Media Wizards

A look at how the media can alter the perceptions of the public, making people believe what they are shown, includes historical notes of how media manipulation existed even in the Civil War.

Developers are used to working with Wizards, component-like products that allow them to create certain elements - like dialog buttons - quickly and easily while they are coding applications. With the launch of Windows 2000, Microsoft has announced a new set of Wizards that will help administrators and users configure and set up Windows 2000 Professional (the Windows NT 4 Workstation successor) and Windows 2000 Server (the Windows NT 4 Server successor). Windows 2000 Setup and Configuration Wizards covers all the available Wizards, with an emphasis on those new to Windows 2000. Each Wizard is broken down by dialog box, with explanations of all options and required elements so administrators will know what to be prepared with. In addition, coverage of new services that will speed configuration and set up (like the Windows Installer) will be covered. * This is the first book to focus on Wizards and Windows 2000 automated components * Network administrators and developers will save time using this book

Hands-On Guide to Windows Media is a practical guide that teaches how to distribute audio and video efficiently and effectively over computer networks. This book enables you to get up and running quickly and focuses on one of the most popular tools in the streaming media universe, Windows Media. This book will help you to understand the unique characteristics and demands of streaming audio and video information over packet-switched networks. Ideal even for non-technical readers.

There is a crisis of truth in our time, asserts Michael Horton, even in our evangelical church. And it is due at least in part to our cultural accommodation. Horton believes the time has come to call evangelicals back to faith and truth.

Magic, Monsters, and Make-Believe Heroes looks at fantasy film, television, and participative culture as evidence of our ongoing need for a mythic vision—for stories larger than ourselves into which we write ourselves and through which we can become the heroes of our own story. Why do we tell and retell the same stories over and over when we know they can’t possibly be true? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not because pop culture has run out of good ideas. Rather, it is precisely because these stories are so fantastic, some resonating so deeply that we elevate them to the status of religion. Illuminating everything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Dungeons and Dragons, and from Drunken Master to Mad Max, Douglas E. Cowan offers a modern manifesto for why and how mythology remains a vital force today.

The story of the arcane table-top game that became a pop culture phenomenon and the long-running legal battle waged by its cocreators. When Dungeons & Dragons was first released to a small hobby community, it hardly seemed destined for mainstream success--and yet this arcane tabletop role-playing game became an unlikely pop culture phenomenon. In Game Wizards, Jon Peterson chronicles the rise of Dungeons & Dragons from hobbyist pastime to mass market sensation, from the initial collaboration to the later feud of its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. As the game's fiftieth anniversary approaches, Peterson--a noted authority on role-playing games--explains how D&D and its creators navigated their successes, setbacks, and controversies. Peterson describes Gygax and Arneson's first meeting and their work toward the 1974 release of the game; the founding of TSR and its growth as a company; and Arneson's acrimonious departure and subsequent challenges to TSR. He recounts the "Satanic Panic" accusations that D&D was sacrilegious and dangerous, and how they made the game famous. And he chronicles TSR's reckless expansion and near-fatal corporate infighting, which culminated with the company in debt and overextended and the end of Gygax's losing battle to retain control over TSR and D&D. With Game Wizards, Peterson restores historical particulars long obscured by competing narratives spun by the one-time partners. That record amply demonstrates how the turbulent experience of creating something as momentous as Dungeons & Dragons can make people remember things a bit differently from the way they actually happened.

Growing Pains is a detailed study of the 1993 election and of its implications for Russian development and for the country's relations with the West. The contest, with its deeply contradictory results, was a watershed in the evolution of Russia's fledgling democracy.

An illustrated guide to the history and evolution of the beloved role-playing game told through the paintings, sketches, illustrations, and visual ephemera behind its creation, growth, and continued popularity. FINALIST FOR THE HUGO AWARD • FINALIST FOR THE LOCUS AWARD • NOMINATED FOR THE DIANA JONES AWARD From one of the most iconic game brands in the world, this official DUNGEONS & DRAGONS illustrated history provides an unprecedented look at the visual evolution of the brand, showing its continued influence on the worlds of pop culture and fantasy. Inside the book, you’ll find more than seven hundred pieces of artwork—from each edition of the core role-playing books, supplements, and adventures; as well as Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance novels; decades of Dragon and Dungeon magazines; and classic advertisements and merchandise; plus never-before-seen sketches, large-format canvases, rare photographs, one-of-a-kind drafts, and more from the now-famous designers and artists associated with DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. The superstar author team gained unparalleled access to the archives of Wizards of the Coast and the personal collections of top collectors, as well as the designers and illustrators who created the distinctive characters, concepts, and visuals that have defined fantasy art and gameplay for generations. This is the most comprehensive collection of D&D imagery ever assembled, making this the ultimate collectible for the game's millions of fans around the world.