This is the least fun—but nevertheless critical—part of the book, where we walk through setting up an environ- ment in which to write and test Python. We are going to do a crash course in setting up a Kali Linux virtual machine (VM) and installing a nice IDE so that you have everything you need to develop code. By the end of this chapter, you should be ready to tackle the exer- cises and co…
Microsoft officially announced SQL Server 2008, codenamed Katmai, at the first Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) conference in May 2007. I suppose I had the same reaction as many others — ‘‘Already?’’ SQL Server 2005 had only been released a year and a half earlier, and I started to wonder if it was too soon. I can’t tell you why I thought that. I also knew that it wasn’t unu…
In a relatively short period of time, Android has become the world’s most popular mobile platform. Although originally designed for smartphones, it now powers tablets, TVs, and wearable devices, and will soon even be found in cars. Android is being developed at a breathtaking pace, with an average of two major releases per year. Each new release brings a better UI, performance improvements, a…
One of the unique features of the Android operating system that has allowed it to grow rapidly has been that the binaries and source code are released as open source software. You can download the entire source code of the Android operating system, and it takes up approximately 2.6 GB of disk space. In theory, this allows anyone to design and build a phone that runs Android. The idea of keeping…
Network security is currently becoming one of the main problems for the develop- ment of new technologies and services in telecommunication networks. Hackers are constantly evolving towards new attack techniques and new target tech- nologies at a very high speed [1] [2], thus making the task of building defense mechanisms a hard mission. In this context, many efforts have been done by the rese…
Penetration testers are faced with a combination of firewalls, intrusion detection systems, host-based protection, hardened systems, and teams of knowledgeable analysts that pour over data collected by their security information management systems. In an environment such as this, simply running automated tools will typically yield few results. The false sense of this security can easily result …
Currently, computer networking has already become ubiquitous, the number of diverse devices is increasing constantly, as are also their capabilities, the range of applications and network-based services is expanding, and user expectations are rapidly evolving. This is the context in which the authors set the scene for this net- work programming book in its introductory chapter. The past decade…
Government intervention is perhaps the most universal institutional change in the development of modern economies. Yet there is considerable debate on the relationship between economic development and the expansion of government. The relationship has been viewed as causal, but both directions have been emphasized. To many, government fosters economic growth. To others, economic growth, because …
APIs are becoming increasingly popular for exposing business functionalities to the rest of the world. According to an infographic published by Layer 7, 86.5% of organizations will have an API program in place in the next five years. Of those, 43.2% already have one. APIs are also the foundation of building communication channels in the Internet of Things (IoT). From motor vehicles to kitchen …
Welcome to Absolute FreeBSD! This book is a one-stop for system administrators who want to build, configure, and manage FreeBSD servers. It will also be useful for those folks who want to run FreeBSD on their desktops, servers, diskless system farms, and so on.
The A+ Essentials exam is the first of CompTIA’s two exams required for completing the A+ certification. The A+ certification is an entry-level certification for those individuals who wish to pursue their careers in computer hardware and software support. The candidate must pass two exams in order to get his A+ certification. You can choose one of the other three elective exams—IT Technicia…
The aim of this book is to provide an introductory treatment of time series econometrics that builds upon the basic statistical and regression techniques contained in my Analysing Economic Data: A Concise Introduction.1 It is written from the perspective that the econometric analysis of economic and financial time series is of key importance to both students and practitioners of economics and s…
“The suspense was killing me. I just had to read it straight through!” Although these responses to our book would be gratifying, it’s doubtful that any book on digital security will ever garner this type of reaction. Digital security is the computer equivalent of disaster insurance. Few people care very much about it or give it much thought, and everyone hates paying for it … until a ca…
One of the many experiences I value from my time participating in the 802.11 working group is the ability to compare the “outside” view of a technology with the “inside” view of people in the engine room sweating to make it work. From the outside, wireless LANs have seen a steady progression in speeds from a megabit in the late 1990s to a gigabit with the first release of 802.11ac in 20…
“Now, of course, a free and open internet is vital. But in no other market and with no other industry do we have such an extraordinarily light touch when it comes to protecting our children. Children can’t go into the shops or the cinema and buy things meant for adults or have adult experiences; we rightly regulate to protect them. But when it comes to the internet, in the balance between f…
In this introductory chapter, the subject of the book is explained in more detail by focusing on two central issues of the control of networks: open-loop control of interconnected systems and synchronization. While the first topic emphasizes the computational aspects involved in controlling interconnected systems, the second theme of synchronization discusses the impact of couplings on the shap…
It is a sad fact that much of the world is dominated by short-term thinking. And an in-depth look at the numerous problems that humanity now faces often reveals that the downside of allowing individuals or groups to do whatever they want (without considering future consequences) usually results in all of us paying dearly for it. Equally as true is that an increasing number of people and their…
Recently, the number of social networking sites is rapidly increasing, and the number of users joining these sites is dramatically increasing as well. This paper aims at comprehensively comparing three social networking sites, and provides an in-depth analysis. We compare three of the most popular social networking sites, i.e., Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Specifically, we evaluate those soci…