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The Routledge Companion to Marketing and Sustainability (Routledge Companions in Marketing, Advertising and Communication)
by Roberta De Angelis Ken Peattie Carolyn Strong Nicole Koenig-LewisThis state-of-the-art handbook provides a comprehensive review of recent research and academic thought on the relationship between marketing and sustainability. It combines a ‘micro-marketing’ approach considering how to market more sustainable goods and services, with a more critical perspective considering the implications of our marketing systems for the future of the planet and humankind. It also balances a traditional socio-economic perspective on marketing with a physical systems perspective considering how the consequences of our consumption and production systems play out over time and space.Bringing together a range of leading international experts from more than a dozen countries, this unique collection addresses both the environmental side of the sustainability agenda, through topics such as product development, packaging and circular economy initiatives, and its social side through topics such as fair trade marketing, bottom-of-the-pyramid initiatives and marketing ethics. A range of key market contexts are discussed including food, mobility, tourism, luxury consumption and sports along with important developments in the field around social marketing, sustainable lifestyles, new information technologies and the need for better marketing of sustainability.Exploring how marketing can meet the challenge of the transition towards a more sustainable economy and a fairer society, this unique volume will be welcomed by researchers, students and practitioners from a variety of fields including marketing, business ethics, sociology and environmental studies.Chapter 23 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.
Autodesk Civil 3D 2024 from Start to Finish: Build scalable, real-world infrastructure projects using Civil 3D's full design and modeling toolkit
by Stephen Walz Tony SabatStreamline your entire civil design workflow—from data management to sheet automation—using Civil 3D 2024Key FeaturesLeverage Civil 3D and partner tools for seamless project integrationMaximize productivity with scalable team workflows and automationEnhance your Civil 3D workflow with smarter design and modeling toolsBook DescriptionCivil infrastructure projects demand precision, collaboration, and the ability to adapt to design changes quickly. This book shows how Civil 3D 2024 can help you streamline workflows, reduce rework, and improve project accuracy—whether you're working solo or in a large engineering team. You'll learn how to set up your environment, manage survey data, and model surfaces, alignments, profiles, and utilities using Civil 3D’s comprehensive toolset. With a strong focus on real-world design practices, this book demonstrates how to use intelligent objects and dynamic documentation features to handle changes efficiently across distributed teams. You’ll also work with partner tools that enhance Civil 3D’s capabilities, ensuring you can manage data at scale, produce accurate documentation, and deliver designs that meet stakeholder expectations. Written by seasoned civil engineers and Autodesk-certified professionals, this book brings together best practices, project-specific workflows, and insights into maximizing productivity with Civil 3D and its companion tools.What you will learnSet up a Civil 3D environment tailored to your project needsConfigure survey data and create intelligent objectsModel surfaces, alignments, profiles, and utilities accuratelyAutomate sheet creation and streamline documentationCollaborate with teams using data shortcuts and shared referencesApply Civil 3D tools to real-world infrastructure challengesUse partner software for extended design and analysis workflowsWho this book is forThis book is for Civil Engineers, Environmental Engineers, Surveyors, and Infrastructure Designers seeking to optimize their design workflows with Civil 3D. A basic understanding of civil engineering practices and AutoCAD is required.
Communication in Everyday Life: A Survey of Communication
by Steve Duck David T. McMahanCommunication in Everyday Life explores fundamental concepts, theories, and skills, enabling students to apply the material to their personal and professional lives. With a thematic integration of the relational perspective and a focus on demonstrating its direct relevance to their own everyday communication, authors Steve Duck and David T. McMahan help students build a strong foundation in communication concepts, theory, and research, while developing practical skills such as listening, critical thinking, effective use of technology, understanding nonverbal communication, creating persuasive strategies, and managing group conflicts. With updated coverage of media and technology, new examples, and updated references, the Fifth Edition offers timely insights into modern communication topics central to everyday life.
Communication in Everyday Life: A Survey of Communication
by Steve Duck David T. McMahanCommunication in Everyday Life explores fundamental concepts, theories, and skills, enabling students to apply the material to their personal and professional lives. With a thematic integration of the relational perspective and a focus on demonstrating its direct relevance to their own everyday communication, authors Steve Duck and David T. McMahan help students build a strong foundation in communication concepts, theory, and research, while developing practical skills such as listening, critical thinking, effective use of technology, understanding nonverbal communication, creating persuasive strategies, and managing group conflicts. With updated coverage of media and technology, new examples, and updated references, the Fifth Edition offers timely insights into modern communication topics central to everyday life.
Astronomy 101: From the Sun and Moon to Wormholes and Warp Drive, Key Theories, Discoveries, and Facts about the Universe (Adams 101 Series)
by Carolyn Collins PetersenExplore the curiosities of our galaxy with this comprehensive, digestible guide to astronomy!Too often, textbooks obscure the beauty and wonder of outer space with tedious discourse that even Galileo would oppose. Astronomy 101 cuts out the boring details and lengthy explanations, and instead, gives you a lesson in astronomy that keeps you engaged as you discover what's hidden beyond our starry sky. From the Big Bang and nebulae to the Milky Way and Sir Isaac Newton, this celestial primer is packed with hundreds of entertaining astronomy facts, charts, and photographs you won't be able to get anywhere else. So whether you&’re looking to unravel the mystery behind black holes, or just want to learn more about your favorite planets, Astronomy 101 has all the answers—even the ones you didn&’t know you were looking for.
The Well-Grounded Python Developer: How the pros use Python and Flask
by Doug FarrellIf you&’re new to Python, it can be tough to understand when, where, and how to use all its language features. This friendly guide shows you how the Python ecosystem fits together, and grounds you in the skills you need to continue your journey to being a software developer.Summary Inside The Well-Grounded Python Developer you will discover: Building modules of functionality Creating a well-constructed web server application Integrating database access into your Python applications Refactor and decoupling systems to help scale them How to think about the big picture of your application The Well-Grounded Python Developer builds on Python skills you&’ve learned in isolation and shows you how to unify them into a meaningful whole. It helps you understand the dizzying array of libraries and teaches important concepts, like modular construction, APIs, and the design of a basic web server. As you work through this practical guide, you&’ll discover how all the bits of Python link up as you build and modify a typical web server application—the kind of web app that&’s in high demand by modern businesses. About the technology As a new programmer, you&’re happy just to see your code run. A professional developer, on the other hand, needs to create software that runs reliably. It must be fast, maintainable, scalable, secure, well designed and documented, easy for others to update, and quick to ship. This book teaches you the skills you need to go from Python programmer to Python developer. About the book The Well-Grounded Python Developer shows you why Python, the world&’s most popular programming language, is a fantastic tool for professional development. It guides you through the most important skills, like how to name variables, functions, and classes, how to identify and write a good API, and how to use objects. You&’ll also learn how to deal with inevitable failures, how to make software that connects to the internet, core security practices, and many other professional-grade techniques. What's inside Create a web application Connect to a database Design programs to handle big tasks About the reader For experienced beginners who want to learn professional-level skills. About the author Doug Farrell has been a professional developer since 1983, and has worked with Python for over 20 years. Table of Contents 1 Becoming a Pythonista PART 1 - GROUNDWORK 2 That&’s a good name 3 The API: Let&’s talk 4 The object of conversation 5 Exceptional events PART 2 - FIELDWORK 6 Sharing with the internet 7 Doing it with style 8 Do I know you? Authentication 9 What can you do? Authorization 10 Persistence is good: Databases 11 I&’ve got something to say 12 Are we there yet?
Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg: Girl Genius, Book Four (Girl Genius #4)
by Phil Foglio Kaja FoglioIn a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, mad science rules the world—with mixed success. In Agatha H and the Siege of Mechanicsburg, Agatha Heterodyne, the last of the Heterodyne family, has returned to her family&’s hereditary town with the might of the Wulfenbach Empire hot on her heels. The only thing holding off an outright attack is Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, the heir to the Empire, who has joined Agatha and her friends inside the great artificially intelligent fortress of Castle Heterodyne. Now they must race to repair the mechanisms that once allowed the Castle to defend Mechanicsburg, before the rest of Europa shows up to take all the revenge the mad Heterodynes of the past so richly earned. From the Hugo Award–winning Girl Genius online comics comes this fourth book in the Agatha H. series, and like the previous three books, it will engage you in a unique world of adventure, romance, and mad science!
Four Truths and a Lie
by Lauren BarnholdtA tween goes to an all-girls boarding school for a fresh start only to get entangled in a series of dares from a mysterious pen pal in this bestselling middle grade drama—now with a fresh new look!Scarlett&’s got a secret—one so big her mother&’s shipping her off to a prestigious all-girls boarding school. There, everyone is into academics and extracurriculars, and nobody knows about what she&’s trying to leave behind. But Scarlett is out of her depth. Her interests (beauty, fashion, and romance novels) seem to put her at a disadvantage here, and her popular, studious roommate Crissa dislikes her immediately. As Scarlett struggles to settle in, she gets assigned a pen pal at the all-boys boarding school for class—and starts receiving mysterious letters assigning ominous tasks with threatening consequences if she messes up. As Scarlett navigates friendships, academics, her place on the basketball team she was forced into, and the mysterious game she can&’t escape, she realizes that maybe an all-girls school isn&’t so boring after all.
gRPC Microservices in Go
by Hüseyin BabalBuild super fast and super secure microservices with the gRPC high-performance messaging protocol and powerful Go language.In gRPC Microservices in Go you&’ll learn: Designing and implementing resilient microservice architecture Testing microservices Deploying microservices to the cloud with modern orchestration tools Monitoring and overseeing microservices The powerful gRPC Remote Procedure Call framework delivers superior speed and security over protocols like REST. When paired with Golang&’s low-level efficiency and flexibility, gRPC and Go become a killer combination for latency-sensitive microservices applications. gRPC Microservices in Go shows you how to utilize these powerful tools to build production-grade microservices. You&’ll learn to develop microservice inter-service communication patterns that are powered by gRPC, design backward compatible APIs, and apply hexagonal architecture to microservices. About the technology Go is perfect for writing fast, reliable microservices code, but that&’s only half the story. You also need a communications framework like gRPC to connect your services and handle load balancing, tracing, health checking, and authentication. Together, Go and gRPC accelerate the development process and eliminate many of the challenges you face when building and deploying microservices. About the book gRPC Microservices in Go teaches you how to build production-ready microservices using Go and gRPC. In it, you&’ll learn to create efficient APIs in Go, use gRPC for network communication, and deploy on cloud and Kubernetes. Helpful examples, including a complete eCommerce web app, make it easy to grasp each concept. You&’ll also get an inside look at testing, deployment, and efficient DevOps practices for microservices. What's inside Designing and implementing resilient microservice architecture Testing microservices Cloud deploying microservices with orchestration tools Monitoring and overseeing microservices About the reader For software developers who know the basics of Go. About the author Hüseyin Babal has been using Go in production since 2017 to build and maintain SaaS platforms. Table of Contents PART 1 - GRPC AND MICROSERVICES ARCHITECTURE 1 Introduction to Go gRPC microservices 2 gRPC meets microservices PART 2 - DEVELOPING, TESTING, AND DEPLOYING A GRPC MICROSERVICE APPLICATION 3 Getting up and running with gRPC and Golang 4 Microservice project setup 5 Interservice communication 6 Resilient communication 7 Testing microservices 8 Deployment PART 3 - GRPC AND MICROSERVICES ARCHITECTURE 9 Observability
The Astrology Dictionary: Cosmic Knowledge from A to Z
by Donna WoodwellGo beyond the horoscope and master the meaning of the stars with this illustrated gift book that features more than 100 definitions for popular astrology terms that you need to know! There&’s more to understanding the stars than you might think! Whether you&’re just learning the basics of the zodiac or are looking to delve deeper into some new concepts, The Astrology Dictionary has easy-to-understand explanations for over 100 of the most common (and important!) astrological terms. Answer questions like: —What is the cusp between two Sun signs? —What does it mean if your Sun sign is mutable? (Gemini and Sagittarius take note!) —What can your natal chart reveal about your life? (Hint: a lot!) —And if you want to start at the very beginning, what is the zodiac anyway? The Astrology Dictionary has all the answers to your most important astrology questions, from birthing charts and retrograde, to sun signs and elements, and everything in between. This fascinating and practical dictionary explains it all, so you can spend more time discovering what the zodiac means to you.
The Sun Dog: The Sun Dog (Bride Series)
by Stephen King#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King&’s novella The Sun Dog, published in his award-winning 1990 story collection Four Past Midnight, now available for the first time as a standalone publication.The dog is loose again. It is not sleeping. It is not lazy. It&’s coming for you. Kevin Delavan wants only one thing for his fifteenth birthday: a Polaroid Sun 660. There&’s something wrong with his gift, though. No matter where Kevin Delevan aims the camera, it produces a photograph of an enormous, vicious dog. In each successive picture, the menacing creature draws nearer to the flat surface of the Polaroid film as if it intends to break through. When old Pop Merrill, the town&’s sharpest trader, gets wind of this phenomenon, he envisions a way to profit from it. But the Sun Dog, a beast that shouldn&’t exist at all, turns out to be a very dangerous investment.
Deep Learning with PyTorch
by Luca Pietro Antiga Eli Stevens Thomas Viehmann&“We finally have the definitive treatise on PyTorch! It covers the basics and abstractions in great detail. I hope this book becomes your extended reference document.&” —Soumith Chintala, co-creator of PyTorch Key Features Written by PyTorch&’s creator and key contributors Develop deep learning models in a familiar Pythonic way Use PyTorch to build an image classifier for cancer detection Diagnose problems with your neural network and improve training with data augmentation Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.About The Book Every other day we hear about new ways to put deep learning to good use: improved medical imaging, accurate credit card fraud detection, long range weather forecasting, and more. PyTorch puts these superpowers in your hands. Instantly familiar to anyone who knows Python data tools like NumPy and Scikit-learn, PyTorch simplifies deep learning without sacrificing advanced features. It&’s great for building quick models, and it scales smoothly from laptop to enterprise. Deep Learning with PyTorch teaches you to create deep learning and neural network systems with PyTorch. This practical book gets you to work right away building a tumor image classifier from scratch. After covering the basics, you&’ll learn best practices for the entire deep learning pipeline, tackling advanced projects as your PyTorch skills become more sophisticated. All code samples are easy to explore in downloadable Jupyter notebooks. What You Will Learn Understanding deep learning data structures such as tensors and neural networks Best practices for the PyTorch Tensor API, loading data in Python, and visualizing results Implementing modules and loss functions Utilizing pretrained models from PyTorch Hub Methods for training networks with limited inputs Sifting through unreliable results to diagnose and fix problems in your neural network Improve your results with augmented data, better model architecture, and fine tuning This Book Is Written For For Python programmers with an interest in machine learning. No experience with PyTorch or other deep learning frameworks is required. About The Authors Eli Stevens has worked in Silicon Valley for the past 15 years as a software engineer, and the past 7 years as Chief Technical Officer of a startup making medical device software. Luca Antiga is co-founder and CEO of an AI engineering company located in Bergamo, Italy, and a regular contributor to PyTorch. Thomas Viehmann is a Machine Learning and PyTorch speciality trainer and consultant based in Munich, Germany and a PyTorch core developer. Table of Contents PART 1 - CORE PYTORCH 1 Introducing deep learning and the PyTorch Library 2 Pretrained networks 3 It starts with a tensor 4 Real-world data representation using tensors 5 The mechanics of learning 6 Using a neural network to fit the data 7 Telling birds from airplanes: Learning from images 8 Using convolutions to generalize PART 2 - LEARNING FROM IMAGES IN THE REAL WORLD: EARLY DETECTION OF LUNG CANCER 9 Using PyTorch to fight cancer 10 Combining data sources into a unified dataset 11 Training a classification model to detect suspected tumors 12 Improving training with metrics and augmentation 13 Using segmentation to find suspected nodules 14 End-to-end nodule analysis, and where to go next PART 3 - DEPLOYMENT 15 Deploying to production
Ascendance: The DemonWars Saga, Book 5 (DemonWars series #5)
by R. A. SalvatoreYears have passed since the great miracle atop Mount Aida, and Corona is a different place—yet a threat looms, one Kilseponie could never have anticipated in this next installment in the DemonWars series from bestselling author R. A. Salvatore.Much to the seething dismay of his long-time mistress, King Danube has asked Julsepnie Wyndon to become his queen. But she is torn. How can she love any man as completely as she did the Ranger Elbryan, the father of the child she lost? But unknown to Jilseponie, that child never died. Aydrian was stolen away by the queen of the elves. A headstrong boy secretly raised to be a weapon, Aydrian shows great promise in the arts of combat, and he is as powerful with the gemstone as his mother. Now, De&’Unnero, the weretiger and mortal enemy of Jilseponie, will join forces with Aydrian, who is hungry for power and on a collision course with destiny. Building upon the events in Mortalis, #1 New York Times bestselling author R.A. Salvatore continues the fresh second trilogy within the DemonWars saga with his fifth book in the series.
Songs of Nashville: The Real Stories Behind Country Music's Greatest Hits
by Jake Brown"Jake Brown puts the songwriter in the spotlight." —Billboard Country Here are the untold stories behind country&’s most influential songs from the tunesmiths themselves—featuring interviews with Jelly Roll, Taylor Swift cowriters Liz Rose and Lori McKenna, Luke Combs cowriter Drew Parker, Morgan Wallen hit writer Josh Thompson, chart-toppers Clint Black and Vince Gill, legends and trendsetters like the late Merle Haggard and Kinky Friedman, Americana troubadour Jim Lauderdale, and song crafters with scores in film and television like A Star Is Born Oscar nominees Hillary Lindsey and Natalie Hemby and Songland judge Shane McAnally.Songs of Nashville is a look inside the lives and work of the artists who&’ve shaped Nashville and the sound of country. It reveals the emotional fuel, melodic and lyrical science, and pure magic of the Music Row hitmaking machine. Through in-depth profiles and conversations, country artists reveal the birth stories of the songs you know and love—and some you may not, but you definitely should!—from spontaneous moments of inspiration to the chemistry of collaboration. Songs of Nashville is a must-read to discover the secrets of the creative process and the enduring power of storytelling that makes country music timeless.
The Demon Awakens: The DemonWars Saga, Book 1 (DemonWars series #1)
by R. A. Salvatore#1 New York Times bestselling author R. A. Salvatore brings an astonishing world to life and the intrepid hero, Elbryan Wynden, leads the way as he confronts the dark tides of destiny in his epic search for justice and peace.A great evil has awakened in the land of Corona, a terrible demon determined to spread death and misery. His goblin armies and fearsome giants ravage the settlements of the frontier, and in the small village of Dundallis, their merciless attack leaves behind two shattered orphans: Pony and her lifelong friend, the youth Elbryan. Taken in by elves, Elryan is raised to become a formidable ranger—a fateful role that will lead him into harrowing confrontations. Meanwhile, on a far-off island, a shower of gemstones will fall onto the black-sand shores. These heaven-sent stones carry within them an incredible power—the key to all that is good in the world and all that is evil, and it is up to one young monk to liberate them from the corrupt monastery that harvests them. Pray they don&’t fall into the wrong clawed hands.
Stay-at-Work Mom: Marriage, Kids, and Other Disasters
by Liz Astrof&“The parenting genre is never going to be the same&” (Jancee Dunn, author of How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids) after this candid and hilarious collection of essays on motherhood from the award-winning television comedy writer and producer of 2 Broke Girls and The King of Queens, who swears she loves her kids—when she&’s not hiding from them.Some women feel that motherhood is a calling and their purpose on earth. They somehow manage to make pregnancy look effortless, bring out the beauty in a screaming child, and keep the back seat of their cars as spotless as their kitchens. And then there are women like Liz Astrof—who originally had children because &“everyone else was.&” In this blunt and side-splittingly funny book of essays (previously published as Don&’t Wait Up), Liz Astrof embraces the realities of motherhood (and womanhood) that no one ever talks about: like needing to hide from your kids in your closet, your car, or a yoga class on the other side of town, letting them eat candy for dinner because you just can&’t deal, to the sheer terror of failing them or at the very least losing them in a mall. And sometimes, many times, wondering if the whole parenting thing wasn&’t for you. Perfect for fans of Let&’s Pretend This Never Happened and I Heart My Little A-Holes, Stay-At-Work Mom is a soul-baring and honest look at parenting and relationships for moms who realize that motherhood doesn&’t have to be your entire life—just an amazing part of it.
Transcendence: The DemonWars Saga, Book 6 (DemonWars series #6)
by R. A. SalvatoreThe next novel in bestselling author R.A. Salvatore&’s second DemonWars saga, Transcendence is an extraordinary adventure that introduces a remarkable new hero—and explores the mysteries of enlightenment and the art of war in a dazzling epic of imagination.Brave and beautiful Brynn Dharielle has ventured on a daring mission to free her beloved homeland from tyrannical rule. But she cannot imagine the depths of chaos and betrayal that seethes amid a ruthless sect of warrior priests led by an evil chieftain who conceals a dark, age-old secret. For Brynn and her trusted elven companion, the way to Behren turns into a fierce and illuminating voyage. But by the time Brynn reaches the land where she once saw her parents murdered, the seeds of revolution are already flourishing. The first salvo of a sweeping battle has begun—one that will threaten to destroy the heart and soul of her world. In book six of the DemonWars saga, #1 New York Times bestselling author R.A. Salvatore continues the second trilogy of the saga in what Booklist raves &“outstanding…Brynn Dharielle is a first-rate female high-fantasy protagonist.&”
iPhone Unlocked
by David PogueMake the most of your iPhone with this witty, authoritative, full-color guide to iOS 14.Apple has sold over 2.2 billion iPhones—but not one has come with a user guide. And with each annual update of iOS, Apple piles on more and more features; at this moment, the Settings app alone bristles with over 1,000 options. In iPhone Unlocked, the #1 bestselling iPhone author David Pogue offers a curated guide to the essential and useful features of the new iPhone 12 family—and all other models that can run the iOS 14 software. A former New York Times tech columnist and bestselling how-to author, no one is better equipped than Pogue to offer expert instruction to this complicated iPhone. With his trademark humor, crystal-clear prose, and 300 full-color illustrations, Pogue guides readers through everything in iOS 14: Home-screen widgets, the new App Library, the all-new Translate app, the redesigned Search, FaceTime, and calling screens, and much more. Whether you&’re a new iPhone user or a seasoned veteran, iPhone Unlocked is a gorgeous, authoritative, all-in-one master class on all things iPhone.
A Shamanic Herbal: Plant Teachers and Animal Medicines
by Matthew Wood• Explores the alphabet of Nature personified in animals and the spiritual lessons of animal medicines—animals personified in plants—including Turtle, Bear, Deer, Wolf, Alligator, and Horse Medicine teachings• Shares profound experiences from the author&’s long career as an herbalist and his first years growing up on a remote Seminole reservation in the Everglades• Offers shamanic adventures interwoven with comparisons to the psychology of Freud and Jung, the visions of Castaneda, and the occult teachings of Steiner and GurdjieffSharing profound experiences from his long career as well as his first years growing up on a remote Seminole reservation in the Everglades, renowned herbalist Matthew Wood interweaves practical herbalism and the spiritual potency of Nature to deeply explore the plant teachers, animal medicines, and foundational principles of shamanism as a spiritual path.Wood describes a universal &“language of the shamans,&” based on direct, sometimes supernatural experiences as well as case studies from his practice. He examines the alphabet of Nature and spiritual lessons personified in animals and plants, especially &“animal medicines&”—when the plant looks like an animal. He shares accounts of Turtle Medicine plants for self-examination, Bear Medicine plants to open the imagination, and Wolf Medicine plants for wholeness and magic. He explores the plants of Alligator Medicine for healthful prosperity, Horse Medicine plants to bring the conscious self in harmony with the animal self, Badger Medicine plants to strengthen gut instincts, and many other herb and animal teachers. He also looks at plants associated with journeying to the spirit world through the medicine of Crane, Dragon, and Bat.Revealing the shamanic roots of his herbal teachings, Matthew Wood provides not only an inside view of his lifelong spiritual path but also an immersive and experiential guide to the shamanic wisdom of countless plant and animal teachers.
The Creative Programmer
by Wouter GroeneveldProgramming is a creative act. These techniques will help you maximize the power of creativity to improve your software and your satisfaction in creating it.In The Creative Programmer you&’ll discover: The seven dimensions of creativity in software engineering The scientific understanding of creativity and how it translates to programming Actionable advice and thinking exercises that will make you a better programmer Innovative communication skills for working more efficiently on a team Creative problem-solving techniques for tackling complex challenges In The Creative Programmer you&’ll learn the processes and habits of highly creative individuals and discover how you can build creativity into your programming practice. This fascinating new book introduces the seven domains of creative problem solving and teaches practical techniques that apply those principles to software development. Hand-drawn illustrations, reflective thought experiments, and brain-tickling example problems help you get your creative juices flowing—you&’ll even be able to track your progress against a scientifically validated Creative Programming Problem Solving Test. Before you know it, you&’ll be thinking up new and novel ways to tackle the big challenges of your projects. Foreword by Dr. Felienne Hermans. About the Technology Like composing music, starting a business, or designing a marketing campaign, programming is a creative activity. And just like technical skills, creativity can be learned and improved with practice! This thought-provoking book details practical methods to turn creativity into more effective problem solving, higher productivity, and better software. About the Book The Creative Programmer explores seven dimensions of creativity in software engineering—technical knowledge, collaboration, constraints, critical thinking, curiosity, a creative state of mind, and creative techniques. As you read, you&’ll apply insights about creativity from other disciplines to the challenges of software development. Numerous relevant examples and exercises drive each lesson home. You&’ll especially enjoy the unique Creative Programming Problem Solving Test that helps you assess how creative you&’ve been with a programming task. What&’s Inside The scientific understanding of creativity and how it translates to programming Advice and exercises that will help you become a creative programmer Innovative communication skills for working more efficiently on a team Creative problem-solving techniques for tackling complex challenges About the Reader For programmers of all skill levels. About the Author Wouter Groeneveld is a software engineer and computer science education researcher at KU Leuven, where he researches the importance of creativity in software engineering. Table of Contents: 1 The creative road ahead 2 Technical knowledge 3 Communication 4 Constraints 5 Critical thinking 6 Curiosity 7 Creative state of mind 8 Creative techniques 9 Final thoughts on creativity
Lisey's Story: A Novel
by Stephen KingThe &“haunting…tender, intimate book that makes an epic interior journey&” (The New York Times), Lisey&’s Story is a literary masterpiece—an extraordinarily moving and haunting portrait of a marriage and its aftermath. *Also an Apple TV+ limited series starring Julianne Moore and Clive Owen*Lisey lost her husband Scott, after a twenty-five year marriage of profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, Lisey knew there was a place Scott went that both terrified and healed him, could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it&’s Lisey&’s turn to face Scott&’s demons, to go to that terrifying place known as Boo&’ya Moon. What begins as a widow&’s effort to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited. &“Intricate...exhilarating&” (The New Yorker), perhaps Stephen King&’s most personal and powerful novel ever, Lisey&’s Story is about the wellsprings of creativity, the temptations of madness, and the secret language of love. It is a beautiful, &“rich portrait of a marriage, and the complicated affection that outlives death&” (The Washington Post).
Social Skills for Kids: From Making Friends and Problem-Solving to Self-Control and Communication, 150+ Activities to Help Your Child Develop Essential Social Skills
by Keri K. PowersHelp your children develop essential social skills—including groups, one-on-one interactions, and virtual communication—with these 150 easy, fun activities to teach your kids how to socially succeed.From taking turns to making eye contact to staying engaged during conversations, developing appropriate social skills is an important factor for kids to be able to succeed in school and life in general. But how can you tell if your child is really making progress while you read the same stories, have the same conversations, and chaperone the same playdates? The answer is to add some variety to your child&’s daily activities with these 150 exercises specially designed to keep your child (and their friends) entertained, all while teaching them effective social skills. In Social Skills for Kids, you&’ll learn everything you need to know about how social skills develop in children and what you can do to support their growth. In this book, you&’ll find games to encourage them in group settings, activities that you (or another caregiver) can do alone with your child, and ways to make the most of virtual interactions for social skill development. So whether you&’re looking for new activities to entertain a few friends during playtime, searching for fun (and educational) games you and your child can play together, or even interested in ways to include people you can&’t physically visit, Social Skills for Kids has all the tools you need to help your child develop the social skills they need to succeed.
The Joy of Kotlin
by Pierre-Yves SaumontSummaryMaintaining poor legacy code, interpreting cryptic comments, and writing the same boilerplate over and over can suck the joy out of your life as a Java developer. Fear not! There's hope! Kotlin is an elegant JVM language with modern features and easy integration with Java. The Joy of Kotlin teaches you practical techniques to improve abstraction and design, to write comprehensible code, and to build maintainable bug-free applications.Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.About the TechnologyYour programming language should be expressive, safe, flexible, and intuitive, and Kotlin checks all the boxes! This elegant JVM language integrates seamlessly with Java, and makes it a breeze to switch between OO and functional styles of programming. It's also fully supported by Google as a first-class Android language. Master the powerful techniques in this unique book, and you'll be able to take on new challenges with increased confidence and skill.About the BookThe Joy of Kotlin teaches you to write comprehensible, easy-to-maintain, safe programs with Kotlin. In this expert guide, seasoned engineer Pierre-Yves Saumont teaches you to approach common programming challenges with a fresh, FP-inspired perspective. As you work through the many examples, you'll dive deep into handling errors and data properly, managing state, and taking advantage of laziness. The author's down-to-earth examples and experience-driven insights will make you a better—and more joyful—developer!What's insideProgramming with functionsDealing with optional dataSafe handling of errors and exceptionsHandling and sharing state mutationAbout the ReaderWritten for intermediate Java or Kotlin developers.About the AuthorPierre-Yves Saumont is a senior software engineer at Alcatel-Submarine Networks. He's the author of Functional Programming in Java (Manning, 2017).Table of ContentsMaking programs saferFunctional programming in Kotlin: An overviewProgramming with functionsRecursion, corecursion, and memoizationData handling with listsDealing with optional dataHandling errors and exceptionsAdvanced list handlingWorking with lazinessMore data handling with treesSolving problems with advanced treesFunctional input/outputSharing mutable states with actorsSolving common problems functionally
Bayesian Optimization in Action (In Action)
by Quan NguyenBayesian optimization helps pinpoint the best configuration for your machine learning models with speed and accuracy. Put its advanced techniques into practice with this hands-on guide.In Bayesian Optimization in Action you will learn how to: Train Gaussian processes on both sparse and large data sets Combine Gaussian processes with deep neural networks to make them flexible and expressive Find the most successful strategies for hyperparameter tuning Navigate a search space and identify high-performing regions Apply Bayesian optimization to cost-constrained, multi-objective, and preference optimization Implement Bayesian optimization with PyTorch, GPyTorch, and BoTorch Bayesian Optimization in Action shows you how to optimize hyperparameter tuning, A/B testing, and other aspects of the machine learning process by applying cutting-edge Bayesian techniques. Using clear language, illustrations, and concrete examples, this book proves that Bayesian optimization doesn&’t have to be difficult! You&’ll get in-depth insights into how Bayesian optimization works and learn how to implement it with cutting-edge Python libraries. The book&’s easy-to-reuse code samples let you hit the ground running by plugging them straight into your own projects. Forewords by Luis Serrano and David Sweet. About the technology In machine learning, optimization is about achieving the best predictions—shortest delivery routes, perfect price points, most accurate recommendations—in the fewest number of steps. Bayesian optimization uses the mathematics of probability to fine-tune ML functions, algorithms, and hyperparameters efficiently when traditional methods are too slow or expensive. About the book Bayesian Optimization in Action teaches you how to create efficient machine learning processes using a Bayesian approach. In it, you&’ll explore practical techniques for training large datasets, hyperparameter tuning, and navigating complex search spaces. This interesting book includes engaging illustrations and fun examples like perfecting coffee sweetness, predicting weather, and even debunking psychic claims. You&’ll learn how to navigate multi-objective scenarios, account for decision costs, and tackle pairwise comparisons. What's inside Gaussian processes for sparse and large datasets Strategies for hyperparameter tuning Identify high-performing regions Examples in PyTorch, GPyTorch, and BoTorch About the reader For machine learning practitioners who are confident in math and statistics. About the author Quan Nguyen is a research assistant at Washington University in St. Louis. He writes for the Python Software Foundation and has authored several books on Python programming. Table of Contents 1 Introduction to Bayesian optimization 2 Gaussian processes as distributions over functions 3 Customizing a Gaussian process with the mean and covariance functions 4 Refining the best result with improvement-based policies 5 Exploring the search space with bandit-style policies 6 Leveraging information theory with entropy-based policies 7 Maximizing throughput with batch optimization 8 Satisfying extra constraints with constrained optimization 9 Balancing utility and cost with multifidelity optimization 10 Learning from pairwise comparisons with preference optimization 11 Optimizing multiple objectives at the same time 12 Scaling Gaussian processes to large datasets 13 Combining Gaussian processes with neural networks
Slow Cooker Favorites Chicken: 150+ Easy, Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes, from Hot Chicken Buffalo Bites and Chicken Parmesan to Teriyaki Chicken (Slow Cooker Cookbook Series)
by Adams MediaLearn how to make easy, affordable, and deliciously diverse dinners for your family every night with this go-to cookbook featuring more than 140 slow-cooker chicken recipes.Chicken is a dinnertime staple. It&’s a simple, budget-friendly favorite, and there are countless ways to prepare it. In Slow Cooker Favorites Chicken you&’ll find something new and delicious to enjoy every day—from classic appetizers and comforting dishes to exotic international one-pot meals—with minimal prep work and easy cleanup. The most challenging part will be picking which dish you want to try next!