Humanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled and rapidly changing, and we face existential risks over the next century. Various outcomes--good and bad--are possible. Yet our approach to the future is characterized by short-term thinking, polarizing debates, alarmist rhetoric, and pessimism. In this short, exhilarating book, renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin Rees argues that humanity's prospects depend on our taking...

How has information and communications technology changed the world of commerce and industry? This wide-ranging film tells a remarkable story of our times. Impact on work: In the 1970s office work was done with typewriters and paper and correcting fluid. Computers were giant devices in air-conditioned rooms. Then in the 1980s computers got smaller and began to appear on people's desks. Whole industries and professions vanished. Simon Steele, a sub-editor...

Readers will hit the ground running with this concise guide to Skype. The book explains basics such as how to set up an account and how to add friends, family, and other contacts. It also discusses some of the program's more advanced features, such as how to change views, set a particular status, and conduct video and audio-only calls. Readers learn how to parlay the benefits of this free service to stay in touch with personal and business contacts...

As nations around the globe attempt to fight sex trafficking, many consider legalizing prostitution. Two filmmakers travel across ten countries to explore the issue, attempting to answer the question: “How can we prevent sexual exploitation before it happens in the first place?” Though governments are getting better at prosecuting traffickers and providing aftercare to victims, it is time we begin to ask the question of what lies at the root.

The Illusionists examines how global advertising firms, mass media conglomerates, and the beauty, fashion, and cosmetic surgery industries are changing the way people around the world define beauty and see themselves. Taking us from Harvard to the halls of the Louvre Museum, from a cosmetic surgeon’s office in Beirut to the heart of Tokyo’s Electric Town, the film explores how these industries saturate our lives with narrow, Westernized, consumer-driven...

The Barbie doll is not just the world's most popular toy, she's a Rorschach test, revealing attitudes about sexuality, body image, gender roles and creativity. Journeying from Barbie conventions to anti-Barbie demonstrations, from girls' play dates to Barbie web pages, Barbie Nation plumbs the cult of the Barbie doll, telling the Barbie stories of men, women and children. At the center of Barbie Nation is the story of Barbie creator and Mattel co-founder...

Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell was a notable 20th century British philosopher, mathematician, historian, social critic, and political activist. Considered one of the founders of analytical philosophy, Russell was an iconoclast who helped lead the revolt against British idealism, a prominent philosophy in England at the end of the 19th century. First written in 1912, Bertrand Russell's "The Problems of Philosophy" was an attempt by the author to create...

"A galvanizing critique of the forces vying for our attention--and our personal information--that redefines what we think of as productivity, reconnects us with the environment, and reveals all that we've been too distracted to see about ourselves and our world Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity. doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance. So...

An amazing journey through the thriving worlds of fantasy and gaming. What could one man find if he embarked on a journey through fantasy world after fantasy world? In an enthralling blend of travelogue, pop culture analysis, and memoir, forty-year-old former D&D addict Ethan Gilsdorf crisscrosses America, the world, and other worlds-from Boston to New Zealand, and Planet Earth to the realm of Aggramar.

A personal assessment of the author's addiction to video games explores his favorites, their roles as modern forms of popular art, and their habit-forming appeal while considering how he has neglected his professional and social responsibilities in favor of gaming activities.