The Cartoon Guide to Statistics
Larry Gonick - 1993
Never again will you order the Poisson Distribution in a French restaurant!This updated version features all new material.
Universal Principles of Design: 100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach Through Design
William Lidwell - 2003
Because no one can be an expert on everything, designers have always had to scramble to find the information and know-how required to make a design work - until now.
Universal Principles of Design
is the first cross-disciplinary reference of design. Richly illustrated and easy to navigate, this book pairs clear explanations of the design concepts featured with visual examples of those concepts applied in practice. From the 80/20 rule to chunking, from baby-face bias to Ockham's razor, and from self-similarity to storytelling, 100 design concepts are defined and illustrated for readers to expand their knowledge.This landmark reference will become the standard for designers, engineers, architects, and students who seek to broaden and improve their design expertise.
Data Analysis with Open Source Tools: A Hands-On Guide for Programmers and Data Scientists
Philipp K. Janert - 2010
With this insightful book, intermediate to experienced programmers interested in data analysis will learn techniques for working with data in a business environment. You'll learn how to look at data to discover what it contains, how to capture those ideas in conceptual models, and then feed your understanding back into the organization through business plans, metrics dashboards, and other applications.Along the way, you'll experiment with concepts through hands-on workshops at the end of each chapter. Above all, you'll learn how to think about the results you want to achieve -- rather than rely on tools to think for you.Use graphics to describe data with one, two, or dozens of variablesDevelop conceptual models using back-of-the-envelope calculations, as well asscaling and probability argumentsMine data with computationally intensive methods such as simulation and clusteringMake your conclusions understandable through reports, dashboards, and other metrics programsUnderstand financial calculations, including the time-value of moneyUse dimensionality reduction techniques or predictive analytics to conquer challenging data analysis situationsBecome familiar with different open source programming environments for data analysisFinally, a concise reference for understanding how to conquer piles of data.--Austin King, Senior Web Developer, MozillaAn indispensable text for aspiring data scientists.--Michael E. Driscoll, CEO/Founder, Dataspora
Now You See It: Simple Visualization Techniques for Quantitative Analysis
Stephen Few - 2009
Employing a methodology that is primarily learning by example and “thinking with our eyes,” this manual features graphs and practical analytical techniques that can be applied to a broad range of data analysis tools—including the most commonly used Microsoft Excel. This approach is particularly valuable to those who need to make sense of quantitative business data by discerning meaningful patterns, trends, relationships, and exceptions that reveal business performance, potential problems and opportunities, and hints about the future. It provides practical skills that are useful to managers at all levels and to those interested in keeping a keen eye on their business.
Python Crash Course: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming
Eric Matthes - 2015
You'll also learn how to make your programs interactive and how to test your code safely before adding it to a project. In the second half of the book, you'll put your new knowledge into practice with three substantial projects: a Space Invaders-inspired arcade game, data visualizations with Python's super-handy libraries, and a simple web app you can deploy online.As you work through Python Crash Course, you'll learn how to: Use powerful Python libraries and tools, including matplotlib, NumPy, and PygalMake 2D games that respond to keypresses and mouse clicks, and that grow more difficult as the game progressesWork with data to generate interactive visualizationsCreate and customize simple web apps and deploy them safely onlineDeal with mistakes and errors so you can solve your own programming problemsIf you've been thinking seriously about digging into programming, Python Crash Course will get you up to speed and have you writing real programs fast. Why wait any longer? Start your engines and code!
Introduction to Algorithms
Thomas H. Cormen - 1989
Each chapter is relatively self-contained and can be used as a unit of study. The algorithms are described in English and in a pseudocode designed to be readable by anyone who has done a little programming. The explanations have been kept elementary without sacrificing depth of coverage or mathematical rigor.
Database Design for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Relational Database Design
Michael J. Hernandez - 1996
You d be up to your neck in normal forms before you even had a chance to wade. When Michael J. Hernandez needed a database design book to teach mere mortals like himself, there were none. So he began a personal quest to learn enough to write one. And he did.Now in its Second Edition, Database Design for Mere Mortals is a miracle for today s generation of database users who don t have the background -- or the time -- to learn database design the hard way. It s also a secret pleasure for working pros who are occasionally still trying to figure out what they were taught.Drawing on 13 years of database teaching experience, Hernandez has organized database design into several key principles that are surprisingly easy to understand and remember. He illuminates those principles using examples that are generic enough to help you with virtually any application.Hernandez s goals are simple. You ll learn how to create a sound database structure as easily as possible. You ll learn how to optimize your structure for efficiency and data integrity. You ll learn how to avoid problems like missing, incorrect, mismatched, or inaccurate data. You ll learn how to relate tables together to make it possible to get whatever answers you need in the future -- even if you haven t thought of the questions yet.If -- as is often the case -- you already have a database, Hernandez explains how to analyze it -- and leverage it. You ll learn how to identify new information requirements, determine new business rules that need to be applied, and apply them.Hernandez starts with an introduction to databases, relational databases, and the idea and objectives of database design. Next, you ll walk through the key elements of the database design process: establishing table structures and relationships, assigning primary keys, setting field specifications, and setting up views. Hernandez s extensive coverage of data integrity includes a full chapter on establishing business rules and using validation tables.Hernandez surveys bad design techniques in a chapter on what not to do -- and finally, helps you identify those rare instances when it makes sense to bend or even break the conventional rules of database design.There s plenty that s new in this edition. Hernandez has gone over his text and illustrations with a fine-tooth comb to improve their already impressive clarity. You ll find updates to reflect new advances in technology, including web database applications. There are expanded and improved discussions of nulls and many-to-many relationships; multivalued fields; primary keys; and SQL data type fields. There s a new Quick Reference database design flowchart. A new glossary. New review questions at the end of every chapter.Finally, it s worth mentioning what this book isn t. It isn t a guide to any specific database platform -- so you can use it whether you re running Access, SQL Server, or Oracle, MySQL or PostgreSQL. And it isn t an SQL guide. (If that s what you need, Michael J. Hernandez has also coauthored the superb SQL Queries for Mere Mortals). But if database design is what you need to learn, this book s worth its weight in gold. Bill CamardaBill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.
Head First Data Analysis: A Learner's Guide to Big Numbers, Statistics, and Good Decisions
Michael G. Milton - 2009
If your job requires you to manage and analyze all kinds of data, turn to Head First Data Analysis, where you'll quickly learn how to collect and organize data, sort the distractions from the truth, find meaningful patterns, draw conclusions, predict the future, and present your findings to others. Whether you're a product developer researching the market viability of a new product or service, a marketing manager gauging or predicting the effectiveness of a campaign, a salesperson who needs data to support product presentations, or a lone entrepreneur responsible for all of these data-intensive functions and more, the unique approach in Head First Data Analysis is by far the most efficient way to learn what you need to know to convert raw data into a vital business tool. You'll learn how to:Determine which data sources to use for collecting information Assess data quality and distinguish signal from noise Build basic data models to illuminate patterns, and assimilate new information into the models Cope with ambiguous information Design experiments to test hypotheses and draw conclusions Use segmentation to organize your data within discrete market groups Visualize data distributions to reveal new relationships and persuade others Predict the future with sampling and probability models Clean your data to make it useful Communicate the results of your analysis to your audience Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First Data Analysis uses a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works, not a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep.
Doing Data Science
Cathy O'Neil - 2013
But how can you get started working in a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary field that’s so clouded in hype? This insightful book, based on Columbia University’s Introduction to Data Science class, tells you what you need to know.In many of these chapter-long lectures, data scientists from companies such as Google, Microsoft, and eBay share new algorithms, methods, and models by presenting case studies and the code they use. If you’re familiar with linear algebra, probability, and statistics, and have programming experience, this book is an ideal introduction to data science.Topics include:Statistical inference, exploratory data analysis, and the data science processAlgorithmsSpam filters, Naive Bayes, and data wranglingLogistic regressionFinancial modelingRecommendation engines and causalityData visualizationSocial networks and data journalismData engineering, MapReduce, Pregel, and HadoopDoing Data Science is collaboration between course instructor Rachel Schutt, Senior VP of Data Science at News Corp, and data science consultant Cathy O’Neil, a senior data scientist at Johnson Research Labs, who attended and blogged about the course.
Graph Databases
Ian Robinson - 2013
With this practical book, you’ll learn how to design and implement a graph database that brings the power of graphs to bear on a broad range of problem domains. Whether you want to speed up your response to user queries or build a database that can adapt as your business evolves, this book shows you how to apply the schema-free graph model to real-world problems.Learn how different organizations are using graph databases to outperform their competitors. With this book’s data modeling, query, and code examples, you’ll quickly be able to implement your own solution.Model data with the Cypher query language and property graph modelLearn best practices and common pitfalls when modeling with graphsPlan and implement a graph database solution in test-driven fashionExplore real-world examples to learn how and why organizations use a graph databaseUnderstand common patterns and components of graph database architectureUse analytical techniques and algorithms to mine graph database information
Hiding from the Internet: Eliminating Personal Online Information
Michael Bazzell - 2012
Author Michael Bazzell has been well known in government circles for his ability to locate personal information about anyone through the internet. In Hiding from the Internet: Eliminating Personal Online Information, he exposes the resources that broadcast your personal details to public view. He has researched each source and identified the best method to have your private details removed from the databases that store profiles on all of us. This book will serve as a reference guide for anyone that values privacy. Each technique is explained in simple steps. It is written in a hands-on style that encourages the reader to execute the tutorials as they go. The author provides personal experiences from his journey to disappear from public view. Much of the content of this book has never been discussed in any publication. Always thinking like a hacker, the author has identified new ways to force companies to remove you from their data collection systems. This book exposes loopholes that create unique opportunities for privacy seekers. Among other techniques, you will learn to: Remove your personal information from public databases and people search sites Create free anonymous mail addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers Control your privacy settings on social networks and remove sensitive data Provide disinformation to conceal true private details Force data brokers to stop sharing your information with both private and public organizations Prevent marketing companies from monitoring your browsing, searching, and shopping habits Remove your landline and cellular telephone numbers from online websites Use a credit freeze to eliminate the worry of financial identity theft and fraud Change your future habits to promote complete privacy and anonymity Conduct a complete background check to verify proper information removalConfigure a home firewall with VPN Kill-SwitchPurchase a completely invisible home or vehicle
Probability Theory: The Logic of Science
E.T. Jaynes - 1999
It discusses new results, along with applications of probability theory to a variety of problems. The book contains many exercises and is suitable for use as a textbook on graduate-level courses involving data analysis. Aimed at readers already familiar with applied mathematics at an advanced undergraduate level or higher, it is of interest to scientists concerned with inference from incomplete information.
Making Things Talk: Practical Methods for Connecting Physical Objects
Tom Igoe - 2007
But when devices that you've built start to talk to each other, things really start to get interesting. Through a series of simple projects, you'll learn how to get your creations to communicate with one another by forming networks of smart devices that carry on conversations with you and your environment. Whether you need to plug some sensors in your home to the Internet or create a device that can interact wirelessly with other creations, Making Things Talk explains exactly what you need. This book is perfect for people with little technical training but a lot of interest. Maybe you're a science teacher who wants to show students how to monitor weather conditions at several locations at once, or a sculptor who wants to stage a room of choreographed mechanical sculptures. Making Things Talk demonstrates that once you figure out how objects communicate -- whether they're microcontroller-powered devices, email programs, or networked databases -- you can get them to interact. Each chapter in contains instructions on how to build working projects that help you do just that. You will:Make your pet's bed send you email Make your own seesaw game controller that communicates over the Internet Learn how to use ZigBee and Bluetooth radios to transmit sensor data wirelessly Set up communication between microcontrollers, personal computers, and web servers using three easy-to-program, open source environments: Arduino/Wiring, Processing, and PHP. Write programs to send data across the Internet based on physical activity in your home, office, or backyard And much more With a little electronics know-how, basic (not necessarily in BASIC) programming skills, a couple of inexpensive microcontroller kits and some network modules to make them communicate using Ethernet, ZigBee, and Bluetooth, you can get started on these projects right away. With Making Things Talk, the possibilities are practically endless.
Deep Learning
Ian Goodfellow - 2016
Because the computer gathers knowledge from experience, there is no need for a human computer operator to formally specify all the knowledge that the computer needs. The hierarchy of concepts allows the computer to learn complicated concepts by building them out of simpler ones; a graph of these hierarchies would be many layers deep. This book introduces a broad range of topics in deep learning.The text offers mathematical and conceptual background, covering relevant concepts in linear algebra, probability theory and information theory, numerical computation, and machine learning. It describes deep learning techniques used by practitioners in industry, including deep feedforward networks, regularization, optimization algorithms, convolutional networks, sequence modeling, and practical methodology; and it surveys such applications as natural language processing, speech recognition, computer vision, online recommendation systems, bioinformatics, and videogames. Finally, the book offers research perspectives, covering such theoretical topics as linear factor models, autoencoders, representation learning, structured probabilistic models, Monte Carlo methods, the partition function, approximate inference, and deep generative models.Deep Learning can be used by undergraduate or graduate students planning careers in either industry or research, and by software engineers who want to begin using deep learning in their products or platforms. A website offers supplementary material for both readers and instructors.
PADI Open Water Diver Manual Revised 2010 Version
PADI - 2010
The PADI Open Water Diver course leads to two possible certifications: PADI SCUBA Diver and PADI Open Water Diver. This book covers basic diving certification topics and techniques including:Choosing, using, maintaining, and storing equipment.Basic training, from pool to open waterDiving physiology, including buoyancy, behavior of gases, the bends, and hypothermia.Dive planning, including decompression dives.Safety and first aid.