If you read this book, it should be somewhere after the first but not much beyond the second or third work you tackle on acoustic phonetics. If you read it too early, you probably won't get what is meant by 'systems' in this context, or their relevance to acoustic phonetics and speech processing; if you read it too late, you will have already learned most of the material elsewhere.

Topics covered in this volume include: properties of sinusoid waves; LTI (linear time-invariant) systems; amplitude responses; frequency, period, and phase (this book offers greater coverage of phase than most books of its kind); the dB scale; systems that filter sound signals, like the ear and the vocal tract; spectra and spectrograms; and digitization of signals: quantization, sampling, aliasing, and reconversion to analogue.

This book is not an introduction to acoustic phonetics, and it does not go into great detail on any one topic; it attempts, rather, to provide reader-friendly technical background on many of the central concepts and tools of acoustic phonetics to non-engineering types, and to help the reader feel more comfortable with them. There are exercises at the end of each chapter which I generally found more difficult than mastering the chapter content, but they are useful in determining how well you grasped the material.

I wouldn't call this book an absolute must-read, but it's a leisurely way to review key concepts of acoustic phonetics and pick up a few new ones on the way.

Witten by the award-winning Peter David (with Richard Howell), The Soulsearchers are a screwball team of
psychic investigators. This is the second collection of the (unfortunately) little-known comic book series. This continues the fun of the first book, with humor and adventure mixed in liberal doses.

This book is a must-have for those who are fascinated by the English language and dialects. Apart from sharing with the reader an overview of the interesting shift of Howells' writing style (and introducing a respectable body of works), Stratman has cleverly delved into the intriguing use of the dialects Howells utilized for his many characters. We are even privy to somewhat of a philosophy as to the nature of "real language" that comes from "...the Sounds from the mouths of men...". I couldn't agree more. What's more, the book was written with warmth and humor and was not at all dry and [so] unlike most literary studies I have found. Kudos to Stratman for addressing a fascinating branch of our language...effective expression in simple and real dialects used by real human beings without fancy hyperbole. Stratman has painted a picture of the germination (perhaps) of the southern writers and their simplistic and reality-based style. The research and references the author used for this book are impressive and painlessly interspersed throughout the text. It read more like a novel than an annotated study with tedious, bothersome references getting in the way. I highly recommend this book to any fellow "language freaks" out there, and hope this author puts more pen to paper and shares more of his flowing writing style with us!

This volume is very welcome to those who are interested in the 19th century American stage and especially those who are interested in the almost-forgotten actor Lawrence Barrett. Barrett was one of the first American actor-managers who oversaw all details of his productions and this book illustrates his creative control over the plays he performed. Two of Howells' plays were performed by Barrett to great acclaim and Barrett made sure that everything went according to plan. You could call his letters, dashed off in a spare moment, as harping and irritating, but he was a perfectionist which undoubtedly made Howells' plays all the stronger upon the stage. Barrett was never one to refrain from criticism! The letters are arranged chronologically so that the course of their relationship unfolds naturally. A final letter, separated by the last one by several years, is a touching note of sympathy for Barrett's widow. Despite their artistic differences, these two men truly respected each other. A wonderful book.

Dory's book is a must read for everyone. It is inspiring, because she never gives up, even though the challenges she faces are, at times, enormous. It is also somewhat frightening to discover the uncooperative nature of our public schools. As the mother of a child with similar special needs, I recognize some of the struggles Dory faced. I will not give up!! She is my hero:)

Before Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, Carl Carmer took a train from New York to Alabama to become a college professor, writing of a strange country he visited and returned from, as different as another planet for his known world. He roamed and wrote of the cornwhisky- swilling backwatersof Alabama and the rough-hewn urban centers like Birmingham during the 20s and early 30s -- the time of the Scottsboro boys, the Klux Klan in its first great revival, deep oral and cultural traditions among Alabama African Americans including the title, inspiration for the 30s pop song about a meteor shower more than a century before.. The Civil War veteran turned murderer of U.S. marshals and religious zealot -- lynched to avoid a trial and certain execution -- before Jim Jones and Waco.The great outlaws and train robbers, Rube Burrow and Railroad Bill, one white, the other black and so feared his body was displayed in several cities to prove he was dead. A period piece -- the N word is used-- it also paints a picture of a complex and diverse black community, its cultural and folk roots, its white relationships. Many Alabama natives, including this expatriate, would not know these tales but for Carmer who returned to New York to write about that state and area for decades more But his Alabama is Sleepy Hollow with a bite like "Two-toed Tom" the 15 foot gator trapped in a pond by stalkers only to find him surfacing in a nearby pond, devouring a 12 year old child, decades before scientists learned of the ancient underwater tunnels of the reptiles. Tom moved on to become a legend in Florida where he's still talked about just as Carmer's retelling of the great tales lives on in Alabama, too often without his name attached. Sometimes a bizarre mixture of charm and horror, and perhaps a bit of hyperbole, Stars Fell on Alabama is one of those Academic reprints that reminds us the past is never so simple as we might dream and that the man with manners is to be as feared as the trainrobber with a gun

The characters in the book were funny and the stuff they did was exciting. I'm a 9 year old boy who doesn't love to read, but this book really kept my interest.

If you like a light, heart-warming read then this definitely a book for you. This is two separate stories revolving around one theme.

The stories are based on two cousins, Deidre and Maura Kenney, and their promise to Deidre's dying father to complete a job he had which involved delivering some important documents to the Callahan brothers in Paradise,Montanna. These documents will save the Callahans' ranch. However, the women know it is dangerous and decide to take different routes to their destination in order to deflect attention from one another.

Here in lies the story of each woman's journey of how they meet danger, passion and abiding love, along with a Callahan brother to share it with.

The stories are tender, heart-warming and very humorous, especially Maura's story. The heroines are spunky and smart. The heroes are to die for. Take time out and read these stories I don't believe you will regret it. This is definitely a keeper for me.

Leanne Summers gets involved in a bank robbery when she tries to help after being thrown out of her house by her supposed mother. Hunter, one of the bank robbers takes her with him as she can identify the outlaws. His need to protect her from the other outlaws is strong as is the attraction between the two. I really liked Leanne as she was no pushover and spoke her mind while Hunter found it amusing. While this book has 426 pages, pretty thick, it is not boring so it could be read quickly as it is difficult to put down. I have yet to be disappointed by any books written by Hannah Howell...

Systemantics is a humerous look at the world of systems and how they don't work. It is a book of tongue in cheek rules that are not only funny but true. John Gall used humour to point out the fatal flaws in our approach to systems of every sort.