Badass: Making Users Awesome
Our goal is to craft a strategy for creating successful users. And that strategy is full of surprising, counter-intuitive, and astonishingly simple techniques that don't depend on a massive marketing or development budget. Techniques typically overlooked by even the most well-funded, well-staffed product teams. Every role is a key player in this game. Product development, engineering, marketing, user experience, support—everyone on the team. Even if that team is a start-up of one. Armed with a surprisingly overlooked science and a unique POV, we can can reduce the role of luck. We can build sustainably successful products and services that rely not on unethical persuasive marketing tricks but on helping our users have deeper, richer experiences. Not just in the moments while they're using our product but, more importantly, in the moments when they aren't. ...
Our goal is to craft a strategy for creating successful users. And that strategy is full of surprising, counter-intuitive, and astonishingly simple techniques that don't depend on a massive marketing or development budget. Techniques typically overlooked by even the most well-funded, well-staffed product teams. Every role is a key player in this game. Product development, engineering, marketing, user experience, support—everyone on the team. Even if that team is a start-up of one. Armed with a surprisingly overlooked science and a unique POV, we can can reduce the role of luck. We can build sustainably successful products and services that rely not on unethical persuasive marketing tricks but on helping our users have deeper, richer experiences. Not just in the moments while they're using our product but, more importantly, in the moments when they aren't. ...
Banana Pro Blueprints
This book follows a tactical plan that will guide you through the implementation of Banana Pro and its configurations. You will then learn the various programming languages used with Banana Pi with the help of examples. In no time at all, you'll be working on a wireless project that implements AirPlay servers, hotspots, and so on. Following this, you'll develop a retro-style arcade kiosk game. Then we'll move on to explore the multimedia features of Banana Pro by designing and building an enclosure for it. After this, you'll learn to build a remote-controlled smart car and we'll examine how to control a robotic arm. The book will conclude with the creation of a home sensor system that has the ability to expand or shrink to suit any home. ...
This book follows a tactical plan that will guide you through the implementation of Banana Pro and its configurations. You will then learn the various programming languages used with Banana Pi with the help of examples. In no time at all, you'll be working on a wireless project that implements AirPlay servers, hotspots, and so on. Following this, you'll develop a retro-style arcade kiosk game. Then we'll move on to explore the multimedia features of Banana Pro by designing and building an enclosure for it. After this, you'll learn to build a remote-controlled smart car and we'll examine how to control a robotic arm. The book will conclude with the creation of a home sensor system that has the ability to expand or shrink to suit any home. ...
BeagleBone Essentials
The BeagleBone Black is an embedded system that is able to run complete GNU/Linux distributions such as Debian or Ubuntu. Having powerful distribution capabilities, and packed with an easily expandable embedded board, the BeagleBone Black is a device that will allow users to build powerful and versatile monitoring and controlling systems. You start off by learning how to set up the board from scratch; you will be introduced to the concepts of compilation and cross-compilation of user-space and kernel-space applications with some basic debugging techniques. Next, you will move on to high-level programming by using scripting languages; you'll then learn how to get access to different kinds of peripherals such as serial ports, USB devices, I2C/SPI, and 1-Wire. Finally, you will discover how to use or develop system daemons in several programming languages, collect peripheral data, and control a device. Accessing all peripherals and writing good monitoring and controlling programs can b ...
The BeagleBone Black is an embedded system that is able to run complete GNU/Linux distributions such as Debian or Ubuntu. Having powerful distribution capabilities, and packed with an easily expandable embedded board, the BeagleBone Black is a device that will allow users to build powerful and versatile monitoring and controlling systems. You start off by learning how to set up the board from scratch; you will be introduced to the concepts of compilation and cross-compilation of user-space and kernel-space applications with some basic debugging techniques. Next, you will move on to high-level programming by using scripting languages; you'll then learn how to get access to different kinds of peripherals such as serial ports, USB devices, I2C/SPI, and 1-Wire. Finally, you will discover how to use or develop system daemons in several programming languages, collect peripheral data, and control a device. Accessing all peripherals and writing good monitoring and controlling programs can b ...
Beginning Ubuntu for Windows and Mac Users
Beginning Ubuntu for Windows and Mac Users is your comprehensive guide to using Ubuntu. You already know how to use a computer running Windows or OS X, but learning a new operating system can feel daunting. If you've been afraid to try Ubuntu because you don't know where to start, this book will show you how to get the most out of Ubuntu for work, home, and play. You'll be introduced to a wide selection of software and settings that will make your computer ready to work for you. Ubuntu makes your computing life easy. Ubuntu's Software Updater keeps all of your software secure and up-to-date. Browsing the Internet becomes faster and safer. Creating documents and sharing with others is built right in. Enjoying your music and movie libraries helps you unwind. ...
Beginning Ubuntu for Windows and Mac Users is your comprehensive guide to using Ubuntu. You already know how to use a computer running Windows or OS X, but learning a new operating system can feel daunting. If you've been afraid to try Ubuntu because you don't know where to start, this book will show you how to get the most out of Ubuntu for work, home, and play. You'll be introduced to a wide selection of software and settings that will make your computer ready to work for you. Ubuntu makes your computing life easy. Ubuntu's Software Updater keeps all of your software secure and up-to-date. Browsing the Internet becomes faster and safer. Creating documents and sharing with others is built right in. Enjoying your music and movie libraries helps you unwind. ...
Beyond Blame
Failure is inevitable and a postmortem analysis, conducted in an open, blameless way, is the best way for IT techs and managers to learn from outages and near-misses. But when the "root cause" is determined to be "human error" (or worse, particular humans), the real causes and conditions are lost. In this insightful book, IT veteran Dave Zwieback shows you an approach for making postmortems blameless, so you can focus instead on addressing areas of fragility within systems and organizations. If you're involved with assessing why something goes wrong on a project or at your company - as a system administrator, developer, team manager, or executive - the concrete steps in this guide will help you find a real solution that works. ...
Failure is inevitable and a postmortem analysis, conducted in an open, blameless way, is the best way for IT techs and managers to learn from outages and near-misses. But when the "root cause" is determined to be "human error" (or worse, particular humans), the real causes and conditions are lost. In this insightful book, IT veteran Dave Zwieback shows you an approach for making postmortems blameless, so you can focus instead on addressing areas of fragility within systems and organizations. If you're involved with assessing why something goes wrong on a project or at your company - as a system administrator, developer, team manager, or executive - the concrete steps in this guide will help you find a real solution that works. ...
Bioinformatics with Python Cookbook
If you are either a computational biologist or a Python programmer, you will probably relate to the expression "explosive growth, exciting times". Python is arguably the main programming language for big data, and the deluge of data in biology, mostly from genomics and proteomics, makes bioinformatics one of the most exciting fields in data science. Using the hands-on recipes in this book, you'll be able to do practical research and analysis in computational biology with Python. We cover modern, next-generation sequencing libraries and explore real-world examples on how to handle real data. The main focus of the book is the practical application of bioinformatics, but we also cover modern programming techniques and frameworks to deal with the ever increasing deluge of bioinformatics data. ...
If you are either a computational biologist or a Python programmer, you will probably relate to the expression "explosive growth, exciting times". Python is arguably the main programming language for big data, and the deluge of data in biology, mostly from genomics and proteomics, makes bioinformatics one of the most exciting fields in data science. Using the hands-on recipes in this book, you'll be able to do practical research and analysis in computational biology with Python. We cover modern, next-generation sequencing libraries and explore real-world examples on how to handle real data. The main focus of the book is the practical application of bioinformatics, but we also cover modern programming techniques and frameworks to deal with the ever increasing deluge of bioinformatics data. ...
Build your own 2D Game Engine and Create Great Web Games
Build Your Own 2D Game Engine and Create Great Web Games teaches you how to develop your own web-based game engine step-by-step, allowing you to create a wide variety of online videogames that can be played in common web browsers. Chapters include examples and projects that gradually increase in complexity while introducing a ground-up design framework, providing you with the foundational concepts needed to build fun and engaging 2D games. By the end of this book you will have created a complete prototype level for a side scrolling action platform game and will be prepared to begin designing additional levels and games of your own. This book isolates and presents relevant knowledge from software engineering, computer graphics, mathematics, physics, game development, game mechanics, and level design in the context of building a 2D game engine from scratch. The book then derives and analyzes the source code needed to implement these concepts based on HTML5, JavaScript, and WebGL. ...
Build Your Own 2D Game Engine and Create Great Web Games teaches you how to develop your own web-based game engine step-by-step, allowing you to create a wide variety of online videogames that can be played in common web browsers. Chapters include examples and projects that gradually increase in complexity while introducing a ground-up design framework, providing you with the foundational concepts needed to build fun and engaging 2D games. By the end of this book you will have created a complete prototype level for a side scrolling action platform game and will be prepared to begin designing additional levels and games of your own. This book isolates and presents relevant knowledge from software engineering, computer graphics, mathematics, physics, game development, game mechanics, and level design in the context of building a 2D game engine from scratch. The book then derives and analyzes the source code needed to implement these concepts based on HTML5, JavaScript, and WebGL. ...
Effective DevOps
Some companies think that adopting devops means bringing in specialists or a host of new tools. With this practical guide, you'll learn why devops is a professional and cultural movement that calls for change from inside your organization. Authors Ryn Daniels and Jennifer Davis provide several approaches for improving collaboration within teams, creating affinity among teams, promoting efficient tool usage in your company, and scaling up what works throughout your organization's inflection points. Devops stresses iterative efforts to break down information silos, monitor relationships, and repair misunderstandings that arise between and within teams in your organization. By applying the actionable strategies in this book, you can make sustainable changes in your environment regardless of your level within your organization. Explore the foundations of devops and learn the four pillars of effective devops; Encourage collaboration to help individuals work together and build durable ...
Some companies think that adopting devops means bringing in specialists or a host of new tools. With this practical guide, you'll learn why devops is a professional and cultural movement that calls for change from inside your organization. Authors Ryn Daniels and Jennifer Davis provide several approaches for improving collaboration within teams, creating affinity among teams, promoting efficient tool usage in your company, and scaling up what works throughout your organization's inflection points. Devops stresses iterative efforts to break down information silos, monitor relationships, and repair misunderstandings that arise between and within teams in your organization. By applying the actionable strategies in this book, you can make sustainable changes in your environment regardless of your level within your organization. Explore the foundations of devops and learn the four pillars of effective devops; Encourage collaboration to help individuals work together and build durable ...
Infrastructure as Code
Virtualization, cloud, containers, server automation, and software-defined networking are meant to simplify IT operations. But many organizations adopting these technologies have found that it only leads to a faster-growing sprawl of unmanageable systems. This is where infrastructure as code can help. With this practical guide, author Kief Morris of ThoughtWorks shows you how to effectively use principles, practices, and patterns pioneered through the DevOps movement to manage cloud age infrastructure. Ideal for system administrators, infrastructure engineers, team leads, and architects, this book demonstrates various tools, techniques, and patterns you can use to implement infrastructure as code. In three parts, you'll learn about the platforms and tooling involved in creating and configuring infrastructure elements, patterns for using these tools, and practices for making infrastructure as code work in your environment. Examine the pitfalls that organizations fall into when ado ...
Virtualization, cloud, containers, server automation, and software-defined networking are meant to simplify IT operations. But many organizations adopting these technologies have found that it only leads to a faster-growing sprawl of unmanageable systems. This is where infrastructure as code can help. With this practical guide, author Kief Morris of ThoughtWorks shows you how to effectively use principles, practices, and patterns pioneered through the DevOps movement to manage cloud age infrastructure. Ideal for system administrators, infrastructure engineers, team leads, and architects, this book demonstrates various tools, techniques, and patterns you can use to implement infrastructure as code. In three parts, you'll learn about the platforms and tooling involved in creating and configuring infrastructure elements, patterns for using these tools, and practices for making infrastructure as code work in your environment. Examine the pitfalls that organizations fall into when ado ...
Introduction to JavaScript Object Notation
What is JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and how can you put it to work? This concise guide helps busy IT professionals get up and running quickly with this popular data interchange format, and provides a deep understanding of how JSON works. Author Lindsay Bassett begins with an overview of JSON syntax, data types, formatting, and security concerns before exploring the many ways you can apply JSON today. From Web APIs and server-side language libraries to NoSQL databases and client-side frameworks, JSON has emerged as a viable alternative to XML for exchanging data between different platforms. If you have some programming experience and understand HTML and JavaScript, this is your book. Learn why JSON syntax represents data in name-value pairs; Explore JSON data types, including object, string, number, and array; Find out how you can combat common security concerns; Learn how the JSON schema verifies that data is formatted correctly; Examine the relationship between browsers, w ...
What is JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and how can you put it to work? This concise guide helps busy IT professionals get up and running quickly with this popular data interchange format, and provides a deep understanding of how JSON works. Author Lindsay Bassett begins with an overview of JSON syntax, data types, formatting, and security concerns before exploring the many ways you can apply JSON today. From Web APIs and server-side language libraries to NoSQL databases and client-side frameworks, JSON has emerged as a viable alternative to XML for exchanging data between different platforms. If you have some programming experience and understand HTML and JavaScript, this is your book. Learn why JSON syntax represents data in name-value pairs; Explore JSON data types, including object, string, number, and array; Find out how you can combat common security concerns; Learn how the JSON schema verifies that data is formatted correctly; Examine the relationship between browsers, w ...