Their story takes us through a maze of dead ends and exhilarating breakthroughs as they and their colleagues wrestle not only with the abstraction of code but with the unpredictability of human behavior,especially their own. Along the way, we encounter black holes, turtles, snakes, dragons, axe-sharpening, and yak-shaving—and take a guided tour through the theories and methods, both brilliant and misguided, that litter the history of software development, from the famous “mythical m...

Although Lesotho is a small state never likely to be a major player in global affairs, its special interactions with South Africa make it a prototype for regional cooperation. Joint action by South Africa's and Botswana's military forces to end anarchy and preserve democracy in Lesotho serves as an important test case of regional peacekeeping in Africa.This reference provides comprehensive entries on historical events and personalities and focuses especially on the Basotho who have...

Lesotho is rather different from most other African countries. For starters, it is a kingdom, which preserves a traditional hierarchy and customs, and its population consists of one fairly homogenous ethnic group, although admittedly there are differences and occasional rifts within it. Then, it is a landlocked country, completely surrounded by South Africa on which is depends heavily. Economically, it has not been doing particularly well, this partly because the country is so poorly endow...

The ultimate showdown between Cowboys and Indians is interrupted...by an alien invasion. The Old West will never be the same.When an extra-terrestrial armada lands in the Wild West, they find themselves in a showdown with one tough posse of rough-and-ready heroes—and the Cowboys and Aliens graphic novel gives you the thrilling comic book stories that started it all off! Compiling every issue of Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's electrifying comic book series, this...

Ceres1 is a story about a group of friends, all professionals in their fields, who are invited to take part in a ground-breaking discovery on an uncharted, remote tropicalisland by an English agricultural giant. Each of them have their own reasons for accepting the invite, be it redemption, fame or their own curiosity.When they arrive, they find a paradise-the waters are clean, the air is fresh and the people are friendly. After a few days, however, the friends find that they are p...

In today's high-tech world, all companies are striving to create business value from digital data, but the real value in data comes from how it is used to make decisions. At the end of the day, what drives the results your company achieves is the millions of decisions made every day that are influenced by customer interactions and transactions.In this groundbreaking book, Larry Rosenberger and John Nash draw on over fifty years of experience in helping companies automate, improve, ...

In Tours of Vietnam, Scott Laderman demonstrates how tourist literature has shaped Americans’ understanding of Vietnam and projections of United States power since the mid-twentieth century. Laderman analyzes portrayals of Vietnam’s land, history, culture, economy, and people in travel narratives, U.S. military guides, and tourist guidebooks, pamphlets, and brochures. Whether implying that Vietnamese women were in need of saving by “manly” American military power or celebrating th...

First published in 1922, The Beautiful and the Damned is F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel. Exploring the elite of New York Café Society, the novel brilliantly captures the louche, sometimes decadent lifestyle of the Eastern elite during the Jazz Age. Fitzgerald's characters - as in all his novels - are complex, difficult people, and Anthony Patch, a 1920s socialite and presumptive heir to a tycoon's fortune, is one of Fitzgerald's most memorable protagonists. His relationship with his wi...

Readers will love this selection of three contemporary and three historical romance novellas.In Our Song, a charming romance novella, Cassie and Matt have been dating in the Yellowstone area for two years, and things are, well, average. When Cassie meets up with two college friends who are visiting, their love lives like sound like fairy tales: rose petals, chocolates, candles on the beach… Cassie goes home feeling like she’s missing out. After all, repeatedly watching Old...

1875, New Mexico Territory.A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde. It's a town that lives in fear.But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the...

The bestselling novel that established F. Scott Fitzgerald's literary reputation and brought to vivid life the glory and despair of the "Lost Generation."Raised by his mother, a charismatic eccentric determined to show her son the very best that life has to offer, Amory Blaine spends his childhood traveling from one party to the next. For this worldly sophisticate, life is heaven—until reality comes crashing through the door.When a burst appendix limits his ...

Born in the fires of battle, Conan of Cimmeria lost his father and village when they were slaughtered by the cruel warlord Khalar Zym. Wandering the world alone, Conan was forged into a peerless warrior by hardship and bloodshed.Years later, he crosses paths with Zym and his armies. But before Conan can exact vengeance, he must contend with the warlord's daughter-the seductive witch Marique-and a host of monstrous creatures. Only then will Conan's quest bring him face to face with ...