Want to calculate the probability that an event will happen? Be able to spot fake data? Prove beyond doubt whether one thing causes another? Or learn to be a better gambler? You can do that and much more with 75 practical and fun hacks packed into Statistics Hacks. These cool tips, tricks, and mind-boggling solutions from the world of statistics, measurement, and research methods will not only amaze and entertain you, but will give you an advantage in several real-world situations-including business. This book is ideal for anyone who likes puzzles, brainteasers, games, gambling, magic tricks, and those who want to apply math and science to everyday circumstances. Several hacks in the first chapter alone-such as the "central limit theorem,", which allows you to know everything by knowing just a little-serve as sound approaches for marketing and other business objectives. Using the tools of inferential statistics, you can understand the way probability works, discover relationships, predict events with uncanny accuracy, and even make a little money with a well-placed wager here and there. Statistics Hacks presents useful techniques from statistics, educational and psychological measurement, and experimental research to help you solve a variety of problems in business, games, and life. You'll learn how to: Play smart when you play Texas Hold 'Em, blackjack, roulette, dice games, or even the lottery Design your own winnable bar bets to make money and amaze your friends Predict the outcomes of baseball games, know when to "go for two" in football, and anticipate the winners of other sporting events with surprising accuracy Demystify amazing coincidences and distinguish the truly random from the only seemingly random--even keep your iPod's "random" shuffle honest Spot fraudulent data, detect plagiarism, and break codes How to isolate the effects of observation on the thing observed Whether you're a statistics enthusiast who does calculations in your sleep or a civilian who is entertained by clever solutions to interesting problems, Statistics Hacks has tools to give you an edge over the world's slim odds.

WILEY-INTERSCIENCE PAPERBACK SERIES The Wiley-Interscience Paperback Series consists of selected books that have been made more accessible to consumers in an effort to increase global appeal and general circulation. With these new unabridged softcover volumes, Wiley hopes to extend the lives of these works by making them available to future generations of statisticians, mathematicians, and scientists. ". . .this is a very competently written and useful addition to the statistical literature; a book every statistician should look at and that many should study!" -Short Book Reviews, International Statistical Institute ". . .reading this book was an enjoyable learning experience. The suggestions and recommendations on the methods [make] this book an excellent reference for anyone interested in simulation. With its compact structure and good coverage of material, it [is] an excellent textbook for a simulation course." -Technometrics ". . .this work is an excellent comprehensive guide to simulation methods, written by a very competent author. It is especially recommended for those users of simulation methods who want more than a 'cook book'. " -Mathematics Abstracts This book is a comprehensive guide to simulation methods with explicit recommendations of methods and algorithms. It covers both the technical aspects of the subject, such as the generation of random numbers, non-uniform random variates and stochastic processes, and the use of simulation. Supported by the relevant mathematical theory, the text contains a great deal of unpublished research material, including coverage of the analysis of shift-register generators, sensitivity analysis of normal variate generators, analysis of simulation output, and more.

Proposing any performance or training solutions requires rigorous analysis based on data, not speculation. Conducting a front-end analysis—a process for determining why a perceived performance gap exists and how to close the gap—enables workplace learning and performance professionals to find successful solutions. This Infoline describes how to carry out the two distinct analysis processes that go into a front-end analysis: a gap (or performance) analysis and root cause analysis. The first process determines if a performance problem exists. The second process identifies the true root cause of the issue. Helpful sidebars explain the analysis sequence, when to conduct a gap analysis, how to define performance gaps without bias, and factors that influence performance. In addition, the job aid provides a checklist of questions for a training needs analysis.

Baseball Hacks isn't your typical baseball book--it's a book about how to watch, research, and understand baseball. It's an instruction manual for the free baseball databases. It's a cookbook for baseball research. Every part of this book is designed to teach baseball fans how to do something. In short, it's a how-to book--one that will increase your enjoyment and knowledge of the game. So much of the way baseball is played today hinges upon interpreting statistical data. Players are acquired based on their performance in statistical categories that ownership deems most important. Managers make in-game decisions based not on instincts, but on probability - how a particular batter might fare against left-handedpitching, for instance. The goal of this unique book is to show fans all the baseball-related stuff that they can do for free (or close to free). Just as open source projects have made great software freely available, collaborative projects such as Retrosheet and Baseball DataBank have made great data freely available. You can use these data sources to research your favorite players, win your fantasy league, or appreciate the game of baseball even more than you do now. Baseball Hacks shows how easy it is to get data, process it, and use it to truly understand baseball. The book lists a number of sources for current and historical baseball data, and explains how to load it into a database for analysis. It then introduces several powerful statistical tools for understanding data and forecasting results. For the uninitiated baseball fan, author Joseph Adler walks readers through the core statistical categories for hitters (batting average, on-base percentage, etc.), pitchers (earned run average, strikeout-to-walk ratio, etc.), and fielders (putouts, errors, etc.). He then extrapolates upon these numbers to examine more advanced data groups like career averages, team stats, season-by-season comparisons, and more. Whether you're a mathematician, scientist, or season-ticket holder to your favorite team, Baseball Hacks is sure to have something for you. Advance praise for Baseball Hacks: " Baseball Hacks is the best book ever written for understanding and practicing baseball analytics. A must-read for baseball professionals and enthusiasts alike." -- Ari Kaplan, database consultant to the Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, and Baltimore Orioles "The game was born in the 19th century, but the passion for its analysis continues to grow into the 21st. In Baseball Hacks, Joe Adler not only demonstrates thatthe latest data-mining technologies have useful application to the study of baseball statistics, he also teaches the reader how to do the analysis himself, arming the dedicated baseball fan with tools to take his understanding of the game to a higher level." -- Mark E. Johnson, Ph.D., Founder, SportMetrika, Inc. and Baseball Analyst for the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals

The ability of a structural assembly to carry loads and forces determines how stable it will be over time. Viewing structural assemblages as comprising columns, beams, arches, rings, and plates, this book will introduce the student to both a classical and advanced understanding of the mechanical behavior of such structural systems under load and how modeling the resulting strains can predict the overall future performance—the stability—of that structure. While covering traditional beam theory, the book is more focused on elastica theory in keeping with modern approaches. This text will be an expanded and updated version a similar, previously published book, but with pedagogical improvements and updated analytical methods. This engineering textbook will provide a focused treatment on the study of how structures behave and perform when under stress loading, including plastic deformation and buckling. All advanced engineering students studying engineering mechanics, structural analysis and design, fatigue and failure, and other related subjects need to have this knowledge, and this book will provide it in a thorough and coherent fashion. Written by two of the world’s leading engineering professors in this subject area, the pedagogy has been classroom-tested over many years and should find a receptive readership among both students and instructors. * An understandable introduction to the theory of structural stability, useful for a wide variety of engineering disciplines, including mechanical, civil and aerospace engineering * Covers both static and dynamic loads, for both conservative and nonconservative systems * Emphasizes elastic behavior under loads, including vertical buckling, torsional buckling and nonlinear affects of structural system buckling and stability * Case examples to illustrate real-world applications of Stability Theory

Budgets are like road maps -- they provide a direction for a corporates financial management. Balance sheets and statements of revenues also provide insights into how well a company is following that direction. But cash flow and cash flow forecasts are what guide the day-to-day itinerary for an organization. Budgets and cash flow are dynamic -- adjustments and changes can and should occur. If you understand what you are looking at, you can use cash flow to create better budgets and thus more accurate cash flow forecasting. Cash Flow Forecasting outlines the techniques required to undertake a detailed analysis of the cash flow dynamics of the business from both a historical and forward looking perspective. Cash Flow Forecasting explains how to: * Determine appropriate cash flow figures from pro forma financial statements * Interpret detailed cash flow forecasts and understand the difference between profit and cash flow * Conserve or generate cash in the short term * Evaluate different methods of project evaluation * Recognize the limitations of accounting information in valuing companies *Inspired by basic entry level training courses that have been developed by major international banks worldwide * Will enable students and those already in the finance profession to gain an understanding of the basic information and principles of cash flow forecasting * Includes questions with answers, study topics, practical "real world" examples and extensive bibliography

Greasemonkey Hacks is an invaluable compendium 100 ingenious hacks for power users who want to master Greasemonkey, the hot new Firefox extension that allows you to write scripts that alter the web pages you visit. With Greasemonkey, you can create scripts that make a web site more usable, fix rendering bugs that site owners can't be bothered to fix themselves, or add items to a web site's menu bar. You can alter pages so they work better with technologies that speak a web page out loud or convert it to Braille. Greasemonkey gurus can even import, combine, and alter data from different web sites to meet their own specific needs. Greasemonkey has achieved a cult-like following in its short lifespan, but its uses are just beginning to be explored. Let's say you're shopping on an e-commerce site. You can create a script that will automatically display competitive prices for that particular product from other web sites. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination and your Greasemonkey expertise. Greasemonkey Hacks can't help you with the imagination part, but it can provide the expert hacks-complete with the sample code-you need to turn your brainstorms into reality. More than just an essential collection of made-to-order Greasemonkey solutions, Greasemonkey Hacks is crammed with sample code, a Greasemonkey API reference, and a comprehensive list of resources, to ensure that every resource you need is available between its covers. Some people are content to receive information from websites passively; some people want to control it. If you are one of the latter, Greasemonkey Hacks provides all the clever customizations and cutting-edge tips and tools you need to take command of any web page you view.

Women now drive some 80% of all buying decisions. By 2010, they'll account for half of America's private wealth: $13 trillion dollars. A few remarkable companies have learned how to refocus on women -- and, in so doing, have achieved truly stunning results. In The Power of the Purse, top journalist Fara Warner takes you behind the scenes at those companies, revealing how they did it -- and how you can, too. Unlike previous books on marketing to women, this one doesn't settle for generalities: it offers in-depth, start-to-finish case studies. Discover how McDonald's turned around its business by recognizing women as full-fledged consumers, not just 'Moms.' Learn how Kodak's digital camera business soared from fourth to first by recognizing women's importance as family 'memory makers'. See how P G built Swiffer into a cultural revolution, and how the diamond industry did the same for right-hand rings. Watch Bratz topple Barbie, Torrid create its enormously successful plus-size stores for teenagers, and Avon connect with a radically new generation of women. From Nike to Home Depot, each story is unique -- but in every case, these companies put women at the center of their strategies, and listened intently to what real women consumers were telling them. It's not about 'painting your products pink': it's about transforming the way you think about women. Do that, and you'll create products that sell better to everyone.

Updated for SA®9, this second edition is an easy-to-understand introduction to SAS as well as to univariate and multivariate statistics. Clear explanations and simple language guide you through the research terminology, data input, data manipulation, and types of statistical analysis that are most commonly used in the social and behavioral sciences. Providing practice data inspired by actual studies, this book teaches you how to choose the right statistic, understand the assumptions underlying the procedure, prepare the SAS program for the analysis, interpret the output, and summarize the analysis and results according to the format prescribed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Step by step you will learn how to perform the following types of analysis: simple descriptive statistics, measures of bivariate association, t tests: independent samples and paired samples, NOVA and MANOVA, multiple regression, principal component analysis, and assessing scale reliability with coefficient alpha. This text is ideally suited to students who are beginning their study of data analysis, and to professors and researchers who want a handy reference on their bookshelf.

Fuzzy Modeling and Genetic Algorithms for Data Mining and Exploration is a handbook for analysts, engineers, and managers involved in developing data mining models in business and government. As you’ll discover, fuzzy systems are extraordinarily valuable tools for representing and manipulating all kinds of data, and genetic algorithms and evolutionary programming techniques drawn from biology provide the most effective means for designing and tuning these systems. You don’t need a background in fuzzy modeling or genetic algorithms to benefit, for this book provides it, along with detailed instruction in methods that you can immediately put to work in your own projects. The author provides many diverse examples and also an extended example in which evolutionary strategies are used to create a complex scheduling system. Written to provide analysts, engineers, and managers with the background and specific instruction needed to develop and implement more effective data mining systems Helps you to understand the trade-offs implicit in various models and model architectures Provides extensive coverage of fuzzy SQL querying, fuzzy clustering, and fuzzy rule induction Lays out a roadmap for exploring data, selecting model system measures, organizing adaptive feedback loops, selecting a model configuration, implementing a working model, and validating the final model In an extended example, applies evolutionary programming techniques to solve a complicated scheduling problem Presents examples in C, C++, Java, and easy-to-understand pseudo-code Extensive online component, including sample code and a complete data mining workbench

The Visualization Handbook provides an overview of the field of visualization by presenting the basic concepts, providing a snapshot of current visualization software systems, and examining research topics that are advancing the field. This text is intended for a broad audience, including not only the visualization expert seeking advanced methods to solve a particular problem, but also the novice looking for general background information on visualization topics. The largest collection of state-of-the-art visualization research yet gathered in a single volume, this book includes articles by a “who’s who? of international scientific visualization researchers covering every aspect of the discipline, including: · Virtual environments for visualization · Basic visualization algorithms · Large-scale data visualization · Scalar data isosurface methods · Visualization software and frameworks · Scalar data volume rendering · Perceptual issues in visualization · Various application topics, including information visualization. * Edited by two of the best known people in the world on the subject; chapter authors are authoritative experts in their own fields; * Covers a wide range of topics, in 47 chapters, representing the state-of-the-art of scientific visualization.

Even You Can Learn Statistics A Guide for Everyone Who Has Ever Been Afraid Of Statistics One easy step at a time, this book will teach you the key statistical techniques you'll need for finance, quality, marketing, the social sciences, or just about any other field. Each technique is introduced with a simple, jargon-free explanation, practical examples, and hands-on guidance for solving real problems with Excel or a TI-83/84 series calculator, including Plus models. Hate math? No sweat. You'll be amazed how little you need! For those who do have an interest in mathematics, optional "Equation Blackboard" sections review the equations that provide the foundations for important concepts. David M. Levine is a much-honored innovator in statistics education. He is Professor Emeritus of Statistics and Computer Information Systems at Bernard M. Baruch College (CUNY), and co-author of several best-selling books, including Statistics for Managers using Microsoft Excel, Basic Business Statistics, Quality Management, and Six Sigma for Green Belts and Champions. Instructional designer David F. Stephan pioneered the classroom use of personal computers, and is a leader in making Excel more accessible to statistics students. He has co-authored several textbooks with David M. Levine. Here's just some of what you'll learn how to do... Use statistics in your everyday work or study Perform common statistical tasks using a Texas Instruments statistical calculator or Microsoft Excel Build and interpret statistical charts and tables "Test Yourself" at the end of each chapter to review the concepts and methods that you learned in the chapter Work with mean, median, mode, standard deviation, Z scores, skewness, and other descriptive statistics Use probability and probability distributions Work with sampling distributions and confidence intervals Test hypotheses and decision-making risks with Z, t, Chi-Square, ANOVA, and other techniques Perform regression analysis and modeling The easy, practical introduction to statistics–for everyone! Thought you couldn't learn statistics? Think again. You can–and you will! Complementary Web site Downloadable practice files at http://www.ftpress.com/youcanlearnstatistics

Teach yourself how to diagram business and technical information using Visio 2003—one step at a time! Build exactly the skills you need by working at your own pace through easy-to-follow lessons and hands-on practice files on CD.

Hands-on tips for powerful presentations in this all-new companion to the bestselling Say It with Charts Through four editions, Gene Zelazny's classic how-to Say It with Charts has generated more than $1.5 million in revenues. Now, in the companion Say It with Charts Workbook, Zelazny shows you how to make even more of your visual communication skills, working "one-on-one" with you on how to masterfully use the latest techniques and tools to enliven every presentation. More than just a rote listing of techniques, Say It with Charts Workbook features performance-improving strategies and suggestions that will help keep both you--and, even more important, the audience--comfortable and at ease. Part refresher course, part workbook, part self-test, it arms you with: • Step-by-step instructions and guidelines • Performance-improving strategies and suggestions • Tactics for customizing graphics to specific audiences

Algorithmic Graph Theory and Perfect Graphs, first published in 1980, has become the classic introduction to the field. This new Annals edition continues to convey the message that intersection graph models are a necessary and important tool for solving real-world problems. It remains a stepping stone from which the reader may embark on one of many fascinating research trails. The past twenty years have been an amazingly fruitful period of research in algorithmic graph theory and structured families of graphs. Especially important have been the theory and applications of new intersection graph models such as generalizations of permutation graphs and interval graphs. These have lead to new families of perfect graphs and many algorithmic results. These are surveyed in the new Epilogue chapter in this second edition. New edition of the "Classic" book on the topic Wonderful introduction to a rich research area Leading author in the field of algorithmic graph theory Beautifully written for the new mathematician or computer scientist Comprehensive treatment

Take your Microsoft Visio experience to the next level! This supremely organized reference packs hundreds of timesaving solutions, troubleshooting tips, and handy workarounds for Visio 2003 in concise, fast-answer format.

The Internet, with its profusion of information, has made us hungry for ever more, ever better data. Out of necessity, many of us have become pretty adept with search engine queries, but there are times when even the most powerful search engines aren't enough. If you've ever wanted your data in a different form than it's presented, or wanted to collect data from several sites and see it side-by-side without the constraints of a browser, then Spidering Hacks is for you. Spidering Hacks takes you to the next level in Internet data retrieval--beyond search engines--by showing you how to create spiders and bots to retrieve information from your favorite sites and data sources. You'll no longer feel constrained by the way host sites think you want to see their data presented--you'll learn how to scrape and repurpose raw data so you can view in a way that's meaningful to you.Written for developers, researchers, technical assistants, librarians, and power users, Spidering Hacks provides expert tips on spidering and scraping methodologies. You'll begin with a crash course in spidering concepts, tools (Perl, LWP, out-of-the-box utilities), and ethics (how to know when you've gone too far: what's acceptable and unacceptable). Next, you'll collect media files and data from databases. Then you'll learn how to interpret and understand the data, repurpose it for use in other applications, and even build authorized interfaces to integrate the data into your own content. By the time you finish Spidering Hacks, you'll be able to: Aggregate and associate data from disparate locations, then store and manipulate the data as you like Gain a competitive edge in business by knowing when competitors' products are on sale, and comparing sales ranks and product placement on e-commerce sites Integrate third-party data into your own applications or web sites Make your own site easier to scrape and more usable to others Keep up-to-date with your favorite comics strips, news stories, stock tips, and more without visiting the site every dayLike the other books in O'Reilly's popular Hacks series, Spidering Hacks brings you 100 industrial-strength tips and tools from the experts to help you master this technology. If you're interested in data retrieval of any type, this book provides a wealth of data for finding a wealth of data.

This book is for database designers and database administrators using Visio, which is the database component of Microsoft's Visual Studio .NET for Enterprise Architects suite, also included in MSDN subscriptions. This is the only guide to this product that tells DBAs how to get their job done. Although primarily focused on tool features, the book also provides an introduction to data modeling, and includes practical advice on managing database projects. The principal author was the program manager of VEA's database modeling solutions. · Explains how to model databases with Microsoft® Visio for Enterprise Architects (VEA), focusing on tool features.· Provides a platform-independent introduction to data modeling using both Object Role Modeling (ORM) and Entity Relationship Modeling (ERM), and includes practical advice on managing database projects.· Additional ORM models, course notes, and add-ins available online.

An understanding of random processes is crucial to many engineering fields-including communication theory, computer vision, and digital signal processing in electrical and computer engineering, and vibrational theory and stress analysis in mechanical engineering. The filtering, estimation, and detection of random processes in noisy environments are critical tasks necessary in the analysis and design of new communications systems and useful signal processing algorithms. Random Processes: Filtering, Estimation, and Detection clearly explains the basics of probability and random processes and details modern detection and estimation theory to accomplish these tasks. In this book, Lonnie Ludeman, an award-winning authority in digital signal processing, joins the fundamentals of random processes with the standard techniques of linear and nonlinear systems analysis and hypothesis testing to give signal estimation techniques, specify optimum estimation procedures, provide optimum decision rules for classification purposes, and describe performance evaluation definitions and procedures for the resulting methods. The text covers four main, interrelated topics: Probability and characterizations of random variables and random processes Linear and nonlinear systems with random excitations Optimum estimation theory including both the Wiener and Kalman Filters Detection theory for both discrete and continuous time measurements Lucid, thorough, and well-stocked with numerous examples and practice problems that emphasize the concepts discussed, Random Processes: Filtering, Estimation, and Detection is an understandable and useful text ideal as both a self-study guide for professionals in the field and as a core text for graduate students.

Today data mining is no longer thought of as a set of stand-alone techniques, far from the business applications, and used only by data mining specialists or statisticians. Integrating data mining with mainstream applications is becoming an important issue for e-business applications. To support this move to applications, data mining is now an extension of the relational databases that database administrators or IT developers use. They use data mining as they would use any other standard relational function that they manipulate. This IBM Redbooks publication positions the new DB2 data mining functions: Part 1 of this book helps business analysts and implementers to understand and position these new DB2 data mining functions. Part 2 provides examples for implementers on how to easily and quickly integrate the data mining functions in business applications to enhance them. And part 3 helps database administrators and IT developers to configure these functions once to prepare them for use and integration in any application. Please note that the additional material referenced in the text is not available from IBM.