M A N T E X N E W S L E T T E R Number 56 - mid-October 2001 FREE software + latest books ------ ISSN 1470-1863 ----- 0----- 'Improve your Writing Skills' Would you like to be able to write clearly and effectively? Do you get stuck with issues of punctuation? Here's the answer to your problems - a FREE, downloadable e-Book. It's a guide which takes you through writing skills from commas and paragraphs to editing and presentation. It even tells you how to overcome writer's block if you're stuck for ideas. You can give the book away to your friends, or put it onto your own web site to attract visitors. Full details - http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/ebooks.htm 0----- QUIZ questions - General Knowledge After which part of the body is the avocado named? What is the name for the art of cutting hedges into ornamental shapes? What is the capital of Uzbekistan? Which part of the body is the axilla? What is the Italian name for the city of Florence? [ANSWERS below] 0----- 'The Computer and the IT Revolution' This is a book which gets mentioned in any serious history of computers. It's a study of the mathematical, mechanical, and the electrical developments which led to the creation of modern computers. Georges Ifrah offers an astonishing breadth of knowledge which ranges from ancient Mesopotamian numbering systems, through Renaissance technology, to the latest developments in IT. This is one for those interested in the technical and theoretical underpinnings of the IT revolution. Full review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/ifrah.htm 0----- 'On the Internet' What do educationalists think about using the Internet in their teaching? Herbert Dreyfus puts video recordings of his philosophy classes on the departmental web site at the University of California. And yet he is an Internet sceptic. He thinks it gives us too much choice and weakens our sense of personal commitment. Radical views? To learn more, see review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/dreyfus.htm 0----- Nobel Prize for Literature Wow! Did you notice that this year's prize went to V.S. Naipaul - who the UK press have spent the last few weeks depicting as a bigoted crank. Naipaul is praised by some as a post-Colonial visionary, regarded by others as merely a journalist, and sometimes reviled as a reactionary because of his scathing criticism - particularly of corruption in Third World countries. Judge for yourself. There are two web sites you can try - but be warned that neither is complete. [Keep the URL all on one line] http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/2001/press.html http://landow.stg.brown.edu/post/caribbean/naipaul/naipaulov.html 0----- Quiz Extra - Literature Speaking of prizes, what do the following writers all have in common? Leo Tolstoy - Thomas Hardy Joseph Conrad - Franz Kafka Virginia Woolf - James Joyce D.H. Lawrence - Marcel Proust Henry James - Emile Zola And what do the following writers have in common? R.P.A.Sully Prudhomme - B.Bjornson F.Mistral - J.Echegary - P.Heyse H.Sienkiewicz - G.Carducci - S.Lagerlöf V.von Heidenstam - K.Gjellerup H.Pontoppidan - K.Spitteler 0----- 'Upgrading and Repairing PCs' Would you like to take your PC out of its box and see how it all works? No -neither would I. But Scott Mueller offers a safe alternative. His huge manual on everything to do with building, maintaining, or repairing PCs comes with a CD in which video clips take you through what's inside that grey metal box. He shows you each part of a computer separately; he names all the parts and gives advice on buying spares; and he tells you how it all works in easy stages. His instructions are now in their thirteenth edition - with over two million copies sold. That's a tremendous vote of confidence from readers and his publishers. Details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/muell-2.htm 0----- 'Just XML' There is no shortage of books on XML rolling off the presses. It is tipped as the technology which will transform data manipulation. John Simpson's guidance manual is aimed at intermediate users who might already know some markup language - such as HTML. He explains why XML is important, shows you how to use it, then goes on to discuss new features such as XLinks and XPointer. He also gives a very useful introduction to a whole range of new and FREE tools for those who want to try their hand. Full review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/simpson.htm 0----- Quiz - ANSWERS After which part of the body is the avocado named? ANSWER - the testicle What is the art of cutting hedges into ornamental shapes? ANSWER - Topiary What is the capital of Uzbekistan? ANSWER - Tashkent Which part of the body is the axilla? ANSWER - the armpit What is the Italian name for the city of Florence? ANSWER - Firenze 0----- Quiz Extra - ANSWERS What do the following writers have in common? Leo Tolstoy - Thomas Hardy Joseph Conrad - Franz Kafka Virginia Woolf - James Joyce D.H. Lawrence - Marcel Proust Henry James - Emile Zola ANSWER: None of them won the Nobel Prize [even though they were all eligible] And what do the following writers have in common? R.P.A.Sully Prudhomme - B.Bjornson F.Mistral - J.Echegary - P.Heyse H.Sienkiewicz - G.Carducci - S.Lagerlöf V.von Heidenstam - K.Gjellerup H.Pontoppidan - K.Spitteler ANSWER: All of them won the Nobel Prize. [What? You've never heard of them!?] :-) (c) Copyright 2001, MANTEX All Rights Reserved PO Box 100 Tel +44 0161 432 5811 Manchester Fax +44 0161 443 2766 M20 6GZ UK www.mantex.co.uk If you like this newsletter, PLEASE FORWARD IT to friends and colleagues. New subscribers should register at the following address -- http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm FREE BACK ISSUES featuring news items, reviews, and product details are available at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/news/archive.htm Please retain the copyright and subscription information. It may be posted, in its entirety or partially, to newsgroups or mailing lists, so long as the copyright and subscription information remains. If you have any requests, observations, or items you would like to be included in our next issues, just mail us at -- news@mantex.co.uk You receive the MANTEX newsletter because you subscribed to it. If you wish to unsubscribe, go to -- http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm News-56-October-2001 ISSN 1470-1863 The British Library