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Collecting bugs, drawing cartoons, writing plays, studying robotics - these are just some of the hobbies that inspired the creation of video games such as Pokémon and The Legend of Zelda. Who are these men and women who helped launch the gaming industry from private computer labs to widely available popular entertainment? Listen to this audiobook to find out who and what inspired your favorite video games!

La Princesa Perdida es el primer cuento relatado por el Rabí Najmán de Breslov y forma parte del volumen titulado Sipurey Maasiot (Los Cuentos del Rabí Najmán). Cautivantes, enigmáticos y asombrosos, los Cuentosdel Rabí Najmán de Breslov ocultan mucho más detrás de una brillante superficie. Su propósito es despertar a los seres humanos de su sueño, mediante el uso de la más poderosa de las armas: los ocultos secretos de la Torá.

A squared plus b squared equals c squared. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yet this familiar expression opens a gateway into the riotous garden of mathematics, and sends us on a journey of exploration in the company of two inspired guides, Robert and Ellen Kaplan. With wit, verve, and clarity, they trace the life of the Pythagorean theorem, from ancient Babylon to the present, visiting along the way Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, President James Garfield, and the Freemasons - not to mention the elusive Pythagoras himself.

Rooted in humorous stories distilled with bits of sagely honest advice, The Journey goes beyond the well-chronicled college admissions madness and cuts to the core of parental angst with concrete suggestions for preparing children for a competitive and rapidly changing world.

1959 saw Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the other members of Miles's sextet come together to record the seminal jazz album of all time Kind of Blue. 3 Shades of Blue is a magnificent blended biography on the meandering paths which led Miles, Coltrane and Evans to the mountaintop of 1959 and the aftermath. It's a book about music, business, race, addiction and the cities that gave jazz its home; from New York and LA to Philadelphia, Chicago and Kansas City. Kaplan meditates on creativity and the great forebears of this golden age who would take the music down strange new paths.

Mitchell Kaplan has been a bookseller and has owned the independent bookstores Books & Books for over 35 years. He is also co-founder of the acclaimed Miami Book Fair. If you love books, writers or are a passionate reader, this podcast is for you. Enter The Literary Life where every Friday you’ll hear candid conversations with Mitchell and his guests.

Has anyone ever told you gamers out there that your time would be better spent studying? Well, don't let go of that joystick just yet! Turns out, advancing to that next level of Super Mario Brothers has a similar effect on your brain as getting an A on your spelling test. Video games have been successful at training elite groups in the US military and future doctors. Discover how they can help boost your brain power too!

Becoming Jewish chronicles the author's lifelong search for spiritual meaning and a true religious home. Raised in a decidedly Christian yet theologically conflicted family, she never felt she fit into the churches of her childhood. Dissatisfied with pat answers and disillusioned by denominational hypocrisies, she embarked on an exploration of diverse religions.

This whimsical tale centers on the life and troubles of charismatic, thirteen-year old, Berlin Stacey. Berlin’s dilemma begins shortly after moving across the country with her overbearing, hypochondriac mother, Agnes; and her pesky, younger brother, Baxter. Despite a new school and a fresh start, Berlin is swift to learn a universal truth – four-eyed plus frizzy equals anything but fabulous. Deemed a leper on her first day of middle school, Berlin’s journey towards self-acceptance is a laborious one. In one week’s time, Berlin faints in class, becomes the obsession of a bothersome ...

Just how dedicated can gamers be? Video games inspire people to write fan fiction, draw characters, and even dress up in costume to act out video game scenes. Listen to this audiobook and dive into gaming culture. Whether you like to read comics, write stories, perform in plays, make music, create movies, or dress up in wacky outfits, video gaming culture has got something for everyone!

You might think that working in the video game industry is all fun and, well, games. Jobs like combat designer and animator sound pretty exciting. But do you know what it really takes to do one of these jobs? Do you have the skills? The knowledge? Are you ready to work hard? Game designers create the images, sounds, and action that gamers enjoy. Find out if you can handle a job in this fast-paced industry.

Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble. Will Tatiana flee or stay and fight for the new life she has built? Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends…and herself.

The story of Angela Hanson, a girl from the grim NYC public housing projects, a beautiful, complex woman whose sweetly innocent ruthlessness powers her rise into the billionaire class by her early thirties. She rocketed to the top of advertising with the help of legendary adman Jack Price, her mentor-turned-lover and the married man who dumped her. Returning as the executive charged with firing Jack and hundreds of others, she destroys his career in order to make him a pawn in her high-stakes game with a flighty heiress and her billionaire septuagenarian father.

Cosmology is the story we tell ourselves about why we are here in this Universe. Right now we humans find ourselves in a cosmological transformation that is as profound as the radical shift in collective consciousness after we realized that the Sun doesn’t orbit around the Earth. We live in a time that collapses time into timelessness; we live in a space that doesn’t acknowledge boundary. The story is changing right now, because our knowledge of who we are is changing. We must re-understand humanity, its reason for existence, and its potential for co-participating with evolution.

Ethics of the Fathers is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims from Rabbinic Jewish tradition.

Toronto Method Mindfulness Handbook is a thorough guide to the fundamental theory and practice of contemporary mindfulness meditation. It is a standalone resource for both beginning and intermediate practitioners. Through six lessons, Ari Kaplan explains the importance of balancing present moment awareness with loving-kindness, curiosity with non-identification, and intentional practice with the spontaneous experience of pure beingness. His teachings are rooted in well-recognized research methods, such as the Toronto Mindfulness Scale and emotion-focused mindfulness.

Two agents. Two opposing sides. Israeli Agent Shai is dispatched to eliminate a terrorist threat. To succeed in his mission, Shai must win the trust of Palestinian Agent Ramzy, who will help him gain access to the infamous and dangerous Abu Nidal. Shai is under orders to kill Ramzy when the mission ends. Instead, they forge a friendship that transcends the hatreds of their heritage. Loyalties are tested. Will they capture Abu Nidal or betray each other? In a conflict where both sides dehumanize each other, two extremely human men are caught in the crosshairs of the larger war.

Gamers, beware - your video games can think for themselves! Ever wondered what's inside the plastic of your video game console but don't want to crack it open to find out? Crack open this audiobook instead! You'll learn what computer code looks like, how a game console's "brain" makes decisions, and how its memory allows you to return to play each day without starting from scratch.

The photograph in the CIA vault shows four men relaxing in the jungle, green berets draped over their rifles, enjoying a break from combat. On the day after the picture was taken, their friendship was torn apart forever. Now, 10 years after the United States pulled out of Vietnam, the CIA has sent one of the men, Parker, to Thailand to track a troop's movement across the Cambodian border, which is about to explode, luring the Americans back into another disastrous ground war.

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