Computer Engineering

With the ongoing advancement of AI and other technologies, our world is becoming increasingly intelligent. From chatbots to innovations in brain-computer interfaces to the possibility of superintelligences leading to the Singularity later this century, our reality is being transformed before our eyes. This is commonly seen as the natural result of progress, but what if there's more to it than that? What if intelligence is an inevitability, an underlying property of the universe?

What do computers, cells, and brains have in common? Computers are electronic devices designed by humans; cells are biological entities crafted by evolution; brains are the containers and creators of our minds. But all are, in one way or another, information-processing devices. The power of the human brain is, so far, unequaled by any existing machine or known living being. Our brains have even allowed us to develop computers that are almost as powerful as the human brain itself. Arlindo Oliveira describes how advances in science and technology could enable us to create digital minds.

How smart machines are transforming us all - and what we should do about it. The smart machines revolution is reshaping our lives and our societies. Here, Nigel Shadbolt (one of Britain’s leading authorities on artificial intelligence) and Roger Hampson dispel terror, confusion and misconception. We are not about to be elbowed aside by a rebel army of superintelligent robots of our own creation. We were using tools before we became Homo sapiens and will continue to control them. How we exercise that control - in our private lives, in employment, in politics - and make the best of the wonderful opportunities will determine our collective future well-being.

Edward Ashford Lee explores the ways that engineers use models and abstraction to build inventive artificial worlds and to give us things that we never dreamed of - for example, the ability to carry in our pockets everything humans have ever published. But he also attempts to counter the runaway enthusiasm of some technology boosters who claim everything in the physical world is a computation - that even such complex phenomena as human cognition are software operating on digital data.

What will our world be like in the year 2010? Where will we work? How will we travel? What kind of advances can we expect in medicine and technology? Probable Tomorrows offers a look into the near-future advances, inventions, products, services, and everyday conveniences that will change how people live and work.

Self-driving cars sound fantastical and futuristic, and yet they'll soon be on every street in America. Whether it's Tesla's Autopilot, Google's Waymo, Mercedes' Distronic, or Uber's modified Volvos, companies around the world are developing autonomous cars. But why? And what will they mean for the auto industry and humanity at large? In Robot, Take the Wheel, famed automotive expert Jason Torchinsky gives a colorful account of the development of autonomous vehicles and their likely implications.

In Creators Take Control, Edward Lee vividly explains how NFTs operate—and how they fundamentally change our understanding of ownership. Using easy-to-understand examples, he unpacks the complex arrangement of NFTs to show the power they offer to creators. Under this mind-bending arrangement, NFT buyers typically own virtual tokens (unique lines of code stored on blockchain), not the art or content associated with the NFT. So why would anyone pay so much money for just a token?

Artificial intelligence is driving workforce disruption on a scale not seen since the Industrial Revolution. Automation was once associated with mass layoffs in heavy industry like auto and steel, but computers are getting smarter and are beginning to replace traditionally 'white collar' roles like law, consulting, banking and finance. Yet some curious findings are emerging from the world's leading research labs.

El siglo XXI es el de la sociedad de la información y las nuevas tecnologías: todo ello no sería posible sin la enorme industria del software que le sirve de base. No obstante, los desarrolladores de software no aprovechan todas las oportunidades para desempeñar una carrera profesional de éxito, cometiendo siempre los mismos errores una y otra vez. Un buen proyecto software tiene que ver con habilidades creativas y artísticas más que aquellas necesariamente técnicas.

Xanpan is...a cross between XP and Kanban...is an example of a roll-your-own method...is distilled from Allan Kelly’s own experiences running development teams and then helping multiple teams adopt Agile working methods and practices. Xanpan draws ideas from Kanban and Lean, XP and Scrum, product management and business analysis, and many other places. Allan tells the Xanpan story through a series of boards which tell the story of different teams.

A revolution is under way across the globe, yet very few people understand it. Basic Blockchain explains everything you need to know to understand the technology that will soon disrupt and revolutionise everything from financial and health services to the property market and how we vote.

The weather is the foundation of our daily lives. It’s a staple of small talk, the app on our smartphones, and often the first thing we check each morning. Yet behind all these humble interactions is the largest and most elaborate piece of infrastructure human beings have ever constructed - a triumph of both science and global cooperation. But what is the weather machine, and who created it?

Imagine that software could be constantly updated without our involvement! No need to figure out hardware specifications. Nothing to interrupt our digital activities. No waiting for lengthy downloads and reboots. What if it all just happened in the background and we could simply enjoy the benefits? Liquid Software explores a future in which developers code high-quality applications that securely flow to end users with zero downtime. The authors bring insights from their more than 50 years of collective experience in building software in modern development environments.

The Little Elixir & OTP Guidebook gets you started writing applications with Elixir and OTP. You'll begin with the immediately comfortable Elixir language syntax, along with just enough functional programming to use it effectively. Then, you'll dive straight into several lighthearted examples that teach you to take advantage of the incredible functionality built into the OTP library.

The End of Money is an essential introduction to cryptocurrencies and the blockchain revolution, which has been hailed as the greatest advancement since the invention of the Internet. Murder for hire. Drug trafficking. Embezzlement. Money laundering. These might sound like plot lines of a thriller, but they are true stories from the short history of cryptocurrencies - digital currencies conceived by computer hackers and cryptographers that represent a completely new sort of financial transaction.

Know what's causing application development waste so you can turn the tide. This is the audiobook your systems integrator and your application software vendor don't want you to hear. Enterprise IT (information technology) is a $3.8 trillion-per-year industry worldwide. Most of it is waste. However, the waste is hard to see, after being so marbled through all the products, processes, and guiding principles. That is what this audiobook is about. We must see, understand, and agree about the problem before we can take coordinated action to address it.

The future is now. Artificial "machine" intelligence is playing an ever-greater role in our society. We are already using cruise control in our cars and automatic checkout at the drugstore and are unable to live without our smartphones. The discussion around AI is largely polarized; people think either machines will solve all problems for everyone or they will lead us down a dark, dystopian path into total human irrelevance. Regardless of what you believe, the idea that we might bring forth intelligent creation can be intrinsically frightening.

Spanning four decades of dramatic advances in astronomy and planetary science, this book tells the story of eleven iconic exploratory missions and how they have fundamentally transformed our scientific and cultural perspectives on the universe and our place in it

To effectively defend against the threats, cybersecurity professionals employ a variety of strategies and technologies. This includes implementing robust firewalls and intrusion detection systems to monitor and control network traffic, deploying antivirus software to detect and remove malicious software, using encryption to secure sensitive data both in transit and at rest, and implementing strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access.

Computers have become an indispensable part of our lives. Considering the possibilities you can unlock and accomplish with a computer, there’s no wonder almost every home today owns at least one computer. But getting started with a computer might seem like quantum physics to some. Computers today are something of a mystery to some. Many users look at a computer and only know the basic functions, or rather how to operate it.