Thursday, March 09, 2006

Buying Used (and New) Books Online:

1.) U.S.:



2.) International:
  • ABE Books: New and used. In German.
  • Amazon.co.uk: New and used. Books and music.
  • Amazon.de: New and used. Books and music. In German.
  • Amazon.fr: New and used. Books and music. In French.
  • Antbo: Antiquarian Books Online. Antiquarian books, autographs, graphics, musical scores and records.
  • AntiqBook: Heavy on European antiquarians.
  • BookLooker: In German. New and used. Shipping info included. Also has music and movies.
  • ChooseBooks: Formerly ZVAB.
  • Comenius Antiquariat: Meta Engine. Links to SFB.at.
  • Eurobuch (SFB.at): Meta engine.
  • Libri.de: New books, audioboooks, MP3-books, DVD/videos. In German.
  • Zeusman: Central European engine. In German.


3.) Engine Lists:



Snippets:
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Mathematics: John Forbes Nash Jr (b. 1928): American mathematician. Game theory and differential geometry. Nobel Prize in Economics 1994. Schizophrenia. Movie: A Beautiful Mind (2001); directed by Ron Howard; starring Russel Crowe. Criticized for its inaccurate portrayal of Nash's life and schizophrenia.
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DVD: The Alamo (2004). 137 min. w/ Dennis Quaid (Sam Houston), Billy Bob Thornton (Davy Crockett), Jason Patric (James Bowie), Patrick Wilson (William Travis), Emilio Echevarría (Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana). Directed by John Lee Hancock. Reenacting the 13-day Mexican siege of the Alamo in 1836 during the Texan Revolution, culminating in Sam Houston's successful battle at San Jacinto (yelling "Remember the Alamo."), and the independence of Texas. Extensive movie set. Good cinematography. Claims to be historically accurate. Turgid at times. Bowie is the designer of the Bowie Knife. Overall rating 4 out of 10.
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DVD: Howard Hughes: The Real Aviator (2002). Shout Factory. Biography of the Hollywood producer, pilot, business man, and playboy. Passion for aviation. Phobias and madness in later life. Contains interviews with close friends. Pictures of the 'Constellation' (beginning of commercial aviation) and the 'Flying Boat' (world's largest plane: H-4 Hercules, Spruce Goose). After Hughe's death the Howard Hughes Medical Institute was founded and inherited his entire fortune for medical resarch purposes.
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Video: The Canterbury Tales I (The Nun's Priest's Tale, The Knight's Tale, The Wife of Bath's Tale) and II (The Merchant's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, The Franklin's Tale) (2000). 2 x 30min. Animated short films depicting stories from the collection by Geoffrey Chaucer. Mixture of model animation and tradtional sketch work. Voices of actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company. Nominated for Academy Award (Best Short Film, Animated) in 1999. Won Emmy in 1999. Bizarre characters. Modern. Overall rating 5 out of 10.
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Video: Search for the Great Apes (1975). 60 min. National Geographic Video. Features the field work of two women scientists expanding the knowledge on apes. 1.) Birute Galdikas-Brindamour in Borneo with orangutans. 2.) Diane Fossey in central Africa with mountain gorilllas. Documents the conditions in the rain forest and thei scientists work. Well done.
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Theater: All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The Duke on 42nd St, 229 W 42nd St, NYC. Feb 26, 2006, 7:00 PM. w/ Kate Forbes (Helena), Lucas Hall (Bertram), Laurie Kennedy (Countess of Rosillion), George Morfogen (The King of France). Woman loves man of higher rank, and marries him against his will through a good deed. He escapes, vowes that he will never be hers, but she tricks him into accepting her as a wife. Unusual story for a Shakespeare play. There is a some good and bad in every character. Good acting.
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DVD: The Quiet American (2002). 101 min. w/ Michael Caine (Thomas Fowler), Brendan Fraser (Alden Pyle), Do Thi Hai Yen (Phuong). Directed by Phillip Noyce. After the book by Graham Greene. Vietnam under French rule in 1952. British journalist (Caine) meets an American medical aid worker (Fraser), who steals his beautiful girlfriend and turns out to be an agent for the CIA. Interesting anti-American view on American activities in Vietnam before the Vietnam war. Good acting. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Music: Lene Marlin: Singer-songwriter from Norway. First album: Playing My Game (1999). Sounds somewhat like Dido.
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Life: Belvedere Castle: Central Park, NYC: 'Recording, Remebering'.
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DVD: The Eel (jap.:Unagi, 1997). 117 min. Directed by Shohei Imamura. w/ Kôji Yakusho (Takuro Yamashita; appearance in Tampopo), Misa Shimizu (Keiko Hattori). White-color worker kills his wife in rage after finding her with another man. After 8 years in prison, he tries to start a new, quiet life in a small town, but falls in love with a younger woman that reminds him of his wife. Story well told, with a certain degree of unpredictability. Good acting. Fight sequence is rather funny. Overall rating 7 out of 10.
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Technology: Alexander Bain (1811-1877): Clockmaker, inventor. Invented an electric clock, the electric printing telegraph and the first fax machine. Was unsuccessful in capitalizing on his capabilities. "[...} creating ideas and making money are two separate human enterprises. Bain managed only the idea part." (Engines of our Ingenuity No. 2069)
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Philospohy: Alexander Bain (1818-1903). Scottish philosopher and educationalist. Different from the inventor (see above). Wrote 'Moral science: a compendium of ethics'.
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