Generation A

“Now you young twerps want a new name for your generation? Probably not, you just want jobs, right? Well, the media do us all such tremendous favors when they call you Generation X, right? Two clicks from the very end of the alphabet. I hereby declare you Generation A, as much at the beginning of a series of astonishing triumphs and failures as Adam and Eve were so long ago.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Syracuse University commencement address May 8, 1994 Generation A is a brilliant, timely and very Couplandesque novel about honey bees and the world we may soon live in. Once again, Douglas Coupland captures the spirit of a generation. In the near future bees are extinct—until one autumn when five people are stung in different places around the world. This shared experience unites them in a way they never could have imagined. Generation A mirrors 1991’s Generation X. It explores new ways of looking at the act of reading and storytelling in a digital world. Like much of Coupland's writing, it occupies the perplexing hinterland between optimism about the future and everyday apocalyptic paranoia. Imaginative, inventive and fantastically entertaining, Generation A demonstrates Coupland's unforgettable verve.

Generation A is set in the near future in a world where bees are extinct, until five unconnected people all around the world— in the United States, Canada, France, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka—are all stung. Their shared experience unites them in ways they never could have imagined. Generation A mirrors Coupland’s debut novel, 1991’s Generation X. It explores new ways of storytelling in a digital world. Like much of Coupland’s writing, it occupies the perplexing hinterland between optimism about the future and everyday apocalyptic paranoia. Imaginative, inventive, and fantastically entertaining, Generation A is his most ambitious work to date.

The Great Depression of the 1930s was a challenging time for most families- especially those in the "Dust Bowl" states such as Oklahoma. This is a true story of a young boy born just three months before the "Crash of 1929", told with reflections on his growing up in Ada, Oklahoma, during the 1930s and 1940s as his and other neighborhood families struggled for survival and then recovered as the nation began to experience the "Happy Days are Here Again!" promised by a new president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The book covers the childhood and youth years- ending with high school graduation when writer recognizes that he has "miles to go before I sleep". Young Oliver "hawked" newspapers in Ada's downtown business area as a seven-year old, moved on to paper routes and other jobs and learned important life skills through family, church, work, Scouting, neighborhood activities, and especially, as he became "the eyes" for a loving, blind grandfather who, despite that handicap, ran a small neighborhood store and taught the young man how to "see with the mind's eye". People and events remembered from childhood days are sometimes part fact and part perception. The people existed and the events occurred. The blending of reality with the thoughts and impressions left in the mind of a young child become the memories of an adult and are shared so that today's generation and future generations will know what life was like in that era. These are reflections on the joys and trials- neighborhood incidents, play, the murder of a neighbor, falling in love- memories of one person from the generation which was the smallest in number of all recent generations and one which is rapidly disappearing.

Guide your students through the fascinating world of engineering, and how to draw inspiration from Nature’s genius to create, make, and innovate a better human-built world. Studded with more than 150 illustrations of natural phenomena and engineering concepts, this fascinating and practical book clearly demonstrates how engineering design is broadly relevant for all students, not just those who may become scientists or engineers. Mr. Stier describes clever, engaging activities for students at every grade level to grasp engineering concepts by exploring the everyday design genius of the natural world around us. Students will love learning about structural engineering while standing on eggs; investigating concepts in sustainable design by manufacturing cement out of car exhaust; and coming to understand how ant behavior has revolutionized the way computer programs, robots, movies, and video games are designed today. You will come away with an understanding of engineering and Nature unlike any you’ve had before, while taking your ability to engage students to a whole new level. Engineering Education for the Next Generation is a wonderful introduction to the topic for any teacher who wants to understand more about engineering design in particular, its relation to the larger subjects of STEM/STEAM, and how to engage students from all backgrounds in a way that meaningfully transforms their outlook on the world and their own creativity in a lifelong way. · Fun to read, comprehensive exploration of cutting-edge approaches to K-12 engineering education · Detailed descriptions and explanations to help teachers create activities and lessons · An emphasis on engaging students with broad and diverse interests and backgrounds · Insights from a leading, award-winning K-12 engineering curriculum that has reached thousands of teachers and students in the U.S. and beyond · Additional support website (www.LearningWithNature.org) providing more background, videos, curricula, slide decks, and other supplemental materials

Business Model Generation is a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers striving to defy outmoded business models and design tomorrow's enterprises. If your organization needs to adapt to harsh new realities, but you don't yet have a strategy that will get you out in front of your competitors, you need Business Model Generation. Co-created by 470 "Business Model Canvas" practitioners from 45 countries, the book features a beautiful, highly visual, 4-color design that takes powerful strategic ideas and tools, and makes them easy to implement in your organization. It explains the most common Business Model patterns, based on concepts from leading business thinkers, and helps you reinterpret them for your own context. You will learn how to systematically understand, design, and implement a game-changing business model--or analyze and renovate an old one. Along the way, you'll understand at a much deeper level your customers, distribution channels, partners, revenue streams, costs, and your core value proposition. Business Model Generation features practical innovation techniques used today by leading consultants and companies worldwide, including 3M, Ericsson, Capgemini, Deloitte, and others. Designed for doers, it is for those ready to abandon outmoded thinking and embrace new models of value creation: for executives, consultants, entrepreneurs, and leaders of all organizations. If you're ready to change the rules, you belong to "the business model generation!"

From renowned social research experts Mark McCrindle and Ashley Fell come the insights and answers we need to help our switched-on, 21st-century kids thrive. Generation Alpha are the most globally connected generation of children ever. Covering those born between 2010 and 2024, these kids are living through an era of rapid change and a barrage of information - good, bad and fake. For parents, teachers and leaders of Generation Alpha looking for guidance on how to raise their children, worried if their kids are spending too much time on screens, concerned how global trends are impacting them and wondering how to prepare them for a world where they will live longer and work later, this is the book you need. McCrindle and Fell have interviewed thousands of children, parents, teachers, business leaders, marketers and health professionals to deliver parents and educators everything they need to know about Generation Alpha, the term Mark coined, including: * Understanding and empowering this generation * The significance of technology * How to get education right for them * The future of work * Their consumer habits and their role as influencers * Where and how this generation will live as adults * The importance of mental and physical wellbeing * What their future looks like Through meticulous research and interviews, Generation Alpha shows us what we all need to know to help this group of children shape their future ... and ours.

This collection of three Canadian plays--zahgidiwin/love by Frances Koncan, The Millennial Malcontent by Erin Shields, and Smoke by Elena Eli Belyea--speaks to millennials' complex and varied experiences and the challenges and stereotypes they often face.

No other generation in history has received as much coverage as the Millennial generation. Books, Google searches, blogs, and news articles are everywhere about them. Yet, Generation Z is comprised of our youth and young adults today and has received very little attention comparatively. Those in Generation Z are among our youngest consumers, students, colleagues, constituents, voters, and neighbors. Being able to better understand who they are and how they see the world can be helpful in effectively working with, teaching, supervising, and leading them. Generation Z: A Century in the Making offers insight into nearly every aspect of the lives of those in Generation Z, including a focus on their career aspirations, religious beliefs and practices, entertainment and hobbies, social concerns, relationships with friends and family, health and wellness, money management, civic engagement, communication styles, political ideologies, technology use, and educational preferences. Drawing from an unprecedented number of studies with higher education research institutions, market research firms such as Pew and Census, other generational researchers and industry leaders, this is the authoritative defining work on Generation Z that market researchers, consumer behaviour specialists, and employers sorely need – and it is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the sociology of generations.