Mahout in Action

Mahout in Action Review

Summary

Mahout in Action is a hands-on introduction to machine learning with Apache Mahout. Following real-world examples, the book presents practical use cases and then illustrates how Mahout can be applied to solve them. Includes a free audio- and video-enhanced ebook.

About the Technology

A computer system that learns and adapts as it collects data can be really powerful. Mahout, Apache's open source machine learning project, captures the core algorithms of recommendation systems, classification, and clustering in ready-to-use, scalable libraries. With Mahout, you can immediately apply to your own projects the machine learning techniques that drive Amazon, Netflix, and others.

About this Book

This book covers machine learning using Apache Mahout. Based on experience with real-world applications, it introduces practical use cases and illustrates how Mahout can be applied to solve them. It places particular focus on issues of scalability and how to apply these techniques against large data sets using the Apache Hadoop framework.

This book is written for developers familiar with Java -- no prior experience with Mahout is assumed.

What's Inside

• Use group data to make individual recommendations
• Find logical clusters within your data
• Filter and refine with on-the-fly classification
• Free audio and video extras

Table of Contents

1. Meet Apache Mahout

PART 1 RECOMMENDATIONS

2. Introducing recommenders
3. Representing recommender data
4. Making recommendations
5. Taking recommenders to production
6. Distributing recommendation computations

PART 2 CLUSTERING

7. Introduction to clustering
8. Representing data
9. Clustering algorithms in Mahout
10. Evaluating and improving clustering quality
11. Taking clustering to production
12. Real-world applications of clustering

PART 3 CLASSIFICATION

13. Introduction to classification
14. Training a classifier
15. Evaluating and tuning a classifier
16. Deploying a classifier
17. Case study: Shop It To Me

Groups in Action: Evolution and Challenges (Student Workbook & DVD)

Groups in Action: Evolution and Challenges (Student Workbook & DVD) Review

In this exciting video with accompanying workbook (designed for student purchase as an interactive tool), students will see Marianne and Jerry Corey in action as they demonstrate their integrative approach to group work. As the two-hour video unfolds, viewers will see a real group--not actors role-playing--move through its various stages and will observe group members discuss real issues and present reactions in the group context. The accompanying student workbook provides exercises and explorations that link the video to the Coreys' best selling group books: GROUPS: PROCESS AND PRACTICE, GROUP TECHNIQUES, and THEORY AND PRACTICE OF GROUP COUNSELING (both the textbook and the Student Manual). This compelling video was filmed at a three-day intensive group and shows the unfolding of a live group as they build "a circle of trust." The video highlights the development of the group process by showing segments of the group work that occurred over the three-day session. Throughout the video, the Coreys demonstrate a wide variety of techniques and skills, including: how to deal with members' hesitation and resistance, their feelings of not being "good" enough, their fears of being judged, their difficulties with intimate relationships, and their unresolved issues with parents.

The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life

The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life Review

“I’ve changed a bit since high school. Back then I said no to using and selling drugs. I washed on a normal basis and still had good credit.”

Introducing Laurie Notaro, the leader of the Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club. Every day she fearlessly rises from bed to defeat the evil machinations of dolts, dimwits, and creepy boyfriends—and that’s before she even puts on a bra.

For the past ten years, Notaro has been entertaining Phoenix newspaper readers with her wildly amusing autobiographical exploits and unique life experiences. She writes about a world of hourly-wage jobs that require absolutely no skills, a mother who hands down judgments more forcefully than anyone seated on the Supreme Court, horrific high school reunions, and hangovers that leave her surprised that she woke up in the first place.

The misadventures of Laurie and her fellow Idiot Girls (“too cool to be in the Smart Group”) unfold in a world that everyone will recognize but no one has ever described so hilariously. She delivers the goods: life as we all know it.

Executive Actions

Executive Actions Review

When an assassin takes aim at a presidential candidate during a primary stump speech, the outcome of the election is irrevocably changed. But it's not candidate Teddy Lodge, an upcoming media sweetheart, who is killed, but his wife. As a result, Lodge emerges as the man to beat and the greatest threat to the incumbent President Morgan Taylor. Under a specific directive from the President, Special Agent Scott Roarke delves into the case and begins to unravel a deadly plot that has incubated for more than thirty years, a plot designed to alter America's allegiances in the Middle East.

ACTION! Professional Acting for Film and Television

ACTION! Professional Acting for Film and Television Review

In Action!, Peabody and multiple Emmy award-winning producer and leading teacher of acting Robert Benedetti offers a practical, detailed and clearly structured approach to the fundamentals of acting for the camera. The first part of the book is a step-by-step guide to how an actor fits into the process of shooting a film or television show. The second part describes how to prepare yourself for any role through detailed instructions for creating the inner life of a character.

Benedetti's analysis of sample scenes, such as Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and the sitcom Cheers, helps readers become experts and complete naturals in front of a camera.

The book features:

How acting for the camera is different from acting on stage

Complete coverage on how to start an acting career in film or television

All major film production personnel, terms and forms

Detailed discussion of self-training for the camera

Toys, Games, and Action Figure Collectibles of the 1970s: Volume I: Action Jackson to Gre-Gory the Bat

Toys, Games, and Action Figure Collectibles of the 1970s: Volume I: Action Jackson to Gre-Gory the Bat Review

Chock full of over 225 pictures and over 75 categories that cover boy and girl toys both, this is the first book in a series that will help to define what 70s playtime was all about. From action figures to general toys to games, this guidebook will give visual examples as well as a checklist on a wide variety of items that were produced during this fantastic decade. Whether you're a collector or someone who wants to walk down memory lane, this is the book series that you've been waiting for.

Some of the many toys that are covered within this volume are: Mego's Action Jackson, Fisher Price's Adventure People, Atari 2600, Aurora Model Kits, Barbie, Battlestar Galactica, Mattel's Big Jim, Bionic Woman, Mego's Buck Rogers, Celebrity Dolls, Cereal Toys (Freakies and Monster Cereals), Charlie's Angels, Colorforms, Mego's Comic Action Heroes, Corgi Vehicles, Dakin Figures, Dolls, Donny and Marie, Board Games, Electronic Hand-held Games, Evel Knievel, Fighting Furies, Flash Gordon, G.I. Joe, Godzilla, and MANY more!

Actions Speak Louder

Actions Speak Louder Review

When Marcia Elton got married, she’d signed up for the forty-year plan. Unfortunately, her husband Jay had other ideas. At thirty-two, Marcia is divorced and starting a new life. An interest in home renovation and repair has prompted her to purchase a hardware store, and she sets about trying to achieve business success.

When Ethan Winslow moves into the bungalow next door and begins renovating it, she’s not entirely pleased. He is sweet, attentive, and easy on the eyes. But Marcia isn’t looking for a relationship. She’s skittish, thanks to her ex, who did a number on her self-esteem.

Can Ethan persuade Marcia he’s nothing like her ex? Can he prove to her that she can trust him? And most important, can he win her love?