Most Popular Books by Mark Burgess

"Designed for rock, blues, and jazz guitarists; Covers left-hand techniques like proper position, multi-finger and multi-string exercises, double stops, triads, bending, and more"--Cover.

Promise Theory bridges the worlds of semantics and dynamics to describe interactions between autonomous agencies within a system. It provides a semi-formal language for modelling intent and its outcome, which results in a chemistry for cooperative behaviour. This book is aimed at scientists and engineers. It introduces readers to promises in a practical manner, keeping within the paradigm of `voluntary cooperation''. The book draws on examples from the real world, with a special emphasis on computers and information systems.

This collection contains seven stories, and each mystery adventure is packed with puzzles to solve.

Spike - an undercover secret agent - is dragged from his classroom one ordinary morning to tackle a problem that''s getting out of control. Vegetables are taking over the scientific research institute, and anything that''s not a vegetable is considered a weed - that includes the staff of the institute and the prime minister, who is due to make a visit that afternoon. To add to the problems, rivalries are breaking out between different species of veg. Can the problem be contained in time? And will Spike survive a confrontation with the Big Pumpkin, the Vegetable Chief?

A book about what it means to be in controlIt is a few years from now ... and society''s addiction to smart mobile communications is beginning to drive a wedge between communities all over the world. Citizens no longer talk to their neighbours, they connect electronically through buddy-lists and address-books, using virtual reality meeting places. Society is dissociating into little more than special interest groups and rival gangs, where institutional government and the rule of law have little meaning.Meanwhile, companies large and small analyse `big data'' to track the trajectory of the world, planning out ways to manipulate it to their advantage, and religious organizations imitate the mob to win back their own control. ``Dumbing down'''' and dropping out---the spoilt and the greedy watch the tumble-drier of commerce process an existence that is going nowhere. So much for the knowledge-based economy.In this world of overt information, a new arms race for control is gathering pace. In a desperate effort to cement new public loyalties and consolidate fragmenting government power, American media giant PhoxHollywood is tasked to create a carefully crafted computer game to train citizens into compliance. It is free for everyone on the planet and it entices people to meet and interact as never before. But the game''s moral agenda attracts unwanted attention from the press who claim that it is merely a front for Whitehouse propaganda.When a religious group moves to secure its own share of the power, an unlikely constellation of citizens, from around the globe, interested only in their own futures, unwittingly find themselves pulled together by circumstances, and playing a game of their own... Originally written as near-future science fiction between 2003-2005, in the tradition of John Brunner and Ayn Rand, this novel looks increasingly plausible today as a commentary on the effect of social media and technological propaganda forces in modern society.

A gripping BBC Radio 4 drama about King George VI''s struggle to overcome his stammer and his close working relationship with his speech therapist. It is Coronation Day, 1937. As the country celebrates, the new monarch must face one of the most difficult challenges he has ever encountered: the dreaded BBC Radio Broadcast to the Nation. Only one man can prepare the terrified King for his ordeal at the microphone - Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue. With his unconventional methods such as tongue-twisters, breathing exercises and Shakespearean quotations, and a variety of teaching styles ranging from empathy to bullying, Logue aims to give George VI the confidence to navigate the minefield ahead. As the two men wrestle with the intricacies of the speech, their conversation ranges from the Abdication Crisis to the King''s childhood and his uneasy relationship with his father - and the King''s dependence on and deep friendship with Logue becomes apparent. Starring Alex Jennings as George VI and Trevor Littledale as Logue, this is a riveting portrait of a prominent man at a pivotal moment in his own life and in the history of the 20th century.

Featuring two stories printed back-to-back, this science-fiction book tells of the adventures of Zoe, her trusty robot, Minor, and the Space Pirates, Captain Slogg and his crew. Inspired by Star Trek and Doctor Who, this is by the author of Lucky Thunder and The Cat''s Pyjamas.

The social ecosystem model provides an effective organizational blueprint for social media adoption. Because social media marketing is inherently advocacy-based, it depends on authentic, two-way interactions, peer recommendations, and earned media to succeed. Employees are empowered under a social ecosystem framework to engage across channels as authentic brand ambassadors. This ecosystem has three pillars: (1) the social governance council (SGC), (2) the employee experience (EX), and (3) the customer experience (CX). Through a focus on guidance, listening, and learning by the SGC, employees become the bridge between brand and customer, resulting in improved business outcomes and greater brand value.

A living ghost storyHow many ways can a man become a ghost of his former self?When exactly did Benjamin Lamarck pass from the world of the living? One day this esteemed University Professor finds himself adrift somewhere between the dreamy spires of Oxford and angular towers of New York, confused and frustrated by his inability to connect to the living. Clues of a life he has apparently departed haunt him like a cloud of black smoke. Then he meets Giles Divad, a shadowy presence who offers him a way out of his isolation, if only he can learn to blend in with the crowd.Now, assailed by a faceless mob that wants to make him one of the crowd, Lamarck is seized and wiped of individuality, only to regain it by clawing onto the places that were once important to him, in his former life. Then, a young girl forces him to confront the truth of his past, and give it meaning, as he wanders about the episodes of his former life seeking purchase. Perhaps it is still not too late to reconnect with his wife and daughter.

Caractacus Algernon Tobias Crusoe is swept overboard and finds himself on a desert island. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.