Although military operations against terrorist forces often garner the headlines, those who protect government, military, and business leaders from assassination or kidnapping are also in the front lines against terrorism. Ready and prepared to place his body between his employer and a bullet, the bodyguard must be able to blend into the milieu around his charge, yet be ready to spring into action instantly to counter an attack.

A persistent paparazzi has hounded operatic soprano Isabella Sommita until her nerves are at the breaking point. Now her millionaire boyfriend has whisked her to a New Zealand island to recover. There she plans a performance of an aria written just for her-- by her secret young lover, who, along with a bevy of envious celebrities, is also on the island. It's the perfect set-up for grand opera-- wild passions...and bloody murder. And when the great singer is found dead, a photo on her bosom, Superintendent Roderick Alleyn must find out who did the diva in...

A new world of creative possibilities is opened by Blender, the most popular and powerful open source 3D and animation tool. Blender is not just free software; it is also an important professional tool used in animated shorts, television commercials and shows, as well as in production for films like Spiderman 2. Lance Flavell’s Beginning Blender will give you the skills to start shaping new new worlds and virtual characters, and perhaps lead you down a new professional path.

Beginning Blender covers the latest Blender 2.5 release in depth. The book starts with with the creation of simple figures using basic modeling and sculpting. It then teaches how to bridge from modeling to animation, and from scene setup to texture creation and rendering, lighting, rigging and ultimately, full animation. You will create and mix your own movie scenes, and you will even learn the basics of games logic and how to deal with games physics.

Michele Bousquet, "How to Cheat in 3ds Max 2009: Get Spectacular Results Fast (How to Cheat in)"
Publisher: Focal Press | ISBN: 0240810325 | edition 232 | PDF | 232 pages | 37.4 mb

Need to solve problems quickly to develop creative projects within your time and budget? Want to hone your 3ds Max skills so you can concentrate on your modeling, lighting, texturing, and animation? Then How to Cheat in 3ds Max is for you! Michele Bousquet shows how to work from the problem to the solution - from the viewpoint of a CG artist who has been commissioned to create a job and is working to a deadline.

Create high-quality photorealistic renders of architectural visualizations using 3ds Max and Vray with the project-based tutorials in this book. Learn how to combine lighting and rendering options to end-up with the most realistic final renders possible at a professional level. The tutorials in this book are filled with beautiful full-color images and they teach you how to light both interiors and exteriors and daytime and nighttime scenes. Learn how to save time without sacrificing the quality of your final renders with tips and tricks on rendering with Vray - the most accurate rendering application for 3ds Max. The companion CD includes all the project files that you need to recreate each of the projects presented within the book.

Matt Lombard, "SolidWorks 2009 Bible"
Wiley | ISBN: 047025825X | Feb 2009 | 1177 pages | PDF | 29 MB

SolidWorks Bible is a comprehensive reference-tutorial that covers the basics, but then quickly ramps up to more advanced level topics. Every feature is thoroughly covered yet written in a way that makes learning this robust program seem non-threatening and uncomplicated. In a market full of books for beginners this is the one book that goes into extensive detail, not just on "how" the software works, but in many cases "why" it works the way it does. The author is well known in the SolidWorks community and uses SolidWorks on a daily basis as his main design tool in his contracting and consulting work. Many topics covered in SolidWorks Bible are not found in any other publication or even documentation directly from SolidWorks.