Showing results by narrator "Shawn Compton" in All Categories

The celebrated author of The Making of Second Life and Game Design Secrets Wagner, James Au, delivers an engrossing exploration of how nascent metaverse platforms have already captured the imagination of millions. Featuring powerful stories and dozens of incisive interviews with insiders including Metaverse creator Neal Stephenson himself, the author uses his unique, grassroots-level perspective as the first reporter embedded in a metaverse platform.

Paul D'Anieri explores the dynamics within Ukraine, between Ukraine and Russia, and between Russia and the West, that emerged with the collapse of the Soviet Union and eventually led to war in 2014. Proceeding chronologically, this book shows how Ukraine's separation from Russia in 1991, at the time called a "civilized divorce", led to what many are now calling "a new Cold War".

The scar across the side of Jack’s head is the visible price. The risk to his friends at the academy is the hidden price. His challenge is how to balance the risks. The final stage of his training is a shakedown cruise on an old minesweeper. Midway through their cruise, the minesweeper collides with an ancient alien wreck, ripping the sides off the starship. Jack’s team of bots help seal the combined wreck to prevent air loss. Jack and his girlfriend, Sofia, are the only survivors, and air, food, and supplies are critical. The countdown of days to survive is ticking.

In this vivid first-person narrative, a Special Operations Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) and his commanding general give fascinating and detailed accounts of America's fight against one of the most barbaric insurgencies the world has ever seen. In the summer of 2014, three years after America's full troop withdrawal from the Iraq War, President Barack Obama authorized a small task force to push back into Baghdad. Their mission: protect the Iraqi capital and US embassy from a rapidly emerging terrorist threat.

It is 2056. Mathematics professor Elisabeth Gabai is fascinated by multi-dimensional forms that have no equivalent in reality. Then, her boss sends her to the site of an artifact that might have come straight from her theories—or from the technology of an advanced civilization. Twenty-eight years earlier, physicist Max Webber is hell-bent on improving Einstein’s theories of relativity. His latest concept seems flawless, except it predicts the end of humanity. The extinction of Earth can only be prevented if Max can locate a multi-dimensional object.

Guns from America reach more than 130 countries, and inundate Mexico, with over 200,000 guns every year crossing the border and arming the drug cartels. In this groundbreaking new work of investigative journalism, master of reportage Ioan Grillo delves into the enormous black market for firearms in the Americas. Along the way, Grillo lays bare the many ways that guns slip through the legal cracks and into the hands of criminals, fuelling violence among Mexico’s powerful cartels and beyond.

When Metcalfe boarded the C-47 which would drop him at Groesbeek Heights, just outside of Nijmegen, Holland, he was handed a box of twelve dozen condoms by an overconfident British lieutenant. He was to be among the first to jump into what should have been a picture-book meadow, free of German troops. Instead, it was defended by three German antiaircraft cannon emplacements. As he jumped into a hail of bullets and exploding shells, he watched his plane roll over and plummet into the ground.

The Vestrall fight back, but Leviathan stands in their way. And Major Payne opens a new front in the war. His goal is nothing less than turning the Vestrall's allies against them to bring peace to the galaxy. The Vestrall exist, and they have secrets. The war will continue because it suits them. Humanity must confront the real enemy. They must win or the war will continue for another thousand years. There's only one ship that can do what needs to be done.

Aliens are seizing planets at the edge of Berantz space. Earth Fleet sends an armada to investigate. They're never heard from again. Word reaches the Vestrall home planet of the encroachment. Declan Payne knows what has to be done—convince Leviathan to investigate. Peace through superior firepower, through the threat of annihilation. But Lev is retired. And so is Payne and his team. The choice is taken out of their hands.

Are you preparing to take the gospel to the nations? You’ve said “yes” to God’s call to go, and now you will pack up your things and step into the unknown of a new location, people, and culture. The following years will likely include great joy, frustration, homesickness, difficulty, and excitement. In this book, ten men who have served in missions in various ways share what they wish they had known before they began.

On September 15, 1944, the United States invaded the tiny Pacific island of Peleliu, located at the Southern end of the Palau Islands. Boasting a large airfield from which the Americans could mount bomber campaigns, Peleliu was a strategically essential part of Gen. MacArthur's long-awaited liberation of the Philippines. With the famed 1st Marine Division making the amphibious assault, Pacific High Command was confident that victory would be theirs in just a few days. They were drastically wrong.

Instead of enjoying the game, I found myself trapped inside my character's dead body. Now the only way I can save myself is by procuring the Scroll of Rebirth. The problem is my chances of getting it are slim. I'm an undead: an outlaw with no friends, only fickle allies and plenty of enemies. Who are only waiting for their chance to strike. My undead hangman character has to tread a razor's edge, with only the support of his fellow players preventing his imminent plunge into the abyss. But are they who they claim they are?

Wounded and weary from their battle at the military base, Will and Isabella want to rest and gather their strength for what lies ahead. But as the military continues to battle foreign insurgents bent on gaining control of Houston, Will and the others must flee the city or risk being pulled back into the fight. Danger awaits them at every turn as they make their way across East Texas. Desperate and dangerous people have flooded the roadways fleeing the fighting ravaging the city. It becomes a constant struggle for survival.

Will's homecoming to Calcasieu Parish is anything but welcoming as he comes face to face with the Blanchards, a local crime family who have taken over the town. But long-strained family ties are strengthened when Will's cousins come to the rescue. A new community is formed as residents of Sugar Cove Road band together to protect their loved ones. As one thing leads to another, they become increasingly unable to secure their community against a much more powerful foe than the Blanchards.

5-Minute Selling presents a proven, simple process that can double your sales, even if you don't have time for an elaborate new sales system. When you spend your days scrambling to take orders and resolving customer issues, there is little time for new sales techniques. This book is for you. In 5-Minute Selling, Alex Goldfayn describes how thousands of his clients and workshop attendees have generated dramatic annual sales growth with short bursts of action throughout the day. With three-second efforts throughout the day, you can add 50 to 100 percent to your sales.

After Mafia pressure destroyed his family, ace sniper Mack Bolan left the jungles of Southeast Asia to declare a new war on the home front. A one-man army, he wiped out the mob in his Massachusetts hometown. That was just the beginning. Hunted by the police, tracked by the FBI, and carrying a price on his head, Bolan is on the move. After crossing paths with an old war buddy in Los Angeles, the Executioner devises a plan. He's going to round up the best sharpshooters, scouts, demo experts, and hardcore killers and clean up the West Coast.

Getting stuck in virtual reality isn't fun, but being trapped in an NPC's dead body is really the pits. Still, there might be a way out-provided John can find the Scroll of Rebirth. The problem is, finding it is only half the hassle; knowing how to use it is another bag of worms entirely. Several months of full VR immersion may have turned the cumbersome walking deadman into a swift killing machine, allowing him to earn the patronage of the Lord of Chaos and even acquire his own crypt - but John is still a long way away from reaching the coveted level 100.

In virtual reality, nothing is for real. Fake orcs pretend to fight phony elves. Priests go through the motions of casting blessings. Wizards defeat their enemies with digital illusions of combat spells.

Dying in virtual reality isn't fun, but facing bullets from real-world criminal overlords is really the pits. In such a desperate scenario, their demand to render them a service in VR doesn't sound like such a bad alternative. The problem is, the games played by spook agencies follow much harsher rules. For them, the absence of choice doesn't sound like a good excuse - not if you end up in the grindstones of their undercover schemes.

If you're in sales, fear has cost you millions of dollars, and this audiobook is for you. You will learn exactly how to overcome this destructive fear in sales and replace it with confidence, optimism, gratitude, joy, and proactive sales work. These are the powerful principles in the new field of positive psychology that are transforming how we work and succeed. Selling Boldly is the first audiobook that leverages positive psychology to help you sell more.