Book picks similar to
Management Information Systems by James A. O'Brien


business
nonfiction
business-management
non-fiction

Cuda by Example: An Introduction to General-Purpose Gpu Programming


Jason Sanders - 2010
    " From the Foreword by Jack Dongarra, University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory CUDA is a computing architecture designed to facilitate the development of parallel programs. In conjunction with a comprehensive software platform, the CUDA Architecture enables programmers to draw on the immense power of graphics processing units (GPUs) when building high-performance applications. GPUs, of course, have long been available for demanding graphics and game applications. CUDA now brings this valuable resource to programmers working on applications in other domains, including science, engineering, and finance. No knowledge of graphics programming is required just the ability to program in a modestly extended version of C. " CUDA by Example, " written by two senior members of the CUDA software platform team, shows programmers how to employ this new technology. The authors introduce each area of CUDA development through working examples. After a concise introduction to the CUDA platform and architecture, as well as a quick-start guide to CUDA C, the book details the techniques and trade-offs associated with each key CUDA feature. You ll discover when to use each CUDA C extension and how to write CUDA software that delivers truly outstanding performance. Major topics covered includeParallel programmingThread cooperationConstant memory and eventsTexture memoryGraphics interoperabilityAtomicsStreamsCUDA C on multiple GPUsAdvanced atomicsAdditional CUDA resources All the CUDA software tools you ll need are freely available for download from NVIDIA.http: //developer.nvidia.com/object/cuda-by-e...

The Visible Ops Handbook: Starting ITIL in 4 Practical Steps


Kevin Behr - 2004
    Visible Ops is comprised of four prescriptive and self-fueling steps that take an organization from any starting point to a continually improving process. MAKING ITIL ACTIONABLE Although the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) provides a wealth of best practices, it lacks prescriptive guidance: What do you implement first, and how do you do it? Moreover, the ITIL books remain relatively expensive to distribute. Other information, publicly available from a variety of sources, is too general and vague to effectively aid organizations that need to start or enhance process improvement efforts. The Visible Ops booklet provides a prescriptive roadmap for organizations beginning or continuing their IT process improvement journey. WHY DO WE NEED VISIBLE OPS? The Visible Ops methodology was developed because there was not a satisfactory answer to the question: "I believe in the need for IT process improvement, but where do I start?" Since 2000, Gene Kim and Kevin Behr have met with hundreds of IT organizations and identified eight high-performing IT organizations with the highest service levels, best security, and best efficiencies. For years, they studied these high-performing organizations to figure out the secrets to their success. Visible Ops codifies how these organizations achieved their transformation from good to great, showing how interested organizations can replicate the key processes of these high-performing organizations in just four steps: 1. Stabilize Patient, Modify First Response - Almost 80% of outages are self-inflicted. The first step is to control risky changes and reduce MTTR by addressing how changes are managed and how problems are resolved. 2. Catch and Release, Find Fragile Artifacts - Often, infrastructure exists that cannot be repeatedly replicated. In this step, we inventory assets, configurations and services, to identify those with the lowest change success rates, highest MTTR and highest business downtime costs. 3. Establish Repeatable Build Library - The highest return on investment is implementing effective release management processes. This step creates repeatable builds for the most critical assets and services, to make it "cheaper to rebuild than to repair." 4. Enable Continuous Improvement - The previous steps have progressively built a closed-loop between the Release, Control and Resolution processes. This step implements metrics to allow continuous improvement of all of these process areas, to best ensure that business objectives are met.

Learning Perl


Randal L. Schwartz - 1993
    Written by three prominent members of the Perl community who each have several years of experience teaching Perl around the world, this edition has been updated to account for all the recent changes to the language up to Perl 5.8.Perl is the language for people who want to get work done. It started as a tool for Unix system administrators who needed something powerful for small tasks. Since then, Perl has blossomed into a full-featured programming language used for web programming, database manipulation, XML processing, and system administration--on practically all platforms--while remaining the favorite tool for the small daily tasks it was designed for. You might start using Perl because you need it, but you'll continue to use it because you love it.Informed by their years of success at teaching Perl as consultants, the authors have re-engineered the Llama to better match the pace and scope appropriate for readers getting started with Perl, while retaining the detailed discussion, thorough examples, and eclectic wit for which the Llama is famous.The book includes new exercises and solutions so you can practice what you've learned while it's still fresh in your mind. Here are just some of the topics covered:Perl variable typessubroutinesfile operationsregular expressionstext processingstrings and sortingprocess managementusing third party modulesIf you ask Perl programmers today what book they relied on most when they were learning Perl, you'll find that an overwhelming majority will point to the Llama. With good reason. Other books may teach you to program in Perl, but this book will turn you into a Perl programmer.

What Every Web Developer Should Know About HTTP (OdeToCode, #1)


K. Scott Allen - 2012
    We'll cover resources, messages, cookies, and authentication protocols. We'll look at how HTTP clients can use persistent and parallel connections to improve performance,and see how the web scales to meet demand using cache headers andproxy servers. By the end of the book you will have the knowledge tobuild better web applications and web services.

DNS and BIND


Cricket Liu - 1996
    This book brings you up-to-date with the latest changes in this crucial service.The fifth edition covers BIND 9.3.2, the most recent release of the BIND 9 series, as well as BIND 8.4.7. BIND 9.3.2 contains further improvements in security and IPv6 support, and important new features such as internationalized domain names, ENUM (electronic numbering), and SPF (the Sender Policy Framework).Whether you're an administrator involved with DNS on a daily basis or a user who wants to be more informed about the Internet and how it works, you'll find that this book is essential reading.Topics include:What DNS does, how it works, and when you need to use it How to find your own place in the Internet's namespace Setting up name servers Using MX records to route mail Configuring hosts to use DNS name servers Subdividing domains (parenting) Securing your name server: restricting who can query your server, preventing unauthorized zone transfers, avoiding bogus servers, etc. The DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) and Transaction Signatures (TSIG) Mapping one name to several servers for load sharing Dynamic updates, asynchronous notification of change to a zone, and incremental zone transfers Troubleshooting: using nslookup and dig, reading debugging output, common problems DNS programming using the resolver library and Perl's Net::DNS module

PHP and MySQL Web Development (Developer's Library)


Luke Welling - 2003
    This book helps you develop websites by integrating and implementing the PHP scripting language and the MySQL database system. It contains real-world examples and working sample projects that give you a foundation to start building your own websites.

Worm: The First Digital World War


Mark Bowden - 2011
    Banks, telecommunications companies, and critical government networks (including the British Parliament and the French and German military) were infected. No one had ever seen anything like it. By January 2009 the worm lay hidden in at least eight million computers and the botnet of linked computers that it had created was big enough that an attack might crash the world. This is the gripping tale of the group of hackers, researches, millionaire Internet entrepreneurs, and computer security experts who united to defend the Internet from the Conficker worm: the story of the first digital world war.

Visual Explanations


Edward R. Tufte - 1997
    Through computers, the Internet, the media, and even our daily newspapers, we are awash in a seemingly endless stream of charts, maps, infographics, diagrams, and data. Visual Explanations is a navigational guide through this turbulent sea of information. The book is an essential reference for anyone involved in graphic, web, or multimedia design, as well as for educators and lecturers who use graphics in presentations or classes.Jacket design: Dmitry Krasny.Other artwork by Bonnie Scranton, Dmitry Krasny, and Weilin Wu.

Python for Kids


Jason R. Briggs - 2012
    Jason Briggs, author of the popular online tutorial "Snake Wrangling for Kids," begins with the basics of how to install Python and write simple commands. In bite-sized chapters, he instructs readers on the essentials of Python, including how to use Python's extensive standard library, the difference between strings and lists, and using for-loops and while-loops. By the end of the book, readers have built a game and created drawings with Python's graphics library, Turtle. Each chapter closes with fun and relevant exercises that challenge the reader to put their newly acquired knowledge to the test.

Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays


Richard M. Stallman - 2002
    Healso discusses the social aspects of software and how free softwarecan create community and social justice.Given the current turmoil in copyright and patent laws, includingthe DMCA and proposed CBDTPA, these essays are more relevant thanever. Stallman tackles head-on the essential issues driving thecurrent changes in copyright law. He argues that for creativity toflourish, software must be free of inappropriate and overly-broadlegal constraints. Over the past twenty years his arguments andactions have changed the course of software history; this new book issure to impact the future of software and legal policies in the yearsto come.Lawrence Lessig, the author of two well-known books on similar topics,writes the introduction. He is a noted legal expert on copyright lawand a Stanford Law School professor.

Crafting & Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases


Arthur A. Thompson Jr. - 2004
    The newest member of the author team, Margie Peteraf, led a thorough re-examination of every paragraph on every page of the 17th edition chapters. The overriding objectives were to inject new perspectives and the best academic thinking, strengthen linkages to the latest research findings, modify the coverage and exposition as needed to ensure squarely on-target content, and give every chapter a major facelift. While this 18th edition retains the same 12-chapter structure of the prior edition, every chapter has been totally refreshed. And the chapter content continues to be solidly mainstream and balanced, mirroring both the best academic thinking and the pragmatism of real-world strategic management. Known for its cases and teaching notes, this edition provides an "unparalleled case line up" of 28 cases. (1) 25 of the 28 cases are brand new or extensively updated for this edition, (2) The selection of cases is diverse, timely, and thoughtfully-crafted and complements the text presentation pushing students to apply the concepts and analytical tools they have read about. (3) Many cases involve high-profile companies. (4) And there's a comprehensive package of support materials that are a breeze to use, highly effective, and flexible enough to fit most any course design. Thompson 18e, your best case scenario!

Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon


Kim Zetter - 2014
    The cause of their failure was a complete mystery.Five months later, a seemingly unrelated event occurred. A computer security firm in Belarus was called in to troubleshoot some computers in Iran that were caught in a reboot loop—crashing and rebooting repeatedly. At first, technicians with the firm believed the malicious code they found on the machines was a simple, routine piece of malware. But as they and other experts around the world investigated, they discovered a virus of unparalleled complexity and mysterious provenance and intent. They had, they soon learned, stumbled upon the world’s first digital weapon.Stuxnet, as it came to be known, was unlike any other virus or worm built before: It was the first attack that reached beyond the computers it targeted to physically destroy the equipment those computers controlled. It was an ingenious attack, jointly engineered by the United States and Israel, that worked exactly as planned, until the rebooting machines gave it all away. And the discovery of Stuxnet was just the beginning: Once the digital weapon was uncovered and deciphered, it provided clues to other tools lurking in the wild. Soon, security experts found and exposed not one but three highly sophisticated digital spy tools that came from the same labs that created Stuxnet. The discoveries gave the world its first look at the scope and sophistication of nation-state surveillance and warfare in the digital age.Kim Zetter, a senior reporter at Wired, has covered hackers and computer security since 1999 and is one of the top journalists in the world on this beat. She was among the first reporters to cover Stuxnet after its discovery and has authored many of the most comprehensive articles about it. In COUNTDOWN TO ZERO DAY: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon, Zetter expands on this work to show how the code was designed and unleashed and how its use opened a Pandora’s Box, ushering in an age of digital warfare in which any country’s infrastructure—power grids, nuclear plants, oil pipelines, dams—is vulnerable to the same kind of attack with potentially devastating results. A sophisticated digital strike on portions of the power grid, for example, could plunge half the U.S. into darkness for weeks or longer, having a domino effect on all other critical infrastructures dependent on electricity.

The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age


Reid Hoffman - 2014
    Think of them instead as allies.As a manager you want your employees to help transform the company for the future. And your employees want the company to help transform their careers for the long term. But this win-win scenario will happen only if both sides trust each other enough to commit to mutual investment and mutual benefit. Sadly, trust in the business world is hovering at an all-time low.We can rebuild that lost trust with straight talk that recognizes the realities of the modern economy. So, paradoxically, the alliance begins with managers acknowledging that great employees might leave the company, and with employees being honest about their own career aspirations.By putting this new alliance at the heart of your talent management strategy, you’ll not only bring back trust, you’ll be able to recruit and retain the entrepreneurial individuals you need to adapt to a fast-changing world.These individuals, flexible, creative, and with a bias toward action, thrive when they’re on a specific “tour of duty”—when they have a mission that’s mutually beneficial to employee and company that can be completed in a realistic period of time.Coauthored by the founder of LinkedIn, this bold but practical guide for managers and executives will give you the tools you need to recruit, manage, and retain the kind of employees who will make your company thrive in today’s world of constant innovation and fast-paced change.

Absolute Beginner's Guide to C


Greg Perry - 1993
    This bestseller talks to readers at their level, explaining every aspect of how to get started and learn the C language quickly. Readers also find out where to learn more about C. This book includes tear-out reference card of C functions and statements, a hierarchy chart, and other valuable information. It uses special icons, notes, clues, warnings, and rewards to make understanding easier. And the clear and friendly style presumes no programming knowledge.

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning


Christopher M. Bishop - 2006
    However, these activities can be viewed as two facets of the same field, and together they have undergone substantial development over the past ten years. In particular, Bayesian methods have grown from a specialist niche to become mainstream, while graphical models have emerged as a general framework for describing and applying probabilistic models. Also, the practical applicability of Bayesian methods has been greatly enhanced through the development of a range of approximate inference algorithms such as variational Bayes and expectation propagation. Similarly, new models based on kernels have had a significant impact on both algorithms and applications. This new textbook reflects these recent developments while providing a comprehensive introduction to the fields of pattern recognition and machine learning. It is aimed at advanced undergraduates or first-year PhD students, as well as researchers and practitioners, and assumes no previous knowledge of pattern recognition or machine learning concepts. Knowledge of multivariate calculus and basic linear algebra is required, and some familiarity with probabilities would be helpful though not essential as the book includes a self-contained introduction to basic probability theory.