Unravel the mysteries of blockchains Blockchain technologies are disrupting some of the world’s biggest industries. Blockchain For Dummies provides a fast way to catch up with the essentials of this quickly evolving tech. Written by an author involved in founding and analyzing blockchain solutions, this book serves to help those who need to understand what a blockchain can do (and can't do). This revised edition walks you through how a blockchainsecurely records data across independent networks. It offers a tour of some of the world’s best-known blockchains, including those that power Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It also provides a glance at how blockchain solutions are affecting the worlds of finance, supply chain management, insurance, and governments. - Get a clear picture of what a blockchain can do - Learn how blockchains rule cryptocurrency and smart contracts - Discover current blockchains and how each of them work - Test blockchain apps Blockchain has become the critical buzzword in the world of financial technology and transaction security — and now you can make sense of it with the help of this essential guide.

Explains in detail how to successfully implement Oracle CRM on Demand, providing best practices for real-world examples for designing, configuring, deploying and maintaining the software to meet an organization's sales, marketing, and service needs. Original.

Is the Brexit vote successful big data politics or the end of democracy? Why do airlines overbook, and why do banks get it wrong so often? How does big data enable Netflix to forecast a hit, CERN to find the Higgs boson and medics to discover if red wine really is good for you? And how are companies using big data to benefit from smart meters, use advertising that spies on you and develop the gig economy, where workers are managed by the whim of an algorithm?The volumes of data we now access can give unparalleled abilities to make predictions, respond to customer demand and solve problems. But Big Brother’s shadow hovers over it. Though big data can set us free and enhance our lives, it has the potential to create an underclass and a totalitarian state. With big data ever-present, you can’t afford to ignore it. Acclaimed science writer Brian Clegg - a habitual early adopter of new technology (and the owner of the second-ever copy of Windows in the UK) - brings big data to life.

Reveals the unsettling ways that corporations and governments track and monitor everyday activities, profiling the technological, legal and social solutions available for enabling better privacy and avoiding cybercrime. By the author of Secrets and Lies. Reprint.

Get ready to make SQL easy! Updated for the latest version of SQL, the new edition of this perennial bestseller shows programmers and web developers how to use SQL to build relational databases and get valuable information from them. Covering everything you need to know to make working with SQL easier than ever, topics include how to use SQL to structure a DBMS and implement a database design; secure a database; and retrieve information from a database; and much more. SQL is the international standard database language used to create, access, manipulate, maintain, and store information in relational database management systems (DBMS) such as Access, Oracle, SQL Server, and MySQL. SQL adds powerful data manipulation and retrieval capabilities to conventional languages—and this book shows you how to harness the core element of relational databases with ease. - Server platform that gives you choices of development languages, data types, on-premises or cloud, and operating systems - Find great examples on the use of temporal data - Jump right in—without previous knowledge of database programming or SQL As database-driven websites continue to grow in popularity—and complexity—SQL For Dummies is the easy-to-understand, go-to resource you need to use it seamlessly.

Touting the benefits of detailed statistical analysis, an economist explains how by sorting through mass quantities of easily stored and sorted information, businesses, governments, and consumers can achieve greater insight into human behavior and use it to predict future trends. Reprint. 37,500 first printing.

Computers are everywhere. Some of them are highly visible, in laptops, tablets, cell phones, and smart watches. But most are invisible, like those in appliances, cars, medical equipment, transportation systems, power grids, and weapons. We never see the myriad computers that quietly collect, share, and sometimes leak vast amounts of personal data about us. Through computers, governments and companies increasingly monitor what we do. Social networks and advertisers know far more about us than we should be comfortable with, using information we freely give them. Criminals have all-too-easy access to our data. Do we truly understand the power of computers in our world? Understanding the Digital World explains how computer hardware, software, networks, and systems work. Topics include how computers are built and how they compute; what programming is and why it is difficult; how the Internet and the web operate; and how all of these affect our security, privacy, property, and other important social, political, and economic issues. This book also touches on fundamental ideas from computer science and some of the inherent limitations of computers. It includes numerous color illustrations, notes on sources for further exploration, and a glossary to explain technical terms and buzzwords. Understanding the Digital World is a must-read for all who want to know more about computers and communications. It explains, precisely and carefully, not only how they operate but also how they influence our daily lives, in terms anyone can understand, no matter what their experience and knowledge of technology.

Introduction to Data Mining presents fundamental concepts and algorithms for those learning data mining for the first time. Each major topic is organized into two chapters, beginning with basic concepts that provide necessary background for understanding each data mining technique, followed by more advanced concepts and algorithms.

Collects practical tips and real-world advice for tackling common Python problems and taking your code to the next level and features interviews with high-profile Python developers who share their tips, tricks, best practices, and real-world advice gleaned from years of experience. Original.

Whether you're canvassing a congressional district, managing a sales region, mapping city bus schedules, or analyzing local cancer rates, thinking spatially opens up limitless possibilities for database users. PostGIS, a freely available open-source spatial database extender, can help you answer questions that you could not answer using a mere relational database. Its feature set equals or surpasses proprietary alternatives, allowing you to create location-aware queries and features with just a few lines of SQL code. PostGIS in Action is the first book devoted entirely to PostGIS. It will help both new and experienced users write spatial queries to solve real-world problems. For those with experience in more traditional relational databases, this book provides a background in vector-based GIS so you can quickly move to analyzing, viewing, and mapping data. Advanced users will learn how to optimize queries for maximum speed, simplify geometries for greater efficiency, and create custom functions suited specifically to their applications. It also discusses the new features available in PostgreSQL 8.4 and provides tutorials on using additional open source GIS tools in conjunction with PostGIS. Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.