Part mystery, part love story, this Cold War thriller sees the enigmatic PK, the faithless son of a clergyman, seemingly involved in the disappearance of a schoolgirl. His close friend, Frank, certain that PK holds the key to the missing girl, is determined to find her. But Frank, a former soldier in Northern Ireland, is unaware that he is being targeted by a terrorist with a personal vendetta. Meanwhile, the nuclear countdown continues...This excellent, thoughtful and darkly comic page-turner is set in the decade before the end of the Cold War, and focuses on the twelve days leading up to a potential Armageddon. Will the schoolgirl be found and PK exonerated? Can Frank escape the terrorist's revenge? And, ultimately, what is the distraction that causes a US pilot to hesitate in his defence of the UK?Based on real-life events, finely crafted and realistic, Distraction will appeal to mystery and thriller enthusiasts alike.

Meet Tiffany Juliana Conrad, a down-to-earth pretty progeny child with an attitude. Over the years she will develop at frightening speed gifts and skills she is not initially aware of. It turns out that she is a fresh chip from the old block, her father, who in his earlier years, covered the planet from coast-to-coast-to-coast and reached beyond the solar system boundaries in his secret missions. Tiffany's new kind of energy and refined visionary mind becomes a major challenge for the parents until her father recognizes the higher wisdom his daughter is also connecting to. A brilliant student, a fierce and passionate fighter for the underprivileged, she will travel far in dangerous places where she saves lives, heal others and herself, and learns new skills which will help her accomplish her daring undertaking here on planet Earth - A fearless inter-galactic chic, which is turning into a beautiful young woman now, working relentlessly in fulfilling her demanding destiny. As teenage blood unleashes in her veins, the longing and passions of a long distance romance starts to flourish, accelerating her already fast endeavors. Despite all obstacles, Tiffany is trying to provide a frail window of hope that magic and passionate endeavors could make our battered planet a better place.

'The room was spinning. Thoughts were pulsing from one vein to the next'.Twisted Tales takes us through scenes of familiar human conditions.From complete inebriation through a marriage without love via a gambling addiction ruining lives past the sometimes mean streets of Hamburg then onto to the sunshine of Thailand.Characters in each story must battle with their own minds and outside influences in order for them to make the right decision which is all too seldom in what we call modern life and in some cases Part 1 is only the beginning of their journey....

In this amazing eBook you can find more than one hundred facts about the country of Germany. Separated into sections such as its geography, its people, famous German figures from history and many more you will find some fascinating information inside! Whether you are planning on visiting Germany, working on a geography project or just want to know more about this beautiful country, this is an excellent addition to your bookshelf. Find the information you need, fast!

Thomas Reid was one of the greatest thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment. In his own time he was seen as the most able opponent of the scepticism of David Hume and the architect of 'Common Sense' philosophy. His ideas were immensely influential both in his native Scotland and abroad, and the last forty years have seen a marked revival of interest in his work. Reid published very little about religion and his notes from the lectures on natural theology that he regularly gave have not survived. This volume - a companion to Thomas Reid: Selected Philosophical Writings (Imprint Academic, 2012) - makes available material from Reid's autograph manuscripts, housed in the University of Aberdeen Library, and student notes of Reid's lectures, edited from original manuscripts in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It includes an introductory essay by Nicholas Wolterstorff, a leading philosopher of religion and interpreter of Reid.

Do you support Blackburn Rovers? Are you an expert on all the important players and managers who have shaped the club's glorious past? Can you recall all those memorable matches from days gone by? If so, why not find out how many questions you can answer about your favourite football club with this exciting new quiz book?The Blackburn Quiz Book has been carefully compiled to test your memory of The Rovers over the years. How much do you really know about Alan Shearer, Simon Garner and Jason Wilcox? The time has come to find out and, with 250 questions covering all aspects of Blackburn's history including club honours and records, legendary players, top goalscorers, famous opponents, wins, draws and losses, you are certain to learn something new about the team. Full of fascinating facts, this quiz book is guaranteed to prove a hit with football fans of all ages and is a must-have guide for all Rovers supporters and anyone interested in finding out more about this successful Premier League club.

Would you like to know how to develop a more positive attitude? Do you want to learn how to lead a happier life and fulfil your potential? Would you like to know what is stopping you from achieving your personal and professional goals? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Creating a Kick-Ass Attitude will show you how to change your way of thinking to become more successful. In this groundbreaking new book, life coach and entrepreneur E. Carolina Quevedo explains how you can improve your life for the better simply by changing your outlook. Based on her own experiences as an international speaker and motivator, E. Carolina teaches you how to get what you want by liberating your thoughts and changing the way you look at life. Improve your chances of success in everything you do with this must-have self-help guide. Written for a modern generation, this fun book will show you that anyone can be successful and achieve their ambitions, all it takes is the right attitude.

Are you a George Michael fan? Have you followed every twist and turn in the veteran of pop's long and successful career from the early days of Wham! through to the present day? Do you know all there is to know about the iconic star's personal and professional life? Then what better way to put your knowledge to the test than with this exciting new quiz book?The100 thought provoking questions in The George Michael Quiz Book have been compiled to test your memory of the events that have shaped the career of one of the most enduring singer-songwriter's in the music business. The book covers George's early life, Wham!, memorable hits, awards, number one abums and many personal details as well as up to date information about George's life in recent months. Packed with fascinating facts, this book will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about one of the all-time bestselling artists in the music industry. This is a must-have book for all George Michael fans and anyone interested in finding out more about the man behind the music.

For the first time, a very special edition combining two of the most intricately intertwined Sherlock Holmes adventures.In The Secret Journal of Dr. Watson: it's the height of the Russian Revolution; Holmes and Watson are sent by the British PM, David Lloyd George, deep into the nascent Soviet Union to rescue the Imperial Romanovs before they're assassinated by the Bolsheviks. But with Lenin, the Cheka, MI-6 and "e;The Black Faction"e; at their throats, who can rescue Holmes and Watson? And if they succeed, what will ultimately happen to them all? Can we believe that Holmes meets his death? And with a stunning surprise ending, how many questions will be left unanswered?In The Revenge of Sherlock Holmes, those questions are answered. But how does Prohibition in America, the birth of organized crime there with murderers like Lucky Luciano and Bugsy Siegel, impact Watson, the Romanovs and the man who claims to be Holmes? And once again, all these tension-filled events keep racing towards another incredible surprise ending.

Are you a fan of frank Sinatra? Have you seen every film he made? Do you know all there is to know about the man and his music? Then why not put your knowledge to the test with this tribute to the legendary entertainer?Frank Sinatra first appeared on the music scene in the 1940s and quickly went on to become one of the world's best loved stars, producing a string of popular hits and appearing in a number of unforgettable films. In a career that spanned six decades, the veteran crooner delighted and entertained audiences across the globe.The Frank Sinatra Quiz Book is full of facts about Ol' Blue Eyes from his early success through to international stardom, including many personal details, and the 200 questions are sure to set you on a trip down memory lane.This book is dedicated to the memory of a man who enjoyed 60 years in the spotlight and whose music and legacy still lives on today. If you like Frank Sinatra, you will love this book.

'The Bells and Plate Fix' is set against Cumberland's biggest horse races, the Carlisle Racing Bells and the Cumberland Plate. When a bookie's clerk is found face down in the River Eden, Inspector Armstrong believes there is more to his death than meets the eye. In 'The Kaiser's Assassin', Armstrong's holiday in the Lake District is disrupted when he is invited to meet Kaiser Wilhelm, who is visiting his friend, the 5th Earl of Lonsdale at Lowther Castle. A potent mix of characters leaves Armstrong feeling uncomfortable and as things threaten to spiral out of control over the following days, he faces a race against time to prevent a murder that will have repercussions across Europe.

Are you a fan of Ed Sheeran? Do you enjoy the self-styled singer-songwriter's unique brand of music? Would you like to find out more about the popular award-winning performer? If you answered yes to any of these questions, The Ed Sheeran Quiz Book is for you.After several years of hard work and self-promoting whilst he toured the country performing gigs, Ed's career really took off in 2011. This quiz book covers Ed's early life, his time in London and America, as well as the phenomenal success of his debut album '+'. With 100 questions all about the down to earth singer, this book will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Ed and his music.What is Ed's favourite 'dressing room' drink? How did Ed celebrate his debut album going to number 1? What song did Ed perform a cover version of, on his 21st birthday, on Radio 1's Live Lounge? Find out by dipping into this exciting new quiz book - a must-have for Ed Sheeran fans of all ages.

Master serverless architectures in Python and their implementation, with Zappa on three different frameworks. Key Features * Scalable serverless Python web services using Django, Flask, and Pyramid. * Learn Asynchronous task execution on AWS Lambda and scheduling using Zappa. * Implementing Zappa in a Docker container. Book Description Serverless applications are becoming very popular these days, not just because they save developers the trouble of managing the servers, but also because they provide several other benefits such as cutting heavy costs and improving the overall performance of the application. This book will help you build serverless applications in a quick and efficient way. We begin with an introduction to AWS and the API gateway, the environment for serverless development, and Zappa. We then look at building, testing, and deploying apps in AWS with three different frameworks--Flask, Django, and Pyramid. Setting up a custom domain along with SSL certificates and configuring them with Zappa is also covered. A few advanced Zappa settings are also covered along with securing Zappa with AWS VPC. By the end of the book you will have mastered using three frameworks to build robust and cost-efficient serverless apps in Python. What you will learn *Build, test, and deploy a simple web service using AWS CLI *Integrate Flask-based Python applications, via AWS CLI configuration *Design Rest APIs integrated with Zappa for Flask and Django *Create a project in the Pyramid framework and configure it with Zappa *Generate SSL Certificates using Amazon Certificate Manager *Configure custom domains with AWS Route 53 *Create a Docker container similar to AWS Lambda Who this book is for Python Developers who are interested in learning how to develop fast and highly scalable serverless applications in Python, will find this book useful

Plan, track, and release great software Key Features * Learn to create reports and dashboard for effective project management * Implement your development strategy in JIRA. * Practices to help you manage the issues in the development team Book Description As teams scale in size, project management can get very complicated. One of the best tools to deal with this kind of problem is JIRA. This book will start by organizing your project requirements and the principles of Agile development to get you started. You will then be introduced to set up a JIRA account and the JIRA ecosystem to help you implement a dashboard for your team's work and issues. You will learn how to manage any issues and bugs that might emerge in the development stage. Going ahead, the book will help you build reports and use them to plan the releases based on the study of the reports. Towards the end, you will come across working with the gathered data and create a dashboard that helps you track the project's development. What you will learn * Create your first project (and manage existing projects) in JIRA * Manage your board view and backlogs in JIRA * Run a Scrum Sprint project in JIRA * Create reports (including topic-based reports) * Forecast using versions * Search for issues with JIRA Query Language (JQL) * Execute bulk changes to issues * Create custom filters, dashboards, and widgets * Create epics, stories, bugs, and tasks Who this book is for This book is for administrators who wants to apply the Agile approach to managing the issues, bugs, and releases in their software development projects using JIRA.

Use an open source firewall and features such as failover, load balancer, OpenVPN, IPSec, and Squid to protect your network Key Features *Explore pfSense, a trusted open source network security solution *Configure pfSense as a firewall and create and manage firewall rules *Test pfSense for failover and load balancing across multiple WAN connections Book Description While connected to the internet, you’re a potential target for an array of cyber threats, such as hackers, keyloggers, and Trojans that attack through unpatched security holes. A firewall works as a barrier (or ‘shield’) between your computer and cyberspace. pfSense is highly versatile firewall software. With thousands of enterprises using pfSense, it is fast becoming the world's most trusted open source network security solution. Network Security with pfSense begins with an introduction to pfSense, where you will gain an understanding of what pfSense is, its key features, and advantages. Next, you will learn how to configure pfSense as a firewall and create and manage firewall rules. As you make your way through the chapters, you will test pfSense for failover and load balancing across multiple wide area network (WAN) connections. You will then configure pfSense with OpenVPN for secure remote connectivity and implement IPsec VPN tunnels with pfSense. In the concluding chapters, you’ll understand how to configure and integrate pfSense as a Squid proxy server. By the end of this book, you will be able to leverage the power of pfSense to build a secure network. What you will learn *Understand what pfSense is, its key features, and advantages *Configure pfSense as a firewall *Set up pfSense for failover and load balancing *Connect clients through an OpenVPN client *Configure an IPsec VPN tunnel with pfSense *Integrate the Squid proxy into pfSense Who this book is for Network Security with pfSense is for IT administrators, security administrators, technical architects, chief experience officers, and individuals who own a home or small office network and want to secure it.

Over 60 recipes to help you design interactive, smart, and cross-platform GUI applications Key Features * Get succinct QT solutions to pressing GUI programming problems in Python * Learn how to effectively implement reactive programming * Build customized applications that are robust and reliable Book Description PyQt is one of the best cross-platform interface toolkits currently available; it's stable, mature, and completely native. If you want control over all aspects of UI elements, PyQt is what you need. This book will guide you through every concept necessary to create fully functional GUI applications using PyQt, with only a few lines of code. As you expand your GUI using more widgets, you will cover networks, databases, and graphical libraries that greatly enhance its functionality. Next, the book guides you in using Qt Designer to design user interfaces and implementing and testing dialogs, events, the clipboard, and drag and drop functionality to customize your GUI. You will learn a variety of topics, such as look and feel customization, GUI animation, graphics rendering, implementing Google Maps, and more. Lastly, the book takes you through how Qt5 can help you to create cross-platform apps that are compatible with Android and iOS. You will be able to develop functional and appealing software using PyQt through interesting and fun recipes that will expand your knowledge of GUIs What you will learn * Use basic Qt components, such as a radio button, combo box, and sliders * Use QSpinBox and sliders to handle different signals generated on mouse clicks * Work with different Qt layouts to meet user interface requirements * Create custom widgets and set up customizations in your GUI * Perform asynchronous I/O operations and thread handling in the Python GUI * Employ network concepts, internet browsing, and Google Maps in UI * Use graphics rendering and implement animation in your GUI * Make your GUI application compatible with Android and iOS devices Who this book is for If you’re an intermediate Python programmer wishing to enhance your coding skills by writing powerful GUIs in Python using PyQT, this is the book for you.

Learn the fundamentals of Java EE 8 APIs to build effective web services Key Features *Design modern and stylish web services with Java EE APIs *Secure your web services with JSON Web Tokens *Explore the advanced concepts of RESTful web services and the JAX-RS API Book Description Java Enterprise Edition is one of the leading application programming platforms for enterprise Java development. With Java EE 8 finally released and the first application servers now available, it is time to take a closer look at how to develop modern and lightweight web services with the latest API additions and improvements. Building RESTful Web Services with Java EE 8 is a comprehensive guide that will show you how to develop state-of-the-art RESTful web services with the latest Java EE 8 APIs. You will begin with an overview of Java EE 8 and the latest API additions and improvements. You will then delve into the details of implementing synchronous RESTful web services and clients with JAX-RS. Next up, you will learn about the specifics of data binding and content marshalling using the JSON-B 1.0 and JSON-P 1.1 APIs. This book also guides you in leveraging the power of asynchronous APIs on the server and client side, and you will learn to use server-sent events (SSEs) for push communication. The final section covers advanced web service topics such as validation, JWT security, and diagnosability. By the end of this book, you will have implemented several working web services and have a thorough understanding of the Java EE 8 APIs required for lightweight web service development. What you will learn *Dive into the latest Java EE 8 APIs relevant for developing web services *Use the new JSON-B APIs for easy data binding *Understand how JSON-P API can be used for flexible processing *Implement synchronous and asynchronous JAX-RS clients *Use server-sent events to implement server-side code *Secure Java EE 8 web services with JSON Web Tokens Who this book is for If you're a Java developer who wants to learn how to implement web services using the latest Java EE 8 APIs, this book is for you. Though no prior knowledge of Java EE 8 is required, experience with a previous Java EE version will be beneficial.

Architect and design data-intensive applications and, in the process, learn how to collect, process, store, govern, and expose data for a variety of use cases Key Features *Integrate the data-intensive approach into your application architecture *Create a robust application layout with effective messaging and data querying architecture *Enable smooth data flow and make the data of your application intensive and fast Book Description Are you an architect or a developer who looks at your own applications gingerly while browsing through Facebook and applauding it silently for its data-intensive, yet ?uent and efficient, behaviour? This book is your gateway to build smart data-intensive systems by incorporating the core data-intensive architectural principles, patterns, and techniques directly into your application architecture. This book starts by taking you through the primary design challenges involved with architecting data-intensive applications. You will learn how to implement data curation and data dissemination, depending on the volume of your data. You will then implement your application architecture one step at a time. You will get to grips with implementing the correct message delivery protocols and creating a data layer that doesn’t fail when running high traffic. This book will show you how you can divide your application into layers, each of which adheres to the single responsibility principle. By the end of this book, you will learn to streamline your thoughts and make the right choice in terms of technologies and architectural principles based on the problem at hand. What you will learn *Understand how to envision a data-intensive system *Identify and compare the non-functional requirements of a data collection component *Understand patterns involving data processing, as well as technologies that help to speed up the development of data processing systems *Understand how to implement Data Governance policies at design time using various Open Source Tools *Recognize the anti-patterns to avoid while designing a data store for applications *Understand the different data dissemination technologies available to query the data in an efficient manner *Implement a simple data governance policy that can be extended using Apache Falcon Who this book is for This book is for developers and data architects who have to code, test, deploy, and/or maintain large-scale, high data volume applications. It is also useful for system architects who need to understand various non-functional aspects revolving around Data Intensive Systems.

Implement intelligent agents using PyTorch to solve classic AI problems, play console games like Atari, and perform tasks such as autonomous driving using the CARLA driving simulator Key Features *Explore the OpenAI Gym toolkit and interface to use over 700 learning tasks *Implement agents to solve simple to complex AI problems *Study learning environments and discover how to create your own Book Description Many real-world problems can be broken down into tasks that require a series of decisions to be made or actions to be taken. The ability to solve such tasks without a machine being programmed requires a machine to be artificially intelligent and capable of learning to adapt. This book is an easy-to-follow guide to implementing learning algorithms for machine software agents in order to solve discrete or continuous sequential decision making and control tasks. Hands-On Intelligent Agents with OpenAI Gym takes you through the process of building intelligent agent algorithms using deep reinforcement learning starting from the implementation of the building blocks for configuring, training, logging, visualizing, testing, and monitoring the agent. You will walk through the process of building intelligent agents from scratch to perform a variety of tasks. In the closing chapters, the book provides an overview of the latest learning environments and learning algorithms, along with pointers to more resources that will help you take your deep reinforcement learning skills to the next level. What you will learn *Explore intelligent agents and learning environments *Understand the basics of RL and deep RL *Get started with OpenAI Gym and PyTorch for deep reinforcement learning *Discover deep Q learning agents to solve discrete optimal control tasks *Create custom learning environments for real-world problems *Apply a deep actor-critic agent to drive a car autonomously in CARLA *Use the latest learning environments and algorithms to upgrade your intelligent agent development skills Who this book is for If you’re a student, game/machine learning developer, or AI enthusiast looking to get started with building intelligent agents and algorithms to solve a variety of problems with the OpenAI Gym interface, this book is for you. You will also find this book useful if you want to learn how to build deep reinforcement learning-based agents to solve problems in your domain of interest. Though the book covers all the basic concepts that you need to know, some working knowledge of Python programming language will help you get the most out of it.

Build, design, and style beautiful and informative applications on the Salesforce Lightning platform Key Features *Build and Test Lightning Components that enhance application usability and adaptability *Apply Security Best Practices to your Custom Lightning Components *Design Lightning Components for Salesforce UIs such as Lightning Pages, Salesforce 1 Application, Communities, and more. Book Description Built on the Salesforce App Cloud, the new Salesforce Lightning Experience combines three major components: Lightning Design System, Lightning App Builder, and Lightning Components, to provide an enhanced user experience. This book will enable you to quickly create modern, enterprise apps with Lightning Component Framework. You will start by building simple Lightning Components and understanding the Lightning Components architecture. The chapters cover the basics of Lightning Component Framework semantics and syntax, the security features provided by Locker Service, and use of third-party libraries inside Lightning Components. The later chapters focus on debugging, performance tuning, testing using Lightning Testing Services, and how to publish Lightning Components on Salesforce AppExchange. What you will learn *Understand Lightning Components architecture *Learn Locker security best practices *Debug and Improve performance of your Lightning Components *Use third-party libraries along with Lightning Component Framework *Learn how to publish Lightning Components on AppExchange *Use Lightning Out to take your Lightning Components outside the Salesforce platform Who this book is for This book is for Salesforce developers or developers from other platforms who are familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and want to build and test Salesforce Lightning components. No knowledge of Salesforce Lightning is required.

Make the most of Kotlin by leveraging design patterns and best practices to build scalable and high performing apps About This Book ? Understand traditional GOF design patterns to apply generic solutions ? Shift from OOP to FP; covering reactive and concurrent patterns in a step-by-step manner ? Choose the best microservices architecture and MVC for your development environment Who This Book Is For This book is for developers who would like to master design patterns with Kotlin to build efficient and scalable applications. Basic Java or Kotlin programming knowledge is assumed What You Will Learn ? Get to grips with Kotlin principles, including its strengths and weaknesses ? Understand classical design patterns in Kotlin ? Explore functional programming using built-in features of Kotlin ? Solve real-world problems using reactive and concurrent design patterns ? Use threads and coroutines to simplify concurrent code flow ? Understand antipatterns to write clean Kotlin code, avoiding common pitfalls ? Learn about the design considerations necessary while choosing between architectures In Detail Design patterns enable you as a developer to speed up the development process by providing you with proven development paradigms. Reusing design patterns helps prevent complex issues that can cause major problems, improves your code base, promotes code reuse, and makes an architecture more robust. The mission of this book is to ease the adoption of design patterns in Kotlin and provide good practices for programmers. The book begins by showing you the practical aspects of smarter coding in Kotlin, explaining the basic Kotlin syntax and the impact of design patterns. From there, the book provides an in-depth explanation of the classical design patterns of creational, structural, and behavioral families, before heading into functional programming. It then takes you through reactive and concurrent patterns, teaching you about using streams, threads, and coroutines to write better code along the way By the end of the book, you will be able to efficiently address common problems faced while developing applications and be comfortable working on scalable and maintainable projects of any size. Style and approach This book explains design patterns in a step-by-step manner with clear and concise code examples