He became a central figure of the avant-garde early in his life and remained at that pinnacle until his death in 1992 at the age of eighty. Now award-winning biographer Kenneth Silverman gives us the first comprehensive life of this remarkable artist. We follow Cage from his Los Angeles childhood—his father was a successful inventor—through his stay in Paris from 1930 to 1931, where immersion in the burgeoning new musical and artistic movements triggered an explosion of creativity in him and, after his return to the States, into his studies with the seminal modern composer Arnold Schoenberg. We see Cage’s early experiments with sound and percussion instruments, and watch as he develops his signature work with prepared piano, radio static, random noise, and silence. We learn of his many friendships over the years with other composers, artists, philosophers, and writers; of his early marriage and several lovers, both female and male; and of his long relationship with choreographer Merce Cunningham, with whom he would collaborate on radically unusual dances that continue to influence the worlds of both music and dance.Drawing on interviews with Cage’s contemporaries and friends and on the enormous archive of his letters and writings, and including photographs, facsimiles of musical scores, and Web links to illustrative sections of his compositions, Silverman gives us a biography of major significance: a revelatory portrait of one of the most important cultural figures of the twentieth century.

    Joe Bailey is the Spirit Basher. Formerly a professional magician, he's become an ace police detective in Atlanta, debunking phony psychics and spiritualists who prey on the gullible. And he's just caught his first sensational murder case.The victim is someone Joe knew. Dr. Robert Nelson was a professor at Landwyn University, head of the parapsychology program. He was killed in his own home, a sculpture of massive chrome spikes driven through his body and into a wall. A sculpture that no one could possibly have lifted. But Nelson's girlfriend claims to know the murderer: an eight-year-old boy. Jesse Randall is not just any child. Some people say he can move objects using nothing more than his will. Nelson had been studying the boy, and Jesse's anger at the professor was erupting in "shadow storms" — violent telekinetic activity — while Jesse slept. Nelson's girlfriend swears that one of these episodes was responsible for Nelson's brutal death. Joe is far from convinced. He's certain that Jesse's power is a hoax and Nelson's killer is a master of deception. Driven to seek out the truth that surely lies behind the psychic fakery, Joe must rely on his wits to separate what's real from what's illusion — even if it means drawing Jesse's anger on himself. Soon mysterious incidents thrust him and his own child into grave peril. Are they examples of Jesse's shadow storms? Or deadly warnings from someone who cannot allow the Spirit Basher to discover the truth? Joe cannot abandon his search for answers. And he'd better find them fast before whoever — or whatever — impaled Robert Nelson like an insect does the same to him and his daughter.

    Learn how to leverage the Django web framework to its full potential in this advanced tutorial and reference. Endorsed by Django, Pro Django more or less picks up where The Definitive Guide to Django left off and examines in greater detail the unusual and complex problems that Python web application developers can face and how to solve them.Provides in-depth information about advanced tools and techniques available in every Django installation Runs the gamut from the theory of Django's internal operations to actual code that solves real-world problems for high-volume environments Goes above and beyond other books, leaving the basics behind Shows how Django can do things even its core developers never dreamed possible

    Whether it's unwanted pounds or high blood sugar, mood swings or digestive trouble, the cure can be what you eat every day.Now Joy Bauer, a nutrition consultant to celebrities from actors to gold-medal winning athletes, explains exactly what to eat to lower high cholesterol and blood pressure, improve skin tone, sharpen memory, sleep better, and take charge of PMS, arthritis, and more. Each chapter focuses on one of the many conditions that drive people to seek Joy's professional help and simulates a personal consultation. Readers walk away with up-to-the-minute, scientifically researched recommendations on particular foods to seek out and which ones to avoid, plus grocery lists, meal plans, recipes, and supplement recommendations presented in easy-to-follow 4-step prescriptive plans.

    In this book, you’ll learn how many of the most fundamental data science tools and algorithms work by implementing them from scratch. If you have an aptitude for mathematics and some programming skills, author Joel Grus will help you get comfortable with the math and statistics at the core of data science, and with hacking skills you need to get started as a data scientist. Today’s messy glut of data holds answers to questions no one’s even thought to ask. This book provides you with the know-how to dig those answers out. Get a crash course in Python Learn the basics of linear algebra, statistics, and probability—and understand how and when they're used in data science Collect, explore, clean, munge, and manipulate data Dive into the fundamentals of machine learning Implement models such as k-nearest Neighbors, Naive Bayes, linear and logistic regression, decision trees, neural networks, and clustering Explore recommender systems, natural language processing, network analysis, MapReduce, and databases

    It examines Stallman's unique personality and how that personality has been at turns a driving force and a drawback in terms of the movement's overall success.Free as in Freedom examines one man's 20-year attempt to codify and communicate the ethics of 1970s era "hacking" culture in such a way that later generations might easily share and build upon the knowledge of their computing forebears. The book documents Stallman's personal evolution from teenage misfit to prescient adult hacker to political leader and examines how that evolution has shaped the free software movement. Like Alan Greenspan in the financial sector, Richard Stallman has assumed the role of tribal elder within the hacking community, a community that bills itself as anarchic and averse to central leadership or authority. How did this paradox come about? Free as in Freedom provides an answer. It also looks at how the latest twists and turns in the software marketplace have diminished Stallman's leadership role in some areas while augmenting it in others.Finally, Free as in Freedom examines both Stallman and the free software movement from historical viewpoint. Will future generations see Stallman as a genius or crackpot? The answer to that question depends partly on which side of the free software debate the reader currently stands and partly upon the reader's own outlook for the future. 100 years from now, when terms such as "computer," "operating system" and perhaps even "software" itself seem hopelessly quaint, will Richard Stallman's particular vision of freedom still resonate, or will it have taken its place alongside other utopian concepts on the 'ash-heap of history?'

    Following a cookbook-style Problem/Solution/Discussion format, this practical handbook builds on the foundational concepts of the Go language and introduces specific strategies you can use in your day-to-day applications. You'll learn techniques for building web services, using Go in the cloud, testing and debugging, routing, network applications, and much more.

    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

    Writing code that handles unexpected errors and still works is really hard. Most of us learn by trial and error. This short book removes the uncertainty. With over 100 pages of content and dozens of working examples, you’ll learn everything from the mechanics of how exceptions work to how to design a robust failure management architecture for your app or library. Whether you are a Ruby novice or a seasoned veteran, Exceptional Ruby will help you write cleaner, more resilient Ruby code.

    By using objects early to solve interesting problems and defining objects later in the course, Building Java Programs develops programming knowledge for a broad audience. Introduction to Java Programming, Primitive Data and Definite Loops, Introduction to Parameters and Objects, Conditional Execution, Program Logic and Indefinite Loops, File Processing, Arrays, Defining Classes, Inheritance and Interfaces, ArrayLists, Java Collections Framework, Recursion, Searching and Sorting, Graphical User Interfaces. For all readers interested in introductory programming.

    Each topic illustrated with pointed examples. You’ll also get a thorough reference to the Underscore.js library and its idioms, including:ClosuresApplicative programmingLazinessImmutabilityHigher-order functionsPurityCombinatorsCurrying and partial application

    They are built with the objective of providing assessment, review, and practice to help ensure you are fully prepared for your certification exam. Master Cisco CCENT/CCNA ICND1 100-105 exam topics Assess your knowledge with chapter-opening quizzes Review key concepts with exam preparation tasks This is the eBook edition of the CCENT/CCNA ICND1 100-105 Official Cert Guide. This eBook does not include the companion CD-ROM with practice exam that comes with the print edition.   CCENT/CCNA ICND1 100-105 Official Cert Guide presents you with an organized test-preparation routine through the use of proven series elements and techniques. “Do I Know This Already?” quizzes open each chapter and enable you to decide how much time you need to spend on each section. Exam topic lists make referencing easy. Chapter-ending Exam Preparation Tasks help you drill on key concepts you must know thoroughly.   CCENT/CCNA ICND1 100-105 Official Cert Guide from Cisco Press enables you to succeed on the exam the first time and is the only self-study resource approved by Cisco. 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 includes   ·         A test-preparation routine proven to help you pass the exams ·         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 ·         A free copy of the CCENT ICND1 100-105 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 ·         Links to a series of hands-on config labs developed by the author ·         Online, interactive practice exercises that help you hone your knowledge ·         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   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.   This official study guide helps you master all the topics on the CCENT/CCNA ICND1 exam, including ·         Networking fundamentals ·         Implementing basic Ethernet LANs ·         Ethernet LANs: design, VLANs, and troubleshooting ·         IPv4 addressing and subnetting ·         Implementing IPv4 ·         IPv4 design and troubleshooting ...

    Jeremy Clarkson, it has to said, sometimes finds the world a maddening place. And nowhere more so than from behind the wheel of a car, where you can see any number of people acting like lunatics while in control (or not) of a ton of metal.In this collection of classic columns, first published in 1999, Jeremy takes a look at the world through his windscreen, shakes his head at what he sees - and then puts the boot in. Among other things, he explains:* Why Surrey is worse than Wales* How crossing your legs in America can lead to arrest* The reason cable TV salesmen must be punched * That divorce can be blamed on the birth of JesusRaving politicians, pointless celebrities, ridiculous 'personalities' and the Germans all get it in the neck, together with the stupid, the daft and the ludicrous, in a tour de force of comic writing guaranteed to have Jeremy's postman wheezing under sackfuls of letters from the easily offended. Praise for Jeremy Clarkson:'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time Out'Very funny . . . I cracked up laughing on the tube' Evening Standard

    In this one-of-a-kind account, you'll see how the developers responsible for these flaws patched the bugs—or failed to respond at all. As you follow Klein on his journey, you'll gain deep technical knowledge and insight into how hackers approach difficult problems and experience the true joys (and frustrations) of bug hunting.Along the way you'll learn how to:Use field-tested techniques to find bugs, like identifying and tracing user input data and reverse engineering Exploit vulnerabilities like NULL pointer dereferences, buffer overflows, and type conversion flaws Develop proof of concept code that verifies the security flaw Report bugs to vendors or third party brokersA Bug Hunter's Diary is packed with real-world examples of vulnerable code and the custom programs used to find and test bugs. Whether you're hunting bugs for fun, for profit, or to make the world a safer place, you'll learn valuable new skills by looking over the shoulder of a professional bug hunter in action.

    The Art & Science of CSS brings together a talented collection of designers who will show you how to take the building blocks of your web site's design (such as headings, navigation, forms, and more) and bring them to life with fully standards-compliant CSS.This full color book helps you to design web sites that not only work well across all browsers, are easy to maintain, and are highly accessible, but are also visually stunning.Create truly attention-grabbing headings.Discover multiple ways to present images effectively.Use background images to give your site zest.Build usable and attractive navigation.Design forms that are stylish and functional.Learn how to break away from the square box gclich.Create funky tables.And lots moreFrom the PublisherJonathan Snook, Steve Smith, Jina Bolton, Cameron Adams, and David Johnson, five of the biggest names in CSS design have joined forces to bring you The Art & Science Of CSS.Beautifully presented in full color, this book will teach you how to apply innovative CSS-based techniques to create visually stunning headings, forms, menus, navigation, backgrounds, and much more...Using The Art & Science Of CSS, you'll see just how easy it is to unleash your creative talents and design inspirational web sites with CSS.All designs in this book are visually appealing and inspiring. The CSS code used to create each of the components is included and guaranteed to be simple, efficient and cross-browser compatible.Among its many treasures, this book will show you how to: Format calendars, menus and table of contents using CSSCreate horizontal, vertical and tab-based navigation systems using CSSCreate rounded corners using CSSDesign stylish Website headingsPut together funky & artistic Website backgroundsUse CSS to render blockquotes, dates and lists in a visually appealing mannerAll designs in this book are visually appealing and inspiring. The code CSS code used to create each of the components is provided and is guaranteed to be simple, efficient and cross-browser compatible.Who Should Read This Book?This book is ideal for anyone who wants to gain the practical skills involved in using CSS to make attractive web sites, especially if you're not the type who likes to learn by memorizing a formal specification and then trying to work out which browsers implemented it completely (does anyone enjoy reading specifications?). The only knowledge you'll need to have is some familiarity with HTML. This book will give designers the skills they need to implement their ideas, and provides developers with creative inspiration through practical examples.