Over 50 hands-on recipes to help you efficiently administer and maintain your games with Cocos2d-xAbout This BookBuild exciting games, apps, and other cross-platform GUI based interactive programs with Cocos2d-xExplore the nitty-gritty of the latest Cocos2d-x on the block, version 3.6A step-by-step guide that shows you the functionalities of Cocos2d-x followed by an explanation of how they work Who This Book Is For If you are a game developer and want to learn more about cross-platform game development in Cocos2d-x, then this book is for you. Knowledge of C++, Xcode, Eclipse, and how to use commands in the terminal are prerequisites for this book.What You Will LearnInstall and set up Cocos2d-x for your development environmentBuild, test, and release game applications for iOS and AndroidDevelop your games for multiple platformsCustomize Cocos2d-x for your gamesUse a physical engine in your gamesSave and load text, JSON, XML, or other formatsExplore the brand new features of Cocos2d-x In Detail Cocos2d-x is a suite of open source, cross-platform game-development tools used by thousands of developers all over the world. Cocos2d-x is a game framework written in C++, with a thin platform-dependent layer. Completely written in C++, the core engine has the smallest footprint and the fastest speed of any other game engine, and is optimized to be run on all kinds of devices. You will begin with the initial setup and installation of Cocos2d before moving on to the fundamentals needed to create a new project. You will then explore and create the sprites, animations, and actions that you will include in the game. Next you will look at strings and create labels, including a label with True Type Font (TTF) font support. Later, you will learn about layer and scene creation and transition. Then you will create the GUI parts essential for a game, such as buttons and switches. After that, you will breathe life into the game with background music and sound effects using the all new Cocos2d-x audio engine. You will then discover how to manage resource files and implement processes that depend on the operating system. Finally, you will polish your game with physics such as gravity and elevation, learn about tools that will help you make games more robust and stable, and get to know best practices to improve the game you have developed.Style and approach This book is an easy-to-follow guide with ample recipes to help you better understand Cocos2d-x.

Over 100 hands-on recipes to quickly prepare LaTeX documents of various kinds to solve challenging tasksAbout This BookWork with modern document classes, such as KOMA-Script classesExplore the latest LaTeX packages, including TikZ, pgfplots, and biblatexAn example-driven approach to creating stunning graphics directly within LaTeX Who This Book Is For If you already know the basics of LaTeX and you like to get fast, efficient solutions, this is the perfect book for you. If you are an advanced reader, you can use this book's example-driven format to take your skillset to the next level. Some familiarity with the basic syntax of LaTeX and how to use the editor of your choice for compiling is required.What You Will LearnChoose the right document class for your project to customize its featuresUtilize fonts globally and locallyFrame, shape, arrange, and annotate imagesAdd a bibliography, a glossary, and an indexCreate colorful graphics including diagrams, flow charts, bar charts, trees, plots in 2d and 3d, time lines, and mindmapsSolve typical tasks for various sciences including math, physics, chemistry, electrotechnics, and computer scienceOptimize PDF output and enrich it with meta data, annotations, popups, animations, and fill-in fieldsExplore the outstanding capabilities of the newest engines and formats such as XeLaTeX, LuaLaTeX, and LaTeX3 In Detail LaTeX is a high-quality typesetting software and is very popular, especially among scientists. Its programming language gives you full control over every aspect of your documents, no matter how complex they are. LaTeX's huge amount of customizable templates and supporting packages cover most aspects of writing with embedded typographic expertise. With this book you will learn to leverage the capabilities of the latest document classes and explore the functionalities of the newest packages. The book starts with examples of common document types. It provides you with samples for tuning text design, using fonts, embedding images, and creating legible tables. Common document parts such as the bibliography, glossary, and index are covered, with LaTeX's modern approach. You will learn how to create excellent graphics directly within LaTeX, including diagrams and plots quickly and easily. Finally, you will discover how to use the new engines XeTeX and LuaTeX for advanced programming and calculating with LaTeX. The example-driven approach of this book is sure to increase your productivity.Style and approach This book guides you through the world of LaTeX based on over a hundred hands-on examples. These are explained in detail and are designed to take minimal time and to be self-compliant.

In 1950 Krishnamurti said: It is only when the mind is not escaping in any form that it is possible to be in direct communion with that thing we call lonliness, the alone, and to have communion with that thing, there must be affection, there must be love. On Love and Lonliness is a compelling investigation of our intimate relationships with ourselves, others, and society. Krishnamurti suggests that true relationship can come into being only when there is self-knowledge of the conditions which divide and islolate individuals and groups. Only by renouncing the self can we understand the problem of lonliness, and truly love.

After decades of service and years of watching her family's troubles splashed across the tabloids, Britain's Queen is beginning to feel her age. She needs some proper cheering up. An unexpected opportunity offers her relief: an impromptu visit to a place that holds happy memories—the former royal yacht, Britannia, now moored near Edinburgh. Hidden beneath a skull-emblazoned hoodie, the limber Elizabeth (thank goodness for yoga) walks out of Buckingham Palace into the freedom of a rainy London day and heads for King's Cross to catch a train to Scotland. But a characterful cast of royal attendants has discovered her missing. In uneasy alliance a lady-in-waiting, a butler, an equerry, a girl from the stables, a dresser, and a clerk from the shop that supplies Her Majesty's cheese set out to find her and bring her back before her absence becomes a national scandal.Mrs Queen Takes the Train is a clever novel, offering a fresh look at a woman who wonders if she, like Britannia herself, has, too, become a relic of the past. William Kuhn paints a charming yet biting portrait of British social, political, and generational rivalries—between upstairs and downstairs, the monarchy and the government, the old and the young. Comic and poignant, fast paced and clever, this delightful debut tweaks the pomp of the monarchy, going beneath its rigid formality to reveal the human heart of the woman at its center.

Jenna Miscavige Hill was raised to obey. As the niece of the Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, she grew up at the center of this highly controversial and powerful organization. But at twenty-one, Jenna made a daring break, risking everything she had ever known and loved to leave Scientology once and for all. Now she speaks out about her life, the Church, and her dramatic escape, going deep inside a religion that, for decades, has been the subject of fierce debate and speculation worldwide. Piercing the veil of secrecy that has long shrouded the world of Scientology, this insider reveals unprecedented firsthand knowledge of the religion, its obscure rituals, and its mysterious leader David Miscavige. From her prolonged separation from her parents as a small child to being indoctrinated to serve the greater good of the Church, from her lack of personal freedoms to the organization emphasis on celebrity recruitment, Jenna goes behind the scenes of Scientology oppressive and alienating culture, detailing an environment rooted in control in which the most devoted followers often face the harshest punishments when they fall out of line. Addressing some of the Church most notorious practices in startling detail, she also describes a childhood of isolation and neglect a childhood that, painful as it was, prepared her for a tough life in the Church most devoted order, the Sea Org. Despite this hardship, it is only when her family approaches dissolution and her world begins to unravel that she is finally able to see the patterns of stifling conformity and psychological control that have ruled her life. Faced with a heartbreaking choice, she mounts a courageous escape, but not before being put through the ultimate test of family, faith, and love. At once captivating and disturbing, Beyond Belief is an eye-opening exploration of the limits of religion and the lengths to which one woman went to break free.

‘Why the hell did you write that insurance policy for a 96-year-old man going on a skiing holiday?’ shouted the manager at the travel clerk.‘Well,’ said the clerk, ‘I checked the records and no one of that age has ever had a skiing accident.’The skier came to a stop at the end of the run and threw his poles, hat and gloves to the ground as he snorted in disgust, ‘I’ve never skied so badly before!’‘Oh,’ probed an interested instructor, ‘you mean to say you’ve skied before?’

Adam Nicolson is the author of many books on history, travel and the environment. He is the winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, the British Topography Prize and the WH Heinemann Award. He lives on a farm in Sussex. This is his fith book for HarperCollins – his previous four being ‘Men of Honour’, ‘Sea Room’, ‘Power and Glory’ and ‘Seamanship’.

Dr Rupy Aujla is a practising GP in London. Trained at Imperial College London, his aim is to be the leading voice in how nutrition can heal and improve health. He is one of twenty global ‘I Quit Sugar’ experts, regular Doctor on BBC Asian Network’s Noreen Khan show with half a million listeners, Men’s Health Recipe Creator and Doctor, TEDxNHS Speaker, Huffington Post, Shortlist, Stylist, Metro contributor as well as leading nutrition websites including Nutritionfacts.org. Dr Rupy is developing The Doctors Kitchen social presence on You Tube, Instagram and Twitter.

Marshall Corwin is producer of the BBC TV series and has been on every expedition, so has first-hand experience of organising expeditions and living in far-away places.

Charles Spencer was educated at Eton College and obtained his degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a reporter on NBC’s Today show from 1986 until 1995, and is the author of four books, including the Sunday Times bestseller Blenheim: Battle for Europe (shortlisted for History Book of the Year, National Book Awards) and Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier.

David Cobham was an internationally renowned filmmaker, well known for his films Tarka the Otter and The Goshawk. Dan Powell is a wildlife artist best known for the field guide to The Dragonflies of Great Britain. His drawings and paintings have appeared in numerous wildlife books and publications.

By F. M. L. Thompson

F. W. Walbank was Rathbone Professor of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology at the University of Liverpool and a Fellow of the British Academy.

Tony Kitous arrived in London for the first time on August 6, 1988, aged 18, he spent his 1st night sleeping in Victoria coach station and spent the next fortnight living off chocolate. The self-styled Algerian “street boy” had just ?70 in his pocket and was meant to be on a holiday with a school friend. More than 29 years later, the now hugely successful owner of the Comptoir Libanais canteen and delicatessen chain has 24 branches in and London and around the UK, employing around 1000 staff. They are part of an empire which also encompasses three Shawa - Lebanese grill outlets, as well as prestige restaurants such as Levant on Wigmore Street and Kenza in the city of London.

MARCUS WAREING is one of the most respected and acclaimed chefs and restaurateurs in Britain today. Originally from Southport, Merseyside, Marcus began his career at the age of 16. An incredible talent, he started acquiring Michelin stars aged just 26 – one of only a handful of chefs to be recognised at such a young age. Over the last 30 years Marcus has been involved in the creation of many of London’s most iconic and celebrated restaurants, including his own restaurant group, Marcus Wareing Restaurants, which he founded in 2008. With two Michelin stars at his flagship restaurant, Marcus, in the Berkeley Hotel, he also owns and operates two other London restaurants, The Gilbert Scott and Tredwell’s.Alongside his Michelin stars, Marcus has also won numerous coveted awards. These include the Acorn Award, Chef of the Year with Caterer and Hotelkeeper, Tatler Restaurateur of the Year and GQ Chef of the Year. A familiar face on our TV screens, Marcus took on the new role as judge on MasterChef:The Professionals in 2014. Marcus lives in London with his wife and three children.

Nigel Slater is the author of a collection of best-selling books and presenter of BBC 1's Eating Together, Simple Cooking and Dish of the Day. He has been food columnist for The Observer for over twenty years. His books include the classics Appetite and The Kitchen Diaries and the critically acclaimed two-volume Tender. His award-winning memoir Toast – the Story of a Boy's Hunger won six major awards and is now a BBC film starring Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore. His writing has won the National Book Awards, the Glenfiddich Trophy, the André Simon Memorial Prize and the British Biography of the Year. He was the winner of a Guild of Food Writers' Award for his BBC 1 series Simple Suppers.

Tom Daley is an Olympic athlete and TV presenter.

Philip Marsden is the author of The Bronski House, The Spirit-Wrestlers (winner of the Thomas Cook Travel Book of the Year Award), The Chains of Heaven, The Barefoot Emperor, The Levelling Sea and Rising Ground. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and his work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He lives in Cornwall.

Holly Willoughby is best known for her presenting roles on This Morning, Surprise Surprise and Celebrity Juice. After she was discovered by Storm Modelling Agency on a school trip at the age of 14, she quickly went on to land modelling jobs and presenting roles for various CiTV children’s programmes, all before becoming the co-presenter of Dancing on Ice with Philip Schofield. Juggling her busy television career with being a mum to her three small children, she is also the author of Truly Happy Baby and co-author of a series of children’s books with her sister, Kelly.

In the early days of Cubism, when writers and painters led bohemian lives in Montmartre, a familiar figure in the studios and cafes was a young journalist named Roland Dorgelès. With high brow, long straight nose, lean face and steady blue eyes, smartly turned out, often in a long black coat with astrakhan collar, he was well liked for his cheerful manner, vein of poetry and adventurousness.Dorgelès came of petit bourgeois parents. The father, a travelling textile salesman, was often absent and did not get along with his wife, who transferred her affection to her only son without however becoming possessive. She gave him a Catholic upbringing and encouraged him to read good authors, his favourites being Molière and Courteline. After an unsuccessful spell at the Ecole des Arts décoratifs he decided on a literary career. He became a journalist of the Paris scene, had two short plays put on and indulged in light-hearted practical jokes: calling the fire brigade to extinguish a nonexistent fire in the flat of a rival in love and, on another occasion, to protest against the thick glass on certain paintings in the Louvre, installing himself in front of one such painting, producing razor, cream and brush, soaping his face and calmly shaving as though in front of a mirror.

TIM BRADFORD is a freelance writer and illustrator. He has written for the NME, When Saturday Comes, Empire and Amateur Photographer. His drawings have appeared in the Observer and the Express. He lives in London and is an enthusiastic trainee Celt.