Computer Science Books

This is a good book in reliability modeling of computer systems as it explicitly explains very deep knowledge in a clear way. Many technologies presented in this book are easy to be applied in practice. The examples help me clearly understand them although there are some mathematical formulas out of my current knowledge structure.

The book studies the reliability on software, hardware, network and system levels. I especially like the part about the grid reliability that can be implemented to study the reliability of large-scale systems.

This is a good book that comprehensively investigates the reliability for most advanced computer systems.

The world of information security is replete with conjecture, confusion, and outright fiction. In brilliant contrast, Bob Blakley's "CORBA Security - An Introduction to Safe Computing with Objects" stands as a testimony of precision, clarity, and truth, with one exception: the book's title.

While the volume addresses architectural aspects of CORBA Security and provides a healthy discussion of object-specific security issues, it is really about a much more pervasive subject. Namely, how the fundamental tenant of Security Policy design can and should be woven through Identity, Authentication, Privilege, and Access Control. It also tackles two of the most misunderstood, yet critical security issues in modern N-tier distributed systems: Delegation and Non-Repudiation.

The writing style, like the author himself (whom I'm acquainted with on a processional level) is modest, direct, and inclusive. All terminology is progressively defined and clearly communicates the underlying concepts. As a budding security architect and veteran software engineer I highly recommend this book to managers, system designers, security administrators, and members of the legal and causality communities. In short anyone needing a deeper understanding of policy-driven, distributed computer security systems, CORBA or no CORBA.

"CORBA Security" is very much in the classic vein of "The Elements of Style" (E.B. White) - concise, accessible, and durably relevant. A true classic!

I would highly recommend this book for organizations needing "information security (INFOSEC)" as it pertains to the Object Management Group's (OMG's) Common Object Request Broker Achitecture (CORBA) standard. The book takes a less technical overview to the OMG CORBASecurity specification and what CORBASecurity standard is trying to accomplish. It does this by using less technical jargon and acronyms which are sometimes confusing to neophytes unfamiliar with the very technical and complex world of INFOSEC.

In my view, the most important part of the book is its last chapter (i.e., Chapter 10 entitled "Questions to Ask Your Secure Object System Vendor"). Why? Because this chapter outlines thirteen questions that end user organizations can ask their vendors (in this case, Object Request Broker (ORB) vendors and referred to in the book as "secure object system vendors"). These thirteen questions are simple security questions that will get to the bottom line of capabilities of what ORB vendors may or may not supply with their ORB's security service. Thus, it can be used as a buyers guide to the types of security capabilities that your organization may desire with an ORB product.

Recent hacker attacks on such high profile sites as Amazon and Yahoo should be a slap on the side of the head style reminder as to how important security is in computing. However, while these are significant, one must not lose sight of all of the other aspects of security, which dwarfs the rather simplistic nature of these attacks. For many systems, security issues must be as integral a part of the design as which classes to use.
Despite the title, this book is not focused on CORBA, but is more a general introduction to the issues of security. In that area, it is a very good book. The basic problems and general solutions to security issues are presented in a manner well within the grasp of non-technical readers.
The three main areas of protection: authorization, accountability and availability are explained in detail, using an example that is both practical and instructive. Submitting a tax return electronically is a serious business and the explanation of how every party to the transaction satisfies these three criteria is the best explanation of the process that I have read.
If your goal is to learn the basics of computer security in the context of, but not exclusive to a CORBA environment, then this book is exactly what you are looking for. If your interest is in a detailed explanation of CORBA, then you must look elsewhere.

Everyone involved in usability needs a highlighted, or bookmarked iwth post-it notes, copy of this book. Its always powerful to back up how important usability is to others who are unfamiliar with its power, be it your team or a client, and this book shows you how to do figure out the return of investment with dollars, something everyone understands. Overall, it gets the point across by showing readers how to do it for themselves with formulas that are not all that difficult at all, and where to pull numbers from to calculate the ROI.

If you are looking for help with quantifying the cost of bad interface design and/or how poorly designed application costs the company money, then this is the book for you.

This book is practical and right on target for helping IT groups and customers understand the importance of systems that allow work to be completed efficiently. The authors do a great job quantifying the cost of poorly design, unusable system.

If you have ever tried to demonstrate to an IT group that it is more costly not to change the system, then this book will give you the strategy for showing how investing in system changes actually costs less in the short term, than in the long term.

End users will cheer anyone who applies the information in this book to the applications they use.

Bite the bullet, buy the book. in these days of cut budgets, you must be able to justify your worth. There are formulas in this book that anyone designing software or digital products can use-- not just usability geeks. IA's, designers, GUI kids... time to learn the math.

I bought this book for the math course I had taken having the same title. This is an excellent book, but only if you are really interested in its content. It's not a casual read, since it's graduate text. Also, a background in number theory will be of great help - being a CS major, I had a little tough time in the beginning, but things turned out just fine. As for content, it has excellent coverage of the subject, and I would highly recommend this as a reference in this subject. Remember, though, that this book deals COMPUTATIONAL aspects, for only number theory, look for other books like Ireland-Rosen.

This book is an excellent compilation of both the theory and pseudo-code for number theoretic algorithms. The author also takes the time to prove some of the major results as background to the algorithms, in addition to sets of exercises at the end of the book. The book is too large to do a chapter by chapter review, so instead I will list the algorithms in the book that I thought were particularly useful:

1. Most of the algorithms on elliptic curves. The author reminds the reader that number-theoretical experiments resulted in the famous Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture and the Birch Conjecture. (a) the reduction algorithm, which for a given point in the upper half plane, gives the unique point in the half plane equivalent to this point under the action of the special linear group along with the matrix that maps these two points to each other. (b) The computation of the coefficient g2 and g3 of the Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve. (c) The computation of the Weierstrass function and its derivative. (d) Determination of the periods of an elliptic curve over the real numbers. (e) The determination of the elliptic logarithm. (f) The reduction of a general cubic (f) The Shanks-Mestre algorithm for computing the order of an elliptic curve over a finite field F(p), where p is prime and greater than 457. (g) The reduction of an elliptic curve modulo p for p > 3. (h) The reduction of an elliptic curve modulo 2 or 3. (i) Reduction of an elliptic curve over the rational numbers. (j) Determination of the rational torsion points of an elliptic curve. (k) Computation of the Hilbert class polynomials and thus a determination of the j-function of an elliptic curve.

2. A few of the algorithms on factoring. (a) The Pollard algorithm for finding non-trivial factors of composites. (The author does not give the improved algorithm due to P. Montgomery, but does give references) (b) Shanks Square Form Factorization algorithm for finding a non-trivial factor of an odd integer. (c) Lenstra's Elliptic Curve test for compositeness.

3. Primality tests (a) The Jacobi Sum Primality Test for a positive integer. (b) Goldwasser-Killian elliptic curve test for a positive integer not equal to 1 and coprime to 6.

The author gives an overview of the computer packages used for number theory, including Pari, which was written by him and his collaborators. I have not used this package, but instead use Lydia and Mathematica for most of the number theoretic computations I need to do.

Cohen (the world renowned expert) starts with the most basic of algorithms (i.e. Euclid & Shanks). He moves seamlessly into Linear Algebra & Polynomials (bedrocks of most CAS). Although meant to be concise, he proves, or sketches a proof of the important results. Finally, the meat of the book, C.A.N.T. One important problem is finding the "class number" (has to do with unique factorization, which we are all accustomed to in Z). A detailed description of the continued fraction algorithm (for finding the fundamental unit), and others made it very enlightening. He then deals with primality testing and factoring, two very important problems, the latter because of RSA. First, a description of the algorithm, then the theory behind it. He covered everything, from Trial Division (Dark Ages) to Pollard Rho to NFS (cutting-edge). Also included are some useful tables.

Of course, CAS information from 1993, won't be that helpful (look in his newest, Advanced Topics in C.A.N.T.).

Excellent. Also try Knuth's "Semi-numerical Algorithms" for a more computer oriented approach.

This book reveals the true nature of the nearly tectonic shift in the landscape of content being caused by digital technology. Even as the editor of Digital TV magazine, I have not read a book that examines, in such a penetrating manner, and with such a dazzling collection of expert voices, the depth of this dramatic change and what it now means. Further, it reveals the implications for the future of creating and distributing content in the digital age. This book is a must for anyone who cares about navigating the new world of digital content.

This is a "must buy" for anyone interested in the digital revolution that is changing the way we communicate. It explains how camcorders, Avids, and computers have changed video, movie-making, web streaming, and how to become part of it. "Digital content" is really what video, TV and movies have become. You can re-use your video and audio in many different ways to better serve clients or create original programming. The book explains what's going on very clearly. Digital video is really computer data, so it's cheaper and easier to work with than "regular" video. And the image is better! You can produce any type of show for less money than ever before, and you can do more things with your video; stream it on the web, put it on a DVD disc, project it as a movie, or re-use clips for other programs. Audio and sound techniques are also included.
"Creating Digital Content" starts off with a funny story by Firesign Theatre's Peter Bergman that makes you realize how much digital video and software has changed the way movies and TV are made. Then there's a really interesting section on what "digital" really means, which is the most concise definition I've ever read. Really helpful is the fact that they go into specifics about the best equipment available... over 25 chapters all about computers, Avids, camcorders, memory, etc. which can be used to make HDTV, corporate video, interactive TV and yes, feature films! Whether you're at a local TV station, a production house, a university A/V department, or you're an "A" list DGA feature film director, these are the NEW tools that you must be familiar with and ready to use.
You'll understand how computers, software and camcorders have become the new ways to make TV, streaming video, and big budget movies. Plus amazing interviews with the giants in the field, such as George Lucas and James Cameron.
I highly recommend "Creating Digital Cinema". It's an invaluable resource for anyone seriously interested in video, TV, streaming, and movies, and at the same it's a great read.

For a subject rife with hype and confusion, the editors bring together articles that are by turns surprising, authoritative and laugh-out-loud funny. For industries with notoriously short attention spans, the book reveals the lessons learned from decades of failure and success in Interactive TV and digital TV and gives roadmaps to the future.

As I do not work for M.I.6, the N.S.A. or some other `Secret Service' a computer program as Wolfram's ` Mathematical Explorer' [at Amazon for $75, or so] which can encrypt a message by R.S.A [heavy duty crypto] is `really' all I need.

I have a number of books on all kinds of cryptography ... `classical' crypto, `Codes' [different from cyphers], number theory and so on.

While there are `better' books on specific parts of cryptology this book is by far the best overall introduction.

The title of this book scared me a bit. I have never been that `comfortable' with some sorts of maths and this book `sounded' brutal, and while it is a `math' book it is really not impossible to `figure out' [although some spots I must have read twenty times but thats the topic].

`REQUIRED BACKGROUND'

You can `do' with less but it helps to know basic algebra and understand variables. The vocabulary and nomenclature of areas as Set Theory and Probability [which I had to `study up' on] would be `nice' but you can `slide' without them,

Reading level: age 14 through senility :-) [ but a challenge for those `dead and encrypted'.
`Classical', pen and paper, cryptology: B+
Clear Writing: A-
The `History' of cryptology: C+
Physical [binding and paper, type, type size ... ] B

Also covered in detail is "public key' cryptography which as I wrote I do by `pre - written' computer program.

I *loved* this book.

It covers the essential number theory required to understand various encryption schemes, and while it is a thin book, it doesn't omit any steps between various mathematical steps (" ... and then magic happens ..."). You end up with the satisfying feeling of being able to derive the proof for RSA, starting from high-school math.

Highly recommended.

I cannot speak for the female side of the human race, but when I was young all the boys wanted to be a spy. We formed clubs and pretended to be secret agents. It was such great fun to create and use the codes to encrypt, pass and decode our important messages. Reading this book took me back to those days, not only reminding me of the good times we had but also how serious encryption is.
This book was a good deal of fun to read, but underlying the fun there is an air of extreme seriousness. It is not an exaggeration to say that secure encryption is the key to the efficient functioning of the global economy. Billions of dollars are electronically moved every day and without the security of unbreakable encryption, it would all be too unreliable to use. If the current codes were proven to be breakable, it would be a catastrophe, probably the only threat to the world economy that does not involve a major natural disaster.
The mathematics of encryption are surprisingly easy to understand. Starting with the simple substitution ciphers and moving through the more complex polyalphabetic and polygraphic substitutions, the techniques to create and break them are described. For most of the codes, the most complex mathematics needed to understand them is a basic understanding of matrices and how they are added and multiplied. It is only in the last chapter of public key cryptography where some advanced mathematics of number theory are used. Each chapter ends with a set of problems and solutions to the even ones are given in an appendix.
This would be an excellent textbook for a course in applied mathematics. There is an inherent fascinating quality to the subject matter and the tales of encryption are very well done. I strongly recommend that you read it.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

I found this book an exellent introduction to advanced geometry concepts used in computer graphics, vision, robotics, geometric modeling and many other related areas. Gallier has struck a perfect balance between formal mathematical rigour and intuition and readability which the book lends easily with its many beautiful illustrations and examples. The concept of "blossoming" is a rarely-seen but extremely elegant way of presenting the curves and surfaces. This book is a must for anyone who loves the elegance of geometry.

This book is a good review of the concepts of geometry for Modeling. The presentation is original. The mathematical treatment is sound. This a "required reading" for those in Computer Graphics research and did not have a good course in geometry. Those who have had a good course in geometry will appreciate the original style of presentation. This book fills a long felt gap in the treatment of geometry from the perspective of Computer Graphics. The book assumes minimal background in mathematics, and is almost self-contained.

There are fewer graphics programmers who have an adequate understanding of the underlying mathematical concepts. This book can partially help the graphics programmers to cross over to that select group. Problems at the end of each chapter enhance the value of the book. The material is updated with latest developments in the field such as subdivision surfaces.

People interested in Computer Graphics, Geometric Modeling, Computer Vision, and Robotics will benefit from studying this book.

This is a great book, definitely the best among the various books on geometric design and CAGD (other good ones include Farin, Mortsenson, Piegl and Tiller, Hoscheck and Lasser). It is not as encyclopedic as the sources listed above, but it a lot more coherent and a lot clearer, because it follows the unifying concept of blossoming. As a result, one gets multiple complementary views of polynomial curves and surfaces: algebraic, geometric, combinatorial, and algorithmic. For example, we can see where the Bernstein polynomials come from, instead of mysteriously being dropped from the sky. The systematic use of blossoms (polar forms) is particularly elegant in the presentation of surfaces, where it clarifies greatly the differences between rectangular and triangular patches. The discussion of subdivision versions of the de Casteljau algorithm is very thorough and unique. Gallier's book is also the only book to discuss subdivision surfaces in some detail (Doo-Sabin, Catmull-Clark, and Loop). In particular, an analysis of the convergence of Loop's scheme is given. For this, the author gives a remarkable crash course on the discrete Fourier transform. However, this chapter is too dense and should have been split. Also, much more pictures are needed. It seems that the author was in a rush. The appendix on vector spaces is gorgeous, and the one on differentials is also excellent. This book is highly recommended to mathematically inclined readers interested in geometric modeling and computer graphics. Too bad that applications to medicine such as organ modeling, or to computer animation, are not presented. Nevertheless, Mathematica code is provided for most of the algorithms. A web site would be helpful.

Norbert Wiener was interested in the means by which feedback could be communicated to help correct the problems that develop in an organism. In investigating this matter, Weiner investigates a number of topics that differentiate between mere computation and intelligence and the importance that information plays in both. This is the unifying theme of a book that seems to wander through many topics using philosophy, mathematics, and the theory of computation.

For example, in chapter one of the book, Wiener illustrates the basic difference between man and machine with a discussion of the concept of Newtonian versus Bergsonian time. He states that Newtonian time - that of high level physics phenomena- is reversible. Bergsonian time, the time of living organisms making their way against entropy is not reversible. Thus since Newtonian time is reversible nothing "new" happens, as opposed to the irreversible time of evolution and biology in which there is always something new.

He continues this idea in the chapter "Computing Machines and the Nervous System." In it, he defines the characteristics of computing machinery. He concludes that the brain, being irreversible, is thus an analog of a single run of a machine. Wiener also points out that many problems of human metabolism and reproduction are associated with the inability to receive and organize impulses and make them effective in the outer world. Thus Weiner ultimately concludes that to live effectively is to live with adequate information.

There are also chapters that are almost purely philisophical about the role of information in society. Then there are other chapters that present heavy-duty mathematics on such topics as representing a time series of known statistical parameters as Brownian motion in an attempt to solve communications problems in nonlinear situations. The mathematics in this book is presented with little or no background, so you are going to need other sources to understand what Wiener is trying to convey.

In summary, if you want an interesting read on the science and philosophy of artificial intelligence and the role of the machine this is one of the best out there. It still stands the test of time after nearly sixty years.

Two books, both written in the late 1940s stand out as contributing much to our understanding of the world around us. One of these is "Cybernetics" by Weiner and the other is "The mathematical theory of communication" by Shannon. Both require some study by contain many sections that are easily readable by anyone which get the main points across in an understandable manner.

Weiner's book discuses the use of feedback on virtually every type of control mechanism known... i.e., those of nature as well as those of man. It is the "basic" stuff that everyone of us uses everyday and every moment of our lives whether we are aware of it or not. Whereas Shannon's book tells us how to communicate information in an error-free (or nearly so) way, Weiner's book explains how that information is used to provide effective control of everything around us. For many decades since I first was introduced to these two works, I have used their principles in most things I do.

I very highly recommend these two books to anyone who considers themselves a "thinking person" and is seeking to understand the world around them. Both easily get 5 stars. They are major works!

Why is everything called "cyber" (cyberspace, cyberpunk)? Because of this book from 1948 in which Norbert Wiener, a prof at MIT, coined the phrase "cybernetics," from the Greek word "kybernutos" meaning "governor." If you're tired of viewing your computer as a black box (the input goes in here, the output comes out there, and something mysterious happens inside), or if you wonder if the tech world has any relation to the natural world, check out this unusual book, which is rewarding on many different levels.

Find out why robotics, neural nets and artificial intelligence (AI) predate the PC and even the mainframe computer and are not a new development. Travel back to the days of the giant ENIAC when the computer seemed to be an idea on everyone's mind, simply waiting for advances in technology to make it a reality. But this very readable book goes further, as suggested in Wiener's subtitle: "Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine." Many specialists in various fields initially opposed this book because of Wiener's interdisciplinary approach, which broke down the hard and fast walls between various disciplines.

The vocabulary of this book has now become commonplace (we ask for "feedback" and refer to "systems" on a daily basis), but many of its ideas have yet to be discovered. I couldn't keep up with the math, but you don't need to to grasp the basic ideas or to enjoy Wiener's lucid and luminous style, which ranks among the best of popular science writing. Wiener also wrote a general market book, "The Human Use of Human Beings" to present some of these ideas to a wider audience. Some fifty years after its initial publication, this book still forms an inviting welcome to the machine.

This book has a lot of good information on de-interlacing, motion estimation, and interlace versus progressive display. One chapter contains a particularly nicely done survey and objective evaluation of 16 de-interlacing algorithms. A few of the algorithms listed (including one covered in detail later in the book) were developped by the authors. There are also discussions of the history & future of interlacing, the impact of interlaced and progressive video on MPEG-2 encoding, and the impact of interlace on displays.

My only problem is that the authors don't mention where to find software or hardware implementations of the recommended de-interlacing algorithms. This information would have been a valuable addition to the book.

This is a great book that you must have if you are interested in post video processing. or research in digital video processing. It describes the both approaches from non-motion compensation and motion compensation deinterlacing in depth and details. There are a lot of comparisons with other algorithms. The best part yet is the 3-D recursive search block matcher which checks the neighboring blocks in quarter pel resolution for 3 fields and the majority selection for different de-interlacing algorithms. If you have some algorithms for de-interlacing, you can apply the concept for majority selection in terms of performance and quality selection. The research on de-interlacing work is from Philips Research lab. Some works of de-interlacing have been implementated on Trimedia chip with enhancements in both hardware and software

The intended audience for this book are research and development professionals in image processing. This is not a book for video hobbyists, but instead you should at least be at the advanced undergraduate level in electrical engineering or computer science to fully grasp the concepts presented. The book's goal is to show a survey of well-known deinterlacing algorithms and then go into details of how you can improve upon these algorithms. The book is divided into three major parts: basic technology, system optimization, and the future of interlace, and contains the following chapters:
1. Introduction
2. Overview of de-interlacing algorithms
3. Motion estimation on interlaced video
4. Improving motion-vector accuracy
5. On the optimization of de-interlacing
6. MPEG-2 coding efficiency of interlaced versus progressive video
7. Display formats
Chapter 2 appears to be an expansion of a paper that the authors wrote entitled "De-interlacing an overview". When I first read that paper I found it to be the clearest I had ever read on the subject, yet their book manages to improve it further. The emphasis is on the authors' own algorithm -adaptive recursive deinterlacing.
Likewise, chapter 3 is an expansion of the authors' paper "Motion estimation on interlaced video". The authors examine and compare the performance of block matching algorithms, true motion estimation, global-based models, and object-based motion models.
Chapter 4 examines accuracy of motion vectors, improving block-based motion estimation, and using interpolation to improve accuracy.
Chapter 5 examines the optimization of interlacing and introduces the Majority-Selection de-interlacer, which combines the strengths of several individual de-interlacing algorithms into a single output signal. This material is from the authors' paper "Majority selection de-interlacing; An advanced motion-compensated spatio-temporal interpolation technique for interlaced video".
Chapter 6 looks at the MPEG-2 video coding standard and discusses the efficiency of interlaced versus progressive video on an MPEG-2 digital channel. This chapter draws heavily from the authors' paper "On Coding Efficiency and Scan-Rate Conversion".
Chapter 7 borrows heavily from the authors' paper "Towards an Optimal Display Television Format". In this chapter the authors explore a new display format free from television history. From their various experiments the authors form an overall preference for a 75 Hz interlaced scanning format.
The appendices deal with the TGST de-interlacer, and is largely drawn from the authors' paper "Advanced Motion Estimation and Motion Compensated Deinterlacing" in which they combine two well-known algorithms.
I found the book very enlightening. The authors do a good job of tying the various papers from which this book was formed into a cohesive format. Although there is a heavy and necessary use of mathematics, their writing style is very accessible and clear. If you are not sure you want to spend so much money on one book, you might try downloading off the web the papers I mentioned in this review. It will give you a good idea of the book's content and let you know if you like the authors' writing style. Personally, I highly recommend this book.

Danger.com / Dead Man's Hand by Jordan Cray was a great fiction book for kids and adults of all ages. I really enjoyed the book because I never wanted to put it down. The suspense made it so interesting and you never knew what was going to happen next. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to read a good suspenseful story. A couple of reasons why I liked this book was because you got to know the main character Nick Annunciato very well and it almost felt like he was someone you knew, because the author gives such detail in what he does. Also, the suspense is a key factor into why I picked out this book, I always like to have a reason to keep reading a story, and this book you will never want to stop! I also read Danger.com / Shiver and they all were about someone on the internet, I found them very interesting also!

I loved this book so much because it never let you dry for suspense. I was always wanting to read more and more. I couldn't stop. This book had a fantastic main charcters that seemed like I could meet them down the street. I love these books and I have already read a couple of the "Danger.com". Each story almost seemed to almost happen on the internet. The charters in this book made a mistake to tell online that he wanted illegal cigars. This is why it left me in suspense because I never knew what was going to happen to them.

This was a sequal to Shadow man. This is a MUST have if you have read that one. It takes you on differnt twists and turns, but it always leads you back one way or another. If you like the internet, you'll love this!