Learning to Play


Book Description

In this textbook the author takes as inspiration recent breakthroughs in game playing to explain how and why deep reinforcement learning works. In particular he shows why two-person games of tactics and strategy fascinate scientists, programmers, and game enthusiasts and unite them in a common goal: to create artificial intelligence (AI). After an introduction to the core concepts, environment, and communities of intelligence and games, the book is organized into chapters on reinforcement learning, heuristic planning, adaptive sampling, function approximation, and self-play. The author takes a hands-on approach throughout, with Python code examples and exercises that help the reader understand how AI learns to play. He also supports the main text with detailed pointers to online machine learning frameworks, technical details for AlphaGo, notes on how to play and program Go and chess, and a comprehensive bibliography. The content is class-tested and suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on artificial intelligence and games. It's also appropriate for self-study by professionals engaged with applications of machine learning and with games development. Finally it's valuable for any reader engaged with the philosophical implications of artificial and general intelligence, games represent a modern Turing test of the power and limitations of AI.




Seven More Languages in Seven Weeks


Book Description

Great programmers aren't born--they're made. The industry is moving from object-oriented languages to functional languages, and you need to commit to radical improvement. New programming languages arm you with the tools and idioms you need to refine your craft. While other language primers take you through basic installation and "Hello, World," we aim higher. Each language in Seven More Languages in Seven Weeks will take you on a step-by-step journey through the most important paradigms of our time. You'll learn seven exciting languages: Lua, Factor, Elixir, Elm, Julia, MiniKanren, and Idris. Learn from the award-winning programming series that inspired the Elixir language. Hear how other programmers across broadly different communities solve problems important enough to compel language development. Expand your perspective, and learn to solve multicore and distribution problems. In each language, you'll solve a non-trivial problem, using the techniques that make that language special. Write a fully functional game in Elm, without a single callback, that compiles to JavaScript so you can deploy it in any browser. Write a logic program in Clojure using a programming model, MiniKanren, that is as powerful as Prolog but much better at interacting with the outside world. Build a distributed program in Elixir with Lisp-style macros, rich Ruby-like syntax, and the richness of the Erlang virtual machine. Build your own object layer in Lua, a statistical program in Julia, a proof in code with Idris, and a quiz game in Factor. When you're done, you'll have written programs in five different programming paradigms that were written on three different continents. You'll have explored four languages on the leading edge, invented in the past five years, and three more radically different languages, each with something significant to teach you.




Sudoku for Kids


Book Description

If you're looking for a sudoku book for beginners, here's the perfect first sudoku puzzle book for you! Starting children out with super easy 4x4 puzzles, this book progressively challenges the reader with harder and harder puzzles. After conquering the 4x4 grid, readers then get to take on the popular 9x9 sudoku puzzle. With over 100 puzzles for any skill level, Sudoku for Kids is published in large print so that adults can enjoy it, too. All puzzle answers are included in the back of the book. Teachers and homeschoolers: this book comes with reproduction rights for educational use. Teach your kids to develop critical thinking and logic skills with the addicting fun of sudoku!




Sudoku Variants


Book Description

Everyone knows sudoku is enjoyable--but these addictive puzzles come in endless variations too! They range from simple to very difficult, and can take almost no time to finish...or require many hours. This entertaining collection showcases a wide range of possibilities, offering solvers who have become accustomed to the standard rules and grids an exciting new challenge. Select from Mega Sudokus that provide a real workout; Diagonals or Odd and Even versions with extra constraints; Sum Sudokus that merge with kakuro; and Multisudoku with overlapping puzzles. There's something for every level--12 x 12 puzzles, ones with irregularly shaped areas, even Mini Sudoku--and lots of fun for everyone.




Stress Management For Dummies


Book Description

“This book gives you many action-oriented ways of coping with your anxiety about anxiety.” —Albert Ellis, PhD, President, Albert Ellis Institute Is your job tying your stomach in knots? Do you toss and turn in bed at night? Are your ulcers having ulcers? Face it—you’ve got too much stress in your life, and it’s time to give yourself a break. The consequences of not dealing with stress range from poor health and broken marriages to premature death: not a very cheerful outlook. Thankfully, all kinds of stress reduction approaches are available today: from breathing and posture to imagery and meditation. These new ideas have taken the world by storm—and taken the pressure cooker off the fire for millions of chilled-out people around the world. Whether it’s love, work, family, or something else that’s got your anxiety in the red zone, here’s an easy way to improve your outlook. Stress Management For Dummies will help you identify the stress triggers in your life and cut them down to size quickly, with tips on how to: Determine your stress level Relieve tension at work and at home Deal with difficult people Combat stress with diet and exercise Soothe your anger and worry Certified stress manager Allen Elkin, PhD takes the guesswork (and the added stress!) out of finding the stress relief system that’s right for you. After determining your stress level with a few simple tests, you’ll get step-by-step guidance on finding and eliminating sources of stress, in both your mind and body. Inside are hassle-free techniques, helpful advice, self-evaluation quizzes, and fascinating information on: Letting go of tension through breathing, stretching, massage, and more Clearing the clutter in your life—and in your mind Managing your time—setting priorities, delegating, and conquering procrastination Eating, exercising, and sleeping right Stress-resistant thinking Reducing interpersonal stress Personal relaxation techniques The top ten stresses in life The ten most stressful jobs With a wide but manageable array of stress-management techniques, strategies, and tactics, this is your own personal toolbox for stress relief. So relax, take a deep breath, and start reading!




The Times Train Tracks


Book Description

This challenging visual puzzle will appeal to lovers of logic and deduction brain teasers. How To Play: A map grid shows two towns, typically A and B. The objective of the puzzle is to lay down tracks to connect the two towns. Numbers around the outside of the grid tell you how many pieces of track are to be placed in each row and column. You can only use straight (horizontal and vertical) and curved (right and left) rails and the track cannot cross over itself. There is something very satisfying in the laying down of tracks. The puzzles are arranged with varying levels of difficulty, where difficulty is largely dependent on the size of the map grid (from 6x6 to 10x10). Puzzles included cover three levels of difficulty: 70 Easy, 70 Moderate, and 60 Difficult.




The Drunkard's Walk


Book Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the classroom to the courtroom and from financial markets to supermarkets, an intriguing and illuminating look at how randomness, chance, and probability affect our daily lives that will intrigue, awe, and inspire. “Mlodinow writes in a breezy style, interspersing probabilistic mind-benders with portraits of theorists.... The result is a readable crash course in randomness.” —The New York Times Book Review With the born storyteller's command of narrative and imaginative approach, Leonard Mlodinow vividly demonstrates how our lives are profoundly informed by chance and randomness and how everything from wine ratings and corporate success to school grades and political polls are less reliable than we believe. By showing us the true nature of chance and revealing the psychological illusions that cause us to misjudge the world around us, Mlodinow gives us the tools we need to make more informed decisions. From the classroom to the courtroom and from financial markets to supermarkets, Mlodinow's intriguing and illuminating look at how randomness, chance, and probability affect our daily lives will intrigue, awe, and inspire.




Mensa® Kakuro


Book Description

What could be more appealing to Mensa members--or anyone who enjoys a good challenge--than a cunning test of intelligence and logic? That's exactly what these 250 puzzles provide. The trick to kakuro is in making it all add up: the game begins with a grid that looks like a crossword, except that some squares contain small numbers in the corner. Fill in all the empty boxes using the numbers 1 to 9 without repeats so that the sum of each horizontal set of digits equals the number in the black triangle to its left, and the sum of each vertical set of digits equals the number in the triangle above it. The kakuro puzzles start out simple...and get more difficult as the book progresses.




Homestuck, Book 1


Book Description

A full-color, hardcover collector’s edition of the landmark webcomic. Years in the past, but not many, a webcomic launched that would captivate legions of devoted fans around the world and take them on a mind-bending, genre-defying epic journey that would forever change the way they look at stairs. And buckets. And possibly horses. Now this sprawling saga has been immortalized on dead trees with notes from author Andrew Hussie explaining what the hell he was thinking as he brought this monster to life. A must-have for Homestuck fans who want to re-experience the saga or for new readers looking for a gateway to enter this rich universe. A young man stands in his bedroom. It just so happens that he’s about to embark on an adventure involving birthday cakes, magic chests, hammers, arms (detachable and otherwise), harlequins, imps, eccentric architecture, movable home furnishings, bunnies, and a video game that will destroy the world.




Absolutely Nasty® Kakuro Level Three


Book Description

Kakuro is a puzzle type in which sums are given and solvers must deduce the numbers in the individual boxes. This title is suitable for hardcore kakuro devotees.