FREE/BARGAIN - Non-Fiction - 2015

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

http://teleread.com/books/some-reall...en-university/

I have a recommendation for these books.
I just looked at one. It really needs to be viewed on a PC. Also, the audio features in the book do not work. Though they say that openly.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

http://teleread.com/books/some-reall...en-university/

One quick comment . . . . I notice that that company sells most of what they offer. But doesn't "open" imply that they make all of the things (ebooks, artwork, sound recordings, whatever) available for free? That holds true for all other "open" organizations that I know about.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I have a recommendation for these books.
I just looked at one. It really needs to be viewed on a PC. Also, the audio features in the book do not work. Though they say that openly.

Of course they say that openly (was that a joke?)--they're an open university!

I appreciate your openness in bringing the information in your post to our attention.

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

One quick comment . . . . I notice that that company sells most of what they offer. But doesn't "open" imply that they make all of the things (ebooks, artwork, sound recordings, whatever) available for free? That holds true for all other "open" organizations that I know about.

The Open University (OU) say that:

We promote educational opportunity and social justice by providing high-quality university education to all who wish to realise their ambitions and fulfil their potential.

It's "open" in the sense of being open to anyone with the academic ability to complete a degree. OU courses are distance courses, done during the student's spare time. All that said, they do make plenty of material available for free. Way back when, before the web, the BBC would broadcast OU programmes (they may still do), and anyone was free to watch them.

Also, the term "open" doesn't necessarily mean free of charge. In most contexts where I've seen it used, it's meant that the user can access the contents and modify them if they wish. In ebook terms, I'd consider a non-DRM'd ePub file to be "open", since I can easily look at and modify the files contained within it.

[Cinisajoy]

On the open, I know MIT offers some of their course material free.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

One quick comment . . . . I notice that that company sells most of what they offer. But doesn't "open" imply that they make all of the things (ebooks, artwork, sound recordings, whatever) available for free? That holds true for all other "open" organizations that I know about.

The Open University is an extremely well-known organisation in the UK, offering "distance learning" university-level courses. The "Open" part of the name refers to the fact that anyone can become a student with them; there are no entry requirements. I've studied with the OU on and off for decades.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by avantman42

The Open University (OU) say that:


It's "open" in the sense of being open to anyone with the academic ability to complete a degree. OU courses are distance courses, done during the student's spare time. All that said, they do make plenty of material available for free. Way back when, before the web, the BBC would broadcast OU programmes (they may still do), and anyone was free to watch them.

Also, the term "open" doesn't necessarily mean free of charge. In most contexts where I've seen it used, it's meant that the user can access the contents and modify them if they wish. In ebook terms, I'd consider a non-DRM'd ePub file to be "open", since I can easily look at and modify the files contained within it.

Originally Posted by HarryT

The Open University is an extremely well-known organisation in the UK, offering "distance learning" university-level courses. The "Open" part of the name refers to the fact that anyone can become a student with them; there are no entry requirements. I've studied with the OU on and off for decades.

Thanks for the information, gentlemen.

Not to be argumentative, but just to offer some things for your consideration . . . .

I notice that both of you are in (and probably from) the U.K. I'm wondering if the word has a different shade of meaning/connotation there. Of course, I know both of you probably access a lot of U.S. websites, but I would think that most of them are U.K. websites. And that is where you would learn (from context, etc.) the meaning of the word.

I just did a quick search for "open textbooks." Here's a quote from the first hit that caught my eye, for a webpage from the California State University: "What are open textbooks? Open textbooks are typically authored by faculty and published on the web with the support of universities or new commercial companies. This new business model enables free online access to textbooks." (http://als.csuprojects.org/free-etextbooks) (emphasis mine, G.). The point is, I think that I could go up and down the search hits and find that all of the websites, with the exception of Open University and OpenLearn (ha), if they said anything at all about the subject, would say similar things.

I lack the time, and, frankly, the initiative, too, to do full research on the question. There's probably a specialized dictionary somewhere on the Internet which would give a definitive answer. But, offhand, I don't know where I would find it.

Let me add that even though I have a certain opinion about the word, I am open-minded about the issue (pun intended).

[issybird]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Thanks for the information, gentlemen.

Not to be argumentative, but just to offer some things for your consideration . . . .

I notice that both of you are in (and probably from) the U.K. I'm wondering if the word has a different shade of meaning/connotation there. Of course, I know both of you probably access a lot of U.S. websites, but I would think that most of them are U.K. websites. And that is where you would learn (from context, etc.) the meaning of the word.

I just did a quick search for "open textbooks." Here's a quote from the first hit that caught my eye, for a webpage from the California State University: "What are open textbooks? Open textbooks are typically authored by faculty and published on the web with the support of universities or new commercial companies. This new business model enables free online access to textbooks." (http://als.csuprojects.org/free-etextbooks) (emphasis mine, G.). The point is, I think that I could go up and down the search hits and find that all of the websites, if they said anything at all about the subject, would say similar things.

I lack the time, and, frankly, the initiative, too, to do full research on the question. There's probably a specialized dictionary somewhere on the Internet which would give a definitive answer. But, offhand, I don't know where I would find it.

Let me add that even though I have a certain opinion about the word, I am open-minded about the issue (pun intended).

The Open University is close to 50 years old, so very much antedates free web textbooks. In any case, that's the institution's name, so I don't understand the issue.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by issybird

The Open University is close to 50 years old, so very much antedates free web textbooks. In any case, that's the institution's name, so I don't understand the issue.

Well, whoever started using "open" in reference to digital materials surely was not basing that upon knowledge about the Open University. He or she basically invented a new meaning to the word "open." Most words, in the English language, at least, have several meanings. New meanings are assigned to existing words all of the time.

The issue, to me, is what I think of when I hear or see the word "open" in connection to digital materials. If I can assume that it implies "free," that information will save me the trouble of finding out in each individual case. If I cannot assume that, I will know that I have to do some investigation before knowing whether or not the materials are free. And, too, I don't want to misuse the word when I'm writing, and give people the wrong idea. That's all.

[shootist]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Well, whoever started using "open" in reference to digital materials surely was not basing that upon knowledge about the Open University. He or she basically invented a new meaning to the word "open." Most words, in the English language, at least, have several meanings. New meanings are assigned to existing words all of the time.

The issue, to me, is what I think of when I hear or see the word "open" in connection to digital materials. If I can assume that it implies "free," that information will save me the trouble of finding out in each individual case. If I cannot assume that, I will know that I have to do some investigation before knowing whether or not the materials are free. And, too, I don't want to misuse the word when I'm writing, and give people the wrong idea. That's all.

It's kind of like the term "social justice" that I saw in relation to open university. It doesn't necessarily mean what one would think either.

[pendragginp]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I have a recommendation for these books.
I just looked at one. It really needs to be viewed on a PC. Also, the audio features in the book do not work. Though they say that openly.

As far as viewing them goes, I'm not having a problem on my PW.

for these!

[avantman42]

Elite Units of the Third Reich (Classic Texts)

On the outbreak of war in 1939, Nazi Germany had probably the finest armed forces in the world. Years of Versailles Treaty restrictions had stripped away many layers of encumbering tradition and forced an entire generation of commanders to devise inventive methods of doing more with less. With the rise of the Nazi Party, the expert core of the Weimar-era army was empowered by the almost limitless support of a profoundly militaristic state, creating a force without equal in Europe.

Even within this excellent army, however, a few units stood out as the elite. Some were parts of the regular army, like Erwin Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division, while others were unique independent formations, like the 7th Fallschirmjäger Division or the Brandenburger commandos. During the early years of the war, at a time when the Third Reich was experiencing an almost unbroken run of impressive victories, these units were joined by other elite troops like the Waffen-SS panzer divisions.

As the war progressed, these elite units began to receive an ever larger share of Germany's scarce resources. Hitler, who had come to distrust the Wehrmacht's officer corps, put more and more of his faith in the power of small elite units equipped with expensive, over-engineered wonder weapons. In some cases it was these wonder weapons that made the elite units what they were – the jet-fighter equipped pilots of JV44 or the crews of the massive Tiger and King Tiger tanks.

Illustrated with contemporary photographs, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the elite units from each arm of the German War Machine, covering their formation, combat history, and unique tactical doctrines.

To see a complete collection of the German War Machine series, visit http://germanwarmachine.com

Amazon UK Amazon.com Amazon CA

[avantman42]

Dreadnought: A History of the Modern Battleship

The modern battleship era began with the launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906.

In their day, battleships were the biggest and most complicated things built by human hand and they became symbols of national prestige.

Despite their crippling costs, these mighty ships were built by many of the world's navies and many remain household names.

The losses of the Hood, Bismarck, Yamato and Arizona still echo through the decades because of their fascinating stories.

The era of the dreadnought lasted little more than 40 years. By then, these majestic warriors of the sea were overshadowed by the dominance of air power.

A few lingered on, but the golden age of the battleship was over.

Richard Hough provides the reader with an informative and exciting tour through the Dreadnoughts history. From the political anxieties that the first Dreadnought inspired to the battles that the ships won and lost.

99p (normally £2.99) at Amazon UK

$1.53 at Amazon.com

[ludovicus]

As part of the Kindle Daily Deal, The Late Starters Orchestra, is $1.99 today.

In a cluttered room in an abandoned coat factory in lower Manhattan, a group of musicians comes together each week to make music. Some are old, some are young, all have come late to music or come back to it after a long absence. This is the Late Starters Orchestra--the bona fide amateur string orchestra where Ari Goldman pursues his lifelong dream of playing the cello.

Goldman hadn’t seriously picked up his cello in twenty-five years, but the Late Starters (its motto, If you think you can play, you can) seemed just the right orchestra for this music lover whose busy life had always gotten in the way of its pursuit.

In The Late Starters Orchestra, Goldman takes us along to LSO rehearsals and lets us sit in on his son’s Suzuki lessons, where we find out that children do indeed learn differently from adults. He explores history’s greatest cellists and also attempts to understand what motivates his fellow late starters, amateurs all, whose quest is for joy, not greatness. And when Goldman commits to playing at his upcoming birthday party we wonder with him whether he’ll be good enough to perform in public. To the rescue comes the ghost of Goldman’s first cello teacher, the wise and eccentric Mr. J, who continues to inspire and guide him--about music and more--through this well-tuned journey.

With enchanting illustrations by Eric Hanson, The Late Starters Orchestra is about teachers and students, fathers and sons, courage and creativity, individual perseverance and the power of community. And Ari Goldman has a message for anyone who has ever had a dream deferred: it’s never too late to find happiness on one’s own terms.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FZWN4LA

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by pendragginp

As far as viewing them goes, I'm not having a problem on my PW.

for these!

I could view them ok, but the one I tried "Spanish Food and Drink" had pictures which were not particularly clear on an older kindle. 6 pictures in a 3 inch space was a bit small. Note the other half was words.