The authors explain how IT leaders can combat this mind-set by first using information technology to generate three forms of value important to leaders throughout the organization:-Value for money when your IT department operates efficiently and effectively-An investment in business performance evidenced when IT helps divisions, units, and departments boost profitability-Personal value of CIOs as leaders whose contributions to their enterprise go well beyond their area of specializationThe authors show how to communicate about these forms of value with non-IT leaders-so they understand how your firm is benefiting and see IT as the strategic powerhouse it truly is.

    Each One Dirtier And Rougher Than The Next… SMITH I want her. Plain and simple truth. I want her. I want to push inside her. I want to grip her hair and tug her scalp and lick her bared throat. I want to tie her wrists and ankles to my bed, make her helpless, weak, begging for me. I want to leave my marks on her, bruise that delicate flesh, have her sore and aching after I ravage her. But my cravings are most definitely too dark for her. I’m not the white-picket-fence kind of guy, and I can’t let myself start thinking otherwise. I should stick to the kind of women I’m used to, the kind who are fine with one night. Aubrey deserves love, real love, the kind of love I’m incapable of. The problem is she’s all I want. I know I can only destroy her. But I can’t stay away. AUBREY I try to pretend that I’m not aware of the tattoos covering him. That I’m not aware of the muscles of his arms and legs. I try to pretend my core doesn’t tighten in response to his raw masculinity, pretend I don’t want him to push me up against the wall and have his way with me. I’m so attracted to him I can barely focus. He thinks I’m naive, and maybe he’s right. Am I really so naïve as to think that maybe what Smith and I are doing is different? Or is this just me being blind? Sometimes I can see every emotion on his face. Other times, I can’t tell a thing he’s thinking. I’m plagued by doubts, yet also trying to convince myself that I know what I know. I’m not just a random woman to Smith. There’s more between us than that. What that “more” is, I don’t know. But it’s there. Either that, or he’s the world’s greatest actor. Because the emotion in our last kiss was so strong it almost blew me over. If I’m wrong about him, it will shatter my heart, break me into a million pieces. The only thing worse would be walking away… Aubrey’s standing there, lips swollen, breath panting, eyes heavily lidded. She’s so innocent but so primed for me. I could probably take her upstairs to my apartment, spread her wide and plunge deep inside her. But I can’t do that. Because she deserves better than me. I can’t ruin her. The Becket Boys: The Complete Series, contains: SMITH (The Beckett Boys, Book One) by Olivia Chase JAX (The Beckett Boys, Book 2) by Olivia Chase ASHER (The Beckett Boys, Book Three) By Olivia Chase JAMISON (The Beckett Boys, Book Four) by Olivia Chase ZACK (The Beckett Boys, Book Five) by Olivia Chase HUDSON (The Beckett Boys, Book Six) by Olivia Chase HALE (The Beckett Boys, Book Seven) by Olivia Chase AXEL (The Beckett Boys, Book Eight) by Olivia Chase

    Friendships form with another American student, and with Cesare, an Italian medical student living in the same "hotel." But what transpires is something no one ever expected, especially her mom. Over the next 45 years, Debbie returns 11 more times, mostly alone. Other trips include her two best friends, another with her father, and horseback riding adventures in the Chianti Region of Tuscany with cousins. Some of the places visited include Rome, Tuscany, the Almalfi Coast, Sicily, Capri, and a 2,500 year-old village in Umbria where the only mode of transportation allowed is a moped or donkey. One hundred years after her great grandmother migrated to America, Debbie locates her family in the most unusual way, culminating with a heartwarming reception. Rarely staying in hotels, My Love Affair With Italy describes each of the trips, all the types of accommodations such as the agriturismi (farmhouses), the apartments, vineyards, the medieval villages, monastery, villas, and horseback riding centers she stayed in addition to the romances and friends met along the way. At the age of 50, Debbie learns how to horseback ride English style and takes a 100-mile tour cantering through Tuscany, something she was not nearly qualified to do. Within a year, she becomes an exchange student and enrolls in school in Siena, one of Tuscany's most magnificent cities, to learn Italian and moves in with a local family, she not knowing Italian and they not knowing English. While in school, she befriends a German woman who invites her to stay at her home in the beautiful Bavarian Alps during her next visit to Europe, and Debbie accepts in an attempt to practice Italian with her former classmate, but the trip becomes a shocking revelation. The book also details the "jewels" of Rome not mentioned in brochures such as The Scala Sancta, the Holy Stairs, holy because they are said to be the stairs that Jesus climbed on his way to his trial before Pontius Pilate, and the Aventine Keyhole, a nondescript-looking door on the Aventine Hill, neatly placing the dome of St. Peter’s right in the center. Each trip also details why she returns each time, the struggles endured at home after becoming a caregiver, the 50-year friendships that get her through it all, and the shocking way her father shows his presence in Piazza Navona. Lastly, four decades after it all began, there are very surprising reunions and the most unusual romance.

    Not only did she stand, obliterating doctors initial prognoses, she walked ... directly into the passionate profession of a public high school teacher. Thirteen years after the medical trauma she was not expected to survive, Nika stood inside the glimmering granite capitol building in Austin, honored to receive state House and Senate resolutions as 2007 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year. Let your heart rise along with the inspirational account of a single mother's faith, her dying daughter's hope, and God's triumphant love.

    While Midas and Cassidy enjoy a small getaway, Sierra and Joshua take the lead on this ghost hunt. A skeletal apparition terrorizes anyone who invades its territory. A black mist tries to smother a terrified client. Phantom mirrors break at Brady Hall and an otherworldly, palpable and paralyzing fear plagues the team. Will they be able to suppress their fear and help the volunteers of this historic Mobile, Alabama landmark? Or will this mean the doors close at Brady Hall forever? If you enjoy southern gothic stories with a modern twist and immersive ghost hunting, you'll love this episode of M.L. Bullock's Gulf Coast Paranormal. Grab a flashlight and your copy of The Spirits of Brady Hall now! Visit M.L. Bullock's website at www.mlbullock.com. Join her Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/AuthorMLBullock

    Here together for the first time in a fabulous eBook bundle are three of Rosenfelt's popular Andy Carpenter novels:ONE DOG NIGHTFive years ago, Matt Starks' drug addiction cost him everything, and he brought the golden retriever puppy he'd rescued, Tara, to a shelter, where defense lawyer Andy Carpenter adopted her. Now Matt has turned his life around-until charges of murder are brought against him. Is there anything Andy can do to save the man who saved Tara?LEADER OF THE PACKAndy has always known that Joey Desimone, a man convicted of murder years ago, was innocent. While there isn't much Andy can do for Joey while he serves his sentence, he can take his dog to visit Joey's senile uncle, who might hold the key to Joey's freedom after all this time.UNLEASHEDAndy's accountant, Sam Willis, is stunned to receive a phone call from his high school friend Barry Price, pleading for Sam's financial help and Andy's legal expertise. But before Sam can make it to Barry's home, Barry's already taken off on a private airplane. Then they learn that Barry's plane has crashed, and Sam was also supposed to have been killed on that plane.

    Second chances, single dads, blinds dates, and ChristmasMiracles will keep you awake and smiling throughout this whole series! My Cowboy’s Second Chance SurpriseCowboy billionaire, Nash Haven, can deal with the actual storm, buthandling his ex-girlfriend’s secret will be much harder.He didn’t know that his neighbor was the one that got away. Singlemother, Sophia, was equally clueless. She had no idea that her ex-boyfriend owned a billion-dollar ranch.They’re both surprised, and also still heartbroken. Will Sophia’s babysecret tear them apart or bring them closer?My Cowboy Best Friend BodyguardAdeline Prince needed a bodyguard before moving to Dallas, Texas. Shedidn’t think that her new hire would be her ex-boyfriend who broke herheart.Hayes Haven didn’t know who had posted the job when he applied.Adeline had her concerns but hiring him was the right thing to do.Would she be able to protect her heart while letting Hayes guard herlife?My Cowboy Single Dad Blind DateCowboy billionaire Trent Sheldon is a heartbroken single dad, but ablind date with Grace Payne gives him hope.Trent was abandoned by his ex-wife and Grace had to go through anunexpected divorce in the past. The two of them have had terriblepasts, but they’re perfect for each other.The only problem is Trent’s secrets. Will they come in the way of theirsecond chance at love?My Cowboy Best Man BachelorViolet Kirschner is in a terrible place trying to pick between herchildhood crush and her family.Holden Hayes is the best man at her brother’s wedding, and she can’tkeep her hands off him. Holden is known to be a heartbreaker butthat’s not entirely true. He’s madly in love with her too, but herbrother’s overprotective nature could be the end of them. Can the twoof them keep their relationship hidden from the entire town?My Cowboy Bad Boy BossCowboy billionaire, Gage Haven had everything until it was all takenaway from him. His wife was killed in a tragedy and his son was leftmotherless.Gage hired a nanny thinking that will make his life easier. Well, it did,but it also made it more complicated. Lorde is an excellent nanny, butshe’s also his ex-girlfriend.Can the two of them keep their past aside and work as a team? Or isthis the beginning of another end?My Cowboy’s Secret BabyCowboy billionaire Wilder Haven ran into his ex from ten years ago andhis world turned upside down.Jade Harlow moved back to town to care for her mother. She neverexpected Wilder to step in and help her. It didn’t take long for them toforget them enmity and start falling in love again. Wilder even grewcloser to her daughter, not knowing that she was his own. Could heever forgive her for keeping this secret from him?My Cowboy Christmas MiracleJade didn’t want her first husband showing up after the death of herrecent ex-husband. A Christmas miracle didn’t save his life, but itbrought Finn back into the picture.Jade wasn’t sure why he’d returned but all Finn wanted to do was righthis wrongs and watch over Jade and her kids.A second chance was in the cards this Christmas season, but it wasn’tabout to come by so easily. Will the two of them realize that life is tooshort to hold a grudge?

    Then, while on a walk on the wooded property, she catches a glimpse of a man nearby. Terrified that her stalker's found her, she overreacts.Billionaire Cameron Shah just wants to enjoy the solitude of his new mountain cabin. But when his beautiful yet baffling neighbor threatens him with a branch, he's intrigued. Too bad she won't tell him her name.When Cameron cooks up a plan to help Aubree, she has to decide if she wants to stay in hiding forever, or if with Cameron's help, she's ready to come out of the shadows.

    Robb’s Obsession in Death? Immerse yourself in her world and discover hidden treasures with this Sidekick. Warning: This is an independent companion to Obsession in Death, meant to enhance your experience of the novel. If you have not yet bought J.D. Robb’s novel, make sure to purchase it before buying this unofficial Sidekick. A murderer has his eyes on Lieutenant Eve Dallas—but not for the reasons you might think. He considers himself her greatest fan, and he just wants to show her how much he likes her . . . with the bodies of those who have wronged or opposed her in the past. As the killings continue, Dallas must race against time to unravel the mystery—before love turns to hate. Obsession in Death is the fortieth book in J.D. Robb’s bestselling In Death series. With this Sidekick, you’ll: • Spend some more time with the characters you’ve come to know and love • Learn what you might have missed on your first read of Robb’s novel • Uncover some of the novel’s hidden gems and underlying themes • Explore possible alternate endings and imagine ideas for a sequel • Get a chance to discuss Obsession in Death with other savvy readers on our Goodreads forum Sidekicks are entertaining and insightful reading companions, filled with delightful commentary and thought-provoking questions. What are readers saying about Anna Call's Sidekicks? "Makes the book much more interesting," "a real eye-opener," a "beautifully written perspective into what is actually happening between the lines." Designed to be read side by side with the novels they complement, they’ll give you even more reasons to love some of today’s best books.

    A practical approach to test-driven development for Ruby on Rails using RSpec and related tools.

    Everyone wants to feel good about what they are eating, serving guests, and feeding their families, but most of us don't do our weekly shopping at pricey specialty stores-- we do it at the local supermarket and we don't want it to break the bank. In her second book, Melissa demystifies the task of preparing nutritious and delicious food by showing exactly how you can make your grocery store work for you. She offers helpful strategies for shopping, cooking, and entertaining, as well as meal blueprints and nutritional information throughout. This book will make you confident about the food you're buying, preparing, and eating. Delicious recipes like Almond Waffles with Raspberry-Basil Sauce, Kale and White Bean Caesar Salad in a Jar, Slow-Roasted Tomato Spaghettini, Flatiron Steaks with Quick Cauliflower Kimchi, and Flourless Fudgy Dream Cookies have something for every type of eater at every meal of the day. No matter your favorite flavors or dietary needs, cooking on a budget is empowering-- and now you can learn how to make every bite count. If cooking at home is the key to healthy living, Supermarket Healthy is the only tool you'll need.

    Explore applying the Hexagonal Architecture within your application, whether within an open source framework or your own bespoke system. Finally, look into integrating Bounded Contexts, using REST and Messaging approaches.

    This one's a keeper." --Robert C. Martin "If you want to be an expert in the state of the art in TDD, you need to understand the ideas in this book."--Michael Feathers Test-Driven Development (TDD) is now an established technique for delivering better software faster. TDD is based on a simple idea: Write tests for your code before you write the code itself. However, this simple idea takes skill and judgment to do well. Now there's a practical guide to TDD that takes you beyond the basic concepts. Drawing on a decade of experience building real-world systems, two TDD pioneers show how to let tests guide your development and "grow" software that is coherent, reliable, and maintainable. Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce describe the processes they use, the design principles they strive to achieve, and some of the tools that help them get the job done. Through an extended worked example, you'll learn how TDD works at multiple levels, using tests to drive the features and the object-oriented structure of the code, and using Mock Objects to discover and then describe relationships between objects. Along the way, the book systematically addresses challenges that development teams encounter with TDD--from integrating TDD into your processes to testing your most difficult features. Coverage includes - Implementing TDD effectively: getting started, and maintaining your momentum throughout the project - Creating cleaner, more expressive, more sustainable code - Using tests to stay relentlessly focused on sustaining quality - Understanding how TDD, Mock Objects, and Object-Oriented Design come together in the context of a real software development project - Using Mock Objects to guide object-oriented designs - Succeeding where TDD is difficult: managing complex test data, and testing persistence and concurrency

    In 1999, "Refactoring" revolutionized design by introducing an effective process for improving code. With the highly anticipated " Refactoring to Patterns ," Joshua Kerievsky has changed our approach to design by forever uniting patterns with the evolutionary process of refactoring.This book introduces the theory and practice of pattern-directed refactorings: sequences of low-level refactorings that allow designers to safely move designs to, towards, or away from pattern implementations. Using code from real-world projects, Kerievsky documents the thinking and steps underlying over two dozen pattern-based design transformations. Along the way he offers insights into pattern differences and how to implement patterns in the simplest possible ways.Coverage includes: A catalog of twenty-seven pattern-directed refactorings, featuring real-world code examples Descriptions of twelve design smells that indicate the need for this book s refactorings General information and new insights about patterns and refactoringDetailed implementation mechanics: how low-level refactorings are combined to implement high-level patterns Multiple ways to implement the same pattern and when to use each Practical ways to get started even if you have little experience with patterns or refactoring"Refactoring to Patterns" reflects three years of refinement and the insights of more than sixty software engineering thought leaders in the global patterns, refactoring, and agile development communities. Whether you re focused on legacy or greenfield development, this book will make you a better software designer by helping you learn how to make important design changes safely and effectively. "

    Focusing on this American period, Conversations with Mies van der Rohe, the latest addition to our Conversations series, gives fresh credence to this claim by presenting the architect's most important design concerns in his own words. In this collectionof interviews Mies talks freely about his relationship with clients, the common language he aimed for in his architecturalprojects, the influences on his work, and the synthesis of architecture and technology that he advanced in his designs and built works.Conversations with Mies van der Rohe makes an important contribution to the corpus of Mies scholarship. It presents a vivid picture of a master of modernism, bringing his artistic biography to a close while completing the scope of his style in terms of techniques, scale, use of materials, and typology. An essay by Iaki balos provides a context for these interviews and looks at Mies's legacy from a contemporary perspective.