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The Sevenpenny Gate: A Lifelong Love Affair with Celtic FC
By John Cairney. 2011
'Clutching in my hand my seven copper pennies, I ran down the two flights of stone stairs from our tenement…
flat and through the East End to Kinloch Street, where, puffing a bit, I joined the queue of other wee boys lining up to place their coins on the brass plate above the iron turnstile, push hard against it, then climb up onto the dirt terracing and into Paradise. The rest of the world called it Celtic Park.'This is a story seen through green-and-white spectacles. It begins when nine-year-old Glaswegian John Cairney walks through the boys' gate at Celtic Park and embarks on a series of adventures that, over the years, take him all over Scotland and beyond.The Sevenpenny Gate is about a search for heroes, Celtic heroes. It is also the tale of an East End club of humble Irish origins that has developed into a worldwide brand and continues to command the devotion of its fans, even with the Celtic diaspora now spread across the globe.Seve: A Biography of Severiano Ballesteros
By Alistair Tait. 2005
Seve is the most extrovert player Europe has ever produced. Playboy good looks along with a magnetism that attracted non-golfers…
to the game made him the biggest drawing card Europe has ever had. He emerged on the world scene with typical élan, hitting one of the most outrageous shots ever seen at the 1976 Open Championship. Three years later he became the youngest Open Champion of the modern era when he won the first of his five major championships. Ballesteros started Europe's domination of the Majors throughout the 80s and 90s, paving the way for Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Jose Maria Olazabal. His play in the Ryder Cup, fuelled by an intense dislike for Americans, helped restore Europe's pride in the event. Driven byBasque pride and with a fiery Latin temperament, Seve has often let his heartrule his head.Seve is the remarkable story of one of the game's most fascinating characters.This proceedings presents the papers included in the 2nd International Congress of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ICECENG), which took place…
in Bandirma, Turkey, 22-25 November 2023. The conference aims to bring together researchers, developers, and students in computing, technology trends, artificial intelligence, and security who are interested in studying the application of formal methods to the construction and analysis of models describing technological processes at both micro and macro levels. ICECENG’23 also aims to provide a platform for discussing the issues, challenges, opportunities, and findings of computer engineering research. The conference seeks to provide some answers and explore the processes, actions, challenges, and outcomes of learning and teaching.Imagine a world where the boundaries of creativity are not only stretched but redefined. This book serves as your guide…
to this new frontier, engaging general readers, tech enthusiasts, and creatives alike in the captivating interplay between human ingenuity and artificial intelligence (AI).Journey through the ground-breaking advancements in AI as they intersect with art, design, entertainment, and education. Discover how AI’s power to analyze and understand language can be harnessed to generate breathtaking visuals from mere text descriptions—a process known as text-conditional image generation. But this book goes beyond just showcasing AI’s capabilities: it delves into its transformative effects on the creative process itself. How will artists and designers adapt to a world where they co-create with machines? What are the implications of AI-generated art in educational settings? This book tackles these questions head on, offering a comprehensive view of the changing landscape of creativity.At its core, this book challenges you to rethink what’s possible in the realm of artistic expression. Manu contends that as AI evolves, mastering the art of collaboration between human and machine will become essential. More than just a look into the future, Transcending Imagination: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity is a roadmap for artists, designers, and educators eager to navigate the uncharted territory of AI-augmented creativity. It is a must-read for anyone interested in how AI might redefine the realms of art, design, and education.AI for Peace (AI for Everything)
By Branka Panic, Paige Arthur. 2024
The role of artificial intelligence in war is widely recognized, but is there also a role for AI in fostering…
peace and preventing conflict? AI for Peace provides a new perspective on AI as a potential force for good in conflict-affected countries through its uses for early warning, combating hate speech, human rights investigations, and analyzing the effects of climate change on conflict. This book acts as an essential primer for introducing people working on peacebuilding and conflict prevention to the latest advancements in emerging AI technologies and will act as guide for ethical future practice. This book also aims to inspire data scientists to engage in the peacebuilding and prevention fields and to better understand the challenges of applying data science in conflict and fragile settings.Decentralized Privacy Preservation in Smart Cities (Wireless Networks)
By Cheng Huang, Xuemin Sherman Shen. 2024
This book investigates decentralized trust-based privacy-preserving solutions in smart cities. The authors first present an overview of smart cities and…
privacy challenges and discuss the benefits of adopting decentralized trust models in achieving privacy preservation. The authors then give a comprehensive review of fundamental decentralized techniques and privacy-preserving cryptographic techniques. The next four chapters each detail a decentralized trust-based scheme, focusing respectively on privacy-preserving identity management, cross-domain authentication, data analytics, and data search, in specific use cases. Finally, the book explores open issues and outlines future research directions in the field of decentralized privacy preservation.Global Flow of Funds Analysis: Data, Models, and Applications
By Nan Zhang, Yiye Zhang. 2024
This book is the first to focus on the global flow of funds (GFF), providing an introduction to its fundamental…
concepts and establishing a theoretical framework for analysis. It connects the flow of funds within domestic economies to that of the rest of the world, offering a comprehensive analysis of GFF dynamics. This study enhances GFF statistics, enabling the assessment of global financial stability from both national and cross-border sectoral perspectives. The GFF data provide valuable insights into analyzing interconnectivity across borders and an understanding of global financial interdependencies. By examining the data sources and reconstructing the statistical framework to establish the GFF statistical matrix, this book conducts a case study to evaluate financial risks and influences in G20 countries. Subsequently, it connects the GFF matrix with sectoral account data and the flow of funds to establish the sectoral from-whom-to-whom financial stock matrix (SFSM). The SFSM aims to establish a new framework for conducting multi-country, multi-sector analysis within the G20, with a special emphasis on examining the national and cross-border exposures of sectors in China, Japan, and the USA. This involves constructing country-specific financial networks and connecting them based on cross-border exposures. The systematic analysis results effectively showcase the financial interconnections among G20 countries within the GFF and shed light on the attributes of external shocks and internal influences. The focus is particularly on the changes in risk exposure between China and the USA concerning their external assets and liabilities and the implications of economic decoupling of these dynamics.Patricia Brunkow gibt einen Überblick über relevante Barrieren bei der Einführung von IT-Anwendungen in Unternehmen und stellt zwei Instrumente zur…
Identifikation und Vermeidung von Barrieren vor. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit bieten aufgrund der Datenerhebung in einem Automobilunternehmen besonders praxisnahe Erkenntnisse.Learn effective and scalable database design techniques in SQL Server 2019 and other recent SQL Server versions. This book is…
revised to cover additions to SQL Server that include SQL graph enhancements, in-memory online transaction processing, temporal data storage, row-level security, and other design-related features. This book will help you design OLTP databases that are high-quality, protect the integrity of your data, and perform fast on-premises, in the cloud, or in hybrid configurations. Designing an effective and scalable database using SQL Server is a task requiring skills that have been around for well over 30 years, using technology that is constantly changing. This book covers everything from design logic that business users will understand to the physical implementation of design in a SQL Server database. Grounded in best practices and a solid understanding of the underlying theory, author Louis Davidson shows you how to "get it right" in SQL Server database design and lay a solid groundwork for the future use of valuable business data.What You Will LearnDevelop conceptual models of client data using interviews and client documentationImplement designs that work on premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid approachRecognize and apply common database design patternsNormalize data models to enhance integrity and scalability of your databases for the long-term use of valuable dataTranslate conceptual models into high-performing SQL Server databasesSecure and protect data integrity as part of meeting regulatory requirementsCreate effective indexing to speed query performanceUnderstand the concepts of concurrencyWho This Book Is ForProgrammers and database administrators of all types who want to use SQL Server to store transactional data. The book is especially useful to those wanting to learn the latest database design features in SQL Server 2019 (features that include graph objects, in-memory OLTP, temporal data support, and more). Chapters on fundamental concepts, the language of database modeling, SQL implementation, and the normalization process lay a solid groundwork for readers who are just entering the field of database design. More advanced chapters serve the seasoned veteran by tackling the latest in physical implementation features that SQL Server has to offer. The book has been carefully revised to cover all the design-related features that are new in SQL Server 2019.Advances in Intelligent Data Analysis XXII: 22nd International Symposium on Intelligent Data Analysis, IDA 2024, Stockholm, Sweden, April 24–26, 2024, Proceedings, Part II (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14642)
By Ioanna Miliou, Nico Piatkowski, Panagiotis Papapetrou. 2024
The two volume set LNCS 14641 and 14642 constitutes the proceedings of the 22nd International Symposium on Intelligent Data Analysis,…
IDA 2024, which was held in Stockholm, Sweden, during April 24-26, 2024. The 40 full and 3 short papers included in the proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from 94 submissions. IDA is an international symposium presenting advances in the intelligent analysis of data. Distinguishing characteristics of IDA are its focus on novel, inspiring ideas, its focus on research, and its relatively small scale.The book is a comprehensive collection of extended contributions from the Workshops on Computational Optimization 2022. Our everyday life is…
unthinkable without optimization. We try to minimize our effort and to maximize the achieved profit. Many real world and industrial problems arising in engineering, economics, medicine, and other domains can be formulated as optimization tasks. This book presents recent advances in computational optimization. The book includes important real problems like modeling of physical processes, parameter settings for controlling different processes, agricultural modeling transportation problems, energy management, machine scheduling, air pollution modeling, optimization of fast-food restaurant chain, and solving engineering and financial problems. It shows how to develop algorithms for them based on new intelligent methods like evolutionary computations, ant colony optimization, constrain programming Monte Carlo method, and others. This book demonstrates how some real-world problems arising in engineering, economics, and other domains can be formulated as optimization problems.&“Concentrating on personal finance don&’ts is a clever idea . . . an intriguing reminder of what not to do when investing your…
money.&” —The New York Times Brilliant investors and top businesspeople make mistakes, too—very expensive ones. Drawing on his twenty-plus years of experience at some of Wall Street&’s most prestigious firms, as well as original research and interviews with these legendary investors, Stephen Weiss offers fascinating narrative accounts of their billion-dollar blunders. Here, such prominent figures as Kirk Kerkorian, Bill Ackman, David Bonderman, Aubrey McClendon, and Leon Cooperman discuss the most significant trade or investment that went against them, the magnitude of the loss, its effect on their businesses—and on their personal lives. The book skillfully examines the causal relationship between the quirks of each investor&’s personality and the mistakes they have committed—as well as the lessons learned. While some investors made errors of judgment, others made errors of perception. But no matter how many zeros were attached to these particular losses, investors at any level can profit from the wisdom gained—and avoid the same missteps. &“When a great investor flubs it, everyone can learn a lesson. With that in mind, author Stephen Weiss delves into the biggest mistakes of such Wall Street luminaries as Bill Ackman, Leon Cooperman and Richard Pzena.&” —Barron&’sUnmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines
By Joy Buolamwini. 2023
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • &“The conscience of the AI revolution&” (Fortune) explains how we&’ve arrived at an era of AI harms…
and oppression, and what we can do to avoid its pitfalls.&“Dr. Joy Buolamwini has been an essential figure in bringing irresponsible, profit-hungry tech giants to their knees. If you&’re going to read only one book about AI, this should be it.&”—Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation A LOS ANGELES TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • Shortlisted for the Inc. Non-Obvious Book AwardTo most of us, it seems like recent developments in artificial intelligence emerged out of nowhere to pose unprecedented threats to humankind. But to Dr. Joy Buolamwini, who has been at the forefront of AI research, this moment has been a long time in the making.After tinkering with robotics as a high school student in Memphis and then developing mobile apps in Zambia as a Fulbright fellow, Buolamwini followed her lifelong passion for computer science, engineering, and art to MIT in 2015. As a graduate student at the &“Future Factory,&” she did groundbreaking research that exposed widespread racial and gender bias in AI services from tech giants across the world.Unmasking AI goes beyond the headlines about existential risks produced by Big Tech. It is the remarkable story of how Buolamwini uncovered what she calls &“the coded gaze&”—the evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products—and how she galvanized the movement to prevent AI harms by founding the Algorithmic Justice League. Applying an intersectional lens to both the tech industry and the research sector, she shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render broad swaths of humanity &“excoded&” and therefore vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools. Computers, she reminds us, are reflections of both the aspirations and the limitations of the people who create them.Encouraging experts and non-experts alike to join this fight, Buolamwini writes, &“The rising frontier for civil rights will require algorithmic justice. AI should be for the people and by the people, not just the privileged few.&”Sami Hyypiä: From Voikkaa to the Premiership
By Okki Halala, Sami Hyypia. 2002
When Gerard Houllier took over as manager of Liverpool FC in 1999, his quest was to bring glory back to…
Anfield. His prime concern lay with strengthening his defence and to this end he made what is arguably one of his finest signings. Houllier targeted Sami Hyypiä, a relatively unknown player who was at the time captain of the Dutch team Willem II. This candid biography focuses on Hyypiä's eventful journey from the Finnish village of Voikkaa to the heights of the English Premiership, where he has become the inspirational leader of the Liverpool team. It charts his life from childhood and documents his astonishing rise in the game, from youth teams to Finnish senior sides Pallo-Peikot, KUMU and MyPa - as well as his international career - before moving on to his years in Holland and England playing for Willem II and Liverpool respectively. Hyypia reflects on past games in which he competed against the likes of Batistuta, Rivaldo, Van Nistelrooy and Henry, and recalls the Liverpool derbies in which he's played. He also shares his thoughts on the Reds' 2001 UEFA Cup campaign, in which they defeated the mighty Barcelona in the semi-finals before going on the defeat Deportivo Alavés 5-4 in the final to clinch the coveted trophy. In 2001-02 season, during which the team had to contend with the serious illness of their manager, Hyypiä led them to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and second place in the Premiership. Then, in season 2002-03, Liverpool won the Worthington Cup and narrowly missed out on a Champions League place. Featuring exclusive contributions from numerous former and current colleagues and teammates, including Gérard Houllier, Jari Litmanen and Michael Owen, Sami Hyppiä digs deep to reveal all about the man, his views on the game, and his hopes and plans for the future.Sad Men
By Dave Roberts. 2014
All Dave Roberts ever wanted to do (apart from collect football programmes) was to work in advertising. More specifically, to…
work for the world's best advertising agency, Saatchi and Saatchi. There was just one problem. Even when he managed to persuade someone to employ him, Dave's copywriting assignments were mainly for second hand car dealers and double glazing companies. And Leeds, Manchester and, bizarrely, New Zealand were a long way from Charlotte Street and Madison Avenue. This was the world of the Sad Men.In his sparkling new memoir, Dave tells the story of a life shaped by his love of adverts, from seeing the PG Tips chimps at the age of three to writing infamous ads such as the Westpac Rap and having David Jason plug a family restaurant. Bursting with brilliant ideas - and some pretty daft ones - it is the cautionary tale of a quest for advertising glory... and not quite ever getting there.The Sack Race: The Story of Football's Gaffers
By Chris Green. 2002
The future of football management is a hot topic of debate. An unprecedented spate of sackings in the 2001-02 season…
and the manner of many of the dismissals filled the back pages. There has even been talk of managers going on strike to defend their ill-treated colleagues. Packed with big names and exclusive stories, The Sack Race challenges the sanitised picture of football management portrayed in glossy autobiographies. It lays bare a profession where pressure to obtain results is immense and the tolerance of failure is low. Despite football's supposed professionalism, we learn that 'The Gaffer' is often an ill-prepared ex-player who has hopped onto the managerial merry-go-round more as a perceived 'character' than a qualified coach. This remarkable book traces the development of the football manager's role, offers a critique of the way the game trains its coaches for management and raises valid concerns about the suitability of their employers - the directors whose impatience creates a climate of fear and insecurity. Finally, it asks the controversial question - does 'The Gaffer' have a future?'Superb - a great book to fuel your wanderlust.' Mark Beaumont'The ultimate running book, showcasing the ultimate running adventure.' Sean…
Conway---In 2019, Nick Butter became the first person to run a marathon in every country on Earth. This is Nick's story of his world record-breaking adventure and the extraordinary people who joined him along the way.On January 6th 2018, Nick Butter tied his laces and stepped out on to an icy pavement in Toronto, where he began to take the first steps of an epic journey that would see him run 196 marathons in every one of the world's 196 countries. Spending almost two years on the road and relying on the kindness of strangers to keep him moving, Nick's odyssey allowed him to travel slowly, on foot, immersing himself in the diverse cultures and customs of his host nations.Running through capital cities and deserts, around islands and through spectacular landscapes, Nick dodges bullets in Guinea-Bissau, crosses battlefields in Syria, survives a wild dog attack in Tunisia and runs around an erupting volcano in Guatemala. Along the way, he is often joined by local supporters and fellow runners, curious children and bemused passers-by. Telling their stories alongside his own, Nick captures the unique spirit of each place he visits and forges a new relationship with the world around him.Running the World captures Nick's journey as he sets three world records and covers over five thousand miles. As he recounts his adventures, he shares his unique perspective on our glorious planet, celebrates the diversity of human experience, and reflects on the overwhelming power of running.Running with the Firm
By James Bannon. 2013
'Of course I'm a f**king hooligan, you pr**k. I am a hooligan...there I've said it...I'm a hooligan. And, do you…
know why? Because that's my f**king job.'In 1995, a film called I.D., about an ambitious young copper who was sent undercover to track down the ‘generals’ of a football hooligan gang, achieved cult status for its sheer brutality and unsettling insight into the dark and often bloody side of the so-called beautiful game.The film was so shocking it was hard to believe the mindless events that took place could ever happen in the real world. Well, believe it now...Almost twenty years on, the man behind the film has explosively revealed that the script was largely a true story. That man, James Bannon, was the ambitious undercover cop. The football club was Millwall F.C. and the gang that he infiltrated was The Bushwackers, among the most brutal and fearless in English football. In Running with the Firm, Bannon shares his intense and dangerous journey into the underworld of football hooliganism where sickening levels of violence prevail over anything else. He introduces you to the hardest thugs from football’s most notorious gangs, tells all about the secret and almost comical police operations that were meant to bring them down, and, how once you’re on the inside, getting out from the mob proves to be the biggest mission of all.A disturbing but compelling read, this is the book that proves fact really is stranger than fiction.Running Free: A Runner’s Journey Back to Nature
By Richard Askwith. 2007
Shortlisted for the 2015 Thwaites Wainwright prize for nature writing Richard Askwith wanted more. Not convinced running had to be…
all about pounding pavements, buying fancy kit and racking up extreme challenges, he looked for ways to liberate himself. His solution: running through muddy fields and up rocky fells, running with his dog at dawn, running because he's being (voluntarily) chased by a pack of bloodhounds, running to get hopelessly, enjoyably lost, running fast for the sheer thrill of it. Running as nature intended. Part diary of a year running through the Northamptonshire countryside, part exploration of why we love to run without limits, Running Free is an eloquent and inspiring account of running in a forgotten, rural way, observing wildlife and celebrating the joys of nature.An opponent of the commercialisation of running, Askwith offers a welcome alternative, with practical tips (learned the hard way) on how to both start and keep running naturally – from thawing frozen toes to avoiding a stampede when crossing a field of cows. Running Free is about getting back to the basics of why we love to run.In the spring of 2021, as the UK's latest pandemic lockdowns were lifted, Nick Butter set out from the Eden…
Project to become the fastest person to cover every mile of Britain's mainland coastline on foot.Battling the most extreme winds Britain had seen in 100 years, days of torrential rain and the unrelenting hills of Western Scotland and Cornwall, Nick suffered two broken bones and countless injuries, whilst taking on two marathons a day, every day, for 100 days.Covering an extraordinary 5,250 miles, running for over 12 hours a day, struggling to take in the 8,000 daily calories required to fuel his body, Nick battled sleep deprivation and extreme weight loss as he pushed his body and mind to their limit.Supported by close friends and family (including his ever-dependable right-hand man, Andy Swain, whose diary extracts feature in this book), Nick experienced spiralling lows and euphoric highs. As he traversed footpaths, country lanes and busy A roads, he passed through over two thousand coastal communities, buoyed along by supporters cheering from windows, balconies, passing cars and pavements, by school children and fellow runners, and by the stunning sights and sounds of the British coast.Run Britain is Nick's account of his extraordinary adventure.