It is the product of preparation and effort, and it's within reach of everyone who wants to achieve it. All it takes is the willingness to make creativity a habit, an integral part of your life: In order to be creative, you have to know how to prepare to be creative. In The Creative Habit, Tharp takes the lessons she has learned in her remarkable thirty-five-year career and shares them with you, whatever creative impulses you follow -- whether you are a painter, composer, writer, director, choreographer, or, for that matter, a businessperson working on a deal, a chef developing a new dish, a mother wanting her child to see the world anew. When Tharp is at a creative dead end, she relies on a lifetime of exercises to help her get out of the rut, and The Creative Habit contains more than thirty of them to ease the fears of anyone facing a blank beginning and to open the mind to new possibilities. Tharp's exercises are practical and immediately doable -- for the novice or expert. In "Where's Your Pencil?" she reminds us to observe the world -- and get it down on paper. In "Coins and Chaos," she provides the simplest of mental games to restore order and peace. In "Do a Verb," she turns your mind and body into coworkers. In "Build a Bridge to the Next Day," she shows how to clean your cluttered mind overnight. To Tharp, sustained creativity begins with rituals, self-knowledge, harnessing your memories, and organizing your materials (so no insight is ever lost). Along the way she leads you by the hand through the painful first steps of scratching for ideas, finding the spine of your work, and getting out of ruts into productive grooves. In her creative realm, optimism rules. An empty room, a bare desk, a blank canvas can be energizing, not demoralizing. And in this inventive, encouraging book, Twyla Tharp shows us how to take a deep breath and begin!

    Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is the recommended technology for creating Windows user interfaces, giving you the power to create richer and more compelling applications than you dreamed possible. Whether you want to develop traditional user interfaces or integrate 3D graphics, audio/video, animation, dynamic skinning, multi-touch, rich document support, speech recognition, or more, WPF enables you to do so in a seamless, resolution-independent manner. WPF 4 Unleashed is the authoritative book that covers it all, in a practical and approachable fashion, authored by WPF guru and Microsoft developer Adam Nathan. Covers everything you need to know about Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) Examines the WPF feature areas in incredible depth: controls, layout, resources, data binding, styling, graphics, animation, and more Highlights the latest features, such as multi-touch, text rendering improvements, XAML language enhancements, new controls, the Visual State Manager, easing functions, and much more Delves into topics that aren't covered by most books: 3D, speech, audio/video, documents, effects Shows how to create popular UI elements, such as Galleries, ScreenTips, and more Demonstrates how to create sophisticated UI mechanisms, such as Visual Studio-like collapsible/dockable panes Explains how to create first-class custom controls for WPF Demonstrates how to create hybrid WPF software that leverages Windows Forms, DirectX, ActiveX, or other non-WPF technologies Explains how to exploit new Windows 7 features, such as Jump Lists and taskbar customizations

    Today he is a prisoner who chose exile to Rhapsody instead of death. This planet, the Range, knows no mercy. Here, thousands of prisoners fight each other for a place under the strange, cold sun. Here, the leftover alien biomechanisms and out-of-control Terran war machines roam in the ruins, and human life is measured in virtual experience that can be exchanged for armor and implants.Surviving in the Limbo slaughterhouse, upgrading to the tenth level and getting into the Green Zone is all any dead man can hope for. Except not everyone succeeds. Altai will have to make a lot of effort just to take a breather, and remaining high in the audience’s favor is something worth striving for. After all, the Range, among other things, is the most popular reality show, one of the few where everything is real, and death...death only raises the ratings.

    The average young person in the UK will spend 10,000 hours gaming by the age of twenty-one. What's causing this mass exodus? According to world-renowned game designer Jane McGonigal the answer is simple: videogames are fulfilling genuine human needs. Drawing on positive psychology, cognitive science and sociology, Reality is Broken shows how game designers have hit on core truths about what makes us happy, and utilized these discoveries to astonishing effect in virtual environments. But why, McGonigal asks, should we use the power of games for escapist entertainment alone? In this groundbreaking exploration of the power and future of gaming, she reveals how gamers have become expert problem solvers and collaborators, and shows how we can use the lessons of game design to socially positive ends, be it in our own lives, our communities or our businesses. Written for gamers and non-gamers alike, Reality is Broken sends a clear and provocative message: the future will belong to those who can understand, design and play games.

    But, to those of us who are really in the know, knitting is a hobby that is not only fun, but also one that can be profitable. And, you can knit clothing items that are of a much higher quality than anything you will find in the stores. You will find thousands upon thousands of knitting patterns available, ranging from very easy to very difficult, and everything in between. Just so you don’t have to spend a lot of time searching, we have compiled 365 of our favorite knitting patterns for you to try. That’s right. You will have a pattern for every day of the year, so you aren’t likely to run out of projects any time soon.Special Bonus: In addition to the “365 Days of Knitting: 365 Knitting Patterns for 365 Days” e-book, we are also giving you an additional 45-pattern mini-book as the special bonus for your holiday. This means that you will be well into the next year, and still have plenty of projects to work on.Download Your Copy Right Now!

    But what about those with a wide array of interests, a dynamic curiosity about the world, and an ever-renewing wellspring of passions? Margaret Lobenstine calls these people “Renaissance Souls,” and in this groundbreaking book, she offers a life-planning strategy in tune with their dynamic, change-loving personalities. Renaissance Souls often get stuck, moving from entry-level job to entry-level job, degree to degree, or hobby to hobby, unwilling to settle on just one thing to do “for the rest of my life.” Or, after achieving success in one field, they yearn for new challenges and begin looking around for something different. Yet they are also afraid that if they pursue their changing interests, they will have to give up on financial security, becoming “a jack of all trades and master of none.”The Renaissance Soul, the first book devoted to this personality type, not only shows that it’s possible to design a successful, vibrant life built on multiple passions, but also gives readers the practical advice to do so. Lobenstine arms the reader with powerful life-design strategies, including how to:*Understand the exciting and powerful difference between choice and focus *Transform your day job so that it carries your dreams forward*Manage your time the Renaissance Soul way*Thrive on many interests without feeling scattered *Get paid for your passions*Learn a new field without going back to school*Get inspired by Renaissance Souls from ancient times to the present, from Leonardo da Vinci to Ben Franklin to Oprah WinfreyStocked with creative exercises, relevant resources, and interviews with successful Renaissance Souls, this profoundly inspiring guide will show readers the way to a richer, more fulfilling life—big enough to embrace all their dreams.

    . . . A masterpiece.” —Margaret Atwood“No one who is invested in any kind of art . . . can read The Gift and remain unchanged.” —David Foster WallaceBy now a modern classic, The Gift is a brilliantly orchestrated defense of the value of creativity and of its importance in a culture increasingly governed by money and overrun with commodities. This book is even more necessary today than when it first appeared.An illuminating and transformative book, and completely original in its view of the world, The Gift is cherished by artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers. It is in itself a gift to all who discover the classic wisdom found in its pages.

    Techniques for using simple accessories such as bounce cards and diffusers, as well as how to improve a lighting scenario by enhancing it rather than overwhelming it, show photographers how to master this challenging aspect of portraiture.

    More than a series of fascinating case studies, To Engineer Is Human is a work that looks at our deepest notions of progress and perfection, tracing the fine connection between the quantifiable realm of science and the chaotic realities of everyday life."Alert, inquisitive, unspecialized, wholly human...refreshingly eclectic." --The Spectator"Henry Petroski is an ardent engineer, and if he writes more good books like this, he might find himself nominated to become the meistersinger of the guild. [This is] a refreshing plunge into the dynamics of the engineering ethos...as straightforward as an I-beam."--Science

    The PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition now contains detailed information about agile; while the Agile Practice Guide, created in partnership with Agile Alliance®, serves as a bridge to connect waterfall and agile. Together they are a powerful tool for project managers.

    

    Those cartoons eventually led to a popular blog-gapingvoid.com-and a reputation for pithy insight and humor, in both words and pictures.MacLeod has opinions on everything from marketing to the meaning of life, but one of his main subjects is creativity. How do new ideas emerge in a cynical, risk-averse world? Where does inspiration come from? What does it take to make a living as a creative person?Ignore Everybody expands on MacLeod's sharpest insights, wittiest cartoons, and most useful advice. For example:-Selling out is harder than it looks. Diluting your product to make it more commercial will just make people like it less.-If your plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail. Nobody suddenly discovers anything. Things are made slowly and in pain.-Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether. There's no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle. All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one.-The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours. The sovereignty you have over your work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will.After learning MacLeod's forty keys to creativity, you will be ready to unlock your own brilliance and unleash it on the world.

    Alphabetically arranged entries define and describe-- Fruits and vegetables, both well-known and exotic varieties Meat cuts and preparation methods Fish, shellfish, and ways to cook and serve them Breads, pastas, and other grain-based foods Cooking tools and techniques Reliable ways to preserve and store foods Herbs, spices, and their many uses . . . and much more Miniature glossaries are interspersed throughout the text. For instance, following the entry for apple, an "Apple Glossary" provides descriptions and recommended uses of 28 different varieties. A generous array of sidebar features throughout the book offers quick tips on food purchases, as well as " Fast Facts " and advice on preparation, serving, and dining. For example, immediately following the "al dente" entry in reference to cooking pasta, readers will find this sidebar: Fast Facts Al Dente An obvious line flowing through the thickest part of the pasta means it's not done Lingering heat will continue to cook the pasta for a short time after it's removed from the hot cooking water More than 6,700 entries are supplemented with a general introduction, hundreds of illustrations, and pithy quotations about food and dining from chefs and gourmets. The new deluxe hardcover binding with dust jacket includes a ribbon place marker and golden-tipped page edges.

    They actively applied a deceptively simple tool to think both smarter and faster: the doodle. And so can the rest of us-zero artistic talent required.Visual thinking expert Sunni Brown has created The Doodle Revolution as a kick-starter guide for igniting and applying simple visual language to any challenge. The instinctive and universal act of doodling need only be unleashed in order to innovate, solve problems, and elevate cognitive performance instantly.

    Running examples and case studies highlight new concepts and alternative approaches to program design.