswork and more confidence.

"Designing Interfaces" captures those best practices as design patterns -- solutions to common design problems, tailored to the situation at hand. Each pattern contains practical advice that you can put to use immediately, plus a variety of examples illustrated in full color. You'll get recommendations, design alternatives, and warnings on when not to use them.

Each chapter's introduction describes key design concepts that are often misunderstood, such as affordances, visual hierarchy, navigational distance, and the use of color. These give you a deeper understanding of why the patterns work, and how to apply them with more insight.

A book can't design an interface for you -- no foolproof design process is given here -- but "Designing Interfaces" does give you concrete ideas that you can mix and recombine as you see fit. Experienced designers can use it as a sourcebook of ideas. Novice designers will find a roadmap to the world of interface and interaction design, with enough guidance to start using these patterns immediately..
Price: $27.07 [Notify me when price goes down.]