 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.
Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the World of Cartoon, Anime, and CGI
by Jerry Beck
This large format, comprehensive, high quality and visually rich art book covers the history of animation throughout the world, focusing heavily on the North American creative engines of Disney, Warner and now the new, small production CGI houses.The...
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Your Price
$19.98
Sale - Trade Paper
The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do
by Clotaire Rapaille
Why are people around the world so very different? What makes us live, buy, even love as we do? The answers are in the codes. In The Culture Code, internationally revered cultural anthropologist and marketing expert Clotaire Rapaille reveals for the...
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Your Price
$14.95
New - Trade Paper
Master Visually iPod and iTunes
by Bonnie Blake and Doug Sahlin
Are you a visual learner? Make the most of your iPod and the iTunes music service with "Master Visually iPod and iTunes," Organized into twenty-one chapters, with two-color screen shots and numbered, step-by-step instructions, you'll learn the basics and...
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Your Price
$2.95
Sale - Trade Paper
The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe
by Theodore Gray
Beautiful and informative, surprising and smart, The Elements will appeal to your inner geek (even if you didn't know you had one). With unique stories, bizarre facts, and dazzling photographs of the 118 elements in the periodic table, this book will...
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Your Price
$29.95
New - Hardcover
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 Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living
by Fritjof Capra
The author of the bestselling The Tao of Physics and The Web of Life explores the profound social implications of emerging scientific principles and provides an innovative framework for using them to understand and solve some of the most important issues...
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Your Price
$7.95
Used - Trade Paper
Tom Henry's Key Word Index: Based on the 2008 NEC
by Tom Henry
Every word in the Code book put into an index with page numbers. Now you can find it in the Code in seconds! This book is a great study aid for electrical exams and is specially designed to increase your speed by getting you familiar with those hard to...
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Your Price
$18.00
New - Pamphlet
Connections: From Ptolemy's Astrolabe to the Discovery of Electricity: How Inventions Are Linked, and How They Cause Change throughout History
by James Burke
How did the popularity of underwear in the twelfth century lead to the invention of the printing press? How did the waterwheel evolve into the computer? How did the arrival of the cannon lead eventually to the development of movies? In this highly...
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Your Price
$13.00
Used - Trade Paper
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This Day in Tech History
Tuesday, February 9
Fire extinguisher
patented by Alanson Crane 1863
First locomotive passes through the Hoosac
Tunnel in Massachusetts, the longest tunnel in the western hemisphere
1875
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