July 6, 2006

Inside Google Book Search: From the mail bag: four book views

Searching around on Book Search, you’ll see that we display books in different ways depending on the specific copyright status of each title. Given the status, we range from making the entire text of public domain books available to showing either small snippets or simply bibliographic details about in-copyright books. For books that authors and publishers have submitted to us, you can see a limited preview of the pages.

The four ways you’ll see books in Google Book Search

A useful list is available at the link.

Technorati Tags: Google Book Search

Report: U.S. May Have Been Abused During Formative Years | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source

team of leading historians and psychiatrists issued a report Wednesday claiming that the United States was likely the victim of abuse by its founding fathers and motherland when it was a young colony.

The War of 1812, an example of early abuse by the motherland.

“In its adulthood, the U.S. displays all the classic tendencies of a nation that was repeatedly mistreated in its infancy—difficulty forming lasting foreign relationships, viewing everyone as a potential enemy, and employing a pattern of assault and intimidation to assert its power,” said Dr. Howard Drexel, the report’s lead author. “Because of trust issues stemming from the abuse, America has become withdrawn, has not made an ally in years, and often resents the few nations that are willing to lend support—most countries outgrow this kind of behavior after 230 years.”

According to Drexel, nations that act out in selfish, self-destructive ways in statehood were usually granted too much independence at an early age, especially if the motherland had other newly annexed lands to care for.

Technorati Tags: politics

River Gallery - John Schwarz

This is in the lobby of the Ann Arbor District Library and the picture doesn’t do it justice. It is amazingly cool.

Technorati Tags: sculpture, dragons

Amazon.com: Who Cares: The Surprising Truth About Who Is Charitable, Who Isn’t, And Why It Matters for America: Books: Arthur C. Brooks

Surprising proof that conservatives really are more compassionate–and more generous–than liberals

We all know we should give to charity, but who really does? Approximately three-quarters of Americans give their time and money to various charities, churches, and causes; the other quarter of the population does not. Why has America split into two nations: givers and non-givers?

Arthur Brooks, a top scholar of economics and public policy, has spent years researching this trend, and even he was surprised by what he found. In Who Cares, he demonstrates conclusively that conservatives really are compassionate-far more compassionate than their liberal foes. Strong families, church attendance, earned income (as opposed to state-subsidized income), and the belief that individuals, not government, offer the best solution to social ills-all of these factors determine how likely one is to give.

charity

The Revealer: Sequins and Solidarity Forever

The media does Christian conservatives a disservice when it fails to notice that their movement is organized around the idea of helping people.

As a forthcoming book by statistician Arthur Brooks, Who Cares, demonstrates, religious conservatives give more to charity than liberals do by any measure. Not just in sheer numbers, but as a percentage of individual income. And not just to their churches, but to charities that really do provide food, medicine, and education for the poor. The one victory the tepid religious left of the moment can claim is the media misconception that religious liberals are more charitable, that they care more about the poor. They’re not, and they don’t. Rather, some of them — those not busy playing to the press — care differently.

charity

blog.myspace.com/79539028

I am also reading a book on the non-fiction best seller list right now: Misquoting Jesus: the Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, by Bart D. Ehrman. This is a book that was published by a theologian from UNC. Professor Ehrman started out as conservative, fundamentalist Christian, but through his extensive research in the field has come to doubt the infallibility of the Bible. There is not much new in this book, but this type of book is so popular right now publishers can’t crank enough of them out.

Touche.

Technorati Tags: ehrman, misquoting jesus

Technorati Tags: ehrman, misquoting jesus

WSJ.com - AOL Mulls Giving Away Service

In what would mark a dramatic shift in strategy, Time Warner Inc.’s AOL unit is considering offering its entire menu of services, including email, free of charge to anyone with a high-speed Internet connection, people familiar with the matter said.

Under the proposal, which AOL Chief Executive Jonathan Miller presented to top Time Warner executives in New York last week, AOL would stop charging a subscription fee for users who already have a high-speed Internet service or dial-up service from another provider. Subscribers who have traditional “dial-up” Internet access through AOL would still have to pay their monthly fee of as much as $25.90. Nearly one third of AOL’s customer base of 18.6 million already has high-speed access — but the company expects that 8 million of its existing dial-up customers would cancel their subscription to take advantage of the new offer.

Technorati Tags: AOL, advertising