Space, Structure and Randomness

Space, Structure and Randomness

Space, structure, and randomness: these are the three key concepts underlying Georges Matherons scientific work. He first encountered them at the beginning of his career when working as a mining engineer, and then they resurfaced in fields ranging from meteorology to microscopy. What could these radically different types of applications possibly have in common? First, in each one only a single realisation of the phenomenon is available for study, but its features repeat themselves in space; second, the sampling pattern is rarely regular, and finally there are problems of change of scale. This volume is divided in three sections on random sets, geostatistics and mathematical morphology. They reflect his professional interests and his search for underlying unity. Some readers may be surprised to find theoretical chapters mixed with applied ones. We have done this deliberately. GM always considered that the distinction between the theory and practice was purely academic. When GM tackled practical problems, he used his skill as a physicist to extract the salient features and to select variables which could be measured meaningfully and whose values could be estimated from the available data. Then he used his outstanding ability as a mathematician to solve the problems neatly and efficiently. It was his capacity to combine a physicists intuition with a mathematicians analytical skills that allowed him to produce new and innovative solutions to difficult problems. The book should appeal to graduate students and researchers working in mathematics, probability, statistics, physics, spatial data analysis, and image analysis. In addition it will be of interest to those who enjoy discovering links between scientific disciplines that seem unrelated at first glance. In writing the book the contributors have tried to put GMs ideas into perspective. During his working life, GM was a genuinely creative scientist. He developed innovative concepts whose usefulness goes far beyond the confines of the discipline for which they were originally designed. This is why his work remains as pertinent today as it was when it was first written.

Space, Structure and Randomness

Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac For Dummies

Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac For Dummies

Get started with Office 2011 for Mac and discover the creative possibilities

Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac For Dummies

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing

Ever since the term ‘crowdsourcing’ was coined in 2006 by ‘Wired’ writer Jeff Howe, group activities ranging from the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary to the choosing of new colors for M&Ms have been labeled with this most buzz-generating of media buzzwords. In this accessible but authoritative account, grounded in the empirical literature, Daren Brabham explains what crowdsourcing is, what it is not, and how it works. Crowdsourcing, Brabham tells us, is an online, distributed problem solving and production model that leverages the collective intelligence of online communities for specific purposes set forth by a crowdsourcing organization — corporate, government, or volunteer. Uniquely, it combines a bottom-up, open, creative process with top-down organizational goals. Crowdsourcing is not open source production, which lacks the top-down component; it is not a market research survey that offers participants a short list of choices; and it is qualitatively different from predigital open innovation and collaborative production processes, which lacked the speed, reach, rich capability, and lowered barriers to entry enabled by the Internet. Brabham describes the intellectual roots of the idea of crowdsourcing in such concepts as collective intelligence, the wisdom of crowds, and distributed computing. He surveys the major issues in crowdsourcing, including crowd motivation, the misconception of the amateur participant, crowdfunding, and the danger of ‘crowdsploitation’ of volunteer labor, citing real-world examples from Threadless, InnoCentive, and other organizations. And he considers the future of crowdsourcing in both theory and practice, describing its possible roles in journalism, governance, national security, and science and health.

Crowdsourcing

Art Projects that Dazzle and Delight

Art Projects that Dazzle and Delight

Beach Ball Collage, Patchwork Pets, Symmetrical SmilesKids will love these creative and colorful no-fail art activities that tie into popular themes, such as seasons, animals, and friends. Easy how-tos guide you through each step, from introducing the projects to displaying them. Created and classroom-tested by four art teachers, these surefire activities are fun for every student! For use with Grades 2-3.

Art Projects that Dazzle and Delight

The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving

The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving

A leader in the field shares her infectious enthusiasm for the art of off-loom beadweaving, leading you through all the basics and then on to more challenging techniques and projects. Admire the beautiful color photos and detailed diagrams and use them to learn every stitch needed to make beaded jewelry, clothing, lampshades, belts, and pillows. Begin with the beads themselves, perhaps decorating purchased varieties to personalize them. Weave with chevron chain; crochet; herringbone and peyote stitches; and spiral rope. The dramatic and unique projects include a Graduated Triangle Drop Necklace, Putting Together Earrings, Three-Bead Spiral Bracelet, Twisted ribbon Ndebele necklace, Gemstone Rope, Napkin Rings, and many more. Plus – the secret to developing your own creative variations on each theme.

The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving

From Literature to Biterature

From Literature to Biterature

From Literature to Biterature is based on the premise that in the foreseeable future computers will become capable of creating works of literature. Among hundreds of other questions, it considers: Under which conditions would machines become capable of creative writing? Given that computer evolution will exceed the pace of natural evolution a million-fold, what will such a state of affairs entail in terms of art, culture, social life, and even nonhuman rights? Drawing a map of impending literary, cultural, social, and technological revolutions, Peter Swirski boldly assumes that computers will leap from mere syntax-driven processing to semantically rich understanding. He argues that acknowledging biterature as a species of literature will involve adopting the same range of attitudes to computer authors (computhors) as to human ones and that it will be necessary to approach them as agents with internal states and creative intentions. Ranging from the metafiction of Stanislaw Lem to the ‘Turing test’ (familiar to scientists working in Artificial Intelligence and the philosophers of mind) to the evolutionary trends of culture and machines, Swirski’s scenarios lay the groundwork for a new area of study on the cusp of literary futurology, evolutionary cognition, and philosophy of the future.

From Literature to Biterature

Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?

Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?

A management professor and a religion professor team up to provide a fresh, penetrating look at the obstacles that prevent people from achieving their full potential. As authors Charles Watson and Thomas Idinopulos demonstrate, inner demons like a lack of integrity, mindless conformity, passivity, or greed conspire to keep people from doing their best. But people can avoid becoming their own worst enemies by using their uniquely human capacities to their fullestto be more responsible, more creative, more self-disciplined, and more honest. Using these strengths, the authors show, makes it easier to resolve ethical dilemmas, attain peak performance without burning out, maintain a positive outlook, and, ultimately, succeed in achieving treasured personal and professional goals.

Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?

Archetypes

Archetypes

Have you ever wondered why you are drawn to certain people, ideas or products and turned off by others? Are you constantly searching for something you can’t put your finger on, or wondering whether you are living a life that truly fits? In Archetypes, New York Times bestselling author Caroline Myss delves into the world of archetypes, which have been the subject of her work for more than 25 years. Archetypes are universal patterns of behavior that, once discovered, help you better understand yourself and your place in the world. In short, knowing your archetypes can transform your life. Within the pages of this book, Myss writes about ten primary archetypes that have emerged in today’s society: the Caregiver, the Artist/Creative, the Fashionista, the Intellectual, the Rebel, the Queen/Executive, the Advocate, the Visionary, the Athlete, and the Spiritual Seeker. In each chapter, she explains one individual archetype, showing how it has evolved and then in fascinating detail lays out the unique characteristics, the defining graces, the life challenges, and other information to help you understand if you are part of this archetype family and if so, how you can fully tap into its power. She also offers tips and practical advice on how to fully engage with your archetypes. Learning which archetypes best describe you is just the beginning. You can then use this knowledge to make more conscious decisions about everything from careers to relationships, avoiding common pitfalls of your personality type while playing up your strengths. The result is a happier, more authentic you. It’s never too late to change your life by embracing your archetypes to the fullest. So are you a Rebel? An Artist? A Visionary? Join us . . . and find yourself.

Archetypes

Managing Creativity in Science and Hi-Tech

Managing Creativity in Science and Hi-Tech

Addressing the issues unique to managers of creative technical staff, this guide reflects not only Ronald Kays long experience observing and teaching successful management techniques, but also treats the expanding challenges due to increasingly globally-based projects and staff. As before, Kays guide helps readers to prepare themselves, graduate students and others to understand and improve their managerial skills and covers such practical, yet sometimes overlooked, steps such as: individual and team behavior of creative technical staff; managing their own and others R&D projects; hiring, evaluating and compensating technical staff; R&D proposals and administrative functions; and presentations, meetings and organizational culture. New to this edition are a chapter on the global impact of high-tech enterprises and sections on the roles of foundations and government funding and task-force participation. Also tackled are the basics of starting, financing and staffing venture-capital-funded enterprises. Whats more, this book also serves to increase the awareness and knowledge base of anyone who needs to meet the challenge of managing people with the creative energies that drive technologically-based economic growth.

Managing Creativity in Science and Hi-Tech

The Essential Guide to English Studies

The Essential Guide to English Studies

Focusing on what it means to study English in higher education, this book guides students through key aspects of English Studies including major topics and approaches, subject-specific study skills and assessment, including seminar presentations, assignments, and exams. Peter Childs offers down-to-earth practical guidance on developing the skills needed to succeed and includes coverage of literature, language and creative writing. This is an essential introduction to English Studies for students beginning their studies at university or college and anyone considering taking a degree in English.

The Essential Guide to English Studies

Writing Theology Well

Writing Theology Well

In its creative integration of the disciplines of writing, rhetoric, and theology, Writing Theology Well provides a standard text for theological educators engaged in the teaching and mentoring of writing across the theological curriculum. As a theological rhetoric, it will also encourage excellence in theological writing in the public domain by helping to equip students for their wider vocations as writers, preachers, and communicators in a variety of ministerial and professional contexts.

Writing Theology Well

The Pen and the Cross

The Pen and the Cross

This incisive and perceptive new book concerns `Catholic Literature’ in Britain since 1850. To many people, Roman Catholicism is culturally foreign and `other’. And yet some of the most outstanding writers of recent times have been Catholics – often converts, such as Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Muriel Spark and David Jones. In every case these authors’ Catholicism was integral to their creative genius and they represent an important strand in any account of English literature.

The Pen and the Cross

Practical Ruby Projects

Practical Ruby Projects

Want to take Ruby to the limit? Looking for new, powerful, and creative ideas that will take Ruby beyond Rails and web programming? If youre comfortable with Ruby, youll be itching to go furtherapply Practical Ruby Projects: Ideas for the Eclectic Programmer and become a master of advanced Ruby techniques.

Practical Ruby Projects

Decoding the New Mortgage Market

Decoding the New Mortgage Market

The housing market is in turmoil, but if theres a silver lining, its the fact that purchase prices are at historic lows. Sure, there are still plenty of predatory lenders waiting to exploit the nave potential buyer, but those who do their homework will be rewarded with a fair price and manageable mortgage terms. Decoding the New Mortgage Market is a map to finding the best and most realistic mortgage deals while navigating past potential obstacles and traps. Filled with money-saving advice, this practical guide will help prospective buyers understand: How new lending and underwriting rules affect todays homebuyer Different loan types and lending institutions Credit issues and other qualifying factors Creative down-payment solutions How to reduce closing costs and other fees Because lenders and buyers alike have gotten burned in the mortgage crisis, finding and qualifying for a manageable loan may now be more difficult. Readers will find that Decoding the New Mortgage Market makes the search both easier and more fruitful, and that their dreams of home ownership are still within their reach.

Decoding the New Mortgage Market

Times Creative English for Primary Schools

Times Creative English for Primary Schools

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Times Creative English for Primary Schools

The George Gershwin Reader

The George Gershwin Reader

George Gershwin is one of the giants of American music, unique in that he was both a brilliant writer of popular songs (‘Swanee,’ ‘I Got Rhythm,’ ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me’) and of more serious music, including ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ ‘An American in Paris,’ and ‘Porgy and Bess.’ Now, in The George Gershwin Reader, music lovers are treated to a spectacular celebration of this great American composer. The Reader offers a kaleidoscopic collection of writings by and about Gershwin, including more than eighty pieces of superb variety, color, and depth. There is a who’s who of famous commentators: bandleader Paul Whiteman; critics Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, and Brooks Atkinson; fellow musicians Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Alec Wilder (who analyzes the songs ‘That Certain Feeling’ and ‘A Foggy Day’), Leonard Bernstein, and the formidable modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg (who was Gershwin’s tennis partner in Hollywood). Some of the most fascinating and important writings here deal with the critical debate over Gershwin’s concert pieces, especially ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and ‘An American in Paris,’ and there is a complete section devoted to the controversies over ‘Porgy and Bess,’ including correspondence between Gershwin and DuBose Hayward, the opera’s librettist (a series of excerpts which illuminate the creative process), plus unique interviews with the original Porgy and Bess–Todd Duncan and Anne Brown. Sprinkled throughout the book are excerpts from Gershwin’s own letters, which offer unique insight into this fascinating and charming man. Along with a detailed chronology of the composer’s life, the editors provide informative introductions to each entry. Here then is a book for anyone interested in American music. Scholars, performers, and Gershwin’s legions of fans will find it an irresistible feast.

The George Gershwin Reader

Digital Photography Essentials

Digital Photography Essentials

In the fast-changing world of digital photography, no other publisher/author partnership has been as successful at keeping up with current trends and developments as DK and Tom Ang. DK’s richly illustrative design and Tom’s clear writing and direction blend together to produce a strong combination of practical instruction with visual inspiration. Digital Photography Essentials provides just that combination for those wishing to develop and consolidate their skills-both technical and creative-whatever their level of expertise. It covers the basics of photography, different ways to approach a subject, how to develop projects, and image manipulation. In addition, Tom advises on printing techniques and shows you ways in which you can share your pictures with a wider audience via the internet. Throughout the book there are troubleshooting tips, image comparisons and analyzes to help you understand what makes a picture work, and inspiring assignments to follow. There is also a useful buyer’s guide to cameras, lenses, and accessories. With its fresh, contemporary design, beautiful images, and jargon-free yet highly practical text, the book is a totally new, up-to-the-minute guide to digital photography.

Digital Photography Essentials

Creative Problem Solving for Managers, Second Edition

Creative Problem Solving for Managers, Second Edition

This is an accessible text and lively introduction to the skills of creative problem solving. Using extensive case-studies from a wide range of business situations, it illustrates the techniques used to solve management problems.

Creative Problem Solving for Managers, Second Edition

Chaos, Creativity and Career in Independent and Electronic Music

Chaos, Creativity and Career in Independent and Electronic Music

A music-career book like no other, THE MUSIC PRODUCERS SURVIVAL GUIDE: CHAOS, CREATIVITY, AND CAREER IN INDEPENDENT AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC offers a wide-ranging, exploratory, yet refreshingly down-to-earth take on living the life of the independent electronic music producer. If you are an intellectually curious musician/producer eager to make your mark in todays technologically advanced music business, youre in for a treat. In this friendly, philosophical take on the art and science of music production, veteran producer, engineer, and teacher Brian Jackson shares clear, practical advice about shaping your own career in todays computer-centric home-studio music world. Youll cover music technology, philosophy of music production, career planning, networking, craft and creativity, the DIY ethos, lifestyle considerations, and much more. Brians thoughtful approach will teach you to integrate your creative passion, your lifestyle, and your technical know-how. The Music Producers Survival Guide is the first music-production book to consider the influence of complexity studies and chaos theory on music-making and career development. Focused on practicality, and guided by the big picture framework of Integral theory, it traverses a wide spectrum of topics, including presets, the butterfly effect, granular synthesis, harmonic ratios, the TR-808, altered states, fractals, P2P file sharing, and more. Carving out your niche in music today is an invigorating challenge that will test all your skills and capacities. Learn to surviveand thriveas a creative-technical professional in todays music business, with the help of Brian Jackson and THE MUSIC PRODUCERS SURVIVAL GUIDE: CHAOS, CREATIVITY, AND CAREER IN INDEPENDENT AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC.

Chaos, Creativity and Career in Independent and Electronic Music

Making Things See

Making Things See

This detailed, hands-on guide provides the technical and conceptual information you need to build cool applications with Microsoft’s Kinect, the amazing motion-sensing device that enables computers to see. Through half a dozen meaty projects, you’ll learn how to create gestural interfaces for software, use motion capture for easy , character animation, 3D scanning for custom fabrication, and many other applications.,

Perfect for hobbyists, makers, artists, and gamers, Making Things See shows you how to build every , with inexpensive off-the-shelf components, including the open source Processing , language and the Arduino microcontroller. You’ll learn basic skills that will enable you to pursue your own creative applications with Kinect.

Making Things See