8월 18th, 2006
Tiger & Dragon Tiger & Dragon
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Label: Jvc Victor
Category: Music
8월 18th, 2006
In Quicksilver, the first volume of the “Baroque Cycle,” Neal Stephenson launches his most ambitious work to date. The novel, divided into three books, opens in 1713 with the ageless Enoch Root seeking Daniel Waterhouse on the campus of what passes for MIT in eighteenth-century Massachusetts. Daniel, Enoch’s message conveys, is key to resolving an explosive scientific battle of preeminence between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz over the development of calculus. As Daniel returns to London aboard the Minerva, readers are catapulted back half a century to recall his years at Cambridge with young Isaac. Daniel is a perfect historical witness. Privy to Robert Hooke’s early drawings of microscope images and with associates among the English nobility, religious radicals, and the Royal Society, he also befriends Samuel Pepys, risks a cup of coffee, and enjoys a lecture on Belgian waffles and cleavage-—all before the year 1700.
In the second book, Stephenson introduces Jack Shaftoe and Eliza. “Half-Cocked” Jack (also know as the “King of the Vagabonds”) recovers the English Eliza from a Turkish harem. Fleeing the siege of Vienna, the two journey across Europe driven by Eliza’s lust for fame, fortune, and nobility. Gradually, their circle intertwines with that of Daniel in the third book of the novel.
The book courses with Stephenson’s scholarship but is rarely bogged down in its historical detail. Stephenson is especially impressive in his ability to represent dialogue over the evolving worldview of seventeenth-century scientists and enliven the most abstruse explanation of theory. Though replete with science, the novel is as much about the complex struggles for political ascendancy and the workings of financial markets. Further, the novel’s literary ambitions match its physical size. Stephenson narrates through epistolary chapters, fragments of plays and poems, journal entries, maps, drawings, genealogic tables, and copious contemporary epigrams. But, caught in this richness, the prose is occasionally neglected and wants editing. Further, anticipating a cycle, the book does not provide a satisfying conclusion to its 900 pages. These are minor quibbles, though. Stephenson has matched ambition to execution, and his faithful, durable readers will be both entertained and richly rewarded with a practicum in Baroque science, cypher, culture, and politics. –Patrick O’Kelley
Book Description
Quicksilver is the story of Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and conflicted Puritan, pursuing knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe, in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.
It is a chronicle of the breathtaking exploits of “Half-Cocked Jack” Shaftoe — London street urchin turned swashbuckling adventurer and legendary King of the Vagabonds — risking life and limb for fortune and love while slowly maddening from the pox.
And it is the tale of Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to become spy, confidante, and pawn of royals in order to reinvent Europe through the newborn power of finance.
A gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive novel that brings a remarkable age and its momentous events to vivid life, Quicksilver is an extraordinary achievement from one of the most original and important literary talents of our time.
And it’s just the beginning …
Download Description
“A plethora of e-book extras, not found in any print edition, including: 1) INTERVIEW: Neal Stephenson shares intimate details and insight behind the making of Quicksilver; 2) QUICKSILVER METAWEB INTRODUCTION: Stephenson’s take on his creation of a web-based network that may someday rival the internet; 3) QUICKSILVER DRAMATIS PERSONAE BY TYPE: a complete and concise list of characters grouped by character type The long-awaited first volume of The Baroque Cycle comes to e-book at last (with loads of extras to boot)! Set against the backdrop of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Quicksilver tells the intertwining tales of 3 unforgettable main characters (descendants of characters from Cryptonomicon) as they traverse a landscape populated by mad alchemists, Barbary pirates, and bawdy courtiers, as well as historical figures including Ben Franklin, William of Orange, Louis XIV, and many others. This breathtaking story ranges from the American colonies to the Tower of London to the glittering palace at Versailles, and all manner of places in between – and plays out during a singular nexus point in history, when rationality triumphed over mysticism, monarchy was overthrown, markets become free, and religious tolerance gained ground over harsh oppression.
Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver is here. A monumental literary feat that follows the author’s critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller Cryptonomicon, it is history, adventure, science, truth, invention, sex, absurdity, piracy, madness, death, and alchemy. It sweeps across continents and decades with the power of a roaring tornado, upending kings, armies, religious beliefs, and all expectations.
Author: Neal Stephenson
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
8월 18th, 2006
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What about Guitar Hero entices me to put up the title “Simply Amazing” for my review? Just about everything. Here are some of the games biggest strong points… 1. The soundtrack: 2. The Concept: 3. It’s Development: 4. Varying difficulty levels: I have to say that I was extremely skeptical when my mother gave me the game for my birthday last week but after just a few days I’ve gone out to buy a second guitar and I’ve played it for numerous hours. The only major con of the game is the amount of time that will fly by as you don’t even realize it. If you can spring the 70 bucks to buy the game, buy it. You will not be dissappointed.
Have gained an appreciation for heavy metal. By pretending to play it, which cannot be done without making heavy metal guitarist faces. Have started hearing pop music in a completely different, much more interesting way, noticing details of composition and structure that used to wash over me. Have taken up the actual, wood-not-plastic guitar. Have lived the dream of rock stardom, from novice to journeyman to legend, in full, in my living room. No, they really DO get this one right. So I thought this list was going to be longer. But any one of those things alone is worth the price of the game, and some are worth the game and the system, so the whole package is like a 75% savings. At least. This should be an inconsequential little novelty game, but somehow it really seems to matter. (A sequel is in the works. You will want both.)
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8월 18th, 2006
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If you’re the proud owner of an Xbox 360, things just got even more interesting. Later this year, Microsoft will release an external HD-DVD drive that’s compatible with the Xbox 360 console. Building on the momentum the Xbox has created for bringing high-definition games and entertainment to the living room, the HD-DVD drive is poised to take things a step further.
The new drive will offer millions of Xbox 360 owners the ability to easily enjoy HD-DVD movies while providing them with even more choices for experiencing high-definition content, in either physical or digital form. Specific details are currently scarce, but it is known that the drive will connect to the Xbox 360 via the console’s USB 2.0 port. It’s also unclear what kinds of content will be available in the new format. Universal Studios, Toshiba, and Microsoft are all throwing their weight behind HD-DVD so it’s a sure thing that movies will be coming to HD home theaters soon. What isn’t known is whether or not Microsoft and other game developers will begin developing Xbox 360 games that rely on HD-DVD media.And it’s impossible to talk about HD-DVD without mentioning Blu-Ray, the competing HD disc format that’s supported by Sony and other electronics and media behemoths. HD-DVD media supports up to 30 GB of storage space on a disc, while Blu-Ray supports quite a bit more: 50 GB. Meanwhile, HD-DVD media boasts lower production costs, and may offer a price advantage over Blu-Ray, at least in the near term. Both technologies rely on blue laser technology, which allows much more data be crammed onto a disc’s surface, thereby increasing storage capacity. It remains to be seen whether or not the competing formats will duke it out for supremacy in the post-DVD era, or if they will politely coexist. Some early battle lines have already been drawn; Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 3 console will include an internal Blu-Ray drive. It’s safe to say, though, that HD-DVD will open up exciting new horizons for Xbox 360 owners who want to stay on the cutting edge of high-definition entertainment. Microsoft is betting the new external drive will be one more reason to join the Xbox 360 universe. |
8월 18th, 2006
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Amazon.com Product Description
Boost your productivity with the first Apple Mac Pro (model MA356LL/A) desktop PC, which is the first Apple desktop to be powered by the 64-bit dual-core Intel Xeon processor. But the Mac Pro offers even more power by combining two dual-core 2.66 GHz Xeon processors, creating an unbelievably powerful quad-core workstation that can handle even the more intensive graphics rendering. Its redesigned industrial-style enclosure offers improved functionality with a cable-free installation process and massive upgrade ability–up to 16 GB of 667 MHz RAM and four hard drive bays for up to 2 TB (that’s terabytes) of storage under the hood. And while it comes standard with a 16x SuperDrive (compatible with burning DVD±R/RW and CD-R/RW discs), you can also add a second writing SuperDrive.Additionally, the Mac Pro MA356LL/A features a 250 GB hard drive, 1 GB of installed RAM, and the NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics card with 256 MB of video RAM, both FireWire 400 and 800 slots, optical digital audio input and output, Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger, and additional software titles–iLife 06, OmniOutliner, iWork 06 (trial), FileMaker Pro 8.5 (trial). The Mac Pro also includes a DVI to VGA adapter and an Apple keyboard and Mighty Mouse. Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger
Processor Because Intel designed this dual-core Xeon to be more efficient, it consumes less power than similar workstation-level processors, so your system fans don’t have to work as hard to keep them cool. Working with Mac OS X Tiger, it also continues the tradition of enabling 64-bit computation. Ideal for scientific applications, the 64-bit Intel Xeon processors can express the extreme precision needed for floating-point mathematics and to express integers up to 18 billion billion. Hard Drive Memory Optical Drive Graphics Expansion and Connectivity
Dimensions Dimensions Product Description Brand: Apple Computer |