The World Wired Up

Poging om een neerslag te geven van alternatieve en radicale opvattingen over en in massamedia in Engeland en daarbuiten

Nobody ever said it was going to be easy, nobody ever said it wouldn't be hard but how do you learn to cope when your world has been turned upside down? How do you adpat when you realise that everything that you thought you were...isn't? How do you live in a world not designed for you?This is the situation that our plucky hero finds himself in after having been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. With a failed marriage behind him and several disasterous relationships ahead of him, prepare to enter a world of self-harming, depression, suicide, domestic abuse and a seemingly never ending stream of kicks to the head.This follow up to the smash hit Wired-Up Wrong details the next four years in author Neil Shepherd's life. Told in his unique style of dark humour mixed with drama-queen histrionics (and an over use of brackets), this brutally honest book shows the very depths that man can sink to...and the strength of the human spirit.

Growing up is never easy but what's it like if you're 'different'? Actually, what's it like if you're 'different' but you don't know that you're 'different'? Having led what he thought was a 'normal' life for 31 years, our plucky hero's world was thrown into confusion when he was diagnosed with something called 'Asperger Syndrome'. But people don't catch Asperger Syndrome so where did it come from? Was it there all along and not noticed? Set against the backdrop of the North East of England in the 70's and 80's, and having to cope with life with a disabled father as well as facing the everyday challenges that most people take for granted, this is the insiders view of one boy's life with AS - from the safety of make-believe worlds to the terrifying depths of suicide, self-harming, and isolation. Sometimes harrowing, sometimes surreal, but never dull, this is the story of a little boy's struggle to not only grow up and survive in the world, but to find out what he truly was.

For many years now, studies rejecting the idea of a direct causal link between the media and children's behaviour and beliefs, have been generating insights into children's interactions with all kinds of media forms. This book is designed as an accessible introduction to these important research findings, for students of cultural and communication studies, psychology, and education; for professionals working with children and young people, and in the media industry; and for parents. 'Wired Up' comprises separate studies of a wide range of electronic media forms including television, video, computer games and the telephone, and includes coverage of a broad age-range, from pre-school children to adolescents and young adults. It provides insights into such diverse issues as the gendered nature of media consumption, the role of parental regulation and peer groups, and the significance of narrative, realism and morality.

How does working at home change people’s activity patterns, social networks, and their living and working spaces? Will telecommuting solve many of society’s ills, or create new ghettos? Penny Gurstein combines a background in planning, sociology of work, and feminist theory with qualitative and quantitative data from ten years of original research, including in-depth interviews and surveys, to understand the impact of home-based work on daily life patterns. She analyzes the experiences of employees, independent contractors, and self-employed entrepreneurs, and presents significant findings regarding the workload, mobility, differences according to work status and gender, and the tensions in trying to combine work and domestic activities in the same setting.

"Thoughtful and erudite... Intelligent and readable...Will appeal to people who enjoyed Longitude by Dava Sobel or Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh." -The San Diego Union Tribune "Most engaging."-The Boston Globe "An optimistic and reassuring assertion that no matter what wonders we invent, human beings . . . remain infinitely more complex and interesting."-The Economist A lively, informative examination of the computer revolution-and why the top-performing information-processing device is still the human brain. If we believe the forecasts of many computer enthusiasts, a wave of amazing devices will soon fundamentally change our lives, and the "thinking machine" is just around the corner. In this authoritative and entertaining book, critically acclaimed author Charles Jonscher presents the other side of the argument: while communication developments have changed society, they also have their limits. He shows us that in order to understand the true transformative powers of the new technologies, we must know about the long history of their development-and why no calculating machine can match the creative power of the human mind. Rich in insights from literature, philosophy, and history, The Evolution of Wired Life offers a fascinating look at the development of the digital era, from the invention of the first alphabetic language to the printing press to the World Wide Web.

A new graphic memoir, from the award-winning author of Quarantine Comix. Hoping to better understand her own brain, award-winning comic-creator Rachael Smith set about documenting her experiences and struggles with anxiety and depression through comic strips. The resulting book, Wired Up Wrong, is both educating and entertaining, holding a mirror up to all the flattering and unflattering aspects of mental health. Featuring Rufus the cat, Barky, a giant black dog who lives inside her head, and two tiny, imaginary game-show hosts, Comedy Women in Print-shortlisted Rachael Smith's work is at times light-hearted, others heart-breaking, but always brave and honest.