Learning and Soft Computing: Support Vector Machines, Neural Networks, and Fuzzy Logic Models (Complex Adaptive Systems)

Book Description

This textbook provides a thorough introduction to the field of learning from experimental data and soft computing. Support vector machines (SVM) and neural networks (NN) are the mathematical structures, or models, that underlie learning, while fuzzy logic systems (FLS) enable us to embed structured human knowledge into workable algorithms. The book assumes that it is not only useful, but necessary, to treat SVM, NN, and FLS as parts of a connected whole. Throughout, the theory and algorithms are illustrated by practical examples, as well as by problem sets and simulated experiments. This approach enables the reader to develop SVM, NN, and FLS in addition to understanding them. The book also presents three case studies: on NN-based control, financial time series analysis, and computer graphics. A solutions manual and all of the MATLAB programs needed for the simulated experiments are available.

Customer Reviews:

An extremely good book.......2006-11-16

This is a very good book. Another reviewer has commented on Vojislav Kecman being an excellent teacher. I whole-heartedly second that opinion. Often times, while reading this book, you will pause with a doubt or question. What you will find surprising is that almost certainly the author has answered that question in the next paragraph. Many times, the author's answers will tally your own answers.

The first chapter of the book (entitled: Learning and Soft Computing: Rationale, Motivations, Needs, Basics) is 119 pages long. It is an essential reading. By the time you finish reading this chapter the things will start falling into place and you will be more motivated and ready to read the remaining chapters. Until you are highly aware of this topic, do not skip this chapter.

A book is made up of a lot of things other than the text that it covers. Does it contain many/any stupid jokes? Is it printed on the highest quality paper? Is the font size good? Is it printed too dense? Is the cover page inviting enough? Are the dimensions/weight of the book correct? On all these counts the book scores high.

Consistent with the subject matter that it covers, this is not an easy book. You will perhaps like to read it with paper and pencil. But if you are willing to spend time with this book, this book will do a lot of good to you. This is a very good book.

An excellent book on Machine Learning.......2003-02-27

What strikes me each time I open this book is Mr Kecman's sense of pedagogy: it is a lesson in the matter. Not only his book delivers the - sometimes complex - techniques in a highly readable manner, but the concepts behind each of the main tools (SVM, NN & FL) he chose to highlight are always brilliantly put in context. One comes out of the reading with more than a set of equations but rather with a clearer picture of the field.
Mr Kecman is - without a doubt - a great teacher.

This effort to deliver a clear message is furthermore underlined through the numerous original figures: if you are like me and feel that a (good) picture speaks more than a thousand words, you will sure appreciate the way the illustrations complement the text and truly help the understanding.

I have read several other books on the subject but if I had to chose one for teaching purposes, this would be the one. I you want to build a better understanding of the field, get this book: it will pay on the long term.

Excellent, useful book!.......2001-07-23

This book is a nice and, I would say, a successful attempt to provide a unified survey of important theoretical and practical machine learning tools: neural networks (NN), support vector machines (SVM) and fuzzy systems (FS).

Book consists of nine chapters, covering SVMs, one- and multi-layer perceptrons and radial-basis function networks, as variants of neural networks, and basics of fuzzy theory. This is followed by interesting case-studies (in financial, control and computer graphic applications) and concluded by basics of optimization theory and an overview of necessary mathematical tools. All the MATLAB programs needed for the simulated experiments are available on the book web site.

Book Description

This book covers the problem of control and intelligent systems design using soft-computing techniques in an integrated manner. It presents both theory and applications, including industrial applications, and contains numerous worked examples, problems and case studies. The book covers the state-of-the-art in soft-computing techniques, giving the reader sufficient knowledge to tackle a wide range of complex systems for which traditional techniques are inadequate. It integrates theory and practice through the use of numerous worked examples and includes extensive coverage of control applciations. Anyone interested in artificial intelligence and/or control engineering.

Do-It-Yourself Fabric Decor : Pillows, Window Treatments, and Slipcovers for Your Home

Average customer rating:

Great Reference Book
It's so-so
Book review
Comprehensive Step-by-Step Instructions
Good on Pillows and Windows

Do-It-Yourself Fabric Decor : Pillows, Window Treatments, and Slipcovers for Your Home
The Editors of Creative Publishing international
Manufacturer: Creative Publishing international
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Decorating | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0865733457

Book Description

-A comprehensive guide that covers a wide range of styles.

Customer Reviews:

Great Reference Book .......2006-01-20

I ordered this book because I was out of ideas and needed some help with slipcovers. I have been sewing for more years than I can count, however, never to old to learn a few new tricks. I found this book to be very helpful, very simple instructions, step-by-step, they assume you are new at sewing, and take each step of the process & add photos so you can see what it is suppose to look like to keep you on track. I would suggest this book to anyone who wants to improve their sewing skills and/or new sewers or just looking for good ideas.

It's so-so.......2005-12-23

Its a good book for beginners, I am a beginner. ALOT of the projects in this book seem like they are from the early 80's (yuck) even though it was published in 2000. If looking for a how-to book this one is good with tips only. MOST of the projects are pillows and window treatments, with only a hand full of other projects. NOT a good book for the younger crowd looking for tips and projects for decorating their home. Or anyone looking for something modern. I personally was very disappointed, and there are book out there that are SO much better.

Book review.......2005-08-17

Very good book, with easy to follow instructions. My only reason for not giving it a 5-star rating was because I would have liked to see a few more curtain/drapery styles than were offered. Lots of really good tips in this book.

Comprehensive Step-by-Step Instructions.......2004-01-29

I wish I had seen this book first! This one reference combines numerous topics in one. What I like best are the step-by-step instructions - with photos! I am new at sewing and being able to see what the steps should look like is extremely helpful. Also, the book covered every type of curtain I could think up does such a thorough job with pillow descriptions that I think of the slipcovers section as an added bonus. If you want to decorate your home with neat and professional looking work, get this book!

Good on Pillows and Windows.......2002-12-25

I love this book , the instructions for pillows are just what I needed and the photos and inspiration for windows are perfect. More attention is paid to other types of decorating though than window treatments. Still this is among my top 5 favorite home decorating books.

Home Decor Sewing 101: A Beginner's Guide to Sewing for the Home (Black & Decker 101)

Average customer rating:

Good Basic Information for the beginning sewer
A Decent Start
Perfect for the total novice

Home Decor Sewing 101: A Beginner's Guide to Sewing for the Home (Black & Decker 101)
Creative Publishing international
Manufacturer: Creative Publishing international
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

Decorating | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Sewing | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Household Hints | How-to & Home Improvements | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1589231422

Book Description

-Twenty easy projects-pillows, window treatments, table linens and more.

Customer Reviews:

Good Basic Information for the beginning sewer.......2006-06-07

I would be what you call an intermediate sewer. I have quilted and sewn simple garments and home decor items for years. The reason I got this book was for some help in trying to determine the best way to construct and sew a lined bedspread, something I have not done yet. I did not find what I was looking for, the closest thing being the self-line valance, but I did not want self-lined. I checked this book out of the library, but I would definitely recommend it for the novice sewer. It has really good basic information about machines, supplies, how to sew a seam, matching fabric and more. It then goes into actual sewing projects from valances to cushions, napkins and pillows. Overall, I think this is a very good book for the beginning sewer.

A Decent Start.......2006-02-20

I am someone who bought a sewing machine, had ABSOLUTELY NO PRIOR SEWING EXPERIENCE and I must say, this little book has helped me tremendously. There are so many little things that people who already sew take for granted such as fabric information. Sure, like any book, you may run into something that you still don't quite get, but after my first couple of projects, I dared to do a very simple pattern for my daughter and she actually likes it. I also find that while sewing, I sometimes refer to the book for reassurance for a simple technique. Again, I'm totally brand new (2 1/2 weeks of sewing). The book goes from a simple square pillow and very gradually, gets on to things that are a little more challenging that wont completely freak you out. For instance, I sewed the basic pillow, and then moved on to a box style square pillow with stripes. Until then, I had no idea about what it took to match patterned fabric. This was a wonderful introduction for me. I'm not afraid to try the stuff in the book, and for me that is totally key. Surely it's worth the inevestment.

Perfect for the total novice.......2005-02-09

This book is easy to follow because of the clear photos you get for every step and along that the clear explainations. Every project is step-by-step, so it's easy to understand!
It explains everything from the very basics because the writer assumes that you know nothing about sewing.
The book starts out with the "How to use this book" chapter, then
the "Sewing basics" (principle parts common to all modern sewing machines)+ you'll need your own manual!
"Machine accessories" (all the things come with your machine and what to use them for and how),
"Getting ready to sew" (how to thread the machine, change the needle, etc),
then "Sewing your first seam" (very easy to understand and clear colord photos),
"Sewing Supplies" (pins, tape measure, shears, etc. you'll need for your projects),
and "Special products" (batting, twill tape, etc.) the explanation on how these products work, what to use it for and you get a photo so you'll know what to look for in the shop,
"Fabric information"
"Cutting decorator fabrics"
"Matching designs"
"Hand stitches"
Then finaly the "Sewing projects" which includes 20 home decor projects; scarf swags, few kind of valances, window coverings, placemats and napkins, tablecoth, cushions, seat covers, fleece throw, different kind of pillows, pillow cases, shams, duvet cover, shower curtain. Great looking projects! While you learn you make a lots of nice and useful stuff for your home.

Evolutionary Computation in Data Mining (Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing)

Average customer rating:

Evolutionary Computation in Data Mining (Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Data Mining | Databases | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

This carefully edited book reflects and advances the state of the art in the area of Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery with Evolutionary Algorithms. It emphasizes the utility of different evolutionary computing tools to various facets of knowledge discovery from databases, ranging from theoretical analysis to real-life applications. Evolutionary Computation in Data Mining provides a balanced mixture of theory, algorithms and applications in a cohesive manner, and demonstrates how the different tools of evolutionary computation can be used for solving real-life problems in data mining and bioinformatics.

The Soft Machine (Burroughs, William S.)

Average customer rating:

Addiction: an agent of control
maybe they mixed alcohol in with my birthing solution...
"Smash The Control Machine!"-K9 the pilot
If you liked N.B.K. then you'll like this educational book
the best part

The Soft Machine (Burroughs, William S.)
William S. Burroughs
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0802133290

Book Description

In Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs revealed his genius. In The Soft Machine he begins an adventure that will take us even further into the dark recesses of his imagination, a region where nothing is sacred, nothing taboo. Continuing his ferocious verbal assault on hatred, hype, poverty, war, bureaucracy, and addiction in all its forms, Burroughs gives us a surreal space odyssey through the wounded galaxies in a book only he could create.

Customer Reviews:

Addiction: an agent of control.......2007-08-02

The Soft Machine is Burroughs's definitive work of cut-up and experimental writing. Most of the elements of the book are taken from the same period of writing that produced his first success Naked Lunch and are in many ways a natural continuation of that work. Many familiar characters pop up in The Soft Machine and many of the same themes of homosexuality, drug addiction, death, murder and corruption appear throughout. That being said, The Soft Machine is in many ways different from Naked Lunch. The most apparent is the total abandonment of any semblance to a coherent storyline. I will call this the cut-up style in the macro approach. There is a micro side of it as well. In almost every sentence Burroughs applies the technique to combine words and phrases that at first glance have no apparent connection or meaning together. The result is an interesting, if a bit tiring form of literary art.

I started reading this book directly after I finished Naked Lunch and was a bit let down by it at first. I was looking for something that had a bit more meaning taken as a whole and The Soft Machine just isn't that kind of book. It was only after I realized this that I began to appreciate it for what it was: a conscious attempt to create a new literary form and actively use words to illustrate the patterns of society and life that we are too familiar and dependent upon. Addiction is a dominant theme in Burroughs's work and it normally manifests itself in the form of dope, but I think he uses his unique style to illuminate the other pervasive forms of addiction that he saw saturating society. Addiction is essentially concerned with control, the control of a substance over the actions and choices of an individual. For Burroughs a mode of though or way of life could be just as easily substituted for a substance as long as it met the conditions of addiction.

The Soft Machine is an essential work and in many ways definitive in Burroughs assault against all the agents of control in our societies. Through a destruction of past literary forms and the resulting reconstruction into something utterly different he hoped to show not a solution to the problems confronting us, but rather to show us all how widespread and engrained the current system is.

maybe they mixed alcohol in with my birthing solution..........2003-07-30

i read soft machine by WSB by recommendation of one of my best friends. he said WSB and many of the other Beats were off the edge. i watched the movie "Beat" as an amusing insight into a portion of WSB, after reading Soft Machine. Soft Machine, and forgive me for being an ignorant blah-putz, is REALLY difficult to get into. the first couple of chapters are nothing but random rants and raves. it sounds like the man was going for drug cocktails and rectum-stretching in some south american country. i just couldn't see the benefit to literature that WSB provides. i know he's a good writer because everyone says he is, but i'm not seeing it. to me, the emperor DOES NOT have any clothes on. oh well, i guess i'll die ... ignorant ... never knowing the greatness of WSB.

...

"Smash The Control Machine!"-K9 the pilot.......2002-01-05

This is possibly my favorite, I remember a lot about it. Just as if not more so on the lines of Wild Boys, except those boys are replaced renegade military types who go haywire and destroy the civilized control towers and such with the ubiquitous words "Calling partisans of all nations-Shift linquals, vibrate tourists-Word falling, photo falling-break through in grey room!" Wonderful. Mostly stream-of-conciousness, including the immensely garbled and mind blowing (atleast to me) chapter "Trak!Trak!Trak!" (either that or Trek)...he just keeps going and going, but not like the Energizer Bunny becuase that peice of fluffy pink machinery is a commercialized 'soft machine' and Burroughs is its arch enemy. Wouldn't it just be marvelous if the 2 duked it out on some adulterated Japanese animation like Cowboy Bebob? Err. BREAK THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE...OF LITERATURE AND LUNACY!

Other particularly memorable scenes that stuck in my internal synapses include a chapter where a news reporter infiltrates backward Mayan codices (where a hollogram image of an old master controls the migrant workers) and penetrates the machine and punches the hollogram in the gut and screams out freedom and aw, it was beautiful. Also feast your eyes on voodoo doctors taking advantage of their drug induced patients, boys in the forgotten hills, traveling shifty, where am I going with this? Whatever, just read it, boys and girls.

If you liked N.B.K. then you'll like this educational book.......2000-07-30

When I first started reading this book not much of it made any sense. I just let it from whatever it had to feed in my right brain (visuals). The second step came on the chapter Public Agent where I kept with the imaging and connected this imaging together so that it made some intellictual sense. From these experiences I found out that in this book Burroughs communicates in a language that streams together the sound, image,word. This book with its cut/up induces creativity and will also boost anybody's vocabulary skills. If you liked the cut/up used in Natural Born Killers then you'll like this book,which Natural Born Killers was probably born from.

the best part.......2000-03-28

I think the genius comes in when Burroughs takes the stories apart and scrambles them back together to make silly but surreptitiously truthful little sideswipes at reality.

Average customer rating:

Classic Soda Machines

Manufacturer: Retro Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FPFFPU

Product Description

Soda vending machines were made in a large variety of shapes and sizes. Their colorful and often stylish design have made them a hot collectible. Classic Soda Machines illustrates hundreds of these machines with entertaining and enlightening commentary. Values are provided in captions.

Average customer rating:

plenty of room at the bottom, but it's sticky and shaky

Soft Machines: Nanotechnology and Life
Richard A. L. Jones
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0198528558

Book Description

Enthusiasts look forward to a time when tiny machines reassemble matter and process information with unparalleled power and precision. But is their vision realistic? Where is the science heading? As nanotechnology (a new technology that many believe will transform society in the next one hundred years) rises higher in the news agenda and popular consciousness, there is a real need for a book which discusses clearly the science on which this technology will be based. Whilst it is most easy to simply imagine these tiny machines as scaled-down versions of the macroscopic machines we are all familiar with, the way things behave on small scales is quite different to the way they behave on large scales. Engineering on the nanoscale will use very different principles to those we are used to in our everyday lives, and the materials used in nanotehnology will be soft and mutable, rather than hard and unyielding. "Soft Machines" explains in a lively and very accessible manner why the nanoworld is so different to the macro-world which we are all familiar with. Why does nature engineer things in the way it does, and how can we learn to use these unfamiliar principles to create valuable new materials and artefacts which will have a profound effect on medicine, electronics, energy and the environment in the twenty-first century. With a firmer understanding of the likely relationship between nanotechnology and nature itself, we can gain a much clearer notion of what dangers this powerful technology may potentially pose, as well as come to realise that nanotechnology will have more in common with biology than with conventional engineering.

Customer Reviews:

plenty of room at the bottom, but it's sticky and shaky.......2007-06-25

What is nanotechnology? Much of what has fallen under that label has been incremental extension of established engineering practices and technologies to the nanoscale, e.g. improvements in planar silicon fabrication. How much longer can this continue? A more radical vision is that of K. Eric Drexler and his followers, who foresee precise positional control and construction of "assemblers" and "nanofactories" based on the chemistry of carbon. Is this vision -- which spawned much speculative literature and the grey goo scenario of out of control replicators -- feasible?

Jones argues that a wholly different approach will have to be adopted -- an approach suited to the peculiar physics of the nanoscale, where fluctuations and Brownian motion dominate, where surfaces are sticky, and where even quantum field theory (in the Casimir effect) conspires to frustrate the Drexlerian machinist.

Rather than try to work around the physics of the nanoscale, Jones proposes that we use it to our advantage -- just as biological soft "nanotechnology" does. Brownian motion and adhesion energy, for instance, make self-assembly possible. Just as proteins spontaneously fold to their native conformations and just as lipid membranes spontaneously assemble and fold into liposomes, we can design molecules to spontaneously achieve useful three dimensional conformations. We can imitate proteins by coupling conformational changes to molecular recognition and environmental changes, the principle which makes a host of protein activities -- signaling, sensing, catalysis -- possible. While traditional Carnot heat engines fail on the nanoscale, we are now beginning to understand the principles of isothermal molecular motors, such as those used for intracellular transport.

I very much recommend this book for its synoptic overview of current nanotechnology and the challenges facing it. Explanations of physical principles are clear and precise, and would benefit the layman and the researcher alike. Jones has much else to say about evolution, systems biology, silicon vs. single molecule electronics, etc. I only regret that he only cursorily discusses bionanotechnology (as opposed to biomimetic synthetic nanotechnology), i.e. what he calls the "Mad Max" approach of stripping down and reengineering working biological nanosystems, which he only introduces in the last chapter. He rightly is concerned about public opposition and even unforeseen consequences of this approach, but I would like to know more about what it has made possible.

Still, I very much recommend this underappreciated book (no reviews yet?) which I think is on par with Purcell's paper "Life at Low Reynolds Number" and Vogel's "Life's Devices" -- a science writing gem.

Three Novels: The Soft Machine, Nova Express, the Wild Boys

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Three Novels: The Soft Machine, Nova Express, the Wild Boys
William S. Burroughs
Manufacturer: Grove Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0802130844

Gong Dreaming 1: From Soft Machine to the Birth of Gong

Average customer rating:

5 Stars! One Banana Moon and Andy Partridge in a weasel's Plume
like a Daevid Allen collage to wrap your brain in before throwing it out

Gong Dreaming 1: From Soft Machine to the Birth of Gong
Daevid Allen
Manufacturer: Saf Publishing Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0946719829

Book Description

Originally self-published in 1994, Gong Dreaming 1 has been sought after by collectors and fans ever since.

This is a very personal vision quest through a group experience shared by many in the late 1960s. It is not an attempt at a historical documentation of the time but of one person's visions and hallucinations sewn together with personal memories.
Why?
I am well aware that there are better singers, guitarists, storytellers, and songwriters than I surrounding me wherever I go. Yet there is no one but myself who can relate the inner journey that has taken me through 25 years of minor celebrity as father of two of Britain's seminal cult psychedelic bands, born from the cultural and social revolution that began in 1967.-Daevid Allen

Customer Reviews:

5 Stars! One Banana Moon and Andy Partridge in a weasel's Plume.......2007-07-07

.
.
.
Teeter - Totters on the brink of Ray Johnson Knell-ism
into the VAST Un-Owned.
YES ! Daevid it is moi, rain rien nevermind, And I STILL have the original copy puppy of DREAMINg 1 , with leaking kitten, thank you very much, that Planet gong sent sailing over-seize ...and very much enjoy it and pass it around for Yuk-Yuks, And YOU or Jaw Knee Green may remember I have paid the TEN DOLLAR "$10.00" FEE-FREE RESERVE-OVATION ( that's almost 5 whole pounds, not stars, mate! ) for the DREAMINg II, ting tang yen yank, which apparently hasn't made it to press or the AMAZON JUNgLE, YET You really should mention { cut too } William Burroughs Connection just to bug people or FILL em with Bug JUICE O' Joy . EVERYBODY LISTEN EVERYBODY LEAVE as the old I am a Wall Rush Relays :: PLEASE ! with ...Angels in Heavy Syrup on it, EVERYONE Log On and BUY THIS BOOK and then BUY "Put the Book Back on the SHELF" a belle sebastian anthology ( for comic relief simi-you-lure-itty.) And with that this Ginger Geezergiddyitty Low Bows and Exits Stage Muff. Dear AMAZON, Darlinks, This is REALLY an 8 STAR Review for Daevid's Book, if you will just LOOK at the BOOK you may well understand, well, well The Review Formerly Known as 07/07/07 is over 8ted.

Put The Book Back On The Shelf: A Belle And Sebastian AnthologyCORRESPONDANCE is CORRESPONDANCE if you don't wanna DANCE at least shuffle along
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text

like a Daevid Allen collage to wrap your brain in before throwing it out.......2007-06-06

This book is not really a straight ahead chronological narrative as much as a collection of his poetry, art, lyrics, and some prose thrown in as well. As such, it serves as a good document of the genius of Daevid Allen and his universe. If a document of his professional career is what you're after then I would recommend other books such as the Soft Machine bio, Out-Bloody-Rageous by Graham Bennett, or Mike King's excellent Robert Wyatt bio, Wrong Movements.

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