The International Bestseller "A true story that surpasses any novel by John le Carré."—El País (Spain) For five centuries, the Vatican—the oldest organization in the world, maker of kings and shaper of history—has used a secret spy service, called the Holy Alliance, or later, the Entity, to carry out its will. Forty popes have relied on it to carry out their policies. They have played a hitherto invisible role confronting de-Christianizations and schisms, revolutions and dictators, colonizations and expulsions, persecutions and attacks, civil wars and world wars, assassinations and kidnappings. For the first time in English (following the bestselling Spanish and French editions), Eric Frattini tells the comprehensive tale of this sacred secret service. The Entity has been involved in the killings of monarchs, poisonings of diplomats, financing of South American dictators, protection of war criminals, laundering of Mafia money, manipulation of financial markets, provocation of bank failures, and financing of arms sales to combatants even as their wars were condemned, all in the name of God. The contradiction between God's justice and Earth's justice, Christian beliefs and Christian power all fall before the motto of the Entity: With the Cross and the Sword.
Carlotta Moran, a young single mother with three children, suddenly has her life turned upside down when she begins to be attacked in her bed each night by a spectral entity. This brutal unseen force makes attempts on her life and terrorizes her children, but the worst part is that no one believes her. Among the skeptics is psychiatrist Dr. Sneidermann, who believes Carlotta is psychotic, a danger to herself and her children who should be committed. But two graduate students in parapsychology have a different theory: that Carlotta is being tormented by a powerful force from beyond our reality, outside space and time. The tension builds to an electrifying conclusion, and the truth may be far more frightening than any of them ever imagined ... Based on documented real-life events that happened to a California woman in 1974, Frank De Felitta's provocative and disturbing novel The Entity (1978) is a classic of occult literature. Like De Felitta's Audrey Rose (1975), which sold more than 2.5 million copies, The Entity was a worldwide bestseller, and was also adapted for a 1982 film starring Barbara Hershey. This edition features a new introduction by Gemma Files. "You'll find this novel a compelling, frightening read ... a truly terrifying tale ... Careful plotting, well-wrought characters, and lots of scientific detail - along with the surefire appeal of sex, violence, and the paranormal - add up to a wonderfully scarifying experience." - Library Journal "A totally unique work of art ... one of the outstanding novels of the year." - Bestsellers "Readers will be white-knuckled ... a scary, intensely dramatic story of a woman rendered powerless by a potent and devastating adversary." - Publishers Weekly "A blockbuster of its genre ... a skillfully told tale of modern day horror that will have you sleeping with the bathroom light on." - Detroit Free Press "Harrowing ... a thriller which pits psychiatry against parapsychology ... tightly written and well-researched ... disturbing, even thought-provoking." - Cincinnati Enquirer "The Entity takes the reader beyond reality, the reality of psychiatry, even the reality of parapsychology. It probes beyond fiction into the nightmare realm of truth." - Chattanooga News & Free Press
Live the flying adventures of Shawn Crawford and J. Huner King as they go forward and backward in time to assist famous characters, such as Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., who is rescued just before his bomber explodes during World War II. Join Timothy O'Hara, F-35 Fighter Pilot as he partners with Crawford and King in overcoming enemy combatants, in the air and on the ground. Meet the Entity's Children, Christopher and Colette, given to Shawn and his Wife Christine for the purpose of watching over their earthly parents as one crisis after another unfolds. Experience Christopher's ability to bring individuals back to life so that they may continue their life's journey of realizing the greatness that will serve to benefit all mankind. Shawn Crawford serves as the Protector of the weak and those in need of saving from life's adversity. Fly with him in the ultra-modern fighter aircraft, such as the F-98A Stingray, never before seen by members of the United States Military, as he takes on King Charles of France during medieval times. And finally, watch how Shawn and Admiral King save the English Queen and her subjects from nefarious spies planning to employ a nuclear device. The Entity's Chosen is packed with excitement and action that will cause you to wonder what lies around the next adventurous corner. Enjoy the Moment!
The Entity's Child is the final chapter in the Dimensional Gateway Trilogy. Various renown personalities team together to eradicate the hate and injustice in the world through the heroic assistance of Sir Shawn Crawford and his fellow warriors. Their medium for achieving success is via the Portal, a sometime elusive door that propels them both backward and forward in time. Sir Shawn's two Children, Christopher and Colette, lend their powers and skills to assist in creating a world order that had to be saved from the brink of annihilation. Enjoy the Moment.
Language Integrated Query (LINQ), as well as the C# 3.0 and VB 9.0 language extensions to support it, is the most import single new feature of Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.x. LINQ is Microsoft's first attempt to define a universal query language for a diverse set of in-memory collections of generic objects, entities persisted in relational database tables, and element and attributes of XML documents or fragments, as well as a wide variety of other data types, such as RSS and Atom syndication feeds. Microsoft invested millions of dollars in Anders Hejlsberg and his C# design and development groups to add new features to C# 3.0—such as lambda expressions, anonymous types, and extension methods—specifically to support LINQ Standard Query Operators (SQOs) and query expressions as a part of the language itself. Corresponding additions to VB 9.0 followed the C# team's lead, but VB's implementation of LINQ to XML offers a remarkable new addition to the language: XML literals. VB's LINQ to XML implementation includes XML literals, which treat well-formed XML documents or fragments as part of the VB language, rather than requiring translation of element and attribute names and values from strings to XML DOM nodes and values. This book concentrates on hands-on development of practical Windows and Web applications that demonstrate C# and VB programming techniques to bring you up to speed on LINQ technologies. The first half of the book covers LINQ Standard Query Operators (SQOs) and the concrete implementations of LINQ for querying collections that implement generic IEnumerable, IQueryable, or both interfaces. The second half is devoted to the ADO.NET Entity Framework, Entity Data Model, Entity SQL (eSQL) and LINQ to Entities. Most code examples emulate real-world data sources, such as the Northwind sample database running on SQL Server 2005 or 2008 Express Edition, and collections derived from its tables. Code examples are C# and VB Windows form or Web site/application projects not, except in the first chapter, simple command-line projects. You can't gain a feel for the behavior or performance of LINQ queries with "Hello World" projects that process arrays of a few integers or a few first and last names. This book is intended for experienced .NET developers using C# or VB who want to gain the maximum advantage from the query-processing capabilities of LINQ implementations in Visual Studio 2008—LINQ to Objects, LINQ to SQL, LINQ to DataSets, and LINQ to XML—as well as the object/relational mapping (O/RM) features of VS 2008 SP1's Entity Framework/Entity Data Model and LINQ to Entities and the increasing number of open-source LINQ implementations by third-party developers. Basic familiarity with generics and other language features introduced by .NET 2.0, the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE), and relational database management systems (RDBMSs), especially Microsoft SQL Server 200x, is assumed. Experience with SQL Server's Transact-SQL (T-SQL) query language and stored procedures will be helpful but is not required. Proficiency with VS 2005, .NET 2.0, C# 2.0, or VB 8.0 will aid your initial understanding of the book's C# 3.0 or VB 9.0 code samples but isn't a prerequisite. Microsoft's .NET code samples are primarily written in C#. All code samples in this book's chapters and sample projects have C# and VB versions unless they're written in T-SQL or JavaScript. Professional ADO.NET 3.5: LINQ and the Entity Framework concentrates on programming the System.Linq and System.Linq.Expressions namespaces for LINQ to Objects, System.Data.Linq for LINQ to SQL, System.Data.Linq for LINQ to DataSet, System.Xml.Linq for LINQ to XML, and System.Data.Entity and System.Web.Entity for EF's Entity SQL. "Taking a New Approach to Data Access in ADO.NET 3.5," uses simple C# and VB code examples to demonstrate LINQ to Objects queries against in-memory objects and databinding with LINQ-populated generic List collections, object/relational mapping (O/RM) with LINQ to SQL, joining DataTables with LINQ to DataSets, creating EntitySets with LINQ to Entities, querying and manipulating XML InfoSets with LINQ to XML, and performing queries against strongly typed XML documents with LINQ to XSD. "Understanding LINQ Architecture and Implementation," begins with the namespaces and C# and VB language extensions to support LINQ, LINQ Standard Query Operators (SQOs), expression trees and compiled queries, and a preview of domain-specific implementations. C# and VB sample projects demonstrate object, array, and collection initializers, extension methods, anonymous types, predicates, lambda expressions, and simple query expressions. "Executing LINQ Query Expressions with LINQ to Objects," classifies the 50 SQOs into operator groups: Restriction, Projection, Partitioning, Join, Concatenation, Ordering, Grouping, Set, Conversion, and Equality, and then lists their keywords in C# and VB. VS 2008 SP1 includes C# and VB versions of the LINQ Project Sample Query Explorer, but the two Explorers don't use real-world collections as data sources. This describes a LINQ in-memory object generator (LIMOG) utility program that writes C# 3.0 or VB 9.0 class declarations for representative business objects that are more complex than those used by the LINQ Project Sample Query Explorers. Sample C# and VB queries with these business objects as data sources are more expressive than those using a arrays of a few integers or last names. "Working with Advanced Query Operators and Expressions," introduces LINQ queries against object graphs with entities that have related (associated) entities. This begins with examples of aggregate operators, explains use of the Let temporary local variable operator, shows you how to use Group By with aggregate queries, conduct the equivalent of left outer joins, and take advantage of the Contains() SQO to emulate SQL's IN() function. You learn how to compile queries for improved performance, and create mock object classes for testing without the overhead of queries against relational persistence stores. "Using LINQ to SQL and the LinqDataSource," introduces LINQ to SQL as Microsoft's first O/RM tool to reach released products status and shows you how to autogenerate class files for entity types with the graphical O/R Designer or command-line SqlMetal.exe. This also explains how to edit *.dbml mapping files in the Designer or XML Editor, instantiate DataContext objects, and use LINQ to SQL as a Data Access Layer (DAL) with T-SQL queries or stored procedures. Closes with a tutorial for using the ASP.NET LinqDataSource control with Web sites or applications. "Querying DataTables with LINQ to DataSets," begins with a comparison of DataSet and DataContext objects and features, followed by a description of the DataSetExtensions. Next comes querying untyped and typed DataSets, creating lookup lists, and generating LinqDataViews for databinding with the AsDataView() method. This ends with a tutorial that shows you how to copy LINQ query results to DataTables. "Manipulating Documents with LINQ to XML," describes one of LINQ most powerful capabilities: managing XML Infosets. This demonstrates that LINQ to XML has query and navigation capabilities that equal or surpasses XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0. It also shows LINQ to XML document transformation can replace XQuery and XSLT 1.0+ in the majority of common use cases. You learn how to use VB 9.0's XML literals to constructs XML documents, use GroupJoin() to produce hierarchical documents, and work with XML namespaces in C# and VB. "Exploring Third-Party and Emerging LINQ Implementations," describes Microsoft's Parallel LINQ (also called PLINQ) for taking advantage of multiple CPU cores in LINQ to Objects queries, LINQ to REST for translating LINQ queries into Representational State Transfer URLs that define requests to a Web service with the HTML GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE methods, and Bart De Smet's LINQ to Active Directory and LINQ to SharePoint third-party implementations. "Raising the Level of Data Abstraction with the Entity Data Model," starts with a guided tour of the development of EDM and EF as an O/RM tool and heir apparent to ADO.NET DataSets, provides a brief description of the entity-relationship (E-R) data model and diagrams, and then delivers a detailed analysis of EF architecture. Next comes an introduction to the Entity SQL (eSQL) language, eSQL queries, client views, and Object Services, including the ObjectContext, MetadataWorkspace, and ObjectStateManager. Later chapters describe eSQL and these objects in greater detail. Two C# and VB sample projects expand on the eSQL query and Object Services sample code. "Defining Conceptual, Mapping, and Storage Schema Layers," provides detailed insight into the structure of the *.edmx file that generates the *.ssdl (storage schema data language), *.msl (mapping schema language), and *.csdl files at runtime. You learn how to edit the *.edmx file manually to accommodate modifications that the graphic EDM Designer can’t handle. You learn how to implement the Table-per-Hierarchy (TPH) inheritance model and traverse the MetadataWorkspace to obtain property values. Four C# and VB sample projects demonstrate mapping, substituting stored procedures for queries, and TPH inheritance. "Introducing Entity SQL," examines EF's new eSQL dialect that adds keywords to address the differences between querying entities and relational tables. You learn to use Zlatko Michaelov's eBlast utility to write and analyze eSQL queries, then dig into differences between eSQL and T-SQL SELECT queries. (eSQL v1 doesn't support INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE and other SQL Data Manipulation Language constructs). You execute eSQL queries against the EntityClient, measure the performance hit of eSQL compared to T-SQL, execute parameterize eSQL queries, and use SQL Server Compact 3.5 as a data store. C# and VB Sample projects demonstrate the programming techniques. "Taking Advantage of Object Services and LINQ to Entities," concentrates manipulating the Object Services API's ObjectContext. It continues with demonstrating use of partial classes for the ModelNameEntities and EntityName objects, executing eSQL ObjectQuerys, and deferred or eager loading of associated entities, including ordering and filtering the associated entities. Also covers instructions for composing QueryBuilder methods for ObjectQuerys, LINQ to Entities queries, and parameterizing ObjectQuerys. "Updating Entities and Complex Types," shows you how to perform create, update, and delete (CUD) operations on EntitySets and manage optimistic concurrency conflicts. It starts with a detailed description of the ObjectContext.ObjectStateManager and its child objects, which perform object identification and change tracking operations with EntityKeys. This also covers validation of create and update operations, optimizing the DataContext lifetime, performing updates with stored procedures, and working with complex types. "Binding Data Controls to the ObjectContext", describes creating design-time data sources from ObjectContext.EntitySet instances, drag-and-drop addition of BindingNavigator, BindingSource, bound TextBox, and DataGridView controls to Windows forms. You also learn how to update EntityReference and EntitySet values with ComboBox columns in DataGridView controls. (You can’t update EntitySet values directly; you must delete and add a new member having the required value). This concludes with a demonstration of the use of the ASP.NET EntityDataSource control bound to GridView and DropDownList controls. "Using the Entity Framework As a Data Source," concentrates on using EF as a data source for the ADO.NET Data Services Framework (the former codename "Project Astoria" remains in common use), which is the preferred method for deploying EF v1 as a Web service provider. (EF v2 is expected to be able to support n-tier data access with Windows Communication Foundation [WCF] directly). A Windows form example uses Astoria's .NET 3.5 Client Library to display and update entity instances with the Atom Publication (AtomPub or APP) wire format. The Web form project uses the AJAX Client Library and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) as the wire format.
This open access book covers all facets of entity-oriented search—where “search” can be interpreted in the broadest sense of information access—from a unified point of view, and provides a coherent and comprehensive overview of the state of the art. It represents the first synthesis of research in this broad and rapidly developing area. Selected topics are discussed in-depth, the goal being to establish fundamental techniques and methods as a basis for future research and development. Additional topics are treated at a survey level only, containing numerous pointers to the relevant literature. A roadmap for future research, based on open issues and challenges identified along the way, rounds out the book. The book is divided into three main parts, sandwiched between introductory and concluding chapters. The first two chapters introduce readers to the basic concepts, provide an overview of entity-oriented search tasks, and present the various types and sources of data that will be used throughout the book. Part I deals with the core task of entity ranking: given a textual query, possibly enriched with additional elements or structural hints, return a ranked list of entities. This core task is examined in a number of different variants, using both structured and unstructured data collections, and numerous query formulations. In turn, Part II is devoted to the role of entities in bridging unstructured and structured data. Part III explores how entities can enable search engines to understand the concepts, meaning, and intent behind the query that the user enters into the search box, and how they can provide rich and focused responses (as opposed to merely a list of documents)—a process known as semantic search. The final chapter concludes the book by discussing the limitations of current approaches, and suggesting directions for future research. Researchers and graduate students are the primary target audience of this book. A general background in information retrieval is sufficient to follow the material, including an understanding of basic probability and statistics concepts as well as a basic knowledge of machine learning concepts and supervised learning algorithms.
How can you escape the ghost of yourself? The Leigh family is terrified. They’ve been haunted by the ghostly image of their young daughter, Selena. But how can that be, when Selena is alive and well, and as frightened as her parents? With no where else to turn, the Leighs place their hopes in Jessica Backman, who has dedicated her life to investigating paranormal activity. Accompanied by a new partner who claims to able to speak to the dead, Jessica will soon encounter an entity that scares even her. And a terror far worse than she imagined.
Entity Resolution and Information Quality presents topics and definitions, and clarifies confusing terminologies regarding entity resolution and information quality. It takes a very wide view of IQ, including its six-domain framework and the skills formed by the International Association for Information and Data Quality {IAIDQ). The book includes chapters that cover the principles of entity resolution and the principles of Information Quality, in addition to their concepts and terminology. It also discusses the Fellegi-Sunter theory of record linkage, the Stanford Entity Resolution Framework, and the Algebraic Model for Entity Resolution, which are the major theoretical models that support Entity Resolution. In relation to this, the book briefly discusses entity-based data integration (EBDI) and its model, which serve as an extension of the Algebraic Model for Entity Resolution. There is also an explanation of how the three commercial ER systems operate and a description of the non-commercial open-source system known as OYSTER. The book concludes by discussing trends in entity resolution research and practice. Students taking IT courses and IT professionals will find this book invaluable. - First authoritative reference explaining entity resolution and how to use it effectively - Provides practical system design advice to help you get a competitive advantage - Includes a companion site with synthetic customer data for applicatory exercises, and access to a Java-based Entity Resolution program.
Created by the AICPA, this authoritative guide provides interpretative guidance to enable accountants to examine and report on an entity's cybersecurity risk managementprogram and controls within that program. The guide delivers a framework which has been designed to provide stakeolders with useful, credible information about the effectiveness of an entity's cybersecurity efforts.
Summary Entity Framework Core in Action teaches you how to access and update relational data from .NET applications. Following the crystal-clear explanations, real-world examples, and around 100 diagrams, you'll discover time-saving patterns and best practices for security, performance tuning, and unit testing. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Technology There's a mismatch in the way OO programs and relational databases represent data. Entity Framework is an object-relational mapper (ORM) that bridges this gap, making it radically easier to query and write to databases from a .NET application. EF creates a data model that matches the structure of your OO code so you can query and write to your database using standard LINQ commands. It will even automatically generate the model from your database schema. About the Book Using crystal-clear explanations, real-world examples, and around 100 diagrams, Entity Framework Core in Action teaches you how to access and update relational data from .NET applications. You'l start with a clear breakdown of Entity Framework, long with the mental model behind ORM. Then you'll discover time-saving patterns and best practices for security, performance tuning, and even unit testing. As you go, you'll address common data access challenges and learn how to handle them with Entity Framework. What's Inside Querying a relational database with LINQ Using EF Core in business logic Integrating EF with existing C# applications Applying domain-driven design to EF Core Getting the best performance out of EF Core Covers EF Core 2.0 and 2.1 About the Reader For .NET developers with some awareness of how relational databases work. About the Author Jon P Smith is a full-stack developer with special focus on .NET Core and Azure. Table of Contents Part 1 - Getting started Introduction to Entity FrameworkCore Querying the database Changing the database content Using EF Core in business logic Using EF Core in ASP.NET Core web applications Part 2 - Entity Framework in depth Configuring nonrelational properties Configuring relationships Configuring advanced features and handling concurrency conflicts Going deeper into the DbContext Part 3 - Using Entity Framework Core in real-world applications Useful software patterns for EF Core applications Handling database migrations EF Core performance tuning A worked example of performance tuning Different database types and EF Core services Unit testing EF Core applications Appendix A - A brief introduction to LINQ Appendix B - Early information on EF Core version 2.1
