Utilize the powerful ingredients of Raspberry Pi to bring to life your amazing robots that can act, draw, and have fun with laser tagsAbout This BookLearn to implement a number of features offered by Raspberry Pi to build your own amazing robotsUnderstand how to add vision and voice to your robots.This fast-paced practical guide comprises a number of creative projects to take your Raspberry Pi knowledge to the next level Who This Book Is For This all-encompassing guide was created for anyone who is interested in expanding their knowledge in applying the peripherals of Raspberry Pi. If you have a fancy for building complex-looking robots with simple, inexpensive, and readily available hardware, then this book is ideal for you. Prior understanding of Raspberry Pi with simple mechanical systems is recommended.What You Will LearnAdd sensors to your robot so that it can sense the world around itKnow everything there is to know about accessing motors and servos to provide movement to the robotic platformExplore the feature of adding vision to your robot so it can “see” the world around itRefine your robot with the skill of speech recognition so that it can receive commandsPolish your robot by adding speech output so it can communicate with the world around itMaximize the use of servos in Raspberry Pi to create a drawing robotStrengthen your robot by adding wireless communication skills so you can see what the robot is seeing and control it from a distanceBuild an unbelievable autonomous hexcopter controlled by Raspberry Pi In Detail The Raspberry Pi is a series of credit card-sized single-board computers developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation with the intention of promoting the teaching of basic computer science in schools. The Raspberry Pi is known as a tiny computer built on a single circuit board. It runs a Linux operating system, and has connection ports for various peripherals so that it can be hooked up to sensors, motors, cameras, and more. Raspberry Pi has been hugely popular among hardware hobbyists for various projects, including robotics. This book gives you an insight into implementing several creative projects using the peripherals provided by Raspberry Pi. To start, we’ll walk through the basic robotics concepts that the world of Raspberry Pi offers us, implementing wireless communication to control your robot from a distance. Next, we demonstrate how to build a sensible and a visionary robot, maximizing the use of sensors and step controllers. After that, we focus on building a wheeled robot that can draw and play hockey. To finish with a bang, we’ll build an autonomous hexcopter, that is, a flying robot controlled by Raspberry Pi. By the end of this book, you will be a maestro in applying an array of different technologies to create almost any imaginable robot.Style and approach This book is an easy-to-follow, project-based guide that throws you directly into the action of creating almost any imaginable robot through blueprints. It is full of step by step instructions and screenshots to help you build amazing robots in no time at all.

Build real-world hybrid mobile applications using the robust PhoneGap development platformAbout This BookGet to grips with the usage of PhoneGap and its command-line interfaceLearn to use numerous plugins to access several hardware capabilitiesStep-by-step instructions on creating captivating mobile applications using popular frameworks Who This Book Is For If you are a developer who wants to get started with mobile application development using PhoneGap, then this book is for you. Previous experience with data mining libraries will help, but is not mandatory. A basic understanding of web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is a must.What You Will LearnSet up a development environment to develop PhoneGap applicationsGenerate, build, and run applications using the PhoneGap command-line interfaceInstall plugins from the command line to add native capabilities to your applicationCall the JavaScript API of plugins and hook into native eventsManipulate DOM using zepto and xuijsDevelop a user interface using jQuery Mobile and the Ionic frameworkGet accustomed to using the PhoneGap Build service In Detail Developing mobile applications often feels intimidating. Especially when building cross-platform application. We have to learn a specific programming language to build an application for each platform. PhoneGap makes cross-platform mobile application development faster and easier by using web technologies such as HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. This book gives you practical lessons on how to build a world class mobile application using PhoneGap. Whether you are a brand new to mobile application development, a web developer expert, or a seasoned mobile application developer, this book will guide you through creating hybrid mobile applications. Starting with setting up a development environment, the book moves on to utilizing a new PhoneGap command-line tool, installing plugins, and designing your application. It then moves on to concepts such as file system, storage, and local database, the book effectively lays a solid base for advanced topics. By working through the steps in each chapter, you will quickly master the features of PhoneGap. By the end of the book, you will be able to successfully build a highly functional, real-world hybrid mobile application using PhoneGap.Style and approach And easy-to-follow guide full of practical examples of real-world mobile application. Each topic is explained step by step with detailed explanations on each concept.

Get started with Amazon S3 for virtually unlimited cloud and Internet storageAbout This BookFamiliarize yourself with the concepts of Amazon S3Understand basic operations of bucket, folders, and objects using Amazon S3 SDK JavaLeverage the power of Amazon S3 to effectively store and retrieve data Who This Book Is For This book is intended for System Engineers/ Developers, Software Architects, Project managers, and users who want to explore Amazon S3 SDK Java. If you want to learn about Amazon S3 quickly, then this book is for you. Basic knowledge of Java programming is expected.What You Will LearnStart with the basic concepts of Amazon S3 to get you goingUse Copy Object and Multipart Copy Object for objects of different sizesUnderstand how to use the amazon management console for Amazon S3Learn how to use the AWS SDK of Java and consume the Amazon S3Get to grips with managing the bucket life cycleConfigure CORS to share resources to a different domainDiscover how to develop and deploy the static website on Amazon S3 using different services of Amazon In Detail Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), provides developers and IT teams with secure, durable, and highly-scalable object storage. Amazon S3 is easy to use, with a simple web services interface to store and retrieve any amount of data from anywhere on the web. S3 is automatically web scalable and responds to the requirements of your application and traffic, and therefore offers a key element to help companies deal dynamically with any spike in traffic for their application (such as a free e-book offer). This book starts with the basics of the Amazon S3 and its features, and you will quickly get an understanding how to use the Amazon Management Console for Amazon S3 which is the simplest way to manage Amazon S3. Next, we will cover basic operations on bucket, folder, objects. Once the basic operations are understood, you will know how to use Amazon S3 using Java SDK. Following that, you will learn about Copy Objects and Multipart copy objects for large objects size. You will also learn to manage the life cycle of bucket and how to share resources to the different domain by configuring CORS. The book will then guide you through the development and deployment of a static website on Amazon S3 using different services of Amazon. By the end of the book, you will be able to create a scalable application using Amazon S3.Style and approach This fast-paced book is a pragmatic guide to writing Amazon S3 applications. Each chapter is blended beautifully with lucid concepts and pertinent examples.

Quickly get up to speed with MariaDB—the leading, drop-in replacement for MySQL, through this practical tutorialAbout This BookGet to know the basic SQL queries so you can quickly start using MariaDBTake control of your data through the advanced features of MariaDBExploit the full potential of MariaDB’s exclusive features through quick, practical examples Who This Book Is For If you don't know the SQL language, but you want to quickly jump into the SQL world and learn how to use MariaDB, or if you already know how to use MySQL but you want to go further, then this book is ideal for you.What You Will LearnInstall and configure MariaDBCreate databases, tables, and indexesImport and export data from and to external filesWork with views and virtual columnsCreate, read, update, and delete records in your databaseUse dynamic columnsSet up a powerful full-text search systemAccess your external data from MariaDB through the CONNECT engine In Detail This book will take you through all the nitty-gritty parts of MariaDB, right from the creation of your database all the way to using MariaDB’s advanced features. At the very beginning, we show you the basics, that is, how to install MariaDB. Then, we walk you through the databases and tables of MariaDB, and introduce SQL in MariaDB. You will learn about all the features that have been added in MariaDB but are absent in MySQL. Moving on, you’ll learn to import and export data, views, virtual columns, and dynamic columns in MariaDB. Then, you’ll get to grips with full-text searches and queries in MariaDb. You’ll also be familiarized with the CONNECT storage engine. At the end of the book, you’ll be introduced to the community of MariaDB.Style and approach This is a complete guide that uses concrete examples to help you understand and exploit the full potential of MariaDB.

If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow his creatures to suffer painAnd what about the suffering of animals, who neither deserve pain nor can be improved by itThe greatest Christian thinker of our time sets out to disentangle these knotty issues. With his signature wealth of compassion and insight, C. S. Lewis offers answers to these crucial questions and shares his hope and wisdom to help heal a world hungering for a true understanding of human nature.

Addressing some of the most difficult issues we face in our day-to-day lives, C. S. Lewis ardent and timeless words provide an unparalleled path to greater spiritual understanding. Considered by many to be his most moving address, The Weight of Glory extols a compassionate vision of Christianity and includes lucid and compelling discussions on forgiveness and faith.

Efficiently administer and maintain your development environment with Windows PowerShellAbout This BookExplore *ing and automation techniques with Windows PowerShellGain concrete knowledge of Windows PowerShell *ing to perform professional level *ingDiscover the benefits of the Configuration Management Platform with this step-by-step guide that includes real-world *ing examples Who This Book Is For If you are an IT professional or developer who has worked on the .Net platform and you want to learn automation using Windows PowerShell, then this book is for you. This self-start guide takes you from the basics and gradually moves to an intermediate level to show you how to perform professional *ing.What You Will LearnUnderstand the concepts of building PowerShell *s and the basics of programmingManage the LYNC, Exchange, and SharePoint platformsCreate a Pull server using a SMB file share and HTTP and HTTPSUse .NET classes in Windows PowerShell and C# to manage Exchange OnlineUse PowerShell in C# to manage Exchange Online and work with .NET classes in PowerShellAutomate LYNC clients, consuming Client Server Object Models to administrate SharePoint Online In Detail Windows PowerShell 5.0 for .NET Developers is your self-start guide to performing automation using Windows PowerShell. This book will help you to understand the PowerShell syntax and grammar and will also teach you techniques to remove the rough edges of manual deployments. Packed with PowerShell *s and sample C# codes to automate tasks, it also includes real-world scenarios such as administrating office servers to help you save time and perform deployments swiftly and efficiently. The book begins with the Windows PowerShell basics, explores the significant features of Windows Management Framework 5.0, covers the basic concepts of Desired State Configuration and the importance of idempotent deployments. By the end of the book, you will have a good understanding of Windows PowerShell’s features and will be able to automate your tasks and manage configuration effectively.Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow step-by-step guide with text-enabled screenshots. Each topic is explained with codes and examples. It also includes multiple approaches for a number of tasks to let you choose the best one for you depending on your scenario.

Get started with the fundamentals of PowerShell DSC and utilize its power to automate deployment and configuration of your serversAbout This BookCreate flexible and maintainable deployments using DSC configuration *s that stand the test of timeExplore the in depth details of the core architecture, concepts, and practices used by PowerShell DSCA step-by-step guide that shows you how to start using and taking advantage of PowerShell DSC Who This Book Is For This book is intended for system administrators, developers, or engineers who are responsible for configuration management and automation and wish to learn PowerShell Desired State Configuration for efficient management, configuration and deployment of systems and applications.What You Will LearnUnderstand configuration management and why you need itCraft flexible, reusable, and maintainable configuration *s for thousands of serversCreate custom DSC resources to manage any application or server settingApply configuration data to deploy applications to different environmentsUtilize DSC push deployments to test your configuration *s and custom DSC resourcesInstall, configure and use DSC pull serversRun a Windows MSI packageDeploy a website In Detail Windows PowerShell is a task-based command-line shell and *ing language designed especially for system administration. PowerShell DSC is a new management platform that enables you to deploy and manage configuration data for software services and manage the environment in which these services run. This book begins with an overview of the basics of PowerShell DSC by covering the architecture and components of the Desired Sate Configuration. It will then familiarize you with the set of PowerShell language extensions and new PowerShell commands. It will help you understand and create DSC configurations with the help of practical examples, and to create DSC custom resources for your custom applications. Finally, you will learn to deploy a real world application using PowerShell DSC. By the end of the book, you will have better knowledge about the powerful Desired State Configuration platform, which helps you to achieve continuous delivery, and efficient management and easy deployment of data for systems.Style and approach This book is an in-depth guide to using PowerShell DSC, full of real-world experiences and best practices using PowerShell DSC. The topics are explained and build on one another other to provide a holistic learning experience. At the end, all the features learned will be used to create a real world application deployment using DSC.

Develop interactive Arduino-based Internet projects with Ethernet and WiFiAbout This BookBuild Internet-based Arduino devices to make your home feel more secureLearn how to connect various sensors and actuators to the Arduino and access data from InternetA project-based guide filled with schematics and wiring diagrams to help you build projects incrementally Who This Book Is For This book is intended for those who want to learn more about Arduino and make Internet-based interactive projects with Arduino. If you are an experienced software developer who understands the basics of electronics, then you can quickly learn how to build the Arduino projects explained in this book.What You Will LearnMake a powerful Internet controlled relay with an embedded web server to monitor and control your home electrical appliancesBuild a portable Wi-Fi signal strength sensor to give haptic feedback about signal strength to the userMeasure water flow speed and volume with liquid flow sensors and record real-time readingsSecure your home with motion-activated Arduino security cameras and upload images to the cloudImplement real-time data logging of a solar panel voltage with Arduino cloud connectorsTrack locations with GPS and upload location data to the cloudControl a garage door light with your Twitter feedControl infrared enabled devices with IR remote and Arduino In Detail Arduino is a small single-chip computer board that can be used for a wide variety of creative hardware projects. The hardware consists of a simple microcontroller, board, and chipset. It comes with a Java-based IDE to allow creators to program the board. Arduino is the ideal open hardware platform for experimenting with the world of the Internet of Things. This credit card sized Arduino board can be used via the Internet to make more useful and interactive Internet of things projects. Internet of Things with Arduino Blueprints is a project-based book that begins with projects based on IoT and cloud computing concepts. This book covers up to eight projects that will allow devices to communicate with each other, access information over the Internet, store and retrieve data, and interact with users—creating smart, pervasive, and always-connected environments. It explains how wired and wireless Internet connections can be used with projects and the use of various sensors and actuators. The main aim of this book is to teach you how Arduino can be used for Internet-related projects so that users are able to control actuators, gather data from various kinds of sensors, and send and receive data wirelessly across HTTP and TCP protocols. Finally, you can use these projects as blueprints for many other IoT projects and put them to good use. By the end of the book, you will be an expert in the use of IoT with Arduino to develop a set of projects that can relate very well to IoT applications in the real world.Style and approach Every chapter in this book clearly explains how to assemble components through easy-to-follow steps on while laying out important concepts, code snippets, and expected output results so that you can easily end up with a successful project where you can also enhance or modify the project according to your requirements.

Create, package, and customize stunning themes using PrimeFacesAbout This BookBuild PrimeFaces themes that meet the industry standardsCustomize your themes for mobile web applications with PrimeFaces MobileA precise, example-oriented guide to help you create interesting themes using the PrimeFaces tools Who This Book Is For If you are a Web Designer who wants to create and modify PrimeFaces themes then this book is for you. Basic knowledge of JSF, CSS, and HTML is assumed.What You Will LearnUse Maven to create JSF ProjectsCreate a custom theme using JQuery UI toolsPackage your theme for distribution and use your PrimeFaces-based web applications as drop in librariesDevelop additional dynamic look and feel elements that themes do not already supplyApply look and feel elements dynamically to views without causing page refreshesReduce code repetition by applying page templates to your JSF project In Detail Developing stunning themes for web applications has never been easier! PrimeFaces delivers a powerful set of features that enables JSF developers to create and customize awesome themes on the web. It is very easy to use because it comes as a single JAR file and requires no mandatory XML configuration. With more than 30 out-of-the-box themes, jQuery integration, a mobile UI toolkit, Ajax Push technology, and much more, PrimeFaces takes JSF application development to a whole new level! This book is a hands-on example-rich guide to creating and customizing PrimeFaces themes using available tools. Beginning with creating a JSF project and integrating the PrimeFaces library, this book will introduce you to the features of theme components, how these are structured, and how PrimeFaces uses JQuery UI to apply a theme to your application. You will learn to examine and change the CSS rules and get creative by setting standard icons and adding new icons to them. You will use a combination of JavaScript and CSS to enhance your application with help of scheduler component and go on to adapt and package your custom theme so that it is compatible with the Resource Manager. Finally, you will explore PrimeFaces mobile apps, ensuring themes are compatible with your mobile applications best practices for theme design.Style and approach This book is a concise, hands-on guide to developing PrimeFaces themes, working from the ground up with examples in each topic implemented in a web application. You will be encouraged to explore areas of your own interest without the requirement to stick to the letter of the chapter.

Embrace the new world of fiance by leveraging the power of crypto-currencies using Bitcoin and the BlockchainAbout This BookSet up your own wallet, buy and sell Bitcoin, and execute custom transactions on the BlockchainLeverage the power of Bitcoin to reduce transaction costs and eliminate fraudA practical step-by-step guide to break down the Bitcoin technology to ensure safe transactions Who This Book Is For If you are familiar with online banking and want to expand your finances into a resilient and transparent currency, this book is ideal for you. A basic understanding of online wallets and financial systems will be highly beneficial to unravel the mysteries of Bitcoin.What You Will LearnSet up your wallet and buy a Bitcoin in a flash while understanding the basics of addresses and transactionsAcquire the knack of buying, selling, and trading Bitcoins with online marketplacesSecure and protect your Bitcoins from online theft using Brainwallets and cold storageUnderstand how Bitcoin’s underlying technology, the Blockchain, works with simple illustrations and explanationsConfigure your own Bitcoin node and execute common operations on the networkDiscover various aspects of mining Bitcoin and how to set up your own mining rigDive deeper into Bitcoin and write *s and multi-signature transactions on the networkExplore the various alt-coins and get to know how to compare them and their value In Detail The financial crisis of 2008 raised attention to the need for transparency and accountability in the financial world. As banks and governments were scrambling to stay solvent while seeking a sustainable plan, a powerfully new and resilient technology emerged. Bitcoin, built on a fundamentally new technology called “The Blockchain,” offered the promise of a new financial system where transactions are sent directly between two parties without the need for central control. Bitcoin exists as an open and transparent financial system without banks, governments, or corporate support. Simply put, Bitcoin is “programmable money” that has the potential to change the world on the same scale as the Internet itself. This book arms you with immense knowledge of Bitcoin and helps you implement the technology in your money matters, enabling secure transactions. We first walk through the fundamentals of Bitcoin, illustrate how the technology works, and exemplify how to interact with this powerful and new financial technology. You will learn how to set up your online Bitcoin wallet, indulge in buying and selling of bitcoins, and manage their storage. We then get to grips with the most powerful algorithm of all times: the Blockchain, and learn how crypto-currencies can reduce the risk of fraud for e-commerce merchants and consumers. With a solid base of Blockchain, you will write and execute your own custom transactions. Most importantly, you will be able to protect and secure your Bitcoin with the help of effective solutions provided in the book. Packed with plenty of screenshots, Learning Bitcoin is a simple and painless guide to working with Bitcoin.Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow guide to working with Bitcoin and the Blockchain technology. This book is ideal for anyone who wants to learn the basics of Bitcoin and explore how to set up their own transactions.

Build an interactive and full-featured web application from scratch using Node.js and MongoDBAbout This BookConfigure your development environment to use Node.js and MongoDBUse Node.js to connect to a MongoDB database and perform data manipulationsA practical guide with clear instructions to design and develop a complete web application from start to finish Who This Book Is For This book is designed for JavaScript developers of any skill level that want to get up and running using Node.js and MongoDB to build full-featured web applications. A basic understanding of JavaScript and HTML is the only requirement for this book.What You Will LearnConfigure your development environment to use Node.js and MongoDBWrite and configure a web server using Node.js powered by the Express.js frameworkBuild dynamic HTML pages using the Handlebars template enginePersist application data using MongoDB and Mongoose ODMTest your code using automated testing tools such as the Mocha frameworkDeploy the development environment to the cloud using services such as Heroku, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft AzureExplore Single-Page application frameworks to take your web applications to the next level In Detail Node.js and MongoDB are quickly becoming one of the most popular tech stacks for the web. Powered by Google's V8 engine, Node.js caters to easily building fast, scalable network applications while MongoDB is the perfect fit as a scalable, high-performance, open source NoSQL database solution. Using these two technologies together, web applications can be built quickly and easily and deployed to the cloud with very little difficulty. The book will begin by introducing you to the groundwork needed to set up the development environment. Here, you will quickly run through the steps necessary to get the main application server up and running. Then you will see how to use Node.js to connect to a MongoDB database and perform data manipulations. From here on, the book will take you through integration with third-party tools for interaction with web apps. It then moves on to show you how to use controllers and view models to generate reusable code that will reduce development time. Toward the end of the book, we will cover tests to properly execute the code and some popular frameworks for developing web applications. By the end of the book, you will have a running web application developed with MongoDB and Node.js along with it's popular frameworks.Style and approach An easy guide to Node.js and MongoDB, which will quickly introduce you to the relevant concepts by taking you through the different steps involved in building a full-fledged web application.

Build robust and highly scalable web applications with Google App EngineAbout This BookGet an in-depth look at how Google App Engine works under the hoodDesign and model your application around Google's highly scalable distributed NoSQL datastore to unlock its full potentialA comprehensive guide to ensure your mastery of Google App Engine Who This Book Is For If you have been developing web applications in Python or any other dynamic language but have always wondered how to write highly scalable web applications without getting into system administration and other plumbing, then this is the book for you. No experience in writing scalable applications is required.What You Will LearnScale and develop your applications with Google App Engine's runtime environmentGet to grips with request handling mechanism and write request handlersDeep dive into Google's distributed NoSQL and highly scalable datastore and design your application around itImplement powerful search with scalable datastorePerform long-running tasks in the background using task queuesWrite compartmentalized apps using multi tenancy, memcache, and other Google App Engine runtime servicesHandle web requests using the CGI, WSGI, and multi-threaded configurationsDeploy, tweak, and manage apps in production on Google App Engine In Detail Developing web applications that serve millions of users is no easy task, as it involves a number of configurations and administrative tasks for the underlying software and hardware stack. This whole configuration requires not only expertise, but also a fair amount of time as well. Time that could have been spent on actual application functionality. Google App Engine allows you develop highly scalable web applications or backends for mobile applications without worrying about the system administration plumbing or hardware provisioning issues. Just focus writing on your business logic, the meat of the application, and let Google's powerful infrastructure scale it to thousands of requests per second and millions of users without any effort on your part. This book takes you from explaining how scalable applications work to designing and developing robust scalable web applications of your own, utilizing services available on Google App Engine. Starting with a walkthrough of scalability is and how scalable web applications work, this book introduces you to the environment under which your applications exist on Google App Engine. Next, you will learn about Google's datastore, which is a massively scalable distributed NoSQL solution built on top of BigTable. You will examine the BigTable concepts and operations in detail and reveal how it is used to build Google datastore. Armed with this knowledge, you will then advance towards how to best model your data and query that along with transactions. To augment the powerful distributed dataset, you will deep dive into search functionality offered on Google App Engine. With the search and storage sorted out, you will get a look into performing long running tasks in the background using Google App Engine task queues along with sending and receiving emails. You will also examine the memcache to boost web application performance, image processing for common image manipulation tasks. You will then explore uploading, storing, and serving large files using Blobstore and Cloud storage. Finally, you will be presented with the deployment and monitoring of your applications in production along with a detailed look at dividing applications into different working modules.Style and approach This book is an in-depth guide where you will examine the problems in the context of highly scalable web applications. This book will take you through the libraries, services, and required configuration and finally puts everything together into a small web application that showcases all the capabilities of Google App Engine.

Horrified when her beloved dog, Rufus, is caught in a cruel snare while out walking in the estate of Arrow Castle, local Parson’s daughter Shenda is at first relieved when a handsome stranger comes to poor Rufus’s rescue and then at once she is abashed and confused when he claims a kiss – Shenda’s very first – as his reward. But then she is told that her father has been killed by a savage bull and that she must leave the family’s Vicarage forthwith. Penniless Shenda is obliged to take a job at Arrow Castle as a seamstress, where she stumbles across a letter from one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s spies to Society beauty Lucille Gratton, ‘the most beautiful Lady in England’, who is staying at The Castle. Reporting the discovery to the Earl, she finds that he is no other than her ‘gentleman stranger’ and just as she realises that she is falling in love with the heroic Earl of Arrow, she is embroiled in a counter-espionage plot that puts her young life – and her love for the Earl – in deadly peril.

The beautiful Ariana Dancer is orphaned and has led a cheerless life in London with her disagreeable Guardian, Uncle Konstantin Bardici. He has shown little interest in his niece and she has been left very much to her own devices. One day Uncle Konstantin suggests that Ariana marry an Albanian Prince – one who is seeking an English wife and who claims to have fallen in love with her portrait – and it does not take much to persuade her to agree. Even before she sets out for Albania, she begins to dream of romance and her lonely heart ensures that she quickly fancies herself in love with a man she has never seen. She is sure in her heart that she will find everlasting happiness with Prince Stefan of Dukka in the depths of Albania.! But the journey she must take to fulfil her dreams is longer and more treacherous than she could ever have imagined. When she and her hapless maid are kidnapped en route to Castle Dukka by brigands, the rosy future she dreamed of becomes bitterly compromised. Soon life in the wild mountains begins to exert an unexpected pull, while the King of the Brigands turns out to possess an irresistible charm. Ariana discovers that love can have a double meaning and that image is not all that it seems. Forced to choose between honour and passion and faced with the responsibility of deciding life or death for the man she loves, she bravely makes the ultimate sacrifice. Even then Ariana’s torment is not over – Find out how Ariana unexpectedly finds all that she has been seeking, and more, in this exciting and unusual romantic tale by BARBARA CARTLAND

When beloved author Henri Nouwen set out to record this daybook of totally new reflections, he suddenly found himself on "a true spiritual adventure." For in these 366 original, interlocking morsels of daily wisdom, Nouwen provides both sustenance and a trail for us to follow, as he unveils, to his own surprise, his personal map of faith. From the delicate interplay of human experience to the surrender to Christ and the embrace of Christian community, that journey of Christian spirituality is explored and celebrated here in each eloquent, thought–provoking passage, "The table is one of the most intimate places in our lives. It is there that we give ourselves to one another. When we say, 'Take some more, let me serve you another plate, let me pour you another glass, don't be shy, enjoy it,' we say a lot more than our words express. We invite our friends to become part of our lives. We want them to be nurtured by the same food and drink that nurture us. We desire communion.... Every breakfast, lunch, or dinner can become a time of growing communion with one another." Intimately personal and inspiring, Bread for the Journey is a daily feast of fresh insight into the challenges and deep joys of a life lived in close communion with God. Nouwen is a wise, loving companion who invites us along as he finds joy in the community of loss, true freedom in forgiveness of others, and hope in surprising places. Each daily meditation is a stepping–stone along a path of private discovery, offering Nouwen's seasoned yet fresh ideas on kindness, love, suffering, and prayer, the Church as God's people, and the importance of Jesus in one's life–reflecting, as a whole, Nouwen's own 'personal creed.' Bread for the Journey brims with daily nourishment and guidance for devoted followers and new friends alike –– food for thought on a yearlong journey of discovery and faith.

The handsome Viscount Trent finally makes up his mind to accede to the pleadings of his family and get married. He is twenty-seven and for a long time they have been begging him to take a wife and produce an heir to his illustrious title, his famous stately home and his vast estate. On the whole he finds debutantes extremely boring and has enjoyed a number of affaires-de-coeur with older married women. However there is one girl, Marigold Marlow, he considers outstanding and she is the acknowledged great beauty of the Season. As she is so beautiful, the Viscount is convinced that Marigold will make him a perfect wife, but he is astonished when, having proposed to her, she tells him that she has not quite made up her mind. She will let him know on Wednesday if she accepts his proposal of marriage. As the Viscount expects her to fall immediately into his arms, he is surprised, but content to wait until Wednesday for her answer, which he is certain will be ‘yes’. As he drives away from Marigold’s house, a young girl holding a white Pekingese in her arms begs him to give her a lift to London. He sees no reason to refuse and finds as they drive off that she is Salvia, a cousin of the beautiful Marigold. He then learns that Marigold has her eyes on the son of the Duke of Northerncliff, who is seriously ill. In fact if he dies as expected, she intends to marry his heir as one day soon he will be a Duke. Feeling surprised and angry, he is even more astonished to learn that Marigold is cruel to animals and that Salvia is running away because she is so unkind to her dog as well as to her. How the Viscount dreams up a way to avenge himself on Marigold and, if the Duke does recover, how he can escape marrying her as he has now changed his mind. How the Viscount’s plan succeeds. And how Salvia takes London by storm, faces appalling danger and finally finds the love of her life is all told in this unusual story by BARBARA CARTLAND.

Barbarians at the Gate has been called one of the most influential business books of all time -- the definitive account of the largest takeover in Wall Street history. Bryan Burrough and John Helyar's gripping account of the frenzy that overtook Wall Street in October and November of 1988 is the story of deal makers and publicity flaks, of strategy meetings and society dinners, of boardrooms and bedrooms -- giving us not only a detailed look at how financial operations at the highest levels are conducted but also a richly textured social history of wealth at the twilight of the Reagan era. Barbarians at the Gate -- a business narrative classic -- is must reading for everyone interested in the way today's world really works.

Utilize ServiceStack as the rock solid foundation of your distributed systemAbout This BookTake advantage of the various data providers to access authentication and authorization, sessions, cache, and databaseLeverage asynchronous processing for decoupling components to ease scalingMonitor and tune the performance of your distributed system Who This Book Is For Mastering ServiceStack is targeted at developers who have already implemented web services with ASMX, WCF, or ServiceStack and want to gain more insight into the possibilities ServiceStack has to offer to build distributed systems of all scales.What You Will LearnDesign a prudent and resilient API, following the RESTful designUnderstand the internal processing chain and utilize the provided hooksIncorporate ServiceStack as a full service provider to your existing distributed systemLeverage the power of asynchronous processing and add message queues to your architectureAnalyze and tune the performance of your service In Detail Mastering ServiceStack covers real-life problems that occur over the lifetime of a distributed system and how to solve them by deeply understanding the tools of ServiceStack. Distributed systems is the enterprise solution that provide flexibility, reliability, scaling, and performance. ServiceStack is an outstanding tool belt to create such a system in a frictionless manner, especially sophisticated designed and fun to use. The book starts with an introduction covering the essentials, but assumes you are just refreshing, are a very fast learner, or are an expert in building web services. Then, the book explains ServiceStack's data transfer object patterns and teach you how it differs from other methods of building web services with different protocols, such as SOAP and SOA. It also introduces more low-level details such as how to extend the User Auth, message queues and concepts on how the technology works. By the end of this book, you will understand the concepts, framework, issues, and resolutions related to ServiceStack.Style and approach A step-by-step approach that follows the natural requirements of a distributed system in a conversational style.

Get started with Python for data analysis and numerical computing in the Jupyter notebookAbout This BookLearn the basics of Python in the Jupyter NotebookAnalyze and visualize data with pandas, NumPy, matplotlib, and seabornPerform highly-efficient numerical computations with Numba, Cython, and ipyparallel Who This Book Is For This book targets students, teachers, researchers, engineers, analysts, journalists, hobbyists, and all data enthusiasts who are interested in analyzing and visualizing real-world datasets. If you are new to programming and data analysis, this book is exactly for you. If you're already familiar with another language or analysis software, you will also appreciate this introduction to the Python data analysis platform. Finally, there are more technical topics for advanced readers. No prior experience is required; this book contains everything you need to know.What You Will LearnInstall Anaconda and code in Python in the Jupyter NotebookLoad and explore datasets interactivelyPerform complex data manipulations effectively with pandasCreate engaging data visualizations with matplotlib and seabornSimulate mathematical models with NumPyVisualize and process images interactively in the Jupyter Notebook with scikit-imageAccelerate your code with Numba, Cython, and IPython.parallelExtend the Notebook interface with HTML, JavaScript, and D3 In Detail Python is a user-friendly and powerful programming language. IPython offers a convenient interface to the language and its analysis libraries, while the Jupyter Notebook is a rich environment well-adapted to data science and visualization. Together, these open source tools are widely used by beginners and experts around the world, and in a huge variety of fields and endeavors. This book is a beginner-friendly guide to the Python data analysis platform. After an introduction to the Python language, IPython, and the Jupyter Notebook, you will learn how to analyze and visualize data on real-world examples, how to create graphical user interfaces for image processing in the Notebook, and how to perform fast numerical computations for scientific simulations with NumPy, Numba, Cython, and ipyparallel. By the end of this book, you will be able to perform in-depth analyses of all sorts of data.Style and approach This is a hands-on beginner-friendly guide to analyze and visualize data on real-world examples with Python and the Jupyter Notebook.

Successfully scrape data from any website with the power of PythonAbout This BookA hands-on guide to web scraping with real-life problems and solutionsTechniques to download and extract data from complex websitesCreate a number of different web scrapers to extract information Who This Book Is For This book is aimed at developers who want to use web scraping for legitimate purposes. Prior programming experience with Python would be useful but not essential. Anyone with general knowledge of programming languages should be able to pick up the book and understand the principals involved.What You Will LearnExtract data from web pages with simple Python programmingBuild a threaded crawler to process web pages in parallelFollow links to crawl a websiteDownload cache to reduce bandwidthUse multiple threads and processes to scrape fasterLearn how to parse JavaScript-dependent websitesInteract with forms and sessionsSolve CAPTCHAs on protected web pagesDiscover how to track the state of a crawl In Detail The Internet contains the most useful set of data ever assembled, largely publicly accessible for free. However, this data is not easily reusable. It is embedded within the structure and style of websites and needs to be carefully extracted to be useful. Web scraping is becoming increasingly useful as a means to easily gather and make sense of the plethora of information available online. Using a simple language like Python, you can crawl the information out of complex websites using simple programming. This book is the ultimate guide to using Python to scrape data from websites. In the early chapters it covers how to extract data from static web pages and how to use caching to manage the load on servers. After the basics we'll get our hands dirty with building a more sophisticated crawler with threads and more advanced topics. Learn step-by-step how to use Ajax URLs, employ the Firebug extension for monitoring, and indirectly scrape data. Discover more scraping nitty-gritties such as using the browser renderer, managing cookies, how to submit forms to extract data from complex websites protected by CAPTCHA, and so on. The book wraps up with how to create high-level scrapers with Scrapy libraries and implement what has been learned to real websites.Style and approach This book is a hands-on guide with real-life examples and solutions starting simple and then progressively becoming more complex. Each chapter in this book introduces a problem and then provides one or more possible solutions.