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Books > Computing & IT > General
The Handbook of Digital Image Synthesis is the most up-to-date reference guide in the rapidly developing field of computer graphics. A wide range of topics, such as, applied mathematics, data structures, and optical perception and imaging help to provide a well-rounded view of the necessary formulas for computer rendering. In addition to this diverse approach, the presentation of the material is substantiated by numerous figures and computer-generated images. From basic principles to advanced theories, this book, provides the reader with a strong foundation of computer formulas and rendering through a step-by-step process. . Key Features: Provides unified coverage of the broad range of fundamental topics in rendering Gives in-depth treatment of the basic and advanced concepts in each topic Presents a step-by-step derivation of the theoretical results needed for implementation Illustrates the concepts with numerous figures and computer-generated images Illustrates the core algorithms using platform-independent pseudo-code
This comprehensive work provides the fundamentals of computer facial animation and brings into sharper focus techniques that are becoming mainstream in the industry. Over the past decade, since the publication of the first edition, there have been significant developments by academic research groups and in the film and games industries leading to the development of morphable face models, performance driven animation, as well as increasingly detailed lip-synchronization and hair modeling techniques. These topics are described in the context of existing facial animation principles. The second edition provides an up-to-date source for professionals and academic researchers working in the field of facial animation.
This non-traditional introduction to the mathematics of scientific computation describes the principles behind the major methods, from statistics, applied mathematics, scientific visualization, and elsewhere, in a way that is accessible to a large part of the scientific community. Introductory material includes computational basics, a review of coordinate systems, an introduction to facets (planes and triangle meshes) and an introduction to computer graphics. The scientific computing part of the book covers topics in numerical linear algebra (basics, solving linear system, eigen-problems, SVD, and PCA) and numerical calculus (basics, data fitting, dynamic processes, root finding, and multivariate functions). The visualization component of the book is separated into three parts: empirical data, scalar values over 2D data, and volumes.
Compared to the US, European data and privacy protection rules seem Draconian. The European rules apply to any enterprise doing business in the EU. The new rules are far more stringent than the last set. This book is a quick guide to the directives for companies, particularly US, that have to comply with them. Where US organizations and businesses who collect or receive EU personal data fail to comply with the rule, the bottom line can suffer from very significant official fines and penalties, as well as from users, customers or representative bodies to pursuing litigation. This guide is essential for all US enterprises who directly or indirectly deal with EU personal data.
The fourth book in Chris Scullion's critically acclaimed series of video game encyclopedias, The N64 Encyclopedia is dedicated to the Nintendo 64, one of the most well-loved games consoles ever released. Although the Nintendo 64 didn't sell as well as some of Nintendo's other systems, and although it struggled in the shadow of the bold newcomer that was the Sony PlayStation, everyone who owned an N64 was in love with it and the four-player multiplayer it provided as standard. Despite its relatively small library, the Nintendo 64 had a healthy number of groundbreaking titles that would revolutionise the way we played video games. The likes of Super Mario 64, GoldenEye 007, Mario Kart 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remain iconic in the eyes of video game fans 25 years down the line. This book naturally contains those games, but it also contains every other game released for the system, no matter how obscure. It also covers every game released in Japan, including those for the ill-fated Nintendo 64DD add-on which never left the country. With over 400 games covered, screenshots for every title and a light-hearted writing style designed to make reading it a fun experience, the N64 Encyclopedia is the definitive guide to a truly revolutionary gaming system.
Since the publication of the bestselling second edition 5 years ago, vast and new globally-relevant geographic datasets have become available to cartography practitioners, and with this has come the need for new ways to visualize them in maps as well as new challenges in ethically disseminating the visualizations. With new features and significant updates that address these changes, this edition remains faithful to the original vision that cartography instruction should be software agnostic. Discussing map design theory and technique rather than map design tools, this book focuses on digital cartography and its best practices. This third edition has completely new sections on how to deal with maps that go viral and the ethics therein; new presentation ideas; new features such as amenities, climate data, and hazards; the new Equal Earth projection; and vector tile design considerations. All chapters are thoroughly updated with new illustrations and new sections for datasets that didn’t exist when the second edition was published, as well as new techniques and trends in cartography. New in the third edition: A true textbook, written with a friendly style and excellent examples explaining everything from layout design to fonts and colors, to specific design considerations for individual feature types, to static and dynamic cartography issues. Thoroughly updated with new features such as points of interest, climate data, hazards, and buildings; new projections such as the Equal Earth projection and the Spilhaus projection; and vector tile design considerations such as label placement techniques and tricks for making world-class basemaps. Includes over 70 new map examples that display the latest techniques in cartography. Reflects on new developments in color palettes; visualization patterns; datums; and non-static output media such as animation, interaction, and large-format cinematic techniques, that weren’t available for the second edition. Defines and illustrates new terms that have made their way into the profession over the last few years such as story maps, flow maps, Dorling cartograms, spec sheets, bivariate choropleths, firefly cartography, Tanaka contours, and value-by-alpha. In this third edition, author Gretchen Peterson takes a "don’t let the technology get in the way" approach to the presentation, focusing on the elements of good design, what makes a good map, and how to get there, rather than specific software tools. She provides a reference that you can thumb through time and again as you create your maps. Copiously illustrated, the third edition explores novel concepts that kick-start your pursuit of map-making excellence. The book doesn’t just teach you how to design and create good maps, it teaches you how to design and create superior maps.
A highly contentious, very readable and totally up-to-the-minute investigation of women's natural relationship with modern technology, an association which, Plant argues, will trigger a new sexual revolution. Zeros and Ones is an intelligent, provocative and accessible investigation of the intersection between women, feminism, machines and in particular, information technology. Arguing that the computer is rewriting the old conceptions of man and his world, it suggests that the telecoms revolution is also a sexual revolution which undermines the fundamental assumptions crucial to patriarchal culture. Historical, contemporary and future developments in telecommunications and in IT are interwoven with the past, present and future of feminism, women and sexual difference, and a wealth of connections, parallels and affinities between machines and women are uncovered as a result. Challenging the belief that man was ever in control of either his own agency, the planet, or his machines, this book argues it is seriously undermined by the new scientific paradigms emergent from theories of chaos, complexity and connectionism, all of which suggest that the old distinctions between man, woman, nature and technology need to be radically reassessed.
How the autonomous digital forces jolting our lives - as uncontrollable as the weather and plate tectonics - are transforming life, society, culture, and politics. David Auerbach's exploration of the phenomenon he has identified as the meganet begins with a simple, startling revelation: There is no hand on the tiller of some of the largest global digital forces that influence our daily lives: from corporate sites such as Facebook, Amazon, Google, YouTube, Instagram, and Reddit to the burgeoning metaverse encompassing cryptocurrencies and online gaming to government systems such as China's Social Credit System and India's Aadhaar. As we increasingly integrate our society, culture and politics within a hyper-networked fabric, Auerbach explains how the interactions of billions of people with unfathomably large online networks have produced a new sort of beast: ever-changing systems that operate beyond the control of the individuals, companies, and governments that created them. Meganets, Auerbach explains, have a life of their own, actively resisting attempts to control them as they accumulate data and produce spontaneous, unexpected social groups and uprisings that could not have even existed twenty years ago. And they constantly modify themselves in response to user behavior, resulting in collectively authored algorithms none of us intend or control. These enormous invisible organisms exerting great force on our lives are the new minds of the world, increasingly commandeering our daily lives and inner realities. Auerbach's analysis of these gargantuan opaque digital forces yield important insights such as: - The conventional wisdom that the Googles and Facebook of this world are tightly run algorithmic entities is a myth. No one is really in control. - The efforts at reform - to get lies and misinformation off meganets - run into a brick wall because the companies and executives who run them are trapped by the persistent, evolving, and opaque systems they have created. - Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are uncontrollable and their embrace by elite financial institutions threatens the entire economy - We are asking the wrong questions in assuming that if only the Facebooks of this world could be better regulated or broken up that they would be better, more ethical citizens - Why questions such as making algorithms fair and bias-free and whether AI can be a tool for good or evil are wrong and misinformed Auerbach then comes full circle, showing that while we cannot ultimately control meganets we can tame them through the counterintuitive measures he describes in detail.
"Real-Time Graphics Rendering Engine" reveals the software architecture of the modern real-time 3D graphics rendering engine and the relevant technologies based on the authors experience developing this high-performance, real-time system. The relevant knowledge about real-time graphics rendering such as the rendering pipeline, the visual appearance and shading and lighting models are also introduced. This book is intended to offer well-founded guidance for researchers and developers who are interested in building their own rendering engines. Hujun Bao is a professor at the State Key Lab of Computer Aided Design and Computer Graphics, Zhejiang University, China. Dr. Wei Hua is an associate professor at the same institute.
The national bestseller--updated for the new stock market "Read the book if you want to know how the market works and how to make it work for you." --Greg Capra, president of Pristine.com, coauthor of "Tools and Tactics for the Master Day Trader" "By using the tools, trading tactics and strategies revealed in..."A Beginner's Guide to Day Trading Online," you will be armed with the skills needed to help you win your battle with the markets." --Steve Nison, CMT, president, www.candlecharts.com, author of "Japenese Candlestick Charting Techniques" "Read this book, and, two, reread this book. It will help you achieve your trading goal, which is to make money in the markets. Every trader, from a beginner to the advanced professional, should have this book " --John Person, CTA, president, Nationalfutures.com "There are only a handful of trading educators that I would recommend listening to and...Toni Turner is one of them." --Hubert Senters, www.tradethemarkets.com Day trading is highly profitable--and highly tumultuous. Moreover, the financial markets have changed considerably in recent years. Expert author Toni Turner gives you the latest information for mastering the markets, including:
How populism is fueled by the demise of the industrial order and the emergence of a new digital society ruled by algorithms In the revolutionary excitement of the 1960s, young people around the world called for a radical shift away from the old industrial order, imagining a future of technological liberation and unfettered prosperity. Industrial society did collapse, and a digital economy has risen to take its place, yet many have been left feeling marginalized and deprived of the possibility of a better life. The Inglorious Years explores the many ways we have been let down by the rising tide of technology, showing how our new interconnectivity is not fulfilling its promise. In this revelatory book, economist Daniel Cohen describes how today's postindustrial society is transforming us all into sequences of data that can be manipulated by algorithms from anywhere on the planet. As yesterday's assembly line was replaced by working online, the leftist protests of the 1960s have given way to angry protests by the populist right. Cohen demonstrates how the digital economy creates the same mix of promises and disappointments as the old industrial order, and how it revives questions about society that are as relevant to us today as they were to the ancients. Brilliant and provocative, The Inglorious Years discusses what the new digital society holds in store for us, and reveals how can we once again regain control of our lives.
Up-to-date practice questions that cover every topic on the 2022 version of the CISM exam Take the current version of the challenging CISM exam with complete confidence using the detailed information contained in this fully updated self-study guide. Written by an expert in the field, the book features hundreds of practice exam questions that match those on the live test in content, format, tone, and feel. In-depth answer explanations are provided for both the correct and incorrect answer choices. CISM Certified Information Security Manager Practice Exams, Second Edition supplements the CISM All-in-One Exam Guide and completely covers every objective of the 2022 exam release. In total, the book contains more than 300 realistic practice questions. •  Offers 100% coverage of all four CISM exam domains •  Online content includes access to an additional 150 practice questions in the TotalTester Online customizable test   engine •  Written by a computer security expert, author, and lecturer
The original edition of this accessible and interdisciplinary textbook was the first to consider the ethical issues of digital media from a global, cross-cultural perspective.  This third edition has been thoroughly updated to incorporate the latest research and developments, including the rise of Big Data, AI, and the Internet of Things. The book’s case studies and pedagogical material have also been extensively revised and updated to include such watershed events as the Snowden revelations, #Gamergate, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, privacy policy developments, and the emerging Chinese Social Credit System. New sections include “Death Online,†“Slow/Fair Technologyâ€, and material on sexbots. The “ethical toolkit†that introduces prevailing ethical theories and their applications to the central issues of privacy, copyright, pornography and violence, and the ethics of cross-cultural communication online, has likewise been revised and expanded. Each topic and theory are interwoven throughout the volume with detailed sets of questions, additional resources, and suggestions for further research and writing. Together, these enable readers to foster careful reflection upon, writing about, and discussion of these issues and their possible resolutions. Retaining its student- and classroom-friendly approach, Digital Media Ethics will continue to be the go-to textbook for anyone getting to grips with this important topic.
This book analyses the root causes of suicide terrorism at both the elite and rank-and- file levels of the Hamas and also explains why this tactic has disappeared in the post-2006 period. This volume adopts a multi-causal, multi-level approach to analyse the use of suicide bombings by Hamas and its individual operatives in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It uses extensive fieldwork and on-the-ground interviews in order to delve beneath the surface and understand why and how suicide operations were adopted as a sustained mechanism of engagement within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Three core factors fuelled Hamas's suicide bombing campaigns. First, Palestinian suicide operations are a complex combination of instrumental and expressive violence adopted by both organisations and individuals to achieve political and/or societal survival, retaliation and competition. In other words, suicide bombings not only serve distinct political and strategic goals for both Hamas and its operatives but they also serve to convey a symbolic message to various audiences, within Israel, the Palestinian territories and around the world. Second, suicide operations perform a crucial role in the formation and consolidation of Palestinian national identity and are also the latest manifestation of the historically entrenched cultural norm of militant heroic martyrdom. Finally, Hamas's use of political Islam also facilitates the articulation, justification and legitimisation of suicide operations as a modern-day jihad against Israel through the means of modern interpretations and fatwas. This approach not only facilitates a much needed, multifaceted, holistic understanding of suicide bombings in this particular region but also yields policy-relevant lessons to address extreme political violence in other parts of the world. This book will be of much interest to students of Hamas, terrorism, Middle East politics and security studies.
Includes an entirely new chapter on AI and GIS, including ontologies and the Semantic Web, knowledge representation (KR) and spatial reasoning, machine learning and spatial analysis, and neural networks and deep learning. Presents new material reflecting the advances made in cloud computing, stream computing, and sensor networks, as well as extensively revised and updated content on cartography, visualization, and interaction design. Connects the technology to the social aspects and implications of GIS, including privacy and fair information practices, FATE (fairness, accountability, transparency, and ethics), and codes of conduct for responsible use of GIS. Integrates the necessary background to foundational areas, such as databases and data structures, algorithms and indexes, system architecture and AI, provided in context so readers new to those topics can still understand the concepts being discussed. Incorporates over 20 carefully explained spatial algorithms; over 60 inset boxes with in-depth material that enriches the central topics; and more than 300 color figures to support the reader in mastering key concepts. Welcomes a new coauthor, Qian (Chayn) Sun, to the third edition who brings her expertise in topics such as web mapping, cloud computing, critical geography, and machine learning with big spatial data.
From facial recognition—capable of checking us onto flights or identifying undocumented residents—to automated decision systems that inform everything from who gets loans to who receives bail, each of us moves through a world determined by data-empowered algorithms. But these technologies didn’t just appear: they are part of a history that goes back centuries, from the birth of eugenics in Victorian Britain to the development of Google search. Expanding on the popular course they created at Columbia University, Chris Wiggins and Matthew Jones illuminate the ways in which data has long been used as a tool and a weapon in arguing for what is true, as well as a means of rearranging or defending power. By understanding the trajectory of data—where it has been and where it might yet go—Wiggins and Jones argue that we can understand how to bend it to ends that we collectively choose, with intentionality and purpose.
Jump, grab and fling, but try not to fall – learn how to master the levels and be the last one standing in this strategy-packed unofficial guide to the smash-hit game Fall Guys. This book covers all the hints and tips you need to stumble your way to victory, or at least outlast your opponents, so that you can collect that sweet, sweet Kudos and even some Crowns. This book has everything you need to win for each type of game – race, survival, team and the all-important final – from popular tactics for specific levels to hidden shortcuts that when executed correctly will be sure to secure you a victory. Plus, it includes a handy guide to the rarest collectable skins, because it’s important that your Fall Guy looks the best, even when flailing about. If you’ve had trouble with being eliminated early and want to conquer the chaos, then look no further as this book will help you eliminate obstacles so that you can become a winner! With Fall Guys now available on both Switch and Xbox, this globally popular game has got even bigger!
Blender is the world's premier open source 3D software, created by some of the best digital artists working in creative industries around the globe. This book will give those interested in this versatile and expansive tool all the information they will need as they start their journey into 3D. Beginning with the fundamentals of working with 3D, this thorough tutorial book will help you piece together a skill set that will have you creating stunning 3D character in no time at all. Four complete projects will walk you through the creation of multiple characters, covering topics such as modeling, sculpting, and rendering.
Our homes anticipate when we want to wake up. Our computers predict what music we want to buy. Our cars adapt to the way we drive. In today’s world, even washing machines, rice cookers and toys have the capability of autonomous decision-making. As we grow accustomed to computing power embedded in our surroundings, it becomes clear that these ‘smart environments’, with a number of devices controlled by a coordinating system capable of ‘ambient intelligence’, will play an ever larger role in our lives. This handbook provides readers with comprehensive, up-to-date coverage in what is a key technological field. . Systematically dealing with each aspect of ambient intelligence and smart environments, the text covers everything, from visual information capture and human/computer interaction to multi-agent systems, network use of sensor data, and building more rationality into artificial systems. The book also details a wide range of applications, examines case studies of recent major projects from around the world, and analyzes both the likely impact of the technology on our lives, and its ethical implications. With a wide variety of separate disciplines all conducting research relevant to this field, this handbook encourages collaboration between disparate researchers by setting out the fundamental concepts from each area that are relevant to ambient intelligence and smart environments, providing a fertile soil in which ground-breaking new work candevelop.
The story of the evolution of machines in computer history is full of the disruptive innovations that have led to today’s world. From the early beginnings of computing to the bulky mainframe to the personal computer era, we now live in an almost entirely digital age. The Computer explores steps from the first ideas of a calculating machine in the 19th century and early experiments with autonomous driving in the 1920s to oversized office computers in the 1950s to laptops and wearables of today. Jens Müller delivers a visual understanding of the emergence of the Information Age that hasn’t been shown before. Tracing the stories of tech visionaries, pioneers, and entrepreneurs, the book combines compelling visuals, historical documents, and in-depth explanations to reveal significant events in computer history. Encompassing the invention of machines, coding, and software development, as well as technology's influence on today's political landscape. This survey presents creations from Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage, Alan Turing, Grace Hopper, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs. Showcasing forgotten gadgets and prototypes connecting iconic products such as the Apple Macintosh and the Sony Play Station. As well as remembering milestones in software development, videogaming, and the web. Infographics explain wireless communication and other fundamental technical concepts, while the history of corporations such as IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Atari, Amazon, and Google is retraced through rare photographs and advertising campaigns. A fascinating read, this book acknowledges the computer’s stupendous power and social impact. For techies and everyone interested in culture, economics, politics, and science, it illustrates how we got here today and helps us ask better questions about where we will be tomorrow.
The SAGE Handbook of Human-Machine Communication has been designed to serve as the touchstone text for researchers and scholars engaging in new research in this fast-developing field. Chapters provide a comprehensive grounding of the history, methods, debates and theories that contribute to the study of human-machine communication. Further to this, the Handbook provides a point of departure for theorizing interactions between people and technologies that are functioning in the role of communicators, and for considering the theoretical and methodological implications of machines performing traditionally ‘human’ roles. This makes the Handbook the first of its kind, and a valuable resource for students and scholars across areas such as communication, media and information studies, and computer science, as well as for practitioners, engineers and researchers interested in the foundational elements of this emerging field. Part 1: Histories and Trajectories Part 2: Approaches and Methods Part 3: Concepts and Contexts Part 4: Technologies and Applications
Chosen as one of the best books of 2022 by the Financial Times and the Telegraph. Longlisted for the Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing 'Compelling, powerful and necessary.' Shoshana Zuboff, author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism 'Fascinating' Guardian Without a moment's pause, we share our most intimate thoughts with trillion-dollar tech companies. Their algorithms categorize us and jump to troubling conclusions about who we are. They also shape our everyday thoughts, choices and actions - from who we date to whether we vote. But this is just the latest front in an age-old struggle. Part history and part manifesto, Freedom to Think explores how the powerful have always sought to influence how we think and what we buy. Connecting the dots from Galileo to Alexa, human rights lawyer Susie Alegre charts the history and fragility of our most important human right: freedom of thought. Filled with shocking case-studies across politics, criminal justice, and everyday life, this ground-breaking book shows how our mental freedom is under threat like never before. Bold and radical, Alegre argues that only by recasting our human rights for the digital age can we safeguard our future.
The fourth edition of EFFECTIVE PROJECT MANAGEMENT covers everything you need to know about working successfully in a project environment, including how to organize and manage effective project teams. Communication is also emphasized, with a focus on how to document and communicate project developments, both within and outside of the team. In-depth coverage of planning, scheduling and cost management is also provided. The authors' goal is to provide many cases that are fun and elicit interesting debates, and this edition includes new end-of-chapter cases. In addition, all new up-to-date Real World Project Management vignettes are included at the beginning and within each chapter, giving you a taste of how project management is practically applied in the workplace. Key points of each chapter are highlighted in Critical Success Factor boxes, providing an overview of the main ideas covered within the chapter. End-of-chapter materials contain questions and Internet exercises that allow you to apply the concepts covered in the chapter. Sprinkled throughout each chapter are boxed questions designed to test your comprehension of key concepts. A trial version of Microsoft" Office Project 2007 is included for student use on class projects.
Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists and mathematicians of all time, introduced the notion of a vector to define the existence of gravitational forces, the motion of the planets around the sun, and the motion of the moon around the earth. Vector calculus is a fundamental scientific tool that allows us to investigate the origins and evolution of space and time, as well as the origins of gravity, electromagnetism, and nuclear forces. Vector calculus is an essential language of mathematical physics, and plays a vital role in differential geometry and studies related to partial differential equations widely used in physics, engineering, fluid flow, electromagnetic fields, and other disciplines. Vector calculus represents physical quantities in two or three-dimensional space, as well as the variations in these quantities. The machinery of differential geometry, of which vector calculus is a subset, is used to understand most of the analytic results in a more general form. Many topics in the physical sciences can be mathematically studied using vector calculus techniques. This book is designed under the assumption that the readers have no prior knowledge of vector calculus. It begins with an introduction to vectors and scalars, and also covers scalar and vector products, vector differentiation and integrals, Gauss's theorem, Stokes's theorem, and Green's theorem. The MATLAB programming is given in the last chapter. This book includes many illustrations, solved examples, practice examples, and multiple-choice questions. |
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