When our smartphones distract us, much more is at stake than a momentary lapse of attention. Our use of smartphones can interfere with the building-blocks of meaningfulness and the actions that shape our self-identity. By analyzing social interactions and evolving experiences, Roholt reveals the mechanisms of smartphone-distraction that impact our meaningful projects and activities. Roholt's conception of meaning in life draws from a disparate group of philosophers - Susan Wolf, John Dewey, Hubert Dreyfus, Martin Heidegger, and Albert Borgmann. Central to Roholt's argument are what Borgmann calls focal practices: dinners with friends, running, a college seminar, attending sporting events. As a recurring example, Roholt develops the classification of musical instruments as focal things, contending that musical performance can be fruitfully understood as a focal practice. Through this exploration of what generates meaning in life, Roholt makes us rethink the place we allow smartphones to occupy in the everyday. But he remains cautiously optimistic. This thoughtful, needed interrogation of smartphones shows how we can establish a positive role for technologies within our lives.

This is an account of the author's investigation, on behalf of the Canadian government, into the life and ideas of the eccentric genius Nikola Tesla. This is a completely revised and redesigned edition, with a new introduction by the former head of the Tesla Museum, a new chapter and a selection of photographs of Tesla and his work in search of the holy grail of electricity - the transmission of power without loss. As a student in Prague in the 1870s, Tesla "saw" the electric induction motor and patented his discovery, -the first of many inventions whose plans seem to have come to him fully fledged. He worked for the Edison company in Paris before emigrating to the US and battling with Thomas Edison himself to ensure that alternating, rather than direct current, became the standard. He sold his patent in the induction motor for $1 million dollars to George Westinghouse, who used this system for the Niagara Falls Power Project. Moving to Colorado Springs, Tesla worked on resonance, building enormous oscillating towers in experiments which still intrigue today. In later life Tesla became a recluse, bombarding newspapers with eccentric claims, including energy transmissions to other planets. Though he died alone and virtually forgotten, rumours gradually grew that Tesla had made further remarkable discoveries. In an attempt to replicate his experiments, people still build Tesla towers and puzzle over the possible link with low-frequency broadcasts which can supposedly disrupt the weather and affect the human mind.

Discover the most recent advances in electromagnetic vortices In Electromagnetic Vortices: Wave Phenomena and Engineering Applications, a team of distinguished researchers delivers a cutting-edge treatment of electromagnetic vortex waves, including their theoretical foundation, related wave properties, and several potentially transformative applications. The book is divided into three parts. The editors first include resources that describe the generation, sorting, and manipulation of vortex waves, as well as descriptions of interesting wave behavior in the infrared and optical regimes with custom-designed nanostructures. They then discuss the generation, multiplexing, and propagation of vortex waves at the microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies. Finally, the selected contributions discuss several representative practical applications of vortex waves from a system perspective. With coverage that incorporates demonstration examples from a wide range of related sub-areas, this essential edited volume also offers: Thorough introductions to the generation of optical vortex beams and transformation optical vortex wave synthesizers Comprehensive explorations of millimeter-wave metasurfaces for high-capacity and broadband generation of vector vortex beams, as well as orbital angular momentum (OAM) detection and its observation in second harmonic generations Practical discussions of microwave SPP circuits and coding metasurfaces for vortex beam generation and OAM-based structured radio beams and their applications In-depth examinations and explorations of OAM multiplexing for wireless communications, wireless power transmission, as well as quantum communications and simulations Perfect for students of wireless communications, antenna/RF design, optical communications, and nanophotonics, Electromagnetic Vortices: Wave Phenomena and Engineering Applications is also an indispensable resource for researchers in academia, at large defense contractors, and in government labs.

Our food system is broken, and it's endangering what's most precious to us: our environment, our health, our soil and water, and our future. In recent years, a host of books and films have compellingly documented the dangers. But advice on what to do about them largely begins and ends with the admonition to eat local" or eat organic." Longtime good food pioneer Oran Hesterman knows that we can't fix the broken system simply by changing what's on our own plates: the answer lies beyond the kitchen. In Fair Food he shares an inspiring and practical vision for changing not only what we eat, but how food is grown, packaged, delivered, marketed, and sold. He introduces people and organizations across the country who are already doing this work in a number of creative ways, and provides a wealth of practical information for readers who want to get more involved.