Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans


Melanie Mitchell - 2019
    The award-winning author Melanie Mitchell, a leading computer scientist, now reveals AI’s turbulent history and the recent spate of apparent successes, grand hopes, and emerging fears surrounding it.In Artificial Intelligence, Mitchell turns to the most urgent questions concerning AI today: How intelligent—really—are the best AI programs? How do they work? What can they actually do, and when do they fail? How humanlike do we expect them to become, and how soon do we need to worry about them surpassing us? Along the way, she introduces the dominant models of modern AI and machine learning, describing cutting-edge AI programs, their human inventors, and the historical lines of thought underpinning recent achievements. She meets with fellow experts such as Douglas Hofstadter, the cognitive scientist and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of the modern classic Gödel, Escher, Bach, who explains why he is “terrified” about the future of AI. She explores the profound disconnect between the hype and the actual achievements in AI, providing a clear sense of what the field has accomplished and how much further it has to go.Interweaving stories about the science of AI and the people behind it, Artificial Intelligence brims with clear-sighted, captivating, and accessible accounts of the most interesting and provocative modern work in the field, flavored with Mitchell’s humor and personal observations. This frank, lively book is an indispensable guide to understanding today’s AI, its quest for “human-level” intelligence, and its impact on the future for us all.

Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money


Nathaniel Popper - 2015
    Believers from Beijing to Buenos Aires see the potential for a financial system free from banks and governments. More than just a tech industry fad, Bitcoin has threatened to decentralize some of society’s most basic institutions.An unusual tale of group invention, Digital Gold charts the rise of the Bitcoin technology through the eyes of the movement’s colorful central characters, including an Argentinian millionaire, a Chinese entrepreneur, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and Bitcoin’s elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Already, Bitcoin has led to untold riches for some, and prison terms for others.

Elizabeth I CEO: Strategic Lessons from the Leader Who Built an Empire


Alan Axelrod - 2000
    Alan Axelrod, noted historian and business management expert, reveals how Elizabeth I overcame daunting obstacles to win intense loyalty and lead England to greatness.The queen's long reign offers lessons on: developing a leadership attitude and image enhanced by personal dynamism; becoming an effective coach and mentor skilled at nurturing creativity; manipulating others--subtly and ethically--and knowing and anticipating the enemy.How did Elizabeth meet the challenges that faced her, managing not only to stay alive and keep her imperiled nation afloat, but also to win the intense loyalty of her people and lead England to greatness? Historians and biographers have offered many explanations. Elizabeth I, CEO takes a fresh view, exploring issues that are relevant to leaders--especially business leaders--of today.

How Google Works


Eric Schmidt - 2014
    As they helped grow Google from a young start-up to a global icon, they relearned everything they knew about management. How Google Works is the sum of those experiences distilled into a fun, easy-to-read primer on corporate culture, strategy, talent, decision-making, communication, innovation, and dealing with disruption.The authors explain how the confluence of three seismic changes - the internet, mobile, and cloud computing - has shifted the balance of power from companies to consumers. The companies that will thrive in this ever-changing landscape will be the ones that create superior products and attract a new breed of multifaceted employees whom the authors dub 'smart creatives'. The management maxims ('Consensus requires dissension', 'Exile knaves but fight for divas', 'Think 10X, not 10%') are illustrated with previously unreported anecdotes from Google's corporate history.'Back in 2010, Eric and I created an internal class for Google managers,' says Rosenberg. 'The class slides all read 'Google confidential' until an employee suggested we uphold the spirit of openness and share them with the world. This book codifies the recipe for our secret sauce: how Google innovates and how it empowers employees to succeed.'

Groovy in Action


Dierk König - 2007
    Groovy in Action is a comprehensive guide to Groovy programming, introducing Java developers to the new dynamic features that Groovy provides. To bring you Groovy in Action, Manning again went to the source by working with a team of expert authors including both members and the Manager of the Groovy Project team. The result is the true definitive guide to the new Groovy language.Groovy in Action introduces Groovy by example, presenting lots of reusable code while explaining the underlying concepts. Java developers new to Groovy find a smooth transition into the dynamic programming world. Groovy experts gain a solid reference that challenges them to explore Groovy deeply and creatively.Because Groovy is so new, most readers will be learning it from scratch. Groovy in Action quickly moves through the Groovy basics, including:Simple and collective Groovy data types Working with Closures and Groovy Control Structures Dynamic Object Orientation, Groovy styleReaders are presented with rich and detailed examples illustrating Groovy's enhancements to Java, includingHow to Work with Builders and the GDK Database programming with GroovyGroovy in Action then demonstrates how to Integrate Groovy with XML, and provides:Tips and Tricks Unit Testing and Build Support Groovy on WindowsAn additional bonus is a chapter dedicated to Grails, the Groovy Web Application Framework.Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.

The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority


Martin Gurri - 2014
    In the words of economist and scholar Arnold Kling, Martin Gurri saw it coming.Technology has categorically reversed the information balance of power between the public and the elites who manage the great hierarchical institutions of the industrial age government, political parties, the media.The Revolt of the Public tells the story of how insurgencies, enabled by digital devices and a vast information sphere, have mobilized millions of ordinary people around the world.Originally published in 2014, this updated edition of The Revolt of the Public includes an extensive analysis of Donald Trump's improbable rise to the presidency and the electoral triumphs of Brexit and concludes with a speculative look forward, pondering whether the current elite class can bring about a reformation of the democratic process and whether new organizing principles, adapted to a digital world, can arise out of the present political turbulence.

Real-Time Big Data Analytics: Emerging Architecture


Mike Barlow - 2013
    The data world was revolutionized a few years ago when Hadoop and other tools made it possible to getthe results from queries in minutes. But the revolution continues. Analysts now demand sub-second, near real-time query results. Fortunately, we have the tools to deliver them. This report examines tools and technologies that are driving real-time big data analytics.

LDAP System Administration


Gerald Carter - 2003
    That's what LDAP System Administration is all about.System administrators often spend a great deal of time managing configuration information located on many different machines: usernames, passwords, printer configurations, email client configurations, and network filesystem configurations, to name a few. LDAPv3 provides tools for centralizing all of the configuration information and placing it under your control. Rather than maintaining several administrative databases (NIS, Active Directory, Samba, and NFS configuration files), you can make changes in only one place and have all your systems immediately see the updated information.Practically platform independent, this book uses the widely available, open source OpenLDAP 2 directory server as a premise for examples, showing you how to use it to help you manage your configuration information effectively and securely. OpenLDAP 2 ships with most Linux(R) distributions and Mac OS(R) X, and can be easily downloaded for most Unix-based systems. After introducing the workings of a directory service and the LDAP protocol, all aspects of building and installing OpenLDAP, plus key ancillary packages like SASL and OpenSSL, this book discusses:Configuration and access controlDistributed directories; replication and referralUsing OpenLDAP to replace NISUsing OpenLDAP to manage email configurationsUsing LDAP for abstraction with FTP and HTTP servers, Samba, and RadiusInteroperating with different LDAP servers, including Active DirectoryProgramming using Net:: LDAPIf you want to be a master of your domain, LDAP System Administration will help you get up and running quickly regardless of which LDAP version you use. After reading this book, even with no previous LDAP experience, you'll be able to integrate a directory server into essential network services such as mail, DNS, HTTP, and SMB/CIFS.

Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe


George Dyson - 2012
    In Turing’s Cathedral, George Dyson focuses on a small group of men and women, led by John von Neumann at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, who built one of the first computers to realize Alan Turing’s vision of a Universal Machine. Their work would break the distinction between numbers that mean things and numbers that do things—and our universe would never be the same. Using five kilobytes of memory (the amount allocated to displaying the cursor on a computer desktop of today), they achieved unprecedented success in both weather prediction and nuclear weapons design, while tackling, in their spare time, problems ranging from the evolution of viruses to the evolution of stars. Dyson’s account, both historic and prophetic, sheds important new light on how the digital universe exploded in the aftermath of World War II. The proliferation of both codes and machines was paralleled by two historic developments: the decoding of self-replicating sequences in biology and the invention of the hydrogen bomb. It’s no coincidence that the most destructive and the most constructive of human inventions appeared at exactly the same time.  How did code take over the world? In retracing how Alan Turing’s one-dimensional model became John von Neumann’s two-dimensional implementation, Turing’s Cathedral offers a series of provocative suggestions as to where the digital universe, now fully three-dimensional, may be heading next.

Thinking with Type


Ellen Lupton - 2004
    What type of font to use? How big? How should those letters, words, and paragraphs be aligned, spaced, ordered, shaped, and otherwise manipulated? In this groundbreaking new primer, leading design educator and historian Ellen Lupton provides clear and concise guidance for anyone learning or brushing up on their typographic skills. Thinking with Type is divided into three sections: letter, text, and grid. Each section begins with an easy-to-grasp essay that reviews historical, technological, and theoretical concepts, and is then followed by a set of practical exercises that bring the material covered to life. Sections conclude with examples of work by leading practitioners that demonstrate creative possibilities (along with some classic no-no's to avoid).

The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google


Nicholas Carr - 2008
    In a new chapter for this edition that brings the story up-to-date, Nicholas Carr revisits the dramatic new world being conjured from the circuits of the "World Wide Computer."

Patterns of Software: Tales from the Software Community


Richard P. Gabriel - 1996
    But while most of us today can work a computer--albeit with the help of the ever-present computer software manual--we know little about what goes on inside the box and virtually nothing about software designor the world of computer programming. In Patterns of Software, the respected software pioneer and computer scientist, Richard Gabriel, gives us an informative inside look at the world of software design and computer programming and the business that surrounds them. In this wide-ranging volume, Gabriel discusses such topics as whatmakes a successful programming language, how the rest of the world looks at and responds to the work of computer scientists, how he first became involved in computer programming and software development, what makes a successful software business, and why his own company, Lucid, failed in 1994, tenyears after its inception. Perhaps the most interesting and enlightening section of the book is Gabriel's detailed look at what he believes are the lessons that can be learned from architect Christopher Alexander, whose books--including the seminal A Pattern Language--have had a profound influence on the computer programmingcommunity. Gabriel illuminates some of Alexander's key insights--the quality without a name, pattern languages, habitability, piecemeal growth--and reveals how these influential architectural ideas apply equally well to the construction of a computer program. Gabriel explains the concept ofhabitability, for example, by comparing a program to a New England farmhouse and the surrounding structures which slowly grow and are modified according to the needs and desires of the people who live and work on the farm. Programs live and grow, and their inhabitants--the programmers--need to workwith that program the way the farmer works with the homestead. Although computer scientists and software entrepreneurs will get much out of this book, the essays are accessible to everyone and will intrigue anyone curious about Silicon Valley, computer programming, or the world of high technology.

Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Value


Richard Hunter - 2009
    The authors explain how IT leaders can combat this mind-set by first using information technology to generate three forms of value important to leaders throughout the organization:-Value for money when your IT department operates efficiently and effectively-An investment in business performance evidenced when IT helps divisions, units, and departments boost profitability-Personal value of CIOs as leaders whose contributions to their enterprise go well beyond their area of specializationThe authors show how to communicate about these forms of value with non-IT leaders-so they understand how your firm is benefiting and see IT as the strategic powerhouse it truly is.

Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer


Paul Freiberger - 1984
    It reveals the visions they shared, the sacrifices they made, and the rewards they reaped.

The CSS Anthology


Rachel Andrew - 2004
    The 2nd edition is now full-color throughout and is completely updated and revised with the latest tips & tricks. This book will show you how to:Construct robust CSS layouts that work every time. Create sleek drop-down menus using only CSS. Build a professional tabbed navigation system. Replace image-based navigation with low-fat CSS lists. Design smarter, more usable CSS-flavored web forms. Use rounded corners minus the bloated HTML. Allow your visitors to select their preferred look and feel. Let the W3C validator do your debugging. Reduce the burden of site maintenance and updates. ... along with 92 other solutions to common questions and problems. The CSS Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks is ideal for experienced Web designers who would like to add sparkle to their existing designs, as well as newcomers who want to learn Web design the right way the first time.The book is written so that it can be read cover to cover, or referred to like a cookbook with 101 different recipies for your Website. It's written in an easy-to-follow, consistent format that's well illustrated with plenty of full color screenshots and code examples, providing quick visual cues. If you hate wading through dry academic-style texts, then the illustrations and examples throughout this book will suit you