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| Jeffrey Putnam has spent (and misspent) his life quite happily in the pursuit of knowledge of all sorts. After getting an undergraduate degree in mathematics, he spent several years in the Peace Corps in Zaire learning to speak French with an atrocious accent, as well as getting on-the-job lessons in how to inflict math and physics on high school students. After returning to the US, he went to graduate school at the University at Albany, garnering two master's degrees along the way. A real job eventually became inevitable, and he worked for the Computer Science Branch at General Electrics Research and Development Center and as the main programmer for a startup, before returning to student life at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for his PhD in electrical, systems and computer engineering. Since then, he has annoyed students and faculty alike at New Mexico Tech, designed systems and irritated marketers at yet another startup, and tried to serve as the faculty for a computer science program at Eastern Oregon University. He has now landed in Washington State, where he works for the computer science department at Eastern Washington University. His professional interests range from evolutionary programming and artificial life to computer systems to programming languages (ask tomorrow and the list is likely to change). Nonprofessionally he has been known to enjoy randomly exploring things, including wandering extensively in the woods (sometimes as a wilderness search and rescue volunteer); climbing up and down hills, mountains, and rocks; and reading (though only rarely all at once). |
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Data science and analytics with Python Rogel-Salazar J., Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, FL, 2017. 412 pp. Type: Book (978-1-498742-09-2), Reviews: (2 of 2)
Data science and analytics can be key to improving many things: marketing, understanding, systems modeling, and predictions (from race horses to presidents). And you don’t need to be an expert to use good tools and improve yo...
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Jun 1 2018 |
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Low-level programming: C, assembly, and program execution on Intel 64 architecture Zhirkov I., Apress, New York, NY, 2017. 435 pp. Type: Book (978-1-484224-02-1)
Despite the ease of programming in high-level languages, there will always be things that are best programmed in low-level languages (such as speed, resource usage, and size). Assembler is certainly the lowest language, but assembler p...
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Mar 7 2018 |
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Systems analysis and synthesis: bridging computer science and information technology Dwyer B., Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, 2016. 512 pp. Type: Book (978-0-128053-04-1)
Figuring out just how to build a computing system is hard. We get it wrong frequently. So, we also get lots of books on systems analysis and design (or synthesis). Whereas analysis is generally focused on determining how a system works...
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Jun 26 2017 |
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Calculus for cognitive scientists: derivatives, integrals and models Peterson J., Springer International Publishing, New York, NY, 2016. 507 pp. Type: Book
We hear sometimes that most people don’t need to learn calculus, that other branches of mathematics are better choices. Statistics is often suggested, along with discrete mathematics for computer science students. We even hea...
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Aug 8 2016 |
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Ordinary differential equations and linear algebra: a systems approach Kapitula T., SIAM, Philadelphia, PA, 2015. 312 pp. Type: Book (978-1-611974-08-9)
When I was an undergraduate, the differential equations class had a poor reputation. It was said to be difficult, with lots to learn, grinding homework, and really awful exams. It was certainly so for me, but then over the years, with ...
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Jun 6 2016 |
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The magic ring: systems thinking approach to control systems Mella P., Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated, New York, NY, 2014. 597 pp. Type: Book (978-3-319053-85-1)
Systems are everywhere. You wouldn’t be reading this without networks of interlocking systems to enable it, from the cell to the eye to the computer to society. Some systems are simple enough, and some involve many “...
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Mar 18 2016 |
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Countdown to a moon launch: preparing Apollo for its historic journey Ward J., Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated, New York, NY, 2015. 435 pp. Type: Book (978-3-319177-91-5)
Five, four, three, two, one, ignition......
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Dec 24 2015 |
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Modeling and simulation of computer networks and systems: methodologies and applications Obaidat M., Zarai F., Nicopolitidis P., Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., Waltham, MA, 2015. 964 pp. Type: Book (978-0-128008-87-4)
Modeling and simulation are often crucial steps in understanding systems. By modeling a system before it is built, we can often get clues about problems, inefficiencies, and weaknesses. Even when the models are flawed, they can provide...
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Oct 27 2015 |
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Data structures and algorithms with Python Lee K., Hubbard S., Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated, New York, NY, 2015. 363 pp. Type: Book (978-3-319130-71-2)
A search for “data structures and algorithms” on Amazon claims to find more than 14,000 hits. Some of these are not directly related to the topic (the first page I get has several books on interviewing for programmi...
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May 28 2015 |
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Essential linear algebra with applications: a problem-solving approach Andreescu T., Birkhauser, New York, NY, 2014. 491 pp. Type: Book (978-0-817643-60-7)
I had to take a linear algebra course in college. The first time through, I flunked. It seemed dull, filled with awful matrix computations, and rather pointless. I had to take it again, but with a different professor who brought the to...
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Apr 9 2015 |
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