This definitive resource on using Adobe Photoshop blend modes features dozens of hands-on examples to give you an edge in technical personal & commercial projects Blend modes are an essential if somewhat mysterious tool for photographers & digital artists. They can be used to for a wide range of imaging effects & challenges such as noise reduction working with high dynamic range (HDR) images compositing graphic design & digital painting. Although blend modes can be easy to use they arent always easy to underst&. Scott Valentine translates the technical elements into every day language & demonstrates techniques using real-world examples. Whether youre a professional or hobbyist theres something here for you. Beginning & intermediate users of Photoshop will learn how blend modes work & get up to speed on the most common techniques. The book will also feature power tips & blend mode techniques from industry experts including Katrin Eismann Matt Kloskowski & RC Concepcion. Advanced & technical users will find indispensable references along with powerful enhancements & corrections. More than just a collection of effects & recipes The Hidden Power of Blend Modes explains why the techniques work & how to tune them for your own specific needs. ...

Brian Greene's The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes & the Deep Laws of the Cosmos" explores our most current scientific understanding of the universe the 'string theory' that might hold the key to unifying nature's laws & our continuing quest to know more. There was a time when 'universe' meant all there is. Everything. Yet as physicist Brian Greene's extraordinary book shows ours may be just one universe among many like endless reflections in a mirror. He takes us on a captivating exploration of parallel worlds
- from a multiverse where an infinite number of your doppelgangers are reading this sentence to vast oceans of bubble universes & even multiverses made from mathematics
- showing just how much of reality's true nature may be hidden within them. " If extraterrestrials land tomorrow & demand to know what the human mind is capable of accomplishing.. .hand them a copy of this book" (The New York Times Book Review). "A writer of exceptional clarity & charm.. .every chapter opens level after level of previously unimaginable mind-expanding realities". (Oliver Sacks). " The book serves well as an introduction to the multiverse & will open up many people's eyes". (John Gribbin). Brian Greene is well known to many fans as a populariser of theoretical physics. He is the author of the bestselling books about string theory " The Elegant Universe" which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction " The Fabric of the Cosmos" & " The Hidden Reality". Educated at Harvard & Oxford he has taught at both Harvard & Cornell & has been Professor of Physics & Mathematics at Columbia University since 1996."

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Wayne Herschel in a culmination of 15 years of research on archaeo-astronomy has unravelled an extraordinary secret. It identifies the origins of Leonardo Da Vincis Vitruvian man human blueprint code with Stonehenge & the pyramid sites around the world. Herschel stumbled on Da Vincis secret geometry at Giza in Egypt & realised that all 50 of the pyramids of Lower Egypt appear to represent the brightest stars forming constellations along the length of the Milky Way. But more importantly there is the proverbial x that marks the spot & that claims cryptically that human lineage is associated with what appears to be another Sun-like star. The author also proves that Stonehenge has the same cosmic solution & that the pyramid layouts of the Maya the Incas the Khmer & many others around the world all repeat the same star map theme. They all exhibit the same obsession with one nearby Sun-like star in Taurus a star that the ancients passionately refer to as the star of their gods. This full-colour glossy book takes the reader on a riveting journey from one clue to the next presenting numerous forgotten ancient texts & artefacts. The Hidden Records" presents the strongest evidence to date that humans have never ever been alone in this vast universe." ...

1843: the early years of Queen Victoria's reign witness much high-level debate at the Palace of Westminster but nothing can interfere with Society's enjoyment of the Season. When Charlotte Meldon's father dies she believes herself to be destitute but a lawyer's letter reveals that she is not only part of the great Morland family but wealthy & a countess in her own right. She is expected to make a great marriage & with her vivacious cousin Fanny by her side she is launched into her first Season. But it is Fanny the hardened flint who loses her heart first while Charlotte catches the eye of Oliver Fleetwood the most eligible man in London. Then the Season ends in disillusion & Charlotte rebels against a life of idle amusement. With calm courage she flouts convention & embarks on a new journey which will change her life in very unexpected ways. ...

Dulcie Ballantyne knows that creative writers groups attract an unlikely mix of people so when she starts up Hidden Talents she is well prepared for the assortment of people she is bringing together: Beth King is facing empty-nest syndrome as her only son Nathan leaves home for university. Jack Solomon a local estate agent is having trouble coming to terms with the shock of his wife leaving him for his best friend. Jaz Rafferty is an intensely private seventeen-year-old girl who writes to escape her large boisterous family. Victor Blackmore is a know-it-all who claims to be writing the blockbuster novel every publisher will be clamouring for. What they all have in common is a need to escape as well as a desire to keep their lives as private as possible. As they grow more confident in their writing skills friendships develop & gradually they come to realise that a little openness isnt necessarily a bad thing. ...

Arguably the oldest book in the Bible the book of Job has a surprising amount to say about some of the newest scientific discoveries & controversies. Far from a book that is just about suffering Job is filled with rich insight into both ancient & modern questions about the formation of the world; the difference between animals & humans; cosmology; dinosaurs & the fossil record; how to care for creation; & more. With careful consideration & exegesis internationally known astrophysicist & Christian apologist Hugh Ross adds yet another compelling argument to the case for the veracity of the biblical commentary on the history of the universe Earth life & humanity. Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job shows that the Bible is an accurate predictor of scientific discoveries & a trustworthy source of scientific information & that both the book of Scripture & the book of nature are consistent both internally & externally. ...

Karin Schaeffers husband is missing presumed dead. The police are convinced that Mac took his own life after the brutal murder of his parents in what looks like a robbery gone bad... Karin is determined to do all she can to find her husb&...alive or dead. Only shes about to discover how little she knows about the man she married. But someone else is watching the Schaeffer family. Watching waiting & biding their time before they reveal the dark secrets of Macs past
- & exact a terrifying revenge.
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From the author of the New York Times bestselling PRETTY LITTLE LIARS comes a killer new series THE LYING GAME. Sutton Mercer had a life anyone would kill for
- & someone did. But thanks to a view from the afterlife & Emma Paxton her long-lost twin sister Sutton has a chance to solve her own murder. Emma slips into Sutton's old life to piece together her disappearance. But can Emma keep up the charade long enough to discover what really happened to Sutton...or will she become the next victim? Let the lying games begin.
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From the bestselling author of Along Came a Spider Kiss the Girls & Cat & Mouse a breathtaking novel of terror & suspense. Already a bestseller around the world -- now reissued in striking new cover style. Maggie Bradford is on trial for murder -- in the celebrity trial of the decade. As one of the worlds best-loved singer-songwriters she seems to have it all. So how could she have murdered not just one but two of her husbands? Will Shepherd was Maggies second husb&. A magnificent athlete & film star he was just as famous. But Will had dark dangerous secrets that none of his fans could have imagined! that his own wife could never have dreamed of. ...

A junkie lies dead in an Edinburgh squat spreadeagled cross-like on the floor between two burned-down candles a five-pointed star daubed on the wall above. Just another dead addict
- until John Rebus begins to chip away at the indifference treachery deceit & sleaze that lurks behind the facade of the Edinburgh familiar to tourists. Only Rebus seems to care about a death which looks more like a murder every day about a seductive danger he can almost taste appealing to the darkest corners of his mind...
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