In addition to changing how we live, these tools enable us to collect and process data about human behavior on a scale never before imaginable, offering entirely new approaches to core questions about social behavior. Bit by Bit is the key to unlocking these powerful methods--a landmark book that will fundamentally change how the next generation of social scientists and data scientists explores the world around us.Bit by Bit is the essential guide to mastering the key principles of doing social research in this fast-evolving digital age. In this comprehensive yet accessible book, Matthew Salganik explains how the digital revolution is transforming how social scientists observe behavior, ask questions, run experiments, and engage in mass collaborations. He provides a wealth of real-world examples throughout and also lays out a principles-based approach to handling ethical challenges.Bit by Bit is an invaluable resource for social scientists who want to harness the research potential of big data and a must-read for data scientists interested in applying the lessons of social science to tomorrow's technologies.Illustrates important ideas with examples of outstanding researchCombines ideas from social science and data science in an accessible style and without jargonGoes beyond the analysis of "found" data to discuss the collection of "designed" data such as surveys, experiments, and mass collaborationFeatures an entire chapter on ethicsIncludes extensive suggestions for further reading and activities for the classroom or self-study

    

    This is true of many (if not all) top sportsman, one way or another, but in Villeneuve's case it is hard to escape the conclusion that he was a natural, both in the sense that he was naturally gifted as a driver; and that bits of his personality were defective, or had simply gone missing.A white-knuckle drive through the bends, straights, chicanes, and pit stops of Formula One's checkered history, this is the fast and dangerous story of motor sport's premier competition. It explores the lost world of the 1950s racetrack, the irresistible rise of British constructors in the 1960s, the impact of technological changes from the late 1970s, the advent of the high-profile team boss in the 1980s, and the revolution wrought on the sport by computers in the 1990s. Throughout, there are memorable profiles of the drivers who have risked life and limb on circuits from Monte Carlo to Monza—the ebullient Stirling Moss, the champagne-gargling James Hunt, the cerebral Prost and the mercurial Senna (whose combined brilliance was exceeded only by their mutual loathing), the adenoidal Nigel Mansell, the metronomic Michael Schumacher, the precocious Lewis Hamilton, and the reborn Jenson Button.

    But even as she began that long ride down from the mining camp, a silver coin was being tossed into the air a few miles away that would change everything.

    No longer. A new generation of tools and massive amounts of available data make it easy for anyone to create visualizations that communicate ideas far more effectively than generic spreadsheet charts ever could.What’s more, building good charts is quickly becoming a need-to-have skill for managers. If you’re not doing it, other managers are, and they’re getting noticed for it and getting credit for contributing to your company’s success.In Good Charts, dataviz maven Scott Berinato provides an essential guide to how visualization works and how to use this new language to impress and persuade. Dataviz today is where spreadsheets and word processors were in the early 1980s—on the cusp of changing how we work. Berinato lays out a system for thinking visually and building better charts through a process of talking, sketching, and prototyping.This book is much more than a set of static rules for making visualizations. It taps into both well-established and cutting-edge research in visual perception and neuroscience, as well as the emerging field of visualization science, to explore why good charts (and bad ones) create “feelings behind our eyes.” Along the way, Berinato also includes many engaging vignettes of dataviz pros, illustrating the ideas in practice.Good Charts will help you turn plain, uninspiring charts that merely present information into smart, effective visualizations that powerfully convey ideas.

    These areas of knowledge have converged into a modern theory of epidemiology that has been slow to penetrate into textbooks, particularly at the introductory level. Epidemiology: An Introduction closes the gap. It begins with a brief, lucid discussion of causal thinking and causal inference and then takes the reader through the elements of epidemiology, focusing on the measures of disease occurrence and causal effects. With these building blocks in place, the reader learns how to design, analyze and interpret problems that epidemiologists face, including confounding, the role of chance, and the exploration of interactions. All these topics are layered on the foundation of basic principles presented in simple language, with numerous examples and questions for further thought.

    With the sophisticated algorithms in this book, you can write smart programs to access interesting datasets from other web sites, collect data from users of your own applications, and analyze and understand the data once you've found it.Programming Collective Intelligence takes you into the world of machine learning and statistics, and explains how to draw conclusions about user experience, marketing, personal tastes, and human behavior in general -- all from information that you and others collect every day. Each algorithm is described clearly and concisely with code that can immediately be used on your web site, blog, Wiki, or specialized application. This book explains:Collaborative filtering techniques that enable online retailers to recommend products or media Methods of clustering to detect groups of similar items in a large dataset Search engine features -- crawlers, indexers, query engines, and the PageRank algorithm Optimization algorithms that search millions of possible solutions to a problem and choose the best one Bayesian filtering, used in spam filters for classifying documents based on word types and other features Using decision trees not only to make predictions, but to model the way decisions are made Predicting numerical values rather than classifications to build price models Support vector machines to match people in online dating sites Non-negative matrix factorization to find the independent features in a dataset Evolving intelligence for problem solving -- how a computer develops its skill by improving its own code the more it plays a game Each chapter includes exercises for extending the algorithms to make them more powerful. Go beyond simple database-backed applications and put the wealth of Internet data to work for you. "Bravo! I cannot think of a better way for a developer to first learn these algorithms and methods, nor can I think of a better way for me (an old AI dog) to reinvigorate my knowledge of the details."-- Dan Russell, Google "Toby's book does a great job of breaking down the complex subject matter of machine-learning algorithms into practical, easy-to-understand examples that can be directly applied to analysis of social interaction across the Web today. If I had this book two years ago, it would have saved precious time going down some fruitless paths."-- Tim Wolters, CTO, Collective Intellect

    In the early days of AA, sponsors would come to the alcoholic's home and talk him through Steps 1 and 2, and when they were thoroughly convinced he was ready, they would start him on the program. Step 12 is the foundation of sponsorships: "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, to practice these principles in all our affairs." Carry This Message addresses McQ's concern that sponsors have lost some skills in working with alcoholics. AA sponsors need to refocus on the Big Book, on the Twelve Steps, and on their message, urges McQ, to recognize the value of the program and to return to its roots and essence. Directed to sponsors, this is a companion book to The Steps We Took, offering tools for helping others find recovery and new life through the Twelve Step program.

    This set includes the first three books in the series, over 1,200 pages of swordplay, romance, and magic. Dara Ruminor is a competitive duelist about to take the kingdom of Vertigon by storm. In a world where swords are used for sport and athletes live like kings as long as the crowds love them, all she needs is a wealthy patron to help her achieve dueling glory. Instead, she gets Prince Siv, the heir to the throne. She’s supposed to train with him, but it isn’t as easy as it seems. Handsome, charming, and utterly infuriating, he refuses to take the sport—or her—seriously. But Prince Siv might not be learning the sword just for fun. As threats emerge from the shadows, with the careless prince as their target, Dara will have to raise her sword to protect him—but even her skill might not be enough to keep them both alive. Throne of Glass meets A Knight's Tale in this swashbuckling fantasy adventure from the author of The Spy in the Silver Palace. The ebook box set includes Duel of Fire, King of Mist, Dance of Steel, and an excerpt from City of Wind.

    

    eastern seaboard at once, the Eastern Power Grid fails and plunges half of the country into a complete blackout--no power, no phones, and no cellphones. Hospitals, banks, and grocery stores stop running, and chaos rules. Cities are controlled by gangs, and citizens have two choices: leave their homes or fight for what supplies are left. Luckily some people are ready. Four families from Pittsburgh flee the city and join together to live in a cabin in the middle of the forest and try to wait it out. But when IS the power coming back on? What will happen to a recession-era United States when half the country doesn’t have power?

    

    Heart-stopping suspense. Unrelenting passion. This is Shifter Nation. Deep in the wilderness, National Park Rangers have been guarding America’s most closely-kept secret. Shifters have been living among us for centuries. And these smoking hot bears are on the hunt for their strong, sassy mates. Shifter Nation: East Coast Bears Collection packs Meg Ripley’s bestselling Werebears of Acadia and Werebears of the Everglades series into one riveting anthology, featuring: Ranger Knox The journalist writing an exposé on Acadia National Park is most definitely an outsider, no matter how much Knox’s inner bear insists she’s his. But is it possible that this human could be his mate? And can he keep her from unraveling the mystery that’s kept his clan hidden from the public eye for generations? Ranger Trent Three brutal murders were committed in Acadia, and Trent is on the case. Or is he? When Blanca, a feisty, curvy FBI agent, tries to take over the investigation, she challenges the desires of Trent’s inner bear—in more ways than one. Ranger Ramon From the moment they met, there was no denying the sizzling chemistry between Ramon and Min. But what is she doing in Acadia in the first place? Could this brainy beauty be responsible for sabotaging the Acadia clan, or will she prove to be their greatest ally? Ranger Drew Fighting fires is Drew’s duty at Acadia, but the day he met Kathleen, nothing could have prepared his bear for the fiery passion that would ignite between them. But will her betrayal of his trust extinguish the flames between them once and for all? Alpha's Second Chance Addie hopes to rekindle things with Owen, and deep down, Owen wants the same, but his shifter secret has forced him to shut her out from his heart. How could things ever change if the truth stays hidden? Fated Attraction A sassy, badass Florida panther. A laid-back bear Ranger with a surfer attitude. Will their common goal of finding who’s been killing the Everglades panthers bring these polar opposites together? Nanny For The Soldier Bear Conner is an Army vet Ranger with a wounded heart and an unimaginable secret. Will his little one’s nanny have the patience to melt this bear’s tough exterior so he can learn to love again? Relentless Mates It seems impossible for a bear and a crocodile shifter to be fated mates, and from the moment of their first date, their warring clans try to keep Grace and Mason apart. Are their hearts destined to be torn apart by the rivalry among the Everglades clans forever? Steamy shifter scenes inside! 18+ readers only.

    Jason’s story is one of survival, endurance, passion, and divine favor—even in the midst of what would seem like unrelenting trauma.As a well-respected entertainment journalist, Jason Lee built the foundation of his career reporting on the lives of other celebrities. Often viewed as a catalyst to controversy, his breaking stories have sometimes caused friction with celebrity and fan alike. Jason has been responsible for releasing the most provocative and headline-worthy stories to date, but no other story has been more rewarding and pressing to share than his own. Growing up in the violent, drug-infested streets of Stockton, California, Jason Lee spent most of his childhood learning how to thrive on his own. While his mother struggled with drug addiction and his father remained physically and emotionally absent, Jason was eventually thrust into the foster care system which caused him to resent his parents for their abandonment. The remaining years of his young adulthood would be filled with indescribable emptiness and a yearning for purpose. After a life punctuated with molestation, abuse, and the devastating murder of a loved one, the once carefree, bright-eyed child quickly dimmed into a young adult who struggled with the toxicity of his own grief and depression. God Must Have Forgotten About Me is a vulnerable reintroduction to Jason Lee. Despite a macabre past and a constant battle with his own demons, Jason recounts with candor how his drive and boldness propelled him into some of the most coveted spaces and relationships in the entertainment industry. Whether it is sneaking backstage to meet Queen Latifah at a local Hip Hop festival, dancing on stage with Prince, or pulling out all the stops on “Wild ‘N Out,” Jason Lee has managed to position himself as a go-getter without allowing anyone or anything to stop his momentum.

    It was released on June 2014. Ng’s novel managed to beat the likes of Stephen King and Hilary Mantel for the 2014 Amazon Book of the Year Award. Her debut novel has also won the 2014-2015 Asian/ Pacific American Award for Literature in Adult Fiction and the 2014 Alex Award. Currently, Everything I Never Told You is sold in 15 territories worldwide. Celeste Ng’s family thriller is a highly recommended and critically acclaimed work of fiction. Read more.... Download your copy today! for a limited time discount of only $2.99! Available on PC, Mac, smart phone, tablet or Kindle device. © 2015 All Rights Reserved by Unlimited Press Works, LLC