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Surge in Zoom support requests was 'unexpected', says tool team as it turns taps down

John Cena!* Online resources only for free and end users due to the 'unprecedented period'

Video conferencing darling of the hour, Zoom, has tightened up support rules in order to "better serve" users.…




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08/21/16 - The unexpected touch of a hand




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Myeloid-specific Asxl2 deletion limits diet-induced obesity by regulating energy expenditure

We previously established that global deletion of the enhancer of trithorax and polycomb (ETP) gene, Asxl2, prevents weight gain. Because proinflammatory macrophages recruited to adipose tissue are central to the metabolic complications of obesity, we explored the role of ASXL2 in myeloid lineage cells. Unexpectedly, mice without Asxl2 only in myeloid cells (Asxl2ΔLysM) were completely resistant to diet-induced weight gain and metabolically normal despite increased food intake, comparable activity, and equivalent fecal fat. Asxl2ΔLysM mice resisted HFD-induced adipose tissue macrophage infiltration and inflammatory cytokine gene expression. Energy expenditure and brown adipose tissue metabolism in Asxl2ΔLysM mice were protected from the suppressive effects of HFD, a phenomenon associated with relatively increased catecholamines likely due to their suppressed degradation by macrophages. White adipose tissue of HFD-fed Asxl2ΔLysM mice also exhibited none of the pathological remodeling extant in their control counterparts. Suppression of macrophage Asxl2 expression, via nanoparticle-based siRNA delivery, prevented HFD-induced obesity. Thus, ASXL2 controlled the response of macrophages to dietary factors to regulate metabolic homeostasis, suggesting modulation of the cells’ inflammatory phenotype may impact obesity and its complications.




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Erowid Experience Reports - May 01 2020

New experience reports published by Erowid on May 01 2020




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Erowid Experience Reports - May 02 2020

New experience reports published by Erowid on May 02 2020




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Erowid Experience Reports - May 04 2020

New experience reports published by Erowid on May 04 2020




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Erowid Experience Reports - May 05 2020

New experience reports published by Erowid on May 05 2020




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Erowid Experience Reports - May 06 2020

New experience reports published by Erowid on May 06 2020




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Erowid Experience Reports - May 08 2020

New experience reports published by Erowid on May 08 2020




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Are you experiencing long waits calling the IRS?

I am still holding on a call to the Internal Revenue Service, even though I called (800) 829-0115 two hours ago. This telephone number is the one often included in notices from the Internal Revenue Service for overdue business taxes. … Continue reading



  • Accountants CPA Hartford
  • Articles
  • Hold On I'm Coming
  • Internal Revenue Service
  • Internal Revenue Service telephone calls
  • long waits IRS
  • Sam and Dave
  • Waiting IRS

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Pets at Home Creates an In-Store Digital Experience with iPad App Developed By IBM

Pets at Home, the UK’s leading pet specialist retailer and IBM today announced the launch of Sales Assist, an IBM MobileFirst for iOS app for iPad which will be used across 440 stores nationwide to make it easier and simpler for customers to purchase the products they need.




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IBM to Deliver Personalized Fan Experience Through the IBM Cloud at Atlanta’s New Mercedes-Benz Stadium

IBM today announced that it will help deliver a tailored fan experience through the IBM Cloud at Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, scheduled to open later this month.




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IBM Teams with Eurobank to Deliver First-Ever Cloud-Based Digital Experience for International Trade

Today IBM and Eurobank announced the first cloud-based digital platform for online international commercial trading. Using IBM's industry-leading Digital Experience software, with advanced cloud capabilities and social offerings, Eurobank is uniting exporters and importers from around the globe to enhance international trade operations and increase transactions.




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IBM Studio - Groningen to Create Data-Driven Digital Experiences for Clients

IBM today announced the opening of IBM Studio Groningen, where IBM design, digital and industry experts will work with clients to help them engage with their customers using big data, mobile, cloud and social innovations.



  • IBM Social Business

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IBM and IBC Report: Increased Viewing of Mobile Video Content is Driving Consumer Demand for Better Content Experiences

Digital video consumption is viral and, according to a new study released today by IBM and International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), more than half of the 21,000 consumers surveyed are using mobiles every day to watch streaming videos, and that number is expected to grow 45 percent in the next three years.



  • Services and solutions

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IBM Elevates Team Experience at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground; Home of Atlanta United Football Club

IBM is bringing its expertise in sports venue infrastructure design and implementation to the practice field for newly formed Major League Soccer Club, Atlanta United, providing a year-round, state-of-the art technological experience for the players and staff.



  • Services and solutions

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University of Canterbury adopts IBM enterprise storage solution to enhance user experience

The University of Canterbury (UC) is upgrading its centralised IT storage system with the IBM XIV and SONAS network attached storage arrays, to protect valuable research data and better meet user long term needs, while reducing operational costs.




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Innovative partnership between Unitec, Concentrix and IBM meets commitment to build local skilled and experienced workforce for the digital economy

Unitec today announced that the number of people employed in two Delivery Centres at its Mount Albert campus now exceeds 500, and continue to drive benefits for Unitec students and the Auckland economy.




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CEMEX Transformará Digitalmente la Experiencia de sus Clientes a través de Colaboración con IBM

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: CEMEXCPO), una de las compañías de materiales para la industria de la construcción líder en el mundo, e IBM (NYSE: IBM) anunciaron hoy que CEMEX llevará a cabo una importante transformación tecnológica diseñada para optimizar sus operaciones, mejorar notablemente la experiencia de sus clientes y aumentar la eficiencia del negocio.




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IBM and the City of Melbourne launch a personalised, interactive online experience for fashionistas at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week Opening Night

Melbourne, Australia - 18 August 2014: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the City of Melbourne today launched a new interactive online experience for this year’s Melbourne Spring Fashion Week (MSFW) to enhance the iconic event and help shoppers hunt down the best retail bargains. The launch of the experience signifies the beginning of a three-year partnership between the City of Melbourne and IBM as the Official Innovation and Technology Partner for MSFW.




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IBM brings technology expertise to Australia’s first Smart Transport Research Centre

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has partnered with academia, government and industry to launch the Smart Transport Research Centre (STRC) based at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), which is being opened today by the Minister for Transport, the honourable Annastacia Palasczuk. IBM will contribute its global consulting expertise and technology in developing smarter traffic solutions to help make Australia’s transportation infrastructure smarter, improve commuter experiences and reduce environmental impact.



  • Travel & Transportation

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IBM addresses gap in industry around knowledge and expertise of Smart Grids

IBM collaborates with academia and industry to educate and prepare IT professionals, telecommunications engineers, and electrical power engineers for the electricity networks of the future



  • Energy & Utilities

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IBM Customer Experience Index Shows Aussie Retailers Missing Omni-Channel Opportunity

IBM, (NYSE: IBM) today announced the findings of its 2016 Global Customer Experience Index (CEI) Study, which showed that Australia is above the global average when it comes to providing a good shopping experience for consumers, with a CEI rating of 43 percent compared with 40 percent globally. The results provided a snapshot of the Australian retail sector, revealing that some businesses are still struggling to provide a seamless cross-channel experience, personalisation and convenience for customers.




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Mental Health Awareness Month 2020 highlights athletes' experiences, voices

ESPN highlights the stories of athletes, coaches and other sports figures managing their mental health and well-being.





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12 Inexpensive and Thoughtful Mother’s Day Gifts

Mother’s Day is coming up this weekend and, for a lot of us, it’s an event that won’t be like normal. The possibility of many Mother’s Day traditions, like a nice dinner at a restaurant, isn’t even possible in many areas, and social distancing closes the door on many ideas, whether it’s enforced in your area or not. So, what options are there for Mother’s Day that don’t involve just ordering a gift online somewhere and having it shipped to […]

The post 12 Inexpensive and Thoughtful Mother’s Day Gifts appeared first on The Simple Dollar.




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How to test length contraction by experiment?

Relativistic length contraction is theoretically predicted but not directly tested, which lead to incorrect interpretation of the theory illustrated by Bell’s spaceship paradox and Ehrenfest paradox. But these paradoxes can help us designing experiments to test length contraction. Ideal direct experimental proof should contain the following steps: 1. Measure the tested object’s length at rest,...




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From Michelson–Morley experiment to length contraction

Length contraction is used to explain Michelson–Morley experiment. A Michelson interferometer is formed by 2 perpendicular arms. The journey of light along the vertical arm gives the time dilation law. The journey of light along the horizontal arm gives the length contraction law. The derivation scheme of the length contraction law is: 1. The time...




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Length, distance and Michelson–Morley experiment

There are 2 types of length contraction, the physical meaning of each is explained below with the help of the example shown in Figure 1. The Earth and the star are stationary and the spaceship mobile. The 2 types of length contraction are: 1) Object contraction: In the frame of the Earth the length of...




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People's experiences of self-directed support in Scotland

Hannah Tweed from the ALLIANCE and Dianne Theakstone from Self-directed Support Scotland spoke to Iriss about the joint research they are undertaking on user experiences of self-directed support in Scotland.

This Scottish Government funded research intends to encourage and develop policy and best practice across the social care landscape.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.

 

 




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Michael Byrne: Lived Experience Trauma Support (LETS)

Michael McEwan interviews Michael Byrne, the founder of LETS (Lived Experience Trauma Support) and author of Poems From A Mod: My Journey Through Trauma, Recovery And Survival. 

Michael was diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder based on many traumatic events in his life, including abuse as a child, the murder of his father and surviving the Clutha disaster. In April 2017 he had a devastating breakdown which was complete in late January 2018. Since then he has been in recovery.

Health warning: This episode describes scenes of traumatic events that listeners may find disturbing. 

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.




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Lives sentenced. Experiences of repeated punishment

Little is known about the effects of repeated imprisonment. Very few research studies have examined how those who are punished by the criminal justice system experience and interpret their sentences. Research that does exist, like my PhD, has largely focused on one single sentence. But people who have served many sentences (in other words, who have long punishment careers), are likely not to experience criminal punishments in isolation, but in the context of their wider lives and previous sentences. The aim of the Lives Sentenced project is to address this gap in the knowledge base by examining the life stories of 35 people with long punishment careers




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A research agenda for respite care. Deliberations of an expert panel of researchers, advocates and funders

ARCH, the National Respite Network and Resource Center in the United States of America identified that evidence-based research on respite care has, to large extent, been lacking. Across ages, needs and settings, respite is based upon the premise that providing caregivers periodic relief from daily, ongoing caregiving responsibilities will directly benefit them in terms of their physical health, immediate and long-term psychological health, and social-emotional relationships with family members. These benefits are assumed to result in secondary benefits for care receivers and even larger societal benefits in the form of cost benefits or improved employee productivity. Some research studies point to the merits of these assumptions. However, evidence-based research supporting this premise - or going beyond it to demonstrate how to best provide respite care that results in maximum benefits - has not been available. This report presents the findings of an expert panel composed of academics, researchers, service providers, advocates, policymakers and administrators representing a range of age groups, disabilities and professional disciplines. Over a period of 18 months the panel explored the current status of respite research, proposed strategies to overcome barriers to research, and developed a plan to encourage rigorous research in key areas.




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#168: Expelliarmus




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Some Experts Agree


President stable genius is super smart, because he understands that tests can't tell you that you're sick if you aren't yet sick.

What a garbage paper. Make sure you get a quote from someone to show that the president is not a dumbass!




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Experimentando Doces: Dubai e Tailândia

Vem dar risada com a gente neste quadro “Experimentando Doces Gringos”! ???? Desta vez provamos doces de Dubai e Tailândia! Entre eles está um dos meus doces industrializados favoritos! Assista e veja se você também fica com água na boca!

O post Experimentando Doces: Dubai e Tailândia apareceu primeiro em Cozinha do Bom Gosto.




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ODA designs an urban experiment masterplan for Chengdu

On the invitation of the Chengdu government, New York-based architecture firm ODA has created a visionary new masterplan for the southwestern Chinese city. Spanning 1 million square feet, the proposal would include four 13-story residential towers integrated into a 700,000-square-foot, mixed-use commercial park with modern buildings optimized for passive energy savings. Described by the firm as an “urban experiment in rearranging priorities for the public realm,” the masterplan emphasizes pedestrian-friendly design and indoor-outdoor living throughout.[...]




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Planning a low-water garden with expert Guy Banner

For those fortunate enough to have some outdoor space, gardening has become a top pandemic activity. It gets people outdoors doing something constructive while maintaining social distancing. You might even grow something to eat. But as all eco-conscious people know, gardening requires water. Sometimes a lot of water.[...]




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Greenhouse gas emissions expected to hit record decline

While your home energy bill may have increased while you shelter in place, the planet’s overall energy use has taken a significant downturn. According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) first quarter report, global carbon emissions could be down by 8% this year, the biggest drop the agency has ever seen.[...]




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Article Tips - 3 Magical & Quick Article Writing Secrets That the Experts Have Been Hiding From You!

Do you want some powerful article tips? How about some tips for quick article writing? Well, I have some great techniques to get better results.




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Journalismus als Videokonferenz, „Welt“-Experten, Corona-Talkshows

1. Kommentar: Die Kritik an Rezo und dem Nannen-Preis zeigt ein Grundproblem des alten Journalismus (meedia.de, Tobias Singer) Als der Youtuber Rezo mit dem Nannen-Preis ausgezeichnet wurde, gab es nicht nur Glückwünsche, sondern auch Kritik. An manchen Stellen hieß es, die Wahl der Jury sei ein Fehler gewesen. Der Hauptvorwurf: Rezo sei kein Journalist und […]



  • 6 vor 9

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More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now get your hands on the digital edition of C. J. Cherryh's Alternate Realities for only 4.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

Port Eternity

Their names were Lancelot, Elaine, Percivale, Gawain, Mordred, Lynette and Vivien, and they were made people, clone servants who worked aboard The Maid, an anachronistic fantasy of a spaceship. They had no idea of their origins, from those old storytapes of romance, chivalry, heroism and betrayal, until a ripple in the space-time continuum sucked The Maid and her crew into a no-man’s land from which there could be no return, and they were left alone to face a crisis which their ancient prototypes were never designed to master…

Wave Without a Shore

Freedom was an isolated planet, off the main spaceways and rarely visited by commercial spacers. It wasn’t that Freedom was inhospitable, the problem was that outsiders—tourists and traders—claimed that the streets were crowded with mysterious blue-robed aliens. Native-born humans, however, denied that these aliens existed—until a planetary crisis forced a confrontation between the question of reality and the reality of the question…

Voyager in the Night

Rafe Murray, his sister Jillian, and Jillian’s husband Paul Gaines, like many other out-of-luck spacers, had come to newly built Endeavor Station to find their future. Their tiny ship, Lindy, had been salvaged from the junk heap, and fitted to mine ore from the mineral-rich rings which circled Endeavor. But their future proved to be far stranger than any of them imagined, when a “collision” with a huge alien vessel provided them with the oddest first contact experience possible!


You can also download The Book of Magic, an anthology edited by Gardner Dozois, for only 4.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

A new anthology celebrating the witches and sorcerers of epic fantasy—featuring stories by George R. R. Martin, Scott Lynch, Megan Lindholm, and many others!

Hot on the heels of Gardner Dozois’s acclaimed anthology The Book of Swords comes this companion volume devoted to magic. How could it be otherwise? For every Frodo, there is a Gandalf . . . and a Saruman. For every Dorothy, a Glinda . . . and a Wicked Witch of the West. What would Harry Potter be without Albus Dumbledore . . . and Severus Snape? Figures of wisdom and power, possessing arcane, often forbidden knowledge, wizards and sorcerers are shaped—or misshaped—by the potent magic they seek to wield. Yet though their abilities may be godlike, these men and women remain human—some might say all too human. Such is their curse. And their glory.

In these pages, seventeen of today’s top fantasy writers—including award-winners Elizabeth Bear, John Crowley, Kate Elliott, K. J. Parker, Tim Powers, and Liz Williams—cast wondrous spells that thrillingly evoke the mysterious, awesome, and at times downright terrifying worlds where magic reigns supreme: worlds as far away as forever, and as near as next door.

FEATURING SIXTEEN ALL-NEW STORIES:

“The Return of the Pig” by K. J. Parker
“Community Service” by Megan Lindholm
“Flint and Mirror” by John Crowley
“The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable” by Matthew Hughes
“The Biography of a Bouncing Boy Terror: Chapter Two: Jumping Jack in Love” by Ysabeau S. Wilce
“Song of Fire” by Rachel Pollack
“Loft the Sorcerer” by Eleanor Arnason
“The Governor” by Tim Powers
“Sungrazer” by Liz Williams
“The Staff in the Stone” by Garth Nix
“No Work of Mine” by Elizabeth Bear
“Widow Maker” by Lavie Tidhar
“The Wolf and the Manticore” by Greg Van Eekhout
“The Devil’s Whatever” by Andy Duncan
“Bloom” by Kate Elliott
“The Fall and Rise of the House of the Wizard Malkuril” by Scott Lynch

Plus George R. R. Martin’s classic story “A Night at the Tarn House” and an introduction by Gardner Dozois.


You can also get your hands on the digital edition of Wild Cards I, the book that started it all, for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

The first volume of George R. R. Martin's WILD CARDS shared-world series, back in print after a decade―and expanded with new, original material.

There is a secret history of the world―a history in which an alien virus struck the Earth in the aftermath of World War II, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Some were called Aces―those with superhuman mental and physical abilities. Others were termed Jokers―cursed with bizarre mental or physical disabilities. Some turned their talents to the service of humanity. Others used their powers for evil. Wild Cards is their story.

Originally published in 1987, Wild Cards I includes powerful tales by Roger Zelazny, Walter Jon Williams, Howard Waldrop, Lewis Shiner, and George R. R. Martin himself. And this new, expanded edition contains further original tales set at the beginning of the Wild Cards universe, by eminent new writers like Hugo–winner David Levine, noted screenwriter and novelist Michael Cassutt, and New York Times bestseller Carrie Vaughn.

Now in development for TV!

Rights to develop Wild Cards for TV have been acquired by Universal Cable Productions, the team that brought you The Magicians and Mr. Robot, with the co-editor of Wild Cards, Melinda Snodgrass as executive producer.




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More inexpensive ebook goodies!


For a limited time, all the installments of C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia are 1.99$ each here. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb for the first volume:

Don’t miss one of America’s top 100 most-loved novels, selected by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Narnia . . . a land frozen in eternal winter . . . a country waiting to be set free.

Witness the creation of a magical land in The Magician's Nephew, the first title in C. S. Lewis's classic fantasy series, which has captivated readers of all ages for over sixty years.

On a daring quest to save a life, two friends are hurled into another world, where an evil sorceress seeks to enslave them. But then the lion Aslan's song weaves itself into the fabric of a new land, a land that will be known as Narnia. And in Narnia, all things are possible.

This ebook contains the complete text and art. Illustrations in this ebook appear in vibrant full color on a full-color ebook device and in rich black-and-white on all other devices.

This is a stand-alone novel, but if you want to journey back to Narnia, read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the second book in The Chronicles of Narnia.




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More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.




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More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download Blake Crouch's Dark Matter for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy.

“Are you happy with your life?”

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human—a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of.


You can also get your hands on the digital edition of Chuck Wendig's Wanderers for only 3.99$ here. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

A decadent rock star. A deeply religious radio host. A disgraced scientist. And a teenage girl who may be the world’s last hope. In the tradition of The Stand and Station Eleven comes a gripping saga that weaves an epic tapestry of humanity into an astonishing tale of survival.

Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And like Shana, there are other “shepherds” who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.

For as the sleepwalking phenomenon awakens terror and violence in America, the real danger may not be the epidemic but the fear of it. With society collapsing all around them—and an ultraviolent militia threatening to exterminate them—the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic. The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart—or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.




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More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Kate Elliott's Black Wolves for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

An exiled captain returns to help the son of the king who died under his protection in this rich and multi-layered first book in an action-packed new series.

Twenty two years have passed since Kellas, once Captain of the legendary Black Wolves, lost his King and with him his honor. With the King murdered and the Black Wolves disbanded, Kellas lives as an exile far from the palace he once guarded with his life.

Until Marshal Dannarah, sister to the dead King, comes to him with a plea-rejoin the palace guard and save her nephew, King Jehosh, before he meets his father's fate.




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More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.

In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.




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More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download Adrian Tchaikovsky's Redemption's Blade for only 0.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

Ten years ago, the Kinslayer returned from the darkness. His brutal Yorughan armies issued from the pits of the earth, crushing all resistance, leaving burnt earth and corruption behind. Thrones toppled and cities fell.

And then he died.

Celestaine—one of the heroes that destroyed him—has tasked herself with correcting the worst excesses of the Kinslayer’s brief reign, bringing light back to a broken world. With two Yorughan companions, she faces fanatics, war criminals and the Kinslayer’s former minions, as the fragile alliances of the War break down into feuding and greed.

The Kinslayer may be gone, but he cast a long shadow: one from which she may never truly escape.




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More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Ian Tregillis' Bitter Seeds, the opening volume in one of my favorite speculative fiction series of the new millennium, for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

It's 1939. The Nazis have supermen, the British have demons, and one perfectly normal man gets caught in between.

Raybould Marsh is a British secret agent in the early days of the Second World War, haunted by something strange he saw on a mission during the Spanish Civil War: a German woman with wires going into her head who looked at him as if she knew him.

When the Nazis start running missions with people who have unnatural abilities―a woman who can turn invisible, a man who can walk through walls, and the woman Marsh saw in Spain who can use her knowledge of the future to twist the present―Marsh is the man who has to face them. He rallies the secret warlocks of Britain to hold the impending invasion at bay. But magic always exacts a price. Eventually, the sacrifice necessary to defeat the enemy will be as terrible as outright loss would be.

Alan Furst meets Alan Moore in the opening of an epic of supernatural alternate history, Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis is a tale of a twentieth century like ours and also profoundly different.




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More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download Miles Cameron's Cold Iron for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

A young mage-in-training takes up the sword and is unwittingly pulled into a violent political upheaval, in the first book of this epic fantasy trilogy by Miles Cameron, author of The Red Knight.

Aranthur is a promising young mage. But the world is not safe and after a confrontation leaves him no choice but to display his skill with a blade, Aranthur is instructed to train under a renowned Master of Swords.

During his intensive training he begins to question the bloody life he's chosen. And while studying under the Master, he finds himself thrown into the middle of a political revolt that will impact everyone he's come to know.

To protect his friends, Arnathur will be forced to decide if he can truly follow the Master of Swords into a life of violence and cold-hearted commitment to the blade.