Ambiguity Machines


Book Description

Philip K. Dick Award finalist Praise for Vandana Singh: “A most promising and original young writer.”—Ursula K. Le Guin “Lovely! What a pleasure this book is . . . full of warmth, compassion, affection, high comedy and low.”—Molly Gloss, author of The Hearts of Horses “Vandana Singh’s radiant protagonist is a planet unto herself.”—Village Voice “Sweeping starscapes and daring cosmology that make Singh a worthy heir to Cordwainer Smith and Arthur C. Clarke.”—Chris Moriarty, Fantasy & Science Fiction “I’m looking forward to the collection . . . everything I’ve read has impressed me—the past and future visions in ‘Delhi’, the intensity of ‘Thirst’, the feeling of escape at the end of ‘The Tetrahedron’...” —Niall Harrison, Vector (British Science Fiction Association) “...the first writer of Indian origin to make a serious mark in the SF world ... she writes with such a beguiling touch of the strange.” —Nilanjana Roy, Business Standard In her first North American collection, Vandana Singh’s deep humanism interplays with her scientific background in stories that explore and celebrate this world and others and characters who are trying to make sense of the people they meet, what they see, and the challenges they face. An eleventh century poet wakes to find he is as an artificially intelligent companion on a starship. A woman of no account has the ability to look into the past. In "Requiem," a major new novella, a woman goes to Alaska to try and make sense of her aunt’s disappearance. Singh's stories have been performed on BBC radio, been finalists for the British SF Association award, selected for the Tiptree award honor list, and oft reprinted in Best of the Year anthologies. Her dives deep into the vast strangeness of the universe without and within and with her unblinking clear vision she explores the ways we move through space and time: together, yet always apart.




Ambiguity Machines: An Examination


Book Description

This tale is an unusual take on an engineering exam that explores new concepts in machine design and function. All new machine discoveries must be investigated and classified. This is the story of three such machines and the truth or lie of their existence. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.




The Nostalgist


Book Description

The Nostalgist: A Tor.Com Original from Daniel H. Wilson. With EyesTM and EarsTM, everything can look and sound just fine, just like it used to be; it's a shock when they break down, though. This story has been adapted into a short film of the same name, directed by Giacomo Cimini and starring Lambert Wilson and Samuel Joslin. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.




Machine of Death


Book Description

MACHINE OF DEATH tells thirty-four different stories about people who know how they will die. Prepare to have your tears jerked, your spine tingled, your funny bone tickled, your mind blown, your pulse quickened, or your heart warmed. Or better yet, simply prepare to be surprised. Because even when people do have perfect knowledge of the future, there's no telling exactly how things will turn out.




Indian Science Fiction


Book Description

This study draws from postcolonial theory, science fiction criticism, utopian studies, genre theory, Western and Indian philosophy and history to propose that Indian science fiction functions at the intersection of Indian and Western cultures. The author deploys a diachronic and comparative approach in examining the multilingual science fiction traditions of India to trace the overarching generic evolutions, which he complements with an analysis of specific patterns of hybridity in the genre’s formal and thematic elements – time, space, characters and the epistemologies that build the worlds in Indian science fiction. The work explores the larger patterns and connections visible despite the linguistic and cultural diversities of Indian science fiction traditions.




Mathematics for Machine Learning


Book Description

The fundamental mathematical tools needed to understand machine learning include linear algebra, analytic geometry, matrix decompositions, vector calculus, optimization, probability and statistics. These topics are traditionally taught in disparate courses, making it hard for data science or computer science students, or professionals, to efficiently learn the mathematics. This self-contained textbook bridges the gap between mathematical and machine learning texts, introducing the mathematical concepts with a minimum of prerequisites. It uses these concepts to derive four central machine learning methods: linear regression, principal component analysis, Gaussian mixture models and support vector machines. For students and others with a mathematical background, these derivations provide a starting point to machine learning texts. For those learning the mathematics for the first time, the methods help build intuition and practical experience with applying mathematical concepts. Every chapter includes worked examples and exercises to test understanding. Programming tutorials are offered on the book's web site.




The Palencar Project


Book Description

Five original short stories inspired by the same John Jude Palencar painting. From David Hartwell's introduction: One day I was walking down the hall past the Tor Books art department and noticed, not for the first time, a fine painting by John Jude Palencar in the hallway. On that day, my curiosity got the better of me and I asked Irene Gallo what it was to be used for, or if it had been used and I had missed it. She said that in fact it was unassigned, and she needed to find a book for which it would be appropriate. And without missing a step I said, "I could commission stories based on it. . . . Personally, I am delighted with the results." Contents “New World Blues” by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. “Dormanna” by Gene Wolfe “Thanatos Beach” by James Morrow “The Woman Who Shook the World-Tree” by Michael Swanwick “The Sigma Structure Symphony” by Gregory Benford At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.




Red Hat RHCSA 8 Cert Guide


Book Description

This is the eBook version of the print title. Learn, prepare, and practice for Red Hat RHCSA 8 (EX200) exam success with this Cert Guide from Pearson IT Certification, a leader in IT Certification learning. Master Red Hat RHCSA 8 EX200 exam topics Assess your knowledge with chapter-ending quizzes Review key concepts with exam-preparation tasks Practice with four unique practice tests Learn from two full hours of video training from the author’s Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) Complete Video Course, 3rd Edition. Red Hat RHCSA 8 Cert Guide is a best-of-breed exam study guide. Leading Linux consultant, author, and instructor Sander van Vugt shares preparation hints and test-taking tips, helping you identify areas of weakness and improve both your conceptual knowledge and hands-on skills. Material is presented in a concise manner, focusing on increasing your understanding and retention of exam topics. The book presents you with an organized test-preparation routine through the use of proven series elements and techniques. Exam topic lists make referencing easy. Chapter-ending Exam Preparation Tasks help you drill on key concepts you must know thoroughly. Review questions help you assess your knowledge, and a final preparation chapter guides you through tools and resources to help you craft your final study plan. Well regarded for its level of detail, assessment features, and challenging review questions and exercises, this study guide helps you master the concepts and techniques that will enable you to succeed on the exam the first time, including Basic system management: Installation, tools, file management, text files, RHEL8 connections, user/group management, permissions, and network configuration Operating running systems: Managing software, processes, storage, and advanced storage; working with systemd; scheduling tasks; and configuring logging Advanced system administration: Managing the kernel and boot procedures, essential troubleshooting, bash shell scripting Managing network services: Configuring SSH, firewalls, and time services; managing Apache HTTP services and SE Linux; and accessing network storage




Humans, Animals, Machines


Book Description

Examines the overlap and blurring of boundaries among humans, animals, and machines.




Interpretable Machine Learning


Book Description

This book is about making machine learning models and their decisions interpretable. After exploring the concepts of interpretability, you will learn about simple, interpretable models such as decision trees, decision rules and linear regression. Later chapters focus on general model-agnostic methods for interpreting black box models like feature importance and accumulated local effects and explaining individual predictions with Shapley values and LIME. All interpretation methods are explained in depth and discussed critically. How do they work under the hood? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How can their outputs be interpreted? This book will enable you to select and correctly apply the interpretation method that is most suitable for your machine learning project.