Book picks similar to
Electronic Brains: Stories from the Dawn of the Computer Age by Mike Hally
non-fiction
history
technology
computer-history
The Art and Science of Java
Eric S. Roberts - 2007
By following the recommendations of the Association of Computing Machinery's Java Task Force, this first edition text adopts a modern objects-first approach that introduces readers to useful hierarchies from the very beginning.KEY TOPICS: Introduction; Programming by Example; Expressions; Statement Forms; Methods; Objects and Classes; Objects and Memory; Strings and Characters; Object-Oriented Graphics; Event-Driven Programs; Arrays and ArrayLists; Searching and Sorting; Collection Classes; Looking Ahead.MARKET: A modern objects-first approach to the Java programming language that introduces readers to useful class hierarchies from the very beginning.
Beginning iPhone 3 Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK
Dave Mark - 2009
Updated and revised for iPhone SDK 3, many of the discussions in the original book have been clarified to make some of the more complex topics easier to understand. In addition, all of the projects have been rebuilt from scratch using the SDK 3 templates.Assuming only a minimal working knowledge of Objective-C, and written in a friendly, easy-to-follow style, this book offers a complete soup-to-nuts course in iPhone and iPod touch programming. The book starts with the basics, walking you through the process of downloading and installing Apple's free iPhone SDK, and then stepping you though the creation of your first simple iPhone application. From there, you'll learn to integrate all the interface elements iPhone users have come to know and love, such as buttons, switches, pickers, toolbars, and sliders. You'll master a variety of design patterns, from the simplest single view to complex hierarchical drill-downs. The confusing art of table building will be demystified, and you'll see how to save your data using the iPhone file system. You'll also learn how to save and retrieve your data using SQLite, iPhone's built-in database management system. In addition, you'll also learn about Core Data, an important persistence mechanism that has just been added with SDK 3.And there's much more! You'll learn to draw using Quartz 2D and OpenGL ES, add multitouch gestural support (pinches and swipes) to your applications, and work with the camera, photo library, accelerometer, and built-in GPS. You'll discover the fine points of application preferences and learn how to localize your apps for multiple languages. You can discover more about this book, download source code, and find support forums at the book's companion site, at www.iphonedevbook.com.The iPhone 3 update to the best-selling and most recommended book for iPhone developers Packed full of tricks, techniques, and enthusiasm for the new SDK from a developer perspective The most complete, useful, and up-to-date guide to all things having to do with Apple's iPhone SDK
Configuring Windows 7: Self-Paced Training Kit (MCTS Exam 70-680)
Ian L. McLean - 2009
This Self-Paced Training Kit is designed to help maximize your performance on 70-680, the required exam for the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): Windows 7, Configuration certification.This 2-in-1 kit includes the official Microsoft study guide, plus practice tests on CD to help you assess your skills. It comes packed with the tools and features exam candidates want most—including in-depth, self-paced training based on final exam content; rigorous, objective-by-objective review; exam tips from expert, exam-certified authors; and customizable testing options. It also provides real-world scenarios, case study examples, and troubleshooting labs to give you the skills and expertise you can use on the job.Work at your own pace through the lessons and lab exercises. This official study guide covers installing, upgrading, and migrating to Windows 7; configuring network connectivity, applications, and devices; implementing backup and recovery; configuring User Account Control (UAC), mobility options, and new features such as DirectAccess and BranchCache; and managing system updates.Then assess yourself using the 200 practice questions on CD, featuring multiple customizable testing options to meet your specific needs. Choose timed or untimed testing mode, generate random tests, or focus on discrete objectives. You get detailed explanations for right and wrong answers—including pointers back to the book for further study. You also get an exam discount voucher—making this kit an exceptional value and a great career investment.
Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
Charles Petzold - 1999
And through CODE, we see how this ingenuity and our very human compulsion to communicate have driven the technological innovations of the past two centuries. Using everyday objects and familiar language systems such as Braille and Morse code, author Charles Petzold weaves an illuminating narrative for anyone who’s ever wondered about the secret inner life of computers and other smart machines. It’s a cleverly illustrated and eminently comprehensible story—and along the way, you’ll discover you’ve gained a real context for understanding today’s world of PCs, digital media, and the Internet. No matter what your level of technical savvy, CODE will charm you—and perhaps even awaken the technophile within.
The Apollo Guidance Computer: Architecture And Operation (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)
Frank O'Brien - 2010
In the 1960s most computers filled an entire room, but the spacecraft's computer was required to be compact and low power. Although people today find it difficult to accept that it was possible to control a spacecraft using such a 'primitive' computer, it nevertheless had capabilities that are advanced even by today's standards.This is the first book to fully describe the Apollo guidance computer's architecture, instruction format and programs used by the astronauts. As a comprehensive account, it will span the disciplines of computer science, electrical and aerospace engineering. However, it will also be accessible to the 'space enthusiast'. In short, the intention is for this to be the definitive account of the Apollo guidance computer.Frank O'Brien's interest in the Apollo program began as a serious amateur historian. About 12 years ago, he began performing research and writing essays for the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, and the Apollo Flight Journal. Much of this work centered on his primary interests, the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) and the Lunar Module. These Journals are generally considered the canonical online reference on the flights to the Moon. He was then asked to assist the curatorial staff in the creation of the Cradle of Aviation Museum, on Long Island, New York, where he helped prepare the Lunar Module simulator, a LM procedure trainer and an Apollo space suit for display. He regularly lectures on the Apollo computer and related topics to diverse groups, from NASA's computer engineering conferences, the IEEE/ACM, computer festivals and university student groups.
Love in the Time of Algorithms: How Online Dating Shapes Our Relationships
Dan Slater - 2013
Thanks to the efficiency of the Internet, compatible mates are no longer a scarce commodity. Efficiency and control are altering perceptions of what's possible and reconditioning feelings about stability and commitment. Full description
Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know(r)
P.W. Singer - 2013
Today, our entire modern way of life, from communication to commerce to conflict, fundamentally depends on the Internet. And the cybersecurity issues that result challenge literally everyone: politicians wrestling with everything from cybercrime to online freedom; generals protecting the nation from new forms of attack, while planning new cyberwars; business executives defending firms from once unimaginable threats, and looking to make money off of them; lawyers and ethicists building new frameworks for right and wrong. Most of all, cybersecurity issues affect us as individuals. We face new questions in everything from our rights and responsibilities as citizens of both the online and real world to simply how to protect ourselves and our families from a new type of danger. And yet, there is perhaps no issue that has grown so important, so quickly, and that touches so many, that remains so poorly understood.In Cybersecurity and CyberWar: What Everyone Needs to Know�, New York Times best-selling author P. W. Singer and noted cyber expert Allan Friedman team up to provide the kind of easy-to-read, yet deeply informative resource book that has been missing on this crucial issue of 21st century life. Written in a lively, accessible style, filled with engaging stories and illustrative anecdotes, the book is structured around the key question areas of cyberspace and its security: how it all works, why it all matters, and what can we do? Along the way, they take readers on a tour of the important (and entertaining) issues and characters of cybersecurity, from the "Anonymous" hacker group and the Stuxnet computer virus to the new cyber units of the Chinese and U.S. militaries. Cybersecurity and CyberWar: What Everyone Needs to Know� is the definitive account on the subject for us all, which comes not a moment too soon.What Everyone Needs to Know� is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.
Go To: The Story of the Math Majors, Bridge Players, Engineers, Chess Wizards, Maverick Scientists, and Iconoclasts-- the Programmers Who Created the Software Revolution
Steve Lohr - 2001
Lohr maps out the unique seductions of programming, and gives us an intimate portrait of the peculiar kind of genius that is drawn to this blend of art, science, and engineering, introducing us to the movers and shakers of the 1950s and the open-source movement of today. With original reporting and deft storytelling, Steve Lohr shows us how software transformed the world, and what it holds in store for our future.
Quantum Computing Since Democritus
Scott Aaronson - 2013
Full of insights, arguments and philosophical perspectives, the book covers an amazing array of topics. Beginning in antiquity with Democritus, it progresses through logic and set theory, computability and complexity theory, quantum computing, cryptography, the information content of quantum states and the interpretation of quantum mechanics. There are also extended discussions about time travel, Newcomb's Paradox, the anthropic principle and the views of Roger Penrose. Aaronson's informal style makes this fascinating book accessible to readers with scientific backgrounds, as well as students and researchers working in physics, computer science, mathematics and philosophy.
Adobe Photoshop Cs2 Classroom in a Book
Adobe Creative Team - 2005
There's a solution: With this book, you learn by doing, getting your feet wet immediately as you progress through a series of hands-on projects that build on your growing Photoshop knowledge. Simple step-by-step instructions, review questions at the end of each chapter, and a companion CD with all of the book's project files make learning a breeze as the Adobe Creative Team takes you on a self-paced tour of the image-editing powerhouse. This bestselling guide has been completely revised to cover all of Photoshop CS2's new features, which include advanced tools for digital photographers, such as a new Spot Healing Brush for correcting scratches or blemishes, and Smart Sharpen for fixing photo blurring. Photoshop CS2 also includes loads of new creative tools, such as Vanishing Point and Image Warp. This comprehensive guide starts with an introductory tour of the software and then progresses on through lessons on everything from Photoshop's interface to more complex topics like color management, Web graphics, and photo retouching."
The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work
William Daniel Hillis - 1998
What they don't realize—and what Daniel Hillis's short book brilliantly demonstrates—is that computers' seemingly complex operations can be broken down into a few simple parts that perform the same simple procedures over and over again.Computer wizard Hillis offers an easy-to-follow explanation of how data is processed that makes the operations of a computer seem as straightforward as those of a bicycle. Avoiding technobabble or discussions of advanced hardware, the lucid explanations and colorful anecdotes in The Pattern on the Stone go straight to the heart of what computers really do.Hillis proceeds from an outline of basic logic to clear descriptions of programming languages, algorithms, and memory. He then takes readers in simple steps up to the most exciting developments in computing today—quantum computing, parallel computing, neural networks, and self-organizing systems.Written clearly and succinctly by one of the world's leading computer scientists, The Pattern on the Stone is an indispensable guide to understanding the workings of that most ubiquitous and important of machines: the computer.
Architecting the Cloud: Design Decisions for Cloud Computing Service Models (Saas, Paas, and Iaas)
Michael J. Kavis - 2013
However, before you can decide on a cloud model, you need to determine what the ideal cloud service model is for your business. Helping you cut through all the haze, Architecting the Cloud is vendor neutral and guides you in making one of the most critical technology decisions that you will face: selecting the right cloud service model(s) based on a combination of both business and technology requirements.Guides corporations through key cloud design considerations Discusses the pros and cons of each cloud service model Highlights major design considerations in areas such as security, data privacy, logging, data storage, SLA monitoring, and more Clearly defines the services cloud providers offer for each service model and the cloud services IT must provide Arming you with the information you need to choose the right cloud service provider, Architecting the Cloud is a comprehensive guide covering everything you need to be aware of in selecting the right cloud service model for you.
Re:cyclists: 200 Years on Two Wheels
Michael Hutchinson - 2017
The calls to ban it were more or less instant.Re:cyclists is the tale of what happened next, of how we have spent two centuries wheeling our way about town and country on bikes--or on two-wheeled things that vaguely resembled what we now call bikes. Michael Hutchinson picks his way through those 200 years, discovering how cycling became a kinky vaudeville act for Parisians, how it became an American business empire, and how it went on to find a unique home in the British Isles. He considers the penny-farthing riders exploring the abandoned and lonely coaching roads during the railway era, and the Victorian high-society cyclists of the 1890s bicycle craze--a time when no aristocratic house party was without bicycles and when the Prince of Wales used to give himself an illicit thrill on a weekday afternoon by watching the women's riding-school in the Royal Albert Hall.Re:cyclists looks at how cycling became the sport, the pastime and the social life of millions of ordinary people, how it grew and how it suffered through the 1960s and '70s, and how at the dawn of the twenty-first century it rose again, much changed but still ultimately just someone careering along on two wheels.
Saving Bletchley Park: How #socialmedia saved the home of the WWII codebreakers
Sue Black - 2015
It is a testament to the remarkable and mysterious work during World War II that made it a place worth saving. It is a book about campaigners, veterans, enthusiasts, computer geeks, technology, Twitter, trees and Stephen Fry stuck in a lift.And finally, it is a story about preserving the past for the generations of tomorrow.
Marketing To The Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business
Larry Weber - 2007
CEOs should heed this transformation and learn from Weber's insights how to navigate this new landscape to fully maximize their business opportunities." -Mark Fuller, Chairman, Monitor Group "Consumers are using technology to grab power from companies, the media, and the government. Marketing to the Social Web succinctly outlines how institutions can survive and win in this chaotic new world, and lays out the revised rules of engagement-ignore them at your peril." -George F. Colony, CEO, Forrester Research, Inc. "Larry has brought pragmatic and useful recommendations to help brand builders manage the complexity of social interaction in a digital age. I was pleased to read a book that actually suggests how to do something with social networks, instead of just ponder them." -David Kenny, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Digitas Inc. "Where's the allure of social 2.0? Brands can talk . . . customers talk louder! Digital influence has arrived." -Jeff Taylor, CEO, Eons and Founder of Monster.com "Larry Weber provides a simple and effective roadmap of the new customer information highway. Marketing to the Social Web is a valuable tool that will give everyone the confidence and know-how to compete in this fast-growing marketplace of ideas." -Steve Harris, Vice President, Global Communications, General Motors Corporation "As all lines and boundaries are washed away by the Web, Weber describes how to become part of the sea versus the sand." -Nicholas Negroponte, Chairman, One Laptop per Child