Design a complete workflow with Blender to create stunning 3D scenes and films step-by-step! About This Book Give life to a character within a full animated short film by learning the rigging and animation process Make use of the powerful tools available in Blender to produce professional-quality 3D characters and environments Discover advanced techniques by adding fur to a character, creating a grass field, and fine-tuning a shot with post-processing effects to enhance your creations Who This Book Is For This book will give any beginner the necessary skills and knowledge to create own 3D projects with Blender. You don't need to have any previous experience in 3D modeling, but if you do, then this book is a great way get you started with Blender. This book is for anyone who wants to learn Blender by creating concrete projects. What You Will Learn Understand the basics of 3D and how to navigate your way around the Blender interface Create a 3D robot toy model from start to finish using the basic modeling tools of Blender Make a full alien character using the skin mesh modifier and the sculpting tools with an artistic approach Use re-topology techniques to create a clean 3D version of the previously sculpted alien Model a full haunted house and its environment using more advanced modeling tools and techniques such as the Array Modifier, Instance duplication, or Curves Discover the power of the texture paint tool in order to add color to the haunted house Get to know the Cycles render engine by creating different materials for the house and the environment In Detail Blender is a powerful tool, stable, with an integral workflow that will allow you to understand your learning of 3D creation with serenity. Today, it is considered to be one of the most complete 3D packages on the market and it is free and open source! It is very efficient for many types of productions, such as 3D animated or live action films, architecture, research, or even game creation with its integrated game engine and its use of the Python language. Moreover, Blender has an active community that contributes to expanding its functionalities. Today, it is used in many professional products and by many companies. Through this book, you will create many types of concert projects using a step-by-step approach. You will start by getting to know the modeling tools available in Blender as you create a 3D robot toy. Then, you will discover more advanced techniques such as sculpting and re-topology by creating a funny alien character. After that, you will create a full haunted house scene. For the last project, you will create a short film featuring a rat cowboy shooting cheese in a rat trap! This will be a more complex project in which you learn how to rig, animate, compose advanced material, composite, and edit a full sequence. Each project in this book will give you more practice and increase your knowledge of the Blender tools. By the end of this book, you will master a workflow that you will be able to apply to your own creations. Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow book that is based on four concrete projects, with increasing levels of difficulty. Each chapter will teach you how to create these projects step-by-step. New tools and techniques are introduced in a theoretical and practical way, so you can apply them in your own projects later.

Design and develop modern web applications with Google's bold and productive language through engaging example projects About This Book Full of engaging and varied example projects to equip you to build your own web applications Learn the Dart language and key libraries Productively create fast and reliable web applications Who This Book Is For If you are a front- or back-end web developer who is looking to build complex full-featured web applications without the quagmire of disconnected JavaScript frameworks, this book is a practical walkthrough of substantial applications that will have you and your team coding Dart in a productive manner. This book will give you a compiled, optional typed, scalable environment to rapidly develop applications. As Dart was designed to be familiar, any developer with even a small amount of knowledge of JavaScript or another programming language will be at home with the language immediately and will be coding quickly. What You Will Learn Master the core Dart language, type system, and key development tools Connect to existing web services, process JSON, and create your own framework for the data display Run and debug the Dart server and web applications and compile them in JavaScript Handle form data and encryption Build and deploy server applications on the major OSes and implement the REST API Work with PostgreSQL—an industry standard relational database system Create robust applications with unit tests, documentation, and diagnostic logging Develop command-line applications, and explore the key data structures and libraries In Detail Designed to create next generation apps, Google’s Dart offers a much more robust framework and also supersedes JavaScript in several aspects. Familiar yet innovative, compact yet scalable, it blows away the accumulated JavaScript legacy limitations. Dart was designed for great tool-ability and developer productivity, allowing you to create better application faster than before. Google chose it for their billion dollar advertising business and you have its power for your projects too. This book will introduce you the Dart language starting from its conception to its current form, and where it headed is through engaging substantial practical projects. You will be taken through building typical applications and exploring the exciting new technologies of HTML5. With example code projects such as a live data monitoring and viewing system, a blogging system, a slides presentation application, and more, then this book will walk you through step by step through building data-driven web applications with ease and speed. Style and approach A varied collection of compelling practical Dart projects that are developed progressively with full explanations of concepts and implementation. Each project introduces features of the language and environment, demonstrating how Dart can be used in rich structured web applications.

Extend and enhance your Java applications with domain-specific *ing in Groovy About This Book Build domain-specific mini languages in Groovy that integrate seamlessly with your Java apps with this hands-on guide Increase stakeholder participation in the development process with domain-specific *ing in Groovy Get up to speed with the newest features in Groovy using this second edition and integrate Groovy-based DSLs into your existing Java applications. Who This Book Is For This book is for Java software developers who have an interest in building domain *ing into their Java applications. No knowledge of Groovy is required, although it will be helpful. This book does not teach Groovy, but quickly introduces the basic ideas of Groovy. An experienced Java developer should have no problems with these and move quickly on to the more involved aspects of creating DSLs with Groovy. No experience of creating a DSL is required. What You Will Learn Familiarize yourself with Groovy *ing and work with Groovy closures Use the meta-programming features in Groovy to build mini languages Employ Groovy mark-up and builders to simplify application development Familiarize yourself with Groovy mark-up and build your own Groovy builders Build effective DSLs with operator overloading, command chains, builders, and a host of other Groovy language features Integrate Groovy with your Java and JVM based applications In Detail The times when developing on the JVM meant you were a Java programmer have long passed. The JVM is now firmly established as a polyglot development environment with many projects opting for alternative development languages to Java such as Groovy, Scala, Clojure, and JRuby. In this pantheon of development languages, Groovy stands out for its excellent DSL enabling features which allows it to be manipulated to produce mini languages that are tailored to a project’s needs. A comprehensive tutorial on designing and developing mini Groovy based Domain Specific Languages, this book will guide you through the development of several mini DSLs that will help you gain all the skills needed to develop your own Groovy based DSLs with confidence and ease. Starting with the bare basics, this book will focus on how Groovy can be used to construct domain specific mini languages, and will go through the more complex meta-programming features of Groovy, including using the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST). Practical examples are used throughout this book to de-mystify these seemingly complex language features and to show how they can be used to create simple and elegant DSLs. Packed with examples, including several fully worked DSLs, this book will serve as a springboard for developing your own DSLs. Style and approach This book is a hands-on guide that will walk you through examples for building DSLs with Groovy rather than just talking about "metaprogramming with Groovy". The examples in this book have been designed to help you gain a good working knowledge of the techniques involved and apply these to producing your own Groovy based DSLs.

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.

After years of caring for her ailing father, the Earl of Medwin, the ethereally beautiful young Lady Ancella Winn is pale, drawn and exhausted now that he has died and she is devastated. Worse still, she has nowhere to go, except for the home of her strait-laced and disapproving aunts. So when family friend and doctor, Sir Felix Johnson, suggests that it would be good for her health to travel to the French Riviera to work as the nurse-companion to an ageing Russian Princess, she nervously agrees. Although her new employer is difficult and demanding, Ancella is bewitched, first by the beauty of the C?te d’Azur and then by the Princess’s ineffably handsome son, Prince Vladimer. Caught up in the glamour of the Monte Carlo Casino, the den of iniquity against which her aunts had warned her in no uncertain terms, it seems that she has won the Prince’s heart as the feckless aristocrats around her lose fortunes at Roulette and Baccarat. But then to her horror her hopes of the love she has always dreamt about are dashed when it she finds that Prince Vladimer has betrayed her with the grasping but alluring Marchioness of Chiswick.

Hugo, the Duke of Wynchester enjoys many affaires de coeur and his latest lover, the beautiful but scheming and spoilt Olive Lady Brandon, is trying to blackmail him into marriage by forcing her husband to divorce her. Storming angrily from her house, Hugo finds a strange stowaway aboard his carriage. It transpires that this frail elfin beauty is none other that Janeta Brandon, Olive’s step-daughter, and that she is fleeing the marriage her stepmother has arranged to an old man known to beat not only his servants and horses but also his late wife. When the Duke realises that Janeta means to kill herself rather than face a loveless marriage, he is struck by a cunning way to rescue them both by announcing their ‘engagement’. They are then married in a quiet ceremony in the Duke’s private Chapel. It is only when Janeta saves him from death by poisoning by the hand of her stepmother that the Duke realises that he has been in love with her from the moment he first saw her. But surely the scorned Olive’s fury will ensure their love is doomed before it can blossom.

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

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.

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.

Gain expertise in troubleshooting most common issues to implement vSphere environments with easeAbout This BookPlan, analyze, and design effective solutions for your vSphere environmentTroubleshoot problems related to vSphere performanceFamiliarize yourself with the advanced troubleshooting conceptsand become an xpert level administrator Who This Book Is For The books is intended for mid-level System Engineers and System Integrators who want to learn VMware power tools to troubleshoot and manage the vSphere infrastructure. Good knowledge level and understanding of virtualization is expected.What You Will LearnConfigure vSphere management assistant and troubleshooting toolsUse troubleshooting tools to monitor performance and troubleshoot different issuesLearn how to troubleshoot High Availability and other commonly known problems with clusters such as insufficient resources, failing heartbeatsUse Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) to verify configurationDiagnose storage issues including iSCSI, NFS and VMFS problemsManage vSphere Network Virtual and Distributed Switches, Trunks, VLANSMonitor and shape network traffic, configure routes and DNSQuickly resolve common day-to-day problems by analysing logs of VMware vSphere hosts and VMware vCenter ServerDebug and resolve commonly known vSphere Cluster problems In Detail VMware vSphere is the leading server virtualization platform with consistent management for virtual data centers. It enhances troubleshooting skills to diagnose and resolve day to day problems in your VMware vSphere infrastructure environment. This book will provide you practical hands-on knowledge of using different performance monitoring and troubleshooting tools to manage and troubleshoot the vSphere infrastructure. It begins by introducing systematic approach for troubleshooting different problems and show casing the troubleshooting techniques. You will be able to use the troubleshooting tools to monitor performance, and troubleshoot issues related to Hosts and Virtual Machines. Moving on, you will troubleshoot High Availability, storage I/O control problems, virtual LANS, and iSCSI, NFS, VMFS issues. By the end of this book, you will be able to analyze and solve advanced issues related to vShpere environment such as vcenter certificates, database problems, and different failed state errors.Style and approach A step-by-step guide full of real world scenarios that will enhance advanced knowledge, skills, and abilities to achieve competence in troubleshooting the VMware vSphere environment. Basic concepts of vSphere and the most common vSphere infrastructure problems are explained with practical solutions to resolve it.

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.

Build dynamic, data-driven websites and modern web applications with Flask About This Book Discover the most popular Flask resources on the web with ease Familiarize yourself with third-party libraries commonly used with Flask Create a fast, interactive, and secure web app with this hands-on guide Who This Book Is For This book is for anyone who wants to develop their knowledge of Python into something that can be used on the web. Flask follows the Python design principles and can be easily understood by anyone who knows Python, and even by those who do not. What You Will Learn Create your web pages to add modularity and flexibility to your web app using templates Store and retrieve relational data using SQLAlchemy Develop schema migrations with Alembic Produce an admin section using flask-admin Build RESTful APIs using Flask-Restless Simulate requests and sessions using the Flask test client Make Ajax requests from Jinja2 templates In Detail Flask is a small and powerful web development framework for Python. It does not presume or force a developer to use a particular tool or library. Flask supports extensions that can add application features as if they were implemented in Flask itself. Flask’s main task is to build web applications quickly and with less code. With its lightweight and efficient web development framework, Flask combines rapid development and clean, simple design. This book will take you through the basics of learning how to apply your knowledge of Python to the web. Starting with the creation of a “Hello world” Flask app, you will be introduced to the most common Flask APIs and Flask’s interactive debugger. You will learn how to store and retrieve blog posts from a relational database using an ORM and also to map URLs to views. Furthermore, you will walk through template blocks, inheritance, file uploads, and static assets. You will learn to authenticate users, build log in/log out functionality, and add an administrative dashboard for the blog. Moving on, you will discover how to make Ajax requests from the template and see how the Mock library can simplify testing complex interactions. Finally, you will learn to deploy Flask applications securely and in an automated, repeatable manner, and explore some of the most popular Flask resources on the web. Style and approach A comprehensive guide packed with real-world examples and popular use cases; starting with basic overviews and diving into the practical aspects of Flask Framework.

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.

Master the art of digital forensics and analysis with PythonAbout This BookLearn to perform forensic analysis and investigations with the help of Python, and gain an advanced understanding of the various Python libraries and frameworksAnalyze Python *s to extract metadata and investigate forensic artifactsThe writers, Dr. Michael Spreitzenbarth and Dr. Johann Uhrmann, have used their experience to craft this hands-on guide to using Python for forensic analysis and investigations Who This Book Is For If you are a network security professional or forensics analyst who wants to gain a deeper understanding of performing forensic analysis with Python, then this book is for you. Some Python experience would be helpful.What You Will LearnExplore the forensic analysis of different platforms such as Windows, Android, and vSphereSemi-automatically reconstruct major parts of the system activity and time-lineLeverage Python ctypes for protocol decodingExamine artifacts from mobile, Skype, and browsersDiscover how to utilize Python to improve the focus of your analysisInvestigate in volatile memory with the help of volatility on the Android and Linux platforms In Detail Digital forensic analysis is the process of examining and extracting data digitally and examining it. Python has the combination of power, expressiveness, and ease of use that makes it an essential complementary tool to the traditional, off-the-shelf digital forensic tools. This book will teach you how to perform forensic analysis and investigations by exploring the capabilities of various Python libraries. The book starts by explaining the building blocks of the Python programming language, especially ctypes in-depth, along with how to automate typical tasks in file system analysis, common correlation tasks to discover anomalies, as well as templates for investigations. Next, we’ll show you cryptographic algorithms that can be used during forensic investigations to check for known files or to compare suspicious files with online services such as VirusTotal or Mobile-Sandbox. Moving on, you’ll learn how to sniff on the network, generate and analyze network flows, and perform log correlation with the help of Python *s and tools. You’ll get to know about the concepts of virtualization and how virtualization influences IT forensics, and you’ll discover how to perform forensic analysis of a jailbroken/rooted mobile device that is based on iOS or Android. Finally, the book teaches you how to analyze volatile memory and search for known malware samples based on YARA rules.Style and approach This easy-to-follow guide will demonstrate forensic analysis techniques by showing you how to solve real-word-scenarios step by step.

When it comes to Asian desserts, most Americans think of fortune cookies. But, in fact, the Far East is home to a dazzling array of sweets rich with tropical fruits, crunchy nuts, aromatic spices, and, yes, even chocolate.In The Sweet Spot, renowned pastry chef Pichet Ong presents a collection of one hundred recipes for cakes, cookies, pies, tarts, puddings, ice creams, candies, and more. There are traditional Asian desserts with innovative twists, such as Sesame Balls, Mango Sticky Rice, and Almond Tofu, and classic American favorites, like Spiced Coconut Brownies, Banana Cream Pie, and Cream Puffs, livened up with Asian ingredients and cooking techniques. Eschewing the heavy use of butter and sugar, Ong instead highlights the vibrant flavors of Asia—jasmine, lychee, orange blossom water, passion fruit, yuzu, mangosteen, and sesame, to name just a few. And despite the complexity of flavors and textures, all of the recipes are easy enough to make in home kitchens, requiring minimal effort for maximum results. Dazzle dinner-party guests with elegant showstoppers—Thai Tea White Chocolate Tart, Coconut Cream Pie with Toasted Jasmine Rice Crust—or delight the family with simple weeknight treats—Pomegranate Sherbet, Ginger Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.The Sweet Spot includes lush color photographs of almost all of the finished dishes, and a foreword from legendary restaurateur and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Savory Asian cuisine has been popular in America for years. Now it's time to embrace the enticing range of exotic desserts.

Colorado rancher Atticus Cody receives word that his wayward younger son, Scott, has committed suicide in Resurrection, Mexico. When Atticus travels south to recover Scott's body, he is puzzled by what he finds there and begins to suspect murder. Illuminating those often obscure chambers of the human heart, Atticus is the story of a father's steadfast and almost unfathomable love for his son, a mystery that Ron Hansen's fiction explores with a passion and intensity no reader will be able to resist.

These were days of uncertainty and peril, of noble deeds and great sacrifice.An exciting time to be young and adventurous . . . but a dangerous time to fall in love.

With the planet's fighting men and women deployed across the galaxy—battling in the noble cause of enslaved humanity—the insidious Xul have reached across space to devastate the unsuspecting Earth with asteroid fire. Without warning, a once majestic world is reduced to near-rubble—and the very future of humankind is in dire jeopardy. Interplanetary leaders are on the brink of abandoning Earth and its colonies to an overwhelming enemy. But Brigadier General Garroway of the Marine Interstellar Expeditionary Unit is unwilling to concede defeat—not as long as there's a single marine willing to give his or her life in defense of their embattled homeworld. The ultimate battle is about to be waged—with breathtaking new attack technology, an ancient code of courage, and the help of an ally race that once inhabited the Earth—in a war that will alter the universe forever . . .

Bestselling author James Grippando is back with another innovative and action-packed thriller featuring his ever-popular hero. Jack Swyteck gets caught in a dangerous web of intrigue and murder at the top levels of the United States government in his most high-profile and disturbing case yet.Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck guards his own family secrets closely, after his father's two terms as Florida's governor made some personal rifts public. Things between the two men are finally better, and whenever Harry Swyteck asks for Jack's help he gets it. Suddenly, Harry needs it more than ever before.When Harry's friend, the vice president of the United States, goes hunting for alligators in the Everglades and winds up dead, the president positions Harry to be his new VP. Harry immediately asks Jack to be his lawyer. The prestige that comes from the job turns lethal, however, when Jack finds himself at the heart of a complicated cover-up that spans nearly fifty years and the globe. Before hostages can be released, an old secret must be revealed, one that could threaten the life of the president of the United States himself.

Journey beyond Ohndarien to the fallen city of Efften in the stunning conclusion to the epic Heartstone TrilogyA fallen hero defies his destiny . . . A scarred sorceress fights for love . . . A vindictive lover clings to hope . . .And a father of lies calls his family home . . ."You must teach a lost child how to love." With his dying words, the Opal Emperor leaves Brophy, the Heir of Autumn, with an impossible choice: betray his heart by seducing the enchantress Arefaine Morgeon, or watch her ruthless ambitions destroy the world.As Brophy fights to stop Arefaine from unleashing the ancient menace trapped within the silver towers of Efften, the sorceress-concubine Shara returns to her beloved city of Ohndarien to find its people enslaved by the same sinister voice leading Arefaine to her doom. Shara and Brophy rush to bring the truth to Arefaine before the horrors of Efften are reborn, but the darkness within their own hearts may prove the greatest threat . . .