M A N T E X N E W S L E T T E R Number 57 - November 2001 Latest books + FREE Software ------ ISSN 1470-1863 ----- 0----- 'Understanding Media' Did you miss reading Marshall McLuhan first time round in the 1960s? He was the major pundit of what is now known as 'Media Studies'. You now have a chance to catch up - because Routledge's series of re-issued classics brings his best work back into print. 'Understanding Media' was the work in which he coined the phrase 'The medium is the message'. His argument was that we ought to be paying more attention to the means of cultural communication - be it television, radio, photography, or newspapers. Seems obvious now - but it wasn't at the time - and he also covers clocks, money, cars, bicycles, and advertising. To catch up with his prophetic views, have a look at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/mcluhan.htm 0----- QUICK QUIZ [answer below] What do Attila the Hun and Winnie the Pooh have in common? 0----- 'Web Design in a Nutshell' A new edition of Jennifer Niederst's 'Web Design in a Nutshell' has just come out. It's a really good mix of tutorial manual and reference book. She covers everything from HTML coding to multimedia design - and throws in lots of tips, shortcuts, and professional hints along the way. The latest version has been hugely expanded to keep pace with Web developments. It now includes new chapters on multimedia, Flash and Shockwave, plus a very good new section on designing printer-friendly versions of pages. It's amazing, but people do still want to print out Web pages. This shows you how to arrange it - plus lots, lots more. Full details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/nieder-2.htm 0----- John Lewis goes on line UK subscribers might be interested to know that John Lewis have just gone on line - and they're offering 10% discount to new shoppers at - http://www.johnlewis.com/ [John Lewis is the UK equivalent of Bloomingdales in the US] 0---- FREE tutorial notes - updates Two of our FREE downloadable tutorial notes have been updated in the last few days. Our TECHNOLOGY Timeline traces the development of mathematics, computation, and Information Technology from the early Renaissance to the present day. http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/t171/t171-07.htm Nineteenth Century English LITERATURE + SOCIETY has been expanded considerably in terms of both texts and events. Many thanks to subscriber Gladys Althorpe for her contributions and her tenacity. http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/aa810/aa810-01.htm Our WRITING SKILLS bibliography has also been updated recently. Have a look if you've not seen it before - http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/bib1.htm 0----- 'Reading at University' Most students spend a lot of time reading - amongst other things. Is there any way you can make your reading more efficient? Apart from speed reading, which is of dubious value, you can change your reading style to suit the task in hand. This new book from the Open University Press explores all aspects of reading skills - and even throws in some advice on writing and editing too. http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/fairbrn.htm If you are tempted by the lure of speed reading, keep in mind the Woody Allen joke: "I went on a speed reading course last week - and it worked! Yesterday I read 'War and Peace' in an hour ... It's about Russia." 0----- FREE Font Viewer Font Glancer is a simple font browser which displays a preview of all the fonts installed in your system, making it easy to choose a suitable one. It also allows you to test each font and have a global view of the full character map of each font. http://www.kt2k.com/ 0----- E-Book compiler A number of people have asked about the e-Book compiler we used for the FREE e-Book offered in the last newsletter - 'Improve your Writing Skills'. It's E-ditor pro from Mediapacker. There's an evaluation copy available for free download at - http://www.mediapacker.com/ 0----- Writing a Novel? Click here! If you're having problems writing The Great Novel, there's a new software program to hand. It claims to provide you with what you need to organise your thoughts and will guide you in logical stages through the process of laying down a solid foundation and structure for your novel. http://www.newnovelist.com 0----- QUICK QUIZ - Answer What do Attila the Hun and Winnie the Pooh have in common? They share the same middle name. 0----- COMING SOON!! 'Blown to Bits' [e-Commerce] 'Dictionary of Weird and Wonderful Words' 'Flash in Easy Steps' 'New Oxford Dictionary of English' 'Doing English' 'Writing Essays' 'Students Must Write' 'How to Write Critical Essays' (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-57-November-2001 ISSN 1470-1863 The British Library