technological innovations

"The Internet is often hyped as a means to enhanced consumer power: a hypercustomized media world where individuals exercise unprecedented control over what they see and do. That is the scenario media guru Nicholas Negroponte predicted in the 1990s, with his hypothetical online newspaper The Daily Me - and it is one we experience now in daily ways. But, as media expert Joseph Turow shows, the customized media environment we inhabit today reflects diminished consumer power. Not only ads and discounts but even news and entertainment are being customized by newly powerful media agencies on the basis of data we don't know they are collecting and individualized profiles we don't know we have. Little is known about this new industry: how is this data being collected and analyzed? And how are our profiles created and used? How do you know if you have been identified as a "target" or "waste" or placed in one of the industry's finer-grained marketing niches? Are you, for example, a Socially Liberal Organic Eater, a Diabetic Individual in the Household, or Single City Struggler? And, if so, how does that affect what you see and do online? Drawing on groundbreaking research, including interviews with industry insiders, this important book shows how advertisers have come to wield such power over individuals and media outlets -and what can be done to stop it"--.

Examines how technology has impacted education in the early twenty-first century, discussing the necessity for schools to adapt and incorporate technology-driven learning techniques.

An introduction to the technologies and benefits of green transportation, providing guidance to improve personal driving habits, discussing buying electric, hybrid, and natural gas vehicles, and examining sustainable fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, vegetable oil, hydrogen, and biomethane.

Explores the wide-reaching impact of second-generation web technologies on library organization and services, and how library staff must respond.

Describes current and possible future advances in surgical techniques and the development of medical devices and artificial body parts.

Helps English teachers understand and use various technological applications in the classroom to improve curriculum.

Discusses the technological possibilities in the cars of tomorrow.

Contains suggestions for one hundred computer-based businesses that can be run out of a home; includes information on the software needed to start the company, where to find clients, how to save money, where to advertise, and other related topics.

An introductory guide that explains what several technologies are and how they can be used in libraries; discusses factors in choosing technology for library purchase; provides troubleshooting tips and guidelines for technology protection and for creating a technology setting and plan for a specific library; and lists further resources.