This book provides an overview of crowdsourced data management. Covering all aspects including the workflow, algorithms and research potential, it particularly focuses on the latest techniques and recent advances. The authors identify three key aspects in determining the performance of crowdsourced data management: quality control, cost control and latency control. By surveying and synthesizing a wide spectrum of studies on crowdsourced data management, the book outlines important factors that need to be considered to improve crowdsourced data management. It also introduces a practical crowdsourced-database-system design and presents a number of crowdsourced operators. Self-contained and covering theory, algorithms, techniques and applications, it is a valuable reference resource for researchers and students new to crowdsourced data management with a basic knowledge of data structures and databases.

..".the perfect companion to "Programming Massively Parallel Processors" by Hwu & Kirk." -Nicolas Pinto, Research Scientist at Harvard & MIT, NVIDIA Fellow 2009-2010

Graphics processing units (GPUs) can do much more than render graphics. Scientists and researchers increasingly look to GPUs to improve the efficiency and performance of computationally-intensive experiments across a range of disciplines.

"GPU Computing Gems: Emerald Edition" brings their techniques to you, showcasing GPU-based solutions including: Black hole simulations with CUDAGPU-accelerated computation and interactive display of molecular orbitalsTemporal data mining for neuroscienceGPU -based parallelization for fast circuit optimizationFast graph cuts for computer visionReal-time stereo on GPGPU using progressive multi-resolution adaptive windowsGPU image demosaicingTomographic image reconstruction from unordered lines with CUDAMedical image processing using GPU -accelerated ITK image filters"41 more chapters" of innovative GPU computing ideas, written to be accessible to researchers from any domain

"GPU Computing Gems: Emerald Edition" is the first volume in Morgan Kaufmann's Applications of GPU Computing Series, offering the latest insights and research in computer vision, electronic design automation, emerging data-intensive applications, life sciences, medical imaging, ray tracing and rendering, scientific simulation, signal and audio processing, statistical modeling, and video / image processing.
Covers the breadth of industry from scientific simulation and electronic design automation to audio / video processing, medical imaging, computer vision, and moreMany examples leverage NVIDIA's CUDA parallel computing architecture, the most widely-adopted massively parallel programming solutionOffers insights and ideas as well as practical "hands-on" skills you can immediately put to use

"Computer and Information Sciences" is a unique and comprehensive review of advanced technology and research in the field of Information Technology. It provides an up to date snapshot of research in Europe and the Far East (Hong Kong, Japan and China) in the most active areas of information technology, including Computer Vision, Data Engineering, Web Engineering, Internet Technologies, Bio-Informatics and System Performance Evaluation Methodologies.

The Internet has become the major form of map delivery. The current presentation of maps is based on the use of online services. This session examines developments related to online methods of map delivery, particularly Application Programmer Interfaces (APIs) and MapServices in general, including Google Maps API and similar services. Map mashups have had a major impact on how spatial information is presented. The advantage of using a major online mapping site is that the maps represent a common and recognizable representation of the world. Overlaying features on top of these maps provides a frame of reference for the map user. A particular advantage for thematic mapping is the ability to spatially reference thematic data.

The book 'BiLBIQ: A biologically inspired Robot with walking and rolling locomotion' deals with implementing a locomotion behavior observed in the biological archetype Cebrennus villosus to a robot prototype whose structural design needs to be developed. The biological sample is investigated as far as possible and compared to other evolutional solutions within the framework of nature's inventions. Current achievements in robotics are examined and evaluated for their relation and relevance to the robot prototype in question. An overview of what is state of the art in actuation ensures the choice of the hardware available and most suitable for this project. Through a constant consideration of the achievement of two fundamentally different ways of locomotion with one and the same structure, a robot design is developed and constructed taking hardware constraints into account. The development of a special leg structure that needs to resemble and replace body elements of the biological archetype is a special challenge to be dealt with. Finally a robot prototype was achieved, which is able to walk and roll - inspired by the spider Cebrennus villosus.

SQL Clearly Explained, Third Edition, provides an in-depth introduction to using SQL (Structured Query Language). Readers will learn not only SQL syntax, but also how SQL works. Although the core of the SQL language remains relatively unchanged, the most recent release of the SQL standard (SQL:2008) includes two sets of extensions: 1) support for object-relational databases and 2) support for XML. As a result, the set of standard SQL commands has been greatly extended and this new edition takes that into account. This new edition includes updated tips and tricks to reflect the current concepts of SQL and XML standards; several new chapters covering object-relational and XML extensions; and an ancillary package that includes case studies, a syllabus, exams and more. This book is intended for working SQL programmers, database administrators, database designers, database analysts, and application system developers as well as those who are developing new features for database management systems who want to know about user needs. This would include anyone working with electronic content in the relational database context but also XML. Web services, etc.

A principal aim of computer graphics is to generate images that look as real as photographs. Realistic computer graphics imagery has however proven to be quite challenging to produce, since the appearance of materials arises from complicated physical processes that are difficult to analytically model and simulate, and image-based modeling of real material samples is often impractical due to the high-dimensional space of appearance data that needs to be acquired.

This book presents a general framework based on the inherent coherency in the appearance data of materials to make image-based appearance modeling more tractable. We observe that this coherence manifests itself as low-dimensional structure in the appearance data, and by identifying this structure we can take advantage of it to simplify the major processes in the appearance modeling pipeline. This framework consists of two key components, namely the coherence structure and the accompanying reconstruction method to fully recover the low-dimensional appearance data from sparse measurements. Our investigation of appearance coherency has led to three major forms of low-dimensional coherence structure and three types of coherency-based reconstruction upon which our framework is built.

This coherence-based approach can be comprehensively applied to all the major elements of image-based appearance modeling, from data acquisition of real material samples to user-assisted modeling from a photograph, from synthesis of volumes to editing of material properties, and from efficient rendering algorithms to physical fabrication of objects. In this book we present several techniques built on this coherency framework to handle various appearance modeling tasks both for surface reflections and subsurface scattering, the two primary physical components that generate material appearance. We believe that coherency-based appearance modeling will make it easier and more feasible for practitioners to bring computer graphics imagery to life.

This book is aimed towards readers with an interest in computer graphics. In particular, researchers, practitioners and students will benefit from this book by learning about the underlying coherence in appearance structure and how it can be utilized to improve appearance modeling. The specific techniques presented in our manuscript can be of value to anyone who wishes to elevate the realism of their computer graphics imagery. For understanding this book, an elementary background in computer graphics is assumed, such as from an introductory college course or from practical experience with computer graphics.

Software Life Cycle Models. Objectoriented Concepts and Modeling. Formal Specification and Verification. Design Methodologies and Specifications. Programming and Coding. Programming Tools. Declarative Programming. Automatic Program Synthesis and Reuse. Program Verification and Testing. Software Maintenance. Advanced Programming Environments. Other Selected Topics. Index.

The focus of this book is on three influential cognitive motives: achievement, affiliation, and power motivation. Incentive-based theories of achievement, affiliation and power motivation are the basis for competence-seeking behaviour, relationship-building, leadership, and resource-controlling behaviour in humans. In this book we show how these motives can be modelled and embedded in artificial agents to achieve behavioural diversity. Theoretical issues are addressed for representing and embedding computational models of motivation in rule-based agents, learning agents, crowds and evolution of motivated agents. Practical issues are addressed for defining games, mini-games or in-game scenarios for virtual worlds in which computer-controlled, motivated agents can participate alongside human players. The book is structured into four parts: game playing in virtual worlds by humans and agents; comparing human and artificial motives; game scenarios for motivated agents; and evolution and the future of motivated game-playing agents. It will provide game programmers, and those with an interest in artificial intelligence, with the knowledge required to develop diverse, believable game-playing agents for virtual worlds.

This book provides comprehensive coverage of the latest trends/advances in subjective and objective quality evaluation for traditional visual signals, such as 2D images and video, as well as the most recent challenges for the field of multimedia quality assessment and processing, such as mobile video and social media. Readers will learn how to ensure the highest storage/delivery/ transmission quality of visual content (including image, video, graphics, animation, etc.) from the server to the consumer, under resource constraints, such as computation, bandwidth, storage space, battery life, etc.

Good user interface design isn t just about aesthetics or using the latest technology. Designers also need to ensure their product is offering an optimal user experience. This requires user needs analysis, usability testing, persona creation, prototyping, design sketching, and evaluation through-out the design and development process. "User Experience Re-Mastered" takes tried and tested material from best-selling books in Morgan Kaufmann s Series in Interactive Technologies and presents it in typical project framework. Chauncey Wilson guides the reader through each chapter, introducing each stage, explaining its context, and emphasizing its significance in the user experience lifecycle. This gives readers practical and easily applicable direction for creating web sites and web applications that ensure the ultimate experience. A must read for students, those new to the field, and anyone designing interfaces for people

*A guided, hands-on tour through the process of creating the ultimate user experience - from testing, to prototyping, to design, to evaluation

*Provides tried and tested material from best sellers in Morgan Kaufmann s Series in Interactive Technologies, including leaders in the field such as Bill Buxton and Jakob Nielsen

*Features never before seen material from Chauncey Wilson s forthcoming, and highly anticipated Handbook for User Centered Design"

It provides fuzzy programming approach to solve real-life decision problems in fuzzy environment. Within the framework of credibility theory, it provides a self-contained, comprehensive and up-to-date presentation of fuzzy programming models, algorithms and applications in portfolio analysis.

End users have become increasingly integrated into computing environments, necessitating continued inquiry into successful models for end user design and development and the impact that these models have on performance and productivity. End-User Computing, Development and Software Engineering: New Challenges explores the implementation of organizational and end user computing initiatives and provides foundational research to further the understanding of this discipline and its related fields. This book reviews the factors and barriers to ICT adoption in organizations, opportunities and benefits of communities of practice, and impact that end user computing can have on overall firm performance.

The Heinz Nixdorf Museum Forum (HNF) is the world's largest c- puter museum and is dedicated to portraying the past, present and future of information technology. In the "Year of Informatics 2006" the HNF was particularly keen to examine the history of this still quite young discipline. The short-lived nature of information technologies means that individuals, inventions, devices, institutes and companies"age" more rapidly than in many other specialties. And in the nature of things the group of computer pioneers from the early days is growing smaller all the time. To supplement a planned new exhibit on "Software and Inform- ics" at the HNF, the idea arose of recording the history of informatics in an accompanying publication. Mysearchforsuitablesourcesandauthorsveryquickly cameupwith the right answer, the very rst name in Germany: Friedrich L. Bauer, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the TU in Munich, one of the - thers of informatics in Germany and for decades the indefatigable author of the"Historical Notes" column of the journal Informatik Spektrum. Friedrich L. Bauer was already the author of two works on the history of informatics, published in different decades and in different books. Both of them are notable for their knowledgeable, extremely comp- hensive and yet compact style. My obvious course was to motivate this author to amalgamate, supplement and illustrate his previous work.

Each day, new applications and methods are developed for utilizing technology in the field of medical sciences, both as diagnostic tools and as methods for patients to access their medical information through their personal gadgets. However, the maximum potential for the application of new technologies within the medical field has not yet been realized. Mobile Devices and Smart Gadgets in Medical Sciences is a pivotal reference source that explores different mobile applications, tools, software, and smart gadgets and their applications within the field of healthcare. Covering a wide range of topics such as artificial intelligence, telemedicine, and oncology, this book is ideally designed for medical practitioners, mobile application developers, technology developers, software experts, computer engineers, programmers, ICT innovators, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.

Nash equilibrium is the central solution concept in Game Theory. Since Nash's original paper in 1951, it has found countless applications in modeling strategic behavior of traders in markets, (human) drivers and (electronic) routers in congested networks, nations in nuclear disarmament negotiations, and more. A decade ago, the relevance of this solution concept was called into question by computer scientists, who proved (under appropriate complexity assumptions) that computing a Nash equilibrium is an intractable problem. And if centralized, specially designed algorithms cannot find Nash equilibria, why should we expect distributed, selfish agents to converge to one? The remaining hope was that at least approximate Nash equilibria can be efficiently computed.Understanding whether there is an efficient algorithm for approximate Nash equilibrium has been the central open problem in this field for the past decade. In this book, we provide strong evidence that even finding an approximate Nash equilibrium is intractable. We prove several intractability theorems for different settings (two-player games and many-player games) and models (computational complexity, query complexity, and communication complexity). In particular, our main result is that under a plausible and natural complexity assumption ("Exponential Time Hypothesis for PPAD"), there is no polynomial-time algorithm for finding an approximate Nash equilibrium in two-player games. The problem of approximate Nash equilibrium in a two-player game poses a unique technical challenge: it is a member of the class PPAD, which captures the complexity of several fundamental total problems, i.e., problems that always have a solution; and it also admits a quasipolynomial time algorithm. Either property alone is believed to place this problem far below NP-hard problems in the complexity hierarchy; having both simultaneously places it just above P, at what can be called the frontier of intractability. Indeed, the tools we develop in this book to advance on this frontier are useful for proving hardness of approximation of several other important problems whose complexity lies between P and NP: Brouwer's fixed point, market equilibrium, CourseMatch (A-CEEI), densest k-subgraph, community detection, VC dimension and Littlestone dimension, and signaling in zero-sum games.

"Software Defined Networks" discusses the historical networking environment that gave rise to SDN, as well as the latest advances in SDN technology. The book gives you the state of the art knowledge needed for successful deployment of an SDN, including: How to explain to the non-technical business decision makers in your organization the potential benefits, as well as the risks, in shifting parts of a network to the SDN modelHow to make intelligent decisions about when to integrate SDN technologies in a networkHow to decide if your organization should be developing its own SDN applications or looking to acquire these from an outside vendorHow to accelerate the ability to develop your own SDN application, be it entirely novel or a more efficient approach to a long-standing problem
Discusses the evolution of the switch platforms that enable SDN Addresses when to integrate SDN technologies in a networkProvides an overview of sample SDN applications relevant to different industriesIncludes practical examples of how to write SDN applications

NewInternetdevelopmentsposegreaterandgreaterprivacydilemmas. Inthe- formation Society, the need for individuals to protect their autonomy and retain control over their personal information is becoming more and more important. Today, informationandcommunicationtechnologies-andthepeopleresponsible for making decisions about them, designing, and implementing them-scarcely consider those requirements, thereby potentially putting individuals' privacy at risk. The increasingly collaborative character of the Internet enables anyone to compose services and contribute and distribute information. It may become hard for individuals to manage and control information that concerns them and particularly how to eliminate outdated or unwanted personal information, thus leavingpersonalhistoriesexposedpermanently. Theseactivitiesraisesubstantial new challenges for personal privacy at the technical, social, ethical, regulatory, and legal levels: How can privacy in emerging Internet applications such as c- laborative scenarios and virtual communities be protected? What frameworks and technical tools could be utilized to maintain life-long privacy? DuringSeptember3-10,2009, IFIP(InternationalFederationforInformation Processing)workinggroups9. 2 (Social Accountability),9. 6/11. 7(IT Misuseand theLaw),11. 4(NetworkSecurity)and11. 6(IdentityManagement)heldtheir5th InternationalSummerSchoolincooperationwiththeEUFP7integratedproject PrimeLife in Sophia Antipolis and Nice, France. The focus of the event was on privacy and identity managementfor emerging Internet applications throughout a person's lifetime. The aim of the IFIP Summer Schools has been to encourage young a- demic and industry entrants to share their own ideas about privacy and identity management and to build up collegial relationships with others. As such, the Summer Schools havebeen introducing participants to the social implications of information technology through the process of informed discussion.

Graphics and game developers must learn to program for mobility. This book will teach you how.
"This book - written by some of the key technical experts...provides a comprehensive but practical and easily understood introduction for any software engineer seeking to delight the consumer with rich 3D interactive experiences on their phone. Like the OpenGL ES and M3G standards it covers, this book is destined to become an enduring standard for many years to come."
- Lincoln Wallen, CTO, Electronic Arts, Mobile
This book is an escalator, which takes the field to new levels. This is especially true because the text ensures that the topic is easily accessible to everyone with some background in computer science...The foundations of this book are clear, and the authors are extremely knowledgeable about the subject.
- Tomas Akenine-Moller, bestselling author and Professor of Computer Science at Lund University
"This book is an excellent introduction to M3G. The authors are all experienced M3G users and developers, and they do a great job of conveying that experience, as well as plenty of practical advice that has been proven in the field."
- Sean Ellis, Consultant Graphics Engineer, ARM Ltd
The exploding popularity of mobile computing is undeniable. From cell phones to portable gaming systems, the global demand for multifunctional mobile devices is driving amazing hardware and software developments. 3D graphics are becoming an integral part of these ubiquitous devices, and as a result, Mobile 3D Graphics is arguably the most rapidly advancing area of the computer graphics discipline.
Mobile 3D Graphics is about writing real-time 3D graphics applications for mobile devices. The programming interfaces explained and demonstrated in this must-have reference enable dynamic 3D media on cell phones, GPS systems, portable gaming consoles and media players.
The text begins by providing thorough coverage of background essentials, then presents detailed hands-on examples, including extensive working code in both of the dominant mobile APIs, OpenGL ES and M3G.
C/C++ and Java Developers, graphic artists, students, and enthusiasts would do well to have a programmable mobile phone on hand to try out the techniques described in this book.
The authors, industry experts who helped to develop the OpenGL ES and M3G standards, distill their years of accumulated knowledge within these pages, offering their insights into everything from sound mobile design principles and constraints, to efficient rendering, mixing 2D and 3D, lighting, texture mapping, skinning and morphing.
Along the way, readers will benefit from the hundreds of included tips, tricks and caveats.
*Written by experts at Nokia whose workshops at industry conferences are blockbusters
*The programs used in the examples are featured in thousands of professional courses each year
*Extensive working sample code is presented throughout the book and on the companion website"

Longitudinal studies have traditionally been seen as too cumbersome and labor-intensive to be of much use in research on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). However, recent trends in market, legislation, and the research questions we address, have highlighted the importance of studying prolonged use, while technology itself has made longitudinal research more accessible to researchers across different application domains. Aimed as an educational resource for graduate students and researchers in HCI, this book brings together a collection of chapters, addressing theoretical and methodological considerations, and presenting case studies of longitudinal HCI research. Among others, the authors: discuss the theoretical underpinnings of longitudinal HCI research, such as when a longitudinal study is appropriate, what research questions can be addressed and what challenges are entailed in different longitudinal research designs reflect on methodological challenges in longitudinal data collection and analysis, such as how to maintain participant adherence and data reliability when employing the Experience Sampling Method in longitudinal settings, or how to cope with data collection fatigue and data safety in applications of autoethnography and autobiographical design, which may span from months to several years present a number of case studies covering different topics of longitudinal HCI research, from "slow technology", to self-tracking, to mid-air haptic feedback, and crowdsourcing.