Game Theory and Strategy (Mathematical Association of America Textbooks) Review

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(More customer reviews)I found this book to be a very enjoyable read, covering the most interesting ideas in game theory and how they have impacted on other sciences from biology to sociology.
Almost no mathematical knowledge is required, because the text focuses on the ideas not the math.
Even if you want to learn about Game Theory including the mathematical foundation, I recommend to read this book first. It will wet your appetite for Game Theory and show the breath of ideas and applications.

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This book pays careful attention to applications of game theory in a wide variety of disciplines. The applications are treated in considerable depth. The book assumes only high school algebra, yet gently builds to mathematical thinking of some sophistication. Game Theory and Strategy might serve as an introduction to both axiomatic mathematical thinking and the fundamental process of mathematical modelling. It gives insight into both the nature of pure mathematics, and the way in which mathematics can be applied to real problems.

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Microsoft® SQL Server(TM) 2000 Analysis Services Step by Step (DV-DLT Fundamentals) Review

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(More customer reviews)This Step by Step guide serves as a great starting point for getting familiar with Microsoft's Analysis services. It starts with a quick introduction to data warehousing (without resorting to giving an entire history of the subject, as seems so common today) and how it relates to OLAP and then moves right into the Analysis Servies tools.
The chapters are well written and get you the information you need, without missing any major details. Even if you don't plan to take the "step by step" approach, this book is worth having by your side.
All right... now for the downsides. At best this book is good for beginners. These are some of the areas where I found it came up short:
- Sizing systems that will support Analysis Services. The book talks a bit about how big cubes are, but there is no information about cube performance/cube sizing, etc. Basically, this book won't help you develop a hardware plan for hosting Analysis Services.
- Accessing Analysis Services via the web. All of Microsoft's literature talks about how SQL Server 2000's great support for the web/XML. Strangely, it is very hard to find this information for Analysis Services, and this book doesn't provide any guidance. Right now it seems that the best you can do to find this information is hunt around Microsoft's site.
Overall I still think this is good book. However, if you are going to be building a large Analysis Services system, expect to be looking for other sources to answer all of your questions.

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MICROSOFT® SQL SERVER™ 2000 ANALYSIS SERVICES STEP BY STEP shows Microsoft Excel and Access experts, IS managers, and database developers how to build applications that take advantage of the powerful data-analysis services in Microsoft SQL Server 2000. You'll discover why these services make it easier to analyze huge amounts of data quickly, and you'll learn how to develop a wide range of advanced dimensional-data applications-from enterprise reporting tools to advanced decision-support systems. The book's easy-to-follow lessons begin with clear objectives and include real-world business examples, with a companion CD full of sample files that support each lesson.

This title shows you how to:

Administer the Analysis Manager: Understand the fundamentals behind data dimensions and hierarchies, data warehousing, and the Microsoft Analysis Services architecture, and use the Microsoft Analysis Manager application to define and populate data cubes.
Create and display cubes: Define and modify measures and dimensions. Design, build, process, and view cubes, from simple to advanced, with cube and dimension editors. Use Microsoft Excel PivotTable® Reports and the PivotTable List in Microsoft Excel to browse cubes, and create cubes using Microsoft Office.
Query cubes: Use multidimensional expressions (MDX) values and sets and the MDX Sample application to query and display dimensional data.
Perform advanced administration: Choose data storage options and the Storage Design Wizard to optimize, manage, and update data efficiently. Automate the Analysis server to process an OLAP database. Work with partitions and automate updates, and apply security to cubes.

A Note Regarding the CD or DVD

The print version of this book ships with a CD or DVD. For those customers purchasing one of the digital formats in which this book is available, we are pleased to offer the CD/DVD content as a free download via O'Reilly Media's Digital Distribution services. To download this content, please visit O'Reilly's web site, search for the title of this book to find its catalog page, and click on the link below the cover image (Examples, Companion Content, or Practice Files). Note that while we provide as much of the media content as we are able via free download, we are sometimes limited by licensing restrictions. Please direct any questions or concerns to booktech@oreilly.com.

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Mastering Oracle SQL, 2nd Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)[A REVIEW OF THE SECOND EDITION]
Those of you dealing with the latest Oracle 10g, and perhaps frustrated with the quality of the Oracle documentation, might want to consult this second edition. Its greatest difference compared to the first edition is simply that it deals with 10g, whereas the latter talks about 9g. Mishra and Beaulieu explain, with extensive detail and examples, the new features. Like support for unix-like regular expressions within SQL statements. Given that many Oracle users probably hail from a unix/C background, they will welcome this.
Also, for mapping between XML and SQL data types, 10g now integrates XML. This will reduce the impedance mismatch between the object oriented and relational outlooks that bedevil many programmers who have to deal with both.
The only problem I found with this book is its lack of mention of competing databases. Because the authors explicitly assume that you have already committed to using Oracle as your database. Fair enough. But perhaps occasional comments in the text, about how a given command or feature is not possible in another database would be useful and appreciated by Oracle users. Heck, to be fair, on this point, the book is at no relative disadvantage. For example, I have texts on dB2 and MySQL that likewise say zilch about their competitors.

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The vast majority of Oracle SQL books discuss some syntax, provide the barest rudiments of using Oracle SQL, and perhaps include a few simple examples. It might be enough to pass a survey course, or give you some buzz words to drop in conversation with real Oracle DBAs. But if you use Oracle SQL on a regular basis, you want much more. You want to access the full power of SQL to write queries in an Oracle environment. You want a solid understanding of what's possible with Oracle SQL, creative techniques for writing effective and accurate queries, and the practical, hands-on information that leads to true mastery of the language. Simply put, you want useful, expert best practices that can be put to work immediately, not just non-vendor specific overview or theory.

Updated to cover the latest version of Oracle, Oracle 10g, this edition of the highly regarded Mastering Oracle SQL has a stronger focus on technique and on Oracle's implementation of SQL than any other book on the market. It covers Oracle s vast library of built-in functions, the full range of Oracle SQL query-writing features, regular expression support, new aggregate and analytic functions, subqueries in the SELECT and WITH clauses, multiset union operators, enhanced support for hierarchical queries: leaf and loop detection, and the CONNECT_BY_ROOT operator, new partitioning methods (some introduced in Oracle9i Release 2), and the native XML datatype, XMLType.

Mastering Oracle SQL, 2nd Edition fills the gap between the sometimes spotty vendor documentation, and other books on SQL that just don't explore the full depth of what is possible with Oracle-specific SQL. For those who want to harness the untapped (and often overlooked) power of Oracle SQL, this essential guide for putting Oracle SQL to work will prove invaluable.

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Bayes and Empirical Bayes Methods for Data Analysis, Second Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)This book features a deep and focused lesson on Bayes and Empirical Bayes Methods. It goes through the key topics as conjugate priors, MCMC methods (non iteratives and iteratives as the well known Gibbs samplining and metropolitis hastings algorithms), model selection methods (as bayes factor) and issues related as model robusteness.
The Approach is increasingly formal and deeply complex, allowing for getting the basics or diving into more complex knowledge according to your former background. You need at least a good understanding of Frequentist statistic to be able to follow the reasonings. Each chapter allow you to stop at some point without losing the thread. Last part of the book is in fact deep knowledge demanding.
The most interesting point of this book according to my very limited statistics background is that it makes good comparations with the frequentist approach (classical approaches as confidence intervals and point estimators), checking performance of either method. Even, it features some combination of both approaches getting some bayessian intervals.
As a negative point, I would say that examples are hard to follow for someone with limited bakground and too much complex. They really do not clear me up enough.
All in all, is a very profitable book for jumping into bayesian methods.

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In recent years, Bayes and empirical Bayes (EB) methods have continued to increase in popularity and impact. Building on the first edition of their popular text, Carlin and Louis introduce these methods, demonstrate their usefulness in challenging applied settings, and show how they can be implemented using modern Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. Their presentation is accessible to those new to Bayes and empirical Bayes methods, while providing in-depth coverage valuable to seasoned practitioners.With its broad appeal as a text for those in biomedical science, education, social science, agriculture, and engineering, this second edition offers a relatively gentle and comprehensive introduction for students and practitioners already familiar with more traditional frequentist statistical methods. Focusing on practical tools for data analysis, the book shows how properly structured Bayes and EB procedures typically have good frequentist and Bayesian performance, both in theory and in practice.

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Modelling and Sculpture: A Guide to Traditional Methods Review

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(More customer reviews)This guy was a student of Edouard Lanteri & i reckon Lanteri's book is better. This fellow waffles on a fair bit but his techniques are good & you can learn a lot from it regarding making traditional sculpture. The info is slightly different from lanteri's book so you get a slightly different viewpoint on the same techniques & the pictures are good. Its a good basic book of how to. However i'd recommend the Lanteri book over this one if you can only buy one book.

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Both experienced and novice sculptors will appreciate this manual, written by an expert, that addresses every practical detail necessary for a complete knowledge of the craft. Topics include modelling a portrait bust; casting; modelling for terra-cotta, in relief, and for bronze; and modelling in clay. 36 plates. 82 line illustrations.

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Play-Doh Animal Fun Review

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(More customer reviews)I have never heard of a kid that didnt like play-doh. This is a great set, a book and fun creativity all in one.

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Instructional Design in the Real World: A View from the Trenches (Advanced Topics in Information Resources Management) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Instructional design in the real world: a view from the trenches", by Anne-Marie Armstrong was published by Information Science Publishing in 2004. The author has thoughtfully compiled accounts of many different instructional designers throughout the world. The designers report on the various models and businesses that they have worked for. Many of the designers were hired to create online or e-learning modules. They discussed the successes and failures of their ventures. I will be honest; my first reaction to reading this book was not positive. But, as I engaged myself in the reading, it was a very easy read. The authors of each "story" were very honest when describing their working situations. Many reflected on mistakes they made in the ID process, others reflected on what worked best within the process.
The part of the book that I enjoyed most was that the Instructional Designers realized the importance of knowing the needs of your learner. One of my favorite quotes was that "Learners were considered identical, homogeneous raw
materials in a standard process of educational production (Cameron, 1996). They were considered as an empty vessel that only needed filling. Hence, there was no active communication between instructional developers and learners during the learner analysis process" (p.3). As an instructional designer especially for the online learner, it is very hard to know a learner that you never see or come in contact with, however, the author still keeps this in the forefront of what we should keep in mind when designing instruction.
The chapter that stuck out in my mind was the one that specifically dealt with knowing the needs of your learner. There was a case study on how job aids are used in a manufacturing plant. The instructional designers realized after the needs analysis of the learners, that they did not need full content learning, but specific tasks the worker could look up. The author compared the information they needed to a phone book. The learner already knows how to use the phone; they just need specific phone numbers sometimes.
In closing, this book really opened my eyes to the
role of the instructional designer, especially as they worked with the company and the SME (Subject Matter Expert). As the designers of an online course stated, "Merrill (1997) is often quoted as saying `information is not instruction.' This simple and profound statement seems to make a whole lot of sense; there's a lot more to teaching than just telling students about something and then expecting knowledge and skills to magically appear. Yet what we find in a majority of textbooks, lecture halls, and online courses is a whole lot of telling and not much instruction. We certainly didn't want our course to be categorized as just another "electronic page-turner" (p. 171-172). We can not expect to throw information out there and expect people to learn. The instructional design process must be carried out to achieve high levels of learning.


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Text addresses issues of how practices are adapted and applied in numerous environments; emphasizing the constraints on the design process that have been imposed by the timelines, resource distributions, and needs of various systems. Hardcover, softcover available. DLC: Instructional systems--Design--Data processing.

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