We obsess over our emails, Instagram likes, and Facebook feeds; we binge on TV episodes and YouTube videos; we work longer hours each year; and we spend an average of three hours each day using our smartphones. Half of us would rather suffer a broken bone than a broken phone, and Millennial kids spend so much time in front of screens that they struggle to interact with real, live humans. In this revolutionary book, Adam Alter, a professor of psychology and marketing at NYU, tracks the rise of behavioral addiction, and explains why so many of today's products are irresistible. Though these miraculous products melt the miles that separate people across the globe, their extraordinary and sometimes damaging magnetism is no accident. The companies that design these products tweak them over time until they become almost impossible to resist. By reverse engineering behavioral addiction, Alter explains how we can harness addictive products for the good—to improve how we communicate with each other, spend and save our money, and set boundaries between work and play—and how we can mitigate their most damaging effects on our well-being, and the health and happiness of our children.

    Reprint. 25,000 first printing.

    Nintendo's Wii and Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch have made gestural interfaces popular, but until now there's been no complete source of information about the technology.Designing Gestural Interfaces provides you with essential information about kinesiology, sensors, ergonomics, physical computing, touchscreen technology, and new interface patterns -- all you need to know to augment your existing skills in "traditional" web design, software, or product development. Packed with informative illustrations and photos, this book helps you:Get an overview of technologies surrounding touchscreens and interactive environments Learn the process of designing gestural interfaces, from documentation to prototyping to communicating to the audience what the product does Examine current patterns and trends in touchscreen and gestural design Learn about the techniques used by practicing designers and developers today See how other designers have solved interface challenges in the past Look at future trends in this rapidly evolving field Only six years ago, the gestural interfaces introduced in the film Minority Report were science fiction. Now, because of technological, social, and market forces, we see similar interfaces deployed everywhere. Designing Gestural Interfaces will help you enter this new world of possibilities.

    

    A woman who needs a fake boyfriend. Will they find true love over a dance? Jax Casey, hot shot Navy SEAL, only cared about his team and his job—saving lives. After growing up being a military brat himself, it hasn’t been hard to keep all relationships on a commitment free basis. With two weeks off, he plans to go to a beach with his buddies, until he discovers his grandpa has had a heart attack and needs his help.Tia Snow has always wanted to be a famous singer, until bad mojo from her ex boyfriend ruins everything. Now she’s focused on being a writer and helping her aunt and uncle out in the flower shop while they are away on vacation. When said ex boyfriend shows up at the store and insists he wants to get back together, she does the only thing she can think of—tell her ex that the gorgeous hunk who came in to the store to buy flowers is actually her date for the dance and her boyfriend. Good thing the gorgeous hunk agrees, too bad he demands dinner and a kiss every night in exchange.When complications arise they have to make a choice—trust in fate or walk away from the only real thing they’ve ever had.

    Magsy O’Gara, her husband killed in the war, plodded through her daily routine as a hospital cleaner, dedicating all her spare time to Beth, her genius daughter. Pursued by men who admired her great beauty, she was determined to remain a widow. Nothing was to divert her from her gruelling schedule. Her goal was simple: Beth would become a doctor.Beth, however, wanted a normal life – a brother, a sister, a stepfather who might make her wonderful mother happy. So Beth was delighted when a personable man began to court Magsy.Across, the road at number 1, Nellie Hulme, trapped in a world of silence, watched the other two Saturday girls. Deaf since infancy, Nellie had a secret so huge that it amused her. What would folk have thought had they known her true position in life? And why did she ‘hear’ in her dreams?

    Possessed of an unshakeable sense of entitlement and a boundless sense of self-worth, assured of the adoration of all, Matilda can break men's hearts for fun. Agnes-diffident, careworn and poor-can only gape in astonishment at the figure her pupil cuts in the world. Employed to lead and form her, she is instead buffeted about in Matilda's tumultuous wake. She loves her young student-it is impossible not to. But it is hard not to wonder if Matilda's good fortunes will ever end.

    Presenting all 49 processes along with the key inputs, tools, and outputs, this helpful tool also depicts techniques, tables, and graphs to highlight the most important information at a glance. Common formulas are organized for rapid look-up, bringing relevant information for the PMP Exam together in one resource.

    Now I know why I never make it past date five.Jenna Savage here. Attorney. Reality TV watcher. Hopeless romantic. Forever alone…If only I could deprogram the aggressively bland bedroom habits I’ve adapted out of my system and become the savage I’m meant to be.Of course, in order to do that, I need help. And who better to be my mentor than Weston Singer, my best friend and a total stud.We lay out the rules, determined to maintain our friendship during my ‘training.’ But wouldn’t you know it, my heart has other plans.Now, I’m hopelessly in love with a man who has always been a love ’em and leave ’em type of guy. I should have seen this coming.Is it possible he could feel the same way?Or am I doomed to forever long for a man I can never have?Savage in the Sheets is a standalone romantic comedy novella that fits into the bigger Savage in Love world! If you LOVE to laugh! If you CRAVE a sexy SIZZLE! And if you HATE cliffhangers—this book is for you!

    Will they ever be able to lead normal lives? Or has evil already corrupted them?After their parents and sister are killed, they flee Russia, looking to start a new life in America. They begin working for a Russian Mob family, and soon realize that they want very different things out of life. Dimitri wants nothing more than to live happily with the woman he fell in love with.And he does. For a little while.Dimitri and his wife start a family and fill their home with happy, healthy sons. They started an incredibly successful business, and best of all, they’re happy. Nicholas, however, has chosen a different path. That of a crime boss.But envy begins to grow in Nicholas. And soon, the brothers find that not even blood can save them from the evil within Nicholas’s heart...FOR MATURE READERS ONLY 18+!There are several triggers in this book.

    Their loyalty to each other has no boundaries, until it starts to affect India's relationship with her boyfriend. Will she have to choose between her friends and her man, or will he chose for her?

    This unique approach to slimming is based on a revolutionary concept - that of 'Free Foods' - foods you eat in any quantities, whenever you're hungry. And they aren't just typical diet staples such as lettuce and low-fat cottage cheese. Free Foods include pasta, rice, lean meat, fish, poultry, and fresh fruit and vegetables. Fancy a big plateful of vegetable curry with unlimited rice, or a pile of pasta with a spicy tomato sauce? How about a monster jacket potato with a tin of baked beans? Or a meaty tuna steak with a heap of ratatouille? Recipes such as Farfalle and mixed bean salad, Mild and creamy chicken curry, Fragrant pilaff, and many more besides, can be eaten as Free Foods when you are Food Optimising. Gone are the days of feeling as though you are missing out!

    You’ll learn how to apply MongoDB design patterns to several challenging domains, such as ecommerce, content management, and online gaming. Using Python and JavaScript code examples, you’ll discover how MongoDB lets you scale your data model while simplifying the development process.Many businesses launch NoSQL databases without understanding the techniques for using their features most effectively. This book demonstrates the benefits of document embedding, polymorphic schemas, and other MongoDB patterns for tackling specific big data use cases, including:Operational intelligence: Perform real-time analytics of business dataEcommerce: Use MongoDB as a product catalog master or inventory management systemContent management: Learn methods for storing content nodes, binary assets, and discussionsOnline advertising networks: Apply techniques for frequency capping ad impressions, and keyword targeting and biddingSocial networking: Learn how to store a complex social graph, modeled after Google+Online gaming: Provide concurrent access to character and world data for a multiplayer role-playing game

    Culture is created by the stories those relationships tell. Two of the most important differentiators of a business are its talent and its culture. Talent energized by a compelling culture will drive organizational success and provide innovative growth opportunities for both the business and the individual.Based on her more than thirty years at Chick-fil-A, most of which have been spent as Vice President, Corporate Talent, Dee Ann Turner shares how Chick-fil-A has built a devoted talent and fan base that spans generations. It's My Pleasure tells powerful stories and provides practical applications on how to develop extraordinary talent able to build and/or stimulate a company's culture.

    Even as they bring ease to our lives, these programs are stealing something essential from us.Drawing on psychological and neurological studies that underscore how tightly people’s happiness and satisfaction are tied to performing hard work in the real world, Carr reveals something we already suspect: shifting our attention to computer screens can leave us disengaged and discontented.From nineteenth-century textile mills to the cockpits of modern jets, from the frozen hunting grounds of Inuit tribes to the sterile landscapes of GPS maps, The Glass Cage explores the impact of automation from a deeply human perspective, examining the personal as well as the economic consequences of our growing dependence on computers.With a characteristic blend of history and philosophy, poetry and science, Carr takes us on a journey from the work and early theory of Adam Smith and Alfred North Whitehead to the latest research into human attention, memory, and happiness, culminating in a moving meditation on how we can use technology to expand the human experience.