Terry Bossomaier

This book considers a relatively new metric in complex systems, transfer entropy, derived from a series of measurements, usually a time series. After a qualitative introduction and a chapter that explains the key ideas from statistics required to understand the text, the authors then present information theory and transfer entropy in depth. A key feature of the approach is the authors' work to show the relationship between information flow and complexity. The later chapters demonstrate information transfer in canonical systems, and applications, for example in neuroscience and in finance. The book will be of value to advanced undergraduate and graduate students and researchers in the areas of computer science, neuroscience, physics, and engineering.

An understanding of the senses – vision, hearing, touch, chemical and other non-human senses – is important not only for many fields of biology but also in applied areas such as human computer interaction, robotics and computer games. Using information theory as a unifying framework, this is a wide-ranging survey of sensory systems, covering all known senses. The book draws on three unifying principles to examine senses: the Nyquist sampling theorem; Shannon's information theory; and the creation of different streams of information to subserve different tasks. This framework is used to discuss the fascinating role of sensory adaptation in the context of environment and lifestyle. Providing a fundamental grounding in sensory perception, the book then demonstrates how this knowledge can be applied to the design of human-computer interfaces and virtual environments. It is an ideal resource for both graduate and undergraduate students of biology, engineering (robotics) and computer science.

The book identifies the technological features that give rise to security issues. It describes the structure of the Internet and how it is compromised by malware, and examines some of the more common security issues. It then looks at aspects of human persuasion and consumer choice, and how these affect cyber security. It argues that social networks and the related norms play a key role as does government policy, as each impact on individual behavior of computer use. The book identifies the most important human and social factors that affect cybersecurity. It illustrates each factor using case studies, and examines possible solutions from both technical and human acceptability viewpoints.

Bidding Slams is Fun Slams are one of the most exciting parts of bridge and, at club level, they occur much more often than they are bid. This book aims to help average and aspiring players to bid a few more of those slams. Unlike many other books on bidding, this book does not provide a system or set of gadgets. Instead, it looks at a number of tournament events and develops a set of thirty key ideas that will work with any system. Almost all the slams in this book are skinny slams, with far fewer than the recommended number of points. But these slams have not been specially selected. Not at all. We include all the slams that occurred in the competitions presented. Instead of points we propose some slam hand templates and introduce ideas such as the thirty-point deck. Bidding and making tight slams is a match-winning strategy. This book will help its readers along the path to more makeable slams and a lot more bidding fun along the way.

Applying the same kind of computer analysis to real-life deals that he did in Getting to Good Slams, the author identifi es the elements necessary to be successful in pushing for that game bonus, often with far fewer than the traditional number of points. Anyone who plays IMPs will tell you that this is the area where most matches are won and lost.