Library

Dec 07 2022

Philosophical Essays by Bertrand Russell

This collection of essays dates from the first decade of this century, and marks an important period in the evolution of Bertrand Russell's thought. Now available in paperback for the first time, they display all of Russell's clarity, incisiveness and brilliance of exposition, particularly on matters of ethics and the nature of truth. Russell intended the collection to appeal to those who take an interest in philosophical questions without having had a professional training in philosophy' - those people will find these writings just as illuminating today....

Dec 02 2022

Introduction to Soft Computing: Neuro-Fuzzy and Genetic Algorithms by Samir Roy

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Soft computing is a branch of computer science that deals with a family of methods that imitate human intelligence. This is done with the goal of creating tools that will contain some human-like capabilities (such as learning, reasoning and decision-making). This book covers the entire gamut of soft computing, including fuzzy logic, rough sets, artificial neural networks, and various evolutionary algorithms. It offers a learner-centric approach where each new concept is introduced with carefully designed examples/instances to train the learner....

Dec 02 2022

Imagination and Its Pathologies by James Phillips, James Morley

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Essays on the relation between the imagination and psychopathology that retrieve imagination from the margins to place it once again at the center of psychiatric discourse. From John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding to the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, madness has been viewed as a faulty mix of ideas by a deranged and violent imagination. This book shows that the relation of the imagination to pathological phenomena is as diverse and complex as the human condition itself. The imagination has the power not only to react to the world but to recreate it. And that power is double-edged: it is as destructive as it is creative.Recent advances in genetics and neuroscience have reinforced the empiricist approach in psychiatry, to the neglect of subjective aspects of the pathological experience. This book argues that the study of the imagination and pathology is long overdue, and that such an integration will be both theoretically and clinically fruitful. Because imagination can be creatively integrative as well as pathological, the book emphasizes the holistic, therapeutic dimension of imagination as well as its destructive effects. The areas discussed include philosophical perspectives on pathological imagination; pathological imagination and the psychodynamic tradition; and specific cases of pathological imagination in schizophrenia, juvenile pathology, artistic creativity (Vaslav Nijinsky), and religious expression (St. Anthony)....

Nov 16 2022

-Optimizing Compilers for Modern Architectures: A Dependence-based Approach by Allen, Randy

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See my other reviews for the top 6 undergraduate compiler texts. After those, if you are IN compilers, or doing work beyond undergrad, with the exception of this one extraordinary text, the only more advanced option is journals and online research. By "beyond," I mean advanced, detailed topics not covered in undergrad, such as hierarchical memory management and cache optimization via data dependence. This includes loops and arrays and many aspects of data dependence that detail compiler analysis and optimization from a fine grained cache, memory and parallelism opportunity identification frame.There are other reviews in more detail on the earlier text that are generally close to this edition at: Optimizing Compilers for Modern Architectures: A Dependence-based Approach . Be sure to search this title on Amazon to see the various editions, as some are $80 and some $160, and print/ editions vary greatly in price, while being identical in content (there are four in total including the copy I have here, with a 2002 copyright and 2005 print date).Highly recommended for advanced compiler study. NOT recommended for learning compiler basics like front ends (scan/ parse); intermediate translation (with the exception of optimization); or code generation and back ends in an introductory manner (see my other reviews for those texts). Focus is on very important advanced memory and data dependence topics, including an extraordinary section on C between high level, compile and machine language, with integration details found in NO other single text with this level of integration. Numerous languages (high, middle and assembly/ machine) are covered, as well as numerous chipsets and hardware config examples.NOTE: Amazon's description fails to give the page count for the paperback: there are 790 value packed pages in this beautiful and thorough behemoth-- same as the casebound edition.EMAILER ANSWER: YES, if you see this offered from India for $15 to $20 new (for an $80 book) it IS the "international" edition. It is identical to the expensive editions, is the 2001 printing, but does not have a copyright page. Whether it is bootleg- knockoff or publisher third world dump is impossible to tell....

Nov 16 2022

The Web Warrior Guide to Web Programming by Bai, Xue

Library

If you want an overview title that touches on the basic concepts of Web Application development - this is a decent choice if you must have a physical book. However, I don't really feel it is worth the steep price.This book starts out with a very brief introduction to SQL, DB Design, programming and XML. Keep in mind, this is no substitute for real college courses if you want a career as a web app developer - but it will show you the tip of the iceberg.What is interesting about this book is that it covers five different web app technologies - ASP.NET, Java/JSP, PERL/CGI, PHP and ColdFusion. So if you don't know what technology you're interested in, here's a chance to preview them all. If you've already made a decision to use a specific technology, you're better off buying a book that focuses exclusively on your choice....

Nov 16 2022

Introduction to Modern Cryptography by Katz, Jonathan

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It was very nice to see how security would be possibly defined in a sense different from (and more relaxed than) information-theoretic secrecy. It was nice to see how different definitions would lead to different levels of security, or in other words, each definition gives a guarantee of security against a certain class of real-life security threats (or attacks) and also takes into account very practical issues like dealing with computationally bounded adversaries. Moreover, introducing the notion of security using those definitions made the whole setting, not only mathematically rigorous, but also coherent, structured, and well-founded, without losing contact with practical concerns and real-life scenarios. Even more, this setting gave a neat and mathematically sound way to attain a proven notion of security rather than just introducing or suggesting schemes that show "good" performance in practice without being able to say anything, or quantify the security they provide on a more fundamental level. Another thing I also liked very much and is related to the point above, is how the book moves on to the point where it was shown that the provable security of almost (if not all) the encryption schemes (either private-key or public-key based) as well as authentication codes and signature schemes is based on the corner stone assumption of existence of one-way functions (one-way permutations). It was very elegant the way a one-way function (permutation) was defined and the way it is used to prove security in one sense or the other. It fits in very well in the development of the theory and made the whole structure very homogeneous. That is why Chapter 6, in my opinion, was one of the most important chapters that set the foundations of attaining provable security and build the bridge between assumptions and theory (one-way functions and hardcore predicates) on one side and practice on the other (pseudo-random generators and pseudo-random functions).Finally, public-key encryption schemes and digital signatures are also, definitely, on my long favorites list of this book. It was very exciting and intellectually stimulating to read how these schemes work and how they are (or most of them at least) shown to be secure in one sense or the other (i.e., attaining provable security ). Actually, it was useful to me to know all these practical issues related to these schemes like implementation and design issues of El Gamal and the (padded) RSA schemes, as well as the practical considerations that set many differences between private and public key encryption schemes. The same is also true with digital signatures. Also, discussing various real-life attacks (especially those against schemes that are widely used in cryptographic standards like the padded RSA and El Gamal schemes) was a very important ingredient that made the whole material in this book interesting and very engaging....

Nov 16 2022

Microsoft ASP.NET Fast & Easy Web Development by Pandey, Nitin

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REVIEW: While not completely atrocious, this volume is certainly not among my favorite IT books. To begin, it is written in very understandable english. However, this is misleading. Oftentimes, that simple english conceals details that are quite useful and downright necessary for the examples given. To quote page 178: "Write the code for the GetDocumentation method." Note that the book does not give you the complete code (unlike most tech books). All the reader gets is a screenshot of the VS.NET window.Now, you might think that's not too bad. There's probably a CD or a website that you can download the source from, right? Wrong. The website listed on the back of the book and in the introduction is not a valid URL. I eventually tracked down the real publisher and downloaded the source code. Unfortunately, it's buggy and comes with a senseless installation application. In essence, this book is a lot of flash and no substance. It doesn't clearly explain concepts nor does it adequately present the material. At times it acts as if the reader is already very experienced (not providing the full source) while at others it reads as if it were written for a CS 101 class (showing step by step which buttons to click to create a new app).STRENGTHS: Very few and far between. The screenshots provided are useful for positioning of controls and overall appearance conformity. The book also does a decent job of introductory explanations such as "Introducing the .NET Initiative." Which, parenthetically you could also read for free about on Microsoft's site. These, however, do not outweigh the glaring errors present though. WEAKNESSES: Aside from the above complaints, a major issue that I had with the book is that it did not use standard Hungarian notation. Instead, the author used IDs such as "AdRotator1", "CalStart", "documentation", "picture", etc...

Nov 16 2022

Multimedia Database Retrieval:: A Human-Centered Approach by Paisarn Muneesawang

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Multimedia Database Retrieval: A Human-Centered Approach presents the latest development in user-centered methods and the state-of-the-art in visual media retrieval. It includes discussion on perceptually inspired non-linear paradigms in user-controlled interactive retrieval (UCIR) systems. It also features a coherent approach which focuses on specific topics within content/concept-based retrievals via audio-visual information modeling of multimedia.Highlights include: * Exploring an adaptive machine that can learn from its environment * Optimizing the learning system by incorporating self-organizing adaptation into the retrieval process * Demonstrating state-of-the-art applications within small, medium, and large databases The authors also include applications related to Digital Asset Management (DAM), Computer Aided Referral (CAR) System, Geographical Database Retrieval, retrieval of Art Documents, and Films and Video Retrieval.Multimedia Database Retrieval: A Human-Centered Approach presents the fundamental and advanced aspects of these topics, as well as the philosophical directions in the field. The methods detailed in this book possess broad applications which will advance the technology in this fast developing topical area....

Nov 16 2022

Digital Image Processing by William K. Pratt

Library

A thoroughly updated edition of a bestselling guide to digital image processing, this book covers cutting-edge techniques for enhancing and interpreting digital images from different sources--scanners, radar systems, and digital cameras. A PIKS image processing library of executable files as well as digital versions of many of the pictures are provided via ftp to help apply the techniques discussed in the book. Contents same as US/UK editions....

Nov 16 2022

Network Simulation Experiments Manual by Emad Aboelela

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The lab exercises contained in the network simulation experiments manual are based on the OPNET simulator (v. 9), a network simulation tool that was originally developed at M.I.T. It provides networking professionals with the option of implementing experiments from their homes or workplaces and the lab manual comes with directions for downloading the free easy-to-install software (special version to this book only--see system requirements below). These labs run through simulations closely tied to the material in the text so that you can visualize the discussions covering core network topologies. Various scenarios are presented within each topology, and review questions and a lab report exercise accompany each lab experiment. The experiment also follows the organization of Computer Networks, Third Edition, by Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie.System requirements for using the OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition release 9.1: -Intel Pentium III, 4 or compatible (500 MHz or better) -256 MB RAM -400 MB disk space -Display: 1024 x 768 or higher resolution, 256 or more colors -The English language version of the following operating systems are supported: Microsoft Windows NT (Service Pack 3, 5, or 6a) Windows 2000 (Service Pack 1 and 2 are supported but not required) Windows XP (Service Pack 1 is required) *Written by an instructor who has used OPNET simulation tools in his classroom for numerous demonstrations and real-world scenarios. *Software download based on an award-winning product made by OPNET Technologies, Inc., whose software is used by thousands of commercial and government organizations worldwide, and by over 500 universities. *Useful experimentation for professionals in the workplace who are interested in learning & demonstrating the capability of evaluating different commercial networking products, i.e., Cisco routers. *Covers the core networking topologies and includes assignments on the ethernet, token rings, ATM, Switched LANs, Network Design, RIP, TCP, Queuing Disciplines, QoS, etc. *Instructors can download the solutions manual to the exercises in the Network Simulation Experiments Manual by clicking on the "Instructor's" resource link in the upper right corner of the screen and searching for author "Aboelela."...