Off the Network


Book Description

Off the Network is a fresh and authoritative examination of how the hidden logic of the Internet, social media, and the digital network is changing users' understanding of the world--and why that should worry us. Ulises Ali Mejias suggests how we might begin to rethink the logic of the network and question its ascendancy.




Designing an Internet


Book Description

Why the Internet was designed to be the way it is, and how it could be different, now and in the future. How do you design an internet? The architecture of the current Internet is the product of basic design decisions made early in its history. What would an internet look like if it were designed, today, from the ground up? In this book, MIT computer scientist David Clark explains how the Internet is actually put together, what requirements it was designed to meet, and why different design decisions would create different internets. He does not take today's Internet as a given but tries to learn from it, and from alternative proposals for what an internet might be, in order to draw some general conclusions about network architecture. Clark discusses the history of the Internet, and how a range of potentially conflicting requirements—including longevity, security, availability, economic viability, management, and meeting the needs of society—shaped its character. He addresses both the technical aspects of the Internet and its broader social and economic contexts. He describes basic design approaches and explains, in terms accessible to nonspecialists, how networks are designed to carry out their functions. (An appendix offers a more technical discussion of network functions for readers who want the details.) He considers a range of alternative proposals for how to design an internet, examines in detail the key requirements a successful design must meet, and then imagines how to design a future internet from scratch. It's not that we should expect anyone to do this; but, perhaps, by conceiving a better future, we can push toward it.




The Wealth of Networks


Book Description

Describes how patterns of information, knowledge, and cultural production are changing. The author shows that the way information and knowledge are made available can either limit or enlarge the ways people create and express themselves. He describes the range of legal and policy choices that confront.




From Molecules to Networks


Book Description

An understanding of the nervous system at virtually any level of analysis requires an understanding of its basic building block, the neuron. From Molecules to Networks provides the solid foundation of the morphologic, biochemical, and biophysical properties of nerve cells. All chapters have been thoroughly revised for this second edition to reflect the significant advances of the past 5 years. The new edition expands on the network aspects of cellular neurobiology by adding a new chapter, Information Processing in Neural Networks, and on the relation of cell biological processes to various neurological diseases. The new concluding chapter illustrates how the great strides in understanding the biochemical and biophysical properties of nerve cells have led to fundamental insights into important aspects of neurodegenerative disease. - Written and edited by leading experts in the field, the second edition completely and comprehensively updates all chapters of this unique textbook - Discusses emerging new understanding of non-classical molecules that affect neuronal signaling - Full colour, professional graphics throughout - Includes two new chapters: Information Processing in Neural Networks - describes the principles of operation of neural networks and the key circuit motifs that are common to many networks in the nervous system. Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Neurodegenerative Disease - introduces the progress made in the last 20 years in elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying brain disorders, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson disease, and Alzheimer's disease




The Network


Book Description

The astonishing story of America’s airwaves, the two friends—one a media mogul, the other a famous inventor—who made them available to us, and the government which figured out how to put a price on air. This is the origin story of the airwaves—the foundational technology of the communications age—as told through the forty-year friendship of an entrepreneurial industrialist and a brilliant inventor. David Sarnoff, the head of RCA and equal parts Steve Jobs, Jack Welch, and William Randolph Hearst, was the greatest supporter of his friend Edwin Armstrong, developer of the first amplifier, the modern radio transmitter, and FM radio. Sarnoff was convinced that Armstrong’s inventions had the power to change the way societies communicated with each other forever. He would become a visionary captain of the media industry, even predicting the advent of the Internet. In the mid-1930s, however, when Armstrong suspected Sarnoff of orchestrating a cadre of government officials to seize control of the FM airwaves, he committed suicide. Sarnoff had a very different view of who his friend’s enemies were. Many corrupt politicians and corporations saw in Armstrong’s inventions the opportunity to commodify our most ubiquitous natural resource—the air. This early alliance between high tech and business set the precedent for countless legal and industrial battles over broadband and licensing bandwidth, many of which continue to influence policy and debate today.




Networks of the Brain


Book Description

An integrative overview of network approaches to neuroscience explores the origins of brain complexity and the link between brain structure and function. Over the last decade, the study of complex networks has expanded across diverse scientific fields. Increasingly, science is concerned with the structure, behavior, and evolution of complex systems ranging from cells to ecosystems. In Networks of the Brain, Olaf Sporns describes how the integrative nature of brain function can be illuminated from a complex network perspective. Highlighting the many emerging points of contact between neuroscience and network science, the book serves to introduce network theory to neuroscientists and neuroscience to those working on theoretical network models. Sporns emphasizes how networks connect levels of organization in the brain and how they link structure to function, offering an informal and nonmathematical treatment of the subject. Networks of the Brain provides a synthesis of the sciences of complex networks and the brain that will be an essential foundation for future research.




Build Your Dream Network


Book Description

Cut through the networking noise and start building the powerful, real relationships needed to succeed in our digital world If you think of networking as schmoozing at boring cocktail parties or scrolling through LinkedIn for new contacts to add, think again. In the social media age, you need a modern roadmap for creating and cultivating meaningful connections to stand out from the crowd and achieve any of your goals, no matter how big or small. In Build Your Dream Network, acclaimed business columnist and networking expert J. Kelly Hoey offers a fresh new approach to mastering this timeworn skill in a world where everyone is posting, liking, and friending fast and furiously, but many are failing to leverage their connections successfully. Hoey presents innovative strategies for forming strong relationships—the genuine, mutually beneficial, long-lasting kind—using all of the social tools at your disposal. She also reveals creative and surprisingly simple ways to harness the power of your network to accomplish any ambition, from landing your dream job or a coveted account or client to successfully crowdfunding a new business venture. Build Your Dream Network will help you: - Determine the most effective ways to connect with others so you don’t clutter your calendar with dead-end coffee dates and informational interviews - Synchronize IRL networking efforts with your digital outreach - Turn “closed door” conversations into strong personal relationships and business opportunities - Eliminate FOMO by keeping your networking efforts focused Packed with infographics, flowcharts, and encouraging advice, Build Your Dream Network shows how small adjustments in your daily routine, generosity, and goal-focused efforts are all it takes to set you apart and ignite the powerful connections that will lead to major opportunities for success.




Network Information Theory


Book Description

This comprehensive treatment of network information theory and its applications provides the first unified coverage of both classical and recent results. With an approach that balances the introduction of new models and new coding techniques, readers are guided through Shannon's point-to-point information theory, single-hop networks, multihop networks, and extensions to distributed computing, secrecy, wireless communication, and networking. Elementary mathematical tools and techniques are used throughout, requiring only basic knowledge of probability, whilst unified proofs of coding theorems are based on a few simple lemmas, making the text accessible to newcomers. Key topics covered include successive cancellation and superposition coding, MIMO wireless communication, network coding, and cooperative relaying. Also covered are feedback and interactive communication, capacity approximations and scaling laws, and asynchronous and random access channels. This book is ideal for use in the classroom, for self-study, and as a reference for researchers and engineers in industry and academia.




Network Routing


Book Description

Network routing can be broadly categorized into Internet routing, PSTN routing, and telecommunication transport network routing. This book systematically considers these routing paradigms, as well as their interoperability. The authors discuss how algorithms, protocols, analysis, and operational deployment impact these approaches. A unique feature of the book is consideration of both macro-state and micro-state in routing; that is, how routing is accomplished at the level of networks and how routers or switches are designed to enable efficient routing. In reading this book, one will learn about 1) the evolution of network routing, 2) the role of IP and E.164 addressing in routing, 3) the impact on router and switching architectures and their design, 4) deployment of network routing protocols, 5) the role of traffic engineering in routing, and 6) lessons learned from implementation and operational experience. This book explores the strengths and weaknesses that should be considered during deployment of future routing schemes as well as actual implementation of these schemes. It allows the reader to understand how different routing strategies work and are employed and the connection between them. This is accomplished in part by the authors' use of numerous real-world examples to bring the material alive. Bridges the gap between theory and practice in network routing, including the fine points of implementation and operational experience Routing in a multitude of technologies discussed in practical detail, including, IP/MPLS, PSTN, and optical networking Routing protocols such as OSPF, IS-IS, BGP presented in detail A detailed coverage of various router and switch architectures A comprehensive discussion about algorithms on IP-lookup and packet classification Accessible to a wide audience due to its vendor-neutral approach




Networks, Crowds, and Markets


Book Description

Are all film stars linked to Kevin Bacon? Why do the stock markets rise and fall sharply on the strength of a vague rumour? How does gossip spread so quickly? Are we all related through six degrees of separation? There is a growing awareness of the complex networks that pervade modern society. We see them in the rapid growth of the internet, the ease of global communication, the swift spread of news and information, and in the way epidemics and financial crises develop with startling speed and intensity. This introductory book on the new science of networks takes an interdisciplinary approach, using economics, sociology, computing, information science and applied mathematics to address fundamental questions about the links that connect us, and the ways that our decisions can have consequences for others.




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