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Gold!
by Fyn AlexanderThe year is 3550.Fifteen hundred years ago, Earth became a very dark place to live. A cabal of evil men was attempting to make the population into Serfs ruled over by the cabal.Five families decided to leave Earth and find a distant planet to begin again. A group of pioneers traveled to Pleione in the Pleiades star cluster, but the original intention of a utopia soon disintegrated into a world not much better than Earth. The basis of the new system is run like the ancient Roman Republic with a strict caste system. Fifteen hundred years later, the pioneering five families rule the planet with an iron grip.This is the world in which Jericho Goldsmith, a man from one of the five elite families, and Tenzin Fenn, a Serf sold into slavery by his family, meet and fall in love. But can the two men forge a loving relationship and remain together when they come from such disparate backgrounds and everyone is against them?
The Merchant Witch
by K. L. NooneSometimes heroic swordsmen need money. So Aric and his half-fairy partner Emrys have accepted a job protecting a wealthy cloth merchant’s caravan. But the job’s more complicated than it seems.Em’s fairy father is hunting them, and Em’s trying not to draw attention by using magic. Their client, Lady Caris, has demanded that Em stay in a simple single-gendered human form and not shapeshift -- and Aric can see his partner growing more uncomfortable day by day.On top of that, their client’s hiding a magical secret ... and a dangerous enemy.
Someone to See Me
by Emery C. WaltersNot everything is always as meets the eye. Sometimes that older man you see might not be a man, at all. And his actions and reactions may differ from what you would expect.Alan Twiling isn’t the man he appears to be. Nor is he the kidnapper or pervert the crowd thought he might be when he grabs a child to save her. Who is he, exactly?
Chesapeake Howl
by Rafe JadisonWhen he’s whisked away from Manhattan and summoned to his father’s Long Island estate on a weekday, James Tetherington knows he isn’t there to get good news, but still he’s surprised when his father insists James leave New York and return to Milligan Island, a place James has not been since he was a boy. Not only is James commanded to return, but he’s also told to solve a war between two Wolf packs, one he must lead and the other one he must subdue or destroy. As for the witches on the island, his father says it’s time for them to go.Chase Howard hasn’t been to Milligan Island since his father died a few years earlier, but when his coven has visions of him making peace between the two Wolf factions on the island, he knows it’s time to return. As a strong and powerful witch, Chase has never been scared of Wolves, but on his first night back to the island, when a wounded Wolf gets through a ward that’s held for centuries, Chase is forced to rethink his ideas. Chase soon finds himself nursing the gorgeous Wolf man back to health and protecting him from an island full of Wolves who seem to want him dead. Unfortunately, saving this Wolf may kill every chance Chase has to broker peace on the island.Although James and Chase may not know exactly what they want to happen on Milligan Island, they do know there’s an attraction between them neither man can battle. With angry Wolves and mysterious men in silver coats following them about, can James and Chase find a way to protect the island, or will it all disappear in the wind like a Chesapeake howl?
Beautiful Monster
by Rick R. ReedHank Donner-Varian yearns for something beyond his perfect, but routine marriage. Forbidden fantasy beckons until a chance encounter with the enigmatic and devastatingly sexy Abbott Lowery turns curiosity into a dangerous obsession.Hank’s unaware of the sinister depths beneath Lowery's facade. When Hank's flirtation spirals into nightmare, he's thrust into a world of horror orchestrated by a man who once embodied his deepest desires.In a heart-pounding race against time, Beautiful Monster immerses readers in a gripping tale of passion, deception, and survival. Can Hank navigate the treacherous maze of obsession and deceit before it's too late? Or will the irresistible stranger prove to be Hank's downfall, plunging him into a nightmare from which escape is impossible?
Third Time Lucky
by Alexandra CaluenNeither Troy Nakamura nor Laszlo Jovanovic expect anything after their one-night stand. Troy is bound for college and Laszlo is heading to graduate school on the other side of the continent.They don’t see each other again for five years, when Troy’s former competition dance partner invites him to her wedding, where he can’t resist another encounter with Laszlo. Then he says more than he should. While Laszlo lets him down easy, the fact is Troy’s still in law school and the other man’s work is taking him to Europe. Their first parting wasn’t easy, but this one really hurts.As Laszlo winds up his final European contract seven years later, a traumatic incident disrupts his intention to stay with his parents for a while. Troy, now living near their families again, offers a place to live while Laszlo sorts himself out.Both of them had always thought what if. With privacy, peace, and the opportunity to learn just how they’ve both changed since that first momentous night, is the time finally right for love?
The Seven Stars of Strand
by Dove SpaldingSasha, a closeted British celebrity, seeks out the help of a detective named Kiran who is known for discretion in order to find his missing ex-boyfriend, Oliver. Sasha is forced to share very personal information that reveals more about himself than he would have ever admitted to under any other circumstance, and despite rocky introductions, Sasha and Kiran become friends. Fortunately, Kiran is not only understanding of Sasha’s sexual preferences but encourages him to keep doing what he loves ... perhaps with Kiran himself.The complicated nature of their relationship prevents them from being together until Kiran is able to complete the job he was hired for, but their patience wears thin and they grow close as the search for Oliver continues. The police get involved when Oliver is found, upending a secret that might ruin Kiran and Sasha’s new-found relationship. Will they stay together in spite of their formidable circumstances?
Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America
by Barbara McQuadeA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAn urgent, comprehensive explanation of the ways disinformation is impacting democracy, and practical solutions that can be pursued to strengthen the public, media, and truth-based politicsMSNBC's legal expert breaks down the ways disinformation has become a tool to drive voters to extremes, disempower our legal structures, and consolidate power in the hands of the few."One of the most acute observers of our time shares . . . a compelling work about a challenge that—left unexamined and left unchecked—could undermine our democracy." —Eric H. Holder Jr, 82nd Attorney General of the United StatesAmerican society is more polarized than ever before. We are strategically being pushed apart by disinformation—the deliberate spreading of lies disguised as truth—and it comes at us from all sides: opportunists on the far right, Russian misinformed social media influencers, among others. It's endangering our democracy and causing havoc in our electoral system, schools, hospitals, workplaces, and in our Capitol. Advances in technology including rapid developments in artificial intelligence threaten to make the problems even worse by amplifying false claims and manufacturing credibility.In Attack from Within, legal scholar and analyst Barbara McQuade, shows us how to identify the ways disinformation is seeping into all facets of our society and how we can fight against it. The book includes: The authoritarian playbook: a brief history of disinformation from Mussolini and Hitler to Bolsonaro and Trump, chronicles the ways in which authoritarians have used disinformation to seize and retain power.Disinformation tactics—like demonizing the other, seducing with nostalgia, silencing critics, muzzling the media, condemning the courts; stoking violence—and reasons why they work.An explanation of why America is particularly vulnerable to disinformation and how it exploits our First Amendment Freedoms, sparks threats and violence, and destabilizes social structures.Real, accessible solutions for countering disinformation and maintaining the rule of law such as making domestic terrorism a federal crime, increasing media literacy in schools, criminalizing doxxing, and much more.Disinformation is designed to evoke a strong emotional response to push us toward more extreme views, unable to find common ground with others. The false claims that led to the breathtaking attack on our Capitol in 2021 may have been only a dress rehearsal. Attack from Within shows us how to prevent it from happening again, thus preserving our country&’s hard-won democracy.
Publicly Traded Family Businesses: A Long-Term Study on Family Involvement and Company Longevity (Familienunternehmen und KMU)
by Kirsten StotmeisterGoing Public - a decision of great scope, from opportunity to demise. Many firms find themselves at a crossroads, sooner or later. Especially for family-owned businesses the decision to go public may bear additional risks. In the end, the question arises - how did it work out for others? This is where this book latches on. The focus of the study lays on German stock-listed family firm longevity and family involvement. With an observation period comprising 68 years, German family businesses with an IPO launch between 1950 and 1988 have been screened for changes regarding family shareholding and involvement along the timeline until the end of observation in 2018. The study reveals outcomes of numerous family businesses after IPO, of positive as well as negative nature. In the end, the findings have been combined into a model reflecting the identified success factors of the surviving stock-listed family businesses.
Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Ecosystems of the North Pacific (Earth and Environmental Sciences Library)
by Vasiliy TsygankovThe book reports the results on the fate of POPs in the abiotic and biotic components of the aquatic environment North Pacific Ocean (include Russian part of North Pacific), possible health risks for coastal residents Pacific Ocean exposed to these hazardous pollutants are systematized. In particular, indicator organisms (fish, birds, and mammals), indicating the pollution of the region, were identified; the possible ways of xenobiotic transfer from the sea to the land are shown; the targets of POPs impact on living organisms were determined; the time of circulation of pollutants in the biosphere was determined; a list of “priority” toxicants for the region based on quality screening was compiled; the risks to human health from the consumption of contaminated aquatic organisms were assessed; the levels of POPs in the human body were measured. The book is interesting for specialists in the agro-industrial complex, aquaculture and medicine, teachers and graduate students of universities, researchers, which interested in the problems of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). There are no similar books on the study of POPs in the Russian part of the Pacific Ocean in the world literature. This book is useful to scientists of the world who study the fate of POPs.
Populism, Twitter and the European Public Sphere: Social Media Communication in the EP Elections 2019
by Juha Herkman Emilia PalonenThis volume approaches the relationship between European public sphere and political communication in the framework of establishing populism and social media. The empirical analysis focuses on the comparison between different EU countries during the 2019 EP elections campaign. The data for the analysis was collected real time from Twitter in the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Italy, Spain, Ireland and the UK. during a month period and are analyzed with both computerized quantitative and manual qualitative methods.The book introduces a new perspective in conceptualizing populism in comparative analysis, in which populism is understood rather as an antagonist logic of political identity formation than pre-defined political ideologies, movements or party cleavages. We approach implications of populist construction of ‘us’ and ‘not us’ in national contexts of 2019 EP election campaigns to find out the relationality between different political actors and parties. A special attention is paid to national/transnational and European/Eurosceptic tendencies in campaign rhetoric. By using a unique idea of ‘hashtag publics’ we approach the common Twitter discussions around the elections and ask: what particular topics and themes did different political actors distribute over Twitter during the 2019 EP elections, how were various topics and actors linked to each other, and how were campaign agendas and actors linked to populism?Chapter-No.1,Chapter-No.4 and Chapter-No. 8 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Computing, Communication and Learning: Second International Conference, CoCoLe 2023, Warangal, India, August 29–31, 2023, Proceedings (Communications in Computer and Information Science #1892)
by Sanjaya Kumar Panda Rashmi Ranjan Rout Manjubala Bisi Ravi Chandra Sadam Kuan-Ching Li Vincenzo PiuriThis volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Conference on Computing, Communication and Learning, CoCoLe 2023, held in Warangal, India, in August 29–31, 2023.The 25 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 120 submissions. The CoCoLe conference focuses on Application of Supervised Learning in Computing; Application of Unsupervised Learning in Computing; and Computing in Communication Networks.
Der Wandel des Fleischessens im Spiegel medialer Öffentlichkeit: Eine Diskursanalyse über kollektive Wissensbestände von der Nachkriegszeit bis heute
by Verena FingerlingSeit jeher löst Fleisch Kontroversen aus – sei es durch seine ressourcenintensive Gewinnung, die es zum Ausdruck für Wohlstand, Kraft und Gesundheit macht, oder sei es durch moralische Fragestellungen, die sich durch das Nutzen und Töten fühlender Lebewesen ergeben. Anhand des deutschen Leitmediums Der Spiegel setzt sich diese Arbeit mit Wandlungsprozessen öffentlicher Kommunikation über das Fleischessen auseinander. Für den Zeitraum der Jahre 1947 bis 2019 zeichnet sie nach, wie verschiedene Ernährungsdiskurse miteinander verschränkt sind, sich gegenseitig bedingen, befruchten und aufeinander beziehen und zeigt auf, welche Wissens- und Deutungselemente dabei zu verschiedenen Zeiten als relevant oder irrelevant in Erscheinung treten. Methodologisch basiert dies auf Konzepten der Wissenssoziologischen Diskursanalyse nach Keller und der Inhaltsanalyse nach Mayring.
An Introduction to Model-Based Cognitive Neuroscience
by Birte U. Forstmann Brandon M. TurnerThe main goal of this edited collection is to promote the integration of cognitive modeling and cognitive neuroscience. Experts in the field provide tutorial-style chapters that explain particular techniques and highlight their usefulness through concrete examples and numerous case studies. The book also includes a thorough list of references pointing the reader toward additional literature and online resources. The second edition of Introduction to Model-Based Cognitive Neuroscience explores important new advances in the field including joint modeling and applications in areas such as computational psychiatry, neurodegenerative diseases, and social decision-making.
Poetik der Komplizenschaft: Zum kommunikativen Potenzial von Exilautobiographien der NS-Zeit
by Janina MeissnerZwischen 1933 und 1945 dokumentierten zahlreiche Geflüchtete ihre Erfahrungen mit dem NS-Regime, um die (Welt)-Öffentlichkeit über dessen Verbrechen aufzuklären. Mittels rhetorischer und narrativer Verfahren und dem gattungsspezifischen Referenzversprechen implizieren diese Texte eine komplizitäre Rezeptionshaltung, die konstitutiv für ihre Poetik ist. Die vorliegende Studie bringt auf innovative Weise Ansätze aus der Exilforschung, der internationalen Autobiographie- und Life Writing-Forschung sowie der literaturwissenschaftlichen Pragmatik zusammen. Dabei entwickelt sie das Konzept der ‚Komplizenschaft‘ als eine rezeptionsästhetische Analysekategorie, die den komplexen und weitaus unterschätzten Poetiken der testimonialen Exilautobiographik Rechnung trägt. In eingehenden Fallstudien werden Autobiographien von Stefan Zweig, Sebastian Haffner und Catherine Klein untersucht.
Re-thinking Travel Writing: The Journey of a Genre (Palgrave Studies in Literary Journalism)
by Ben Stubbs Lee MylneThis book stems from the question that we as co-authors grappled with for the past 3-plus years while in our own periods of stasis during the pandemic: What place does the travel writing genre hold in a post-COVID world? With the massive interruptions to travel and travel writing across 2020-2023 as the pandemic forced us indoors and into isolation, it also raised many other pertinent questions about the practice of and future of travel writing. Part of the prompt for this book comes from the post-pandemic assumption that in an ecologically fraught, less mobile, and more uncertain world, there may not be a place for travel writing as we know it to exist in any meaningful way. We examine the problems and solutions apparent for travel writing as it engages with a period of re-thinking, prompted by the pandemic, though necessary for a plethora of other reasons as well. As academics and travel writing practitioners, with decades of experience in the field, we offer a unique perspectiveon this topic – as we have the in-the-field experience of professional travel writers, and we have the academic grounding to better understand the history, theoretical concerns and contradictions of the genre to provide a more in-depth perspective to our travel writing colleagues. This grounding allows us to access a unique and valuable perspective for Re-thinking Travel Writing: The Journey of a Genre for academics, aspiring travel writers and contemporary colleagues in the field.
Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Towards a Moral Technology (Studies in Systems, Decision and Control #519)
by Domenico Marino Daniele Cananzi Filippo AragonaIt is a book made up of questions, some without certain answers, that attempts to open the reader's mind to new and, perhaps, futuristic scenarios. There are two diametrically opposed approaches to artificial intelligence today. On the one hand, there are the techno-pessimists who see only dystopian scenarios and experience technological progress with apprehension, emphasising the dangers, and on the other hand, there are the techno-optimists who, on the other hand, tend to overestimate the positive effects, going so far as to attribute almost thaumaturgic virtues to technological progress. Our approach is meant to be secular and scientific; the risks must not be concealed, nor must they be overestimated, just as the positive aspects must not be emphasised. And, in any case, as in any social phenomenon, the governance of processes and the definition of a system of rules and policies are the aspects that can create advantages or disadvantages and, above all, can determine who are the beneficiaries of the advantages and who have to bear the disadvantages. Like any new technology, this too can be dehumanising, but technology is a tool that depends on how it is used and by whom it is used. that of ethics is, therefore, a fundamental aspect. Therefore, one should neither be a techno-optimist nor a techno-pessimist, but should be aware that governing the economic and social structural changes that the advent of artificial intelligence will cause will be crucial to ensure prosperity for future generations and to avoid negative and even apocalyptic scenarios. So no futurist dystopias! Humanity has so far always been able to govern technological progress, it certainly has the potential to govern what some have called 'the Final Invention', but it will only succeed if it is able to understand the peculiarities of this new process of technological development and give it ethical content.The book provides a thoughtful review of the relationship between artificial intelligenceand ethics, approaching the issue from different perspectives: philosophical, technological, economic and legal. This will be one of the most important issues that Humanity will have to face and resolve.
New Trends in Computational Vision and Bio-inspired Computing: Selected works presented at the ICCVBIC 2018, Coimbatore, India
by S. Smys Abdullah M. Iliyasu Robert Bestak Fuqian ShiThis volume gathers selected, peer-reviewed original contributions presented at the International Conference on Computational Vision and Bio-inspired Computing (ICCVBIC) conference which was held in Coimbatore, India, on November 29-30, 2018. The works included here offer a rich and diverse sampling of recent developments in the fields of Computational Vision, Fuzzy, Image Processing and Bio-inspired Computing. The topics covered include computer vision; cryptography and digital privacy; machine learning and artificial neural networks; genetic algorithms and computational intelligence; the Internet of Things; and biometric systems, to name but a few. The applications discussed range from security, healthcare and epidemic control to urban computing, agriculture and robotics.In this book, researchers, graduate students and professionals will find innovative solutions to real-world problems in industry and society as a whole, together with inspirations for further research.
Smart Mobility and Industrial Technologies: The Quality of Life in Sustainable Cities (Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation)
by Brahim El Bhiri Rajaa Saidi Mohammed Essaaidi Naima KaabouchThis book discusses many issues related to the impact of advanced technologies on quality of human life. It covers several areas and use cases that illustrate how technologies could be harnessed to solve all kinds of humanity issues in areas as diverse as education, health care, industry, agriculture, mobility, etc. Specially, it aims at establishing the vital link between advances in technology and sustainable development to magnify the benefits. This book covers a wide range of audience including academic/research, professors, scientists, and engineers working in different fields, comprising engineering, sustainability, as well as government and international organizations officials interested in sustainable planning. This is done through a set of selected papers from those presented to 4th International Conference on Advanced Technologies for Humanity (ICATH'2022) which was organized by the Moroccan School of Engineering Sciences (EMSI) in collaboration with national and international institutions. ICATH22 was held in Marrakech, from November 11 to 12, 2022. Key topics showcasing how technology can serve humanity in different ways and facets of human life, activities, and challenges are covered in depth through the chapters of this book which are presented in four different sections, namely:1. Advanced Technologies for smart Mobility in Smart Cities.2. Emerging Technologies for Connectivity in Sustainable Cities.3. Transitioning to Sustainable Industrial Engineering. 4. Technology for Human Sciences as Key Components of Sustainability.
Established-Outsiders Relations in Poland: Reconfiguring Elias and Scotson (Palgrave Studies on Norbert Elias)
by Marta BucholcThis book uses Norbert Elias and John L. Scotson’s The Established and The Outsiders to map selected established-outsiders figurations in Poland after 1989. Looking at gender and sexual orientation, nationalism and patriotism, race and class, antifeminism and homophobia, elitist and populist imaginaries, religious and political ideals and ideologies, hate speech, and the crisis of the rule of law, this book tracks how inequalities are transformed into figurations of the have and the have-nots by way of spatial, symbolic and institutional exclusion. This edited collection is rooted in a socio-historical understanding of the trajectory of Polish society before and since the fall of Communism over thirty years ago, and a critical assessment of the dramatic turn that Polish society has taken since the beginning of the democratic backsliding in 2015.
Advances in Automation and Robotics Research: Proceedings of the 4th Latin American Congress on Automation and Robotics, San Salvador, El Salvador 2023 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #940)
by Manuel N. Cardona José Baca Cecilia Garcia Isela G. Carrera Carol MartinezThis book gathers the proceedings of the 4th Latin American Congress on Automation and Robotics, held at San Salvador, El Salvador, on November 15–17, 2023. This book presents recent advances in the modeling, design, control, and development of autonomous and robotic systems and explores current exciting applications and future challenges of these technologies. The scope of this book covers a wide range of research fields associated with automation and robotics encountered within engineering, scientific research, and practice. These topics are related to control theory, Robot Operating System (ROS), robot design, collaborative robots, artificial intelligence, computer vision, sensing, field and service robotics, human robot interaction and interfaces, modeling of robotic systems, industry 4.0, and the design of new robotic platforms.
German Structural Pacifism: Cultural Trauma and German Security Policy since Reunification
by Joseph VerbovszkyGerman Structural Pacifism examines the influence of Germany’s lessons of the past on its security policy since reunification in an approach that is both novel and timely in the context of the Russia-Ukraine War. Germany’s lessons of the past provide contradictory “right ways” for Germany to overcome its authoritarian past and serve to legitimate political interests in security policy decision-making. Reconciling competing political interests and contradictory narratives results in a security policy that prioritizes “the right way” to do security policy is over its effectiveness. It is the author’s great merit to have defined the past 30 years of German security policy under the term Structural Pacifism. I find this conclusive. Sönke Neitzel, Chair of Military History at the University of Potsdam An accurate depiction of Germany’s systemic neglect of its armed forces since reunification, demonstrating why it is no surprise that our armed forces are naked. A follow up including the Zeitenwende would be very interesting. Hans-Peter Barthels, President of the German Society for Security Policy The book succinctly and accurately addresses the lack of an honest debate on the use of military force in the domain of German security policy, and explores its negative impact on military decision-making from political strategy all the way down to the tactical level. Volker Wieker, Former Chief of Defense of the German Federal Armed Forces (2009-2018)
Von Japan nach Deutschland: Eine Studie zur Integration von Japanerinnen und Japanern in deutschen Großstädten (Studien zur Migrations- und Integrationspolitik)
by Vanessa TkotzykIn diesem Open-Access-Buch wird erstmals mithilfe einer qualitativen Studie in den fünf größten japanischen Communitys Deutschlands - Düsseldorf, München, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg - das Migrations- und Eingliederungsverhalten dauerhaft ansässiger Japanerinnen und Japaner in Deutschland untersucht. Die Zahlen belegen, dass es sich bei den japanischen Migrantinnen und Migranten um eine kleine Gruppe handelt. Dennoch übt sie einen prägenden Einfluss auf die Wirtschaft und die Infrastruktur in den jeweiligen Städten aus, worauf auch die Tätigkeiten verschiedener Vereine sowie eine öffentliche Präsenz dieser Gruppe in der Presse, in Broschüren und im Internet hinweisen. Vor dem Hintergrund der Globalisierung wird es immer dringender, Migration zwischen wohlhabenden Ländern sowie die Eingliederung der von dort kommenden Personen zu betrachten. Vanessa Tkotzyk zeigt anhand der permanent ansässigen Japanerinnen und Japaner, dass nicht mehr nur Expatriates und ihre Familien nach Deutschland auswandern, sondern auch solche außerhalb des Firmenkontextes und dass japanische Migrantinnen und Migranten hochinteressante Merkmale für die Migrations- und Integrationsforschung aufweisen. Dies kann eine nähere Betrachtung der Entwicklung von Integrationskonzepten ermöglichen, die eine größere Diversität von Migrantinnen und Migranten berücksichtigen.
CIAM: Home-Grown Shareholder Activism in France
by Charles C.Y. Wang Tonia Labruyere Vincent DessainThe case discusses the strategy of CIAM, a French activist investment firm, involved in a case of a buy-out of minority shareholders in the telecommunications sector. Altice NV, an international telecommunications company based in the Netherlands that owned more than 77% of SFR Group shares, made a bid for the remaining shares of France's second largest mobile operator. Believing that the offer was woefully inadequate and constituted an abuse of power, CIAM had been fighting for a better offer as one of SFR's vocal minority shareholders with a series of action plans-leveraging legal, communications, and public relations tactics. CIAM had just received a new piece of information, divulging a potential misuse of SFR corporate assets by Altice, and was discussing next steps.
Deloitte's Pixel (A): Consulting with Open Talent
by John Winsor Kerry Herman Michael L. TushmanDeloitte Consulting's General Manager Balaji Bondili, head of Pixel, considers how best to grow Deloitte Consulting's use of open (on-demand) talent, as consulting companies and their clients face transformative change in the way client engagements and projects get done. Pixel, started in 2014, helps facilitate open (or on-demand) talent and crowdsourcing for Deloitte Consulting client engagements, to access specific, difficult-to-find expertise, collaborate to develop new products and/or insights, and to design, build, and test new digital assets. Bondili has found some avid users-and evangelists-of Pixel's services among Deloitte Consulting's principals, however uptake across the broader organization has been slow, and in some pockets has met with deep resistance.