This collection of essays explores the link between comedy and animation in studio-era cartoons, from filmdom’s earliest days through the twentieth century. Written by a who’s who of animation authorities, Funny Pictures offers a stimulating range of views on why animation became associated with comedy so early and so indelibly, and illustrates how animation and humor came together at a pivotal stage in the development of the motion picture industry. To examine some of the central assumptions about comedy and cartoons and to explore the key factors that promoted their fusion, the book analyzes many of the key filmic texts from the studio years that exemplify animated comedy. Funny Pictures also looks ahead to show how this vital American entertainment tradition still thrives today in works ranging from The Simpsons to the output of Pixar.

The conference from which this book derives took place in Tsukuba, Japan in March 2004. The fifth in a continuing series of conferences, this one was organized to examine dynamic processes in "lower order" cognition from perception to attention to memory, considering both the behavioral and the neural levels. We were fortunate to attract a terrific group of con tributors representing five countries, which resulted in an exciting confer ence and, as the reader will quickly discover, an excellent set of chapters. In Chapter 1, we will provide a sketchy "road map" to these chapters, elu cidating some of the themes that emerged at the conference. The conference itself was wonderful. We very much enjoyed the vari ety of viewpoints and issues that we all had the opportunity to grapple with. There were lively and spirited exchanges, and many chances to talk to each other about exciting new research, precisely what a good confer ence should promote. We hope that the readers of this book will have the same experience—moving from careful experimental designs in the cogni tive laboratory to neural mechanisms measured by new technologies, from the laboratory to the emergency room, from perceptual learning to changes in memory over decades, all the while squarely focusing on how best to explain cognition, not simply to measure it. Ultimately, the goal of science is, of course, explanation. We also hope that the reader will come away absolutely convinced that cognition is a thoroughly dynamic, interactive system.

First published in 1939, the original blurb reads: We have learned much lately concerning theories of laughter, yet laughter is only what we do about comedy. What is comedy itself? In this work the history of comic instances is combed in the search for the truth about comedy. Today, when laughter is stifled in so many countries, an exposition of comedy shows it to have a universal and necessary character. Comedy, as its natures reveals, is one criterion of the state of human culture; it is highly contemporary and requires freedom – but freedom for adventure, not for routine. After a chapter devoted to the explanation of a logical theory of comedy, the modern comedians are examined, and the humour of every one, from the Marx Brothers to surrealism, from Gertrude Stein to Mickey Mouse, from James Joyce to Charlie Chaplin, is shown to be a constant, inherent in the same set of unchanging conditions.

Journalism of Ideas is a comprehensive field guide for brainstorming, discovering, reporting, digitizing, and pitching news, opinion, and feature stories within journalism 2.0. With on-the-job advice from professional journalists, activities to sharpen your multimedia reporting skills, and dozens of story ideas ripe for adaptation, Dan Reimold helps you develop the journalistic know-how that will set you apart at your campus media outlet and beyond. The exercises, observations, anecdotes, and tips in this book cover every stage of the story planning and development process, including how news judgment, multimedia engagement, records and archival searches, and various observational techniques can take your reporting to the next level. Separate advice focuses on the storytelling methods involved in data journalism, photojournalism, crime reporting, investigative journalism, and commentary writing. In addition to these tricks of the trade, Journalism of Ideas features an extensive set of newsworthy, timely, and unorthodox story ideas to jumpstart your creativity. The conversation continues on the author’s blog, College Media Matters. Reimold also shows students how to successfully launch a career in journalism: the ins and outs of pitching stories, getting your work published, and navigating the post-graduation job search. Related sections of the book highlight the art of freelancing 2.0, starting an independent site, blogging, constructing quality online portfolios, securing internships, and building a social media following.

Mobile Persuasion Design presents ten conceptual design projects (or ‘Machines’) for new mobile application's (smartphone or tablet with Web portals) that combine theories of persuasion and information design to change people’s behaviour. Areas such as the environment, health, learning and happiness are explored, looking at ways of marrying people’s wants and needs to make simple, usable and desirable mobile applications. A user-centred design approach has been used, adopting user experience (UX) methods, in-depth case studies and market analysis to see what a modern user needs from their mobile application. By applying concepts like persuasion theory and information architecture, try to find ways to satisfy these needs and positively change their user habits. In 2011, the Green, Health, and Money Machines won design awards in an international competition hosted by the International Institute for Information Design, Vienna.

Vols. for 1871-76, 1913-14 include an extra number, The Christmas bookseller, separately paged and not included in the consecutive numbering of the regular series.

The Psychology of Humor: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Issues examines theoretical perspectives and empirical issues concerning the psychology of humor. Theoretical views of humor range from the physiological to the sociological and anthropological. The relations between humor, laughter, and smiling are considered, along with the connection between collative variables and arousal. Comprised of 13 chapters, this book begins with an introduction to the history of thought and major theoretical issues on humor, followed by a description of models of different aspects of humor. The next section deals with empirical issues in which selected research areas are given detailed attention. The relations between humor, laughter, and smiling, on the one hand, and collative variables and arousal, on the other, are analyzed. Subsequent chapters explore the cognitive origins of incongruity humor by comparing fantasy assimilation and reality assimilation; a two-stage model for the appreciation of jokes and cartoons; and the social functions and physiological correlates of humor. The relationship between arousal potential and funniness of jokes is also explored, together with humor judgments as a function of reference groups and identification classes. The final chapter presents an annotated bibliography of published papers on humor in the research literature and an analysis of trends between 1900 and 1971. This monograph will be of interest to psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and behavioral scientists.