How Computers Work


Ron White - 1992
    The full-color, detailed illustrations will take you deep inside your PC and show you just how intricate it is. This latest edition has been updated with information on all of the latest technologies, including: PCI Express Bus Serial ATA Connections Digital Photography Software TiVos, Gas Plasma Screens, iPods, and Other Home Entertainment Equipment Google and eBay 3D Game Development, Two-Slot Video Cards, and Overclocking How Computers Work has sold over two million copies world wide. But don't take our word for it � get your copy today!

Working at the Ubuntu Command-Line Prompt


Keir Thomas - 2011
    His books have been read by over 1,000,000 people and are #1 best-sellers. His book Beginning Ubuntu Linux recently entered its sixth edition, and picked-up a Linux Journal award along the way. Thomas is also the author of Ubuntu Kung Fu. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Get to grips with the Ubuntu command-line with this #1 best-selling and concise guide. "Best buck I've spent yet" — Amazon review.* Readable, accessible and easy to understand;* Learn essential Ubuntu vocational skills, or read just for fun;* Covers Ubuntu commands, syntax, the filesystem, plus advanced techniques;* For ANY version of Linux based on Debian, such as Linux Mint--not just Ubuntu!;* Includes BONUS introduction to Ubuntu chapter, plus a glossary appendix and a guide to reading Linux/Unix documentation.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: A professional image editor's guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC


Martin Evening - 2010
    In this acclaimed reference work, Martin covers everything from the core aspects of working in Photoshop to advanced techniques for professional results. Subjects covered include organizing a digital workflow, improving creativity, output, automating Photoshop, and using Camera RAW. The style of the book is extremely clear, with real examples, diagrams, illustrations, and step-by-step explanations supporting the text throughout. This is, quite simply, the essential reference for photographers of all levels using Photoshop. All DVD content is now available online at http://booksite.focalpress.com/compan... for kindle and eBook readers. * Learn Photoshop the Martin Evening way! Everything you need to know for superb photographic results using Photoshop CS5 * Accompanying DVD includes the images used in the book, as well as QuickTime movie tutorials that show you how to get results fast * Packed with diagrams, step-by-steps, and over 750 color images

UNIX in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference for System V Release 4 and Solaris 2.0


Daniel Gilly - 1992
    For all but the thorniest UNIX problems, this one reference should be all the documentation you need.The second edition of "UNIX in a Nutshell" starts with thorough coverage of System V Release 3. To that, we've added the many new commands that were added to Release 4 and additional commands that were added to Solaris 2.0.Contents include: All user and programmer commands.New Korn shell documentation.Expanded text editing section, including GNU Emacs and "nawk."Shell syntax ("sh" and "csh").Pattern-matching syntax."vi" and "ex" commands."sed" and "awk" commands."troff" and related commands and macros."sdb" and "dbx" commands.If you currently use either SVR3 or SVR4 or are planning to in the future, or if you're a Sun user facing the transition to Solaris, you'll want this book. "UNIX in a Nutshell" is the most comprehensive quickref on the market, a must for any UNIX user.

Arduino Cookbook


Michael Margolis - 2010
    This simple microcontroller board lets artists and designers build a variety of amazing objects and prototypes that interact with the physical world. With this cookbook you can dive right in and experiment with more than a hundred tips and techniques, no matter what your skill level is.The recipes in this book provide solutions for most common problems and questions Arduino users have, including everything from programming fundamentals to working with sensors, motors, lights, and sound, or communicating over wired and wireless networks. You'll find the examples and advice you need to begin, expand, and enhance your projects right away.Get to know the Arduino development environmentUnderstand the core elements of the Arduino programming languageUse common output devices for light, motion, and soundInteract with almost any device that has a remote controlLearn techniques for handling time delays and time measurementUse simple ways to transfer digital information from sensors to the Arduino deviceCreate complex projects that incorporate shields and external modulesUse and modify existing Arduino libraries, and learn how to create your own

Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution


Glyn Moody - 2000
    This fast-moving narrative starts at ground zero, with the dramatic incubation of open-source software by Linux and its enigmatic creator, Linus Torvalds. With firsthand accounts, it describes how a motley group of programmers managed to shake up the computing universe and cause a radical shift in thinking for the post-Microsoft era. A powerful and engaging tale of innovation versus big business, Rebel Code chronicles the race to create and perfect open-source software, and provides the ideal perch from which to explore the changes that cyberculture has engendered in our society. Based on over fifty interviews with open-source protagonists such as Torvalds and open source guru Richard Stallman, Rebel Code captures the voice and the drama behind one of the most significant business trends in recent memory.

Linux Kernel Development


Robert Love - 2003
    The book details the major subsystems and features of the Linux kernel, including its design, implementation, and interfaces. It covers the Linux kernel with both a practical and theoretical eye, which should appeal to readers with a variety of interests and needs. The author, a core kernel developer, shares valuable knowledge and experience on the 2.6 Linux kernel. Specific topics covered include process management, scheduling, time management and timers, the system call interface, memory addressing, memory management, the page cache, the VFS, kernel synchronization, portability concerns, and debugging techniques. This book covers the most interesting features of the Linux 2.6 kernel, including the CFS scheduler, preemptive kernel, block I/O layer, and I/O schedulers. The third edition of Linux Kernel Development includes new and updated material throughout the book:An all-new chapter on kernel data structuresDetails on interrupt handlers and bottom halvesExtended coverage of virtual memory and memory allocationTips on debugging the Linux kernelIn-depth coverage of kernel synchronization and lockingUseful insight into submitting kernel patches and working with the Linux kernel community

The Art of Electronics


Paul Horowitz - 1980
    Widely accepted as the authoritative text and reference on electronic circuit design, both analog and digital, this book revolutionized the teaching of electronics by emphasizing the methods actually used by circuit designers -- a combination of some basic laws, rules of thumb, and a large bag of tricks. The result is a largely nonmathematical treatment that encourages circuit intuition, brainstorming, and simplified calculations of circuit values and performance. The new Art of Electronics retains the feeling of informality and easy access that helped make the first edition so successful and popular. It is an ideal first textbook on electronics for scientists and engineers and an indispensable reference for anyone, professional or amateur, who works with electronic circuits.

Systems Performance: Enterprise and the Cloud


Brendan Gregg - 2013
    Now, internationally renowned performance expert Brendan Gregg has brought together proven methodologies, tools, and metrics for analyzing and tuning even the most complex environments. Systems Performance: Enterprise and the Cloud focuses on Linux(R) and Unix(R) performance, while illuminating performance issues that are relevant to all operating systems. You'll gain deep insight into how systems work and perform, and learn methodologies for analyzing and improving system and application performance. Gregg presents examples from bare-metal systems and virtualized cloud tenants running Linux-based Ubuntu(R), Fedora(R), CentOS, and the illumos-based Joyent(R) SmartOS(TM) and OmniTI OmniOS(R). He systematically covers modern systems performance, including the "traditional" analysis of CPUs, memory, disks, and networks, and new areas including cloud computing and dynamic tracing. This book also helps you identify and fix the "unknown unknowns" of complex performance: bottlenecks that emerge from elements and interactions you were not aware of. The text concludes with a detailed case study, showing how a real cloud customer issue was analyzed from start to finish. Coverage includes - Modern performance analysis and tuning: terminology, concepts, models, methods, and techniques - Dynamic tracing techniques and tools, including examples of DTrace, SystemTap, and perf - Kernel internals: uncovering what the OS is doing - Using system observability tools, interfaces, and frameworks - Understanding and monitoring application performance - Optimizing CPUs: processors, cores, hardware threads, caches, interconnects, and kernel scheduling - Memory optimization: virtual memory, paging, swapping, memory architectures, busses, address spaces, and allocators - File system I/O, including caching - Storage devices/controllers, disk I/O workloads, RAID, and kernel I/O - Network-related performance issues: protocols, sockets, interfaces, and physical connections - Performance implications of OS and hardware-based virtualization, and new issues encountered with cloud computing - Benchmarking: getting accurate results and avoiding common mistakes This guide is indispensable for anyone who operates enterprise or cloud environments: system, network, database, and web admins; developers; and other professionals. For students and others new to optimization, it also provides exercises reflecting Gregg's extensive instructional experience.

But How Do It Know? - The Basic Principles of Computers for Everyone


J. Clark Scott - 2009
    Its humorous title begins with the punch line of a classic joke about someone who is baffled by technology. It was written by a 40-year computer veteran who wants to take the mystery out of computers and allow everyone to gain a true understanding of exactly what computers are, and also what they are not. Years of writing, diagramming, piloting and editing have culminated in one easy to read volume that contains all of the basic principles of computers written so that everyone can understand them. There used to be only two types of book that delved into the insides of computers. The simple ones point out the major parts and describe their functions in broad general terms. Computer Science textbooks eventually tell the whole story, but along the way, they include every detail that an engineer could conceivably ever need to know. Like Momma Bear's porridge, But How Do It Know? is just right, but it is much more than just a happy medium. For the first time, this book thoroughly demonstrates each of the basic principles that have been used in every computer ever built, while at the same time showing the integral role that codes play in everything that computers are able to do. It cuts through all of the electronics and mathematics, and gets right to practical matters. Here is a simple part, see what it does. Connect a few of these together and you get a new part that does another simple thing. After just a few iterations of connecting up simple parts - voilà! - it's a computer. And it is much simpler than anyone ever imagined. But How Do It Know? really explains how computers work. They are far simpler than anyone has ever permitted you to believe. It contains everything you need to know, and nothing you don't need to know. No technical background of any kind is required. The basic principles of computers have not changed one iota since they were invented in the mid 20th century. "Since the day I learned how computers work, it always felt like I knew a giant secret, but couldn't tell anyone," says the author. Now he's taken the time to explain it in such a manner that anyone can have that same moment of enlightenment and thereafter see computers in an entirely new light.

Practical Electronics for Inventors


Paul Scherz - 1998
    Instead, it tells you-and shows you-what basic and advanced electronics parts and components do, and how they work. Chock-full of illustrations, Practical Electronics for Inventors offers over 750 hand-drawn images that provide clear, detailed instructions that can help turn theoretical ideas into real-life inventions and gadgets.

Linux Bible


Christopher Negus - 2005
    Whether you're new to Linux or need a reliable update and reference, this is an excellent resource. Veteran bestselling author Christopher Negus provides a complete tutorial packed with major updates, revisions, and hands-on exercises so that you can confidently start using Linux today. Offers a complete restructure, complete with exercises, to make the book a better learning tool Places a strong focus on the Linux command line tools and can be used with all distributions and versions of Linux Features in-depth coverage of the tools that a power user and a Linux administrator need to get startedThis practical learning tool is ideal for anyone eager to set up a new Linux desktop system at home or curious to learn how to manage Linux server systems at work.

Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces


Remzi H. Arpaci-Dusseau - 2012
    Topics are broken down into three major conceptual pieces: Virtualization, Concurrency, and Persistence. Includes all major components of modern systems including scheduling, virtual memory management, disk subsystems and I/O, file systems, and even a short introduction to distributed systems.

A History of Modern Computing


Paul E. Ceruzzi - 1998
    The author concentrates on five key moments of transition: the transformation of the computer in the late 1940s from a specialized scientific instrument to a commercial product; the emergence of small systems in the late 1960s; the beginning of personal computing in the 1970s; the spread of networking after 1985; and, in a chapter written for this edition, the period 1995-2001.The new material focuses on the Microsoft antitrust suit, the rise and fall of the dot-coms, and the advent of open source software, particularly Linux. Within the chronological narrative, the book traces several overlapping threads: the evolution of the computer's internal design; the effect of economic trends and the Cold War; the long-term role of IBM as a player and as a target for upstart entrepreneurs; the growth of software from a hidden element to a major character in the story of computing; and the recurring issue of the place of information and computing in a democratic society.The focus is on the United States (though Europe and Japan enter the story at crucial points), on computing per se rather than on applications such as artificial intelligence, and on systems that were sold commercially and installed in quantities.

Essential System Administration


Æleen Frisch - 1991
    Whether you are a beginner or an experienced administrator, you'll quickly be able to apply its principles and advice to your everyday problems.The book approaches Unix system administration from the perspective of your job -- the routine tasks and troubleshooting that make up your day. Whether you're dealing with frustrated users, convincing an uncomprehending management that you need new hardware, rebuilding the kernel, or simply adding new users, you'll find help in this book. You'll also learn about back up and restore and how to set up printers, secure your system, and perform many other system administration tasks. But the book is not for full-time system administrators alone. Linux users and others who administer their own systems will benefit from its practical, hands-on approach.This second edition has been updated for all major Unix platforms, including SunOS 4.1, Solaris 2.4, AIX 4.1, Linux 1.1, Digital Unix, OSF/1, SCO Unix Version 3, HP/UX Versions 9 and 10, and IRIX Version 6. The entire book has been thoroughly reviewed and tested on all of the platforms covered. In addition, networking, electronic mail, security, and kernel configuration topics have been expanded substantially.Topics covered include:Starting up and shutting down your system Adding new users Managing processes System security Organizing and planning file systems Planning and performing backups Setting up pointers TCP/IP networking Setting up email Adding terminals and disk drives Setting up and using the accounting system