Many of us have had experiences of using IT systems at work that just don’t work right or cause more problems than they solve. Even if we’ve been lucky at work and always had the opportunity to use well-built and functional IT systems, it’s common to hear in the press or in our day-to-day lives about IT systems that are “down” or “slow”, or just do not work right. Whilst it can be inconvenient to have to use IT systems that aren’t the best for businesses buying an IT system that isn’t fit for purpose can have devastating effects on the business itself and the careers of the people involved. The senior team of any business will know everything there is to know about their specific business or market, but their job is not to implement IT systems. This brings an inherent unfairness to IT systems procurement because it makes it very easy to buy the wrong thing at the wrong price. In essence, the buyers are amateurs but the sellers are professionals. This mismatch is at the root cause of the majority IT systems failures – a problem which by cost a company millions of dollars and negatively impact works. This book is intended to be a practical manual for senior leaders in small-to-medium businesses that will teach them how to buy IT systems effectively – i.e. to somewhat transform the non-IT senior leadership personnel such that they are more informed and capable buyers. There are a million-and-one potholes that can trip up a business, even when buying from an otherwise effective and reputable seller, and this book looks to make it far more likely that the reader will buy the right system, at the right price. The author uses his extensive experience to highlight problem areas and offer solutions to eliminate them.

Many of us have had experiences of using IT systems at work that just don’t work right or cause more problems than they solve. Even if we’ve been lucky at work and always had the opportunity to use well-built and functional IT systems, it’s common to hear in the press or in our day-to-day lives about IT systems that are “down” or “slow”, or just do not work right. Whilst it can be inconvenient to have to use IT systems that aren’t the best for businesses buying an IT system that isn’t fit for purpose can have devastating effects on the business itself and the careers of the people involved. The senior team of any business will know everything there is to know about their specific business or market, but their job is not to implement IT systems. This brings an inherent unfairness to IT systems procurement because it makes it very easy to buy the wrong thing at the wrong price. In essence, the buyers are amateurs but the sellers are professionals. This mismatch is at the root cause of the majority IT systems failures – a problem which by cost a company millions of dollars and negatively impact works. This book is intended to be a practical manual for senior leaders in small-to-medium businesses that will teach them how to buy IT systems effectively – i.e. to somewhat transform the non-IT senior leadership personnel such that they are more informed and capable buyers. There are a million-and-one potholes that can trip up a business, even when buying from an otherwise effective and reputable seller, and this book looks to make it far more likely that the reader will buy the right system, at the right price. The author uses his extensive experience to highlight problem areas and offer solutions to eliminate them.

This book explores the palimpsestic realm of translation, illustration and interpretation in the act of reading, with examples from Dante to the sculptor Rachel Whiteread. Reynolds Matthew shows that the practice of reading readings suggests tactics for criticism in general.

This innovative collection of essays shows how linguistic diversity has inspired people across time and cultures to embark on adventurous journeys through the translation of texts. It tells the story of how ideas have travelled via the medium of translation into different languages and cultures, focusing on illustrated examples ranging from Greek papyri through illuminated manuscripts and fine early books to fantasy languages (such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Elvish), the search for a universal language and the challenges of translation in multicultural Britain. Starting with the concept of Babel itself, which illustrates the early cultural prominence of multilingualism, and with an illustration of a Mediterranean language of four millennia ago (Linear A) which still resists deciphering, it goes on to examine how languages have interacted with each other in different contexts. The book also explores the multilingual transmission of key texts in religion, science (the history of Euclid), animal fable (from Aesop in Greek to Beatrix Potter via La Fontaine, with some fascinating Southeast Asian books), fairy-tale, fantasy and translations of the great Greek epics of Homer. It is lavishly illustrated with a diverse range of material, from papyrus fragments found at Oxyrhynchus to Esperanto handbooks to Asterix cartoons, each offering its own particular adventure into translation.

Translation, illustration and interpretation have at least two things in common. They all begin when sense is made in the act of reading: that is where illustrative images and explanatory words begin to form. And they all ask to be understood in relation to the works from which they have arisen: reading them is a matter of reading readings. 'Likenesses' explores this palimpsestic realm, illustrating key concepts by examining examples from Dante to the contemporary sculptor Rachel Whiteread.

Known as "one of the most complex and unusual texts in Arabic literature" (Banipal Magazine), The Epistle of Forgiveness is the lengthy reply by the prolific Syrian poet and prose writer, Abu l-'Ala' al-Ma'arri (d. 449/1057), to a letter by an obscure grammarian, Ibn al-Qari. With biting irony, The Epistle of Forgiveness mocks Ibn al-Qari's hypocrisy and sycophancy by imagining he has died and arrived with some difficulty in Heaven, where he meets famous poets and philologists from the past. In al-Ma'arri's imaginative telling, Ibn al-Qari also glimpses Hell and converses with the Devil and various heretics. Al-Ma'arri-a maverick, a vegan, and often branded a heretic himself-seems to mock popular ideas about the Hereafter. Among other things, he introduces us to hypocrites, poets, princes, rebels, mystics, and apostates, with asides on piety, superstition, wine-drinking, old age, and other topics. This remarkable book is the first complete translation of this masterpiece into any language, all the more impressive because of Al-Ma'arri's highly ornate and difficult style, his use of rhymed prose, and his numerous obscure words and expressions. Replete with erudite commentary, amusing anecdotes, and sardonic wit, The Epistle of Forgiveness is an imaginative tour-de-force by one of the most pre-eminent figures in classical Arabic literature. An English-only edition.

Poetry is supposed to be untranslatable. But many poems in English are also translations: Pope's Iliad, Pound's Cathay, and Dryden's Aeneis are only the most obvious examples. The Poetry of Translation explodes this paradox, launching a new theoretical approach to translation, and developing it through readings of English poem-translations, both major and neglected, from Chaucer and Petrarch to Homer and Logue. The word 'translation' includes within itself a picture: of something being carried across. This image gives a misleading idea of goes on in any translation; and poets have been quick to dislodge it with other metaphors. Poetry translation can be a process of opening; of pursuing desire, or succumbing to passion; of taking a view, or zooming in; of dying, metamorphosing, or bringing to life. These are the dominant metaphors that have jostled the idea of 'carrying across' in the history of poetry translation into English; and they form the spine of Reynolds's discussion. Where do these metaphors originate? Wide-ranging literary historical trends play their part; but a more important factor is what goes on in the poem that is being translated. Dryden thinks of himself as 'opening' Virgil's Aeneid because he thinks Virgil's Aeneid opens fate into world history; Pound tries to being Propertius to life because death and rebirth are central to Propertius's poems. In this way, translation can continue the creativity of its originals. The Poetry of Translation puts the translation of poetry back at the heart of English literature, allowing the many great poem-translations to be read anew.

Current trends in population growth suggest that global food production is unlikely to satisfy future demand under predicted climate change scenarios unless rates of crop improvement are accelerated. In order to maintain food security in the face of these challenges, a holistic approach that includes stress-tolerant germplasm, sustainable crop and natural resource management, and sound policy interventions will be needed. The first volume in the CABI Climate Change Series, this book provides an overview of the essential disciplines required for sustainable crop production in unpredictable environments. Chapters include discussions of adapting to biotic and abiotic stresses, sustainable and resource-conserving technologies and new tools for enhancing crop adaptation. Examples of successful applications as well as future prospects of how each discipline can be expected to evolve over the next 30 years are also presented. Laying out the basic concepts needed to adapt to and mitigate changes in crop environments, this is an essential resource for researchers and students in crop and environmental science as well as policy makers.

The poets of the mid-nineteenth century lived in a time of 'nation-building'. The Realms of Verse brings this political and intellectual context to life. Drawing on a wide range of soources, Matthew Reynolds shows that the Italian Risorgimento raised questions about community and individual liberty which were especially problematic for subjects of the multi-national United Kingdom, and argues that these questions are at the heart of the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Browning, Tennyson, and Clough. Their long poems characteristically tell stories about marriage, investigating the symbolic and actual interactions between that personal union and national unity. Their verse as a whole exploits correspondences between political government and poetic form, and is alert to its own role in fostering a common culture. Historically detailed, theoretically astute, critically nimble, and stylishly written, The Realms of Verse is the most far-reaching reassessment of Victorian poetry to have been published in recent years.

Robert and Elizabeth Browning, Tennyson, and Clough lived and wrote in a time of 'nation-building'. The Realms of Verse brings this political and intellectual context to life, and traces its influence on the narratives, language, and form of their poetry. Theoretically astute and stylishly written, the book will be essential reading for scholars, students, and anyone interested in Victorian literature.

Current trends in population growth suggest that global food production is unlikely to satisfy future demand under predicted climate change scenarios unless rates of crop improvement are accelerated. In order to maintain food security in the face of these challenges, a holistic approach that includes stress-tolerant germplasm, sustainable crop and natural resource management, and sound policy interventions will be needed. The first volume in the CABI Climate Change Series, this book provides an overview of the essential disciplines required for sustainable crop production in unpredictable environments. Chapters include discussions of adapting to biotic and abiotic stresses, sustainable and resource-conserving technologies and new tools for enhancing crop adaptation. Examples of successful applications as well as future prospects of how each discipline can be expected to evolve over the next 30 years are also presented. Laying out the basic concepts needed to adapt to and mitigate changes in crop environments, this is an essential resource for researchers and students in crop and environmental science as well as policy makers.

'Design - For Life!' ...'And Live - For Design!' (Magic Mottoes 2 & 3) Can Interior Design make you a better person? Alizia Tame(t) believes it can. In this book she will take you on a journey through the most private Interior of all: her thoughts and feelings. Everyone has heard of her creations - the Bridge Hallway, the Funnel Office, the Dawson House with its sofas that run on rails: now you can experience the life that lies behind them. Meet her husband Jem - the postmodern potter - who is in many ways her inspiration. Share the thrills and anxieties of juggling family and career. Discover the truth about her partnership with Fisher Paul and Simon Sanders at IntArchitec, the world's most innovative Design practice. Remember that when your world flips upside-down it is sometimes the most surprising people who turn out to be your friends ...For while Alizia has a Design for everything from relationships to work to motherhood, the people who matter most to her refuse to fit. As the gloss she has put on her life begins to crack she realises there may not, after all, be a Magic Motto for everything. And where can she find happiness then? Designs for a Happy Home is the sparkling story of a sometimes impossible, often infuriating but ultimately loveable heroine whose pilgrim's progress through modern marriage is at once funny, poignant and unforgettable.

With a global population estimated to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050 we face a huge challenge in feeding everyone on the planet. How is that to be achieved? In this brilliantly insightful, one stop guide WIRED journalist Matt Reynolds assesses the limits and drawbacks of current food production and looks at the ways in which they can be tackled. He considers the potential for lab-grown meat to replace inefficient livestock farming. He talks to the scientists hoping to perfect more productive and disease-resistant crops. He explores initiatives to make agriculture less environmentally damaging and to reduce food waste. And he addresses the fundamental question: how do we feed more people while using fewer of the Earth's resources?

Poetry is supposed to be untranslatable. But many poems in English are also translations: Pope's Iliad, Pound's Cathay, and Dryden's Aeneis are only the most obvious examples. The Poetry of Translation explodes this paradox, launching a new theoretical approach to translation, and developing it through readings of English poem-translations, both major and neglected, from Chaucer and Petrarch to Homer and Logue.
The word 'translation' includes within itself a picture: of something being carried across. This image gives a misleading idea of goes on in any translation; and poets have been quick to dislodge it with other metaphors. Poetry translation can be a process of opening; of pursuing desire, or succumbing to passion; of taking a view, or zooming in; of dying, metamorphosing, or bringing to life. These are the dominant metaphors that have jostled the idea of 'carrying across' in the history of poetry translation into English; and they form the spine of Reynolds's discussion.
Where do these metaphors originate? Wide-ranging literary historical trends play their part; but a more important factor is what goes on in the poem that is being translated. Dryden thinks of himself as 'opening' Virgil's Aeneid because he thinks Virgil's Aeneid opens fate into world history; Pound tries to being Propertius to life because death and rebirth are central to Propertius's poems. In this way, translation can continue the creativity of its originals.
The Poetry of Translation puts the translation of poetry back at the heart of English literature, allowing the many great poem-translations to be read anew.

The Native American people believed it better to learn from and worship the Earth rather than to try and master it. These are just a few of the lessons taught by the Great Spirit.

Translation is everywhere, and matters to everybody. Translation doesn't only give us foreign news, dubbed films and instructions for using the microwave: without it, there would be no world religions, and our literatures, our cultures, and our languages would be unrecognisable. In this Very Short Introduction, Matthew Reynolds gives an authoritative and thought-provoking account of the field, from ancient Akkadian to World English, from St Jerome to Google Translate. He shows how translation determines meaning, how it matters in commerce, empire, conflict and resistance, and why it is fundamental to literature and the arts. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.