Perfect for every child who has ever dreamed of travelling to space...Making new friends is never easy, but seems impossible when Tony moves to a new town and school mid-term. But when he finds a round red button hidden in a cupboard, all his worries are forgotten. The button transforms his dull kitchen into a spaceship, called The Invincible. There's nothing more exciting than cruising the universe for adventure, but what about school and his mum?Tony Spears' epic-galactic-space-adventures and his earthly life begin to converge. The universe is in danger, 'Sports Morning' is looming at school and Tony's mum won't have a messy kitchen! Will Tony find a way to save the universe, and also deal with the difficulties in his 'real' life?Inspired by Tim Peake and Major Tom ...
Tony has settled into his new school, but things never stay the same for long - Tony's mum announces that he is going to have a new little brother or sister. When things get too much, Tony likes to press the red button in the kitchen cupboard, and climb aboard The Invincible spaceship to chill amongst intergalactic life. This time, Tony notices a lonely looking blob hanging around space. Against the computer's warnings, Tony takes the lonely blob 'Dot' back to planet Earth so they can keep each other company. It's fun playing space games with Dot. But, Dot is has very peculiar food habits. The school has a plumbing malfunction, does it have something to do with Dot? Will Tony be able to come up with a plan to calm Dot down before his school presentation and the fancy dress disco? And can Dot help Tony realise how fun caring for a small creature can be?
What would you do if a red button in your kitchen cupboard could transport you to a spaceship? Press it, of course! Created by the award-winning author and illustrator Neal Layton.When things get too much, Tony climbs aboard his spaceship called The Invincible to chill amongst intergalactic life. But this time, Tony hears some strange noises over his communicator - is it an alien trying to communicate with him, or his new baby sister? Whatever it is, the something is controlling the movements of the spaceship and Tony is sent hurtling towards a parallel universe inhabited by strange creatures called the Blue Bloos. If he has any way of getting home, he will have to work with his friends, old and new ...
An easy-to-understand picture book explaining AI to young readers, whilst celebrating how amazing human brains really are!Everyone is talking about artificial intelligence - and we all have LOTS of questions. What exactly is it? Why is it such a big deal? Are there any risks? And how is it going to transform our lives?Award-winning author-illustrator Neal Layton is here to explain all there is to know about AI, from the early computers that could only solve sums to the AI programs of today that can recognise human speech and recommend TV shows - and what AI might be able to do in the future. Along the way, readers will learn just how incredible their human brains really are, and what intelligence is all about.This entertaining non-fiction picture book, illustrated in Neal Layton's trademark zany collage style, is perfect for readers aged 6+ who are always asking HOW something works, and for parents wanting to help their kids make sense of a subject that everyone is talking about.
Joe Bridger's time was up; he was on death row in Rikers Island and his only solace was setting a puzzle for Detective Clancy Sullivan to solve. The poems in his diary were the keys to the missing bodies, but would she become just one more to add to the list? Running his own business had long been an ambition of Tom Blessed, and when Grant Masefield, his boss, gave him his chance he grabbed it with both hands. His rise was meteoric and he took pride in what he was achieving. That pride came with some terrible consequences. Evelyn and her husband, Ad, were deliriously happy in their little cottage with its beautiful garden - everything seemed to be coming up roses. However, once Mazikeen made his appearance, the naked truth about their circumstances became all too apparent. Marcel DuPont was a very happy young man. He had the career that he had always wanted, a boss who was more than willing to give him his head, and a beautiful girl, Nicole Fournier, on his arm. It wasn't until the evening before his wedding that he realised that things were not as they had seemed to be.
Beautifully written, intelligent and provocative reflections on the world scene as Ascherson looks first at the painful business of being English in a period of decline marked by public nastiness and private confusion. He goes on to attack - in an important and original series of arguments -the politics of 'Stonehenge': the UK's archaic and undemocratic constitution, and finally examines the temptations of state power in Mrs Thatcher's decade. Next, Ascherson takes us on a personal tour of Europe, 'the barbaric continent', exposing some ugly hatred and memories lurking beneath the cultured surface; he writes movingly about the courage and sacrifice that nations at their best can draw out. His meditations on Eastern Europe, 'Waltzing With Molotov', are exemplary for their critical sympathy. In the book's final section, a vivid and memorable collection of sectarians, spies, traitors, heroes, monsters and victims reveals a lot about fear and hope in the closing years of this dangerous century.
What has happened in Poland? Poland has erupted four times in the last twenty five years, but only the events of 1980 have had comprehensive media coverage. As a result, many questions have been raised in the minds of Western observers. How were such changes possible? What forces lay behind them? In what way did the workers' strike relate to the demands for political democracy? Although a colourful and vivid eye-witness account of the 1980 upheavals, it is to these questions that Neal Ascherson's brilliant and thoughtful analysis mainly addresses itself. Viewing the situation in perspective, he argues that the Polish working class has brought about a controlled revolution, but is not intent on taking power for itself: the real heirs to the gains of 1980 and 1981 are likely to be the intelligentsia, in or out of the Communist Party. It is this social and political ferment that poses fundamental questions about the future of the whole Soviet system in Eastern Europe.
If you want to take advantage of functional programming features in Java and other languages, this in-depth guide takes you beyond syntax and demonstrates how you need to think in a new way. Software architect Neal Ford shows intermediate to advanced developers how functional coding allows you to step back a level of abstraction so you can see your programming problem with greater clarity. Each chapter shows you various examples of functional thinking, using numerous code examples from Java 8 and other JVM languages that include functional capabilities. This book may bend your mind, but you'll come away with a good grasp of functional programming concepts. Understand why many imperative languages are adding functional capabilities Compare functional and imperative solutions to common problems Examine ways to cede control of routine chores to the runtime Learn how memoization and laziness eliminate hand-crafted solutions Explore functional approaches to design patterns and code reuse View real-world examples of functional thinking with Java 8, and in functional architectures and web frameworks Learn the pros and cons of living in a paradigmatically richer world
At age 19, Hern n Cort s, an only son, begins a journey from Spain to The New World to the east. After disappointing his parents while attending the university in Salamanca, his father gave him a choice; he could join in the war in Italy or leave to a 'New World' in the West Indies. The reader will take a journey to Hispaniola in 1504 where Cort s made a profitable new life. After 8 years as an accountant, he, with another Castilian fortune hunter, Diego Vel zquez, moved from Hispaniola to Cuba where the native Taino were suppressed. After building resources and an apparently loveless marriage in Cuba, he planned and organized his conquest of M xico. Vel zquez had been appointed governor of Spanish Cuba and he wanted to maintain sole control and power over the entire Caribbean region. After defying the wishes of Governor Vel zquez, the 35-year-old Cort s departed Cape San Antonio Cuba in February of 1519, bound for the Yucatan Peninsula. Here, he meets Malinche, a bright attractive M xican girl sold into slavery by her family to a Mayan chieftain. From Yucatan, he, with 400 conquistadores, fought his way into M xico from the coastal Mayan and Totonac lands. It was foretold; the avenging god Quetzalcoatl would return from the east to put a stop to human sacrifice in the new world. Cort s leads an insurrection against the hated M xican overlords and goes on to meet the complex Emperor Montecu uma, and The Blue Hummingbird on the Left Huitzilopochtli]. The desire for riches and the aim to spread the word of Roman Catholicism remained his sworn task. By August 13, 1521, Lord Falling Eagle Lord Quauhtemoctzin], the last Emperor of the M xican Empire was captured. Cort s' had control of Tenochtitl n, the M xican capital. He would go back to his family with riches and in triumph from his mission in New Spain.
