Video games have become an increasingly ubiquitous part of society due to the proliferation and use of mobile devices. Video Games and Creativity explores research on the relationship between video games and creativity with regard to play, learning, and game design. It answers such questions as: Can video games be used to develop or enhance creativity? Is there a place for video games in the classroom? What types of creativity are needed to develop video games? While video games can be sources of entertainment, the role of video games in the classroom has emerged as an important component of improving the education system. The research and development of game-based learning has revealed the power of using games to teach and promote learning. In parallel, the role and importance of creativity in everyday life has been identified as a requisite skill for success.

This book provides comprehensive coverage of the modern methods for geometric problems in the computing sciences. It also covers concurrent topics in data sciences including geometric processing, manifold learning, Google search, cloud data, and R-tree for wireless networks and BigData. The author investigates digital geometry and its related constructive methods in discrete geometry, offering detailed methods and algorithms. The book is divided into five sections: basic geometry; digital curves, surfaces and manifolds; discretely represented objects; geometric computation and processing; and advanced topics. Chapters especially focus on the applications of these methods to other types of geometry, algebraic topology, image processing, computer vision and computer graphics. Digital and Discrete Geometry: Theory and Algorithms targets researchers and professionals working in digital image processing analysis, medical imaging (such as CT and MRI) and informatics, computer graphics, computer vision, biometrics, and information theory. Advanced-level students in electrical engineering, mathematics, and computer science will also find this book useful as a secondary text book or reference. Praise for this book: This book does present a large collection of important concepts, of mathematical, geometrical, or algorithmical nature, that are frequently used in computer graphics and image processing. These concepts range from graphs through manifolds to homology. Of particular value are the sections dealing with discrete versions of classic continuous notions. The reader finds compact definitions and concise explanations that often appeal to intuition, avoiding finer, but then necessarily more complicated, arguments... As a first introduction, or as a reference for professionals working in computer graphics or image processing, this book should be of considerable value." - Prof. Dr. Rolf Klein, University of Bonn.

This two-volume set focuses on fundamental concepts and design goals (i.e., a switch/router's key features), architectures, and practical applications of switch/routers in IP networks. The discussion includes practical design examples to illustrate how switch/routers are designed and how the key features are implemented. Designing Switch/Routers: Fundamental Concepts, Design Methods, Architectures, and Applications begins by providing an introductory level discussion that covers the functions and architectures of the switch/router. The first book considers the switch/router as a generic Layer 2 and Layer 3 forwarding device without placing emphasis on any particular manufacturer's device. The underlining concepts and design methods are not only positioned to be applicable to this generic switch/router, but also to the typical switch/router seen in the industry. The discussion provides a better insight into the protocols, methods, processes, and tools that go into designing switch/routers. The second volume explains the design and architectural considerations, as well as, the typical processes and steps used to build practical switch/routers. It then discusses the advantages of using Ethernet in today's networks and why Ethernet continues to play a bigger role in Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), and Wide Area Network (WAN) design. This book set provides a discussion of the design of switch/routers and is written in a style to appeal to undergraduate and graduate-level students, engineers, and researchers in the networking and telecoms industry, as well as academics and other industry professionals. The material and discussion are structured in such a way that they could serve as standalone teaching material for networking and telecom courses and/or supplementary material for such courses.

Python Passive Network Mapping: P2NMAP is the first book to reveal a revolutionary and open source method for exposing nefarious network activity. The "Heartbleed" vulnerability has revealed significant weaknesses within enterprise environments related to the lack of a definitive mapping of network assets. In Python Passive Network Mapping, Chet Hosmer shows you how to effectively and definitively passively map networks. Active or probing methods to network mapping have traditionally been used, but they have many drawbacks - they can disrupt operations, crash systems, and - most importantly - miss critical nefarious activity. You require an accurate picture of the environments you protect and operate in order to rapidly investigate, mitigate, and then recover from these new attack vectors. This book gives you a deep understanding of new innovations to passive network mapping, while delivering open source Python-based tools that can be put into practice immediately. Python Passive Network Mapping is for practitioners, forensic investigators, IT teams, and individuals who work together when performing incident response and investigating potential damage, or are examining the impacts of new malware threats. Those defending critical infrastructures will have a special interest in this book, as active or probing methods of network mapping are rarely used within these environments as any resulting impacts can be disastrous. Python Passive Network Mapping is ideally suited for use as a text in a variety of academic programs to expose and engage students in the art of passively mapping enterprise networks, with the added benefit of providing exposure to open source Python solutions.

Formal Verification: An Essential Toolkit for Modern VLSI Design, Second Edition presents practical approaches for design and validation, with hands-on advice to help working engineers integrate these techniques into their work. Formal Verification (FV) enables a designer to directly analyze and mathematically explore the quality or other aspects of a Register Transfer Level (RTL) design without using simulations. This can reduce time spent validating designs and more quickly reach a final design for manufacturing. Building on a basic knowledge of SystemVerilog, this book demystifies FV and presents the practical applications that are bringing it into mainstream design and validation processes. New sections cover advanced techniques, and a new chapter, The Road To Formal Signoff, emphasizes techniques used when replacing simulation work with Formal Verification. After reading this book, readers will be prepared to introduce FV in their organization to effectively deploy FV techniques that increase design and validation productivity.

This book presents an overview of the emerging field of emotion in videogame soundtracking. The emotional impact of music has been well-documented, particularly when used to enhance the impact of a multimodal experience, such as combining images with audio as found in the videogames industry. Soundtracking videogames presents a unique challenge compared to traditional composition (for example film music) in that the narrative of gameplay is non-linear - Player dependent actions can change the narrative and thus the emotional characteristics required in the soundtrack. Historical approaches to emotion measurement, and the musical feature mapping and music selection that might be used in video game soundtracking are outlined, before a series of cutting edge examples are given. These examples include algorithmic composition techniques, automated emotion matching from biosensors, motion capture techniques, emotionally-targeted speech synthesis and signal processing, and automated repurposing of existing music (for example from a players own library). The book concludes with some possibilities for the future.

"Social Data Analytics" is the first practical guide for professionals who want to employ social data for analytics and business intelligence (BI). This book provides a comprehensive overview of the technologies and platforms and shows you how to access and analyze the data. You'll explore the five major types of social data and learn from cases and platform examples to help you make the most of sentiment, behavioral, social graph, location, and rich media data. A four-step approach to the social BI process will help you access, evaluate, collaborate, and share social data with ease.

You'll learn everything you need to know to monitor social media and get an overview of the leading vendors in a crowded space of BI applications. By the end of this book, you will be well prepared for your organization s next social data analytics project.
Provides foundational understanding of new and emerging technologies-social data, collaboration, big data, advanced analyticsIncludes case studies and practical examples of success and failuresWill prepare you to lead projects and advance initiatives that will benefit you and your organization"

Most tools developers want to improve the user experience but are not given the time, lack the techniques, or don't know where to begin.Designing the User Experience of Game Development Tools addresses these issues to empower tools developers to make positive steps toward improving the user experience of their tools. The book explains how to improve the user experience of game development tools. The first part of the book details the logic behind why the user experience of game tools must be improved. The second part introduces the concept of user-centered design, a process that revolves around understanding people's goals, watching them work, learning the context in which they work, and understanding how they think. Ideal for anyone who makes, uses, or benefits from game development tools, the book presents complex concepts in a manner that is accessible to those new to user experience design. The book illustrates many proven concepts and techniques using before-and-after examples from tools development to supply you with the real-world understanding you need to become a better game developer. It also describes how to get buy-in from your team. Although concepts have been simplified to make the information more easily accessible, the text includes resources in the footnotes if you want more details. The book includes access to a companion website, www.UXofGameTools.com, that contains the latest revisions for the book as well as contact information. You can also follow the official Twitter account @UXofGameTools to see the latest updates and articles related to the improvement of the user experience.

"Time and Relational Theory" provides an in-depth description of temporal database systems, which provide special facilities for storing, querying, and updating historical and future data. Traditionally, database management systems provide little or no special support for temporal data at all. This situation is changing because: Cheap storage enables retention of large volumes of historical data in data warehousesUsers are now faced with temporal data problems, and need solutions Temporal features have recently been incorporated into the SQL standard, and vendors have begun to add temporal support to their DBMS products

Based on the groundbreaking text "Temporal Data & the Relational Model" (Morgan Kaufmann, 2002) and new research led by the authors, "Time and Relational Theory" is the only book to offer a complete overview of the functionality of a temporal DBMS. Expert authors Nikos Lorentzos, Hugh Darwen, and Chris Date describe an approach to temporal database management that is firmly rooted in classical relational theory and will stand the test of time.

This book covers the SQL:2011 temporal extensions in depth and identifies and discusses the temporal functionality still missing from SQL.
Understand how the relational model provides an ideal basis for taming the complexities of temporal databases Learn how to analyze and evaluate commercial temporal products with this timely and important information Be able to use sound principles in designing and using temporal databases Understand the temporal support recently added to SQL with coverage of the new SQL features in this unique, accurate, and authoritative reference Appreciate the benefits of a truly relational approach to the problem with this clear, user friendly presentation

The divide between UX and Web development can be stifling. "Bridging UX and Web Development "prepares you to break down those walls by teaching you how to integrate with your team s developers. You examine the process from their perspective, discovering tools and coding principles that will help you bridge the gap between design and implementation. With these tried and true approaches, you ll be able to capitalize on a more productive work environment.

Whether you re a novice UX professional finding your place in the software industry and looking to nail down your technical skills, or a seasoned UI designer looking for practical information on how to integrate your team with development, this is the must-have resource for your UX library.
Establish a collaboration lifecycle, mapping design activities to counterparts in the software development processLearn about software tools that will improve productivity and collaborationWork through step-by-step exercises that teach font-end coding principles to improve your prototyping and implementation activitiesDiscover practical, usable HTML and CSS examplesUncover tips for working with various developer personas"

This book introduces the latest visual effects (VFX) techniques that can be applied to game programming. The usefulness of the physicality-based VFX techniques, such as water, fire, smoke, and wind, has been proven through active involvement and utilization in movies and images. However, they have yet to be extensively applied in the game industry, due to the high technical barriers. Readers of this book can learn not only the theories about the latest VFX techniques, but also the methodology of game programming, step by step. The practical VFX processing techniques introduced in this book will provide very helpful information to game programmers. Due to the lack of instructional books about VFX-related game programming, the demand for knowledge regarding these high-tech VFXs might be very high.

This thoroughly class tested text and online tutorial gives a complete introduction to the essentials of the XML standard. It will teach students how to apply web technologies to develop XML based web applications. Through the book, the student will build applications that work together to construct interesting and workable web applications.

This book presents the latest developments regarding a detailed mobile agent-enabled anomaly detection and verification system for resource constrained sensor networks; a number of algorithms on multi-aspect anomaly detection in sensor networks; several algorithms on mobile agent transmission optimization in resource constrained sensor networks; an algorithm on mobile agent-enabled in situ verification of anomalous sensor nodes; a detailed Petri Net-based formal modeling and analysis of the proposed system, and an algorithm on fuzzy logic-based cross-layer anomaly detection and mobile agent transmission optimization. As such, it offers a comprehensive text for interested readers from academia and industry alike.

Since its first volume in 1960, "Advances in Computers" has presented detailed coverage of innovations in computer hardware, software, theory, design, and applications. It has also provided contributors with a medium in which they can explore their subjects in greater depth and breadth than journal articles usually allow. As a result, many articles have become standard references that continue to be of significant, lasting value in this rapidly expanding field.
In-depth surveys and tutorials on new computer technologyWell-known authors and researchers in the fieldExtensive bibliographies with most chaptersMany of the volumes are devoted to single themes or subfields of computer science

This innovative monograph focuses on a contemporary form of computer-based literature called 'literary hypertext', a digital, interactive, communicative form of new media writing. Canonizing Hypertext combines theoretical and hermeneutic investigations with empirical research into the motivational and pedagogic possibilities of this form of literature. It focuses on key questions for literary scholars and teachers: How can literature be taught in such a way as to make it relevant for an increasingly hypermedia-oriented readership? How can the rapidly evolving new media be integrated into curricula that still seek to transmit traditional literary competence? How can the notion of literary competence be broadened to take into account these current trends? This study, which argues for hypertexts integration in the literary canon, offers a critical overview of developments in hypertext theory, an exemplary hypertext canon and an evaluation of possible classroom applications.

This book discusses computational complexity of High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) encoders with coverage extending from the analysis of HEVC compression efficiency and computational complexity to the reduction and scaling of its encoding complexity. After an introduction to the topic and a review of the state-of-the-art research in the field, the authors provide a detailed analysis of the HEVC encoding tools compression efficiency and computational complexity. Readers will benefit from a set of algorithms for scaling the computational complexity of HEVC encoders, all of which take advantage from the flexibility of the frame partitioning structures allowed by the standard. The authors also provide a set of early termination methods based on data mining and machine learning techniques, which are able to reduce the computational complexity required to find the best frame partitioning structures. The applicability of the proposed methods is finally exemplified with an encoding time control system that employs the best complexity reduction and scaling methods presented throughout the book. The methods presented in this book are especially useful in power-constrained, portable multimedia devices to reduce energy consumption and to extend battery life. They can also be applied to portable and non-portable multimedia devices operating in real time with limited computational resources.

Traditional machining has many limitations in today's technology-driven world, which has caused industrial professionals to begin implementing various optimization techniques within their machining processes. The application of methods including machine learning and genetic algorithms has recently transformed the manufacturing industry and created countless opportunities in non-traditional machining methods. Significant research in this area, however, is still considerably lacking. Machine Learning Applications in Non-Conventional Machining Processes is a collection of innovative research on the advancement of intelligent technology in industrial environments and its applications within the manufacturing field. While highlighting topics including evolutionary algorithms, micro-machining, and artificial neural networks, this book is ideally designed for researchers, academicians, engineers, managers, developers, practitioners, industrialists, and students seeking current research on intelligence-based machining processes in today's technology-driven market.

Rapid development of digital technologies has led to the widespread use of software in all aspects of our life. The degree of reliance that can be justifiably placed on software-intensive systems is expressed by the notion of dependability. The complexity of modern software-intensive systems poses the greatest threat to dependability. Furthermore, software the most complex system component is recognized to be the most error-prone part of the system. Dependability and Computer Engineering: Concepts for Software-Intensive Systems offers a state-of-the-art overview of the dependability research, from engineering various software-intensive systems to validating existing IT-frameworks and solving generic and particular problems related to the dependable use of IT in our society. It is important to understand how dependability is manifested in software-intensive systems, how it is developed, and how it can be enhanced at various levels in systems and organizations. This book uncovers the existing research on the topic as well as the key challenges associated with the engineering of dependable IT systems in the future.

This book presents a methodology to model and specify the data aspect of Web services, as it is overlooked by current standards for specifying Web services. The formal specification enables verification of service behavior, and the proposed methodology is based on formal methods and design-by-contract techniques. The Web has evolved from an information sharing medium to a wide-scale environment for sharing capabilities or services. Currently, URLs not only point to documents and images, but are also used to invoke services that potentially change the state of the Web. Major online organizations today, such as Amazon, PayPal and FedEx, provide services for users and consumers. They also allow third-party vendors to resell their services. In both cases, this requires precise and complete specification of service offerings. Several online discussions demonstrate the challenges faced by these organizations and others while describing their data-centric Web services. These challenges surrounding data specification can lead consumers to use a service erroneously. Case studies demonstrate how formal methods, and specifically design-by-contract techniques, can be leveraged to address the lack of formal specification of data when it comes to developing Web applications such as Amazon and PayPal.