Bob Rogers

July 1854, Colleton District, South CarolinaA half-dozen years before Abe Lincoln's inauguration, comes another collision between European immigrants and African abductees that does not end well.By 1854, the Tiffany family had enslaved over 300 Africans for more than a century on the 1,100-acre slave labor camp that they called the Tiffany Plantation. The Tiffanys were the largest rice producer in South Carolina's Colleton District. While the toil of enslaved Africans earned untold riches for the Tiffanys, the Africans endured violence inflicted to force increased rice production and profits followed by the indignity of the bodies of loved ones being stolen from their graves and delivered to a medical school.Determined to put a stop to robberies of African graves was Posey, an eighty-four-year-old man whose ancestors came from the shores of the Bigh of Biafra, now known as Nigeria. It was Posey's expert river-irrigation skills that made Tiffany crops successful.More conflict arose when James, the new general manager at Tiffany, realized that Posey's expertise would be essential for the success of a plantation he planned to gain with ill-gotten money and slave mortgage-backed securities. All the while, the widow Ella, an enslaved nurse-midwife, sought to realize her dream of marrying widower Posey. Matters grew worse when Posey thwarted James' first attempt to force his attention on Penny, a comely young enslaved wife and mother.Rich with history and a cast of unforgettable characters, Two Rivers is a sweeping saga of two peoples, European immigrants and African abductees. Together, they experience courtships, infanticide, homicide, rape, rebellions, revenge, sabotage, storms, high-stakes gambling, grave-robbing, counterfeiting, and more."De troubles Posey be sees" in Two Rivers reminds one of Southern Gothic storytelling.

Artificial intelligence (AI) in its various forms –– machine learning, chatbots, robots, agents, etc. –– is increasingly being seen as a core component of enterprise business workflow and information management systems. The current promise and hype around AI are being driven by software vendors, academic research projects, and startups. However, we posit that the greatest promise and potential for AI lies in the enterprise with its applications touching all organizational facets.With increasing business process and workflow maturity, coupled with recent trends in cloud computing, datafication, IoT, cybersecurity, and advanced analytics, there is an understanding that the challenges of tomorrow cannot be solely addressed by today’s people, processes, and products. There is still considerable mystery, hype, and fear about AI in today’s world. A considerable amount of current discourse focuses on a dystopian future that could adversely affect humanity. Such opinions, with understandable fear of the unknown, don’t consider the history of human innovation, the current state of business and technology, or the primarily augmentative nature of tomorrow’s AI.This book demystifies AI for the enterprise. It takes readers from the basics (definitions, state-of-the-art, etc.) to a multi-industry journey, and concludes with expert advice on everything an organization must do to succeed. Along the way, we debunk myths, provide practical pointers, and include best practices with applicable vignettes. AI brings to enterprise the capabilities that promise new ways by which professionals can address both mundane and interesting challenges more efficiently, effectively, and collaboratively (with humans). The opportunity for tomorrow’s enterprise is to augment existing teams and resources with the power of AI in order to gain competitive advantage, discover new business models, establish or optimize new revenues, and achieve better customer and user satisfaction.

Artificial intelligence (AI) in its various forms –– machine learning, chatbots, robots, agents, etc. –– is increasingly being seen as a core component of enterprise business workflow and information management systems. The current promise and hype around AI are being driven by software vendors, academic research projects, and startups. However, we posit that the greatest promise and potential for AI lies in the enterprise with its applications touching all organizational facets.With increasing business process and workflow maturity, coupled with recent trends in cloud computing, datafication, IoT, cybersecurity, and advanced analytics, there is an understanding that the challenges of tomorrow cannot be solely addressed by today’s people, processes, and products. There is still considerable mystery, hype, and fear about AI in today’s world. A considerable amount of current discourse focuses on a dystopian future that could adversely affect humanity. Such opinions, with understandable fear of the unknown, don’t consider the history of human innovation, the current state of business and technology, or the primarily augmentative nature of tomorrow’s AI.This book demystifies AI for the enterprise. It takes readers from the basics (definitions, state-of-the-art, etc.) to a multi-industry journey, and concludes with expert advice on everything an organization must do to succeed. Along the way, we debunk myths, provide practical pointers, and include best practices with applicable vignettes. AI brings to enterprise the capabilities that promise new ways by which professionals can address both mundane and interesting challenges more efficiently, effectively, and collaboratively (with humans). The opportunity for tomorrow’s enterprise is to augment existing teams and resources with the power of AI in order to gain competitive advantage, discover new business models, establish or optimize new revenues, and achieve better customer and user satisfaction.

New Orleans native Mademoiselle Francesca Dumas is a quadroon, a particular caste of African American women who are sought by wealthy white men. At age eighteen in the second year of the American Civil War, she is the concubine of New Orleans banker, Joachim Buisson, and leads a sheltered life of elegant gowns, lace, and lavish balls--until a bullet shatters her dream world. While awaiting the arrival of the Union Navy among a throng gathered atop a Mississippi River levee April 25, 1862, Francesca's lover is shot dead by her side. Rain-soaked and blood-stained Francesca vows revenge. Francesca's passionate desire for retribution drives her into a new life as a woman sleuth. Playing detective to solve a murder mystery is far from the role of a woman in 1862 New Orleans--especially, a woman who perceives herself to be African American but appears to be white. According to young and vivacious Francesca, "There are many rules in New Orleans about sex--written and unwritten. The rules apply to everyone--except white men." While miscegenation existed all over the South, arranged unions between white men and women of color existed in antebellum New Orleans society by contract in a recognized extralegal system called pla age. Race, caste, and class are significant matters in Francesca's life. The grieving Francesca is evicted from Joachim's house by his parents who refuse to honor the lovers' pla age (concubinage) contract. Francesca's life becomes intertwined with a homeless hungry white woman and her children when Francesca shares her last Confederate dollars to buy food for them. Francesca's inquiry into the woman's plight reveals that the woman's father is the father of her son. Her investigation lands her work as a spy for Major General Benjamin Butler's army occupying New Orleans. As Francesca struggles to make a principled choice between another pla age arrangement and independence, another acquaintance is murdered and her best friend, Emily, is kidnapped. Working to recover Emily and avenge Joachim, Francesca's arduous mental and physical journey takes a circuitous route--far from a concubine's life of extravagant balls, lace, and leisure. Amid the flowering of spring and early summer in New Orleans, she finds herself mired deep in the perilous abyss between foreign, Union, and Confederate spies. Using mule-drawn streetcars, Francesca's gumshoe work takes her through Vieux Carr , Trem , and many famous city streets in search of the killer's motive, means, and opportunity to commit mayhem. In her undercover role, she frequents Caf du Monde, Antoine's Restaurant, and the famous ballroom at the present-day Bourbon Orleans Hotel. Francesca gets help from three historic people of New Orleans; humanitarian Mother Henriette Delille, actress Sarah Butler, and Union spy John Mahan. Can rookie detective Francesca's passion, determination, and wit overcome a kidnapper and three-time murderer?

New Orleans native Mademoiselle Francesca Dumas is a quadroon (one-quarter African American) and concubine of a New Orleans banker, Joachim Buisson. Courted by moneyed white men, she leads a sheltered life of elegant gowns, lace, and lavish balls until a bullet shatters her dream world. While awaiting the arrival of the Union Navy among a throng gathered atop a Mississippi River levee April 25, 1862, Francesca's lover is shot dead by her side. Rain-soaked and blood-stained Francesca vows revenge. The grieving Francesca is evicted from Joachim's house by his family who refuses to honor the lovers' pla age (concubinage) contract. Francesca's life becomes intertwined with a homeless hungry white woman and her children when she shares her last Confederate dollars to buy food for them. Francesca's investigation of the woman's plight lands her work a spy for Major General Benjamin Butler's army occupying New Orleans. As Francesca struggles with her identity to make principled choices between another pla age arrangement and independence, an acquaintance is murdered and her best friend, Emily, is kidnapped. Francesca works to recover Emily and avenge Joachim. Her arduous mental and physical journey takes a circuitous route, far from a concubine's life of extravagant balls, lace, and leisure and into the perilous abyss between foreign, Union, and Confederate spies, leading to the Battle of Baton Rouge. Francesca gets help from New Orleans humanitarian Mother Henriette Delille, actress Sarah Butler, and Union spy John Mahan. Is rookie detective Francesca's determination and wit any match for a kidnapper and three-time murderer? The Laced Chameleon is an inverted detective story, also known as a "howcatchem." The "howcatchem" is a murder mystery fiction structure in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, including the identity of the perpetrator. Francesca's story then describes her struggles as a detective attempting to solve the mystery.