Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing


Adam Greenfield - 2006
    How will it change us? how can we shape its emergence? Smart buildings, smart furniture, smart clothing... even smart bathtubs. networked street signs and self-describing soda cans. Gestural interfaces like those seen in Minority Report. The RFID tags now embedded in everything from credit cards to the family pet. All of these are facets of the ubiquitous computing author Adam Greenfield calls everyware. In a series of brief, thoughtful meditations, Greenfield explains how everyware is already reshaping our lives, transforming our understanding of the cities we live in, the communities we belong to--and the way we see ourselves. What are people saying about the book? Adam Greenfield is intense, engaged, intelligent and caring. I pay attention to him. I counsel you to do the same. --HOWARD RHEINGOLD, AUTHOR, SMART MOBS: THE NEXT SOCIAL REVOLUTION A gracefully written, fascinating, and deeply wise book on one of the most powerful ideas of the digital age--and the obstacles we must overcome before we can make ubiquitous computing a reality.--STEVE SILBERMAN, EDITOR, WIRED MAGAZINE Adam is a visionary. he has true compassion and respect for ordinary users like me who are struggling to use and understand the new technology being thrust on us at overwhelming speed.--REBECCA MACKINNON, BERKMAN CENTER FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY Everyware is an AIGA Design Press book, published under Peachpit's New Riders imprint in partnership with AIGA.

Beautiful Visualization: Looking at Data through the Eyes of Experts


Julie Steele - 2010
    Think of the familiar map of the New York City subway system, or a diagram of the human brain. Successful visualizations are beautiful not only for their aesthetic design, but also for elegant layers of detail that efficiently generate insight and new understanding.This book examines the methods of two dozen visualization experts who approach their projects from a variety of perspectives -- as artists, designers, commentators, scientists, analysts, statisticians, and more. Together they demonstrate how visualization can help us make sense of the world.Explore the importance of storytelling with a simple visualization exerciseLearn how color conveys information that our brains recognize before we're fully aware of itDiscover how the books we buy and the people we associate with reveal clues to our deeper selvesRecognize a method to the madness of air travel with a visualization of civilian air trafficFind out how researchers investigate unknown phenomena, from initial sketches to published papers Contributors include:Nick Bilton, Michael E. Driscoll, Jonathan Feinberg, Danyel Fisher, Jessica Hagy, Gregor Hochmuth, Todd Holloway, Noah Iliinsky, Eddie Jabbour, Valdean Klump, Aaron Koblin, Robert Kosara, Valdis Krebs, JoAnn Kuchera-Morin et al., Andrew Odewahn, Adam Perer, Anders Persson, Maximilian Schich, Matthias Shapiro, Julie Steele, Moritz Stefaner, Jer Thorp, Fernanda Viegas, Martin Wattenberg, and Michael Young.

Python: The Complete Reference


Martin C. Brown - 2001
    This text is split into distinct sections, each concentrating on a core angle of the language. The book also contains sections for Web and application development, the two most popular uses for Python. It is designed to teach a programmer how to use Python by explaining the mechanics of Python. The appendixes offer a quick guide to the main features of the Python language, as well as additional guides to non-essential systems such as the IDLE development environment and general guidelines for migrating from another language.

Titanoboa: Journey To The Amazon


P.K. Hawkins - 2017
    They've become routine to him. But this time, the expedition is going to be anything but normal. Hank, along with a hardened river boat captain, his much younger girlfriend, and his main professional rival, are in the Amazon purely to study frogs. All their plans vanish quickly, however, when they are attacked by a Titanoboa, an enormous prehistoric snake that should be millions of years in its grave. As their crew dwindles from a series of terrifying attacks, they discover a secret: a long lost colleague of the professor has taken up residence on an island in the deepest parts of the jungle. And if Hank and the others can't find and stop her, then the Titanoboa will not be the only extinct monster unleashed back into the world.

The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications


Christian Rätsch - 1998
    The most powerful plants--those known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness--have traditionally been regarded as sacred. In The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants Christian Rätsch details the botany, history, distribution, cultivation, and preparation and dosage of more than 400 psychoactive plants. He discusses their ritual and medicinal usage, cultural artifacts made from these plants, and works of art that either represent or have been inspired by them. The author begins with 168 of the most well-known psychoactives--such as cannabis, datura, and papaver--then presents 133 lesser known substances as well as additional plants known as “legal highs,” plants known only from mythological contexts and literature, and plant products that include substances such as ayahuasca, incense, and soma. The text is lavishly illustrated with 797 color photographs--many of which are from the author’s extensive fieldwork around the world--showing the people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world’s sacred psychoactives.

Systems Analysis and Design Methods


Jeffrey L. Whitten
    As with the previous editions of this book, the authors write to balance the coverage of concepts, tools, techniques, and their applications, and to provide the most examples of system analysis and design deliverables available in any book. The textbook also serves the reader as a professional reference for best current practices.

Pluto's Ghost


B.C. Chase - 2017
    It contained a "golden record" with sounds, pictures, and greetings from earth.On March 15th, 2013, NASA received a transmission from the spacecraft that said: "Hello. We received your golden record. Let's meet." On September 29th, internationally bestselling author B.C.CHASE invites you on a daring first contact mission into deep space with five intrepid astronauts, one spunky cosmonaut, and a seventy-five-year-old truck driver.

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems


Dan W. Patterson - 1990
    

The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent-Based Models of Competition and Collaboration


Robert Axelrod - 1991
    He is a leader in applying computer modeling to social science problems. His book The Evolution of Cooperation has been hailed as a seminal contribution and has been translated into eight languages since its initial publication. The Complexity of Cooperation is a sequel to that landmark book. It collects seven essays, originally published in a broad range of journals, and adds an extensive new introduction to the collection, along with new prefaces to each essay and a useful new appendix of additional resources. Written in Axelrod's acclaimed, accessible style, this collection serves as an introductory text on complexity theory and computer modeling in the social sciences and as an overview of the current state of the art in the field.The articles move beyond the basic paradigm of the Prisoner's Dilemma to study a rich set of issues, including how to cope with errors in perception or implementation, how norms emerge, and how new political actors and regions of shared culture can develop. They use the shared methodology of agent-based modeling, a powerful technique that specifies the rules of interaction between individuals and uses computer simulation to discover emergent properties of the social system. The Complexity of Cooperation is essential reading for all social scientists who are interested in issues of cooperation and complexity.

Signals and Systems


Alan V. Oppenheim - 1982
    KEY TOPICS: The major changes of the revision are reorganization of chapter material and the addition of a much wider range of difficulties.

The Ride Delegate: Memoir of a Walt Disney World VIP Tour Guide


Annie Salisbury - 2014
    Annie Salisbury was one of these Cast Members, in charge of making the very best magic for those who could afford it.In The Ride Delegate, her memoir of life as a Disney World VIP tour guide, Annie shares some of her most memorable experiences: The Middle Eastern royal family who needed a room at the Contemporary where all thirty-seven of them could pray, right now The wealthy woman who used cancer as an excuse for why her family should be able to ride It's a Small World until they were ready to get off The mysterious VIP (dubbed "Dr. No" by Annie) who arrived for his afternoon tour in a private plane at a private airport in the swamp The famous football player who didn't understand why he couldn't ride Universal's Incredible Hulk Coaster at EPCOT Plus, you'll learn about the perks and privileges of being a VIP Tour Guide, from corn dogs to illicit cash, and the lengths to which Disney will go to keep its VIP guests happy Come get a taste of what Disney World is like for those with deep pockets—and personalities to match—and meet the eccentric, outrageous guests who turned Annie's dream job into a reality show.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers


Martin Evening - 2012
    This completely updated bestseller was also written with photographers in mind. Author Martin Evening describes features in Lightroom 4 in detail from a photographer’s perspective. As an established commercial and fashion photographer, Martin knows firsthand what photographers need for an efficient workflow. He has also been working with Lightroom from the beginning, monitoring the product’s development and providing valued feedback to Adobe. As a result, Martin knows the software inside and out, from image selection to image editing to image management. In this book you’ll learn how to:• Work efficiently with images shot in the raw or JPEG format • Import photographs with ease and sort them according to your workflow• Create and manage a personal image library• Apply tonal adjustments to multiple images quickly• Integrate Lightroom with Adobe Photoshop• Export images for print or Web as digital contact sheets or personal portfolios• Make the most of new features in Lightroom 4, such as the Camera Raw Process 2012 Basic panel tone controlsPhotographers will find Lightroom 4–and The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Book–indispensable tools in their digital darkrooms.This book’s companion site, www.thelightroombook.com, offers video tutorials, articles, sample images, and updates from author Martin Evening.“With Martin’s expert guidance, you’ll soon find that you have precisely the tools you need to turn your concentration back where it belongs–on making better pictures!”–George Jardine, digital photography consultant “As a photographer himself, Martin Evening knows what tools photographers need to realize their creative vision. In this book, he shows not only how Adobe Photoshop Lightroom works but also why it will become an essential part of any photographer’s workflow.”–Greg Gorman, photographer

Entropy Demystified: The Second Law Reduced To Plain Common Sense


Arieh Ben-Naim - 2007
    The author paves the way for readers to discover for themselves what entropy is, how it changes, and most importantly, why it always changes in one direction in a spontaneous process.

Inside Cyber Warfare: Mapping the Cyber Underworld


Jeffrey Carr - 2009
    You'll learn how sophisticated hackers working on behalf of states or organized crime patiently play a high-stakes game that could target anyone, regardless of affiliation or nationality.Inside Cyber Warfare goes beyond the headlines of attention-grabbing DDoS attacks and takes a deep look inside multiple cyber-conflicts that occurred from 2002 through summer 2009.Learn how cyber attacks are waged in open conflicts, including recent hostilities between Russia and Georgia, and Israel and PalestineDiscover why Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal, Vkontakte, and other sites on the social web are mined by the intelligence services of many nationsRead about China's commitment to penetrate the networks of its technologically superior adversaries as a matter of national survivalFind out why many attacks originate from servers in the United States, and who's responsibleLearn how hackers are "weaponizing" malware to attack vulnerabilities at the application level

All About ADHD: A Family Resource for Helping Your Child Succeed with ADHD


Thomas W. Phelan - 2017
    Thomas W. Phelan, an internationally renowned expert and lecturer on child discipline and ADHD. Completely updated with the latest research and treatment information, All About ADHD is a comprehensive guide to ADHD's symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment in children and adults, including information such as:· The basic symptoms of ADHD and their effects on school, work, home, and personal relationships· The differences in ADHD between boys and girls· Counseling, school interventions, behavior management, and social skills trainingWritten in easy-to-understand language and with a positive, treatment-focused approach, All About ADHD is a must-have resource for parents, teachers, physicians, and mental health professionals.