Generative AI is the hottest topic in tech. This practical book teaches machine learning engineers and data scientists how to use TensorFlow and Keras to create impressive generative deep learning models from scratch, including variational autoencoders (VAEs), generative adversarial networks (GANs), Transformers, normalizing flows, energy-based models, and denoising diffusion models.

The book starts with the basics of deep learning and progresses to cutting-edge architectures. Through tips and tricks, you'll understand how to make your models learn more efficiently and become more creative.

• Discover how VAEs can change facial expressions in photos
• Train GANs to generate images based on your own dataset
• Build diffusion models to produce new varieties of flowers
• Train your own GPT for text generation
• Learn how large language models like ChatGPT are trained
• Explore state-of-the-art architectures such as StyleGAN2 and ViT-VQGAN
• Compose polyphonic music using Transformers and MuseGAN
• Understand how generative world models can solve reinforcement learning tasks
• Dive into multimodal models such as DALL.E 2, Imagen, and Stable Diffusion

This book also explores the future of generative AI and how individuals and companies can proactively begin to leverage this remarkable new technology to create competitive advantage.

After almost four decades in the music business, David Foster -- producer, arranger, songwriter, performer -- is finally ready to talk. In this compelling and outspoken memoir, Foster shares some of his incredible stories: the first time he met Barbra Streisand, as a young session player in Los Angeles; his first of 15 Grammys(R) for After the Love Has Gone, Earth, Wind & Fire's memorable hit; the making of Unison, Celine Dion's English-language debut; the challenges he faced on his way to putting the group Chicago back on the charts; his award-winning contribution to Unforgettable: With Love, Natalie Cole's comeback album; those back-to-back recording sessions with Madonna and Michael Jackson; and the incredible chain of events that spawned Whitney Houston's historic blockbuster, I Will Always Love You.

Foster has worked with superstars of every decade, including:

Celine Dion - Josh Groban - Whitney Houston - Michael Bublé - Barbra Streisand - Andrea Bocelli - Madonna - Michael Jackson - Natalie Cole - George Harrison - Earth, Wind & Fire - *NSYNC - Chicago - Paul McCartney - All-4-One - Katharine McPhee - Toni Braxton - Alice Cooper - Olivia Newton-John - Michael Bolton

...and many more.

From his unique and privileged vantage point, Foster describes the delicate balancing act between artist and producer, offers revealing portraits of some of those artists at work, and shares his secrets for success in the maddeningly fickle music industry.

At its heart, this is the story of a boy with perfect pitch who grew up to become one of the most influential musical forces of our time -- the solid gold hitman who produced the soundtrack of our lives.

This book is a classic of angling literature, and offers a comprehensive guide to the art and science of fishing. Foster and Harris cover everything from the biology and behavior of fish to the best techniques for catching them, as well as the equipment and materials needed for successful angling. They also share their love of the sport and its place in the natural world, making this book a joy to read for anyone who loves fishing or the outdoors.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Dom David Foster s Reading with God was a great success and exceeded expectations. Here is the new book from a spiritual master. The author explores various ways or praying and how these lead into a deeper, quieter form of prayer. At the outset some basic theoretical ideas about prayer are explored; how to understand petitionary prayer, unanswered prayer, the idea of God speaking to us in prayer, of making His will known to us. But what people really need these days is help to remain focused. It is always important to talk from as practical a basis as possible about the contemplative dimensions of prayer. Ordinary life needs a structure for that kind of silent 'freewheeling' prayer. In this context, David Foster re-examines traditional forms of prayer through meditation and also considers the bridgehead in prayer that is reached when this kind of meditation is impossible. This book is steeped in the Benedictine tradition in which the author received his formation.

David Foster is a Benedictine Monk of Downside Abbey and chaplain to Downside School. He has always been concerned to bring the riches of the monastic tradition to lay people as they struggle to live the Christian life in the modern world. Lectio Divina or the art of spiritual reading is an art which is all but lost outside monastic communities. But following St Benedict's opening command in his Rule to 'listen', attending to the word of God through the printed text is an art which needs to be rediscovered in a world in which we are surrounded by a cacophony of sound and noise. David Foster has written a masterly guide to this art.

The Scientific Angler: Being A General And Instructive Work On Artistic Angling is a book written by David Foster and originally published in 1883. This comprehensive guide to the art of angling covers a wide range of topics related to fishing, including the history of angling, the different types of fish and their behavior, the best equipment and techniques for catching fish, and much more. The book is written in a clear and concise style, making it accessible to anglers of all levels of experience. With its detailed illustrations and practical advice, The Scientific Angler remains a valuable resource for anyone interested in the sport of fishing.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

(P/V/G Composer Collection). A visionary producer, gifted arranger and prolific composer, David Foster is a 12-time Grammy winner with a remarkable 37 nominations to his credit. This collection features 29 of his finest, including: After the Love Has Gone * Because We Believe * The Colour of My Love * Glory of Love * Grown-Up Christmas List * Hard to Say I'm Sorry * I Have Nothing * The Power of the Dream * The Prayer * St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) * Who's Holding Donna Now * Winter Games * You're the Inspiration * and more. Features an introduction with photos.

World renouned sound engineer. Who has traveled the world designing sound systems for churches and civic auditoriums. living life to the fullest and having fun doing it.

The Scientific Angler is a vintage guide to fishing that takes a more scientific approach to the ancient sport and pastime than many other similar books. Including detailed explanations and expert tips, this profusely-illustrated volume will be of considerable utility to anglers new and old, and it would make for a fantastic addition to collections of related literature. Contents include: The Habits and Haunts of Fish, The Habits and Haunts of Fish (continued), Bottom Fishing, Bottom Fishing (continued), Pike Fishing, Spinning for Trout, Worm Fishing for Trout, Piscatorial Entomology, On Fly Making, Fly Fishing for Trout and Grayling, Notes on the Months for Fly Fishing, Salmon and Sea Trout Fishing, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with that in mind that we are republishing this volume now in a modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on the history of fishing.

Jett's dad works at a coffee shop, and today Jett is going to work with him! Jett wants to do everything that he can to help his dad, but he just keeps messing up. Through Jett's silly blunders, he learns that what matters most at the coffee shop is how he makes people feel. In the end, Jett is proud that he is able to put a smile on people's faces.

In The Power to Prevail, David Foster explores the paradox of adversity.

Argentina, one of the most dynamic societies in Latin America, is known for its impressive level of cultural production. This examination of the social and cultural institutions of Argentine society contains a series of comprehensive and informative essays that focus on the most important forms of cultural production in terms of major works, major artists, and major venues.

Students and interested readers will discover what is unique about Argentina's culture and customs in this thorough and engaging overview. The authors describe the issues that have dominated Argentine society and place everything in its proper context by including a chronology of major historic events. This volume also contains chapters on Religion, Social Customs, Broadcasting and Print Media, Cinema, Literature, Performing Arts, and Art (including Sculpture, Photography, Architecture, Painting).

Despite the increasingly global implications of conversations about writing and learning, U.S. composition studies has devoted little attention to cross-national perspectives on student writing and its roles in wider cultural contexts. Caught up in our own concerns about how U.S. students make the transition as writers from secondary school to postsecondary education, we often overlook the fact that students around the world are undergoing the same evolution. How do the students in China, England, France, Germany, Kenya, or South Africa--the educational systems represented in this collection--write their way into the communities of their chosen disciplines? How, for instance, do students whose mother tongue is not the language of instruction cope with the demands of academic and discipline-specific writing? And in what ways is U.S. students' development as academic writers similar to or different from that of students in other countries?

With this collection, editors David Foster and David R. Russell broaden the discussion about the role of writing in various educational systems and cultures. Students' development as academic writers raises issues of student authorship and agency, as well as larger issues of educational access, institutional power relations, system goals, and students' roles in society. The contributors to this collection discuss selected writing purposes and forms characteristic of a specific national education system, describe students' agency as writers, and identify contextual factors--social, economic, linguistic, cultural--that shape institutional responses to writing development.

In discussions that bookend these studies of different educational structures, the editors compare U.S. postsecondary writing practices and pedagogies with those in other national systems, and suggest new perspectives for cross-national study of learning/writing issues important to all educational systems. Given the worldwide increase in students entering higher education and the endless need for effective writing across disciplines and nations, the insights offered here and the call for further studies are especially welcome and timely.

The book is a help book for sound persons in churches the are not trained and need help. I explains the fundimentals of sound and each knob and plug on the mixing console and speaker system.

Covering Spanish Literature from Origins to the 1700s. First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Two families have nothing in common except their history, which is intertwined in a way neither could have imagined. In New York a political career with high ambition is launched. Then in London a man is shot dead. DC Sam Cooper unwinds a complex web of connections and deceit as he works to solve the murder, while opposing forces in the family on both sides of the Atlantic fight for control of the truth. It takes a death to reveal all....

The gruesome discovery of a body on London's Hampstead Heath, that has lain undisturbed for 40 years, gives newly promoted DI Sam Cooper his first murder investigation. He finds a number of disappearances over many years that seem connected, but is this too much of a coincidence? His search takes him back to a troubled Paris of 1968, and a tragic accident. As he untangles the connections Cooper has his own issues to deal with, a suspect that that has contacts in high places, and a convicted killer who has disappeared.....

This treasury of prayers for the third Christian millennium offers practical guidance for an increasingly busy world.

The book's extensive range includes favorite Catholic prayers such as the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross, along with others that may be less familiar, organized under many different themes and topics. Helpful introductions and a pattern of daily prayers make this book nothing less than a course in Christian spirituality.

The book is for people approaching Christian prayer for the first time as well as for those who want to begin afresh. It will be especially helpful to young people and the parents and teachers who want to help them learn to pray in the living tradition of the Church.

Despite the increasingly global implications of conversations about writing and learning, U.S. composition studies has devoted little attention to cross-national perspectives on student writing and its roles in wider cultural contexts. Caught up in our own concerns about how U.S. students make the transition as writers from secondary school to postsecondary education, we often overlook the fact that students around the world are undergoing the same evolution. How do the students in China, England, France, Germany, Kenya, or South Africa--the educational systems represented in this collection--write their way into the communities of their chosen disciplines? How, for instance, do students whose mother tongue is not the language of instruction cope with the demands of academic and discipline-specific writing? And in what ways is U.S. students' development as academic writers similar to or different from that of students in other countries? With this collection, editors David Foster and David R. Russell broaden the discussion about the role of writing in various educational systems and cultures. Students' development as academic writers raises issues of student authorship and agency, as well as larger issues of educational access, institutional power relations, system goals, and students' roles in society. The contributors to this collection discuss selected writing purposes and forms characteristic of a specific national education system, describe students' agency as writers, and identify contextual factors--social, economic, linguistic, cultural--that shape institutional responses to writing development. In discussions that bookend these studies of different educational structures, the editors compare U.S. postsecondary writing practices and pedagogies with those in other national systems, and suggest new perspectives for cross-national study of learning/writing issues important to all educational systems. Given the worldwide increase in students en