Comprehensive in scope and contemporary in coverage, this text introduces basic electronic and data communications fundamentals and explores their application.

    His fangs were showing, dripping with the blood of my boyfriend who lay on the ground, lifeless."You are mine, Bast. You'd do well to remember that." He purred, as he licked the blood off his lips. "No other man make take your innocence, but me." he said, looking down at my nearly na.ked form, the lu.st in his eyes making me squirm."Yes, Damien." I whispered in response, covering myself in the sheet, and looking over at the body of Jacob with a whimper.My name is Bast, I'm 17 years old, soon to be eighteen. On my eighteenth birthday, I will be married to the devil.

    It wasn't work on a single book. Rather, it was work on different versions of what eventually became a single book: Ishmael, the eighth version and the only one in which the teacher Ishmael appears. When I started writing The Book of the Damned in 1981, I was sure I'd found the book I was born to write. The versions that came before had been like rainy days with moments of sunshine. THIS was a thunderstorm, and the lines crossed my pages like flashes of lightning. When, after a few thousand words I came to a clear climax, I said, "This MUST be seen," so I put Part One into print. Parts Two and Three followed, and I began searching for the switch that would turn on Part Four . . . but it just wasn't there. I clung to it for a long time after issuing the first three parts, desperately hoping to find a way to produce additional parts that would bring it to the conclusion I knew was "out there.” What I'd done was terrific—and complete in its own way—but at last I faced the fact that the whole thing just couldn't be done in lightning strikes . . . Another ten years passed before I found the way, a completely different way . . . in Ishmael, which was the embodiment of my message, providing the foundation for the clarifications, amplifications, and extensions still to come. But publishing The Book of the Damned had been no mistake. It deserved to be published, and it still does. Those lightning strikes illuminate an apocalyptic landscape never seen before—or after, in any of my later books (including Ishmael).

    When I was sixteen, I had a mental breakdown. It happened while I was on vacation in the Caribbean with my family. I’d been reading an old Zen book, and it did me in. I’d experienced some strange mental states before, but this was different. As I read this book, death moved to the foreground of all my thoughts—and then stayed there. I found myself in a tropical paradise, terrified. Living seemed too cruel to carry on with. Buddha had said all life was suffering and all that meant was that everything was hopeless. There was no way out. Escape was impossible. When you looked at things soberly, it was obvious. Life, inevitably, was really just suffering and death. I kept this anxiety to myself as best I could. There was nothing to say anyway. No one could help. I was helpless, mortified, but aware that I was unable to do anything about it. The stress began to wear on my body. It felt worse and worse. I would have killed myself right there if death didn’t scare me even more than life. I reasoned if I killed myself at least this particular suffering would be over. These feelings peaked and then went on, and on, and on. At some point, I took a drive with my family to a beach on the other side of the island. It was bad. My insides felt as if they were being torn out. I didn’t understand what was happening. I felt like vomiting but couldn’t. Finally, we arrived at the beach. I sat under a tree, in the shade, trying to act sane. And then I thought I died. Something happened and then nothing. And then there was something again. I don’t know. Was I dead? I looked around and realized I wasn’t. I was on the beach, under a tree. But there was no “I.” Everything was different. Everything had dropped off. Where was “I”? I didn’t exist. What was happening? What was this? It was indescribable. You couldn’t describe this. Any description was pointless. Everything was perfect just as it was, but at the same time, it wasn’t that. Because there was no everything. There was nothing at all. There was no need to describe anything ever again because there was nothing. Words and description were meaningless. Nothing was real. Nothing mattered! And this was, undoubtedly, the best news possible. The greatest realization I could wish to have. Yet that couldn’t begin to explain how good this was. It was way beyond any conception I could come up with. Everything, and everybody, was saved. That was clear. Everything was fine—now and forever. Nothing needed to be done, ever. The whole thing—life, death, reality, individuality, good, bad, right, wrong—was a lie. An illusion. A sham. Everything just was—just is. And this was perfection, beyond any belief, rationalization or label I could ever put on it. It made no sense, and it was perfect. It was before time itself. It transcended thought, was past my comprehension. Thought created all this suffering—and thought itself was not real. Without thought, all was grace—always. It was all blissfully and blatantly simple, yet totally illogical. I sat on that beach, thunderstruck. It was laughable. Whatever you thought, it didn’t matter. Thought had nothing to do with anything real. Everything was always perfect, no matter what you thought…

    A major competitor has bought her company out and with this shakeup comes the arrival of a new CEO. Nadia’s fears for the future of her job become more complicated, however, when she discovers how attracted she is to her new boss. That boss is Avery Wool, a confident and strong executive, who has come in to reorganize the company. But Avery appears to have ulterior motives. As the changes begin to take hold, things aren’t always what they seem with Avery. Nadia, however, can’t help but fall for Avery’s advances. She’s a beautiful woman, sultry, powerful, rich… and she has Nadia in her sights. How will Nadia reconcile her feelings about the corporate takeover with the growing desire she feels for her new CEO? Is the mounting passion between the women for real, or is it all just a game to Avery? Work often takes a backseat when you have romance knocking at your office door.

    Matters of Life and Death collects Picard's most compelling columns, covering a broad range of topics including Canada's right-to-die law, the true risks of the Zika virus, the financial challenges of a publicly funded health system, appalling health conditions in First Nations communities, the legalization of marijuana, the social and economic impacts of mental illness, and the healthcare challenges facing transgender people.The topic of health touches on the heart of society, intersecting with many aspects of private and public life—human rights, aging, political debate, economics and death. With his reporting, Picard demonstrates the connection between physical health and the health of society as a whole, provides the facts to help readers make knowledgeable health choices, and acts as a devoted advocate for those whose circumstances bar them from receiving the care they need.Providing an antidote to widespread fear-mongering and misinformation, Matters of Life and Death is essential reading for anyone with an investment in public health topics—in other words, everyone.

    Now Wells is back, writing about his favorite subject–the exotic, beleaguered Louisiana wetlands–in a sharp, rollicking tale of corporate corruption and political shenanigans. The fight over one man’s tract of sacred marsh fronts a deeper story of our place in the environment and our obligations to it. Justin Pitre’s marsh island, a legacy of his trapper grandfather, is a scenic rival to anything in the Everglades, and he has promised to protect it from all harm. But he hasn’t counted on oil bigwig Tom Huff’s plans to wreck his bayou paradise by ramming a pipeline through it. When cajolery doesn’t sway Justin to sign the land over, Huff turns to darker methods. But Justin and his spirited wife, Grace, prove to be formidable adversaries–and the game is on.Into the fray comes the charismatic Cajun governor Joe T. Evangeline, who seems more interested in chasing skirts than saving Louisiana’s eroding coast. The Guv, though, is a man on the edge, upended by a midlife crisis and torn between a secret political obligation to Big Oil and the persuasive powers of Julie Galjour, a feisty environmentalist. Julie is clearly out to reform more than the Guv’s ecopolitics, but will his tragicomic Big Oil deals wreck both his career and his chances with the brash and beautiful activist?As Justin and Grace battle to stop this Big Oil assault, the plot thickens–and the Guv becomes snared in the web. Featuring a gumbo of eccentrics and lowlifes, a kidnapping, a sexy snitch, a toxic-waste-dumping scheme, a boat chase, and a fishing trip gone horribly awry, Crawfish Mountain, spiced with Ken Wells’s keen eye for locale, showcases his adventurous storytelling.

    Thanks to Bruce Kasanoff’s engaging writing and sage advice, this is an enjoyable book that’s full of new ideas to put into action immediately." -- Adam Grant, Wharton professor and bestselling author of Give and Take Do you feel uncomfortable blowing your own horn? Do you struggle to get your fair share of attention? If either is true, this little gem of a book is for you. It provides you with quick and effective tips on the most appropriate ways to make a name for yourself in our hyper-connected world. The book is organized around the author's "Simplify Your Future" framework for managing your career and life: Be generous and expert, trustworthy and clear, open-minded and adaptable, persistent and present.

    While her passion has always been animal conservation, her instant attraction to Caleb makes her question her all work, no play existence.Caleb has never wanted a mate… until he meets Anastasia, a stunning and headstrong snow leopard shifter. Even though he’s a vigilante hunter with a job to do, he can’t resist the temptation of Anastasia’s heady scent and curvy body, and is determined to claim her as his. When the two shifters team up to find the poachers, Anastasia begins to wonder if their chance meeting was more than a simple coincidence, especially when Caleb’s hot gaze makes her feel like his prey. Caleb knows that he and Anastasia are fated mates, and will do anything to make her his. The question is: can their love survive the danger of the hunt?

    Living in the northeast province of what used to be the United States, she is a rising star at The Artificial Intelligence Company, training and managing sentient beings called “AIs” in the enigmatic parallel universe of Virtual Reality. When a seemingly harmless lark sends Kim’s life spinning out of control and the AIs begin to go mad, Kim launches into a journey of self-discovery and chaos that threatens to tear down society’s corrupt powers, and possibly civilization itself.For fans of classic dystopian literature like Brave New World and ground-breaking TV shows like Black Mirror, Stanfill explores the lurking dangers of a surveillance state where privacy is dead, corporations have unlimited power, and even using the word “I” is forbidden.

    In this practical andstraightforward guide, you will learn specific principles that will help you to build more powerfulrelationships, stronger connections, and leave a positive, lasting impression on everyone you get intouch with.Practise these easy to follow guidelines, and you will realize that becoming a people magnet is easierthan you thought!

    Five Odd Thomas novels from master storyteller and international bestseller, Dean Koontz.Odd by name, a hero by nature…ODD THOMAS: Odd Thomas is a fry-cook who can communicate with the dead. And when something evil comes to Pico Mundo, the desert town Odd calls home, Odd is the only one who can prevent a devastating whirlwind of violence and murder.FOREVER ODD: Odd Thomas has lost the love of his life, Stormy Llewellyn, but he has no time to grieve before he is called upon to use his unique talents in the search for a missing friend. And what he discovers is far worse than a dead body…BROTHER ODD: Odd Thomas is looking for peace in a remote monastery in the High Sierra. But even in the silence of the mountains, danger follows him, and Odd will come face to face with an enemy that eclipses any he has met before…ODD HOURS: When intuition leads Odd to the quaint town of Magic Beach on the California coast, he takes a job as cook for a once-famous Hollywood actor. Disturbing dreams haunt his sleep, however, and nothing can prepare him for the nightmare that lies ahead.ODD APOCALYPSE: Just off California’s Pacific Coast Highway stands Roseland: a mansion, protected by high walls. Odd finds refuge there, with the mysterious Annamaria. But the house contains terrible and bloody secrets, and is haunted by lingering spirits. Roseland has welcomed them in, but will it ever let them leave?

    He visited a specialist and from that appointment, he writes, "deep personal loss for some unknown reason wrapped its tentacles around me and my family." Diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), he lost his abilities to walk and speak within two years and, confined to a wheelchair, was forced to retire from his life's calling at age forty-three. Not long after, he was locked in his own inanimate body, unable to eat, drink, or breathe without assistance. His meals were delivered through a feeding tube, and a ventilator controlled his lungs through an opening in his throat. The only parts of his body he was able to move voluntarily were his eyes.Despite these extreme limitations, Sutherland made peace with his disease and, surrounded by his loving family, found happiness again, only to suffer another soul-shattering loss. His eldest son, Zachary, a lifeguard, drowned along with his girlfriend in a freak kayaking accident in the river behind the family home. "Despite everything I lost through ALS," he says, Zachary's death was worse. Yet again, through a long process of suffering and healing, Sutherland was able to accept his loss and find a renewed sense of purpose and meaning in his constricted life. His story, laboriously written on a computerized device that tracks his eye movements on a visual keyboard, is a testament to both the human will's ability to overcome unspeakable tragedy, and the power of familial love to heal incomprehensible pain. "When a negative change occurs," writes Sutherland, "we have to choose how we will face it. We can be paralyzed with fear or we can make the choice to integrate it into our lives, make peace with it, and eventually grow from it. With any change, good or bad, personal growth is the ideal outcome. It is my belief that this our soul's mission on earth."

    Emotional intelligence is essentially the kind of smart you need to understand your emotions, relate well to people, and handle the curve balls that life may throw at you. People with emotional intelligence seem to have everything figured out because they have mastered the most important thing of all: They have learned themselves. Emotional Intelligence is a handbook on all things that you may have questions about regarding your emotional quotient, abbreviated EQ. It explores the various aspects of EQ from why we have emotions to why we need them. It explains why emotional intelligence might get you further in life than IQ without necessarily diminishing the crucial role played by book smarts in your life. It also goes to bust the popular myths about emotional intelligence that exists, thus allowing you to distinguish the truths from the misconceptions. This book is dedicated to helping you explore the various components of emotional intelligence and show you how you can improve at each of them. It discusses the role of emotional intelligence at home and in the workplace and helps you identify simple ways to go from low EQ to high EQ. Inside you will discover: What emotional intelligence is, and why rise your EQ is so important How emotional intelligence affects your relationships and your work The importance of empathy How to manage and reduce energy vampire  And much more… If you have been struggling to understand where your emotions fit in the overall picture of your life or what you can do to achieve greatness in your personal and professional life, then this book is perfect for you.Do not allow yourself to live another day in oblivion. Get ready to figure out the hard questions thanks to Emotional Intelligence. You will thank yourself later for choosing to read this book.   Scroll up to the top of the page and click the "Buy Now" button. Your key to bouncing back from adversity is one click away.