This third book in Kathryn Littlewood's acclaimed Bliss trilogy mixes the down-home heart punch of Ingrid Law's Newbery Honor Book, Savvy, the always-on-the-edge-of-chaos comedy of Cheaper by the Dozen, and a humorous magic all its own to create a thoroughly original confection, a delicious guilty pleasure for readers of all ages.Rose won back her family's magical Cookery Booke in an international baking competition in A Dash of Magic, the second novel in the series. Rose is now world famous—so famous, in fact, that Mr. Butter, head of the Mostess Corporation, has kidnapped her so that she can develop new-and-improved magical recipes for his company's snack cakes. With the magically enhanced Dinkies and Moony Pies, Mr. Butter plans to take over the world.Together with her brothers, their talking cat and mouse, and an unlikely team of bakers, Rose must overthrow Mr. Butter before he destroys civilization, one magically evil snack cake at a time.

This second book in the acclaimed Bliss trilogy mixes the down-home heart-punch of Ingrid Law's Newbery Honor Book Savvy, the always-on-the-edge-of-chaos comedy of Cheaper by the Dozen, and a humorous magic all its own to create a thoroughly original confection to please every reader's sweet tooth!The Bliss family's magical Cookery Booke was stolen by evil Aunt Lily at the end of Bliss, the first novel in the series. Now twelve-year-old Rosemary has a chance to win it back: she challenges her aunt to an Iron Chef-style international baking competition in Paris. But the only way to beat the cheating Aunt Lily is to gather magical ingredients of her own. Together with her brothers and their talking cat and mouse, Rose races across Paris—from the Eiffel Tower to the Cathedral of Notre Dame to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum—to gather what she needs to out-bake—and out-magic—her conniving aunt.If Rose wins, the cherished Cookery Booke will return to her family where it belongs. If she loses—well, the consequences are too ugly to think about. . . .

Set against the turbulence of 1960s Chicago—a city in transformation—and its legendary jazz scene, Last Night at the Blue Angel is a lush and immensely heartfelt mother-daughter tale about a talented but troubled singer’s relationship with her precocious ten-year-old daughter.It is the early 1960s, and Chicago is teeming with the tensions of the day—segregation, sexual experimentation, the Cold War and Vietnam—but it is also home to some of the country’s most influential jazz. Naomi Hill, a singer at the Blue Angel club, has been poised on the brink of stardom for nearly ten years. But when her big break, the cover of Look magazine, finally arrives, it carries with it an enormous personal cost. Sensual and magnetic, Naomi is a fiercely ambitious yet self-destructive woman whose charms tend to hurt those around her, and no one knows this better than her daughter, Sophia.As the only child of a single mother growing up in an adult world, Sophia is wise beyond her years, a casualty of her mother’s desperate struggle for fame and adoration. Unsettled by her home life, she harbors a terrible fear that her world could disappear at any moment, and compulsively maintains a list of everyday objects she might need to reinvent should nuclear catastrophe strike. Her only constant is the colorful and unconventional family that surrounds her and her mother, particularly the photographer, Jim, who is Sophia’s best friend, surrogate father, and protector—but Jim is also deeply in love with Naomi.Weaving between the perspectives of Sophia and Naomi, Last Night at the Blue Angel is a poignant and unforgettable story about what happens when our passion for the life we want is at sharp odds with the life we have. Part stylish period piece, part heartbreaking family drama, it’s a novel rife with revelations, a vivid and propulsive page-turner—and the major debut of an extraordinary new writer.

Ava has spent the last hundred years as a hellhound, the indentured servant of a reaper who hunts errant souls and sends them to hell. When a human necro- mancer convinces her to steal her reaper's scythe, Ava incurs the wrath of the demon Lilith. As punishment, Lilith orders Ava to track down the last soul in her reaper's ledger—or die trying.But after a hundred years of servitude, it's time for payback. And hell hath no fury like an avenging Ava. . . .

From New York Times bestselling author Tim Green comes a captivating baseball novel about one kid's search of a lifetime.It's always been just Ryder and his mom. But on the way home from Ryder's baseball practice, everything comes to a halt. An accident sends his mom to the hospital, and now she is fighting for her life. So Ryder goes on a search to find his father, determined to help pay for the expensive operation to save his mother's life. But with only a signed baseball and a letter as his clues, and the help of his next-door neighbor and a New York City firefighter, will everything fall into place in time, or will Ryder become a lost boy forever?New York Times bestselling author Tim Green knocks this one out of the park, combining heart and baseball to create a story that readers will never forget.

Before America Singer met Prince Maxon . . .Before she entered the Selection . . .She was in love with a boy named Aspen Leger.Don't miss this digital original novella set in the captivating world of Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series. This brand new 64-page story begins just after the group of Selected girls is narrowed down to the Elite and is told from Aspen's point of view. The Guard also features a teaser to The One, the thrilling third novel in the Selection series.Epic Reads Impulse is a digital imprint with new releases each month.

Get the most out of your Qlik Sense investment with the latest insight and guidance direct from the Qlik Sense team About This Book Updated with new coverage on Qlik Cloud, Qlik Sense Modeling, and Extending the Qlik Analytic Platform. Get insider insight on Qlik Sense and its new approach to business intelligence Explore practical demonstrations for utilizing Qlik Sense to discover data for sales, human resources, and more Who This Book Is For Learning Qlik Sense?: The Official Guide Second Edition is for anyone seeking to understand and utilize the revolutionary new approach to business intelligence offered by Qlik Sense. Familiarity with the basics of business intelligence will be helpful when picking up this book, but not essential. What You Will Learn Understand the vision behind the creation of Qlik Sense, and the promise that data discovery offers to you and your organization Get to grips with the life cycle of a Qlik Sense application Load and manage your data for app creation Visualize your data with Qlik Sense's engaging and informative graphing Administer your Qlik Sense system and monitor its security Build efficient and responsive Associative Models Extend the Qlik Analytic Platform with the Dev Hub Optimize Qlik Sense for sales, human resources, and demographic data discovery In Detail The intuitive and powerful Qlik Sense visual analytics software allows anyone to engage in data discovery, to explore your data, and find meaningful insights to empower your business. Qlik Sense lets you easily create personalized reports and visualizations and reveal essential connections to show new opportunities from every angle. Written by members of the Qlik Sense team, this book is the official guide from Qlik to understanding and using their powerful new product with fully updated coverage to the latest features of the most modern edition of Qlik Sense. Benefit from the vision behind the development of Qlik Sense and get to grips with how Qlik Sense can empower you as a data discovery consumer. Learn how to create your own applications for Qlik Sense to customize it to meet your personal needs for business intelligence, and how to oversee and administer the Qlik Sense data architecture. Finally, explore utilizing Qlik Sense to uncover essential data, with practical examples on finding and visualizing intelligence for sales figures, human resources information, travel expense tracking, and demographic data discovery. Style and approach This book is a practical guide to understand what Qlik Sense is and how to implement it. This is an example-rich, step-by-step book to implement and optimize Qlik Sense for sales, human resources, and demographic data discovery.

Learn to code like a professional with Python – an open source, versatile, and powerful programming language About This Book Learn the fundamentals of programming with Python – one of the best languages ever created Develop a strong set of programming skills that you will be able to express in any situation, on every platform, thanks to Python’s portability Create outstanding applications of all kind, from websites to *ing, and from GUIs to data science Who This Book Is For Python is the most popular introductory teaching language in U.S. top computer science universities, so if you are new to software development, or maybe you have little experience, and would like to start off on the right foot, then this language and this book are what you need. Its amazing design and portability will help you become productive regardless of the environment you choose to work with. What You Will Learn Get Python up and running on Windows, Mac, and Linux in no time Grasp the fundamental concepts of coding, along with the basics of data structures and control flow. Write elegant, reusable, and efficient code in any situation Understand when to use the functional or the object oriented programming approach Create bulletproof, reliable software by writing tests to support your code Explore examples of GUIs, *ing, data science and web applications Learn to be independent, capable of fetching any resource you need, as well as dig deeper In Detail Learning Python has a dynamic and varied nature. It reads easily and lays a good foundation for those who are interested in digging deeper. It has a practical and example-oriented approach through which both the introductory and the advanced topics are explained. Starting with the fundamentals of programming and Python, it ends by exploring very different topics, like GUIs, web apps and data science. The book takes you all the way to creating a fully fledged application. The book begins by exploring the essentials of programming, data structures and teaches you how to manipulate them. It then moves on to controlling the flow of a program and writing reusable and error proof code. You will then explore different programming paradigms that will allow you to find the best approach to any situation, and also learn how to perform performance optimization as well as effective debugging. Throughout, the book steers you through the various types of applications, and it concludes with a complete mini website built upon all the concepts that you learned. Style and approach This book is an easy-to-follow guide that will take you from a novice to the proficient level at a comfortable pace, using a lot of simple but effective examples. Each topic is explained thoroughly, and pointers are left for the more inquisitive readers to dig deeper and expand their knowledge.

Learn and explore the fundamentals of data analysis with power of Mathematica About This Book Use the power of Mathematica to analyze data in your applications Discover the capabilities of data classification and pattern recognition offered by Mathematica Use hundreds of algorithms for time series analysis to predict the future Who This Book Is For The book is for those who want to learn to use the power of Mathematica to analyze and process data. Perhaps you are already familiar with data analysis but have never used Mathematica, or you know Mathematica but you are new to data analysis. With the help of this book, you will be able to quickly catch up on the key points for a successful start. What You Will Learn Import data from different sources to Mathematica Link external libraries with programs written in Mathematica Classify data and partition them into clusters Recognize faces, objects, text, and barcodes Use Mathematica functions for time series analysis Use algorithms for statistical data processing Predict the result based on the observations In Detail There are many algorithms for data analysis and it’s not always possible to quickly choose the best one for each case. Implementation of the algorithms takes a lot of time. With the help of Mathematica, you can quickly get a result from the use of a particular method, because this system contains almost all the known algorithms for data analysis. If you are not a programmer but you need to analyze data, this book will show you the capabilities of Mathematica when just few strings of intelligible code help to solve huge tasks from statistical issues to pattern recognition. If you're a programmer, with the help of this book, you will learn how to use the library of algorithms implemented in Mathematica in your programs, as well as how to write algorithm testing procedure. With each chapter, you'll be more immersed in the special world of Mathematica. Along with intuitive queries for data processing, we will highlight the nuances and features of this system, allowing you to build effective analysis systems. With the help of this book, you will learn how to optimize the computations by combining your libraries with the Mathematica kernel. Style and approach This book takes a step-by-step approach, accompanied by examples, so you get a better understanding of the logic of writing algorithms for data analysis in Mathematica. We provide a detailed explanation of all the nuances of the Mathematica language, no matter what your level of experience is.

Master the advanced concepts of game development for iOS to build impressive games About This Book Create a complete game with advanced techniques through the course of the book using in-depth, hands-on instructions Learn how to multi-task and improve performance optimization in your game playing experience The author, Miguel, has 11 years of iOS game development using xcode and has released over 10 games to the Apple AppStoreMaster player movement using touch controls as well as discuss motion controls Who This Book Is For This book is for those who have created an iOS game already and want to hone their skills. A reasonable level of knowledge and an understanding of the core elements and applications would be helpful. What You Will Learn Blast off and start developing fun games Optimize the assets for the best performance in the game app Master player movement using touch controls as well as discuss motion controls Perform bug Squashing by testing and debugging Design interesting various characters and enemies for your game Test your game on both, the simulator on the computer and on real devices Tweak and fine tune the code and graphics before the release of your app Uncover some awesome new gameplay by adding in multiplayer elements, to get more people playing together In Detail iOS is an operating system for Apple manufactured phones and tablets. Mobile gaming is one of the fastest-growing industries, and compatibility with iOS is now becoming the norm for game developers. SpriteKit is part of the native SDK from Apple, and enables developers to make simple entry into game development without unnecessary overhead and a long learning process. SpriteKit also provides other functionality that is useful for games, including basic sound playback support and physics simulation. In addition, Xcode provides built-in support for SpriteKit so that you can create complex special effects and texture atlases directly in Xcode. This combination of framework and tools makes SpriteKit a good choice for games and other apps that require similar kinds of animation. Become a master in iOS game development through this fast and fun guide! In the beginning, we’ll tell you everything you need to plan and design your game. You’ll then start developing your game through step-by-step instructions using the various built-in technologies of Xcode. From there on, we discuss how to deploy your game to the iOS App Store, as well as monetizing it to make more revenue. You will also learn advanced techniques to improve your game playing experience, including better multi-tasking, improved performance optimization, battery management, and more. To end the book off, we’ll show you how to update your game with different features, then port the update to the App Store. Style and approach This book provides an easy-to-understand and fun approach to game development, with step-by-step instructions and detailed explanation of each block of code. The topics covered range from easy to advanced, so buckle up for a fast-paced ride!

Discover all the secrets of Unreal Engine and create seven fully functional games with the help of step-by-step instructions About This Book Understand what a Blueprint is and how to create a complex visual *ing code Discover the infinite possibilities that Unreal Engine offers, and understand which tool to use, where and when Learn to think like a real game developer in order to create enjoyable and bug-free games using this comprehensive and practical handbook Who This Book Is For This book is ideal for intermediate level developers who know how to use Unreal Engine and want to go through a series of projects that will further their expertise. Working knowledge of C++ is a must. What You Will Learn Write clean and reusable Blueprint *s Develop any kind of game you have in mind, following the rules used by experts Move through Unreal Engine 4, always knowing what you are doing and where to find the right tool for your needs Integrate C++ code into your projects using Visual Studio and the tools that Unreal provides Extricate between classes, nodes, interfaces, macros, and functions Work with different types of assets, from 3D objects to audio sources, from UI buttons to animations Explore all the aspects of the game logic—collisions, navigation meshes, matinees, volumes, events, and states In Detail With the arrival of Unreal Engine 4, a new wonderful tool was born: Blueprint. This visual *ing tool allows even non-programmers to develop the logic for their games, allowing almost anyone to create entire games without the need to write a single line of code. The range of features you can access with Blueprint * is pretty extensive, making it one of the foremost choices for many game developers. Unreal Engine Game Development Blueprints helps you unleash the real power of Unreal by helping you to create engaging and spectacular games. It will explain all the aspects of developing a game, focusing on visual *ing, and giving you all the information you need to create your own games. We start with an introductory chapter to help you move fluidly inside the Blueprint user interface, recognize its different components, and understand any already written Blueprint *. Following this, you will learn how to modify generated Blueprint classes to produce a single player tic-tac-toe game and personalize it. Next, you will learn how to create simple user interfaces, and how to extend Blueprints through code. This will help you make an informed decision between choosing Blueprint or code. You will then see the real power of Unreal unleashed as you create a beautiful scene with moving, AI controlled objects, particles, and lights. Then, you will learn how to create AI using a behavior tree and a global level Blueprint, how to modify the camera, and how to shoot custom bullets. Finally, you will create a complex game using Blueprintable components complete with a menu, power-up, dangerous objects, and different weapons. Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow guide full of practical game examples. Each chapter contains step-by-step instructions to build a complete game and each game uses a different tool in order to cover all the topics in a detailed and progressive manner.

This book is a tutorial guide that covers each topic in depth with examples. The stepbystep approach will help you better understand each task as you will have to perform them frequently when utilizing the services. If you are a Dynamics AX developer, new or experienced who wants to implement services with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, then this book is for you. A basic understanding of MorphX and X++ is assumed, but the stepbystep instructions are easy to follow even for beginners. Some examples use C# and .NET, so experience with Visual Studio is a plus but not a must.

This book follows a stepbystep tutorial approach with some realworld scenarios that vSphere businesses will be required to overcome every day. This book also discusses creating and configuring virtual machines and also covers monitoring virtual machine performance and resource allocation options. This book is for VMware administrators who want to build their knowledge of virtual machine administration and configuration. It’s assumed that you have some experience with virtualization administration and vSphere.

This book uses a stepbystep approach to teach you how to design, deploy, and manage a Horizon Workspace based on real world experience. Written in an easytofollow style, this book explains the terminology in a clear and concise manner. Each feature is explained starting at a high level and then drilling down into the technical detail, using diagrams and screenshots. This book is perfect for IT administrators who want to deploy a solution to centrally manage access to corporate applications, data, and virtual desktops using Horizon Workspace. You need to have some experience in delivering BYOD initiatives and delivering applications from the Cloud (SaaS).

A complete guide for Python programmers to master scientific computing using Python APIs and tools About This Book The basics of scientific computing to advanced concepts involving parallel and large scale computation are all covered. Most of the Python APIs and tools used in scientific computing are discussed in detail The concepts are discussed with suitable example programs Who This Book Is For If you are a Python programmer and want to get your hands on scientific computing, this book is for you. The book expects you to have had exposure to various concepts of Python programming. What You Will Learn Fundamentals and components of scientific computing Scientific computing data management Performing numerical computing using NumPy and SciPy Concepts and programming for symbolic computing using SymPy Using the plotting library matplotlib for data visualization Data analysis and visualization using Pandas, matplotlib, and IPython Performing parallel and high performance computing Real-life case studies and best practices of scientific computing In Detail In today's world, along with theoretical and experimental work, scientific computing has become an important part of scientific disciplines. Numerical calculations, simulations and computer modeling in this day and age form the vast majority of both experimental and theoretical papers. In the scientific method, replication and reproducibility are two important contributing factors. A complete and concrete scientific result should be reproducible and replicable. Python is suitable for scientific computing. A large community of users, plenty of help and documentation, a large collection of scientific libraries and environments, great performance, and good support makes Python a great choice for scientific computing. At present Python is among the top choices for developing scientific workflow and the book targets existing Python developers to master this domain using Python. The main things to learn in the book are the concept of scientific workflow, managing scientific workflow data and performing computation on this data using Python. The book discusses NumPy, SciPy, SymPy, matplotlib, Pandas and IPython with several example programs. Style and approach This book follows a hands-on approach to explain the complex concepts related to scientific computing. It details various APIs using appropriate examples.

Get to grips with key data visualization and predictive analytic skills using R About This Book Acquire predictive analytic skills using various tools of R Make predictions about future events by discovering valuable information from data using R Comprehensible guidelines that focus on predictive model design with real-world data Who This Book Is For If you are a statistician, chief information officer, data scientist, ML engineer, ML practitioner, quantitative analyst, and student of machine learning, this is the book for you. You should have basic knowledge of the use of R. Readers without previous experience of programming in R will also be able to use the tools in the book. What You Will Learn Customize R by installing and loading new packages Explore the structure of data using clustering algorithms Turn unstructured text into ordered data, and acquire knowledge from the data Classify your observations using Na?ve Bayes, k-NN, and decision trees Reduce the dimensionality of your data using principal component analysis Discover association rules using Apriori Understand how statistical distributions can help retrieve information from data using correlations, linear regression, and multilevel regression Use PMML to deploy the models generated in R In Detail R is statistical software that is used for data analysis. There are two main types of learning from data: unsupervised learning, where the structure of data is extracted automatically; and supervised learning, where a labeled part of the data is used to learn the relationship or scores in a target attribute. As important information is often hidden in a lot of data, R helps to extract that information with its many standard and cutting-edge statistical functions. This book is packed with easy-to-follow guidelines that explain the workings of the many key data mining tools of R, which are used to discover knowledge from your data. You will learn how to perform key predictive analytics tasks using R, such as train and test predictive models for classification and regression tasks, score new data sets and so on. All chapters will guide you in acquiring the skills in a practical way. Most chapters also include a theoretical introduction that will sharpen your understanding of the subject matter and invite you to go further. The book familiarizes you with the most common data mining tools of R, such as k-means, hierarchical regression, linear regression, association rules, principal component analysis, multilevel modeling, k-NN, Na?ve Bayes, decision trees, and text mining. It also provides a de*ion of visualization techniques using the basic visualization tools of R as well as lattice for visualizing patterns in data organized in groups. This book is invaluable for anyone fascinated by the data mining opportunities offered by GNU R and its packages. Style and approach This is a practical book, which analyzes compelling data about life, health, and death with the help of tutorials. It offers you a useful way of interpreting the data that’s specific to this book, but that can also be applied to any other data.

Get hands-on experience with vRealize Orchestrator and automate your VMware environment About This Book Gain an in-depth understanding of vRO in the VMware infrastructure Create your own advanced vRO *s using JavaScript A step-by-step tutorial to manage and create workflows with vRO Who This Book Is For This book is for VMware vSphere administrators who have minimal experience with automation tools and want to learn how to effectively automate their environment with VMware vRealize Orchestrator. A basic understanding of the VMware vSphere terms and concepts would be helpful. What You Will Learn Familiarize yourself with the Orchestrator architecture and Explore how plugins can expand Orchestrator's capabilitiesExplore how plug-ins can expand Orchestrator’s capabilities Deploy and configure the vRealize Orchestrator appliance Schedule and run workflows using the vSphere Web Client Create your own workflows with minimal work Use workflow presentations to improve your automation projects Integrate JavaScript to enhance your workflows Debug your workflows for errors and fix them Learn how to create, import, and export packages, to enable easy exchange solutions with others In Detail The automation of virtual environments has become the focus of many endeavors. VMware vRealize Orchestrator is a tool that enables you to automate not only your VMware environments, but also the surrounding hardware and software infrastructure. Orchestrator is also a central tool in the VMware cloud initiative and is extensively used by products such as vRealize Automation. In this book, you will learn how Orchestrator is able to help you automate your complete VMware infrastructure as well as its surrounding hardware and software. After deploying and configuring the vRealize Orchestrator appliance, you will learn how to run the existing workflows that are a part of the Orchestrator library. You will also see how the vSphere Web Client integration of Orchestrator reduces the time you spend on your daily admin tasks. The main aspect here is to learn how to create new workflows from existing ones. You will also look at how you can create completely new workflows. This includes learning about JavaScript and using presentation features to improve the layout and user friendliness of your workflows. Toward the end, you will learn to check for errors in your workflows and debug them. By the time you're done with the book, you'll be proficient in managing your workflows. Style and approach This book follows a sequential approach with ample screenshots in the examples that convey a deeper understanding of all Orchestrator-related tasks.

Arguing that an efficient economic system can be compatible with a fair share for all, this novel centers on a United States president who changes his mind about his policies. A deliberate parable about today’s political wars, the novel illustrates the reforms posed by a real 19th-century figure, the American economist Henry George. Accordingly, this fictional reelection campaign provides a convenient stage for speeches and debates when the incumbent president goes missing—and returns with a platform for social justice that enrages those with vested interests and confounds his party operatives.

Having sailed with Sir Francis Drake, swashbuckling privateer Rodney Hawkhurst yearns for a galleon of his own with which to plunder the Spanish Main in the name of Queen Elizabeth. Seeking investment from Sir Harry Gillingham, he has a fleeting encounter with an elfin, tomboyish golden-red-haired beauty Sir Harry?s youngest daughter Lizbeth and is bewitched by her limpid green eyes. Yet it is fair and golden-haired elder sister Phillida with whom he first falls in love... Granted his finances on the condition that Sir Harry?s weak, possibly even traitorous son sails with him in the hope that the mission will make him a man, Rodney embarks on a voyage of blood, honour and glory in which he gains great riches but loses his heart, not once, but twice. The risks are great but so are the rewards: wealth beyond compare and, as Rodney finally discovers, a greater, deeper, more passionate love than he ever imagined possible.

"?Do you really think you could work as I had to work to keep your mother from starvationMy dear child, you have lived in the lap of luxury all your life. You could no more earn a penny piece than fly over the moon!Kasia?s father laughs scornfully. This is justification for his decision to marry her off to a man she does not love purely to save her from fortune hunters. So Kasia runs away to prove him wrong by working as Governess to the Duke of Dreghorne?s unruly nephew. As Kasia gains the trust of the child, she earns first the respect and then the growing affection of the Lord. But when she and the boy are kidnapped the stakes are irrevocably raised and the Duke?s reputation as a Dare-Devil will be tested one final time... Will Kasia?s father forgive herWill Fate finally unite the hearts of Kasia and the Dare-Devil Duke?"

Destitute after the death of her beloved Papa, Carmela is miserable working as Nanny to the brattish children of the local vicar. So when her closest friend Felicity asks her to take her place in the home of her guardian, the dictatorial Earl of Galeston, she nervously agrees. The subterfuge is necessary to ensure Felicity can marry the love of her life – and possible firstly because none of Felicity’s feuding family have set eyes on her since she was a child... And secondly because both young women are blue-eyed, blonde and beautiful. The Earl’s ancestral home is awe-inspiring – but it is the Earl himself who makes the greatest impression on Carmela. Growing to appreciate the profound kindness behind his steely fa?ade, she falls deeply, utterly in love... But can true love live when it’s based on a lieThe Earl finds the answer in his heart when Carmela’s life – and any hope of love – is at stake...