Artificial neural networks, or simply called neural networks, refer to the various mathematical models of human brain functions such as perception, computation and memory. It is a fascinating scientific challenge of our time to understand how the human brain works. Modeling neural networks facilitates us in investigating the...

Programming is a fascinating and challenging subject. Unfortunately, it is rarely presented as such. Most often it is taught by "induction": features of some famous programming languages are given operational meaning (e.g. a loop "goes round and round"), a number of examples are shown, and by induction, we are asked to...

Welcome to the Microsoft Official Academic Course (MOAC) program for the 2007 Microsoft Office system. MOAC represents the collaboration between Microsoft Learning and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. publishing company. Microsoft and Wiley teamed up to produce a series of textbooks that deliver compelling and innovative teaching solutions...

I still remember deploying my first Microsoft Access application 10 years ago for a head hunting agency. They had a user base of about 200 users (I can already hear some of you groan) and they needed a system to manage job applicants and the companies that want to hire them. And they tossed my meager development team of two an...

I, like many of you, have been using Spring for a long, long time. I wasn’t initially convinced I needed Spring Roo (to be honest). It...

As Web designers, you are painstakingly compelled to grab Web surfers’ attention as quickly as possible and then keep them on your site to absorb the content. In addition to the product, service, or information that you are providing, the site must be visually attractive and offer stimulating (and valuable) interaction. The...

This volume contains the papers presented at the 14th International Workshop on Approximation Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization Problems (APPROX 2011) and the 15th International Workshop on Randomization and Computation (RANDOM 2011), which took place concurrently in Princeton University, USA, during August 17–19,...

Ad hoc and sensor networks continue to have a growing impact on communication. These cost-effective wireless networks provide location independent computing in environments ranging from military battlefields to in-home patient monitoring systems. However, having real-time connectivity to critical information over an open...

Microsoft Access is a unique platform that enables rapid development of database applications. It has been a long-time favorite of both developers and end users for creating single-user and small-scale office automation solutions. Recent improvements have made it a viable choice for enterprise-class applications as well. In this book,...

We know that it is rare in IT departments today that solutions do not have to integrate with other systems and even external entities. Systems just have to be connected to support the complex business processes and levels of automation that the business is demanding. Some of these systems are really at the core of the business. They can...

My journey down the social media road began years ago, and many people have praised me for my foresight and brilliance. They are very kind, but the truth is, what really took me down this road was desperation. A few years ago—perhaps you remember—the economy took a heck of a dip. On its way down, it punched me in the...

You may be reading this book for many reasons. It could be because you heard all about Hadoop and what it can do to crunch petabytes of data in a reasonable amount of time. While reading into Hadoop you found that, for random access to the accumulated data, there is something called HBase. Or it was the hype that is prevalent these days...