In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it's nothing short of miraculous.Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether it's RPG studio Bioware's challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Age: Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone's single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man's vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart. Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.

    In Turing’s Cathedral, George Dyson focuses on a small group of men and women, led by John von Neumann at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, who built one of the first computers to realize Alan Turing’s vision of a Universal Machine. Their work would break the distinction between numbers that mean things and numbers that do things—and our universe would never be the same. Using five kilobytes of memory (the amount allocated to displaying the cursor on a computer desktop of today), they achieved unprecedented success in both weather prediction and nuclear weapons design, while tackling, in their spare time, problems ranging from the evolution of viruses to the evolution of stars. Dyson’s account, both historic and prophetic, sheds important new light on how the digital universe exploded in the aftermath of World War II. The proliferation of both codes and machines was paralleled by two historic developments: the decoding of self-replicating sequences in biology and the invention of the hydrogen bomb. It’s no coincidence that the most destructive and the most constructive of human inventions appeared at exactly the same time.  How did code take over the world? In retracing how Alan Turing’s one-dimensional model became John von Neumann’s two-dimensional implementation, Turing’s Cathedral offers a series of provocative suggestions as to where the digital universe, now fully three-dimensional, may be heading next.

    A former addict who started the premiere private rehab in the hills of Malibu, California. He had it all: a thriving business, a beautiful wife, and a daughter who was the center of his universe. But when he relapsed, everything he built went right along with it. Now, he has a rehab filled with eccentric clients he's expected to keep sane, a dark secret he's desperate to keep hidden, and forces from his past that are determined to strip him of anything that remains.What's a self-made man to do? Backed into a corner, Travis finds himself stuck on one moral question: Can he commit murder in order to keep it all from slipping away? How far down the rabbit hole will he go? And, perhaps more importantly, how does he come back from it after that life is gone?Part thriller and part redemption tale, Club Medicine explores the heart of darkness within us all as one man balances on the razor's edge between self-actualization and self-destruction.

    He's a drifter, leaving a trail of fear and death from coast to coast. Although he has always successfully avoided capture, he is haunted by the memory of the Sheriff of Liberty, Virginia. The man died nearly catching Jack--in fact, it was only by dumb luck that Jack had escaped. And that's always bothered him. Now, he's returning to the small town to settle the score. In Liberty, David Beaumont can't wait to leave his small hometown. He's grown so tired of listening to the endless stories about what a great man his father had been, how he had saved their town from a killer, sacrificing his own life to save them. David's got his money together, he's quit his job, and he's leaving town. He's leaving it all behind him.The only problem is the killings have started again...and David's the only one that can stop them. Should he return to the small town he despises? And if he does, will he end up the way his father did--dead?

    Blockchain protocols are taking the world by storm, and the Ethereum project, with its Turing-complete scripting language Solidity, has rapidly become a front-runner. This book presents the blockchain phenomenon in context; then situates Ethereum in a world pioneered by Bitcoin.See why professionals and non-professionals alike are honing their skills in smart contract patterns and distributed application development. You'll review the fundamentals of programming and networking, alongside its introduction to the new discipline of crypto-economics. You'll then deploy smart contracts of your own, and learn how they can serve as a back-end for JavaScript and HTML applications on the Web.Many Solidity tutorials out there today have the same flaw: they are written for "advanced" JavaScript developers who want to transfer their skills to a blockchain environment. Introducing Ethereum and Solidity is accessible to technology professionals and enthusiasts of all levels. You'll find exciting sample code that can move forward real world assets in both the academic and the corporate arenas. Find out now why this book is a powerful gateway for creative technologists of all types, from concept to deployment.What You'll LearnSee how Ethereum (and other cryptocurrencies) workCompare distributed apps (dapps) to web appsWrite Ethereum smart contracts in Solidity Connect Ethereum smart contracts to your HTML/CSS/JavaScript web applicationsDeploy your own dapp, coin, and blockchainWork with basic and intermediate smart contractsWho This Book Is For Anyone who is curious about Ethereum or has some familiarity with computer science Product managers, CTOs, and experienced JavaScript programmersExperts will find the advanced sample projects in this book rewarding because of the power of Solidity

    Max 'Vision' Butler was a white-hat hacker and a celebrity throughout the programming world, even serving as a consultant to the FBI. But there was another side to Max. As the black-hat 'Iceman', he'd seen the fraudsters around him squabble, their ranks riddled with infiltrators, their methods inefficient, and in their dysfunction was the ultimate challenge: he would stage a coup and steal their ill-gotten gains from right under their noses.Through the story of Max Butler's remarkable rise, KINGPIN lays bare the workings of a silent crime wave affecting millions worldwide. It exposes vast online-fraud supermarkets stocked with credit card numbers, counterfeit cheques, hacked bank accounts and fake passports. Thanks to Kevin Poulsen's remarkable access to both cops and criminals, we step inside the quiet,desperate battle that law enforcement fights against these scammers. And learn that the boy next door may not be all he seems.

    1. Shadow DescendantNaomi Feldman has never understood the strange energy that hums beneath her senses. But when she comes across an ancient artifact that seems to beckon to her, she may finally find the answers she's been seeking...2. Marked DescendantWhen their former allies turn against them, Naomi and Alaric are forced to go on the run, towards a showdown that will put Naomi's newfound powers--and their relationship--to the test...3. Dark DescendantBianca Ibano wants nothing to do with her magical heritage. On the run from her dangerous and powerful family, she's determined to forge her own path. But when a group of vicious vampires threaten her peaceful existence, she must make a choice--run, or fight.1.5. Winter's Fire (a novella)When Casimir and Fiona meet by chance on a wintry street in Prague, desire and duty collide. Will they give in to their pull of attraction--or will duty keep them apart?

    And considering that the "one man" is Neal Stephenson, "the hacker Hemingway" (Newsweek) -- acclaimed novelist, pragmatist, seer, nerd-friendly philosopher, and nationally bestselling author of groundbreaking literary works (Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, etc., etc.) -- the word is well worth hearing. Mostly well-reasoned examination and partial rant, Stephenson's In the Beginning... was the Command Line is a thoughtful, irreverent, hilarious treatise on the cyber-culture past and present; on operating system tyrannies and downloaded popular revolutions; on the Internet, Disney World, Big Bangs, not to mention the meaning of life itself.

    It stops the entire universe. For Michael, it tarnishes everything, including his badge. For Chet and his hostage, it is the beginning of a chase that will lead them through dingy motels and the darkest corridors of their minds. Dogan just wants Sara back. Jimmy the Cat wants to make up for all the time he has wasted. Frankie wants to live a 'moral' life, erasing everyone in his path who does not live up to his standards. Conventional notions of good and evil quickly blur as they are all forced to look into the mirrors they have avoided for so long. Chilling and horrifying, whimsical and wretched, Joe Café's cast of broken characters try to find their way in a world they never understood to begin with...for the Chens, it is easy. They are dead.

    So much of what has happened in recent weeks defies explanation for the remnant of the resistance to the last Dictator, survivors of the last human war. Out of tribulation and loss, they stumble into a fresh breeze of hope that seems too good to be true. Yet, peace has fallen all around the world, and the new ruler in Jerusalem enforces that peace through an odd assortment of people spread over the Earth. Even the weather and wildlife have been transformed for the comfort of the remaining people. Could this be what the Christians looked forward to for millennia, the Kingdom of God come to Earth, the Reign of Jesus Christ? Even in the face of gracious prosperity, for the world and its inhabitants, the seeds have been planted for one last human revolt against God.

    In the meantime, Nick recruits Dom Bello, consigliere of New York City's five families into the fight against the New World Order.

    Such a beautiful girl, but life was doing a number on her. She had been dealing with heartache pretty much since she graced the world with her presence seventeen years ago. At a young age, she’s become familiar with watching her mother be her boyfriend’s punching bag. All Ryan wanted in life was for her mother to leave her abusive boyfriend, Malik, so the two of them could peacefully live their lives. Not only was she dealing with emotional problems stemming from her mother’s relationship, but she was a high school senior dealing with depression and low self- esteem, simply because she didn't see the beauty in the heavy set, black queen looking back at her in the mirror. She then meets Messiah Washington. A guy who's musically talented, sexy, a few years older than Ryan, and could have any woman he wanted, but he was interested in Ryan. The title of this book is Miami’s Superstar because even with all the turmoil that Ryan was dealing with, she was talented. Some would even say that she reminds them of a younger Whitney Houston. The question is, does Ryan know that? Can she become the Miami Superstar that Messiah is setting her out to be, or will she just throw it all away?

    

    All he knows for sure is that he owes a debt to the man he left for dead.As Range plunges ever deeper into the dark and chaotic heart of the terrorists's murderous plot he realises that nothing is what it seems, and that his elite band of warriors are facing a desperate fight like no other.