It used to be that to diagnose an illness, interpret legal documents, analyze foreign policy, or write a newspaper article you needed a human being with specific skills—and maybe an advanced degree or two. These days, high-level tasks are increasingly being handled by algorithms that can do precise work not only with speed but also with nuance. These “bots” started with human programming and logic, but now their reach extends beyond what their creators ever expected. In this fascinating, frightening book, Christopher Steiner tells the story of how algorithms took over—and shows why the “bot revolution” is about to spill into every aspect of our lives, often silently, without our knowledge. The May 2010 “Flash Crash” exposed Wall Street’s reliance on trading bots to the tune of a 998-point market drop and $1 trillion in vanished market value. But that was just the beginning. In Automate This, we meet bots that are driving cars, penning haiku, and writing music mistaken for Bach’s. They listen in on our customer service calls and figure out what Iran would do in the event of a nuclear standoff. There are algorithms that can pick out the most cohesive crew of astronauts for a space mission or identify the next Jeremy Lin. Some can even ingest statistics from baseball games and spit out pitch-perfect sports journalism indistinguishable from that produced by humans. The interaction of man and machine can make our lives easier. But what will the world look like when algorithms control our hospitals, our roads, our culture, and our national security? What hap­pens to businesses when we automate judgment and eliminate human instinct? And what role will be left for doctors, lawyers, writers, truck drivers, and many others?  Who knows—maybe there’s a bot learning to do your job this minute.

    Never again will you order the Poisson Distribution in a French restaurant!This updated version features all new material.

    Designed for two-semester, beginning graduate courses in Mathematical Statistics, and for senior undergraduate Mathematics, Statistics, and Actuarial Science majors, this text retains its ongoing features and continues to provide students with background material.

    Selected for originality, general interest, or because they demonstrate valuable techniques, the problems are ideal as a supplement to courses in probability or statistics, or as stimulating recreation for the mathematically minded. Detailed solutions. Illustrated.

    Rich Stevens describes more than 200 system calls and functions; since he believes the best way to learn code is to read code, a brief example accompanies each description.Building upon information presented in the first 15 chapters, the author offers chapter-long examples teaching you how to create a database library, a PostScript printer driver, a modem dialer, and a program that runs other programs under a pseudo terminal. To make your analysis and understanding of this code even easier, and to allow you to modify it, all of the code in the book is available via UUNET.A 20-page appendix provides detailed function prototypes for all the UNIX, POSIX, and ANSI C functions that are described in the book, and lists the page on which each prototype function is described in detail. Additional tables throughout the text and a thorough index make Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment an invaluable reference tool that all UNIX programmers - beginners to experts - w

    From randomized clinical trials in medical research, to statistical models of risk in banking and hedge fund industries, to the statistical tools used to probe vast astronomical databases, the field of statistics has become centrally important to how we understand our world. But the discipline underlying all these is not the dull statistics of the popular imagination. Long gone are the days of manual arithmetic manipulation. Nowadays statistics is a dynamic discipline, revolutionized by the computer, which uses advanced software tools to probe numerical data, seeking structures, patterns, and relationships. This Very Short Introduction sets the study of statistics in context, describing its history and giving examples of its impact, summarizes methods of gathering and evaluating data, and explains the role played by the science of chance, of probability, in statistical methods. The book also explores deep philosophical issues of induction--how we use statistics to discern the true nature of reality from the limited observations we necessarily must make.About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

    The first half of the book deals with classical physical optics; the second principally with the quantum nature of light. Chapters 1 and 2 treat the propagation of light waves, including the concepts of phase and group velocities, and the vectorial nature of light. Chapter 3 applies the concepts of partial coherence and coherence length to the study of interference, and Chapter 4 takes up multiple-beam interference and includes Fabry-Perot interferometry and multilayer-film theory. Diffraction and holography are the subjects of Chapter 5, and the propagation of light in material media (including crystal and nonlinear optics) are central to Chapter 6. Chapters 7 and 8 introduce the quantum theory of light and elementary optical spectra, and Chapter 9 explores the theory of light amplification and lasers. Chapter 10 briefly outlines ray optics in order to introduce students to the matrix method for treating optical systems and to apply the ray matrix to the study of laser resonators.Many applications of the laser to the study of optics are integrated throughout the text. The author assumes students have had an intermediate course in electricity and magnetism and some advanced mathematics beyond calculus. For classroom use, a list of problems is included at the end of each chapter, with selected answers at the end of the book.

    Siracusa's overview, wrap-up, and critique of everything new in OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

    This book surveys the most important computer algorithms currently in use and provides a full treatment of data structures and algorithms for sorting, searching, graph processing, and string processing -- including fifty algorithms every programmer should know. In this edition, new Java implementations are written in an accessible modular programming style, where all of the code is exposed to the reader and ready to use.The algorithms in this book represent a body of knowledge developed over the last 50 years that has become indispensable, not just for professional programmers and computer science students but for any student with interests in science, mathematics, and engineering, not to mention students who use computation in the liberal arts.The companion web site, algs4.cs.princeton.edu contains An online synopsis Full Java implementations Test data Exercises and answers Dynamic visualizations Lecture slides Programming assignments with checklists Links to related material The MOOC related to this book is accessible via the "Online Course" link at algs4.cs.princeton.edu. The course offers more than 100 video lecture segments that are integrated with the text, extensive online assessments, and the large-scale discussion forums that have proven so valuable. Offered each fall and spring, this course regularly attracts tens of thousands of registrants.Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne are developing a modern approach to disseminating knowledge that fully embraces technology, enabling people all around the world to discover new ways of learning and teaching. By integrating their textbook, online content, and MOOC, all at the state of the art, they have built a unique resource that greatly expands the breadth and depth of the educational experience.

    

    This guide, which can be used with any text or can stand alone, contains at the beginning of each chapter a list of key definitions, a summary of major concepts, step by step solutions to dozens of problems, and additional practice problems.

    The book encourages a critical discussion of the different approaches and looks at some of the most important thinkers and their influence.

    The New Edition of this Best-Selling Official Cert Guide includes Updated Content, New Exercises, 400 Practice Questions, and 90 Minutes of Video Training -- PLUS the CCENT Network Simulator Lite Edition with lab exercises. The CCENT Certification is now the only prerequisite for the CCNA Routing and Switching, CCNA Voice, CCNA Wireless, CCNA Security and CCDA Certifications. Cisco CCENT/CCNA ICND1 100-101 Official Cert Guide from Cisco Press enables you to succeed on the exam the first time. Best-selling author and expert instructor Wendell Odom shares preparation hints and test-taking tips, helping you identify areas of weakness and improve both your conceptual knowledge and hands-on skills. This complete study package includesA test-preparation routine proven to help you pass the exam Do I Know This Already? quizzes, which enable you to decide how much time you need to spend on each section Chapter-ending and part-ending exercises, which help you drill on key concepts you must know thoroughly Troubleshooting sections, which help you master the complex scenarios you will face on the exam The powerful Pearson IT Certification Practice Test software, complete with hundreds of well-reviewed, exam-realistic questions, customization options, and detailed performance reports A free copy of the CCENT/CCNA ICND1 100-101 Network Simulator Lite software, complete with meaningful lab exercises that help you hone your hands-on skills with the command-line interface for routers and switches More than 90 minutes of video mentoring from the author A final preparation chapter, which guides you through tools and resources to help you craft your review and test-taking strategies Study plan suggestions and templates to help you organize and optimize your study time This official study guide helps you master all the topics on the CCENT/CCNA ICND1 exam, includingNetworking fundamentals Ethernet LANs and switches IPv4 addressing and subnetting Operating Cisco routers Configuring OSPF ACLs and NAT IPv6 fundamentals Wendell Odom, CCIE(R) No. 1624, is the most respected author of Cisco networking books in the world. His past titles include books on the entry-level Cisco certifications (CCENT and CCNA), the more advanced CCNP, and the industry-renowned CCIE. His books are known for their technical depth and accuracy. Wendell has worked as a network engineer, consultant, instructor, course developer, and book author, and he has produced videos, software, and blogs related to Cisco certifications. His website, with links to various study tools and resources, is at www.certskills.com. Well regarded for its level of detail, study plans, assessment features, challenging review questions and exercises, video instruction, and hands-on labs, this official study guide helps you master the concepts and techniques that ensure your exam success. Companion DVD The DVD contains more than 400 unique practice exam questions, ICND1 Network Simulator Lite software, and 90 minutes of video training. Includes Exclusive Offer for 70% Off Premium Edition eBook and Practice Test Pearson IT Certification Practice Test minimum system requirements: Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista (SP2), Windows 7, or Windows 8; Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 Client; Pentium class 1GHz processor (or equivalent); 512 MB RAM; 650 MB disc space plus 50 MB for each downloaded practice exam CCENT ICND1 Network Simulator Lite minimum system requirements:Microsoft Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista (32-bit/64-bit) with SP1, Windows 7 (32-bit/64-bit) or Windows 8 (32-bit/64-bit, x86 processors), Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, or 10.8 Intel Pentium III 1GHz or faster processor 512 MB RAM (1GB recommended) 1 GB hard disk space 32-bit color depth at 1024x768 resolution Adobe Acrobat Reader version 8 and above Other applications installed during installation:Adobe AIR 3.6.0 Captive JRE 6 This volume is part of the Official Cert Guide series from Cisco Press. Books in this series provide officially developed exam preparation materials that offer assessment, review, and practice to help Cisco Career Certification candidates identify weaknesses, concentrate their study efforts, and enhance their confidence as exam day nears. The 1 hour 14 minute presentation found at the following link was given by Wendell Odom to cover "Teaching the New CCENT ICND1 100-101 & CCNA ICND2 200-101 Exam Material." http: //bit.ly/OdomCCENTCCNA

    Polya, How to Solve It will show anyone in any field how to think straight. In lucid and appealing prose, Polya reveals how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can be of help in attacking any problem that can be reasoned out--from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. Generations of readers have relished Polya's deft--indeed, brilliant--instructions on stripping away irrelevancies and going straight to the heart of the problem.

    Yet geometry is so much more than shapes and numbers; indeed, it governs much of our lives—from architecture and microchips to car design, animated movies, the molecules of food, even our own body chemistry. And as Siobhan Roberts elegantly conveys in The King of Infinite Space, there can be no better guide to the majesty of geometry than Donald Coxeter, perhaps the greatest geometer of the twentieth century.Many of the greatest names in intellectual history—Pythagoras, Plato, Archimedes, Euclid— were geometers, and their creativity and achievements illuminate those of Coxeter, revealing geometry to be a living, ever-evolving endeavor, an intellectual adventure that has always been a building block of civilization. Coxeter's special contributions—his famed Coxeter groups and Coxeter diagrams—have been called by other mathematicians "tools as essential as numbers themselves," but his greatest achievement was to almost single-handedly preserve the tradition of classical geometry when it was under attack in a mathematical era that valued all things austere and rational.Coxeter also inspired many outside the field of mathematics. Artist M. C. Escher credited Coxeter with triggering his legendary Circle Limit patterns, while futurist/inventor Buckminster Fuller acknowledged that his famed geodesic dome owed much to Coxeter's vision. The King of Infinite Space is an elegant portal into the fascinating, arcane world of geometry.