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Next Generation Internet: Die Verschmelzung von Realität und Virtualität im Metaversum
by Peter HoffmannDie Entwicklung des Internets, insbesondere des WWW, stößt aktuell an ihre Grenzen – sowohl technisch als auch sozio-kulturell und ökonomisch. Als Lösung wird ein neues Internet versprochen, das die Grenzen der realen und der virtuellen Welt überwinden und Realität und Digitalität verschmelzen soll – das Metaversum. Technische, semantische und organisatorische Details greifen hierzu eng ineinander. Was aber bedeutet dies bei genauerer Betrachtung? Welche technisch-technologischen Herausforderungen müssen bewältigt werden, um ein solches Verschmelzen zu erreichen? Welche ökonomischen Möglichkeiten eröffnen sich– und welche verbieten sich möglicherweise? Wie kann erreicht werden, dass ein offenes und für jeden benutzbares Metaversum entsteht? Und wie kann vermieden werden, dass auch in diesem neuen Metaversum wenige große Anbieter ihre proprietären Ideen durchsetzen? Für diese Fragen soll dieses Buch Antworten aufzeigen.
An MT-Oriented Study of Corresponding Lexical Chunks in Business Correspondences from English to Chinese
by Fumao HuThis book sheds new light on chunk in business correspondence in order to promote the advancement of machine translation. By presenting a bilingual chunk table for correspondence and providing basic theoretical and empirical data on the construction of an MT-based English-Chinese chunk bank for business correspondence, it seeks to improve the accuracy of machine translation systems in a new way. It mainly addresses two questions: (1) How can business English correspondence chunks be defined in machine translation? (2) What are the correspondences between English-Chinese business letter chunks for machine translation? With the aid of a parallel corpus, qualitative and quantitative research methods, and the construction grammar theory, the book puts forward a theoretical model of chunk composition analysis. Further, the findings presented here can be used for the machine translation of English-Chinese business letters, helping to break down communication barriers and promote international business and exchanges.
River Ice Processes and Ice Flood Forecasting: A Guide for Practitioners and Students
by Karl-Erich LindenschmidtThis book exposes practitioners and decision-makers to the theory and application of river ice processes to gain a better understanding of these processes for modelling and ice flood hazard and risk assessment. It focuses on the following processes of the surface water ice: river freeze-up and flooding, mid-winter ice-cover breakup and flooding and end-of-winter ice-cover breakup and ice jamming. The reader will receive a fundamental understanding of the physical processes of each component and how they are applied in monitoring, modelling and flood hazard/risk assessment of river ice during the entire winter season, from freeze-up to potential mid-winter breakup and concluding with springtime ice-cover breakup and ice-jam flooding. Spreadsheet, geographical information system (GIS) and modelling exercises accompany each component to reinforce the theoretical principles learned. Step-by-step tutorial videos allow the reader to better engage with the book and learn the material faster.
Disability Rights and Religious Liberty in Education: The Story behind Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District (Disability Histories)
by Bruce J. Dierenfield David A. GerberIn 1988, Sandi and Larry Zobrest sued a suburban Tucson, Arizona, school district that had denied their hearing-impaired son a taxpayer-funded interpreter in his Roman Catholic high school. The Catalina Foothills School District argued that providing a public resource for a private, religious school created an unlawful crossover between church and state. The Zobrests, however, claimed that the district had infringed on both their First Amendment right to freedom of religion and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Bruce J. Dierenfield and David A. Gerber use the Zobrests' story to examine the complex history and jurisprudence of disability accommodation and educational mainstreaming. They look at the family's effort to acquire educational resources for their son starting in early childhood and the choices the Zobrests made to prepare him for life in the hearing world rather than the deaf community. Dierenfield and Gerber also analyze the thorny church-state issues and legal controversies that informed the case, its journey to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the impact of the high court's ruling on the course of disability accommodation and religious liberty.
Journal of Political Economy, volume 132 number 3 (March 2024)
by Journal of Political EconomyThis is volume 132 issue 3 of Journal of Political Economy. One of the oldest and most prestigious journals in economics, the Journal of Political Economy presents significant and essential scholarship in economic theory and practice. The journal publishes highly selective and widely cited analytical, interpretive, and empirical studies in a number of areas, including monetary theory, fiscal policy, labor economics, development, microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, international trade and finance, industrial organization, and social economics.
Our Lady of Darkness: An unputdownable historical mystery of high-stakes suspense (Sister Fidelma)
by Peter TremaynePeter Tremayne, highly acclaimed author of HEMLOCK AT VESPERSand ACT OF MERCY, presents OUR LADY OF DARKNESS, the tenth gripping Celtic mystery featuring super-sleuth Sister Fidelma.PRAISE FOR THE SISTER FIDELMA SERIES: 'Definitely an Ellis Peters competitor' Evening Standard, 'This is masterly storytelling from an author who breathes fascinating life into the worth he is writing about' Belfast Telegraph Arriving home from a pilgrim voyage, Sister Fidelma hears that her faithful Saxon companion, Brother Eadulf, is under sentence of death for murder. She hastens to the capital of Laigin, where he is being held, determined to appeal against the sentence. The crime took place at the abbey of Fearna where Fidelma clashes with the sinister Abbess Fainder. The evidence against Eadulf seems overwhelming - can he actually be guilty? Will Fidelma's emotional involvement blind her in her desperate search for the truth? What readers are saying about OUR LADY OF DARKNESS:'Fascinating insight into seventh century Ireland, combining intrigue and excitement in equal measure''Kept me on tender-hooks and could not go to bed until I finished it!''An excellent mystery and informs you about the society contemporary to the protagonist'
The Library of Lost Love: This spring, open the door to the most uplifting story of the year
by Norie Clarke'The warmest, most completely charming story to sink into' JENNY COLGAN Behind a door in Notting Hill, a story is waiting for an ending...-----------Joan thinks her story is over. But what if there is one more chapter? Joan has spent too long alone with her memories of the man she walked away from one Manhattan evening years ago. In need of company, she advertises for a lodger. Jess knows it's time to move on from her best friend's couch, where she's been crashing since her boyfriend emptied out her heart, and all her savings. But when she responds to an advert for a lodger, Jess has no idea how life's about to change. When Jess meets Joan, she recognises someone needing a way back into the world, and she suggests a switch: if Joan will agree to go on-line, she will go off-line. And when Jess discovers Joan's library of lost love, she decides to follow the trail, little realising that in Joan's story lies her own unexpected new beginning... Praise for The Library of Lost Love:'A wonderful tale proving change is always possible' KATIE FFORDE 'One of the sweetest love stories I've ever read' SUE MOORCROFT 'A glorious story of an unlikely friendship that heals heartache' EMMA COWELL 'Love, love, loved this! Gave me all the feels!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Netgalley reviewer 'A lovely feel-good story. One you'll fall in love with!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Netgalley reviewer 'Just so beautiful. Left me wanting more' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Netgalley reviewer 'Lovely, lovely characters. I couldn't put this down' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Netgalley reviewer 'Oh, I absolutely loved this! Such a sweet, heart-warming story of lost love and secrets kept' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Netgalley reviewer
An Irish Atlantic Rainforest: A Personal Journey into the Magic of Rewilding
by Eoghan DaltunAn Post Irish Book Award Winner'An inspiring vision' Manchán Magan'The stories are absorbing, the writing charismatic and the ideas thought-provoking' Irish IndependentOn the Beara peninsula in West Cork, a temperate rainforest flourishes. It is the life work of Eoghan Daltun, who had a vision to rewild a 73-acre farm he bought, moving there from Dublin with his family in 2009. An Irish Atlantic Rainforest charts that remarkable journey. Part memoir, part environmental treatise, as a wild forest bursts into life before our eyes, we're invited to consider the burning issues of our time: climate breakdown, ecological collapse, and why our very survival as a species requires that we urgently and radically transform our relationship with nature. Powerfully descriptive, lovingly told, An Irish Atlantic Rainforest presents an enduring picture of the regenerative force of nature, and how one Irishman let it happen.
The Midnight Clock
by Jamie Costello'A marvellously exciting - and thought-provoking - time-travelling murder mystery. Smart, funny, moving, atmospheric - I laughed a lot, cried once, could not stop reading, and now actually believe in time travel' Simon Mason'This book is equal parts tension, explosive drama, and heart. I loved it' Ben OliverMillie has seven days to save Annie Driscoll from a terrible fate. Millie doesn't know how or why she has been brought into Annie's life.But she's sure of one thing: Annie has already been dead for 68 years. Struggling to come to terms with her uprooted life, Millie is living with her father and his new girlfriend in a building which used to house the most famous women's prison in the UK. The only remnants of that place is the old prison clock in the hall - a clock that has long been silent. When the clock begins to strike again one night, Millie meets a young, terrified woman in a cell. Annie cannot see her, but Millie realises that she may be the key to changing Annie's fate - a fate that was sealed in 1955. But is there enough time for justice to be done? The Midnight Clock is an immersive, imaginative novel for young adults in which past and present collide.
Love Among the Ruins
by Angela Thirkell'You read her, laughing, and want to do your best to protect her characters from any reality but their own' New York TimesIt's the summer of 1947, and peacetime has brought new challenges to Barsetshire. Beliers Priory, once a military hospital during the War, has now become a flourishing preparatory school for boys run by Leslie and Philip Winter. When Charles Belton is hired as the new school master, six young people are thrown together in a web of flirtations and misunderstandings: Charles and his elder brother, Naval Captain Freddy Belton; Susan Dean, now Red Cross Depot Librarian, and her glamorous sister Jessica, an actress in thrall to the theatre; pragmatic Lucy Marling and her brother Oliver. And with the old social order in ruins, the scene is set for a delicious summer of comic - and romantic - possibilities. Love Among the Ruins is a delightful, clever and wryly poignant classic, and the 17th novel in Angela Thirkell's beloved Barsetshire series.
Countless Sleepless Nights: A collection of coming-out stories and experiences
by Carina Maggar'I'm sorry I can't say this to your face, but words fail me every time I try, even though I know you would be fine (and knowing you, you might have already guessed).''Shit. I've made this sound like a big deal. It's really, really not. I'm not a murderer or a heroin addict (how boring), I'm just the same old bitter, unreliable, drunken fool you know and love.'A moving, inspiring and thought-provoking collection of 50 coming out stories from around the world. From the good, the sad, the surprising and the funny, no two stories are the same, yet all are written by people who share the courage to be vulnerable, take huge risks to find love and acceptance and are brave enough to be their authentic selves. Whether you have any experience of coming out or not, these stories are incredibly powerful and moving.
The Old Bank House: A Virago Modern Classic
by Angela Thirkell'Charming, very funny indeed. Angela Thirkell is perhaps the most Pym-like of any twentieth-century author, after Pym herself' - Alexander McCall SmithEdgewood Rectory may be set in an ancient landscape, but the Grantly family are very much of their time. Caught up in the uncertain world that has emerged since the outbreak of peace, the Rector and Mrs Grantly are bewildered by the challenges facing their eldest children: Eleanor, longing for more excitement than can be found in the Red Cross Library; and Tom, struggling to readjust to student life at Oxford after his military service. When their elderly neighbour Miss Sowerby sells her beloved Old Bank House to self-made MP Sam Adams, the one-time outsider finds himself at the heart of Barsetshire society. And while Sam may dismiss her advice that the house needs a mistress, even a contented widower can be surprised by love.
A Brief History of America (Brief Histories)
by Jeremy BlackThe next in this series of admirably concise yet nevertheless comprehensive titles looks at the history of all Americans as well as America; its environmental history and its linkage to economic history; the political shaping of America; and America in the world, from being a colony to post-Cold War America.Black examines the environmental history of America and its linkage to economic history, crucially, the clearing of forests; the spread of agriculture; mineral, coal and iron extraction; industrialisation; urbanisation; and current and growing climate-crisis concerns.He explores the political shaping of America: indigenous American polities; free European and unfree African settlements; the creation of an American State, and its successes and failures from 1783 to 1861; Civil War; democratisation; the rise of the federal Government from the 1930s; the Civil Rights movement from the 1950s onwards, and tensions in more recent governance. The book considers America in the World: as a pre-colonial and colonised space; as a newly-independent power, then a rising international one, the Cold War and the USA as the sole superpower in the post-Cold-War world. These key themes are tackled chronologically for the sake of clarity, beginning with the geological creation of North America, human settlement and native American cultures to 1500; the arrival of Europeans and enslaved Africans to 1770 - the Spanish and French in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, the English and French, and the Dutch and Swedes further north.The focus then shifts to settler conflicts with native Americans and between European powers leading to a British-dominated North America by 1770. Then the end of European rule and the foundation of an American trans-continental state. The section dealing with the years from 1848 to 1880 looks at the Civil War between North and South, reconstruction and the creation of a new society.Between 1880 and 1920, the United States became an industrial powerhouse and an international power, also a colonial power - the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico - and a participant in the First World War.The interwar years, 1921 to 1945, brought turmoil: the Roaring Twenties; the growth of Hollywood; Prohibition; jazz; the Great Depression and the New Deal; finally the Second World War. 1945 to 1968 was the American Age, brimming with confidence and success as the world's leading power, but also the ongoing struggle for civil rights. Subsequent years to 1992 brought crisis and recovery: Watergate, the Reagan years and the USA as the sole world superpower.In bringing the book right up to the present day, Black looks at factors that divide American society and economy, though it remains a country of tremendous energy.
The Birthday Weekend: A suspenseful page-turner about friendship, sisterhood and long-buried secrets
by Zoe MillerIt was a celebration to die for . . .What happened on holiday was supposed to stay on holiday - but that was before a body was found . . .Socialite Lucinda Oliver planned a lavish celebration for her fortieth birthday - a weekend escape at an Irish coastal town with her sister Stella and her closest friends. The weekend was to end with a blow-out party and a special announcement, one Lucinda had been dropping hints about for weeks.But before Lucinda could reveal her secret, she went missing. And now, six months later, her car has been found submerged in the Atlantic Ocean.Devastated, Stella decides to gather Lucinda's friends once more, in that same coastal town - the first time they've all been together since her disappearance. But soon she starts to suspect that one of the group knows the truth about Lucinda's accident. Which one of them is lying? Stella vows to find out, discovering that what happened to her sister links back to another birthday celebration, ten years ago...Praise for Zoë Miller's novels:'Shimmers with suspense and intrigue from the very first page' Sunday Independent'This engaging mystery copper-fastens Zoë Miller's mastery of the art of sinuous plotting' Irish Independent
A Brief History of America (Brief Histories)
by Jeremy BlackThe next in this series of admirably concise yet nevertheless comprehensive titles looks at the history of all Americans as well as America; its environmental history and its linkage to economic history; the political shaping of America; and America in the world, from being a colony to post-Cold War America.Black examines the environmental history of America and its linkage to economic history, crucially, the clearing of forests; the spread of agriculture; mineral, coal and iron extraction; industrialisation; urbanisation; and current and growing climate-crisis concerns.He explores the political shaping of America: indigenous American polities; free European and unfree African settlements; the creation of an American State, and its successes and failures from 1783 to 1861; Civil War; democratisation; the rise of the federal Government from the 1930s; the Civil Rights movement from the 1950s onwards, and tensions in more recent governance. The book considers America in the World: as a pre-colonial and colonised space; as a newly-independent power, then a rising international one, the Cold War and the USA as the sole superpower in the post-Cold-War world. These key themes are tackled chronologically for the sake of clarity, beginning with the geological creation of North America, human settlement and native American cultures to 1500; the arrival of Europeans and enslaved Africans to 1770 - the Spanish and French in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, the English and French, and the Dutch and Swedes further north.The focus then shifts to settler conflicts with native Americans and between European powers leading to a British-dominated North America by 1770. Then the end of European rule and the foundation of an American trans-continental state. The section dealing with the years from 1848 to 1880 looks at the Civil War between North and South, reconstruction and the creation of a new society.Between 1880 and 1920, the United States became an industrial powerhouse and an international power, also a colonial power - the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico - and a participant in the First World War.The interwar years, 1921 to 1945, brought turmoil: the Roaring Twenties; the growth of Hollywood; Prohibition; jazz; the Great Depression and the New Deal; finally the Second World War. 1945 to 1968 was the American Age, brimming with confidence and success as the world's leading power, but also the ongoing struggle for civil rights. Subsequent years to 1992 brought crisis and recovery: Watergate, the Reagan years and the USA as the sole world superpower.In bringing the book right up to the present day, Black looks at factors that divide American society and economy, though it remains a country of tremendous energy.
All Us Sinners: A beautifully written crime debut set in the shadow of the Yorkshire Ripper
by Katy Massey'Powerful, provocative, beautiful and unforgettable. All Us Sinners is a chilling, moving, majestic debut' --- CHRIS WHITAKERLeeds, 1977. A chill lies over the city: sex workers are being murdered by a serial killer they are calling the 'Ripper', the streets creeping with fear.Tough, sharp, but tender, Maureen runs Rio's, a clean, discreet brothel in the city. She's a good boss who takes great care of her workers - especially her best girls, Bev and Anette. The Ripper may be terrifying girls who work the street, but at Rio's the girls seem safer.But when Bev's sweet-natured son is found beaten to death, a figure from Maureen's past, DS Mick Hunniford, shows up at her door. Does his arrival herald danger or salvation? And who can Maureen really trust?The impressive and moving debut crime novel from huge new talent Katy Massey opens up a world we have rarely seen, at a time of great danger and drama.'A masterful debut crime novel... Clever and compelling' --- WOMAN & HOME'I loved this. It takes a fresh and moving look at a series of crimes we all think we know well. The writing is terrific, conveying the fear and the grief of the women who lived through this with tender respect' --- EMMA FLINT'A gripping and important story imbued with suspense, giving voice to the forgotten women in the gruesome shadows of the Yorkshire Ripper' --- DIANA EVANS'A book about real women, vivid, complex and tender from a great new voice. You'll love it' --- KIT DE WAAL'Loved it. A gem!' --- BERNARDINE EVARISTO on Are We Home Yet?'Wonderful' --- LOUISE DOUGHTY on Are We Home Yet?
Make Your Own Magic
by Amanda LovelaceFrom the bestselling author of the princess saves herself in this one comes an accessible guide to welcoming magic into your life, perfect for beginner witches and the magic-curious alike.As witchcraft grows ever more popular, there are countless introductions and paths into magical practice to choose from - so many that you might not know where to begin. When you're just getting started, it's easy to be intimidated or discouraged or to feel that there's no place for you in the craft.With make your own magic, amanda lovelace aims to change that. This inviting beginner's guide shows that magic doesn't have to be fancy, time-consuming, or one-size-fits-all. It introduces the tenets of witchcraft so that you can develop your own practice and relationship with magic in whatever way works for you. With simple explanations, twenty all-new inspiring poems, words of encouragement, magical journaling prompts, and more, this book sweeps away the gatekeeping and offers you the tools needed to begin building a strong, long-lasting practice focused on self-love.
Around the World in 80 Years: A Life of Exploration
by Ranulph FiennesHe's climbed Everest not long after a heart bypass operation, he's run seven marathons on seven continents, he's hauled loaded sledges across both polar ice caps and he's circumnavigated the earth...Ran Fiennes truly is the world's greatest explorer, and this book celebrates his 80th birthday by showcasing his greatest achievements in his own words. Featuring interviews and tributes from his friends, colleagues and admirers, Around the World in 80 Years celebrates the incredible life of a legendary explorer.
Five Ways to Forgiveness
by Ursula K. Le Guin'A magic of words' Neil GaimanSet in the same universe as The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, these five linked stories follow far-future human colonies living in the distant solar system. Here is the complete suite of five linked stories from Ursula K. Le Guin's acclaimed Hainish series, which tells the history of the Ekumen, the galactic confederation of human colonies founded by the planet Hain. First published as Four Ways to Forgiveness, and now joined by a fifth story, the tales focus on the twin planets Werel and Yeowe - two worlds whose peoples, long known as "owners" and "assets," together face an uncertain future after civil war and revolution. A retired science teacher must make peace with her new neighbour, a disgraced revolutionary leader. A female official from the Ekumen arrives to survey the situation on Werel and struggles against its rigidly patriarchal culture. The coming of age of Havzhiva, an Ekumen ambassador to Yeowe, is Le Guin's most sustained description of the Ur-planet Hain. Rakam, born an asset on Werel, must twice escape from slavery to freedom. And a charismatic Hainish embassy worker, who appears in two of the four original stories, returns for a tale of his own. 'As good as any contemporary at creating worlds, imaginary or our own' TIME Magazine
And Now the Light is Everywhere: A stunning debut novel of family secrets and redemption
by L.A. MacRae'A vivid, involving and beautifully written story.' JOSEPH O'CONNOR'A book that draws you in and holds you till the very end' ANNE GRIFFIN'Sensitive and accurate . . . A page turner' JAMES ROBERTSON'An eloquent novel . . . I was captivated' MARGOT LIVESEYFor fans of Ann Patchett, Maggie O'Farrell and Louise Kennedy comes And Now the Light is Everywhere: a breath-taking mystery and a soaring, beautifully written examination of love in all its guises.******Where does a story end and the truth begin?Argyll, 1998.Stories run deep in the MacArthur family, passed from generation to generation. Tales not just of selkies and changelings, but of the lives and deaths of the family themselves. Anna MacArthur has heard how her beautiful grandmother Netta boarded a ship for Canada after the war, leaving behind her young son Donnie, and was never seen again. Now, fifty years after her disappearance, Anna accidentally pulls a loose thread in the story of Netta's fate, causing the tale of her vanishing to unravel completely. As Anna pieces together a far more disquieting version of events, she is also forced to examine her own memories of her father Donnie's death.Yet the truth is sometimes bent and buried for a reason. And bringing to light what some have concealed for years may not be free of consequences . . .'Classic story-telling bathed in a generous light . . . it moves so confidently between lives and epochs it easy not to realise at first how cleverly it's put together, how effectively the different stories intersect and echo. It's poignant and funny, and marks Lucy out as an exciting and ambitious writer of real talent.' ANDREW MILLER
Final Verdict: A Holocaust Trial in the Twenty-first Century
by Tobias Buck'[A] gripping and fascinating book' JAMES HOLLAND, DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5* review'A thrilling read ' PHILIPPE SANDS, author of EAST WEST STREET***On 17 October 2019, in Hamburg's imposing criminal justice building, a trial laden with extraordinary historical weight begins to unfold. Bruno Dey stands accused of being involved in a crime committed over seven decades ago: the murder of at least 5,230 inmates at Stutthof, the Nazi concentration camp in present-day Poland. Only seventeen at the time, Dey was a member of the SS unit responsible for administering the camp. Though he concedes to his role as a guard, he adamantly denies responsibility for the killings. Dey's trial comes at a poignant moment. As the last members of the war generation - both victims and perpetrators - disappear, so does their first-hand knowledge of the Holocaust's horrors. Beyond its immediate legal implications, the trial stirs profound questions that resonate not only within the realms of German history, politics and collective memory but also within the author's own family. Tobias Buck revisits the silence that surrounds his family's experience during the Nazi period - and his German grandfather's role and responsibility. Through the lens of this riveting courtroom drama, Final Verdict explores the trial's broader significance, both on a political and personal level, and invites us to grapple with the question of whether it is right to prosecute Bruno Dey more than seven decades after he stood guard at Stutthof, and, perhaps more importantly, what we might have done in his place.
The Birthday Weekend: A suspenseful page-turner about friendship, sisterhood and long-buried secrets
by Zoe MillerIt was a celebration to die for . . .What happened on holiday was supposed to stay on holiday - but that was before a body was found . . .Socialite Lucinda Oliver planned a lavish celebration for her fortieth birthday - a weekend escape at an Irish coastal town with her sister Stella and her closest friends. The weekend was to end with a blow-out party and a special announcement, one Lucinda had been dropping hints about for weeks.But before Lucinda could reveal her secret, she went missing. And now, six months later, her car has been found submerged in the Atlantic Ocean.Devastated, Stella decides to gather Lucinda's friends once more, in that same coastal town - the first time they've all been together since her disappearance. But soon she starts to suspect that one of the group knows the truth about Lucinda's accident. Which one of them is lying? Stella vows to find out, discovering that what happened to her sister links back to another birthday celebration, ten years ago...Praise for Zoë Miller's novels:'Shimmers with suspense and intrigue from the very first page' Sunday Independent'This engaging mystery copper-fastens Zoë Miller's mastery of the art of sinuous plotting' Irish Independent
Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain
by Andy Burnham Steve RotheramPicked as one of Waterstones' Non-Fiction 'Books You Need to Read in 2024' Picked by the Financial Times as one of 'The Best New Politics Books'Picked by iNews as one of 'The Best New Books to Read in March 2024'Gordon Brown: 'A path-breaking book by two dynamic leaders... whose ideas on the future deserve all our attention.'Britain is more unequal than ever before. If we're ever going to fix this, we must take the power out of Westminster.Looking North could change this, and the Mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram are leading this fight. For the first time, they share their experiences of modern British politics, from how the Hillsborough disaster shaped them and their time as MPs in Westminster witnessing its systematic flaws, to leaving to become Mayors up North, battling Boris Johnson during the Covid-19 pandemic, and creating a new vision for what Britain could be. In Head North, they propose an ambitious ten-point plan to rewire and reimagine our country beyond the Westminster bubble. A timely discussion around Northern voices and culture, devolution and the failed promises of 'levelling up' from successive Tory Prime Ministers, Head North outlines how we can spread political and economic power throughout the UK and push forward for a fairer future. The North will not sit on the sidelines any longer. It's time for real change - and this is how we can achieve it!
Our Next Reality: How the AI-powered Metaverse Will Reshape the World
by Alvin Wang Graylin Louis Rosenberg"Our Next Reality does a fantastic job of giving a balanced and insightful analysis to some of the most pressing questions our society will face in the near future. The material is data driven, digestible, and very actionable." RAY KURZWEIL, Author/Entrepreneur/Futurist"A wide-reaching exploration of the intersections between AI, VR and AR: it's a mind-opener, and a source of reflection on how transformative and still unknown the future of communication, personal technology and even personal privacy might become." SCOTT STEIN, Editor at Large, CNETOver the last 100 years, technology has changed our world. Over the next decade it will transform our reality.We are entering a new technological age in which artificial intelligence and immersive media will transform society at all levels, mediating our lives by altering what we see, hear, and experience. Powered by immersive eyewear and driven by interactive AI agents, this new age of computing has the potential to make our world a magical place where the boundaries between the real and the virtual, the human and the artificial, rapidly fade away. If managed well, this could unleash a new age of abundance. If managed poorly, this technological revolution could easily go astray, deeply compromising our privacy, autonomy, agency, and even our humanity.In Our Next Reality, two industry veterans provide a data-driven debate on whether the new world we're creating will be a technological utopia or an AI-powered dystopia and give guidance on how to aim for the best future we can. With a Foreword by renowned author Neal Stephenson and section contributions from industry thought-leaders such as Peter H. Diamandis, Tom Furness, Phillip Rosedale, Tony Parisi, Avi Bar Zeev and Walter Parkes, this book answers over a dozen of the most pressing questions we face as artificial intelligence and spatial computing accelerates the digitization of our world. Find out why our actions in the next decade could determine the trajectory of our species for countless millennia."For anyone who wants to use AI and XR to help build the future, read this book to help you skillfully navigate a future of unprecedented danger and promise." JASON HINER, Editor in Chief, ZDNet"Our Next Reality really is a must-read for anyone who wants to prepare for the massive AI and XR driven disruption coming our way." CHARLIE FINK, Author | Adjunct | Forbes Tech Columnist
The Spinning House: How Cambridge University locked up women in its private prison
by Caroline BiggsCambridge University is renowned worldwide for its academic prowess, but below the surface lurks a murky past. During the nineteenth century, the university became infamous for its dogged determination to cling to ancient laws allowing it to arrest and imprison unchaperoned women found walking the streets of Cambridge after dark.Mistakes were made. Violence and legal action followed until finally an Act of Parliament put an end to the university’s jurisdiction over the women of Cambridge.