R Deep Learning Essentials. A step-by-step guide to building deep learning models using TensorFlow, Keras, and MXNet - Second Edition

Mark Hodnett, Joshua F. Wiley

Deep learning is a powerful subset of machine learning that is very successful in domains such as computer vision and natural language processing (NLP). This second edition of R Deep Learning Essentials will open the gates for you to enter the world of neural networks by building powerful deep learning models using the R ecosystem.This book will introduce you to the basic principles of deep learning and teach you to build a neural network model from scratch. As you make your way through the book, you will explore deep learning libraries, such as Keras, MXNet, and TensorFlow, and create interesting deep learning models for a variety of tasks and problems, including structured data, computer vision, text data, anomaly detection, and recommendation systems. You’ll cover advanced topics, such as generative adversarial networks (GANs), transfer learning, and large-scale deep learning in the cloud. In the concluding chapters, you will learn about the theoretical concepts of deep learning projects, such as model optimization, overfitting, and data augmentation, together with other advanced topics.By the end of this book, you will be fully prepared and able to implement deep learning concepts in your research work or projects.

AI Explained. Uncovering the Reality, Risks, and Rewards of Artificial Intelligence

Nigel Poulton

This book leads readers on a comprehensive journey through artificial intelligence, beginning with an introduction to its foundational concepts. Early on, readers are guided through what AI is and why it’s becoming a transformative force in today’s world. They’ll then explore the technical processes behind AI creation, learning how data and algorithms power intelligent systems, making complex technology accessible and understandable.Further on, the book delves into practical applications and ethical considerations. Readers discover the positive ways AI is improving our lives, from breakthroughs in healthcare to innovations in everyday industries. Following this, it presents a balanced view of AI’s potential risks, discussing the ethical concerns and societal challenges that arise with misuse, encouraging thoughtful reflection on AI’s impact.Towards the end, the book tackles critical future challenges and solutions. It discusses the threat of rogue AI behaviors and highlights strategies to prevent AI from acting unpredictably. The final section offers an optimistic outlook on the responsible development of AI, encouraging readers to envision a future where AI can drive positive change. By journey’s end, readers will feel equipped with a nuanced understanding of AI, its real-world significance, and its ethical implications.

Zabbix Network Monitoring. Discover a smarter way to monitor your network - Second Edition

Rihards Olups, Rihards Olups

This book is a perfect starting point for monitoring with Zabbix. Even if you have never used a monitoring solution before, this book will get you up and running quickly, before guiding you into more sophisticated operations with ease. You'll soon feel in complete control of your network, ready to meet any challenges you might face.Beginning with installation, you'll learn the basics of data collection before diving deeper to get to grips with native Zabbix agents and SNMP devices. You will also explore Zabbix's integrated functionality for monitoring Java application servers and VMware. Beyond this, Zabbix Network Monitoring also covers notifications, permission management, system maintenance, and troubleshooting - so you can be confident that every potential challenge and task is under your control. If you're working with larger environments, you'll also be able to find out more about distributed data collection using Zabbix proxies. Once you're confident and ready to put these concepts into practice, you'll find out how to optimize and improve performance. Troubleshooting network issues is vital for anyone working with Zabbix, so the book is also on hand to help you work through any technical snags and glitches you might face. Network monitoring doesn't have to be a chore - learn the tricks of the Zabbix trade and make sure you're network is performing for everyone who depends upon it.

Mastering Defensive Security. Effective techniques to secure your Windows, Linux, IoT, and cloud infrastructure

Cesar Bravo, Darren Kitchen

Every organization has its own data and digital assets that need to be protected against an ever-growing threat landscape that compromises the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of crucial data. Therefore, it is important to train professionals in the latest defensive security skills and tools to secure them. Mastering Defensive Security provides you with in-depth knowledge of the latest cybersecurity threats along with the best tools and techniques needed to keep your infrastructure secure.The book begins by establishing a strong foundation of cybersecurity concepts and advances to explore the latest security technologies such as Wireshark, Damn Vulnerable Web App (DVWA), Burp Suite, OpenVAS, and Nmap, hardware threats such as a weaponized Raspberry Pi, and hardening techniques for Unix, Windows, web applications, and cloud infrastructures. As you make progress through the chapters, you'll get to grips with several advanced techniques such as malware analysis, security automation, computer forensics, and vulnerability assessment, which will help you to leverage pentesting for security.By the end of this book, you'll have become familiar with creating your own defensive security tools using IoT devices and developed advanced defensive security skills.

ActionScript Graphing Cookbook. Learn how to create appealing and interactive visual presentations of your data in ActionScript with this book and

Peter Backx, Dominic Gelineau

A picture is worth a thousand words has never been more true than when representing large sets of data. Bar charts, heat maps, cartograms, and many more have become important tools in applications and presentations to quickly give insight into complicated issues.The ActionScript Graphing Cookbook shows you how to add your own charts to any ActionScript program. The recipes give step-by-step instructions on how to process the input data, how to create various types of charts and how to make them interactive for even more user engagement.Starting with basic ActionScript knowledge, you will learn how to develop many different types of charts.First learn how to import your data, from Excel, web services and more. Next process the data and make it ready for graphical display. Pick one of the many graph options available as the book guides you through ActionScript's drawing functions. And when you're ready for it, branch out into 3D display.The recipes in the ActionScript Graphing Cookbook will gradually introduce you into the world of visualization.

Working with Odoo. Learn how to use Odoo, a resourceful, open source business application platform designed to transform and modernize your business

Greg Moss

With this practical guide, you will cover the essential modules to get Odoo up and running for your company. After installing Odoo, you will use its sales management application to enter quotes, create sales orders, and invoice customers. You will then learn how to integrate the CRM application to manage your leads and convert them into lucrative opportunities and sales. Next, you will set up your own purchase management system, assigning products to suppliers and tracking orders with the new warehouse management and routing system. Finally, you will learn how to use analytics to track project expenses and keep your accounts simple and easy to maintain and build an Odoo module to extend its functionality and make it work for you.Working with Odoo covers all the core installation and usage functionalities of this popular tool, helping you to fully implement a working ERP system through practical, advanced, real-world examples.

Mastering Microsoft Forefront UAG 2010 Customization. Discover the secrets to extending and customizing Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway with this book and

Erez Ben-Ari, Rainier Amara, Erez Y Ben

While UAG is built to integrate with many environments and publish dozens of application types, many organizations require a certain level of customization to meet their needs.With this book in hand, you will be equipped to deal with these types of customization scenarios, and you will be confident in using such workarounds without hassle and trial and error.Written by some of the leading experts on UAG, Mastering Microsoft Forefront UAG 2010 Customization covers the most complex and challenging options for customizing UAG in a way that is friendly and easy to follow. It walks you through various customization tasks, including explanations and code samples, as well as creative ideas for troubleshooting your work.Until now, only a few of the extensions to UAG's services have been publicly available, and most were only known to a select few. Now, this can include you!Throughout this book, you will tackle how to change the system's look-and-feel, deal with advanced authentication schemes and write special functions that need to be executed as part of the client interaction. With Mastering Microsoft Forefront UAG 2010 Customization, you too can learn how to customize various aspects of UAG's functionality to enhance your organization or customers' experience.

Moodle 2.0 for Business Beginner's Guide. Implement Moodle in your business to streamline your interview, training, and internal communication processes

Jeanne R Cole, Jason Cole, Jeanne Cole, Gavin Henrick, ...

Many people will recognize Moodle as a Virtual Learning Environment that can be used in schools to teach lessons and organize student information. Fewer people will realize that Moodle can be used in businesses to dispense training, share important documents, and encourage teamwork.Moodle 2.0 for Business Beginner's Guide will show you how to set up Moodle in your corporation. By introducing a system within your company that will allow for a centralized, accessible repository of knowledge, staff training will become a lot more streamlined, and the retention of skills will improve, leading to huge productivity benefits.An easy-to-access, user-friendly system is crucial to keep communication flowing in any successful business. By putting your H.R. documents, newsletters, discussions, and training documents all in one place, which is accessible from the office or from home, you are giving your employees all the information that they need to be productive and become integrated members of your company. This book will show you how to get your important business documents online, as well as the recruitment and training processes. You will learn how to move any existing processes to Moodle, as well as set up new ones that will have you wondering what you did before Moodle came along!

Building RESTful Python Web Services. Click here to enter text

Gaston C. Hillar

Python is the language of choice for millions of developers worldwide, due to its gentle learning curve as well as its vast applications in day-to-day programming. It serves the purpose of building great web services in the RESTful architecture. This book will show you the best tools you can use to build your own web services.Learn how to develop RESTful APIs using the popular Python frameworks and all the necessary stacks with Python, Django, Flask, and Tornado, combined with related libraries and tools. We will dive deep into each of these frameworks to build various web services, and will provide use cases and best practices on when to use a particular framework to get the best results. We will show you everything required to successfully develop RESTful APIs with the four frameworks such as request handling, URL mapping, serialization, validation, authentication, authorization, versioning, ORMs, databases, custom code for models and views, and asynchronous callbacks. At the end of each framework, we will add authentication and security to the RESTful APIs and prepare tests for it.By the end of the book, you will have a deep understanding of the stacks needed to build RESTful web services.

Causal Inference in R. Decipher complex relationships with advanced R techniques for data-driven decision-making

Subhajit Das

Determining causality in data is difficult due to confounding factors. Written by an applied scientist specializing in causal inference with over a decade of experience, Causal Inference in R provides the tools and methods you need to accurately establish causal relationships, improving data-driven decision-making.This book helps you get to grips with foundational concepts, offering a clear understanding of causal models and their relevance in data analysis. You’ll progress through chapters that blend theory with hands-on examples, illustrating how to apply advanced statistical methods to real-world scenarios. You’ll discover techniques for establishing causality, from classic approaches to contemporary methods, such as propensity score matching and instrumental variables. Each chapter is enriched with detailed case studies and R code snippets, enabling you to implement concepts immediately. Beyond technical skills, this book also emphasizes critical thinking in data analysis to empower you to make informed, data-driven decisions. The chapters enable you to harness the power of causal inference in R to uncover deeper insights from data.By the end of this book, you’ll be able to confidently establish causal relationships and make data-driven decisions with precision.

Using CiviCRM. Develop and implement a fully functional, systematic CRM plan for your organization Using CiviCRM

Joseph Murray, Brian P Shaughnessy, Dave Greenberg

CiviCRM is a web-based, open source CRM system, designed specifically to meet the needs of advocacy, non-profit and non-governmental organizations. Elected officials, professional/trade associations, political campaigns and parties, government agencies, and other similar organizations are among its growing number of enthusiastic users. This book shows you how to harness CiviCRM’s impressive array of possibilities as you develop and execute performance-critical CRM strategies.This book will help you become familiar with the structure and main functions of CiviCRM. It will guide you in developing and successfully implementing a CRM strategy for your organization using detailed explanations and practical examples.Using CiviCRM walks you through developing a CRM Implementation Plan that is suited to your organization's size, culture, and needs. Readers will take away many constituent relationship management best practices and the knowledge of how to implement them with CiviCRM. Benefits of Using CiviCRM will be felt across your organization, and help it better achieve its mission.Overall, your organization will interact with constituents more effectively and handle staff growth and transitions by tracking all contacts and interactions with them in a system shared across the organization. Gathering and analyzing data about your constituents and their interactions with your organization will better inform your decisions.If your organization fundraises, you’ll be able to raise more money and reduce costs by identifying qualified prospects for targeted fundraising initiatives. We show how to attract new prospects and convert them to donors using online, direct mail, telemarketing and direct contact channels Using CiviCRM. You’ll learn why and how to set up and then grow your monthly donor program, as well as improve the frequency, average donation amounts, and retention rates of your donor base.With this book you’ll be able to reduce the burden on administrative resources by providing online payments and self-service options for event registrations and membership renewals. You can increase the likelihood your existing subscribers will become more involved with your organization, ensure more of your members show up to volunteer, identify potential leaders and steward their volunteer activitiesFinally, you'll be making relevant information easily available that quantifies what a great job you've been doing, including the number of hours that volunteers gave to your organization last year, the number of cases managed, or the number of new viral signups from your latest urgent action e-mail.

Learning VirtualDub: The Complete Guide to Capturing, Processing and Encoding Digital Video. The complete guide to capturing, processing and encoding digital video

John Buechler, Georgios Diamantopoulos, Sohail Salehi, Avery Lee

VirtualDub is one of the most popular video processing applications for Windows. As an open source application, it's free, and is constantly updated and expanded by an active community of developers and experts. VirtualDub is particularly popular for capturing video from analogue sources such as video tape, cleaning up the image and compressing it ready for distribution over the Internet. This book provides a rapid and easy to use tutorial to the basic features of VirtualDub to get you up and running quickly. It explains how to capture great quality video from various sources, use filters to clean up the captured image and add special effects. The book also shows how to use VirtualDub to cut and paste video to remove or insert sequences, including removing ad breaks or trailers. It goes on to cover the art of effective encoding and compression, so you end up with great quality videos that won't hog your bandwidth forever. VirtualDub is the fastest and most effective way to capture, process and encode video on your PC. This book gets you started fast, and goes on to give you full control of all the features of this legendary tool.

Phalcon Cookbook. High Performance PHP Framework

Serghei Iakovlev, David Schissler

Phalcon is a high-performance PHP framework delivered as a PHP extension. This provides new opportunities for speed and application design, which until recently have been unrealized in the PHP ecosystem.Packed with simple learning exercises, technology prototypes, and real-world usable code, this book will guide you from the beginner and setup stage all the way to advanced usage. You will learn how to avoid niche pitfalls, how to use the command-line developer tools, how to integrate with new web standards, as well as how to set up and customize the MVC application structure. You will see how Phalcon can be used to quickly set up a single file web application as well as a complex multi-module application suitable for long-term projects. Some of the recipes focus on abstract concepts that are vital to get a deep comprehension of Phalcon and others are designed as a vehicle to deliver real-world usable classes and code snippets to solve advanced problems. You’ll start out with basic setup and application structure and then move onto the Phalcon MVC and routing implementation, the power of the ORM and Phalcon Query Language, and Phalcon’s own Volt templating system. Finally, you will move on to caching, security, and optimization.

Data Visualization: a successful design process

Andy Kirk, Andy Kirk

Do you want to create more attractive charts? Or do you have huge data sets and need to unearth the key insights in a visual manner? Data visualization is the representation and presentation of data, using proven design techniques to bring alive the patterns, stories and key insights locked away.Data Visualization: a Successful Design Process explores the unique fusion of art and science that is data visualization; a discipline for which instinct alone is insufficient for you to succeed in enabling audiences to discover key trends, insights and discoveries from your data. This book will equip you with the key techniques required to overcome contemporary data visualization challenges. You'll discover a proven design methodology that helps you develop invaluable knowledge and practical capabilities.You'll never again settle for a default Excel chart or resort to fancy-looking graphs. You will be able to work from the starting point of acquiring, preparing and familiarizing with your data, right through to concept design. Choose your killer visual representation to engage and inform your audience.Data Visualization: a Successful Design Process will inspire you to relish any visualization project with greater confidence and bullish know-how; turning challenges into exciting design opportunities.

Azure OpenAI Essentials. A practical guide to unlocking generative AI-powered innovation with Azure OpenAI

Amit Mukherjee, Adithya Saladi, Marco Casalaina

Find out what makes Azure OpenAI a robust platform for building AI-driven solutions that can transform how businesses operate. Written by seasoned experts from Microsoft, this book will guide you in understanding Azure OpenAI from fundamentals through to advanced concepts and best practices.The book begins with an introduction to large language models (LLMs) and the Azure OpenAI Service, detailing how to access, use, and optimize its models. You'll learn how to design and implement AI-driven solutions, such as question-answering systems, contact center analytics, and GPT-powered search applications. Additionally, the chapters walk you through advanced concepts, including embeddings, fine-tuning models, prompt engineering, and building custom AI applications using LangChain and Semantic Kernel. You'll explore real-world use cases such as QnA systems, document summarizers, and SQLGPT for database querying, as well as gain insights into securing and operationalizing these solutions in enterprises.By the end of this book, you'll be ready to design, develop, and deploy scalable AI solutions, ensuring business success through intelligent automation and data-driven insights.

Sculpting in ZBrush Made Simple. Explore powerful modeling and character creation techniques used for VFX, games, and 3D printing

Lukas Kutschera

Embark on a creative journey with ZBrush, the leading software for creating characters, creatures, and props in films, games, and 3D printing. This guide will take you through its powerful yet user-friendly workflows, allowing you to explore its dynamic organic sculpting, painting, and hard-surface modeling tools.The first part of this book is dedicated to helping you become familiar with ZBrush’s user interface and learning the very basics, from sculpting brushes and painting the model with Polypaint to setting up lights and rendering images. You’ll also create a demon bust with the help of ZBrush’s concept sculpting tool, DynaMesh. In the second part, you’ll get to grips with the creation of a humanoid character that is optimized for 3D printing. Focusing on anatomy, poly-modeling, and preparing the model for 3D printing, you’ll acquire the skills essential for sculptors. The final part delves into portrait sculpting, where you’ll learn everything from basic facial anatomy to hair creation with FiberMesh.By the end of this book, you'll have developed the expertise necessary to succeed in the ever-evolving world of 3D character modeling, complemented by portfolio and social media tips for showcasing your standout work.