The struggle for wealth & power that has surrounded oil for decades continues to shake the world economy dictate the outcome of wars & transform the destiny of men & nations. The Prize is as much a history of the twentieth century as of the oil industry itself. The canvas of this history is enormous -- from the drilling of the first well in Pennsylvania through two great world wars to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait & Operation Desert Storm. The cast extends from wildcatters & rogues to oil tycoons & from Winston Churchill & Ibn Saud to George Bush & Saddam Hussein. The definitive work on the subject of oil & a major contribution to understanding our century The Prize is a book of extraordinary breadth riveting excitement -- & great importance. ...

When Bean wins a riding holiday for two she asks Pia to go with her. Pia is delighted even though it means leaving Drummer behind. But when they get to the riding centre Pia is shocked to hear what the ponies have to say & wonders just what is in store for the next week.. . ...

Having escaped from the corrupt Enclave Gaia ventures into the wasteland with her baby sister Maya hoping to find a settlement that's rumoured to lie in the Dead Forest. After days of travelling Gaia is close to death when Peter a ranger from the mysterious village of Sylum finds her & takes her back with him. Gaia soon realises that Sylum has as many strict laws as the Enclave she fled from but when Maya is taken from her by the ruthless village leader the Matrarc Gaia is forced to stay & submit to their strict social code or risk losing her sister forever. But Sylum is in trouble. The population is falling & the amount of women dwindling dramatically & with a deadly fever affecting striking down anyone who tries to leave the future is bleak for the village. Desperate to escape with her sister Gaia is determined to uncover the secrets of the village whatever it takes. & when Leon is captured too Gaia is faced with another tough choice between the boy who captured her heart in the Enclave & Peter for whom she can't deny her growing feelings. But when the decisions you make affect the lives of everyone around you how can you be sure you're making the right choices? ...

Lizzie Conway has clawed her way out of the worst slums of the Gorbals all for the sake of her three daughters her most prized possessions. She would do anything to protect Polly Babs & poor deaf Rosie. In this tough part of Glasgow there are many dangers
- physical & moral
- facing women. & the girls themselves seem sometimes to be determined to make marriages as unwise as the one that landed her with crippling debts three small children & no man to take care of them.. . But Lizzie is a fighter &
- to her surprise
- so are more than one of her girls.



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The ASP.NET MVC 4 Framework is the latest evolution of Microsofts ASP.NET web platform. It provides a high-productivity programming model that promotes cleaner code architecture test-driven development & powerful extensibility combined with all the benefits of ASP.NET. ASP.NET MVC 4 contains a number of significant advances over previous versions. New mobile & desktop templates (employing adaptive rendering) are included together with support for j Query Mobile for the first time. New display modes allow your application to select views based on the browser thats making the request while Code Generation Recipes for Visual Studio help you auto-generate project-specific code for a wide variety of situtations including Nu Get support. In this fourth edition the core model-view-controller (MVC) architectural concepts are not simply explained or discussed in isolation but are demonstrated in action. Youll work through an extended tutorial to create a working e-commerce web application that combines ASP.NET MVC with the latest C language features & unit-testing best practices. By gaining this invaluable practical experience youll discover MVCs strengths & weaknesses for yourself--and put your best-learned theory into practice. The books authors Steve Sanderson & Adam Freeman have both watched the growth of ASP.NET MVC since its first release. Steve is a well-known blogger on the MVC Framework & a member of the Microsoft Web Platform & Tools team. Adam started designing & building web applications 15 years ago & has been responsible for some of the worlds largest & most ambitious projects. You can be sure you are in safe hands. What youll learn * Gain a solid architectural understanding of ASP.NET MVC 4 including basic MVC * Explore the entire ASP.NET MVC Framework * Learn whats new in version 4 & how how best to apply these new features * See how MVC & test-driven development work in action * Capitalize on your existing knowledge quickly & easily through comparison of features in classic ASP.NET to those in ASP.NET MVC Who this book is for This book is for web developers with a basic knowledge of ASP.NET & C who want (or need) to start using the new ASP.NET MVC 4 Framework. ...

Pro Java Script Techniques is the ultimate Java Script book for the modern web developer. It provides everything you need to know about modern Java Script & shows what Java Script can do for your web sites. This book doesn't waste any time looking at things you already know like basic syntax & structures. Expert web developer & author John Resig concentrates on fundamental vital topics--what modern Java Scripting is (and isnt) the current state of browser support & pitfalls to be wary of. The book is organized into four sections: * Modern Java Script development using Java Script the object-oriented way creating reusable code plus testing & debugging * DOM scripting updating content & styles plus events & effect & event libraries * How Ajax works overcoming problems & using libraries to speed up development of Ajax applications * The future of Java Script looking at cutting edge topics like JSON HTML5 & more All concepts are backed up by real-world examples & case studies & John provides numerous reusable functions & classes to save you time in your development. There are also up-to-date reference appendixes for the DOM events browser support (including IE7) & frameworks so you can look up specific details quickly & easily. ...

If you are a web programmer you need to know modern PHP. This book presents with many new areas in which PHP plays a large role. If you want to write a mobile application using geo-location data Pro PHP Programming will show you how. in addition if you need to make sure that you can write a multilingual indexing application using Sphinx this book will help you avoid the pitfalls. Of course Pro PHP Programming gives a thorough survey of PHP post-5.3. Youll begin by working through an informative survey & clear guide to object-oriented PHP. Then youll be set for the core of the book on modern PHP applications. Now youll be able to start with the chapter on PHP for mobile programming & move on to sampling social media applications. Youll also be guided through new PHP programming language features like closures & namespaces. Pro PHP Programming deals with filtering data from users & databases next so youll be well prepared for relational & No SQL databases. Of course you can also learn about data retrieval from other sources like OCR libraries or websites. Then the question of how to format & present data arises & in Pro PHP Programming youll find solutions via JSON AJAX & XML. What youll learn * PHP 5.3 object-oriented programming & new PHP features * Writing programs talking to SQL-based & No SQL-based databases alike * Using modern PHP programmers tools * Writing social media applications * Investigating No SQL datastores * Writing PHP programs for a cloud ecology Who this book is for This book is for intermediate & advanced PHP programmers as well as programmers coming from other languages such as Python Perl C/C++. It can also be utilized by programmers with knowledge of a previous PHP version who want to return to PHP. Table of Contents * Object Orientation * Exceptions & References * Mobile PHP * Social Media * Cutting Edge * Form Design & Management * Database Interaction I * Database Interaction II * Database Interaction III * Libraries * Security * Agile Development with Zend Studio for Eclipse Bugzilla Mylyn & Subversion * Refactoring Unit Testing & Continuous Intergration * XML * JSON & AJAX * Conclusions * Regular Expressions ...

Pro Website Development & Operations gives you the experience you need to create & operate a large-scale production website. Large-scale websites have their own unique set of problems regarding their design--problems that can get worse when agile methodologies are adopted for rapid results. Managing large-scale websites deploying applications & ensuring they are performing well often requires a full scale team involving the development & operations sides of the company--two departments that don't always see eye to eye. When departments struggle with each other it adds unnecessary complexity to the work & that result shows in the customer experience. Pro Website Development & Operations shows you how to streamline the work of web development & operations
- incorporating the latest insights & methodologies of Dev Ops
- so that your large-scale website is up & running quickly with little friction & extreme efficiency between divisions. This book provides critical knowledge for any developer engaged in delivering the business & software engineering goals required to create & operate a large-scale production website. It addresses how developers can collaborate effectively with business & engineering teams to ensure applications are smoothly transitioned from product inception to implementation & are properly deployed & managed. Pro Website Development & Operations provides unique insights into how systems code & process can all work together to make large-scale website development & operations ultra-efficient. What you'll learn * How to tear down efficiency-hampering walls between development & operations * How to speed up product launches * How to spend less time managing your IT infrastructure & more time speeding up team collaboration * How to better understand how software engineering & system administration can work together * How to improve communications between engineering & operations * How to reduce software launch errors Who this book is for Software developers & engineers working to create professional large-scale websites. Table of Contents * Dev Ops Principles for Successful Web Sites * Aligning Engineering & Business Operations * Web Testing Principles * Designing Intelligent Documentation * Automating Infrastructure & Application Provisioning * Production Launches * Mobile Web Integration

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Microsofts Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) provides you with a development framework for building high-quality user experiences for the Windows operating system. It blends together rich content from a wide range of sources & allows you unparalleled access to the processing power of your Windows computer. Pro WPF 4.5 in C provides a thorough authoritative guide to how WPF really works. Packed with no-nonsense examples & practical advice youll learn everything you need to know in order to use WPF in a professional setting. The book begins by building a firm foundation of elementary concepts using your existing C skills as a frame of reference before moving on to discuss advanced concepts & demonstrate them in a hands-on way that emphasizes the time & effort savings that can be gained. What youll learn * Understand the fundamentals of WPF programming from XAML to controls & data flow. * Develop realistic application scenarios to see navigation localization & deployment in action. * Explore the advanced user interface controls that WPF provides. * Learn to manage documents from within WPF: Text layout printing & document packaging are all covered. * Use graphics & multimedia to add punch to your applications Who this book is for This book is designed for developers encountering WPF for the first time in their professional lives. A working knowledge of C & the basic architecture of. NET is helpful to follow the examples easily but all concepts will be explained from the ground up. Table of Contents * Introducing WPF * XAML * Layout * Dependency Properties * Routed Events * Controls * The Application * Element Binding * Commands * Resources * Styles & Behaviors * Shapes Brushes & Transforms * Geometries & Drawings * Effects & Visuals * Animation Basics * Advanced Animation * Control Templates * Custom Elements * Data Binding * Formatting * Bound Data * Data Views * Lists Trees & Grids * Windows Pages & Navigation * Menus Toolbars & Ribbons * Sound & Video *3-D Drawing * Documents * Printing * Interacting with Windows Forms * Multithreading * The Add-in Model * Click Once Deployment ...

Protecting children from abuse is a serious matter demanding critical thinking tenacity resilience courage & compassion. This book is designed to show how the social work task of protecting children works. It aims to increase the confidence of those undertaking the work who need to know & understand the processes involved to be better able to form part of the proactive child protection network. It locates knowledge & skills within a series of case examples from the authors actual practice making the book an indispensable resource for students professionals & others concerned with protecting children. ...