Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983

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History and clarity, not hype

Computing's Early Days

Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983
Severo M. Ornstein
Manufacturer: 1st Books Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1403315175

Customer Reviews:

History and clarity, not hype.......2003-02-28

You can see why the author was able to solve so many of the earliest computing problems: he can distill huge amounts of mind-numbing technical detail into a crisp, memorable point. Sure, he has the right credentials to write this professional autobiography: he helped build and design the first "personal" computer (in the early sixties!), the first ARPANET nodes, the first true multiprocessor, worked at Xerox PARC, and so on. And he covers history, technology, and personalities with a clear, self-effacing style.

But what will stick with me longest are his explanations of issues I had thought I understood: why "time-sharing" is dead and personal computers are alive, why synchronization and "real-time" computing are so hard, why programs are (still) so buggy. His explanations, forged from decades of deep and considered thought while creating those famous room-sized computers, manage to isolate and address the most important "why" questions without getting mired in the technical "what"... this is really a great way to know about how computers work and how they got to be the way they are.

I've been messing with computers for over thirty years, and I've never read anything better.

Computing's Early Days.......2002-12-20

This is a charmingly written book, filled with interesting tales and providing a real "feel" for those wonderfully chaotic times.

Book Description

The purpose of General Equilibrium Foundations of Finance is to give a sound economic foundation of finance based on the general equilibrium model with incomplete markets which embodies the famous CAPM as an important special case. This goal is achieved by giving reasonable restrictions on the agents' characteristics that lead to a well determined financial markets model having a unique competitive equilibrium. The innovation of this book is to transfer and to extend the theoretical results on the structure of competitive equilibria into the modern context of incomplete financial markets. General Equilibrium Foundations of Finance should be easily accessible by advanced Ph.D. students as well as by theorists of any subfield of mathematical economics. It should be interesting both for theorists who are looking for possible applications of rigorous theorizing as well as for practitioners who seek for a theoretical foundation of fruitful applications of financial markets' models.

Advances in Mathematical Finance (Applied and Numerical Harmonic Analysis)

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Advances in Mathematical Finance (Applied and Numerical Harmonic Analysis)

Manufacturer: Birkhäuser Boston
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0817645446

Book Description

This self-contained volume brings together a collection of chapters by some of the most distinguished researchers and practitioners in the fields of mathematical finance and financial engineering. Presenting state-of-the-art developments in theory and practice, the Festschrift is dedicated to Dilip B. Madan on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

Specific topics covered include:

* Theory and application of the Variance-Gamma process

* Lévy process driven fixed-income and credit-risk models, including CDO pricing

* Numerical PDE and Monte Carlo methods

* Asset pricing and derivatives valuation and hedging

* Itô formulas for fractional Brownian motion

* Martingale characterization of asset price bubbles

* Utility valuation for credit derivatives and portfolio management

Advances in Mathematical Finance is a valuable resource for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in mathematical finance and financial engineering.

Contributors: H. Albrecher, D. C. Brody, P. Carr, E. Eberlein, R. J. Elliott, M. C. Fu, H. Geman, M. Heidari, A. Hirsa, L. P. Hughston, R. A. Jarrow, X. Jin, W. Kluge, S. A. Ladoucette, A. Macrina, D. B. Madan, F. Milne, M. Musiela, P. Protter, W. Schoutens, E. Seneta, K. Shimbo, R. Sircar, J. van der Hoek, M.Yor, T. Zariphopoulou

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Gun Control In New York (A Guide to the Firearms and Weapons Laws)
Lieut. Lee O. Thomas
Manufacturer: The Gunlock Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K9YOY4

Product Description

The Only Complete and Authoritative Guide to New York's Firearms and Weapons Laws.

Firearms and Weapons Laws: Gun Control in New York

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If you own a firearm in NY State, you must have this book

Firearms and Weapons Laws: Gun Control in New York
Lee O. Thomas , and Jeffrey Chamberlain
Manufacturer: Looseleaf Law Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Ring-bound

General | Law | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1889031046

Customer Reviews:

If you own a firearm in NY State, you must have this book.......2001-12-05

I think this is the 3rd edition of this book, and is a must have for gun owners living, working, or traveling in New York State. It contains all of the laws related to firearms and related matters, as well as commentary on interpretation of the law and some previous court decisions. A must have to stay legal.

Gun control in New York: A guide to New York's firearms and weapons laws

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Gun control in New York: A guide to New York's firearms and weapons laws
Lee O Thomas
Manufacturer: Gunlock Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Labor & Employment | Business | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006EVA3G

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

English Agriculture: An Historical Perspective

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English Agriculture: An Historical Perspective
David Grigg
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0631160337

Book Description

There is hardly a field of science or engineering that does not have some interest in light scattering by small particles. For example, this subject is important to climatology because the energy budget for the Earth's atmosphere is strongly affected by scattering of solar radiation by cloud and aerosol particles, and the whole discipline of remote sensing relies largely on analyzing the parameters of radiation scattered by aerosols, clouds, and precipitation. The scattering of light by spherical particles can be easily computed using the conventional Mie theory. However, most small solid particles encountered in natural and laboratory conditions have nonspherical shapes. Examples are soot and mineral aerosols, cirrus cloud particles, snow and frost crystals, ocean hydrosols, interplanetary and cometary dust grains, and microorganisms. It is now well known that scattering properties of nonspherical particles can differ dramatically from those of "equivalent" (e.g., equal-volume or equal-surface-area) spheres. Therefore, the ability to accurately compute or measure light scattering by nonspherical particles in order to clearly understand the effects of particle nonsphericity on light scattering is very important.
The rapid improvement of computers and experimental techniques over the past 20 years and the development of efficient numerical approaches have resulted in major advances in this field which have not been systematically summarized. Because of the universal importance of electromagnetic scattering by nonspherical particles, papers on different aspects of this subject are scattered over dozens of diverse research and engineering journals. Often experts in one discipline (e.g., biology) are unaware of potentially useful results obtained in another discipline (e.g., antennas and propagation). This leads to an inefficient use of the accumulated knowledge and unnecessary redundancy in research activities.
This book offers the first systematic and unified discussion of light scattering by nonspherical particles and its practical applications and represents the state-of-the-art of this important
research field. Individual chapters are written by leading experts in respective areas and cover three major disciplines: theoretical and numerical techniques, laboratory measurements, and practical applications. An overview chapter provides a concise general introduction to the subject of nonspherical scattering and should be especially useful to beginners and those interested in fast practical applications. The audience for this book will include graduate students, scientists, and engineers working on specific aspects of electromagnetic scattering by small particles and its applications in remote sensing, geophysics, astrophysics, biomedical optics, and optical engineering.

* The first systematic and comprehensive treatment of electromagnetic scattering by nonspherical particles and its applications
* Individual chapters are written by leading experts in respective areas
* Includes a survey of all the relevant literature scattered over dozens of basic and applied research journals
* Consistent use of unified definitions and notation makes the book a coherent volume
* An overview chapter provides a concise general introduction to the subject of light scattering by nonspherical particles
* Theoretical chapters describe specific easy-to-use computer codes publicly available on the World Wide Web
* Extensively illustrated with over 200 figures, 4 in color

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive and Unified volume.......2000-01-05

This is THE first systematic volume on light scattering by nonspherical particles and their practical applications. The historical foreword by van de Hulst, a legend in this area, was appreciated.

Its is up-to-date and very practical -- especially like the applications to geophysics, remote sensing, and planetary and space physics.

Average customer rating:
Light Scattering by Nonspherical Particles: Theory, Measurements, and Applications
Michael I. Mishchenko
Manufacturer: Elsevier Science & Technology Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUXWE4

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A polar nephelometer/nonspherical partial scattering study
Gerald W Grams
Manufacturer: School of Geophysical Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Light | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006XEUF2

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Everybody's a Little Bit Crazy

Ho Hum

Head-Shakingly Disappointing

A Charmer

Quite a topsy turvy book!

Quite a Year for Plums: A Novel
Bailey White
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Sleeping at the Starlite Motel: and Other Adventures on the Way Back Home

Mama Makes Up Her Mind: And Other Dangers of Southern Living

Leaving Cold Sassy

Something Old, Something New: A Collection of Stories and Essays

An Interesting Life: Selections from the Bestselling Book "Mama Makes Up Her Mind"

ASIN: 0679764925
Release Date: 1999-04-06

Amazon.com

Bailey White's dry, low-key drawl is a familiar (and welcome) sound to millions of National Public Radio regulars. On the radio, her intimate vignettes of small-town life are loosely held together by their subjects, who are themselves tightly held together by love, family, and idiosyncrasy. This episodic mode suits her just as well as a novelist. In this audio version of Quite a Year for Plums--which, aside from the occasional bit of atmospheric banjo music, features none but the author's voice--even the temporary denizens of her fictional southern Georgia town have their oddities. A bird artist is obsessed by a vanishing breed of chickens. Another character dreams obsessively of typography. The permanent townsfolk include a woman who believes in little spacemen, a pair of bookish retired schoolteachers, and plant pathologist and banjo picker Roger Meadows, whose peers would like nothing better than to see him settle down with the right woman. The author has an eye--and, of course, ear--for the telling detail and the decisive, domestic moment, and listeners will no doubt enjoy her adept storytelling skills. (Running time: five and one-half hours, four cassettes)

Book Description

Anyone who has read the best-selling Mama Makes Up Her Mind or listened to Bailey White's commentaries on NPR knows that she is a storyteller of inimitable wit and charm. Now, in her stunningly accomplished first novel, she introduces us to the peculiar yet lovable people who inhabit a small town in south Georgia. Meet serious, studious Roger, the peanut pathologist and unlikely love object of half the town's women. Meet Roger's ex-mother-in-law, Louise, who teams up with an ardent typographer in an attempt to attract outer-space invaders with specific combinations of letters and numbers. And meet Della, the bird artist who captivates Roger with the sensible but enigmatic notes she leaves on things she throws away at the Dumpster ("This fan works, but makes a clicking sound and will not oscillate").

Heartbreakingly tender, often hilarious, Quite a Year for Plums is a delectable treat from a writer who has been called a national treasure.

Customer Reviews:

Everybody's a Little Bit Crazy.......2006-06-16

One character seems to be taking care of everybody while her son is pessimistic about people and everything around him. A peanut professor is well-known in this close-knit society and appears to be on good terms with all the women. The outsiders who come to live or vacation in the community also show up with their very own oddities. Agriculture is the main theme and nearly all the main characters are adept in the field. There is not a real ending to the stories of all these people but the narration of each person's eccentricities and of every happening is quite realistically amusing. They accept each other's behavior and go on with life as they know how. One comforting factor about Ms. White's writing is that she doesn't dwell on the sensitivity of a matter too much, for example, a broken heart; but she is still able to move from one event to another easily with much clarity. A lot could happen in a year and Ms. White captures the moments with precision and saves the best, the plums, for last.

Ho Hum.......2005-11-18

This is my first exposure to Bailey White and after having read some of the other reviews of this book I am inclined to try her one more time. It couldn't get worse. The lack of plot was disturbing. She was going nowhere and was getting there. So many characters and for what? Slow and plodding with periodic tangents. There was no meat to this book. I was so glad it was over and honestly I didn't care if Roger ever did fall in love again. What a letdown.

Head-Shakingly Disappointing.......2005-10-18

I realize I'm coming to the game late, since this book has already had 61 reviews over the past 5 years with an average rating of 3 stars, but I just can't resist sharing my disappointment with this "novel." Having been a long-time fan of Bailey White's picturesque vignettes on NPR and in her story collections (Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Sleeping at the Starlite Motel), I was delighted to come across a paperback copy of this book at a local thrift store for $1.00. In retrospect, I fear that I overspent. The publisher's use of the word "novel" is misleading in the extreme, for this book is simply a collection of scenes of southern life held together loosely by a cast of mostly forgettable characters (thus the critical need for the list of characters at the front of the book - you'll need it!). While it is true that each of our lives may be filled with a variety of odd or dysfunctional family, friends, and acquaintances exactly like those in this book, to build a book around such characters requires more than a simple narrative description of their quirks to hold a reader's attention for 200+ pages. As some other reviewers have noted, the book is not without its moments, e.g., a couple of old ladies helping a widow friend spread her long dead husband's cremated ashes; a man's obsessive passion for collecting vintage electric fans; a woman's personal conviction that aliens are monitoring our every move; the city folks who move to the country for peace and quiet, only to find themselves completely out of their element. Each might have made a delightful literary sketch in and of itself, but stringing them together in a vaguely chronological order and calling the results a Novel, is quite unfair to both the reader and Ms White, the writer. There is no plot, no real character development, no climax, no denouement, and, in the end, no satisfaction for the reader. The book just stops, as if Ms. White simply got tired of writing or lost her train of thought. The characters are left dangling, their fates unknown and unknowable, and, perhaps, saddest of all, leaving the reader with no desire to know or care about what happens to them. I don't know that I can ascribe "boring" to the book, as several reviewers have done, but I did find myself feeling grateful that the ordeal was finally over when I finished the last page. Having had the opportunity to meet Ms. White in person and having enjoyed her readings and stories for many years, I was profoundly disappointed at my sense of relief in reaching the end of the book. I believe that a great book will always leave you wanting more, wanting to continue your relationship with the characters (for example, try The Midnight Examiner by William Kotzwinkle), but I was as tired of these characters as they seemed to be with their own mundane, hum-drum existance. If this book is your first exposure to Bailey White, do not, I repeat, DO NOT allow it to color your opinion of her body of work because this book is atypical of her customary brilliance as a story teller.

A Charmer.......2004-12-19

I loved this book from start to finish. Life isn't about plot, it's about the little events that shape your life each day. Sometimes you can only see the plot when you get to the end and look backwards, and I think that's the style captured so gracefully here. It's a book with no heroes, no villans, just people with fragile human hearts. The humor is very dry, you will miss it if you aren't paying attention. But the effortless storytelling is very engaging.
If you want something to HAPPEN, if you want some grand GESTURE, and if you have to have everything about life EXPLAINED to you before it makes sense, pass on this book. If you like sitting on the porch with a good friend and listening to the events of their day over a glass of iced tea, then this book will suit you. It's about being in the company of quality people, and knowing that whatever they say will be worth the time to listen.

Quite a topsy turvy book!.......2004-02-10

It's one thing to make your readers work, but it's another to make the reader work, and then for nothing.

Thank goodness I got this from the library. White may be good on NPR, but she's definitely not good here. The first chapters had me referring constantly to the list of characters, simply because White throws you a new name every other paragraph. With other books, this isn't a problem, the problem here is the author seems to give us the names, but no other information. Sure, there's dialogue, but I need some kind of identifying characteristic, White! Tell me if their eyes are blue, brown, are they tall, short, thin, have hair, no hair, STUFF!!! It was a pain getting through the first few chapters. I had trouble remembering who was who. The other thing that adds to the difficulty is the fact that there seems to be no plot. (Makes it even harder to remember who's trying to accomplish what) AND, because there's no "plot", halfway through the book, after a fund-raising picnic and a bird art exhibition, I started to wonder what was the point of all this, then I stopped wondering and returned the book to the library.

Average customer rating:
Quite a Year for Plums: A Novel
Bailey White
Manufacturer: Random House Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKU0NI

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