Taming Technology: You Can Control the Beast

Book Description

Technology is everywhere - in your home, in your office, in your car, and even in your favorite neighborhood hangout. There's no escaping it. Instead of allowing the various technologies in your life to intimidate, frustrate, or annoy you, now you can harness the power of technology and use it to your best advantage. Brian Nichelson shows you how.

In Taming Technology, you'll learn how to:
• Put technology in the proper context;
• Determine which technology you really need;
• Overcome your technology fears;
• Implement technology more effectively;
• Maximize your productivity while minimizing technology-related stress.

Discover the three principles that make technology approachable and accessible and use them to triumph over the technology challenges that are holding you back. By taming the technology in your work and life, you can control the beast.

Customer Reviews:

For technophiles, technophobes and everyone in between........2004-02-17

Dr. Nichelson's entertaining book TAMING TECHNOLOGY approaches living in the computer age from the standpoint of the often frustrated user, pointing out how that user can utilize the technology to their advantage.

In the first chapter, the Three Technology Maxims are presented, the rest of the book builds in these concepts:
1. Technology is simpler than you think.
2. Technology equals people.
3. Technology is interconnected.

The basic theme of the book is that non-experts can reap huge benefits by understanding and applying the above maxims plus taking some time and effort to understand the technology well enough to take advantage of that knowledge.

Woven through the book are real-life examples including the author's quest to get his electric utility to provide service to his home more reliably since he was spending a lot of time resetting all the clocks every time the power went out. What follows is an abridged version of his story:

"I called the power company's customer service department {again}...it was time for a new approach...I asked to talk to someone who could tell me what had gone wrong. So I got bumped up to Donna, a senior customer service rep... I made it a point not to lose my cool...It wasn't Donna's fault that the power went out...again...a solution to such a problem is a long-term proposition...She told me she was talking to the field engineering office...A few weeks later she...{gave} me the number of the field engineering office...For the next few months I bounced from one office to another...when I finally found an engineer who sat still long enough to explain...First I put it on a personal level by telling him what a hassle each outage was...he said ...'I've got to go through the same things when I lose the power...'. Now we were on a equal footing; he was just another guy trying to help a fellow human being...Then he explained the real problem...The technical problem was fairly straightforward...What was really holding things up...was a people problem...my house sat in one engineer's area, but the devices causing the outages were in another engineer's area. So the guy who is in charge of changing the equipment wasn't getting my complaints...The engineer who explained the real problem to me agreed to bring it up at their weekly staff meeting...one of the bosses ... agreed to fix it...I called the power company a year later to ask how many outages I'd had the last 12 months...almost a 50% reduction, {but only 1 lasting long enough to reset the clocks, caused by a lightning strike}"

Another anecdote is about a Carbon Monoxide Detector commercial that could kill you (what is done in the commercial is contrary to proper installation and use).

For details on these and other entertaining examples, read the book!

You Ever Felt Like Throwing Your Computer Out The Window?.......2003-11-21

"Have You Ever Felt Like Throwing Your Computer Out The Window?"

Have you ever felt you need an engineering degree to figure out how some of our modern technology works? How often were you tempted to pick up your computer and throw it out the window?

If you were fortunate to have young children around during our present technological revolution, consider yourself lucky. They probably have become your gurus or experts, when it comes to operating the VCR, or showing you how to use the many software programs you always dreamed about, but were afraid to admit you did not have the foggiest notion how they worked.

Calm down, take a deep breath, and pick up a copy of Brian J. Nichelson's book entitled Taming Technology: You Can Control The Beast. The author of this slim book has been bringing people and technology together for the past twenty- five years researching the interactions between technology and humans.
Focusing on three principal maxims: Technology is simpler than you think: Technology equals people, and Technology is interconnected, Nichelson unfolds some of the mysteries of the beast, and counsels his readership to look at the big picture, before succumbing to a defeatist attitude.

The author illustrates, with concrete examples, how technology affects everyone. We are reminded that the "beast" controls every aspect of our life. You can't escape it- computers, VCRs, automobiles, washing machines and dryers, telephones, fax machines, toasters, copiers, scanners, tape recorders, CD players, and the list is never ending.

However, as pointed out, "understanding any given technology within the proper context is important for dealing successfully with that technology." In other words, no technology works in a vacuum. It is, as defined by the author, "humans trying to control our environment."

The key is to want to learn the fundamental principles, not to accept simple explanations such as, "that's the way it works," and always be patient. Be pro-active rather than passive, and if you can share your knowledge with others- all the better. Think of technology as a giant jigsaw puzzle, we must find the pieces and put them together, if we want to understand how it all works. Determine your needs, access the many sources available to you, and sort them out in order to reap maximum benefits.

After reading this compact book, the lingering question is- will you take the author's final words, "now go out there and make it work for you?"

The above review first appeared on the reviewer's own site

Good process oriented approach.......2003-07-25

In six short chapters Brian Nichelson, Ph.D. discusses the problem of technology and provides a simple step-by-step process that can be used to get the results you need. From simple problems like not knowing how to reset your computer clock to complex purchase decisions the same steps can be used to consistently get to the best answer. One of the problems that I deal with on a regular basis is a total lack of knowledge among sales people and technologists. One tells you that you need to connect your computer to a cable modem and then share off your computer to allow others in your organization to share access to the Internet. Another says you have to install a gateway server and another says a router. One says a software firewall is sufficient another says only a hardware firewall provides real protection, and another says you really need both. Technology can be overwhelming to the average user and sometimes even to the initiated. With everyone telling you something different or just the need to find out how to do something, this process can be followed to get to the best result. While the process seemed second nature to me, I realize that it is probably because I have been deeply involved in technology for many years. For the confused or concerned that need a workable strategy to resolve technology related issues this is a recommended read.

Start of a technologist's "12 Step Program"!.......2003-07-08

"Wow! As someone who has had more than 30 years experience developing technology, Brian's book is the first to make me stop and think about technology's impact on people's lives. I wish I had this book 30 years ago. Thank you, Brian. You have written a book that all technologists should read and keep for easy reference."
With that first paragraph as my quote in the "Advance Praise" forward to "Taming Technology - You Can Control the Beast", let me add a more complete review. Why should my opinion on Brian's book matter? Well, since I got my bachelor's degree in 1970 I've been building a lot of the technology Brian pillories! For the first 20 years of my technologist's journey I built hardware, software, and network products and tools that were used mainly by other technologists and technical savvy people.. To make it worse, I've been an adjunct professor in engineering and computer science departments teaching new generations of technologists to "make it elegant" not "make it useable"! Of course, there was always at least one human factors engineer some where on the staff, but we builders of technology almost to a person ignored them!
In the early 1990's I began working on products that were consumer oriented. After the first focus group on one of our "technology marvels" I was greatly humbled. It was unusable by the people we targeted as customers. What was the first reaction? Blame the victim! But, the fault was not in naive customers but with non-intuitive, cumbersome, programmer-like interfaces that were an afterthought to our engineering. We focused on the internals not the interface to the real world user.
Brian's three maximums are a key part of this book's philosophy:
1) Technology is simpler than you think
2) Technology equals people
3) Technology is interconnected
These are a great start for us technologists to begin a "12 step program" of our own. We don't need to radicalize technology. We just need to make it work for the end users not for our own need to build monuments to technology. We need to learn that just because it "can" be done, does NOT mean that it "should" be done.

-Don Shafer, Chief Technology Officer, Athens Group, Inc., and co-author of Quality Software Project Management

Book Description

Commercial agency, distribution and franchising agreements form the backbone of cross-border commercial activity, and international lawyers are frequently confronted with issues relating to such agreements. This authoritative, practical reference work describes the law of the European Union relating to commercial agency, distribution and franchising, together with a detailed comparative analysis of the legislation and case law of the 15 Member States, Switzerland and Norway. Each country report follows a similar structure and classification system to facilitate quick reference and comparison between jurisdictions. Since the second edition of this work was published in 1993, the Common Market has become a reality and the Treaties of Maastricht and Amsterdam have had a significant impact on European law, making the appearance of this fully revised and updated third edition extremely timely.

Commercial Agency and Distribution Agreements:Law and Practice in the Member States of the EC and EFTA (Aija Law Library)

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Commercial Agency and Distribution Agreements:Law and Practice in the Member States of the EC and EFTA (Aija Law Library)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Business Law | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1853337854

Commercial Agency and Distribution Agreements:Law and Practice in the Member States of the European Community

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Commercial Agency and Distribution Agreements:Law and Practice in the Member States of the European Community

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Taxation | Law | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

European Union | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1853333581

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Fast Track: How to Gain and Keep Momentum
Roger Fritz
Manufacturer: Unlimited Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Motivational | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 096776498X

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Fast Track: How to Gain Momentum & Keep It
Roger Fritz
Manufacturer: Inside Advantage Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Motivational | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1893987019

Customer Reviews:

Concise and Useful .......2006-01-15

I have been managing projects and teaching project management for more than thirteen years; in that time I have run across two resources I reference often in my training, this is one of them. I suggest this resource for two reasons: first, because it is concise and to the point, secondarily it is a fresh presentation of useful PM knowledge. Too many PM books are full of "fluff" and impractical information. If this book offered new or original dynamics it would easily be a five; as such any new project manager will find it a jewel. When I wrote my own book, I used Penner's presentation style as a model, keeping it concise and practical for everyday use.

The founder of charlesspeaks.com and author of five books I highly recommend Penner's work.

In the jungle of project management, you need this book!.......2002-03-12

This little book, just over 100 pages, will help you understand how to manage projects, from building Web sites to building the space shuttle. The chapters quickly walk you from the planning stages through to the final reports and closeout. In addition, this book helps you evaluate your management skills. It includes a quick list at the beginning to see if you have what it takes, to intensive tools at the back to determine your strengths and weaknesses. The author writes in a simple, friendly style, telling it like it is (e.g., "tell the truth ALWAYS"). No matter if you are a college student or an experienced project manager, you could probably benefit from this handy text.

Book Description

40 beautiful designs by one of Victorian era's most influential designers. Modestly priced, royalty-free collection of richly detailed patterns, faithfully reproduced from rare 1890s publication. Superb designs for wallpapers, chintzes, velveteens, tapestries, tiles, carpets, more.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing color reproductions.......2004-06-05

Anyone interested in good color and sharp outlines should definitely avoid this book! Reproductions are sometimes dull and outlines often fuzzy. Very disappointing. I returned it immediately.

Great sampling of Morris' work.......2003-07-03

I truly like this book! It is a 9.5" X 12.5" book in size, with 41 pages, 40 of which have full page with exception of 1" border designs. Only one pattern (Rose Pattern) is narrower. Copyright free designs for personal use, important! and very useful at the copy shop, because the printing is so good that one can extract and enlarge copies at will, this book will not let you down in that respect. Dover gives you wallpaper, tile, fabric & carpet patterns by photograph, very clear, as well as several tapestry designs photographed. Have already enlarged and traced the Cherwell design as well as the Acanthus leaves design for a future tapestry pattern. Perfect! Perfect! Perfect!

Patterns are: Angel With Scroll(painting),Rose Pattern(tile),Daisy Pattern(tile), Daisy design(for wallpaper),Trellis design(w), Marigold(w), Vine(w), Acanthus(w), Apple(w), Ceiling Paper designed for St. James' Palace, Wallpaper(same), Wild Tulip(w), Bruges design(w), Pink Rose(w), Honeysuckle(chintz), Bird & Anemone(chintz), Strawberry Thief(c), Wandle(c), Rye(c), Acanthus(velvet), Cherwell(velvet), Velvet broche, St. James design for silk, Kennet design(s), Cross Twigs(s), Tulip & Rose for tapestry, Anemone(tapestry), Bird&Vine(t), Peacock&Dragon(t), Dove&Rose(t), Lily(t), various carpet designs.

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Victorian Patterns and Designs in Full Color (Dover Pictorial Archive)
G. A. and M. A. Audsley
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Clip Art | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Commercial | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Victorian Patterns for Artists and Designers (Dover Pictorial Archive Series) (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Treasury of Historic Pattern and Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

2,286 Traditional Stencil Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Sourcebook of Elegant Historic Ornament (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Scroll Ornaments of the Early Victorian Period (Dover Pictorial Archives)

ASIN: 0486257568

Book Description

All 100 full-color plates — 253 individual designs — from one of the greatest printed volumes from the Victorian era. Panel decorations, bands, borders, ornaments, crestings, diaper patterns, and many more.

Victorian Patterns and Designs in Full Color

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Victorian Patterns and Designs in Full Color
Audsley & Audsley
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ON1C32

Book Description

Hop on board for 50 more terrific stories as Joan Claire Graham and 38 friends take you on another rollicking trip through the North Star State. From Hallock to Winona--from the Boundary Waters to Rock County, these true tales will tickle your funny bone, tug at your heartstrings, and remind you of times gone by. Forget about Ole and Lena, and leave all hotdish jokes behind. This stuff is genuine--100% Minnesota History of the people, by the people and for the people!

Customer Reviews:

The Best of the Batch.......2004-11-23

This book series just keeps getting better. Volume 4 is the biggest collection of Minnesota Memories stories so far, with 50 true tales by 39 writers from all over the state. A mom takes her teenage son on a winter adventure to learn dog sledding in the frozen Boundary Waters area, a conductor tries to save a train stuck in a cocoon of snow, an outdoor college performance of "The Music Man" takes on a plague of fish flies and gale force winds, a daughter helps her father plant his last garden, and a small town librarian tells about the cowpie plaster that saved her brother's infected foot many years ago. These books are like a pot luck supper. You never know what's going to be there, but it's always good because everybody brings what they do best for all to enjoy. I love these Minnesota Memories books!

Scattered Seeds: a Gathering of Minnesota Memories. vol. 1#2, 3, 4

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Scattered Seeds: a Gathering of Minnesota Memories. vol. 1#2, 3, 4
Steve, et al., eds. Trimble
Manufacturer: St Paul:
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J0MRPM

Book Description

Essays on how organizations effectively communicate strategy to optimize performance.

Customer Reviews:

Piet Hein Coebergh.......2004-01-07

As a management consultant, working for a communications & pr consulting firm, I was intrigued by the title and bought the book simply based on my hope that this would be the first book that I would read that indicates - maybe even proves - that it makes sense to communicate corporate strategy. I believe in open communication of corporate strategy, but I have experienced that this is a belief that still is in need of scientific evidence. Why?
Large scale organizations, profit and non-for-profit, are increasingly challenged to communicate effectively internally and externally. But at the same time, one can easily observe through various media how organizations and their leaders struggle to communicate where and how they want to lead their company. This paradox raises the question whether it is beneficial for a company to communicate their strategy. Because if it is, why do companies often seem so reluctant in communicating their strategy? And if it is not, why bother trying?
Although the title seems to exactly match my research problem, the collected articles mainly deal with a variety of management issues that have little or nothing to do with communicating strategy. The editors, both emeritus professors in communication, for example conclude that excellence in organizational communication has to do with "reducing the cycle time", involving "environmental scanning, value chain analysis and continuous improvement" (page 251). The only conclusion that comes close to my research question is that "Excellence in the communication of organizational leadership strategy involves the clear and complete articulation of a firm's visions, targets and implementing structures. The latter involves putting in place a proactive corporate culture, rapid-response communication system, and an effective continuous improvement system" (page 251). The last conclusion appears to be based on the much admired business success in general and articulate communication of corporate strategy in particular of General Electric under the reign of Jack Welch. This kind of reasoning has nothing to do with testing - let alone falsifying - a hypothesis, but rather with reproducing management myths. This book was a scientific disappointment. I gave it one star because I collected evidence for another hypothesis: that being a professor in communications management is no guarantee for quality.

Book Description

Beat the Taxman!
Easy Ways to Save Tax in Your Small Business

As a small-business owner or a home-based entrepreneur, you have lots of questions about taxes, but very few answers. In your constant battle to be successful, the Canada Revenue Agency can seem like one of your biggest adversaries. But with Beat the Taxman in your corner, youre sure to come out a winner in the fight to save taxes in your business.

Packed with tax tips that will save you hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars year-round.
Written in a question-and-answer format thats easy to understand, practical, and easy to apply.
Features 166 Tax Beatersquick-reference tips that highlight key points.
Explains how to save taxes in every aspect and at every stage of your business.
Features a Year-Round Tax-Planning Calendar.
Includes new and updated information on: the new enhanced dividend rules; the new federal apprenticeship job creation tax credit; the business impact of the 1% reduction in the GST; the rules regarding verifying a suppliers GST number; as well as changes in the last federal budget, and to the tax rules throughout the year.

The ultimate tax coach for every Canadian in a small or home-based business, this book will help you to Beat the Taxman at his own game!

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Beat the Taxman! : Easy Ways to Save Tax in Your Small Business
Stephen Thompson
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Corporate | Taxes | Accounting | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0470832525

Book Description

A straightforward, year-round tax planner that tells entrepreneurs in plain English how to accomplish something vital to the success of their business and dear to their hearts--saving taxes! Many entrepreneurs--from professionals in career transition to recent graduates creating their own jobs--have little or no business knowledge. They all need to deal with taxes, but most cannot or do not want to pay expensive professional fees for this information. This book's easy-to-read question-and-answer format explains clearly how readers can save taxes themselves, or use the information to help them save money on professional fees if they prefer to use accountants and other advisers.

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