Wednesday, March 25, 2009

OpenGL(R) ES 2.0 Programming Guide

OpenGL ES 2.0 is the industry’s leading software interface and graphics library for rendering sophisticated 3D graphics on handheld and embedded devices. With OpenGL ES 2.0, the full programmability of shaders is now available on small and portable devices—including cell phones, PDAs, consoles, appliances, and vehicles. However, OpenGL ES differs significantly from OpenGL. Graphics programmers and mobile developers have had very little information about it—until now.

In the OpenGL® ES 2.0 Programming Guide, three leading authorities on the Open GL ES 2.0 interface—including the specification’s editor—provide start-to-finish guidance for maximizing the interface’s value in a wide range of high-performance applications. The authors cover the entire API, including Khronos-ratified extensions. Using detailed C-based code examples, they demonstrate how to set up and program every aspect of the graphics pipeline. You’ll move from introductory techniques all the way to advanced per-pixel lighting, particle systems, and performance optimization.

Coverage includes:

* Shaders in depth: creating shader objects, compiling shaders, checking for compile errors, attaching shader objects to program objects, and linking final program objects
* The OpenGL ES Shading Language: variables, types, constructors, structures, arrays, attributes, uniforms, varyings, precision qualifiers, and invariance
* Inputting geometry into the graphics pipeline, and assembling geometry into primitives
* Vertex shaders, their special variables, and their use in per-vertex lighting, skinning, and other applications
* Using fragment shaders—including examples of multitexturing, fog, alpha test, and user clip planes
* Fragment operations: scissor test, stencil test, depth test, multisampling, blending, and dithering
* Advanced rendering: per-pixel lighting with normal maps, environment mapping, particle systems, image post-processing, and projective texturing
* Real-world programming challenges: platform diversity, C++ portability, OpenKODE, and platform-specific shader binaries

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Python for Unix and Linux System Administration

Python is an ideal language for solving problems, especially in Linux and Unix networks. With this pragmatic book, administrators can review various tasks that often occur in the management of these systems, and learn how Python can provide a more efficient and less painful way to handle them.

Each chapter in Python for Unix and Linux System Administration presents a particular administrative issue, such as concurrency or data backup, and presents Python solutions through hands-on examples. Once you finish this book, you'll be able to develop your own set of command-line utilities with Python to tackle a wide range of problems. Discover how this language can help you:

* Read text files and extract information
* Run tasks concurrently using the threading and forking options
* Get information from one process to another using network facilities
* Create clickable GUIs to handle large and complex utilities
* Monitor large clusters of machines by interacting with SNMP programmatically
* Master the IPython Interactive Python shell to replace or augment Bash, Korn, or Z-Shell
* Integrate Cloud Computing into your infrastructure, and learn to write a Google App Engine Application
* Solve unique data backup challenges with customized scripts
* Interact with MySQL, SQLite, Oracle, Postgres, Django ORM, and SQLAlchemy

With this book, you'll learn how to package and deploy your Python applications and libraries, and write code that runs equally well on multiple Unix platforms. You'll also learn about several Python-related technologies that will make your life much easier.

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MySQL (4th Edition)

The unexpected pleasure of reading books about databases is that they are often written by authors with highly organized minds. Paul DuBois and his editors at New Riders have assembled MySQL with a clarity and lucidity that inspires confidence in the subject matter: a (nearly) freely redistributable SQL-interpreting database client/server primarily geared for Unix systems but maintained for Windows platforms as well. What isn't "free" about MySQL (the application) is its server's commercial use; all clients and noncommercial server use are free. DuBois's tome isn't free either, but its list price is modest in light of its value and the value of its namesake.

The volume is superbly organized into 12 chapters and 10 appendices and contains a concise table of contents and a comprehensive 50-page index. It is peppered with references to the online HTML documentation that comes with the source and binary distributions (which are available and easy to install in stable rpm and tar releases.)

The first third of MySQL is an excellent instruction tool for database newbies; the second third is a detailed reference for MySQL developers; and the last third consists of clearly annotated appendices, including C, Perl (but not Python), and PHP interfaces.

Perhaps as an indication of the collective will of the developers of MySQL, DuBois does not separate Windows 95/98/NT design or development specifics from its main discussions. Platform-independent design is a goal, not a reality, and users will have to rely on newsgroups and mailing lists for details. Moreover, security issues are addressed in a mere 18 pages, a large part of which is devoted to standard Unix file and network-access permissions. Next to nothing is mentioned about defense against common hacking strategies, the use of secure shell interfaces, or access encryption.

Although it is nearly 800 pages in length, DuBois's book is thankfully not encyclopedic. It is a valuable précis of the MySQL database, and its easy-to-skim look and feel will make it an excellent browse for database experts who want to know what is and is not possible within MySQL, the application. --Peter Leopold --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Ruby Phrasebook

Essential Code and Commands

Ruby Phrasebook gives you the code you need to quickly and effectively work with Ruby, one of the fastest-growing languages in the world thanks to popular new Ruby technologies like Ruby on Rails.

Concise and Accessible

Easy to carry and easy to use–lets you ditch all those bulky books for one portable pocket guide

Flexible and Functional

Packed with more than 100 customizable code snippets–so you can readily code functional Ruby in just about any situation

Jason Clinton uses Ruby daily in system administration and development for Advanced Clustering Technologies, a Linux Beowulf cluster integrator. He has been working in the computer industry for more than a decade and is actively involved in the Kansas City Ruby Users Group (KCRUG), serving as administrator of the group’s web site and mailing list.

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Monday, March 16, 2009

Frommer's Portable New Orleans

Frommer's New Orleans 2008 is a fully updated edition. Our author, a New Orleans resident, has chronicled the city's post-Katrina devastation and resurrection, with full information on what neighborhoods have rebounded and what establishments are open for business. With complete coverage of area hotels and transportation options, this book has everything you need to plan a trip to this slowly rebuilding city. Our author helps you find the best places now to hear jazz, blues, and zydeco, and detailed neighborhood maps help travelers find their way across town.

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SAS 9.2 SQL Procedure User's Guide

Describes the basics of using PROC SQL, including retrieving data from single and multiple tables; selecting specific data from tables; subsetting, ordering, and summarizing data; updating tables; combining tables to create new tables and useful reports; performing queries on database management system (DBMS) tables; using PROC SQL with the SAS macro facility; and debugging and optimizing PROC SQL code.

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SAS 9.2 SQL Query Window User's Guide

Explains how to design reports with PROC REPORT based on your output from the SQL Query Window. Covers basic query concepts, how to perform queries on single and multiple tables, how to use advanced SQL Query Window features, and how to customize the SQL Query Window environment.

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Essential C# 3.0: For .NET Framework 3.5

Essential C# 3.0 is an extremely well-written and well-organized “no-fluff” guide to C# 3.0, which will appeal to programmers at all levels of experience with C#. This fully updated edition dives deep into the new features that are revolutionizing programming, with brand new chapters covering query expressions, lambda expressions, extension methods, collection interface extensions, standard query operators, and LINQ as a whole.

Author Mark Michaelis covers the C# language in depth, and each importantconstruct is illustrated with succinct, relevant code examples. (Complete code examples are available online.) Graphical “mind maps” at the beginning of each chapter show what material is covered and how each topic relates to the whole. Topics intended for beginners and advanced readers are clearly marked.

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Thursday, March 5, 2009

Pro PerformancePoint Server 2007: Building Business Intelligence Solutions

Pro PerformancePoint Server 2007 is Microsoft’s latest product in its line of business intelligence applications, a piece of software that gathers data from corporate databases and delivers it to an end user in a friendly, graphical fashion.

PerformancePoint offers the next step in the digitization world. Businesses now have gigabytes upon terabytes of data in databases; there’s a need to interpret the data and glean key business insights from it and PerformancePoint.

Author Philo Janus walks you through the business process management and architecture of the PerformancePoint product before delving into developing a complete business intelligence solution, from start to finish.

What you’ll learn

* Develop an end–to–end business intelligence solution.
* Harness and massage data using SQL Server Integration Services, SQL Server Analysis Services, and SQL Server Reporting Services.
* Use ProClarity Analytics to get a better view on corporate performance data.
* Build a portal with key performance indicators and business scorecards using PerformancePoint, Excel Services, and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.
* Build out a complete business scorecard.
* Develop tools for business planning and forecasting.

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Frommer's Portable Portland

Perfect for the short-term traveler who insists on value and doesn't want to wade through or carry a full-size guidebook, Frommer's Portable Portland gives you candid reviews of the best hotels, restaurants, shopping, and nightlife, as well as the author's picks for the best travel experiences, including: strolling the grounds at the Japanese Garden; beer sampling at Brewpubs; kayaking around Ross Island; mountain biking the Leif Ericson Trail; hanging out at Powell's bookstore; people-watching at Pioneer Courthouse Square; spending an afternoon at the Portland Saturday Market; and more.

Frommer's Portable Guides offer all the detailed information and insider advice of a Frommer's Complete Guide—but in a concise, pocket-sized format.

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Frommer's Portable New York City 2008

The best little guide to the Big Apple.

*An insider's guide to the best of New York, from the Bronx (up) to the Battery (down) and how to get everywhere in between.
*Outspoken opinions on what's worth your time, and what's not.
*Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions (and the latest openings).
*The best hotels and restaurants in every price range, with candid reviews.
*Put the Best of New York City in Your Pocket

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Moving and Accessing SAS 9.2 Files

Explains the steps for moving SAS files across operating environments. Strategies include the Cross-Environment Data Access feature of directory-based operating environments, the CPORT and CIMPORT procedures, the XPORT engine with the DATA step or COPY procedure, and the XML engine with the DATA step or the COPY procedure.

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