 A new month brings a new theme to Aisle 49, stocked full of books you covet and desperately want. The beginning of the year is time for fresh starts, new ideas, and even a radical thought or two. Check out our favorite selections by noted inventors such as Nikola Tesla (Tesla: The Lost Inventions) and Buckminster Fuller (Your Private Sky). And for reworking the way we think, there's no one better than James Burke (Connections). For those of you who are working on a project in the basement, Nolo Press's 13th edition of Patent It Yourself is the ultimate DIY book. Intrigued? Check out what else we've picked out for you!
 "To err is human," Alexander Pope once said, but have you ever wondered why? Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Joseph Hallinan has. He describes his new book, Why We Make Mistakes, as "a field guide to human error" and also offers some helpful hints about making fewer of them. Adults tend to act and see in patterns, neglecting to notice the details. That's why your kids always know where your car keys are and you don't. In this Q&A, find out why Hallinan prefers the outdoors to chess, what famous scientist he'd like to be in his next life, and why the PedEgg is on his mind. Save 30% on Why We Make Mistakes for a limited time.
 It's not hard to imagine how Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost spent their youth. Their new book, Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System, is one of the first to explore the "systems" of the Atari game console, and explains the relationship between platforms and creative expression. They discuss and dissect popular Atari games such as Pitfall, Adventure, Pac Man and Star Wars. In their Q&A, find out why E. coli spinach makes Ian sympathize with Dilbert, why Nick believes laptops make people think differently, and why Ian hasn't yet mastered Latin. Plus, save 30% on Racing the Beam.
 James Boyle is a professor of law at Duke University and cofounder of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain there, as well. Boyle's newest book, The Public Domain, asserts the importance of a richer public domain in an increasingly private and litigious copyright law environment. In his Technica Q&A, find out why elementary school teachers failed to inspire him, how he has "vicarious geek cred," and learn why he hopes the Internet will be as beneficial to science as it has been for shoe shopping. For a limited time save 30% on The Public Domain.
 In The Pluto Files, New York Times-bestselling author Neil deGrasse Tyson chronicles America's irrational love affair with Pluto. In his typically witty way, Tyson explores the history of planet classification and America's obsession with the "planet" that's recently been judged as a dwarf. "[H]ighly entertaining," cheers Booklist. Read Tyson's Tech Q&A and save 30% on The Pluto Files.
 Huzzah! Santa was very good to you this year, and now you've got a new, shiny gadget that you haven't figured out yet. Between work, school, and spending time on Facebook, who has time to read those dull user manuals? Worry not! It's time for our annual "What Do I Do with This Thing?" promotion. New to the iPod Touch? Erica Sadun's Take Your iPod Touch to the Max teaches you all the new tricks. New to geocaching, or just want to go hiking with safety in mind? GPS Made Easy by Lawrence Letham will show you the way. Shop enthusiasts can't be without the classic text How to Run a Lathe by South Bend Machine Works. And for those of you who want to dig a well, but want to save on surveying costs, Dowsing: A Journey beyond Our Five Senses, by Hamish Miller, is just what you need.
Fast Guide to Cubase 6
by Simon Millward
Installation and setting up Audio and MIDI recording and editing Mixing, mastering and EQ VST instruments and plug-in effects Loop manipulation and beat design Music production tips and tools Media management The Fast Guide to Cubase 6 provides the...
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Your Price
$29.95
New - Trade Paper
Imagine: How Creativity Works
by Jonah Lehrer
New York Times best-selling author Jonah Lehrer shows us how we can all learn to be more creative.
Did you know that the most creative companies have centralized bathrooms? That brainstorming meetings are a terrible idea? That the color blue can help...
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List Price $26.00
Your Price
$18.20
Sale - Hardcover
Windows XP for Dummies 2ND Edition
by Andy Rathbone
Windows is the world’s most popular operating system, and Windows For Dummies is the bestselling computer book ever. When you look at Windows XP For Dummies, 2nd Edition, it’s easy to see why. Here’s all the stuff you want to know...
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Your Price
$5.50
Used - Trade Paper
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
by Sam Kean
Sam Kean proves that chemistry makes for great storytelling with this entertaining look at the human stories behind the elements found in the periodic table. A delightful history of science, The Disappearing Spoon makes for both an engaging and...
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Your Price
$10.50
Used - Trade Paper
Tube Circuits for Audio Amplifiers: Power Amplifiers and Pre-Amplifiers, for Monaural and Stereophonic Reproduction from Microphone, Radio, Tape, and Pick-up Signals
by Mullard
The complete guide to building eleven power and control amps for sound systems with vacuum tubes, featuring a four-chapter tutorial on sound quality which is solid guidance on achieving the best sound with tubes. First published in 1959 by Mullard, one...
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Your Price
$16.95
New - Trade Paper
The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes
by David Kriege and Richard Berry
This book tells how you can build a state-of-the-art Dobsonian telescope using readily available materials and supplies. Every step of construction is detailed in photographs and diagrams, and the underlying ideas are carefully explained. As a result of...
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Your Price
$32.00
New - Hardcover
Doolin's Trouble Shooters Bible: Air Conditioning, Refrigeration, Heat Pumps, Heating, 5th Edition
by Doolco Inc.
More than 200,000 servicemen own the Doolin's Trouble Shooters Bible. Hundreds of trade schools and community colleges use this book in their training programs. This book rides service trucks, is the shop manual of the trade and is used extensively by...
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Your Price
$70.00
New - Hardcover
Introduction to Stirling Engines
by James R. Senft
An Introduction to Stirling Engines covers the subject of hot air engines and their modern counterparts from the beginning. The book starts with the elementary ideas that underly all heat engines and builds up to clear explanations of how all Stirling...
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Your Price
$12.95
New - Trade Paper
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This Day in Tech History
Wednesday, May 16
Opening of Lowell
observatory
(Arizona) first in US
Jerrie Mock
becomes first woman
to fly solo
around the world 1964
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