An academic dynasty has come together to write an excellent textbook on information retrieval. Stefan Buttcher, Charles Clarke, and Gordon Cormack make up three generations of stellar information retrieval researchers with over fifty years of combined experience. Buttcher was Clarke's doctoral student, and Clarke was Cormack's...

Like many of my colleagues in this industry, I learned Windows programming from Charles Petzold's Programming Windows—a classic programming text that is the bible to an entire generation of Windows programmers. When I set out to become an MFC programmer in 1994, I went shopping for an MFC equivalent to Programming...

The book is divided into a few major areas: theory and background, major genre divisions, AI techniques with code, and AI engine development concerns. Readers of the book should note that there might be some confusion if read from start to finish, since the genre chapters make mention of some of the AI techniques discussed later in the book....

Successful system development requires formulation and implementation of a sound technical strategy that accurately translates the user's operational needs into a physical solution to comply with their specifications and contract requirements. System Analysis,...

Creating Database Web Applications with PHP and ASP teaches beginning and intermediate designers the fundamentals of creating complex Web applications. By covering both open source (PHP/MySQL) and proprietary tools (Microsoft ASP and Access), readers gain insight to the strengths and weaknesses of each. In addition, they learn how...

Microsoft’s SharePoint platform is a complex, diverse technical tool designed to meet a range of business needs and uses. It requires several other platforms and applications for implementation, and it can be integrated with other external line of business applications. This diversity also applies to the numerous methods, tools, and...

In 1862, the gardener James Bateman sent several specimens of the Christmas orchid to Charles Darwin. This orchid was first planted in Britain in 1855 and it did not blossom until 1857. It had been discovered several decades before by the French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars in Madagascar in 1822. The most significant...

• A structured description of Sarbanes-Oxley and its...

In 1999, Dr Willy Chiu, noticing the emergence of many large and complex customer Web sites, and observing how they often failed to deliver the expected robustness and customer satisfaction, set up a new team within IBM called the High-Volume Web Sites (HVWS) team. This team was chartered to work with customers and IBM internal teams involved in...