Michael Rubin

a friendly introduction to home video

The little digital video book

The inside story of George Lucas, his intensely private company, and their work to revolutionize filmmaking. In the process, they made computer history. Discover the birth of Pixar, digital video editing, videogame avatars, high definition television, THX sound, and a host of other icons of the media age. Lucas and his friend Francis Coppola were not only central to the renaissance of independent film, but they both played pivotal roles in the universe of entertainment technologies we see everyday. Book jacket.

George Lucas and the Digital Revolution

Droidmaker

Andrew Kagan

Philip Samuels Fine Art

Absolutes, February-March, 1989

The world has seldom been as dangerous as it is now. Rogue regimes—governments and groups that eschew diplomatic normality, sponsor terrorism, and proliferate nuclear weapons—threaten the United States around the globe. Because sanctions and military action are so costly, the American strategy of first resort is dialogue, on the theory that “it never hurts to talk to enemies.” Seldom is conventional wisdom so wrong. Engagement with rogue regimes is not cost-free, as Michael Rubin demonstrates by tracing the history of American diplomacy with North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, the Taliban’s Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Further challenges to traditional diplomacy have come from terrorist groups, such as the PLO in the 1970s and 1980s, or Hamas and Hezbollah in the last two decades. The argument in favor of negotiation with terrorists is suffused with moral equivalence, the idea that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Rarely does the actual record of talking to terrorists come under serious examination. While soldiers spend weeks developing lessons learned after every exercise, diplomats generally do not reflect on why their strategy toward rogues has failed, or consider whether their basic assumptions have been faulty. Rubin’s analysis finds that rogue regimes all have one thing in common: they pretend to be aggrieved in order to put Western diplomats on the defensive. Whether in Pyongyang, Tehran, or Islamabad, rogue leaders understand that the West rewards bluster with incentives and that the U.S. State Department too often values process more than results.

The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes

Dancing with the Devil

"The spirit holds"

"A sex-happy female beatnik, a marriage-minded co-ed, and an unconventionally romantic young man form a delightful triangle in the witty, vital novel of today's youth."--Cover

A Trip Into Town

One lawyer's attempt to find the truth could get him killed.

Cashed Out

& Best-selling author and Hollywood veteran Michael Rubin teaches home and corporate videomakers video editing. & & Apple's new Final Cut Express offers a hefty portion of a professional video editor's toolkit for a fraction of the price of Final Cut Pro. & & Companion DVD includes all of the files and images readers need to turn raw footage into a polished dramatic scene.

Making Movies with Final Cut Express

Ron Diamond

Nonlinear, now in its 4th edition, is an easy-to-understand handbook about the popular world of digital nonlinear editing. It's written in nontechnical language for both professionals and students, as well as for interested bystanders. Profusely illustrated. The first edition was designed for professionals in Hollywood's film and video industry, to bridge the chasm between film editors (older, non-technological, mechanical), videotape editors (younger, highly technical, electronic), and computer users (prosumers, cost-conscious, digital) in casual language. Today, Nonlinear has not only penetrated the professional industry, but has been expanded for consumer use. Widely used in colleges, universities, and professional organizations. Although nonlinear editing technology began to explode in 1991, nonlinear systems had already been around for almost 5 years. Nonlinear became the Rosetta Stone of the industry: it was a universal translator -- between film and video, video and computer, computer and film. It still covers virtually everything anyone would want to know about the new world of electronic post production, without the geeky mumbo jumbo that characterizes most professional texts. While the book is useful for anyone investigating or wishing to purchase a digital editing system, it is not meant to be a buyer's guide. It is designed not to go out of date every time a new new product is introduced or software release comes out. It is about essentials. Fundamentals. Concepts. And language. With over 25,000 copies in print, Nonlinear is the best selling textbook on nonlinear editing in the world today.

A Field Guide to Digital Film and Video Editing

Nonlinear

Brian Katulis

For decades, US foreign policy in the Middle East has been on autopilot: Seek Arab-Israeli peace, fight terrorism, and urge regimes to respect human rights. Every US administration puts its own spin on these initiatives, but none has successfully resolved the region's fundamental problems. In Seven Pillars: What Really Causes Instability in the Middle East? a bipartisan group of leading experts representing several academic and policy disciplines unravel the core causes of instability in the Middle East and North Africa. Why have some countries been immune to the Arab Spring? Which governments enjoy the most legitimacy and why? With more than half the region under 30 years of age, why does education and innovation lag? How do resource economies, crony capitalism, and inequality drive conflict? Are ethnic and sectarian fault lines the key factor, or are these more products of political and economic instability? And what are the wellsprings of extremism that threaten not only the United States but, more profoundly, the people of the region? The answers to these questions should help policymakers and students of the region understand the Middle East on its own terms, rather than just through a partisan or diplomatic lens. Understanding the pillars of instability in the region can allow the United States and its allies to rethink their own priorities, adjust policy, recalibrate their programs, and finally begin to chip away at core challenges facing the Middle East. Contributors: Thanassis Cambanis Michael A. Fahy Florence Gaub Danielle Pletka Bilal Wahab A. Kadir Yildirim

Michael Rubin

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