Outplay


Book Description

Outplay, book 2 of the Human Singularity series. Mike Lees displays his enigmatic and entertaining prose in Outplay, his new full-length novel, sounding the depths of human nature in a diversified galaxy. When Jack Stone, a failing journalist, receives a key containing the Melody, a coded sound arrangement that activates the inertia drive, a ship, and a mission, he finds himself drawn into international and galactic intrigue. Jack must reach deep within his soul to outplay James Carting, a scheming tech executive bent on seizing the Melody for his own gain at the risk of exposing Earth to alien exploitation. Can Jack and his mixed team save humanity from a dark future? Find out in this second instalment of the Human Singularity series: Outplay. Where fiction fast becomes reality. (A read of book one, Outpost, will ease understanding of certain aspects of Outplay.)




Outplayed


Book Description

Outplayed: How Game Theory Is Used Against Us will show you the ways in which people try to take advantage of you. It will guide you on how to structure incentives to get others to work with and not against you. It will help you determine when to cooperate—and when to compete. Outplayed is a book about game theory. Game theory is fundamentally about strategy and thus has applications far beyond poker, chess, or checkers. Game theory is part of our everyday lives, and it plays an important role in economics, finance, political science, and biology. After reading this book, you will understand how game theory is used against you. You will learn that the optimal strategy for a game undertaken only once is completely different from that of a game played repeatedly. You will come to know that if you want others to work with you, an Old Testament “an eye-for-an-eye” strategy is better than a New Testament “Turn the other cheek.” You will gain a different perspective on the differences between males and females and why the strategies of monogamy and polygamy are the primary weapons in the “battle of the sexes.” You will come to know why game theory sometimes determines who wins elections, and you will learn to question the assumptions behind the most important game currently being played—the game known as mutual assured destruction, or MAD, a deadly version of the prisoner’s dilemma. Previous books on game theory were inaccessible to most, due to the high level of mathematical fluency required. But there are no equations or proofs here. Lockwood, a former member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, applies game theory to a broad range of topics without the formulas.




Outplaying the Boys


Book Description

A women's guide to poker explains how competitive players can become experts at the game, with 125 annotated tips on strategy, bluffing, reading one's fellow players, and more, focusing on two popular games--Texas Hold'em and Seven-Card Stud--and including a helpful glossary of terms, expert advice, and a recommended reading list. Original.




Outplayed


Book Description

While Jake is out enjoying a night at a local club, he teems up with Tori to play some pool. The pair hit it off and at first there appears to be heaps of chemistry between them. But then a strange group of guys show up and the mood instantly darkens. Tori suddenly changes, and not for the better. Disappointed, Jake leaves the club and starts the long walk home in the rain. However, he nevers gets there.




Another Love Discourse


Book Description

A lyric novel about the play of grief, empathy, new and old love, and the quest to overcome blindness in human relations. Caught in the cross-currents of a fraught divorce and a new love, the death of her mother, and a global pandemic, a writer plunges into an obsession with the work of 1960s French philosopher Roland Barthes. Her struggles to make sense of his work and life—and of what can happen to a woman's settled life in a single harrowing year—result in an engrossing, funny, earthy, and innovative lyric work. The quest for authenticity in motherhood, sexuality, and tenancy on the earth and in the home, as well as the unusual lyric form, make the novel unified in spirit yet transdisciplinary in approach.




Opacity and the Closet


Book Description

Looking beyond the closet at the lives and works of renowned queer public figures




Special Delivery


Book Description

Though letter writing is almost a lost art, twentieth-century writers have mimed the epistolary mode as a means of reevaluating the theme of love. In Special Delivery, Linda S. Kauffman places the narrative treatment of love in historical context, showing how politics, economics, and commodity culture have shaped the meaning of desire. Kauffman first considers male writers whose works, testing the boundaries of genre and gender, imitate love letters: Viktor Shklovsky's Zoo, Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, Roland Barthes's A Lover's Discourse, and Jacques Derrida's The Post Card. She then turns to three novels by women who are more preoccupied with politics than passion: Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, Alice Walker's The Color Purple, and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. By juxtaposing these "women's productions" with the men's "production of Woman," Special Delivery dismantles the polarities between male and female, theory and fiction, high and low culture, male critical theory, and feminist literary criticism. Kauffman demonstrates how all seven texts mercilessly expose the ideology of individualism and romantic love; each presents alternate paradigms of desire, wrested from Oedipus, grounded in history and politics, giving epistolarity a distinctively postmodern stamp.




Playwork: Theory And Practice


Book Description

This book brings together theoretical perspectives and practical advice to improve playwork practice. There are chapters on the role of adventure playgrounds; the challenge of starting a playwork section in a local authority; and the value of networking.




Narrative Tactics for Mobile and Social Games


Book Description

Despite its significant growth over the past five years, the mobile and social videogame industry is still maturing at a rapid rate. Due to various storage and visual and sound asset restrictions, mobile and social gaming must have innovative storytelling techniques. Narrative Tactics grants readers practical advice for improving narrative design and game writing for mobile and social games, and helps them rise to the challenge of mobile game storytelling. The first half of the book covers general storytelling techniques, including worldbuilding, character design, dialogue, and quests. In the second half, leading experts in the field explore various genres and types of mobile and social games, including educational games, licensed IP, games for specific demographics, branding games, and free to play (F2P). Key Features The only book dedicated to narrative design and game writing in social and mobile games, an explosive market overtaking the console gaming market. Provides tips for narrative design and writing tailored specifically for mobile and social game markets. Guides readers along with conclusions that include questions to help the reader in narrative design and/or writing. Explores real games to illustrate theory and best practices with analyses of game case studies per chapter, covering indie, social/mobile, and AAA games. Includes checklists to help readers critique their own narrative design/writing.




Secrets Of Professional Tournament Poker


Book Description

This new, expanded, fully updated and revised, edition of 'Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker' is a landmark in poker publishing. Originally published in two volumes in 2011 and 2012 this was both a critical and commercial success. Over the last decade, the understanding of poker has changed dramatically and this new edition fully reflects current thinking on the game. This book will give readers a thorough understanding of everything they need to know about playing tournaments and Jonathan Little is undoubtedly the person best qualified to impart this information. The book is split into seven sections: 1) How Tournaments Work –This explains why tournaments are a highly profitable form of poker and examines the basic concepts that need to be mastered. 2) Playing Deep Stacked –This deals with situations where (most) players have stacks of 50 big blinds or more. All situations are dealt with including pre-flop and all three post-flop streets. There is further information on general topics at this stack depth. 3) Playing Mid Stacked –This deals with situations where the basic stack depth is between 27 and 50 big blinds. These situations are tricky because with the shorter stack, players are often going all-in. This means that very clear adjustments are required compared to the deeper stack strategies. 4) Playing Short Stacked –This section focuses on play below 27 big blinds. Now play is almost exclusively focused on the possiblity of players going all-in. Knowing the correct ranges and plays here is vital to maximise your chances for tournament survival. 5) The Late Stages –As the prospect of serious prize money looms, huge adjustments need to be made. How to play on the bubble and concepts such as risk premium and the Independent Chip Model are fundamental to maximising your chance of landing a major prize and they are all thoroughly explained. 6) Hand Examples –This will test your understanding of everything you have learnt so far. 7) Other Considerations –You can improve your tournament results by also working on your general attitude and approach. This section encompasses all the non-technical aspects of playing, including learning, the mental approach, tells and practical tips. Jonathan Little has dedicated himself to educating players who are keen to improve their poker strategy, and in 2020, he was awarded the prestigious title of Global Poker Index “Poker Personality of the Year” – voted for by the poker-playing public. As well as being an immensely successful professional player with over $7,000,000 in live tournament cashes, Jonathan runs the highly respected coaching site pokercoaching.com. By interacting regularly with his students, he has developed a clear understanding of how to explain important concepts in a language that can be easily understood by players of all skill levels. The result is Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker – the definitive guide to modern tournament play.