The third edition of Database Principles maintains its engaging writing style and brevity; its unique balance between theory and practice; and its wealth of examples throughout the text. It provides a solid and practical foundation for the design, implementation and management of database systems. The new edition has been updated with all the latest developments and technologies and incorporates a generous number of localised and motivating business vignettes that tie the concepts to real-life situations. The coverage of SQL provides numerous examples and simpler explanations that focus on areas most important for a database career. This edition is suitable for a first course in databases at undergraduate level and will also provide essential material for conversion postgraduate courses. Providing comprehensive and practical coverage of core database concepts, it is an ideal text not only for those studying database management systems in the context of computer science, but also those on courses in the areas of information systems and business information technology.

Based on the Association for Computing Imagery model curriculum guidelines, Foundations of Computer Science gives students a bird’s eye view of Computer Science.

This easy-to-read and highly navigable text will help students quickly learn all the fundamentals of computer science they need on their course and to improve their employability prospects. Updated to cover all the latest technologies and changes to course requirements, this fifth edition features new chapters on the efficiency of algorithms, computer graphics, a complete revision on computer networks and the internet, and data security.

Material on ethical issues, including intellectual property, has also been expanded.

Did you know that AI helped to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup for South Africa? That Africa led the way in small language models? That AI has been supporting farmers in Kenya for the last decade? After reading, you will understand the present and future of AI, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI: The African Edge particularly the distinct advantages presented by and for AI on the African ccontinent.

The book draws on the author’s many years of direct access to global and regional leaders in using AI, from Africa to the Middle East to North America to Europe and Asia, and it provides unique perspectives on generative AI, as well as practical advice for using it.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI is useful for consumers, academics, professionals and anyone in business who wants to get up to speed quickly and practically. It also entertains and inspires anyone who is curious about AI or already engaged in its possibilities.

What can business learn from the use of AI in sports? How can educators embrace AI as a tool rather than a threat? When will AI truly transform health, travel, agriculture, entertainment, shopping and personal services? This book has the answers.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is upending life, work, and play as we know it … and it’s only just getting started. The rise of AI is a milestone on par with the discovery of fire, the invention of the wheel, and the creation of the internet. In short, AI is going to change everything. For some, that’s an exciting prospect. For others, it’s terrifying. However you feel about AI, there’s no escaping it, whether you’re in a global metropolis or a farmer in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

Dr Mark Nasila has been watching AI’s ascent for over a decade, studying its effects on everything from agriculture and aviation to healthcare, education, entertainment, crime prevention, energy management, policy creation, finance, and anything in between, and applying them to his role at one of South Africa’s most successful financial institutions, First National Bank, a division of FirstRand Group.

African Artificial Intelligence is a comprehensive and fascinating journey, tracing the rise of AI and its evolution into the emerging technology underpinning all others – from connected devices and smart chatbots to the metaverse. Mark combines unexpected use cases and tales of cutting-edge innovation with a unique and potent argument: harnessing AI to solve Africa’s problems requires embracing it from an African perspective.

African nations can’t afford to simply import AI solutions from afar. Instead, Mark contends, they need to rework, remix, and refine AI so it’s able to meet uniquely African challenges in uniquely African ways, and to take advantage of the once-in-a-generation opportunity AI represents for every industry, sector, and person, everywhere.

In a world captivated yet bewildered by artificial intelligence, spiritual icon Deepak Chopra explores AI's untapped potential to unlock the mystery of consciousness, positioning AI not as a threat, but as a powerful catalyst for personal and spiritual growth.

Digital Dharma shows how the most popular, freely available chatbots can serve as guides through every level of human potential – survival and safety, emotional connection, self-worth, abundance, creativity, wisdom and the infinite possibilities of cosmic consciousness.

Featuring personal assessments and practical exercises, Deepak Chopra invites you to explore a relationship with AI not merely as a technological tool, but as a partner in shaping a future where human potential solves pressing global issues and empowers individual growth.

The renowned social scientist, professor, and bestselling author of Predictably Irrational delivers his most urgent and compelling book: an eye-opening exploration of the human side of the misinformation crisis, examining what drives otherwise rational people to adopt deeply irrational beliefs.

Misinformation affects us daily, from social media to politics and even personal relationships. Policing social media alone cannot solve the complex problem shaped by partisan politics and subjective interpretations of truth.

In Misbelief social scientist Dan Ariely explores the behaviour of 'misbelief' that leads people to distrust accepted truths and embrace conspiracy theories. Misinformation taps into something innate in all of us, regardless of political affiliation. By understanding this psychology, we can mitigate its effects. Grounded in research and Ariely's personal experience as a target of disinformation, the book analyses the psychological drivers behind adopting irrational beliefs. Ariely reveals the emotional, cognitive, personality, and social elements that drive people towards false information and mistrust.

Despite advanced AI generating convincing fake news, Ariely offers hope. Awareness of the forces fuelling misbelief makes individuals and society more resilient. Combating misbelief requires empathy, not conflict. Recognising misbelief as a human problem allows us to be part of the solution.

This text strikes a good balance between rigor and an intuitive approach to computer theory. Covers all the topics needed by computer scientists with a sometimes humorous approach that reviewers found "refreshing". It is easy to read and the coverage of mathematics is fairly simple so readers do not have to worry about proving theorems.

Teach students to maximize their use of mobile devices, make the most of online tools for collaboration and communication, and fully utilize today’s Internet capabilities with the latest edition of Discovering Computers 2018.

Introductory computing students see how technology skills assist in employment and advancing their careers. This edition highlights today’s most current technology trends and developments. Timely coverage now emphasizes web development, how to create a strong web presence, and take full advantage of latest Windows 10. The authors provide helpful suggestions for hands-on exercises, small group activities, and discussion topics that allow students to apply and demonstrate their understanding of each module. Self-assessments open each module and enable learners to focus their study and learn more in less time.

Discovering Computers 2018 presents the key content that students need for success, using an inviting approach that ensures understanding.

Demystify the world of artificial intelligence with this groundbreaking guide featuring over 100 innovative ways to incorporate AI into your daily life.

Every day, it seems like there’s a new AI tool on the market and a new, complicated way to use it. But what if you could use AI to make your life easier without the complications?

In AI for Life, AI expert and creator of @SmartWorkAI offers over 100 ideas and ready-to-use prompts to get AI beginners started using the technology to actually improve their lives. Beginning with a primer on the basics—including an overview of the popular and free AI tools—you will learn expert-tested tips and tricks to get the most out of your AI use, such as layering prompts to dive deeper into an initial response or asking for the output in different formats.

Packed with practical how-to information, AI for Life is the must-have guide for using generative AI to make life easier, more productive, more organized, and more fun!

Providing an end-to-end view of how modern web applications are built, Dynamic Web Application Development takes a cohesive approach to building a software architecture from core components. It tells a development story by taking you right through from analysis and design, learning the core technologies, and tying them together using standard tools patterns and frameworks without straying into detail or trying to cover too many alternatives. Using PHP scripting and the MySQL database management system, this is a contemporary and well targeted coverage of important areas of web application development including Ajax, , adaptive markup, web application frameworks, standards and conformance, accessibility and security issues. It shows you how to build functionality into a website using a variety of technologies. These will work as a basic framework from which you will be able to explore more challenging developments such as porting applications to mobile devices and including more Web 2.0 features. An ideal text for web programming courses, this book will help you whether you are a student or need to reskill and want a dependable and accessible self-study package.

The ever-increasing dependence of our lives and livelihoods on the correct functioning of computer software means that logic and program correctness are core elements of all good computer science degrees. This book presents both these topics in one self-contained text.

The focus of the book is on "correct-by-construction" program design -- the discipline of calculating programs from their specifications. Modern, calculational logic is introduced in combination with key program construction principles, such as the assignment axiom, loop invariants and bound functions. This material is intertwined with motivational discussion, programming examples and challenging problem-solving exercises, bringing the book alive for its intended audience, undergraduates in computer science and mathematics, as well as professional programmers wishing to further develop their programming skills.

The book covers the elements of logic and program correctness that form the foundations of further study --- the logical connectives and their algebraic properties, induction, quantifiers and program construction rules. Substantial examples of program construction are included. Many exercises are provided, all with detailed solutions.

Equip your students with a management-focused overview of information security as well as the tools to effectively administer it with Whitman/Mattord's MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SECURITY, Sixth Edition.

More than ever, we need to prepare information security management students to build and staff security programs capable of securing systems and networks to meet the challenges in a world where continuously emerging threats, ever-present attacks and the success of criminals illustrate weaknesses in current information technologies. This text offers an exceptional blend of skills and experiences to administer and manage the more secure computing environments that organizations need.

Reflecting the latest developments from the field, it includes updated coverage of NIST, ISO and security governance along with emerging concerns like Ransomware, Cloud Computing and the Internet of Things.

Gain a clear understanding of even the most complex, highly theoretical computational theory topics in the approachable presentation found only in the market-leading INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY OF COMPUTATION, 3E. The number one choice for today's computational theory course, this revision continues the book's well-know, approachable style with timely revisions, additional practice, and more memorable examples in key areas. A new first-of-its-kind theoretical treatment of deterministic context-free languages is ideal for a better understanding of parsing and LR(k) grammars. You gain a solid understanding of the fundamental mathematical properties of computer hardware, software, and applications with a blend of practical and philosophical coverage and mathematical treatments, including advanced theorems and proofs. INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY OF COMPUTATION, 3E's comprehensive coverage makes this a valuable reference for your continued studies in theoretical computing.

Learn to maximize the use of mobile devices, make the most of online tools for collaboration and communication, and fully utilize the web and cloud with the latest edition of DISCOVERING COMPUTERS 2018. Clearly see how technology skills can assist you both in gaining employment and advancing your career. This edition highlights web development, how to create a strong web presence, and take full advantage of the latest Windows 10. To keep your instruction as current as possible, online coverage of contemporary technology developments builds on the book's timely discussions. The authors provide helpful suggestions within a proven learning structure and emphasize meaningful practice to reinforce your skills. Self-assessments open each module and enable you to focus your study and learn more in less time. DISCOVERING COMPUTERS presents the key content you need to succeed, using an approach that ensures understanding.

Inside Computer Music is an investigation of how new technological developments have influenced the creative possibilities of composers of computer music in the last 50 years. This book combines detailed research into the development of computer music techniques with nine case studies that analyze key works in the musical and technical development of computer music. The book's companion website offers demonstration videos of the techniques used and downloadable software. There, readers can view interviews and test emulations of the software used by the composers for themselves. The software also presents musical analyses of each of the nine case studies to enable readers to engage with the musical structure aurally and interactively.

Video games open portals into fantastical worlds where imaginative play prevails. The virtual medium seemingly provides us with ample opportunities to behave and act out with relative safety and impunity. Or does it? Sound Play explores the aesthetic, ethical, and sociopolitical stakes of our engagements with gaming's audio phenomena-from sonic violence to synthesized operas, from democratic music-making to vocal sexual harassment. Author William Cheng shows how the simulated environments of games empower designers, composers, players, and scholars to test and tinker with music, noise, speech, and silence in ways that might not be prudent or possible in the real world. In negotiating utopian and alarmist stereotypes of video games, Sound Play synthesizes insights from across musicology, sociology, anthropology, communications, literary theory, and philosophy. With case studies that span Final Fantasy VI, Silent Hill, Fallout 3, The Lord of the Rings Online, and Team Fortress 2, this book insists that what we do in there-in the safe, sound spaces of games-can ultimately teach us a great deal about who we are and what we value (musically, culturally, humanly) out here.

In Max/MSP/Jitter for Music, expert author and music technologist V. J. Manzo provides a user-friendly introduction to a powerful programming language that can be used to write custom software for musical interaction. Through clear, step-by-step instructions illustrated with numerous examples of working systems, the book equips readers with everything they need to know in order to design and complete meaningful music projects. The book also discusses ways to interact with software beyond the mouse and keyboard through use of camera tracking, pitch tracking, video game controllers, sensors, mobile devices, and more. The book does not require any prerequisite programming skills, but rather walks readers through a series of small projects through which they will immediately begin to develop software applications for practical musical projects. As the book progresses, and as the individual's knowledge of the language grows, the projects become more sophisticated. This new and expanded second edition brings the book fully up-to-date including additional applications in integrating Max with Ableton Live. It also includes a variety of additional projects as part of the final three project chapters. The book is of special value both to software programmers working in Max/MSP/Jitter and to music educators looking to supplement their lessons with interactive instructional tools, develop adaptive instruments to aid in student composition and performance activities, and create measurement tools with which to conduct music education research.

Electronic music instruments weren't called synthesizers until the 1950s, but their lineage began in 1919 with Russian inventor Lev Sergeyevich Termen's development of the Etherphone, now known as the Theremin. From that point, synthesizers have undergone a remarkable evolution from prohibitively large mid-century models confined to university laboratories to the development of musical synthesis software that runs on tablet computers and portable media devices.
Throughout its history, the synthesizer has always been at the forefront of technology for the arts. In The Synthesizer: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding, Programming, Playing, and Recording the Ultimate Electronic Music Instrument, veteran music technology journalist, educator, and performer Mark Vail tells the complete story of the synthesizer: the origins of the many forms the instrument takes; crucial advancements in sound generation, musical control, and composition made with instruments that may have become best sellers or gone entirely unnoticed; and the basics and intricacies of acoustics and synthesized sound. Vail also describes how to successfully select, program, and play a synthesizer; what alternative controllers exist for creating electronic music; and how to stay focused and productive when faced with a room full of instruments. This one-stop reference guide on all things synthesizer also offers tips on encouraging creativity, layering sounds, performance, composing and recording for film and television, and much more.

In the last decade, there have been an increasing convergence of interest and methods between theoretical physics and fields as diverse as probability, machine learning, optimization and compressed sensing. In particular, many theoretical and applied works in statistical physics and computer science have relied on the use of message passing algorithms and their connection to statistical physics of spin glasses. The aim of this book, especially adapted to PhD students, post-docs, and young researchers, is to present the background necessary for entering this fast developing field.

William Bainbridge takes an in-depth look at the fantasy religions that exist in 34 different massively multiplayer online roleplaying games. He categorizes the religions, noting similarities across the games. He points, for instance, to the prevalence of polytheism: a system which, Bainbridge argues, can function as an effective map of reality in which each deity personifies a concept. Religions are as much about conceptualizing the self as conceptualizing the sacred. Most games allow the players to have multiple avatars, an idea Bainbridge likens to contemporary scientific ideas about personality. He also focuses on sacred spaces; the prevalence of magic and its relationship to the computer program and programmer; the fostering of a tribal morality by both religion and rules programmed into the game; the rise of cults and belief systems within the game worlds (and how this relates to social science theories of cult formation in the real world); and, of course, how the gameworld religions depict death. As avatars are immortal, death is merely a minor setback in most games. At the same time, much of the action in some gameworlds centers on the issue of mortality and the problematic nature of resurrection. Bainbridge contends that gameworlds are giving us a new perspective on the human quest, one that combines the arts and simulates most aspects of real life. The quests in gameworlds also provide meaning for human action, in terms of narratives about achieving goals by overcoming obstacles. Perhaps meaning does not naturally exist in our universe, but must be created by us, both in our fantasies and in day-to-day life. Like the games analyzed in this book, he says, traditional religions are fantasies that should be respected as works of art in a future civilization of disbelief.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is often discussed as something extraordinary, a dream-or a nightmare-that awakens metaphysical questions on human life. Yet far from a distant technology of the future, the true power of AI lies in its subtle revolution of ordinary life. From voice assistants like Siri to natural language processors, AI technologies use cultural biases and modern psychology to fit specific characteristics of how users perceive and navigate the external world, thereby projecting the illusion of intelligence. Integrating media studies, science and technology studies, and social psychology, Deceitful Media examines the rise of artificial intelligence throughout history and exposes the very human fallacies behind this technology. Focusing specifically on communicative AIs, Natale argues that what we call "AI" is not a form of intelligence but rather a reflection of the human user. Using the term "banal deception," he reveals that deception forms the basis of all human-computer interactions rooted in AI technologies, as technologies like voice assistants utilize the dynamics of projection and stereotyping as a means for aligning with our existing habits and social conventions. By exploiting the human instinct to connect, AI reveals our collective vulnerabilities to deception, showing that what machines are primarily changing is not other technology but ourselves as humans. Deceitful Media illustrates how AI has continued a tradition of technologies that mobilize our liability to deception and shows that only by better understanding our vulnerabilities to deception can we become more sophisticated consumers of interactive media.

This book covers emerging trends in signal processing research and biomedical engineering, exploring the ways in which signal processing plays a vital role in applications ranging from medical electronics to data mining of electronic medical records. Topics covered include statistical modeling of electroencephalograph data for predicting or detecting seizure, stroke, or Parkinson's; machine learning methods and their application to biomedical problems, which is often poorly understood, even within the scientific community; signal analysis; medical imaging; and machine learning, data mining, and classification. The book features tutorials and examples of successful applications that will appeal to a wide range of professionals and researchers interested in applications of signal processing, medicine, and biology.

Semiconductor sensors patterned at the micron scale combined with custom-designed integrated circuits have revolutionized semiconductor radiation detector systems. Designs covering many square meters with million of signal channels are now commonplace in high-energy physics and the technology is finding its way into many other fields, ranging from astrophysics to experiments at synchrotron light sources and medical imaging. This book is the first to present a comprehensive discussion of the many facets of highly integrated semiconductor detectors systems, covering sensors, signal processing, transistors, and circuits, low-noise electronics, and radiation effects. The diversity of design approaches is illustrated in a chapter describing systems in high-energy physics, astronomy, and astrophysics. Finally, a chapter "Why Things Don't Work" discusses common pitfalls. Profusely illustrated, this book includes comprehensive discussions of sensors, signal processing, and electronics. Including fine tutorial material, it provides a unique reference in a key area of modern science.

In recent years, it has become apparent that knowing the average atomic structure of materials is insufficient to understand their properties. Diffuse scattering in addition to the Bragg scattering holds the key to learning about defects in materials, the topic of many recent books. What has been missing is a detailed step-by-step guide on how to simulate disordered materials. The DISCUS cook book fills this need covering simple topics such as building a computer crystal to complex topics such as domain structures, stacking faults or using advanced refinement techniques to adjust parameters on a disordered model. The book contains a CD-ROM with all files needed to recreate every example given using the program DISCUS. The reader is free to follow the principles behind simulating disordered materials or to get down into the details and run or modify the given examples.

This book discusses the study and analysis of the physical aspects of social systems and models, inspired by the analogy with familiar models of physical systems and possible applications of statistical physics tools. Unlike the traditional analysis of the physics of macroscopic many-body or condensed matter systems, which is now an established and mature subject, the upsurge in the physical analysis and modelling of social systems, which are clearly many-body dynamical systems, is a recent phenomenon. Though the major developments in sociophysics have taken place only recently, the earliest attempts of proposing "Social Physics" as a discipline are more than one and a half centuries old. Various developments in the mainstream physics of condensed matter systems have inspired and induced the recent growth of sociophysical analysis and models. In spite of the tremendous efforts of many scientists in recent years, the subject is still in its infancy and major challenges are yet to be taken up. An introduction to these challenges is the main motivation for this book.