PDF CHM Books Catalogue
Posted: October 29th, 2008, 3:01pm CET
There is almost a fervor in the way that new products, with their rich and dynamic interfaces, are being released to the public-typically promising to make lives easier, solve the most difficult of problems, and maybe even make the world a better place. The reality is that few survive, much less deliver on their promise. The folly? An absence of design, and an over-reliance on technology alone as the solution.
We need design. But design as described here depends on different skillsets-each essential, but on their own, none sufficient. In this rich ecology, designers are faced with new challenges-challenges that build on, rather than replace, existing skills and practice.
Sketching User Experiences approaches design and design thinking as something distinct that needs to be better understood-by both designers and the people with whom they need to work- in order to achieve success with new products and systems. So while the focus is on design, the approach is holistic. Hence, the book speaks to designers, usability specialists, the HCI community, product managers, and business executives. There is an emphasis on balancing the back-end concern with usability and engineering excellence (getting the design right) with an up-front investment in sketching and ideation (getting the right design). Overall, the objective is to build the notion of informed design: molding emerging technology into a form that serves our society and reflects its values.
Grounded in both practice and scientific research, Bill Buxton's engaging work aims to spark the imagination while encouraging the use of new techniques, breathing new life into user experience design.
. Covers sketching and early prototyping design methods suitable for dynamic product capabilities: cell phones that communicate with each other and other embedded systems, "smart" appliances, and things you only imagine in your dreams;
. Thorough coverage of the design sketching method which helps easily build experience prototypes-without the effort of engineering prototypes which are difficult to abandon;
. Reaches out to a range of designers, including user interface designers, industrial designers, software engineers, usability engineers, product managers, and others;
. Full of case studies, examples, exercises, and projects, and access to video clips (www.mkp.com/sketching) that demonstrate the principles and methods.
About the Author
Trained as a musician, Bill Buxton began using computers over thirty years ago in his art. This early experience, both in the studio an on stage, helped develop a deep appreciation of both the positive and negative aspects of technology and its impact. This increasingly drew him into both design and research, with a very strong emphasis on interaction and the human aspects of technology. He first came to prominence for his work at the University of Toronto on digital musical instruments and the novel interfaces that they employed. This work in the late 70s gained the attention of Xerox PARC, where Buxton participated in pioneering work in collaborative work, interaction techniques and ubiquitous computing. He then went on to become Chief Scientist of SGI and Alias|Wavefront, where he had the opportunity to work with some of the top film makers and industrial designers in the world. He is now a principal researcher at Microsoft Corp., where he splits his time between research and helping make design a fundamental pillar of the corporate culture.
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Posted: October 29th, 2008, 3:00pm CET
"I recommend this book to anyone doing 802.15.4 or ZigBee development. It is likely that Eady touches on the platform you are or will be using and it contrasts it well with everything else out there." - William Wong, Electronic Design, August 2007
Since its recent introduction, the ZigBee protocol has created an enormous amount of buzz in venues from magazine covers to trade show floors to water coolers. Its promise of providing a simpler, cheaper, more power-efficient WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network) alternative to WiFi and Bluetooth has opened up new data collection possibilities in application areas from industrial controls to medical devices to intruder alarms. Yet, despite this widespread interest, there is still little information available that goes beyond detailing the spec itself. Missing from the current ZigBee lexicon is practical, application-oriented guidance from an expert, specifically geared to aid engineers in implementing this new technology. Enter respected designer and popular columnist Fred Eady! With his new book, he provides the only comprehensive how-to ZigBee guide available.
·The ONLY one-stop Zigbee resource available- from basics to sniffers to specs
·7 easy-to-assemble ZigBee projects allow the reader to follow along...hands-on!
·Working hardware and software examples included in every chapter
About the Author
As an engineering consultant, Fred Eady has implemented communications networks for the space program and designed hardware and firmware for the medical, retail and public utility industries. He currently writes a monthly embedded design column for a popular electronics enthusiast magazine. Fred also composes monthly articles for a popular robotics magazine. Fred has been dabbling in electronics for over 30 years. His embedded design expertise spans the spectrum and includes Intel's 8748 and 8051 microcontrollers, the entire Microchip PIC microcontroller family and the Atmel AVR microcontrollers. Fred recently retired from his consulting work and is focused on writing magazine columns and embedded design books.
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Posted: October 29th, 2008, 11:32am CET
Scientists in optics are increasingly confronted with problems that are of a random nature and that require a working knowledge of probability and statistics for their solution. This textbook develops these subjects within the context of optics using a problem-solving approach. All methods are explicitly derived and can be traced back to three simple axioms given at the outset. Students with some previous exposure to Fourier optics or linear theory will find the material particularly absorbing and easy to understand.
This third edition contains many new applications to optical and physical phenomena. This includes a method of estimating probability laws exactly, by regarding them as laws of physics to be determined using a new variational principle.
Information technology has now pervaded the legal sector, and the very modern concepts of e-law and e-justice show that automation processes are ubiquitous. European policies on transparency and information society, in particular, require the use of technology and its steady improvement.
Some of the revised papers presented in this book originate from a workshop held at the European University Institute of Florence, Italy, in December 2006. The workshop was devoted to the discussion of the different ways of understanding and explaining contemporary law, for the purpose of building computable models of it -- especially models enabling the development of computer applications for the legal domain. During the course of the following year, several new contributions, provided by a number of ongoing (or recently finished) European projects on computation and law, were received, discussed and reviewed to complete the survey.
This book presents 20 thoroughly refereed revised papers on the hot topics under research in different EU projects: legislative XML, legal ontologies, semantic web, search and meta-search engines, web services, system architecture, dialectic systems, dialogue games, multi-agent systems (MAS), legal argumentation, legal reasoning, e-justice, and online dispute resolution. The papers are organized in topical sections on knowledge representation, ontologies and XML legislative drafting; knowledge representation, legal ontologies and information retrieval; argumentation and legal reasoning; normative and multi-agent systems; and online dispute resolution.
Biologically inspired computing is different from conventional computing. It has a different feel; often the terminology does not sound like it’s talking about machines. The activities of this computing sound more human than mechanistic as people speak of machines that behave, react, self-organize, learn, generalize, remember and even to forget. Much of this technology tries to mimic nature’s approach in order to mimic some of nature’s capabilities. They have a rigorous, mathematical basis and neural networks for example have a statistically valid set on which the network is trained.
Two outlines are suggested as the possible tracks for pattern recognition. They are neural networks and functional networks. Neural Networks (many interconnected elements operating in parallel) carry out tasks that are not only beyond the scope of conventional processing but also cannot be understood in the same terms. Imaging applications for neural networks seem to be a natural fit. Neural networks love to do pattern recognition. A new approach to pattern recognition using microARTMAP together with wavelet transforms in the context of hand written characters, gestures and signatures have been dealt. The Kohonen Network, Back Propagation Networks and Competitive Hopfield Neural Network have been considered for various applications.
Computer networks are compromised by various unpredictable factors, such as hackers, viruses, spam, faults, and system failures, hindering the full utilization of computer systems for collaborative computing one of the objectives for the next generation of the Internet. It includes the functions of data communication, resource sharing, group cooperation, and task allocation. One popular example of collaborative computing is grid computing.
This monograph considers the latest efforts to develop a trusted environment with the high security and reliability needed for collaborative computing. The important modules treated include secure group communication, access control, dependability, grid computing, key management, intrusion detection, and trace back. In addition, a real project for developing a nationwide medical information system with high dependability and security is described.
Contents:
- Secure Group Communication (SGC);
- Cryptography Based Access Control;
- Intrusion Detection and Defence;
- Security in Grid Computing;
- Trusted and Seamless Medical Information Systems.
From the 1979 invention by two MIT students of the visible calculator to the war between Lotus and Microsoft for dominance in the spreadsheet market, this book is a fascinating look at the software application that helped spur the entire computer industry. This loving look back at the early computer and technology evolution will teach anyone interested in computer history about the MIT students, Bricklin and Frankston, and their unique vision; how Mitch Kapor and Lotus 1-2-3 trumped VisiCalc; how the spreadsheet gave businesses a reason to buy PCs; and how Microsoft came to dominate the market. The book also contains descriptions of 25 amazing spreadsheets that users can download from the book's web site.
"Human-Computer Interaction and Management Information Systems: Foundations" offers state-of-the-art research by a distinguished set of authors who span the MIS and HCI fields. The original chapters provide authoritative commentaries and in-depth descriptions of research programs that will guide 21st century scholars, graduate students, and industry professionals. Human-Computer Interaction (or Human Factors) in MIS is concerned with the ways humans interact with information, technologies, and tasks, especially in business, managerial, organizational, and cultural contexts. It is distinctive in many ways when compared with HCI studies in other disciplines. The MIS perspective affords special importance to managerial and organizational contexts by focusing on analysis of tasks and outcomes at a level that considers organizational effectiveness. With the recent advancement of technologies and development of many sophisticated applications, human-centeredness in MIS has become more critical than ever before. This book focuses on the basics of HCI, with emphasis on concepts, issues, theories, and models that are related to understanding human tasks, and the interactions among humans, tasks, information, and technologies in organizational contexts in general.
The two-volume set LNCS 4477 and 4478 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third Iberian Conference on Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis, IbPRIA 2007, held in Girona, Spain in June 2007.
The 48 revised full papers and 108 revised poster papers presented together with 3 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 328 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on pattern recognition, human language technology, special architectures and industrial applications, motion analysis, image analysis, biomedical applications, shape and texture analysis, 3D, as well as image coding and processing.
Although software engineering can trace its beginnings to a NATO conference in 1968, it cannot be said to have become an empirical science until the 1970s with the advent of the work of Prof. Victor Robert Basili of the University of Maryland. In addition to the need to engineer software was the need to understand software. Much like other sciences, such as physics, chemistry, and biology, software engineering needed a discipline of observation,theory formation, experimentation, and feedback. By applying the scientific method to the software engineering domain, Basili developed concepts like the Goal-Question-Metric method, the Quality-Improvement-Paradigm, and the Experience Factory to help bring a sense of order to the ad hoc developments so prevalent in the software engineering field.
On the occasion of Basili’s 65th birthday, we present this book containing reprints of 20 papers that defined much of his work. We divided the 20 papers into 6 sections, each describing a different facet of his work, and asked several individuals to write an introduction to each section.
Instead of describing the scope of this book in this preface, we decided to let one of his papers, the keynote paper he gave at the International Conference on Software Engineering in 1996 in Berlin, Germany to lead off this book. He, better than we, can best describe his views on what is experimental software engineering.
This book was developed for a symposium honoring Basili, which was held during the International Conference on Software Engineering in St. Louis, MO, USA in May 2005. Whether you attended this symposium or are reading this later, we are confident that you will find these papers to be an important compendium of experimental software engineering literature.
In "Two Bits", Christopher M. Kelty investigates the history and cultural significance of Free Software, revealing the people and practices that have transformed not only software, but also music, film, science, and education. Free Software is a set of practices devoted to the collaborative creation of software source code that is made openly and freely available through an unconventional use of copyright law. Kelty shows how these specific practices have reoriented the relations of power around the creation, dissemination, and authorization of all kinds of knowledge after the arrival of the Internet."Two Bits" also makes an important contribution to discussions of public spheres and social imaginaries by demonstrating how Free Software is a "recursive public" - a public organized around the ability to build, modify, and maintain the very infrastructure that gives it life in the first place. Drawing on ethnographic research that took him from an Internet healthcare start-up company in Boston to media labs in Berlin to young entrepreneurs in Bangalore, Kelty describes the technologies and the moral vision that binds together hackers, geeks, lawyers, and other Free Software advocates.In each case, he shows how their practices and way of life include not only the sharing of software source code but also ways of conceptualizing openness, writing copyright licenses, coordinating collaboration, and proselytizing for the movement. By exploring in detail how these practices came together as the Free Software movement from the 1970s to the 1990s, Kelty also shows how it is possible to understand the new movements that are emerging out of Free Software: projects such as Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that creates copyright licenses, and Connexions, a project to create an online scholarly textbook commons.
About the Author
Christopher M. Kelty is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Rice University and Visiting Assistant Professor in the History of Science at Harvard University (2007-08).
Online learning is transcending from the text-rich educational experience of the past to a video- and audio-rich learning transformation. The greater levels of media-rich content and media-rich interaction that are currently prevalent in online leisure experiences will help to increase e-learning s future efficiency and effectiveness.
Enhancing E-Learning with Media-Rich Content and Interactions presents instructional designers, educators, scholars, and researchers with the necessary foundational elements, theoretical underpinnings, and practical guidance to aid in the technology selection and design of effective online learning experiences by integrating media-rich interactions and content.
About the Author
Richard Caladine is the Manager of Learning Facilities and Technologies at University of Wollongong Australia. He is responsible for the operation of University of Wollongong s audio-visual and rich media educational systems. These include a videoconference service consisting of 32 endpoints and a 40 port videoconference bridge that connects the seven NSW campuses of the University. As well he is responsible for the podcasting, webcasting and streaming services. He is actively involved with the training of staff in the pedagogically appropriate use of these systems and other educational technologies. Since 1994 he has researched the use of rich media in higher education, has published many papers, book chapters and books all on the appropriate pedagogical use of educational technologies. Richard s PhD is in the area of educational technology and he supervises postgraduate students in the area of Learning, Innovation and Future Technologies. Richard regularly speaks at international conferences, symposia and forums about the pedagogically appropriate application and future of Learning Technologies. His other interests include surfing, bushwalking, photography, and he regularly enters paintings and drawings in competitions. He is a foundation member of the Illawarra Ukulele Club.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines. These Guidelines reflect HHS’ commitment to identifying innovative, research-based approaches that result in highly responsive and easy-to-use Web sites for the public.
The Federal government is the largest single producer, collector, consumer, and disseminator of information in the United States. The Internet provides the most efficient and effective way of making this information available to the widest possible audience. Record numbers of citizens are accessing government sites 24 hours a day to find information and services that will improve their daily lives. This makes it all the more essential that the Federal government deliver Web technologies that enable and empower citizens.
These Guidelines help move us in that direction by providing practical, yet authoritative, guidance on a broad range of Web design and communication issues. Having access to the best available research helps to ensure we make the right decisions the first time around and reduces the possibility of errors and costly mistakes.
Since their introduction in 2003, the Guidelines have been widely used by government agencies and the private sector, implemented in academic curriculum, and translated into several foreign languages. I encourage all government agencies to use these Guidelines to harness the Web in support of the President’s vision of a Federal government that is citizen-centered and results-oriented.
"When QuickTime application developers get stuck, one of the first places they look for help is example code from the QuickTime Engineering team. Finally, these well-crafted examples and clear descriptions are available in book form-a must-have for anyone writing applications that import, export, display, or interact with QuickTime movies." -Matthew Peterson; University of California, Berkeley; the M.I.N.D. Institute; and author of Interactive QuickTime
QuickTime Toolkit Volume One is a programmer's introduction to QuickTime, the elegant and potent media engine used by many of Apple's industry-leading services and products (such as the iTunes music store, iMovie, and Final Cut Pro) and also used by a large number of third-party applications. This hands-on guide shows you how to harness the powerful capabilities of QuickTime for your own projects. The articles collected here from the author's highly regarded column in
MacTech Magazine are packed with accessible code examples to get you quickly started developing applications that can display and create state-of-the-art digital content. This book begins by showing how to open and display QuickTime movies in a Macintosh or Windows application and progresses step by step to show you how to control movie playback and how to import and transform movies and images. QuickTime Toolkit also shows how to create movies with video data, text, time codes, sprites, and wired (interactive) elements.
Part of the official QuickTime Developer Series, publishing the finest books on QuickTime in cooperation with Apple.
About the Author
Tim Monroe is a senior software engineer on the QuickTime engineering team at Apple Computer and a contributing editor at
MacTech Magazine. He has spoken at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference, QuickTime Live! and the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference. He began his career at Apple as a technical writer, authoring a number of volumes in the well-known Inside Macintosh series and most of the original QuickTime VR and QuickDraw 3D developer documentation. Prior to joining Apple, he worked as a contractor at places like Sun Microsystems and IBM.
