This volume is the Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Entertainment Computing (IWEC 2002). Entertainment has been taking very important parts in our life by refreshing us and activating our creativity. Recently by the advancement of computers and networks new types of entertainment have been emerging such as video games, entertainment robots, and network games. As these new games have a strong power to change our lives, it is good time for people who work in this area to discuss various aspects of entertainment and to promote entertainment related researches. Based on these considerations, we have organized a first workshop on entertainment computing. This workshop brings together researchers, developers, and practitioners working in the area of entertainment computing. It covers wide range of entertainment computing such as theoretical issues, hardware/software issues, systems, human interfaces, and applications. The particular areas covered by the workshop are: 1. Computers & Games Computer game algorithms, modeling of players, web technologies for networked games, human interface technologies for game applications. 2. Home/Arcade Games and Interactive Movies Video game computer technologies, motion capture technologies, real-time computer graphics technologies, interactive movie systems, story generation for games/movies, human factors of video games.

This book presents a state-of-the art review of current perspectives on Communications and Multimedia Security. It contains the Proceedings of the 3rd Joint Working Conference of IFIP TC6 and TC11, arranged by the International Federation for Information Processing and held in Athens, Greece in September 1997. The book aims to cover the subject of Communications and Multimedia Systems Security, as fully as possible. It constitutes an essential reading for information technology security specialists; computer professionals; communication systems professionals; EDP managers; EDP auditors; managers, researchers and students working on the subject.

This third volume in the series deals with such topics as information systems practice and theory, information systems and the accounting/auditing environment, and differing perspectives on information systems research.

Emerging business models, value configurations, and information technologies interact over time to create competitive advantage. Modern information technology has to be studied, understood, and applied along the time dimension of months and years, where changes are the rule. Such changes created by interactions between business elements and resources are very well suited for system dynamics modeling. ""Business Dynamics in Information Technology"" presents business-technology alignment processes, interaction processes, and decision processes, helping the reader study information technology from a dynamic, rather than a static, perspective. By introducing two simple tools from system dynamic modeling - causal loops and reference modes - the dynamic perspective will become important to both students and practitioners in the future.

Packed with more than 350 techniques, this book delivers what you need to know-on the spot. Its concise presentation of professional techniques is suited to experienced artists whether you are: * Migrating from another visual effects application * Upgrading to Houdini 9 * Seeking a handy reference to raise your proficiency with Houdini Houdini On the Spot presents immediate solutions in an accessible format. It clearly illustrates the essential methods that pros use to get the job done efficiently and creatively. Screenshots and step-by-step instructions show you how to: * Navigate and manipulate the version 9 interface * Create procedural models that can be modified quickly and efficiently with Surface Operators (SOPs) * Use Particle Operators (POPs) to build complex simulations with speed and precision * Minimize the number of operators in your simulations with Dynamics Operators (DOPs) * Extend Houdini with customized tools to include data or scripts with Houdini Digital Assets (HDAs) * Master the version 9 rendering options including Physically Based Rendering (PBR), volume rendering and motion blur * Quickly modify timing, geometry, space and rotational values of your animations with Channel Operators (CHOPs) * Create and manipulate elements with Composite Operators (COPs); Houdini's full-blown compositor toolset * Make your own SOPs, COPs, POPs, CHOPs, and shaders with the Vector Expressions (VEX) shading language * Configure the Houdini interface with customized environments and hotkeys * Mine the treasures of the dozens of standalone applications that are bundled with Houdini

This textbook reviews the theory, applications, and latest breakthroughs in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs). Presenting a specific focus on Opportunistic Mobile Networks (OMNs), the text considers the influence of human aspects, and examines emerging forms of inter-node cooperation. Features: contains review terms and exercises in each chapter, with the solutions and source code available at an associated website; introduces the fundamentals of DTNs, covering OMNs, PSNs, and MOONs; describes the ONE simulator, explaining how to set up a simulation project; provides detailed insights into the development and testing of protocols, together with a set of best practices for increased productivity and optimized performance; examines human aspects in the context of communication networks, from human-centric applications to the impact of emotion on human-network interplay; proposes various schemes for inter-node cooperation in DTNs/OMNs; presents a detailed discussion on aspects of heterogeneity in DTNs.

From environmental management to land planning and geo-marketing, the number of application domains that may greatly benefit from using data enriched with spatio-temporal features is expanding very rapidly. Unfortunately, development of new spatio-temporal applications is hampered by the lack of conceptual design methods suited to cope with the additional complexity of spatio-temporal data. This complexity is obviously due to the particular semantics of space and time, but also to the need for multiple representations of the same reality to address the diversity of requirements from highly heterogeneous user communities. Conceptual design methods are also needed to facilitate the exchange and reuse of existing data sets, a must in geographical data management due to the high collection costs of the data. Yet, current practice in areas like geographical information systems or moving objects databases does not include conceptual design methods very well, if at all.

This book shows that a conceptual design approach for spatio-temporal databases is both feasible and easy to apprehend. While providing a firm basis through extensive discussion of traditional data modeling concepts, the major focus of the book is on modeling spatial and temporal information. Parent, Spaccapietra and Zimanyi provide a detailed and comprehensive description of an approach that fills the gap between application conceptual requirements and system capabilities, covering both data modeling and data manipulation features. The ideas presented summarize several years of research on the characteristics and description of space, time, and perception. In addition to the authors' own data modeling approach, MADS (Modeling of Application Data with Spatio-temporal features), the book also surveys alternative data models and approaches (from industry and academia) that target support of spatio-temporal modeling.

The reader will acquire intimate knowledge of both the traditional and innovative features that form a consistent data modeling approach. Visual notations and examples are employed extensively to illustrate the use of the various constructs. Therefore, this book is of major importance and interest to advanced professionals, researchers, and graduate or post-graduate students in the areas of spatio-temporal databases and geographical information systems.

"For anyone thinking of doing research in this field, or who is developing a system based on spatio-temporal data, this text is essential reading." (Mike Worboys, U Maine, Orono, ME, USA)

"The high-level semantic model presented and validated in this book provides essential guidance to researchers and implementers when improving the capabilities of data systems to serve the actual needs of applications and their users in the temporal and spatial domains that are so prevalent today." (Gio Wiederhold, Stanford U, CA, USA)"

This book introduces readers to the basic concepts of and latest findings in the area of differential equations with uncertain factors. It covers the analytic method and numerical method for solving uncertain differential equations, as well as their applications in the field of finance. Furthermore, the book provides a number of new potential research directions for uncertain differential equation. It will be of interest to researchers, engineers and students in the fields of mathematics, information science, operations research, industrial engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, automation, economics, and management science.

Known for their visibility and tendency to generate controversy, first-person shooter (FPS) games are cultural icons and powder-kegs in American society. Contributors will examine a range of FPS games such as the Doom, Half-Life, System Shock, Deus Ex, Halo, Medal of Honor and Call of Duty franchises. By applying and enriching a broad range of perspectives, this volume will address the cultural relevance and place of the genre in game studies, game theory and the cultures of game players.

Guns, Grenades, and Grunts gathers scholars from all disciplines to bring the weight of contemporary social theory and media criticism to bear on the public controversy and intellectual investigation of first-person shooter games. As a genre, FPS games have helped shepherd the game industry from the early days of shareware distribution and underground gaming clans to contemporary multimillion dollar production budgets, Hollywood-style launches, downloadable content and worldwide professional gaming leagues. The FPS has been and will continue to be a staple of the game market.

Representation and Retrieval of Visual Media in Multimedia Systems brings together in one place important contributions and up-to-date researcg results in this important area. Representation and Retrieval of Visual Media in Multimedia Systems serves as an excellent reference, providing insight into some of the most important research issues in the field.

The book reports on the 11th International Workshop on Railway Noise, held on 9 - 13 September, 2013, in Uddevalla, Sweden. The event, which was jointly organized by the Competence Centre Chalmers Railway Mechanics (CHARMEC) and the Departments of Applied Mechanics and Applied Acoustics at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, covered a broad range of topics in the field of railway noise and vibration, including: prospects, legal regulations and perceptions; wheel and rail noise; prediction, measurements and monitoring; ground-borne vibration; squeal noise and structure-borne noise; and aerodynamic noise generated by high-speed trains. Further topics included: resilient track forms; grinding, corrugation and roughness; and interior noise and sound barriers. This book, which consists of a collection of peer-reviewed papers originally submitted to the workshop, not only provides readers with an overview of the latest developments in the field, but also offers scientists and engineers essential support in their daily efforts to identify, understand and solve a number of problems related to railway noise and vibration, and to achieve their ultimate goal of reducing the environmental impact of railway systems.

Recent achievements in hardware and software developments have enabled the introduction of a revolutionary technology: in-memory data management. This technology supports the flexible and extremely fast analysis of massive amounts of data, such as diagnoses, therapies, and human genome data. This book shares the latest research results of applying in-memory data management to personalized medicine, changing it from computational possibility to clinical reality. The authors provide details on innovative approaches to enabling the processing, combination, and analysis of relevant data in real-time. The book bridges the gap between medical experts, such as physicians, clinicians, and biological researchers, and technology experts, such as software developers, database specialists, and statisticians. Topics covered in this book include - amongst others - modeling of genome data processing and analysis pipelines, high-throughput data processing, exchange of sensitive data and protection of intellectual property. Beyond that, it shares insights on research prototypes for the analysis of patient cohorts, topology analysis of biological pathways, and combined search in structured and unstructured medical data, and outlines completely new processes that have now become possible due to interactive data analyses.

Multimedia is changing the design of database and information retrieval systems. The accumulation of audio, image, and video content is of little use in these systems if the content cannot be retrieved on demand, a critical requirement that has led to the development of new technologies for the analysis and indexing of media data. In turn, these technologies seek to derive information or features from a data type that can facilitate rapid retrieval, efficient compression, and logical presentation of the data. Significant work that has not been addressed, however, is the benefits of analyzing more than one data type simultaneously. Computed Synchronization for Multimedia Applications presents a new framework for the simultaneous analysis of multiple media data objects. The primary benefit of this analysis is computed synchronization, a temporal and spatial alignment of multiple media objects. Computed Synchronization for Multimedia Applications also presents several specific applications and a general structure for the solution of computed synchronization problems. The applications demonstrate the use of this structure. Two applications in particular are described in detail: the alignment of text to speech audio, and the alignment of simultaneous English language translations of ancient texts. Many additional applications are discussed as future uses of the technology. Computed Synchronization for Multimedia Applications is useful to researchers, students, and developers seeking to apply computed synchronization in many fields. It is also suitable as a reference for a graduate-level course in multimedia data retrieval.

An embedded system is loosely defined as any system that utilizes electronics but is not perceived or used as a general-purpose computer. Traditionally, one or more electronic circuits or microprocessors are literally embedded in the system, either taking up roles that used to be performed by mechanical devices, or providing functionality that is not otherwise possible. The goal of this book is to investigate how formal methods can be applied to the domain of embedded system design. The emphasis is on the specification, representation, validation, and design exploration of such systems from a high-level perspective. The authors review the framework upon which the theories and experiments are based, and through which the formal methods are linked to synthesis and simulation. A formal verification methodology is formulated to verify general properties of the designs and demonstrate that this methodology is efficient in dealing with the problem of complexity and effective in finding bugs. However, manual intervention in the form of abstraction selection and separation of timing and functionality is required. It is conjectured that, for specific properties, efficient algorithms exist for completely automatic formal validations of systems. Synchronous Equivalence: Formal Methods for Embedded Systems presents a brand new formal approach to high-level equivalence analysis. It opens design exploration avenues previously uncharted. It is a work that can stand alone but at the same time is fully compatible with the synthesis and simulation framework described in another book by Kluwer Academic Publishers Hardware-Software Co-Design of Embedded Systems: The POLIS Approach, by Balarin et al. Synchronous Equivalence: Formal Methods for Embedded Systems will be of interest to embedded system designers (automotive electronics, consumer electronics, and telecommunications), micro-controller designers, CAD developers and students, as well as IP providers, architecture platform designers, operating system providers, and designers of VLSI circuits and systems.

The worldwide video game console market surpassed $10 billion in 2003. Current sales of new consoles is consolidated around 3 major companies and their proprietary platforms: Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. In addition, there is an enormous installed "retro gaming" base of Ataria and Sega console enthusiasts. This book, written by a team led by Joe Grand, author of "Hardware Hacking: Have Fun While Voiding Your Warranty," provides hard-core gamers with they keys to the kingdom: specific instructions on how to crack into their console and make it do things it was never designed to do.
By definition, video console game players like to have fun. Most of them are addicted to the adrenaline rush associated with "winning," and even more so when the "winning" involves beating the system by discovering the multitude of "cheats" built into most video games. Now, they can have the ultimate adrenaline rush---actually messing around with the soul of the machine and configuring it to behave exactly as the command. This book builds on the motto of "Have Fun While Voiding Your Warranty" and will appeal to the community of hardware geeks who associate unscrewing the back of their video console with para-jumping into the perfect storm.
* Providing a reliable, field-tested guide to hacking all of the most popular video gaming consoles.
* Written by some of the most knowledgeable and recognizable names in the hardware hacking community.
* Game Console Hacking is the first book on the market to show game enthusiasts (self described hardware geeks) how to disassemble, reconfigure, customize and re-purpose their Atari, Sega, Nintendo, Playstation and Xbox systems.

This is a book for people who love mechanics of composite materials and ? MATLAB . We will use the popular computer package MATLAB as a matrix calculator for doing the numerical calculations needed in mechanics of c- posite materials. In particular, the steps of the mechanical calculations will be emphasized in this book. The reader will not ?nd ready-made MATLAB programs for use as black boxes. Instead step-by-step solutions of composite material mechanics problems are examined in detail using MATLAB. All the problems in the book assume linear elastic behavior in structural mechanics. The emphasis is not on mass computations or programming, but rather on learning the composite material mechanics computations and understanding of the underlying concepts. The basic aspects of the mechanics of ?ber-reinforced composite materials are covered in this book. This includes lamina analysis in both the local and global coordinate systems, laminate analysis, and failure theories of a lamina.

Learn the realities of being a Microsoft Office Specialist and efficiently prepare for the Word Associate MO-100 Exam with a single, comprehensive study guide MCA Microsoft Office Specialist Study Guide Word Associate Exam MO-100 comprehensively prepares you for the MO-100 Exam. Accomplished and experienced author Eric Butow provides readers with a one-stop resource for learning the job responsibilities of a Microsoft Office Specialist and succeeding on the MO-100 Exam. The study guide is written in a straightforward and practical style which, when combined with the companion online Sybex resources, allows you to learn efficiently and effectively. The online resources include hundreds of practice questions, flashcards, and a glossary of key terms. In addition to preparing you for the realities of the Microsoft Office Specialist job role, this study guide covers all the subjects necessary to do well on the certifying exam, including: Managing documents Inserting and formatting text, paragraphs, and sections Managing tables and lists Creating and managing references Inserting and formatting graphics Managing document collaboration Perfect for anyone seeking to begin a new career as a Microsoft Office Specialist, or simply wondering what the job entails, the Study Guide also belongs on the bookshelf of currently practicing professionals who want to brush up on the fundamentals of their role.

Before use, standard ERP systems such as SAP R/3 need to be customized to meet the concrete requirements of the individual enterprise. This book provides an overview of the process models, methods, and tools offered by SAP and its partners to support this complex and time-consuming process. It begins by characterizing the foundations of the latest ERP systems from both a conceptual and technical viewpoint, whereby the most important components and functions of SAP R/3 are described. The main part of the book then goes on to present the current methods and tools for the R/3 implementation based on newer process models (roadmaps).

Welcome to the third International Conference on Management of Multimedia Networks and Services (MMNS'2000) in Fortaleza (Brazil) The first MMNS was held in Montreal ( Canada) in july 1997 and the second MMNS was held in Versailles (France) in November 1998. The MMNS conference takes place every year and a half and is aimed to be a truly international event by bringing together researchers and practitioners from all around the world and by organising the conference each time in a different continent/country. Over the past several years, there has been a considerable amount of research within the fields of multimedia networking and network management. Much of that work has taken place within the context of managing Quality-of Service in broadband integrated services digital networks such as the A TM, and more recently in IP-based networks, to respond to the requirements of emerging multimedia applications. A TM networks were designed to support multimedia traffic with diverse characteristics and can be used as the transfer mode for both wired and wireless networks. A new set of Internet protocols is being developed to provide better quality of service, which is a prerequisite for supporting multimedia applications. Multimedia applications have a different set of requirements, which impacts the design of the underlying communication network as well as its management. Several QoS management mechanisms intervening at different layers of the communication network are required including QoS-routing, QoS-based transport, QoS negotiation, QoS adaptation, FCAPS management, and mobility management."

"Intelligent Control" considers non-traditional modelling and control approaches to nonlinear systems. Fuzzy logic, neural networks and evolutionary computing techniques are the main tools used. The book presents a modular switching fuzzy logic controller where a PD-type fuzzy controller is executed first followed by a PI-type fuzzy controller thus improving the performance of the controller compared with a PID-type fuzzy controller.The advantage of the switching-type fuzzy controller is that it uses one rule-base thus minimises the rule-base during execution. A single rule-base is developed by merging the membership functions for change of error of the PD-type controller and sum of error of the PI-type controller. Membership functions are then optimized using evolutionary algorithms. Since the two fuzzy controllers were executed in series, necessary further tuning of the differential and integral scaling factors of the controller is then performed. Neural-network-based tuning for the scaling parameters of the fuzzy controller is then described and finally an evolutionary algorithm is applied to the neurally-tuned-fuzzy controller in which the sigmoidal function shape of the neural network is determined.

The important issue of stability is addressed and the text demonstrates empirically that the developed controller was stable within the operating range. The text concludes with ideas for future research to show the reader the potential for further study in this area.

"Intelligent Control "will be of interest to researchers from engineering and computer science backgrounds working in the intelligent and adaptive control."

Content-based multimedia retrieval is a challenging research field with many unsolved problems. This monograph details concepts and algorithms for robust and efficient information retrieval of two different types of multimedia data: waveform-based music data and human motion data. It first examines several approaches in music information retrieval, in particular general strategies as well as efficient algorithms. The book then introduces a general and unified framework for motion analysis, retrieval, and classification, highlighting the design of suitable features, the notion of similarity used to compare data streams, and data organization.