The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful--possibly beyond our control. As the fate of the gorillas now depends more on humans than on the species itself, so would the fate of humankind depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence.But we have one advantage: we get to make the first move. Will it be possible to construct a seed Artificial Intelligence, to engineer initial conditions so as to make an intelligence explosion survivable? How could one achieve a controlled detonation?

    A simple web search picks out a handful of relevant needles from the world's biggest haystack: the billions of pages on the World Wide Web. Uploading a photo to Facebook transmits millions of pieces of information over numerous error-prone network links, yet somehow a perfect copy of the photo arrives intact. Without even knowing it, we use public-key cryptography to transmit secret information like credit card numbers; and we use digital signatures to verify the identity of the websites we visit. How do our computers perform these tasks with such ease? This is the first book to answer that question in language anyone can understand, revealing the extraordinary ideas that power our PCs, laptops, and smartphones. Using vivid examples, John MacCormick explains the fundamental "tricks" behind nine types of computer algorithms, including artificial intelligence (where we learn about the "nearest neighbor trick" and "twenty questions trick"), Google's famous PageRank algorithm (which uses the "random surfer trick"), data compression, error correction, and much more. These revolutionary algorithms have changed our world: this book unlocks their secrets, and lays bare the incredible ideas that our computers use every day.

    In How to Create a Mind, Kurzweil presents a provocative exploration of the most important project in human-machine civilization—reverse engineering the brain to understand precisely how it works and using that knowledge to create even more intelligent machines.Kurzweil discusses how the brain functions, how the mind emerges from the brain, and the implications of vastly increasing the powers of our intelligence in addressing the world’s problems. He thoughtfully examines emotional and moral intelligence and the origins of consciousness and envisions the radical possibilities of our merging with the intelligent technology we are creating.Certain to be one of the most widely discussed and debated science books of the year, How to Create a Mind is sure to take its place alongside Kurzweil’s previous classics which include Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever and The Age of Spiritual Machines.

    Offering a gentle learning curve, PHP is an accessible yet powerful language for creating dynamic web pages. As its popularity has grown, PHP's basic feature set has become increasingly more sophisticated. Now PHP 5 boasts advanced features--such as new object-oriented capabilities and support for XML and Web Services--that will please even the most experienced web professionals while still remaining user-friendly enough for those with a lower tolerance for technical jargon.If you've wanted to try your hand at PHP but haven't known where to start, then Learning PHP 5 is the book you need. If you've wanted to try your hand at PHP but haven't known where to start, then Learning PHP 5 is the book you need. With attention to both PHP 4 and the new PHP version 5, it provides everything from a explanation of how PHP works with your web server and web browser to the ins and outs of working with databases and HTML forms. Written by the co-author of the popular PHP Cookbook, this book is for intelligent (but not necessarily highly-technical) readers. Learning PHP 5 guides you through every aspect of the language you'll need to master for professional web programming results. This book provides a hands-on learning experience complete with exercises to make sure the lessons stick.Learning PHP 5 covers the following topics, and more:How PHP works with your web browser and web server PHP language basics, including data, variables, logic and looping Working with arrays and functions Making web forms Working with databases like MySQL Remembering users with sessions Parsing and generating XML DebuggingWritten by David Sklar, coauthor of the PHP Cookbook and an instructor in PHP, this book offers the ideal classroom learning experience whether you're in a classroom or on your own. From learning how to install PHP to designing database-backed web applications, Learning PHP 5 will guide you through every aspect of the language you'll need to master to achieve professional web programming results.

    With its simple commands, flags, and parameters, a well-formed command-line application is the quickest way to automate a backup, a build, or a deployment and simplify your life. With this book, you'll learn specific ways to write command-line applications that are easy to use, deploy, and maintain, using a set of clear best practices and the Ruby programming language. This book is designed to make any programmer or system administrator more productive in their job. Now updated for Ruby 2.Writing a command-line application that's self-documenting, robust, adaptable and forever useful is easier than you might think. Ruby is particularly suited to this task, because it combines high-level abstractions with "close to the metal" system interaction wrapped up in a concise, readable syntax. Plus, Ruby has the support of a rich ecosystem of open source tools and libraries.Ten insightful chapters each explain and demonstrate a command-line best practice. You'll see how to use these tools to elevate the lowliest automation script to a maintainable, polished application. You'll learn how to use free, open source parsers to create user-friendly command-line interfaces as well as command suites. You'll see how to use defaults to keep options simple for everyday users, while giving advanced users options for more complex tasks. There's no reason why a command-line application should lack documentation, whether it's part of a help command or a man page; you'll find out when and how to use both. Your journey from command-line novice to pro ends with a look at valuable approaches to testing your apps, and includes some fun techniques for outside-the-box, colorful interfaces that will delight your users.With Ruby, the command line is not dead. Long live the command line.

    Now, Core JavaServer™ Faces–the #1 guide to JSF–has been thoroughly updated in this second edition, covering the latest feature enhancements, the powerful Ajax development techniques, and open source innovations that make JSF even more valuable. Authors David Geary and Cay Horstmann delve into all facets of JSF 1.2 development, offering systematic best practices for building robust applications, minimizing handcoding, and maximizing productivity. Drawing on unsurpassed insider knowledge of the Java platform, they present solutions, hints, tips, and “how-tos” for writing superior JSF 1.2 production code, even if you’re new to JSF, JavaServer Pages™, or servlets.The second edition’s extensive new coverage includes: JSF 1.2’s improved alignment with the broader Java EE 5 platform; enhancements to the JSF APIs; controlling Web flow with Shale; and using Facelets to replace JSP with XHTML markup. The authors also introduce Ajax development with JSF–from real-time validation and Direct Web Remoting to wrapping Ajax in JSF components and using the popular Ajax4jsf framework.This book will help you Automate low-level details and eliminate unnecessary complexity in server-side development Discover JSF best practices, ranging from effective UI design and style sheets to internationalization Use JSF with Tiles to build consistent, reusable user interfaces Leverage external services such as databases, LDAP directories, authentication/authorization, and Webservices Use JBoss Seam to greatly simplify development of database-backed applications Implement custom components, converters, and validators Master the JSF 1.2 tag libararies, and extend JSF with additional tag libraries Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Getting Started Chapter 2: Managed Beans Chapter 3: Navigation Chapter 4: Standard JSF Tags Chapter 5: Data Tables Chapter 6: Conversion and Validation Chapter 7: Event Handling Chapter 8: Subviews and Tiles Chapter 9: Custom Components, Converters, and Validators Chapter 10: External Services Chapter 11: Ajax Chapter 12: Open Source Chapter 13: How Do I . . . Index

    Designed for experienced developers ready to advance their status, Exam Ref focuses on the critical-thinking and decision-making acumen needed for success at the Microsoft Specialist level.Focus on the expertise measured by these objectives:Implement and manipulate document structures and objectsImplement program flowAccess and secure dataUse CSS3 in applicationsThis Microsoft Exam Ref:Organizes its coverage by exam objectives.Features strategic, what-if scenarios to challenge you.Includes a 15% exam discount from Microsoft. (Limited time offer)

    It took the open source world by storm since its inception in 2005, and is used by small development shops and giants like Google, Red Hat, and IBM, and of course many open source projects.A book by Git experts to turn you into a Git expert. Introduces the world of distributed version control Shows how to build a Git development workflow.

    Try out more than 1,000 commands to find and get software, monitor system health and security, and access network resources. Then, apply the skills you learn from this book to use and administer desktops and servers running Ubuntu, Debian, and KNOPPIX or any other Linux distribution.

    This is a deeply technical book and focuses on the software engineering skills to ace your interview. The book is over 500 pages and includes 150 programming interview questions and answers, as well as other advice.The full list of topics are as follows:The Interview ProcessThis section offers an overview on questions are selected and how you will be evaluated. What happens when you get a question wrong? When should you start preparing, and how? What language should you use? All these questions and more are answered.Behind the ScenesLearn what happens behind the scenes during your interview, how decisions really get made, who you interview with, and what they ask you. Companies covered include Google, Amazon, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook.Special SituationsThis section explains the process for experience candidates, Program Managers, Dev Managers, Testers / SDETs, and more. Learn what your interviewers are looking for and how much code you need to know.Before the InterviewIn order to ace the interview, you first need to get an interview. This section describes what a software engineer's resume should look like and what you should be doing well before your interview.Behavioral PreparationAlthough most of a software engineering interview will be technical, behavioral questions matter too. This section covers how to prepare for behavioral questions and how to give strong, structured responses.Technical Questions (+ 5 Algorithm Approaches)This section covers how to prepare for technical questions (without wasting your time) and teaches actionable ways to solve the trickiest algorithm problems. It also teaches you what exactly "good coding" is when it comes to an interview.150 Programming Questions and AnswersThis section forms the bulk of the book. Each section opens with a discussion of the core knowledge and strategies to tackle this type of question, diving into exactly how you break down and solve it. Topics covered include• Arrays and Strings• Linked Lists• Stacks and Queues• Trees and Graphs• Bit Manipulation• Brain Teasers• Mathematics and Probability• Object-Oriented Design• Recursion and Dynamic Programming• Sorting and Searching• Scalability and Memory Limits• Testing• C and C++• Java• Databases• Threads and LocksFor the widest degree of readability, the solutions are almost entirely written with Java (with the exception of C / C++ questions). A link is provided with the book so that you can download, compile, and play with the solutions yourself.Changes from the Fourth Edition: The fifth edition includes over 200 pages of new content, bringing the book from 300 pages to over 500 pages. Major revisions were done to almost every solution, including a number of alternate solutions added. The introductory chapters were massively expanded, as were the opening of each of the chapters under Technical Questions. In addition, 24 new questions were added.Cracking the Coding Interview, Fifth Edition is the most expansive, detailed guide on how to ace your software development / programming interviews.

    However, data structures for these languages do not always translate well to functional languages such as Standard ML, Haskell, or Scheme. This book describes data structures from the point of view of functional languages, with examples, and presents design techniques that allow programmers to develop their own functional data structures. The author includes both classical data structures, such as red-black trees and binomial queues, and a host of new data structures developed exclusively for functional languages. All source code is given in Standard ML and Haskell, and most of the programs are easily adaptable to other functional languages. This handy reference for professional programmers working with functional languages can also be used as a tutorial or for self-study.

    Increasingly, scientific breakthroughs will be powered by advanced computing capabilities that help researchers manipulate and explore massive datasets. The speed at which any given scientific discipline advances will depend on how well its researchers collaborate with one another, and with technologists, in areas of eScience such as databases, workflow management, visualization, and cloud-computing technologies. This collection of essays expands on the vision of pioneering computer scientist Jim Gray for a new, fourth paradigm of discovery based on data-intensive science and offers insights into how it can be fully realized.

    Now featuring more than 250 color illustrations throughout, this perennially popular guide is a must for novices who want to work with HTML or XHTML, which continue to be the foundation for any Web site The new edition features nearly 50 percent new and updated content, including expanded coverage of CSS and scripting, new coverage of syndication and podcasting, and new sample HTML projects, including a personal Web page, an eBay auction page, a company Web site, and an online product catalog The companion Web site features an eight-page expanded Cheat Sheet with ready-reference information on commands, syntax, colors, CSS elements, and more Covers planning a Web site, formatting Web pages, using CSS, getting creative with colors and fonts, managing layouts, and integrating scripts

    The time you spend context switching between your editor and your consoles eats away at your productivity. Take control of your environment with tmux, a terminal multiplexer that you can tailor to your workflow. With this updated second edition for tmux 2.3, you'll customize, script, and leverage tmux's unique abilities to craft a productive terminal environment that lets you keep your fingers on your keyboard's home row.You have a database console, web server, test runner, and text editor running at the same time, but switching between them and trying to find what you need takes up valuable time and breaks your concentration. By using tmux 2.3, you can improve your productivity and regain your focus. This book will show you how.This second edition includes many features requested by readers, including how to integrate plugins into your workflow, how to integrate tmux with Vim for seamless navigation - oh, and how to use tmux on Windows 10.Use tmux to manage multiple terminal sessions in a single window using only your keyboard. Manage and run programs side by side in panes, and create the perfect development environment with custom scripts so that when you're ready to work, your programs are waiting for you. Manipulate text with tmux's copy and paste buffers, so you can move text around freely between applications. Discover how easy it is to use tmux to collaborate remotely with others, and explore more advanced usage as you manage multiple tmux sessions, add custom scripts into the tmux status line, and integrate tmux with your system.Whether you're an application developer or a system administrator, you'll find many useful tricks and techniques to help you take control of your terminal.

    Concurrency and parallelism are the keys, and Seven Concurrency Models in Seven Weeks equips you for this new world. See how emerging technologies such as actors and functional programming address issues with traditional threads and locks development. Learn how to exploit the parallelism in your computer's GPU and leverage clusters of machines with MapReduce and Stream Processing. And do it all with the confidence that comes from using tools that help you write crystal clear, high-quality code. This book will show you how to exploit different parallel architectures to improve your code's performance, scalability, and resilience. Learn about the perils of traditional threads and locks programming and how to overcome them through careful design and by working with the standard library. See how actors enable software running on geographically distributed computers to collaborate, handle failure, and create systems that stay up 24/7/365. Understand why shared mutable state is the enemy of robust concurrent code, and see how functional programming together with technologies such as Software Transactional Memory (STM) and automatic parallelism help you tame it. You'll learn about the untapped potential within every GPU and how GPGPU software can unleash it. You'll see how to use MapReduce to harness massive clusters to solve previously intractible problems, and how, in concert with Stream Processing, big data can be tamed. With an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the different models and hardware architectures, you'll be empowered to tackle any problem with confidence.What You Need: The example code can be compiled and executed on *nix, OS X, or Windows. Instructions on how to download the supporting build systems are given in each chapter.