Bob Rogers

Robert E. Rogers

J. Kris Malkiewicz

Cinematography; a Guide for Film Makers and Film Teachers

A body in a casket burns in the Willamette River and the homeless dance in the searchlight of doom, while the cosmos turns on the true meaning of morality. Years later, in a desolate desert landscape two women meet in a café. Waitress Wanda wields a spatula and tells a laughing Bette the ribald story of how she met her deceased husband. Within minutes, a violent act leaves Bette severely brain injured, and Wanda commits to her care. Their relationship becomes the target of a perverse minister who uses them for his own aggrandizement. Evangelicals, gays, Indians and the homeless converge on the women in the protest march from Hell, agitated by Mark Twain and his final creation, No. 44. This story of struggle and devotion will hold you. You will root for the endearing characters, and the triumph of sweet, sweet good, over sanctimonious evil.

The Return of No. 44

Small Town People

Leland Wilkinson

Shantha Mohan

Prashant Natarajan

Edward Dixon

Jonas Christensen

Kirk Borne

Artificial intelligence (AI) in its various forms –– machine learning, chatbots, robots, agents, etc. –– is increasingly being seen as a core component of enterprise business workflow and information management systems. The current promise and hype around AI are being driven by software vendors, academic research projects, and startups. However, we posit that the greatest promise and potential for AI lies in the enterprise with its applications touching all organizational facets. With increasing business process and workflow maturity, coupled with recent trends in cloud computing, datafication, IoT, cybersecurity, and advanced analytics, there is an understanding that the challenges of tomorrow cannot be solely addressed by today’s people, processes, and products. There is still considerable mystery, hype, and fear about AI in today’s world. A considerable amount of current discourse focuses on a dystopian future that could adversely affect humanity. Such opinions, with understandable fear of the unknown, don’t consider the history of human innovation, the current state of business and technology, or the primarily augmentative nature of tomorrow’s AI. This book demystifies AI for the enterprise. It takes readers from the basics (definitions, state-of-the-art, etc.) to a multi-industry journey, and concludes with expert advice on everything an organization must do to succeed. Along the way, we debunk myths, provide practical pointers, and include best practices with applicable vignettes. AI brings to enterprise the capabilities that promise new ways by which professionals can address both mundane and interesting challenges more efficiently, effectively, and collaboratively (with humans). The opportunity for tomorrow’s enterprise is to augment existing teams and resources with the power of AI in order to gain competitive advantage, discover new business models, establish or optimize new revenues, and achieve better customer and user satisfaction.

A Playbook for Business Value and Digital Transformation

Demystifying AI for the Enterprise

New Orleans native Mademoiselle Francesca Dumas is a quadroon, a particular caste of African American women who are sought by wealthy white men. At age eighteen in the second year of the American Civil War, she is the concubine of New Orleans banker, Joachim Buisson, and leads a sheltered life of elegant gowns, lace, and lavish balls—until a bullet shatters her dream world. While awaiting the arrival of the Union Navy among a throng gathered atop a Mississippi River levee April 25, 1862, Francesca’s lover is shot dead by her side. Rain-soaked and blood-stained Francesca vows revenge. Francesca’s passionate desire for retribution drives her into a new life as a woman sleuth. Playing detective to solve a murder mystery is far from the role of a woman in 1862 New Orleans—especially, a woman who perceives herself to be African American but appears to be white. According to young and vivacious Francesca, “There are many rules in New Orleans about sex—written and unwritten. The rules apply to everyone—except white men.” While miscegenation existed all over the South, arranged unions between white men and women of color existed in antebellum New Orleans society by contract in a recognized extralegal system called plaçage. Race, caste, and class are significant matters in Francesca’s life. The grieving Francesca is evicted from Joachim’s house by his parents who refuse to honor the lovers’ plaçage (concubinage) contract. Francesca’s life becomes intertwined with a homeless hungry white woman and her children when Francesca shares her last Confederate dollars to buy food for them. Francesca’s inquiry into the woman’s plight reveals that the woman’s father is the father of her son. Her investigation lands her work as a spy for Major General Benjamin Butler’s army occupying New Orleans. As Francesca struggles to make a principled choice between another plaçage arrangement and independence, another acquaintance is murdered and her best friend, Emily, is kidnapped. Working to recover Emily and avenge Joachim, Francesca’s arduous mental and physical journey takes a circuitous route—far from a concubine’s life of extravagant balls, lace, and leisure. Amid the flowering of spring and early summer in New Orleans, she finds herself mired deep in the perilous abyss between foreign, Union, and Confederate spies. Using mule-drawn streetcars, Francesca’s gumshoe work takes her through Vieux Carré, Tremé, and many famous city streets in search of the killer’s motive, means, and opportunity to commit mayhem. In her undercover role, she frequents Café du Monde, Antoine’s Restaurant, and the famous ballroom at the present-day Bourbon Orleans Hotel. Francesca gets help from three historic people of New Orleans; humanitarian Mother Henriette Delille, actress Sarah Butler, and Union spy John Mahan. Can rookie detective Francesca’s passion, determination, and wit overcome a kidnapper and three-time murderer?

The Laced Chameleon

Bob Rogers

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