From Rob Thomas, the creator of the television series and movie phenomenon Veronica Mars, comes the first book in a thrilling mystery series that picks up where the feature film left off.

Ten years after graduating from high school in Neptune, California, Veronica Mars is back in the land of sun, sand, crime, and corruption. She's traded in her law degree for her old private investigating license, struggling to keep Mars Investigations afloat on the scant cash earned by catching cheating spouses until she can score her first big case.

Now it's spring break, and college students descend on Neptune, transforming the beaches and boardwalks into a frenzied, week-long rave. When a girl disappears from a party, Veronica is called in to investigate. But this is no simple missing person's case; the house the girl vanished from belongs to a man with serious criminal ties, and soon Veronica is plunged into a dangerous underworld of drugs and organized crime. And when a major break in the investigation has a shocking connection to Veronica's past, the case hits closer to home than she ever imagined.

In Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas has created a groundbreaking female detective who's part Phillip Marlowe, part Nancy Drew, and all snark. With its sharp plot and clever twists, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line will keep you guessing until the very last page.

Imagine a bird as small as a sparrow, which lives most of its life on the open ocean yet can survive for decades. It walks on the water, and migrates half way around the world, returning to remote islands to breed underground, often in exactly the same rock crevice each year. To attract a mate it sings like a fairy and smells aromatic, but it vomits oil onto its enemies. It visits its nest by night, lays a single enormous egg, and feeds its chick until the nestling weighs more than both parents put together. It seems to have little fear of humans, but was itself feared by ancient seafarers. This might sound like the stuff of legend, but is actually the description of the European Storm-petrel, a member of the Hydrobatidae family.

The latest in the Poyser series, with comprehensive text and beautiful illustrations, this follows the remarkable life of the storm-petrel. Focusing on the European species, it tracks their lives from the remote North Atlantic islands, where they breed via the coasts of Africa, to the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, where they spend the northern winter. There is also discussion on other members of the storm-petrel family. We learn about their evolution, behaviour, ecology, and adaptations to a life in the harsh and unpredictable environment of the open ocean, and discover what these enigmatic seabirds can tell us about what humans are doing to our planet.

We've arrived in a new era--;GenAI is reshaping industries and decision-making processes across the board. As a result, understanding its potential and pitfalls has become crucial. But in order to stay ahead of the curve, you'll need to develop fresh perspectives on leveraging AI beyond mere technical know-how. Geared toward business leaders and tech professionals alike, this book demystifies the strategic integration of AI into business practices, ensuring you're equipped not just to participate but to lead in this new landscape.

This insightful guide by industry leaders Rob Thomas, Paul Zikopoulos, and Kate Soule goes beyond the basics, offering real-life success stories and learned lessons to provide a blueprint for meaningful AI engagement. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned expert, you'll come away with an enhanced understanding of GenAI.

• Recognize the transformative potential of AI in business and how to harness it
• Navigate the ethical and operational challenges posed by AI with confidence
• Understand the dynamic interplay between AI technology and business strategy
• Implement actionable strategies to integrate AI into your organizational culture
• Step confidently into the role of an AI value creator, equipped to lead and innovate

AI may be the greatest opportunity of our time, with the potential to add nearly $16 trillion to the global economy over the next decade. But so far, adoption has been much slower than anticipated, or so headlines may lead you to believe. With this practical guide, business leaders will discover where they are in their AI journey and learn the steps necessary to successfully scale AI throughout their organization.

Authors Rob Thomas and Paul Zikopoulos from IBM introduce C-suite executives and business professionals to the AI Ladder--a unified, prescriptive approach to help them understand and accelerate the AI journey. Complete with real-world examples and real-life experiences, this book explores AI drivers, value, and opportunity, as well as the adoption challenges organizations face.

• Understand why you can't have AI without an information architecture (IA)
• Appreciate how AI is as much a cultural change as it is a technological one
• Collect data and make it simple and accessible, regardless of where it lives
• Organize data to create a business-ready analytics foundation
• Analyze data, and build and scale AI with trust and transparency
• Infuse AI throughout your entire business and create intelligent workflows

(Berklee Guide). Develop mastery and control over the viola fingerboard, in all keys. Whether you are playing classical, jazz, fiddle tunes, or other styles, these twenty-first century strategies can significantly improve your technique and musicality, and provide the foundation for improvisation. Play-along audio tracks are included for accompaniment, as you begin to explore this previously uncharted but essential territory. This approach is core to Berklee's viola curriculum. The book covers: Fingering strategies for comfortably playing in all keys; Scale diagrams for easily visualizing your fingerboard; Major, minor, and pentatonic scales, modes, and arpeggios; Etudes applying these scales and arpeggios in an improvisational context; Essential chord and scale relationships that are useful for improvising; Exercises to help memorize and internalize the scales; and more! Rob Thomas is a professor in the Berklee College of Music String Department, where he has taught since 2002. He has performed and recorded with the String Trio of New York, the Jazz Passengers, Chuck Owen's Jazz Surge big band, the Mahavishnu Project, the Chris Parker Quintet, Gypsy Jazz Caravan, and many others.

From the creator of Veronica Mars comes a timely novel that looks at a high school fundraising tradition of auctioning off students as slaves.

At Robert E. Lee High School, the traditional fundraising event is Slave Day, in which the student leaders and faculty are auctioned off as slaves for the winning bidders. Keene Davenport is outraged and plans to stay home to protest this racist practice. But his mom won't let him skip school, and he finds that none of his classmates took his protest seriously. So instead he decides on an alternative path of civil disobedience--he will buy Shawn Greeley, the school's first black student body president.

Told in eight alternating perspectives, Slave Day is a powerful novel featuring beauty queens, geeks, class clowns, and football players--and none of them will come out of it the same.

Rob Thomas, creator of Veronica Mars, revisits Slave Day's Robert E. Lee High School in this short story collection filled with provocative, clever humor and surprises at every turn.

Each student at Robert E. Lee High School is required to perform two hundred hours of community service in order to graduate. Their responses to the assignment are as varied as the organizations for which they volunteer.

Steve details his descent from bright star to burnout in this newly repackaged edition of the definitive, highly acclaimed novel from the creator of Veronica Mars and Party Down.

Houston, sophomore year: Steve is on top of the world. He and his friends are the talk of the school. He's in love with a terrific girl. He can even deal with the astronaut--a world-famous hero who happens to be his father.

San Diego, senior year: Steve is bummed out, drugged out, flunking out. A no-nonsense counselor says he can graduate if he writes a 100-page paper. So Steve starts writing, and as the paper becomes more and more personal, he reveals how a National Merit Scholar has become an under-achieving stoner. And in telling how he got to where he is, Steve discovers how to get to where he wants to be.

A story of hope and promise, even when you have hit rock bottom. In this case it was mother earth, and she decided for me what the outcome would be. I was to never walk again, but I won in the end, for I can and will not allow any boundaries to be set for me. That is why I live with No Boundaries.

A boy and his fascination with dinosaurs leads to many interesting evenings as his dad attempts to put him to bed. Is it a T-Rex? Is it a Triceratops? Or is it just his imagination running wild?

In the second book in the New York Times bestselling mystery series, Veronica Mars is back with a case that will expose the hidden workings of one of Neptune's most murderous locations.

The Neptune Grand has always been the seaside town's ritziest hotel, despite the shady dealings and high-profile scandals that seem to follow its elite guests. When a woman claims that she was brutally assaulted in one of its rooms and left for dead by a staff member, the owners know that they have a potential powder keg on their hands. They turn to Veronica to disprove--or prove--the woman's story.

The case is a complicated mix of hard facts, mysterious occurrences, and uncooperative witnesses. The hotel refuses to turn over its reservation list and the victim won't divulge who she was meeting that night. Add in the facts that the attack happened months ago, the victim's memory is fuzzy, and there are holes in the hotel's surveillance system, and Veronica has a convoluted mess on her hands. As she works to fill in the missing pieces, it becomes clear that someone is lying--but who? And why?

Exploit the power and potential of Big Data to revolutionize business outcomes

Big Data Revolution is a guide to improving performance, making better decisions, and transforming business through the effective use of Big Data. In this collaborative work by an IBM Vice President of Big Data Products and an Oxford Research Fellow, this book presents inside stories that demonstrate the power and potential of Big Data within the business realm. Readers are guided through tried-and-true methodologies for getting more out of data, and using it to the utmost advantage. This book describes the major trends emerging in the field, the pitfalls and triumphs being experienced, and the many considerations surrounding Big Data, all while guiding readers toward better decision making from the perspective of a data scientist.

Companies are generating data faster than ever before, and managing that data has become a major challenge. With the right strategy, Big Data can be a powerful tool for creating effective business solutions - but deep understanding is key when applying it to individual business needs. Big Data Revolution provides the insight executives need to incorporate Big Data into a better business strategy, improving outcomes with innovation and efficient use of technology.

• Examine the major emerging patterns in Big Data
• Consider the debate surrounding the ethical use of data
• Recognize patterns and improve personal and organizational performance
• Make more informed decisions with quantifiable results

In an information society, it is becoming increasingly important to make sense of data in an economically viable way. It can drive new revenue streams and give companies a competitive advantage, providing a way forward for businesses navigating an increasingly complex marketplace. Big Data Revolution provides expert insight on the tool that can revolutionize industries.

Have you ever imagined yourself on stage but never been there because of fear?Have you ever been on the stage, but just stuck up in the moment?Have you ever delivered a speech which wasn't impressive at all and now you want to know how you can make it better?Do you simply want to know how you can overcome the fright of stage? OrDo you want to master the art of Public Speaking?Whatever be your reasons for trying to know more about the art of Public Speaking, this is the book for YOU This book will give you proven techniques and useful tips to make you more confident and help you deliver better speeches when you are on stage next... -What is the need of being prepared before hand-What are the best strategies to prepare before your actual speech/presentation-How to get that stage fear (false-experiences-appearing-real) out of your mind at once-How can you present like a professional-And much more You will find the answers to all these questions in this book in the most simple and easy to remember way.You are about to find all of these techniques and tips to get Control on your nerves and Master the art of Public Speaking No more boring old tips... No more usual sayings about public speaking that work only in theory and books... This book is efficiently jam-packed with proven steps and strategies of improving your control over the audience.So Buy This Book Now and take full control of your stage fear, speak what you want to in an impressive and motivating way and master the art of speaking in front of others

77 Hilarious Coversational Jokes for Everyone Conversational Jokes are the fastest way to make everyone smile and laugh because we can relate to many of them This book is created for light-reading with the intention of easing your stress on any day This book contains 77 Conversational jokes which can entertain you during your break time or coffee break. First few jokes of the book.. Enjoy 1. TEACHER: Where can you see yourself in 10 years? Student: In a mirror 2. TEACHER: What are the 3 fastest ways of Communication? Student: Television, Telephone & Tell a-Woman. 3. Frank: Nice phone, where did u buy it? John: I won it in a race. Frank: Which race? John: Me, the phone owner & the Police. Scroll up and click 'buy' to get a good laughter today Please do leave your Reviews Thank you

What happens when you inexplicably find yourself stuck in the grey area between good and evil? Where would you draw the line? A young man named Leo finds himself stuck in the middle of just such a conundrum after a freak accident; In the wrong place at the RIGHT time his life begins unraveling and he is faced with a very real problem. Will he step up to the plate and make the choices and sacrifices necessary to become the hero the world needs? Or become it's greatest villain through his own inaction and cowardice.

Neptune Noir is a collection of essays on the hit drama Veronica Mars, and is not authorized by CW, the creators or producers of Veronica Mars, or any entity associated with the show.

More than just a high school drama, Veronica Mars is a smart and savvy teen detective show that offers complex mysteries and rapier wit, engaging social commentary, and noir sensibilities--with the occasional murder thrown in for good measure. This collection, edited by the creator and executive producer of the show, offers supreme insight into the class struggles and love stories of the series. Essays by top writers intelligently address a multitude of questions, such as Is Veronica a modern-day vigilante? Why is a show that features rape, potential incest, and a teen girl outsmarting local authorities so popular with America's conservative population? and Why is Veronica and Logan's relationship the most important story-driving factor in the show?

Rob Thomas, creator of Veronica Mars and author of Rats Saw God, delivers a poignant tale of a young man caught in the crossroads of growing up with nowhere to go but forward.

Determined to pursue his dreams of becoming a reporter, Patrick Sheridan leaves his deeply religious family behind in his small Texas town for a job on a teen news show in Los Angeles. Before he knows it, he's mingling with the rich and famous, lying to his parents, and cheating on his girlfriend, who's waiting for him back home.

While on assignment across the pond in Ireland, he learns that it was his pretty face--not his talent--that landed him the job in the first place. Devastated and at a loss of what to do, Patrick runs. He knows it's up to him to pick up the shattered pieces of his life, but what do you do when everything you thought you knew turns out to be wrong?