Blackfire S Back

Starfire's big sister, Blackfire, is back, making all of the Teen Titans the victims of this super-sibling rivalry.

Performance simply matters. Technology may allow us to "go bigger", but maybe not necessarily be better when it comes to performance. Now is the time to utilize the amazing tools that are available for making websites faster, and to learn how to improve user experience and satisfaction. This is a practical collection of tutorials on back-end website performance for web developers. It's packed with useful, real world hints and tips that you can use on your sites today. It contains: How to Optimize MySQL: Indexes, Slow Queries, Configuration by Bruno Skvorc How to Read Big Files with PHP (Without Killing Your Server) by Chris Pitt WordPress Optimization by Tonino Jankov HTTP/2: Background, Performance Benefits and Implementations by Tonino Jankov Apache vs Nginx Performance: Optimization Techniques by Tonino Jankov An In-depth Walkthrough of Supercharging Apps with Blackfire by Reza Lavaryan How to Boost Your Server Performance with Varnish by Tonino Jankov How to Process Server Logs by Daniel Berman This book is for all back-end developers who wish to build sites and apps that are more performant. You'll need to be familiar with server-side development in order to follow the discussion.

This compendium of primary resources reflects the important but often overshadowed contribution of African American believers to the dynamic growth of the modern Pentecostal movement--the fastest-growing segment of global Christianity. The doctrinal statements, sermons, songs, testimonies, news articles, as well as scholarly treatises included here allow black leaders, scholars, and laypeople to speak in their own voices and use their own language to tell us their stories and articulate the issues that have been important to them throughout the one-hundred-year history of this movement. Among the constant themes that continue to emerge is their appreciation of an empowering encounter with the Holy Spirit as the resource for engaging the dehumanizing racial reality of contemporary America.

Set in the near future, the demonic Legion of the Basilisk, vanguard of terrorism, has struck at the heart of the birthplace of Abraham near Ur in Iraq during the New World Order's One Covenant ecumenical global media event on the morning of November 1. Among the million eliminated in the blast, are major political and chief ecclesiastical dignitaries from around the world, including reports of Pope Clement XV's annihilation in Iraq. This universal disaster has thrown the global community into a vacuous void, their hopes dashed. This beginning of the ultimate apocalypse finds an eclectic, ethnic group of ordinary people in strategic vocations catapulted into the smoldering ashes of the Basilisk's black fire. Taken on this phenomenal physical and psychological journey into hell, skeptical Metroplex Mirror reporter Patrick Gallagher must team up with the enigmatic Greek Nicolas Andriopoulos and the mysterious Fasif Khadid to sacrifice Pat's own goals for a greater need where he and Niki will need the help of the abstruse Dr. Makuta Ogidi, as well as counting on the few resisters within the Vatican in cooperation with a small cadre of loyal Swiss Guards and Cardinal Gregory Zachmunn, including the head of Vatican Universal Communications, Monsignor Stephen Navarro along with the spunky Irish nun Sister Bridie, all vitally aided by the latest technology of the enterprising Australian media mogul Colin Rembert. Both Pat's inscrutable editor Vic Van Wess, and the love of Gallagher's life, Corrine Morelli must enter the devil's den to confront the nefarious beast. All must band together in a desperate effort to save mankind and stop the devil himself from being victorious. With death slithering at their heels, they must engage in a deadly chess game to combat the clandestine Legion led by Pat's publisher American mastermind madman mogul Edwin Blix, devious Elena Grabe, plotting apostate Cardinals Antonio Macelli and Josef Vendem, Sicilian hit men Guillaume Brunatti and Luciano Serrano, gruff Turk Usif Erbet, wily vixen Maria Figuerido, American reporter Jordan Collier, and Blix's lackeys Ans and Soto Ichariak, along with the surreptitious summit of six. The Basilisk's tentacles reach out in political, ecclesial, and foreign intrigue surrounding the expedited election to be signaled by white smoke, notifying the world that the next pontiff has been chosen. The fear is he could very well be a member of the Legion. As the hours, minutes, and the number of resisters dwindle, murder and intrigue lurk everywhere as the Basilisk reveals its hideous form claiming several martyrs of the resistance. After a dying pope delivers a stunning landmark decree to rescue the very soul of the Church in the Sistine Chapel following the Legion's attempted destruction of the Holy See, renewed hope is seemingly crushed again when the few remaining resisters are captured by the Legion and taken back to where it all started. Though the Legion can destroy buildings and priceless treasure, they cannot destroy the most priceless treasure - man's resolve to triumph over evil. With global hope waning, the few resisters left must make their last stand on the charred ruins of the Field of Death where hell is about to engulf the world as the remaining members of the Legion plot for who will serve as the host to reincarnate Lucifer in the flesh. Only one weapon, one of great mystery, can stay the evil that has gripped the globe. Will it be enough? "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." --Matthew 19:26

Many American Christians remain ignorant of black Pentacostalism. In this expansive historical overview, Estrelda Alexander recounts the story of African American Pentecostal origins and development. Whether you come from this tradition or you just want to learn more, this book will unfold all the dimensions of this important movement's history and contribution to the life of the church.

MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE "FDNY" THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT IN THE 1960'S AND 70'S WILL EXPOSE MUCH OF WHAT I HAVE WITNESSED. THE MANY HEROIC DEEDS, THE HISTORIC SYSTEMATIC CULTURAL RACISM, THE ETHNIC FAVORITISM, THE ACCEPTED GLORIFIED EMBELLISHMENTS, AND THE INDIFFERENCE THAT PREVAILED IN SOMANY OF THE BLACK COMMUNITIES DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT OF THAT TIME. I NEVER ALLOWED MY FIREFIGHTER'S LIFE'S PURPOSE TO CONSIDER ONE'S GENDER, COLOR OR RELIGION TO PREVENT ME FROM STEPPING IN HARM'S DEADLY PATH, IN THE PRESERVATION OF A LIFE UNKNOWN TO ME. LT. BILL HIGH.., FDNY

The first biography of the little-known real-life Tom Sawyer, told through a harrowing account of Sawyer's involvement in the hunt for a serial arsonist who terrorized mid-nineteenth century San Francisco. When San Francisco Daily Morning Call reporter Mark Twain met Tom Sawyer in 1863, he was seeking a subject for his first novel. He learned that Sawyer was a volunteer firefighter, local hero, and a former “Torch Boy,” racing ahead of hand-drawn fire engines at night carrying torches to light the way. When a mysterious serial arsonist known as “The Lightkeeper” was in the process of burning San Francisco to the ground, Sawyer played a key role in stopping him, helping to contain what is now considered the most disastrous and costly series of fires ever experienced by an American metropolis. By chronicling how Sawyer took it upon himself to investigate, expose, and stop the arsonist, Black Fire details Sawyer’s remarkable life and illustrates why Twain would later feel compelled to name his iconic character after him when writing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. A vivid portrayal of the gritty, corrupt, and violent world of the Gold Rush-era West, Black Fire is the most vibrant and thorough account of Sawyer’s relationship with Mark Twain, and of the devastating fires that baptized San Francisco.