Mike Phillips is the author of several books and screenplays as well as his award-winning Sam Dean novels. In 1997 he was Writer in Residence at London’s South Bank Centre.

Nancy Carson lives in Staffordshire and is a keen student of local history. All her novels are based around real events, and focus on the lives and loves of the people of the Black Country.

Michael Bond was born in Newbury, Berkshire on 13 January 1926 and educated at Presentation College, Reading. He served in the Royal Air Force and the British Army before working as a cameraman for BBC TV for 19 years. In 2015, Michael was awarded a CBE for his services to children’s literature, to add to the OBE he received in 1997. Michael died in 2017, leaving behind one of the great literary legacies of our time.

The ninth title in this successful series. A factually accurate but hilarious look at the life of Leonardo Da Vinci as he mixes with the colourful set in Renaissance Italy! From his passion for horses, to his painting of the Mona Lisa – all is revealed. Leonardo da Vinci’s life from 1470 to 1519 as seen through the eyes of one, Luigi Cannelloni, Leonardo’s trusty assistant. From his Adoration of the Magi; his passion for the structure of horses; his painting of the Mona Lisa not to mention the highlife of Renaissance Italy – all is revealed in an hilarious way. As with the other Lost Diaries, this is factually accurate but the fictional voice brings in the humour

In The Importance of Being Earnest what Lady Bracknell said of Ernest’s loss of both his parents could also be said about the losing of elections. If the loss of one election is unfortunate, and two careless, then three is reckless, four criminal, and to lose five in succession might well prove fatal. This chapter looks at the reasons for Labour’s losing streak. It considers whether the Party is now so enfeebled that it will be unable to win again, unless it offers an electoral reform which will ensure that it is unlikely ever to form a one-party government again. The promise of electoral reform must be accompanied by the most fundamental changes in the Party’s constitution if Labour is to continue to be a serious political force.

INTO THE DARK Fran has come back to face her ghosts: the fears she buried four long years ago. If she confronts the creatures from her nightmares, she’ll know that they were only in her mind. Her best friend and the man she loves are waiting, and spring in sunny Oxford seems to light the way ahead. But on Salisbury Plain she meets a living shadow and finds she is destined for a darker road. Martin is still challenging his demons: the phantoms that he’s glimpsed and can’t forget. Before his eyes they swarmed out of a medieval star chart and vanished in the night without a trace. He has unleashed the Ravensbreed: a band of ruthless warriors, sworn to defend their ancient kingdom in its darkest hour. The world has moved on, and yet the land still needs them. Beyond the peaceful English fields, old enemies are gathering again. From city streets to wild woods, among outcasts and resisters, Fran and Martin must join the Ravensbreed in their final, desperate war – a long and bloody struggle which, if lost, will plunge their country and everyone they love into a brutal New Dark Age.

Mick Hume is a journalist and author of ‘Trigger Warning: Is the Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech?’ He is editor-at-large of Spiked and writes regularly on free-speech issues. He had a weekly column in The Times for ten years, and was described as ‘Britain’s only libertarian Marxist newspaper columnist’. More recently he has written in defence of freedom of speech and a free press in The Times, the Sunday Times, the Independent and the Sun.

Ada Adverse was brought up in a deeply puritanical household where looking at a cake or using words containing more than one vowel were considered decadences punishable by a night in the coal cellar. But at fifteen she ran away from home and is now the world’s leading authority on Having Fun, which is definitely an actual job, she has ‘Fungineer’ printed on her business cards to prove it, though in retrospect she should have been more clear that this does not mean she specialises in mushrooms. Ada’s hobbies include topiary, mazes, homing pigeons, flea circuses, forming imaginary bands in her head, embalming things, tattoos, pylons, and the films of Billy Wilder. Ada’s dislikes include predatory mcaws, getting out the wrong side of the bed, collections of masks, and porcelain dolls with realistic teeth.

Passion, adventure, struggle for survival and love for life – on a remote island. You’re fed up with your office job, your flatmate, your bank manager and yourself. Fate throws you a lifeline. You’re now the sole inheritor of a cottage on a remote island off New Zealand. Do you take it? Of course you do. So, off sets Rosie Trethewey, not knowing what she’s in for but pretty certain it can’t be worse than what she’s got. She’s not counted on her reclusive neighbours: a traumatised refugee of the war in Burma, and a misanthrope of an ex-policeman. They can’t abide each other, let alone the thought of a newcomer. And a woman at that. But you can’t survive on an island without some degree of contact. Rosie is the catalyst that forces the loners to come to terms with themselves, each other and the encroaching world.

The winners of the 1993 IAN ST JAMES AWARDS. The Ian St James Awards enabled new writers from every walk of life to break into print. 1993’s collection introduced more new writers than ever before, with six short stories and ten longer pieces. Entertaining, thought provoking, original, each of these stories is a winner, selected from thousands of entries from all over the world.

Originally published in 1997 and now available as an ebook. It has not been possible to include the illustrations in the electronic edition. Perhaps the bravest and most inspiring actor of his generation, Harvey Keitel has made his menacing presence felt in some of the greatest cult movies ever, from Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver to Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. With over fifty films to his name, a dozen of them since 1992, Keitel is one of the most ubiquitous and sought-after actors in Hollywood. Yet unlike so many of his contemporaries, he constantly surprises with daring and risk-taking performances in ground-breaking films such as Bad Lieutenant, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Piano and Smoke. Since his tough childhood in Brooklyn, Keitel's life has been a dramatic and unconventional as his screen roles. 'Harvey Keitel: The Art of Darkness 'tells, for the first time, the story of the rollercoaster career and turbulent personal life of this most powerful performer.

The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (Charity No. SC 016085; Company No. SC480530), is dedicated to promoting Scottish Country Dance. The Society exists to promote and develop Scottish country dancing worldwide for the benefit of present and future generations. It has a world-wide network of Branches and Affiliated Groups, with a small administrative team at its central office in Edinburgh.

‘A wonderfully nostalgic tale’ Choice Magazine The perfect heartwarming read, full of nostalgia and charm. It’s 1942 and Annie Walker is the landlady of the Rovers Return on Coronation Street. With her husband Jack away fighting for King and Country, Annie must juggle lone motherhood with keeping the regulars happy. Gracie Ashton works behind the bar at the Rovers and scoffs at the daft girls who are having their heads turned by the American soldiers flooding into Weatherfield. But when she finds herself thrown together with the handsome GI, Chuck Dawson, Gracie wonders if she has her own head screwed on right. With rationing, air raids and blackouts, the wives and mothers of Coronation Street are determined to count their blessings, but when an unwelcome face from the past turns up at the Rovers it looks like Annie will have more to worry about than Hitler’s bombs… Full of Coronation Street’s trademark humour and warmth, it’s the perfect gift for Mother’s Day.

The brave owls of Ga'Hoole are back in their second mythic adventure as they strive to preserve owldom from the evil that lurks around them. Join the owls in their quest for the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, the legendary place where ordinary owls are transformed into the heroes that guard the owl kingdom. Out of the darkness a hero will rise… It began as a dream. A quest for the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, a mythic place where each night an order of owls rises to perform noble deeds. There Soren, Gylfie, Twilight and Digger hope to find inspiration to fight the evil that dwells in the owl kingdom. The journey is long and arduous for Soren, Gylife, Twilight and Digger. When they finally arrive, they realize that the journey has barely started and that greater challenges lay ahead. If they succeed in following in the footsteps of their leaders, they will soon become true Ga'Hoolian owls– honest, brave, true and wise.

Build enterprise-grade microservice ecosystems with intensive case studies using C# About This Book ? Learn to build message-based microservices ? Packed with case studies to explain the intricacies of large-scale microservices ? Build scalable, modular, and robust architectures with C# Who This Book Is For C# developers, software architects, and professionals who want to master the art of designing the microservice architecture that is scalable based on environment. Developers should have a basic understanding of.NET application development using C# and Visual Studio What You Will Learn ? Explore different open source tools within the context of designing microservices ? Learn to provide insulation to exception-prone function calls ? Build common messages used between microservices for communication ? Learn to create a microservice using our base class and interface ? Design a quantitative financial machine microservice ? Learn to design a microservice that is capable of using Blockchain technology In Detail C# is a powerful language when it comes to building applications and software architecture using rich libraries and tools such as .NET. This book will harness the strength of C# in developing microservices architectures and applications. This book shows developers how to develop an enterprise-grade, event-driven, asynchronous, message-based microservice framework using C#, .NET, and various open source tools. We will discuss how to send and receive messages, how to design many types of microservice that are truly usable in a corporate environment. We will also dissect each case and explain the code, best practices, pros and cons, and more. Through our journey, we will use many open source tools, and create file monitors, a machine learning microservice, a quantitative financial microservice that can handle bonds and credit default swaps, a deployment microservice to show you how to better manage your deployments, and memory, health status, and other microservices. By the end of this book, you will have a complete microservice ecosystem you can place into production or customize in no time. Style and approach A step-by-step guide that enables readers to create a complete microservice ecosystem they can place into production or customize in no time.

Transform games into environments using machine learning and Deep learning with Tensorflow, Keras, and Unity About This Book ? Learn how to apply core machine learning concepts to your games with Unity ? Learn the Fundamentals of Reinforcement Learning and Q-Learning and apply them to your games ? Learn How to build multiple asynchronous agents and run them in a training scenario Who This Book Is For This book is intended for developers with an interest in using Machine learning algorithms to develop better games and simulations with Unity. The reader will be required to have a working knowledge of C# and a basic understanding of Python. What You Will Learn ? Develop Reinforcement and Deep Reinforcement Learning for games. ? Understand complex and advanced concepts of reinforcement learning and neural networks ? Explore various training strategies for cooperative and competitive agent development ? Adapt the basic script components of Academy, Agent, and Brain to be used with Q Learning. ? Enhance the Q Learning model with improved training strategies such as Greedy-Epsilon exploration ? Implement a simple NN with Keras and use it as an external brain in Unity ? Understand how to add LTSM blocks to an existing DQN ? Build multiple asynchronous agents and run them in a training scenario In Detail Unity Machine Learning agents allow researchers and developers to create games and simulations using the Unity Editor, which serves as an environment where intelligent agents can be trained with machine learning methods through a simple-to-use Python API. This book takes you from the basics of Reinforcement and Q Learning to building Deep Recurrent Q-Network agents that cooperate or compete in a multi-agent ecosystem. You will start with the basics of Reinforcement Learning and how to apply it to problems. Then you will learn how to build self-learning advanced neural networks with Python and Keras/TensorFlow. From there you move o n to more advanced training scenarios where you will learn further innovative ways to train your network with A3C, imitation, and curriculum learning models. By the end of the book, you will have learned how to build more complex environments by building a cooperative and competitive multi-agent ecosystem. Style and approach This book focuses on the foundations of ML, RL and DL for building agents in a game or simulation

Use Java features such as JAX-RS, EJBs, and JPAs to build powerful middleware for newer architectures such as the cloud About This Book ? Explore EJBs to build middleware solutions for enterprise and distributed applications ? Understand middleware designs such as event-based and message-driven web services ? Learn to design and maintain large-scale systems and vendor disputes Who This Book Is For Enterprise architects, designers, developers, and programmers who are interested in learning how to build robust middleware solutions for enterprise software will find this book useful. Prior knowledge of Java EE is essential What You Will Learn ? Implement the latest Java EE 8 APIs and manage dependencies with CDI 2.0 ? Perform CRUD operations and access databases with JPA 2.1 ? Use bean validation API 2.0 to validate data ? Develop business logic with EJB 3.2 ? Incorporate the REST architecture and RESTful API design patterns ? Perform serialization and deserialization on JSON documents using JSON-B ? Utilize JMS for messaging and queuing models and securing applications ? Test applications using JUnit and Mockito and deploy them using Docker In Detail Middleware is the infrastructure in software based applications that enables businesses to solve problems, operate more efficiently, and make money. As the use of middleware extends beyond a single application, the importance of having it written by experts increases substantially. This book will help you become an expert in developing middleware for a variety of applications. The book starts off by exploring the latest Java EE 8 APIs with newer features and managing dependencies with CDI 2.0. You will learn to implement object-to-relational mapping using JPA 2.1 and validate data using bean validation. You will also work with different types of EJB to develop business logic, and with design RESTful APIs by utilizing different HTTP methods and activating JAX-RS features in enterprise applications. You will learn to secure your middleware with Java Security 1.0 and implement various authentication techniques, such as OAuth authentication. In the concluding chapters, you will use various test technologies, such as JUnit and Mockito, to test applications, and Docker to deploy your enterprise applications. By the end of the book, you will be proficient in developing robust, effective, and distributed middleware for your business. Style and approach Learn how to design and implement professional enterprise middleware solutions using the latest techniques and features provided by the Java EE 8 platform.

This book will give you an all encompassing view of the domain name ecosystem combined with a comprehensive set of operations strategies. About This Book ? Manage infrastructure, risk, and management of DNS name servers. Get hands-on with factors like types of name servers, DNS queries and and so on. ? Practical guide for system administrators to manage mission-critical servers ? Based on real-world experience - Written by an industry veteran who has made every possible mistake within this field. Who This Book Is For Ideal for sysadmins, webmasters, IT consultants, and developers-anyone responsible for maintaining your organization's core DNS What You Will Learn ? Anatomy of a domain - how a domain is the sum of both its DNS zone and its registration data, and why that matters. ? The domain name ecosystem - the role of registries, registrars and oversight bodies and their effect on your names. ? How DNS queries work - queries and responses are examined including debugging techniques to zero in on problems. ? Nameserver considerations - alternative nameserver daemons, numbering considerations, and deployment architectures. ? DNS use cases - the right way for basic operations such as domain transfers, large scale migrations, GeoDNS, Anycast DNS. ? Securing your domains - All aspects of security from registrar vendor selection, to DNSSEC and DDOS mitigation strategies. In Detail Managing your organization's naming architecture and mitigating risks within complex naming environments is very important. This book will go beyond looking at “how to run a name server” or “how to DNSSEC sign a domain”, Managing Mission Critical Domains & DNS looks across the entire spectrum of naming; from external factors that exert influence on your domains to all the internal factors to consider when operating your DNS. The readers are taken on a comprehensive guided tour through the world of naming: from understanding the role of registrars and how they interact with registries, to what exactly is it that ICANN does anyway? Once the prerequisite knowledge of the domain name ecosystem is acquired, the readers are taken through all aspects of DNS operations. Whether your organization operates its own nameservers or utilizes an outsourced vendor, or both, we examine the complex web of interlocking factors that must be taken into account but are too frequently overlooked. By the end of this book, our readers will have an end to end to understanding of all the aspects covered in DNS name servers. Style and approach The book is divided into two parts, the first part looks at the wider domain name ecosystem: registries, registrars and oversight policies. The second and larger part goes into operations. Every aspect of naming is considered from the viewpoint of how this affects ones domains, what are the ramifications of different operating methods as portfolios scale.

Explore the features included in the latest versions of MQTT for IoT and M2M communications and use them with modern Python 3. About This Book ? Make your connected devices less prone to attackers by understanding security mechanisms ? Take advantage of MQTT features for IoT and Machine-to-Machine communications ? The only book that covers MQTT with a single language, Python Who This Book Is For This book is for developers who want to learn about the MQTT protocol for their IoT projects. Prior knowledge of working with IoT and Python will be helpful. What You Will Learn ? Learn how MQTT and its lightweight messaging system work ? Understand the MQTT puzzle: clients, servers (formerly known as brokers), and connections ? Explore the features included in the latest versions of MQTT for IoT and M2M communications ? Publish and receive MQTT messages with Python ? Learn the difference between blocking and threaded network loops ? Take advantage of the last will and testament feature ? Work with cloud-based MQTT interfaces in Python In Detail MQTT is a lightweight messaging protocol for small sensors and mobile devices. This book explores the features of the latest versions of MQTT for IoT and M2M communications, how to use them with Python 3, and allow you to interact with sensors and actuators using Python. The book begins with the specific vocabulary of MQTT and its working modes, followed by installing a Mosquitto MQTT broker. You will use different utilities and diagrams to understand the most important concepts related to MQTT. You will learn to?make all the necessary configuration to work with digital certificates for encrypting all data sent between the MQTT clients and the server. You will also work with the different Quality of Service levels and later analyze and compare their overheads. You will write Python 3.x code to control a vehicle with MQTT messages delivered through encrypted connections (TLS 1.2), and learn how leverage your knowledge of the MQTT protocol to build a solution based on requirements. Towards the end, you will write Python code to use the PubNub cloud-based real-time MQTT provider to monitor a surfing competition. In the end, you will have a solution that was built from scratch by analyzing the requirements and then write Python code that will run on water-proof IoT boards connected to multiple sensors in surfboards. Style and approach This book shows you what MQTT is, and how to install and secure an MQTT server. You will write Python 3 code to control a vehicle with MQTT messages, test and improve, then monitor a surfing competition with cloud-based real-time MQTT providers.

Be an adaptive thinker that leads the way to Artificial Intelligence About This Book ? AI-based examples to guide you in designing and implementing machine intelligence ? Develop your own method for future AI solutions ? Acquire advanced AI, machine learning, and deep learning design skills Who This Book Is For Artificial Intelligence by Example is a simple, explanatory, and descriptive guide for junior developers, experienced developers, technology consultants, and those interested in AI who want to understand the fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence and implement it practically by devising smart solutions. Prior experience with Python and statistical knowledge is essential to make the most out of this book. What You Will Learn ? Use adaptive thinking to solve real-life AI case studies ? Rise beyond being a modern-day factory code worker ? Acquire advanced AI, machine learning, and deep learning designing skills ? Learn about cognitive NLP chatbots, quantum computing, and IoT and blockchain technology ? Understand future AI solutions and adapt quickly to them ? Develop out-of-the-box thinking to face any challenge the market presents In Detail Artificial Intelligence has the potential to replicate humans in every field. This book serves as a starting point for you to understand how AI is built, with the help of intriguing examples and case studies. Artificial Intelligence By Example will make you an adaptive thinker and help you apply concepts to real-life scenarios. Using some of the most interesting AI examples, right from a simple chess engine to a cognitive chatbot, you will learn how to tackle the machine you are competing with. You will study some of the most advanced machine learning models, understand how to apply AI to blockchain and IoT, and develop emotional quotient in chatbots using neural networks. You will move on to designing AI solutions in a simple manner rather than get confused by complex architectures and techniques. This comprehensive guide will be a starter kit for you to develop AI applications on your own. By the end of this book, will have understood the fundamentals of AI and worked through a number of case studies that will help you develop business vision. Style and approach An easy-to-follow step by step guide which will help you get to grips with real world application of Artificial Intelligence

Develop, deploy, and streamline your data science projects with the most popular end-to-end platform, Anaconda About This Book ? Use Anaconda to find solutions for clustering, classification, and linear regression ? Analyze your data efficiently with the most powerful data science stack ? Use the Anaconda cloud to store, share, and discover projects and libraries Who This Book Is For Hands-On Data Science with Anaconda is for you if you are a developer who is looking for the best tools in the market to perform data science. It’s also ideal for data analysts and data science professionals who want to improve the efficiency of their data science applications by using the best libraries in multiple languages. Basic programming knowledge with R or Python and introductory knowledge of linear algebra is expected. What You Will Learn ? Perform cleaning, sorting, classification, clustering, regression, and dataset modeling using Anaconda ? Use the package manager conda and discover, install, and use functionally efficient and scalable packages ? Get comfortable with heterogeneous data exploration using multiple languages within a project ? Perform distributed computing and use Anaconda Accelerate to optimize computational powers ? Discover and share packages, notebooks, and environments, and use shared project drives on Anaconda Cloud ? Tackle advanced data prediction problems In Detail Anaconda is an open source platform that brings together the best tools for data science professionals with more than 100 popular packages supporting Python, Scala, and R languages. Hands-On Data Science with Anaconda gets you started with Anaconda and demonstrates how you can use it to perform data science operations in the real world. The book begins with setting up the environment for Anaconda platform in order to make it accessible for tools and frameworks such as Jupyter, pandas, matplotlib, Python, R, Julia, and more. You’ll walk through package manager Conda, through which you can automatically manage all packages including cross-language dependencies, and work across Linux, macOS, and Windows. You’ll explore all the essentials of data science and linear algebra to perform data science tasks using packages such as SciPy, contrastive, scikit-learn, Rattle, and Rmixmod. Once you’re accustomed to all this, you’ll start with operations in data science such as cleaning, sorting, and data classification. You’ll move on to learning how to perform tasks such as clustering, regression, prediction, and building machine learning models and optimizing them. In addition to this, you’ll learn how to visualize data using the packages available for Julia, Python, and R. Style and approach This book is your step-by-step guide full of use cases, examples and illustrations to get you well-versed with the concepts of Anaconda.