Bits Of Life

Since World War II, the biological and technological have been fusing and merging in new ways, resulting in the loss of a clear distinction between the two. This entanglement of biology with technology isn't new, but the pervasiveness of that integration is staggering, as is the speed at which the two have been merging in recent decades. As this process permeates more of everyday life, the urgent necessity arises to rethink both biology and technology. Indeed, the human body can no longer be regarded either as a bounded entity or as a naturally given and distinct part of an unquestioned whole. Bits of Life assumes a posthuman definition of the body. It is grounded in questions about today's biocultures, which pertain neither to humanist bodily integrity nor to the anthropological assumption that human bodies are the only ones that matter. Editors Anneke Smelik and Nina Lykke aid in mapping changes and transformations and in striking a middle road between the metaphor and the material. In exploring current reconfigurations of bodies and embodied subjects, the contributors pursue a technophilic, yet critical, path while articulating new and thoroughly appraised ethical standards.

'Blown to Bits' is about how the digital explosion is changing everything. The text explains the technology, why it creates so many surprises and why things often don't work the way we expect them to. It is also about things the information explosion is destroying: old assumptions about who is really in control of our lives.

This is the second instalment of the author's free-wheeling comments and off-the-cuff remarks on various matters under the sun, appearing in certain social media and other publications or just popping up in his mind, through which he could share his knowledge, reminiscences, ideas, opinions, fantasies, guidance (when sought!) and an occasional jest or two, freely and frankly -- all with a view to inform and entertain his readers, hopefully leaving them some little residue of positive value. The theme of this book, 'Bits and Pieces of Life', covers his generally serious reports and occasionally whimsical explanations of author's experiences in his 87-year old life in three lands. The cover story describes author's eighty-year old journey in photography and photo-journalism. Academics and graduate students may find his essays on research useful, and lifestyle followers may find his short and long responses to serious concerns, including his letter to grandchildren worldwide, quite worthwhile.

Can a Christmas romance mend a life that's broken to pieces? Eileen Makenna is a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer who has traveled the world for over two decades, chasing the next big story. She returns home for the holidays shattered by a life-altering event and facing the terrifying prospect she'll never be able to work again. When Eileen meets Naomi Weaver, a small-town girl who dedicates her free time to helping those in need, Eileen is entranced by Naomi's zest for life. Can Eileen overcome her inner demons and troubled family relationships to let Naomi in? Best-selling lesbian romance authors Harper Bliss & T.B. Markinson have teamed up to bring this touching age-gap love story to life.

Bits ‘n’ Pieces of Life invites its reader to peer inside the corridors of the author’s life experiences, his passion for romance, and the necessity to live each moment to the fullest. He uses a myriad of colorful words and comparisons to beauty and to nature to paint a captivating yet sometimes controversial tapestry. Metaphors of love and nature are infused throughout the book, enhancing the reader’s experience while cultivating a desire for more.

“Full of fascinating insights drawn from an impressive range of disciplines, The Ascent of Information casts the familiar and the foreign in a dramatic new light.” —Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe Your information has a life of its own, and it’s using you to get what it wants. One of the most peculiar and possibly unique features of humans is the vast amount of information we carry outside our biological selves. But in our rush to build the infrastructure for the 20 quintillion bits we create every day, we’ve failed to ask exactly why we’re expending ever-increasing amounts of energy, resources, and human effort to maintain all this data. Drawing on deep ideas and frontier thinking in evolutionary biology, computer science, information theory, and astrobiology, Caleb Scharf argues that information is, in a very real sense, alive. All the data we create—all of our emails, tweets, selfies, A.I.-generated text and funny cat videos—amounts to an aggregate lifeform. It has goals and needs. It can control our behavior and influence our well-being. And it’s an organism that has evolved right alongside us. This symbiotic relationship with information offers a startling new lens for looking at the world. Data isn’t just something we produce; it’s the reason we exist. This powerful idea has the potential to upend the way we think about our technology, our role as humans, and the fundamental nature of life. The Ascent of Information offers a humbling vision of a universe built of and for information. Scharf explores how our relationship with data will affect our ongoing evolution as a species. Understanding this relationship will be crucial to preventing our data from becoming more of a burden than an asset, and to preserving the possibility of a human future.

Practical skills grounded in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you bounce back when life knocks you down. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one or a job, the end of a relationship, a pandemic, or a natural disaster—nothing really prepares us for those moments when life hits hard and turns our world upside down. The good news is that you can move forward. There are tools you can use to find your way back from despair and live a fulfilling life. In this candid self-help guide, psychotherapist Russ Harris offers powerful and doable skills grounded in evidence-based ACT to help you recover from grief, loss, and crisis; transcend your pain and suffering; and build a rich and meaningful life—even in the face of adversity. You’ll also find tools to help you deal with painful memories, create your own healing “grief rituals,” and transform difficult emotions into unexpected allies. Finally, you’ll learn how mindfulness and self-compassion can help keep you grounded, even when it seems like your world is in free fall. If you’re ready to start building the resilience needed to heal from loss or thrive in the face adversity, this guide will show you how to get there, one step at a time.

ÿA Life In Bits is the moving story of one man's battle with bipolar disorder, a condition whose devastating consequences are still not fully appreciated by the world at large. Charles McMullen?s battle with manic depression, as it is often known, began with a nervous breakdown at the age of nineteen. In his twenties, the suicide of his brother, his own divorce and the loss of his job and his home put him inside a psychiatric hospital. Yet despite the periods of appalling despair and the continued setbacks, Charles can still write at the end of the book ?Overall, it?s been a pretty happy life?. This inspirational book will be of great interest to anyone who is afflicted by bipolar disorder, or knows one of the many people ? roughly one in 25 of the population - who are.