World,: Recent Assessment

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Topics include recent scientific findings obtained in various natural hazard areas and assessment of actual and
potential damage from earthquakes, floods and landslides. Of particular importance are measures that can be
taken to mitigate these hazards ranging from use of new algorithms for structural engineering to warning
systems for a given region. At a time when natural disasters are widespread, engineers play a key role.
Construction methods and building codes are changing; current knowledge shapes the direction of these changes.
The research results presented in these proceedings will benefit both the academic and practicing communities
around the world, strengthening the relationship between these two important parties.
The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age, Allucquère Rosanne Stone.
1995. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 212 pages. ISBN: 0-262-19362-0. $22.50.
It’s a popular observation these days that computer-mediated communication (e-mail correspondence, Internet
discussion groups and chat spaces, etc.) differs from more traditional modes involving telephones, the postal
service, or just ourselves face-to-face. When we send messages across the cybersphere or post to electronic
discussions, we are not required to reveal much about ourselves unless we choose to - and even then, only if we
choose to tell the truth. Facts about our age, name, gender race, and physical characteristics can easily be
withheld or altered, giving us the means to try on alternative personae - in a sense, to recreate ourselves. this,
Stone shows is both tremendously exciting and potentially very dangerous.
In a series of intellectual provocations, Stone moves from busy cyberlabs to the electronic solitude of the
Internet, from phone sex to &dquo;virtual cross-dressers,&dquo; and from the Vampire Lestat to the trial of a man accused of
having raped a woman by seducing on e of her multiple personalities. Unlike some advocates (and some critics)
of the virtual life, Stone never forgets that we live principally in our bodies; and the erotic dimension of life,
both virtual and traditional, remains central to her analysis.
INFORMATION RESOURCES
The Elements of Information Gathering, Donald E. Zimmerman and Michel Lynn Muraski. 1995. Ornyx
Publishing, Phoenix, AZ. 256 pages. ISBN: 0-89774-800-X. $19.95.
Created as a working reference for scientific and technical professionals, as well as a textbook for technical
communication courses, the book is organized into three main sections that lead the reader from the basic
principles of information gathering to the more sophisticated methods of locating and organizing scientific data.
The first part describes strategies for starting an information search, and then explains the process for retrieving,
evaluating, and managing literature, or how to organize information gathered in the first steps of the search.
The second and third parts describe more advanced methods of gathering and analyzing primary information from
interviews, surveys, usability tests, ethnography, case studies, and statistics.
The book also explains how to identify and use electronic sources, retrieve government publications, use
interlibrary loan services, and create a bibliographic database.
Super Solvers Gizmos & Gadgets!, 1995. For ages 7 to 12. The Learning Company, Fremont, CA.
$45.00.
Super Solvers Gizmos & Gadgets! has over 260 puzzles and simulations that help children understand the basic
principles of physical science such as force, magnetism, electricity, gears, balance, energy sources and simple
machines. The player is challenged to outrace Morty Maxwell, the Master of Mischief, and restore the future of
scientific research. The only way to beat Morty to the finish and save the Shady Glen Technology Center is to
solve science puzzles, collect parts and build a faster racing gizmo.
On-screen simulations build awareness of the physical science principles demonstrated by everyday objects such
as wheelbarrows, light bulbs and scales. Eight different puzzle types automatically adjust to a player’s skill
level. Children are given immediate feedback on their answers and clues to help them find the correct solutions.
There is no time limit to solving puzzles so children can experiment with each of the puzzles and simulations as
long as they would like. Researched and tested extensively with educators, parents and children, Gizmos
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