This book is very professional. The story is mainlined straight into your blood stream from page one and the book stays there until you have finished reading it. This book is good. The writing style delivers a 40 frames per second video type experience right into your brain, it's like watching a video in your imagination. (Only the top one percent of action thriller writers can do this).
I won't repeat the plot in detail; it's in the product description and other reviews, other than to say the bio-terror threat is real. The book is very well researched and credible, that means you are not interrupted by technically impossible weapons or science. The close contact special forces type fight sequences are some of the best that I have ever read. The pathogen is code named Pandora. It was discovered and therefore not a genetically modified weaponised organism. One imaginative feature of Pandora is the green bio luminescence glow, it eats flesh so fast it produces a deadly aerosol that if inhaled will kill you so fast you have no time to get medical attention.
This fictional story takes us into the murky world of big pharmaceutical companies, the CIA, Intel ops and the CDC. There is a mysterious group behind the weapon's development, they plot to kill off a large segment of Earth's population and then they intend to emerge as the rulers of the planet. The clandestine use of bio-weapons is a very real danger, this story is brilliant.
The book is highly recommended (good value for money)
The review was of the kindle edition
Paul Kendall (Leeds UK)
Dark Bites (part 2) Cats and Dogs
By Robert Ropars
A brilliant short story, the eBook pans out on the kindle and ends bang on kindle location 666. Spooky ? no, just very clever planning by the author, who is (by the way) a very good writer and good story teller, this book is very entertaining.
The book has an interesting start, cattish, Adriana finds herself on the steps of a pyramid in Guatemala, then she is attacked and almost killed by a Jaguar. But no ordinary cat, this.
The victim Adriana seems to be (like most characters in American self published eBooks) to have some kind of mental demonic possession or as a psychiatrist would put it, plain bog standard schizophrenia.
Jessica. Is Adriana's pal and is a victim of a coincidental mad dog attack in an alley, But no ordinary dog this, The alley is full of homeless people and none of them lifted a finger to help Jessica.
Is Adriana seeing things? she is attacked in Guatemala and she survives and back in Chicago she is contacted by a spirit, on her way to the after life. The Mayan myths the beliefs are then introduced into the story. This it is very entertaining horror story, the bad guys are were wolves and the women were cats not the cat you may have at home stretched out on the sofa. I thought this book was targeted at the young adult market at first but it's got a lot of unexpected aspects. That will give it appeal in the wider book market, its good, I liked it.
The Jaguar in Guatemala. The connections with a pyramid the curse aspect Pre Columbian expert Roger Franks translates "kawka,key may" and some other ancient words they mean: Storm, death, jaguar, dog, soul. you will figure it out when you read the book.
The spirit world is red in tooth and claw, this mysterious woman a shape shifter, cats and wolves. All this in a short story, brilliant I want to buy the others in the series because I like short stories like this.
Short stories, work on a train, on a plane, on holiday or during coffee breaks, I will pay $3 for a short and $3 for a novel, I will pay $10 for an educational book. So there is a lesson there to all authors, why write a massive novel where the reader needs a white board and a note book to track all the characters and the plot? I guess you could say this book series is bite sized … (sorry about that).
Write quality shorts, like this and you will have a least one customer. Me. and a few million others.
This book is recommended. The review was of the kindle edition
Paul Kendall (Leeds UK)
click on image below go to amazon store and buy a copy only 99p
The Times and Sunday Times is well written. I used to get the print version delivered It's heaven to lay in bed late into the morning and read the Sunday Times, it weighed about 2 kilograms and it is inches thick. I never read it all and I don't know anyone who does. Now I buy the e-newspaper kindle edition on edition at a time from the kindle store with one click.
I love the kindle text to speech reading the news to me in the morning that way you can do other things and get the news. Also...Save the planet, if we all buy our newspaper on the kindle imagine how many heavy trucks are taken away from this task and put to other uses, the ink the trees cut down to get the paper it will free up millions of hours and huge amounts of recycling capacity.
It is obviously the right thing to do. The journalism at the Times is still first class despite all the controversy over hacking phones at the NOW and NGI I like the business section the Obits and the sport, and Jeremy Clarkson's column on Sunday.
This is an amazing insight into life in London 160 odd years ago, the markets, the docks, the law. The book is made up of a number of news articles and short stories all put together like a newspaper. brilliant stuff
Twenty Five Years Ago Today
by Stacy Juba.Kris Langley a journo at a local paper comes across a tragic cold case, while looking through the old micro film records of news events, twenty five years ago. Kris reads, "Missing bar maid murdered", the victim Diana Ferguson was only 21 years old when she was killed. That was twenty five years ago. so the killer 25 years ago would be 46 years old now, if the killer was also 21 years old way back then. Kris becomes obsessed and quickly gets caught up in a complex web of mystery, red herrings, dead ends, office politics and clueless cops. All this is set inside a newspaper office so it's interesting right from the kick off. Kris has an almost impossible task, but she is determined to bring the killer to justice, she even goes as far as risking her future as a journalist.No witnesses, no forensic evidence from the killer, unbelievable I know and police can't trace 69 last caller calls, all hard to believe but that's the police for you. Accidentally the killer seems to have committed the perfect murder. Avid readers of murder mystery books know there is no such thing as the perfect murder. The cop is Lieutenant Gerald Frank, his best line has nothing to do with the case, his story about a man who killed another man over a turkey leg was surreal. Franks words of wisdom and his insights into crime statistics are an early clues so get ready here is an example; Murder victims more often than not are killed by someone they know .. Erm …there are a hand full of people in the victims life, so why the hell didn't Gerald solve the case in the first week? Well if Lietentnant Frank is say 40 now he would have been only 15 years old at the time of the murder, so I will let him off. There are so many red herrings that Kris could set up a fish stall at the local market if journalism doesn't pan out. I jest you not, Stacy bless her…packs hundreds of moral themes and dilemmas into her books. Then there is the ancient mythology, one clue about the ending is fury. what is the worst crime ? A crime that deserves fury? The killer has committed such a crime. Stacy is on twitter, @stacyjuba and she asked me to comment on the ending in a tweet.. it won't spoil it. But In their youth's the killer and victim were too young to handle betrayal. I liked the mythology inserts they add to the moral thread that Stacy weaves through, then snaps in all of her brilliant books, jealousy, adultery, lying, cheating all have consequences in a Juba book. I guess that's why I like them. Ok It's entertainment but I loved it. I look forward to the next book. I have read three of Stacy's books to date. This review was of the kindle edition. It's highly recommended. Paul Kendall (Leeds UK) Check out the author's web site >> http://www.stacyjuba.comClick on book cover image above to buy on Amazon.com
Everyone can and should read this book it's not too complex for the average person to understand. For example we expect a jury in a criminal trial, to assess and understand complex forensic DNA evidence. The size of the target particle that is used in police forensic PCR tests (polymerase chain reaction) is so small that it would be invisible to the naked eye and would float in front of your face in thin air. Dr Watson explains how police forensic scientists can extract, "a full copy" of a suspect's DNA from such a tiny sample. PCR amplifies the original sample in a chain reaction.
The explanation of how the RNA with it's extra letter "U" is a single strand structure and not a double helix. This RNA imformation in one sited example is exported from one part of a cell, to another department in that cell, where a kind of biological typewriter, types up the letters to make the protein haemoglobin, hey, this is fascinating stuff. The inner world of the living cell is a miracle.
Yet these DNA miracles take place inside the trillions and trillions of cells inside our bodies every second of the day. Another fact to emerge from the book is that a full copy of our entire DNA record is kept inside each and every one of our trillions of cells.
This book should make you think about how complex life is. This book will expand your awareness and consciousness exponentially in all directions and lead you on to many other new lines of research on Youtube and Google..
This book discloses truly amazing facts. Like that, living cells read the DNA code three letters at a time, not four, or two letters, but three. The book documents the path that led to Watson and Crick to triumphantly propose that the DNA molecule had a double helix structure. That was way back in April 1953.
Their proposed structure was published in the scientific journal Nature 25 April 1953. Life's secret library was found using x-ray photos, taken looking down and through the DNA molecule's spiral structure. The photos show a flat 2D shadow puzzle from which they jointly worked out the structure of DNA was a double helix.
The x-ray photos were taken by Maurice Wilkins, and, Rosaline Franklin. Yet only Wilkins shared the Nobel prize with Watson and Crick. The bio-tech industry has had a lot of bad press over the years, Much of it seems to be the press and the media pedalling fear, to sell more newspapers. Dr Watson in his book also deals with the religious hysteria surrounding emotive terms like "Frankenstein foods" and "playing God".
Methodically, Dr Watson gives a strong reasoned argument as to why these fears are irrational and exaggerated. The book attempts to calm fears by balancing the risks of bio-tech with the rewards. Dr Watson tells the reader about some amazing success stories like that of Gentech corporation in the United States. Started by partners Cohen and Boyer each investing just $500 in 1976.
The book tells us that Gentech wanted to use the new technology to make useful proteins that they could sell. They inserted the DNA that codes for insulin into a bacteria, then the bacteria multiplies and "bosh" you have masses of GM manufactured insulin. Brilliant. Why is this great story not taught in all schools ?
Dr Watson explains that before Gentech invented genetically manufactured insulin, it came from pigs and cows. This pig insulin was often rejected by the human immune system, (The book goes into more detail, but I found this chapter very interesting ).
Dr Watson in his book expands the debate about patenting genetically modified organisms. Dr Watson clearly has some reservations about how we patent GM inventions. The issue is how do companies recover their R&D costs ? The book debates this issue.
Dr Watson brilliantly details with example cases, how the American patent law's defines the word "obvious", as what is "obvious" to the man in the street. The British patent law, has a much more restrictive definition of the same word, resulting in the patenting bar that has to be jumped in the UK being much higher than in the United States. (more on this in the book)
In the UK obvious is defined as what is obvious to an "expert in that field". So it is much easier to get a patent in America for your new GMO that in the UK. No wonder the United States is the richest country in the world.
Please approach this book with an open mind all Dr Watson is saying is, let's make new GM bio fuel, find, understand and stop genetic diseases. To do this we need to invest more in bio-tech.
Dr Watson claims we can't ignore just GM foods. Before reading this book I was against GM food, now I think Dr Watson is right. you must read his argument before you decide.
Dr Watson advocates proceeding with extreme caution and he states clearly in this book that a large part of any R&D budget should go into the examination of the ethical and bio-safety implications of a newly proposed GM products or procedures. Dr Watson has tried very hard to educate the angry mob with this book. After reading the book, I ask myself what offence will it be to God, if man makes GM insulin ? Would God say no, continue harvesting it from pigs ? The God won't like it, argument is daft. Or a GM fish that can convert more of it's, low grade food into higher quality food that we can eat ? The prejudice against GMO's need to be addressed in schools and in the media.
A lot of work has gone into this book hense the price, all the many references, credits and the index are perfectly done. I have the book in hard back copy. (my copy was kindly signed but James D Watson). I now have my Amazon kindle edition for quick reference. I use my Kindle, to read bits of this book back to me, over and over again, in text to speech mode. this is a very useful feature. I love this book. It's highly recommended.
17 June 2011 Paul Kendall (Leeds UK)
Click on book cover image to link to Amazon Store
Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You: A Guide to the Universe (Kindle Edition)This book is my favourite book on quantum physics. By a long chalk, (and I have quite a few) The glossary alone is worth the price of the book. I have it on kindle, so I listen to it, being read to me, over and over that's a useful feature when you are trying to get your head around complex subjects. Sit down with a cup of tea and listen. If you don't understand repeat the process.
This book is for everybody. Marcus Chown has tried to give examples of how amazing the rules are at the scale of atoms. How gravity slows down time. He puts it in such simple terms, "you age slower on the bottom floor of a tall building than you do at the top".
The closer you are to Earth's gravity the more time is slowed down. There is much more like this in the book.
The empty space inside atoms is hard to imagine. the book helps with that. Why don't things just appear, and disappear in the large scale world that we live in ? as they do at the quantum scale world ? well the answer is de-coherence, what is that ? read the book.
The latest developments in quantum computing is covered in the book. What is a super position of a qubit and how does the measurement problem hider the quantum computer's development ? it's all in the book. Multiple universes all explained, dark matter, black holes, the lot.
Marcus Chown is not trying to show off to his fellow scientists in this book, he is showing us the ordinary people a glimpse into the amazing quantum world. The idea of a particle being in two places at once. And quantum entanglement communications is debated.
The book documents the path that led up to the discovery of the atom's empty space in the gold foil experiment overseen by Ernest Rutherford and his team at Manchester University England in 1909.
If you want to know what they are doing at the L.H.C. at C.E.R.N. in Switzerland or FERMI lab in America, Or you want to know more about the double slit experiment. particles popping up out of nothing then disappearing again, then this book is the book for you.
If tell people that an atom can be in two places at once and people will think you have gone mad, but it is true, atoms can be in more than one location... Everyone should read this book and educate themselves about the world around them. This is an important subject as CERN is spending huge sums of money, "our money" studying the quantum world, anti matter may one day be the new fuel of the future, the book explains why and how. Quantum computers will change the world, this is a brilliant book.
Recommended as a gift, to a young person. The review was of the kindle edition.
Paul Kendall (Leeds UK)
 | text_to_speech_4_education_podcast.mp3 | | File Size: | 3140 kb | | File Type: | mp3 |
Download File
Kindle eBooks text to speech for education
Counting from one to ten in Thai language with the Amazon kindle text to speech.
This is a demonstration of the huge educational potential of text to speech. If language teachers can master writing words phonetically in English so that they can be rendered by the Amazon kindle's text to speech in a second language then results can be amazing. Check out the k3books, mp3 podcast. The download is this sample of the text to speech clip counting from one to ten in Thai. This simple clip teaches you how to count in Thai from one to ten. I think it's a killer application.
For example imagine, In mathematics the multiplication tables, in chemistry the periodic tables, The short clips can be published in free kindle eBooks and played on the bus or on the train on the way to work or during a coffee break.
If not copyright material, teachers can write a short clip on any given subject and then publish them on a kindle store blog. Their students, can then be sent email clips and anyone with a mobile phone can access the mp3 files.
All kinds of educational material can be typed out by the teacher in a word document, then published to students with smart phones, and kindle eBook readers. I get tons of information on my kindle eBook reader. When it comes to education soon billions of pages of information on thousands of subjects will be available via the Amazon kindle store much of it will be free.
Kindle eBooks, blogs and newspapers are also available via apps that work on iPhone and android platforms.
When the students play the files they listen to the information, rather than read it. All teachers know that its hard to get students to read pages and pages of text they may have more success getting students to listen to the lesson.
Teachers can specially designed lessons for play back in text to speech mode. The lesson will stay on the phone for years. I see a kindle blog published by a school or college on the kindle store as being an ideal way to update students that are way from school for whatever reason for example with an illness or kindle blog may be a way for teachers to communicate and stay in touch with students during school breaks and holidays. More charitable teachers could write FREE lessons and email high quality content to poor students in developing countries.
The mobile phone, and headphones, are the way young people like to access information. put it this way I wish I had all this tech when I was at school.
Here is the phonetic spelling of counting one to ten in Thai. Note: how the words are written in English, so that they play almost perfectly to sound out the Thai word.
Counting one to ten in Thai.
Nung,song ,sam,see,har,hock,jet,pat,cow,sip.
nung, is 1,
song. Is 2,
sam. Is 3,
see. Is 4,
har. Is 5,
hock. Is 6,
jet. Is 7,
pat. Is 8,
cow. Is 9,
sip. Is 10,
Nung,song ,sam,see,har,hock,jet,pat,cow,sip.
That's counting one to ten in Thai
www.k3books.com
|
RSS Feed