Aldrich's extensive background in e-learning products gives him a very qualified view of what needs to improve in the future of learning. The answer is simulations. Real-time, engaging and realistic simulations. He explains in detail the hurdles, headaches, and horrors of developing what has become one of the best leadership training tools on the market--Virtual Leader.
While there is little explanation of instructional theory and methods, this book is HIGHLY recommended to any organization looking to get into the educational simulation business. It provides a realistic picture of the decisions designers will face when building the next generation of learning products.
Moore's Law is the observation that the amount you can do on a single chip doubles every two years. But Moore's Law is taking a detour. Rather than producing faster and faster processors, companies such as Intel and AMD are producing multi-core devices: single chips containing two, four, or more processors. If your programs aren't concurrent, they'll only run on a single processor at a time. Your users will think that your code is slow.
Erlang is a programming language designed for building highly parallel, distributed, fault-tolerant systems. It has been used commercially for many years to build massive fault-tolerated systems that run for years with minimal failures.
Erlang programs run seamlessly on multi-core computers: this means your Erlang program should run a lot faster on a 4 core processor than on a single core processor, all without you having to change a line of code.
Erlang combines ideas from the world of functional programming with techniques for building fault-tolerant systems to make a powerful language for building the massively parallel, networked applications of the future.
This book presents Erlang and functional programming in the familiar Pragmatic style. And it's written by Joe Armstrong, one of the creators of Erlang.
It includes example code you'll be able to build upon. In addition, the book contains the full source code for two interesting applications:
a full-text indexing and search engine that can index gigabytes of data.
Learn how to write programs that run on dozens or even hundreds of local and remote processors. See how to write robust applications that run even in the face of network and hardware failure, using the Erlang programming language.
Customer Reviews:
A reading delight.......2007-10-15
Erlang was a rather obscure language till 2007 and i dare say it gain popularity via Joe's clear and interesting presentation via his book.
The author was clear in the presentation of the main ideas w.r.t. concurrency and how Erlang aids the developer in programming in this new paradigm. Joe has also included many real world applications and how Erlang implements it easily which has drawn me to it exceedingly e.g. hot swapping of code, error handling idioms, etc
In a nutshell: An excellent effort!
Very clear, well suited for an experienced programmer who really wants to grok a new language.......2007-09-14
I have found this book to be a very good resource. I have been programming for fun since I was a kid, and for a living for the last eleven years. Over time I have picked up a decent number of programming languages, but most of my experience is in C, Java, PHP, and Scheme, with little bits of Ruby, Perl, and assembly language for various platforms.
I found that this book really gets to the meat of things, but does so with clear and well thought out examples such that you can jump up and play with the code immediately, but there is also a decent amount of background information presented so it is not only explained HOW to do something, but WHY, and there are very often multiple variations offered to illustrate the subtle features (and in Erlang, these are usually the most powerful).
There are several places towards the beginning of the book where the author explains a new construct, and then writes the same construct in C, Java, Ruby, or Scheme to help orient people coming in with previous programming knowledge get their bearings.
The other nice thing about this text is that the author is fairly platform agnostic (as Erlang itself is very portable), setup instructions for the Erlang environment cover Linux, Windows, and instructions for building Erlang from source so that users of other platforms can do so if no binary distribution is available.
All in all, I would highly recommend this text to anybody who has some previous programming experience and who wishes to expand their own programming horizons. While Erlang is sort of a niche language at the moment, even learning the mechanics of how data are handled and the general distributed programming model employed will inform and enlighten systems designed in any language, as well as add another useful language and additional design patters to your mental toolbox.
could be a tough programming paradigm, or a very natural one.......2007-09-03
Functional programming (Erlang, haskell, OCAML, mainly) has returned to devs' mindshare, look at lambda-the-ultimate, artima, reddit. It's produced a lot of blogs, online tutorials, but if you want a current book that's a complete overview, carefully written and vetted? Pretty slim pickings.
This book is an offshoot (or inspired by, or something) of Armstrong's PhD thesis. It is (or was) a pragmatic beta product, reviewed by 100's of developers, and this shows in exposition of data structures and algorithms. It's as good as intro dev texts get. The intro bits, like where the math teacher says "all X's mean the same thing" are kind of helpful but after that there's not a lot of handholding of the type of "how to do __ in java and erlang, side by side" (except the Exceptions chapter), or "Here's my definition of functional programming". There's lots of things similar to the ruby or python or smalltalk dev environment, some counter-intuitive things as well(no short-circuits of boolean expressions) but this book's an exposition of Erlang features, common tasks, and best practices. I liken this to the best software books, the ruby Pickax, Python in a Nutshell, SICP, it's rigorous and intellectually and viscerally satisfying ;-)
If you know prolog or lisp, or read the arguments about DSLs /metaprogramming that java and smalltalk/python/ruby/javascript devs are wont to have, you may say it fits your brain. Others have noted that the syntax is a complete rework of how they approach programming, that backtracking/pattern matching and constraint satisfaction is nothing like programming the algol-family. But i think all devs have to understand how regular expression engines work, so you can draw parallels there.
(extremely) minor drawbacks of the book: preachy tone of superiority of COP (concurrency-oriented programm'g), fault-tolerance, many processes, etc. Some of the typesetting (code bits in footnotes and against grey background) is hard to read. Division of the book into chapters is kinda odd (there's a couple 2-page chapters)
Excellent into into Erlang.......2007-08-23
Really easy read, I found it very simple to get into coding Erlang. The book went into quite a bit of detail, it even shows you have to write multiprocessor chat servers. I'm thinking about using Erlang for an MMORPG. Great Book!
Very good introduction to Erlang.......2007-08-23
I'm impressed with this book. Being a programmer for several years I hadn't looked at Erlang too closely until this book came along. Its a good introduction to the language and how you can go about using it. All the basics and several advanced topics are here. I'm amazed how easy Erlang handles stuff like sockets and how well it scales. Its a different way to look at programming tasks and this book is the best first step out there.
Book Description
APPLIED COURSE IN REAL OPTIONS VALUATION, offers an excellent guide to option pricing in today's fast paced business world. This innovative text not only provides the theories of option pricing but includes real-world examples and situations.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book.......2007-02-07
I took Dr.Shockley's RO course back in school. Dr Shockley's approach to the subject is radically different from any other book I have seen. He's actually taken the time to explain the various models and concepts in finance come together. The approach to options doesn't start with heavy derivations and equations of stochastic processes - it starts with the concepts of NPV, abritrage and leads on to options (and real options). The book is full of handy examples and solid explanations. Pick up any standard text in microeconomics (Silberberg, or Hirshleifer or Henderson and Quandt)- and you will see the one equation repeat over and over again - the First Order Condition tying in the ratio of Marginal Quantities (Costs, Utilities etc), the ratio of prices (wages etc) and the lagrangian multiplier. If finance is related to micro economics, one expects to see atleast one instance of this equation in a standard finance text. I haven't found it any - Dr Shockley's book was the first one I found that tied what we're doing in finance to the underlying concept of equilibrium as defined in microeconomics. Fama's theory of finance is the only other book (that I've looked at) that starts finance where micro left off, but then who has the time or strength to read it after a 10 hour day.
In future editions of this book, I would love to see some development of stochastic processes, the concept of filtrations, Ito's Lemma etc. Dr S can write on this subject at the level that is deeper (and more satisfying) than Wilmott, and more easy to access than say Shimko or Shreve or even Baxter. I think that will add to the value of the book - it can be the gentle introduction to some more advanced concepts, for students and busy practitioners who have very little time (even if they like it) for the math that one sees in some of the advanced derivatives book.
Thanks for putting this book together Dr Shockley!
Average customer rating:
- Ok,but..
- Not sure who this book is for
- Pricing Derivative Securities
- Pricing Derivative Securities: An Interactive Dynamic Envir
- Pricing Derivative Securities if You Can't Program at All
|
Pricing Derivative Securities: An Interactive, Dynamic Environment with Maple V and Matlab
Eliezer Z. Prisman
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0125649150 |
Book Description
Pricing derivatives theory comes alive in this self-contained interactive experience in financial pricing. The no-arbitrage perspective in a one-period state-preference model drives the book, and the Maple® and Matlab® programs help readers visualize payoffs and respond to various constraints and conditions. With clear explanations and lavish illustrations,
Pricing Derivative Securities: An Interactive, Dynamic Environment with Maple V and Matlab teaches the core theoretical concepts so often disguised behind difficult terms and institutional details.
Readers can experiment with the electronic packages forever, using the book and its solutions manual as a tutorial that can help solve problems of increasing complexity.
Key Features
* Enclosed CD-ROM includes the student version of Maple V; it provides an interactive, dynamic and friendly environment allowing students to learn through hands on experience
* Enhances learning by altering the commands in the on-line files, varying them at will, in order to experiment with applications of the concepts and different (reader-generated) examples, in addition to the ones already in the prepared file
* Provides both the framework and the tools, based on the no free lunch concept, by which readers can analyze and appreciate different scenarios, including those that are not covered in the book, related to derivative securities
* Basic concepts of stochastic calculus are enriched with demonstrations using animation, simulation and three-dimensional graphs thereby overcoming mathematical complexity
* The MATLAB® Graphic User Interface provides the ability to bring to life on the screen the theoretical material of the chapters
Customer Reviews:
Ok,but.........2006-11-14
For the mathematically oriented reader there are much better books around, like Wilmott's and books on the more numerical and easygoing side and Shreve and Bingham-Kiesel for example on the analytic side.
This book could be useful as a first introduction to derivatives especially for someone who hasn't studied mathematics all that much. But this book doesn't go too much into the methods that are really used in practice, like Monte Carlo.
Not sure who this book is for.......2004-10-13
This book is far too advanced for undergrads or even MBA students. It's not really an introductory book on derivative pricing, but is an excellent supplementary book to, say, Hull's text ("Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives").
This text provides a solid foundation for considering any derivative security in a no-arbitrage market. It then goes on to cover the Black-Scholes model and derivative pricing based on the price distribution of the underlying.
Here's an anicdote from my experience: I wanted to learn the fundamentals of a (Cox-Ross-Rubenstein) binomial pricing model. I opened up the Prisman book and was thoroughly confused with what I understood to be a pretty simple model. The text referenced previous chapters, which referenced previous chapters - you get the picture. It was very unreadable. I then opened up a Hull text and in 3 pages I had a full and sound understanding of a simple binomial model. (-1 star)
I agree with a previous review that "Matlab" has no place in the book's description, let alone in the title. I am a long time Matlab user. There is no Matlab code in this book, no Matlab CD, and the Maple CD that's included cannot be used with an existing Matlab license! (-1 star)
I have also come across a few serious typos in equations that make this text a subpar publication. (-1 star)
Pricing Derivative Securities.......2002-06-03
For when life throws you that derivative that you just can't look up in some book...
This book provides the building blocks on both the practical and theoretical levels that one needs to price derivatives. The book provides an essential combination of three things: 1) clear explanations and examples of fundamental concepts, 2) a hands on approach to software and pricing algorithms, and 3) emphasis on graphic visualization in understanding the behavior of derivatives in general. While clearly a textbook for a Master's level course, from the point of view of a practitioner, this book has also become my first reference source at the office for those times when I can't just look up the answer, and have to resort to first principles.
Pricing Derivative Securities: An Interactive Dynamic Envir.......2001-05-31
The theory of financial derivates is now much easily understood by combining mathemtical models with the symbolic, numeric and visualization capabilities of a CAS such as Maple. The author made an excellent choice to select Maple (primarily) and Matlab. Maple is used extensively in many academic and industry settings, and its integration into the presentation of the materials makes the content come alive. Great addition, that (even) every mathematician should read! I highly recommend it.
Pricing Derivative Securities if You Can't Program at All.......2001-03-21
Based on the title and description of this book, I bought it hoping to learn more about developing financial tools, specifically interest rate models, in Matlab. After working through most of the book, I have concluded that the use of the name "Matlab" in the title is misleading: it only means that Maple, the main tool of the book, may be accessed via the kernel of Matlab.
The book appears to be targeted primarily at undergraduates and MBA students, not practitioners in the field. Such an audience may have little interest (or need) in learning to develop code or the intricacies of the underlying mechanics of financial models, and for them, the book would no doubt be very helpful. The software that comes with the book includes a stripped down version of Maple, (which is nice, since you can't really use the book without it), and author-developed analytical tools. These tools support the goals of learning through the ability to quickly vary inputs and see the impact on the output, but as they are more or less a black-box, do not add much to one's independent ability to model new financial objects or extend existing ones.
The book includes the de rigueur definitions of typical financial instruments and explanations that facilitate understanding of these instruments (such as how to read and understand option data in newspapers, the mechanics of currency swaps and so on), but one really has to follow along with the Maple commands page by page to derive benefit. The fixed income section is very skimpy. It seems like the book is best suited as an extended set of lecture notes.
I like the book but would not recommend it to practioners looking for insight on tool development or to extend knowledge of cutting edge interest rate models (as these are not covered here). I would recommend it for newcomers to the field having mathematical or quantitative backgrounds who want a reasonably good introduction to financial instruments. It would also be useful as a companion text in master's programs in financial engineering or financial mathematics. Derivatives and Maple with training wheels.
Book Description
Designed and written for active traders who are interested in practical information that can improve their results, Trading Index Options offers tried-and-true techniques without a lot of theory and math. Bittman provides traders with the know-how to evaluate practical situations and manage positions. Among the key features: the basics of index options, including various spreads; how to match strategies with forecasts; alternatives for losing positions; the importance of price behavior and volatility. A windows-based software program that provides multiple option pricing and graphing is included in the package.
Download Description
Trading Index Options offers tried-and-true techniques so traders get the know-how to evaluate practical situations and manage positions -- without a lot of theory and math.
Customer Reviews:
updated software is available from the author..........2006-07-16
The book is very good from a professional options trader and teacher.
A lot of the comments from people who recently bought this old (but good) book for the software, were not diligent enough to think about contacting the author. I contacted the author and he mailed me an updated version of the software that comes with the book. He was very kind and cordial.
Good Book with Outdated Software.......2003-10-18
The good news is that this book is very nicely done, providing a useful foundation to beginner and intermediate options traders. I found that I learned quite a lot about the interactions between option pricing and the various factors influencing pricing. The author provides numerous case study examples utilizing the OP-EVAL(TM) software included with the book. A majority of the book contains detailed examples describing how to use the software and interpret the output. The bad news is that the software will not run on current Windows operating systems (Windows 98 or newer). So don't buy the book if you want to try the software on your own. Efforts to contact the author, through the publisher McGraw-Hill, about the possibility of updating the software, have been unsuccessful. Otherwise a good book.
5 Stars is not enough.......2002-04-05
From the beginning pages, the explanations are flowing and account for all levels of competency in options. When you finish the very readable book, you will have a solid understanding of index options. The graphs are excellent while the mathematical concepts are carefully explained. I have traded stock options successfully for the past ten years and I now have enough confidence in my knowledge of index options to not panic when hitting the enter button.
Software Will Not Install on Windows 98.......2002-01-21
I was eager to use the software that came with this book, but since my PC runs on Windows 98, it will not install. They should update the software so it will run on later versions of Windows before they sell the book again, or least ask you what version of Windows you are using before you place the order.
SAVE YOUR MONEY!.......2000-02-07
The software is defective and the author and publisher, in the unlikely event you can get either to respond, only cloud the issue with disingenuous assurances.
Book Description
Design simple Flash applications, business applications, and games for pocket PCs; use eVB and eVC to deliver these applications on the PPC without the limitations of Pocket Internet Explorer; create Flash content for playback on DVD; and use Flash to construct interfaces for interactive TV. The CD- ROM includes code and examples from the book plus bonus developer tools for Pocket PC.
Customer Reviews:
In favor of truth in advertising.......2004-04-16
Mr. Torrone, in his 11/15/02 review of this book (below), presents himself as if in error, complicitous (with Amazon), or simply self-serving, as his assertion that "Amazon has a special ..." is 100% FALSE. NO "special"; rather, merely two books bundled together with no savings over separate purchasing. In addition, Mr. Torrone conveniently fails to mention the fact that *Flash Enabled* is authored by Mr. Torrone himself. In error? Complicitous? Self-serving? You be the judge.
Excellent book.......2003-04-05
After reading this book, I was VERY happy to have spent the money to pick this one up!
What struck me most, just from reading the table of contents, was the breadth of the content that is found in Flash: the Future. Not only is there information on creating Flash content for PocketPC 2002, but the book also covers Flash for Broadcast (DVD, iTV, and consoles), as well as the Nokia 9200 series. This book covers all of these topics extremely well. Just over half of the book devoted to developing content for the Pocket PC.
There are several different authors who contribute chapters in this section, and each authors' respective expertise in each different topic is evident throughout the section. For example, in each chapter you will find valuable tips and tricks that only come from such experience.
Flash: the Future is a well written and well edited title, and I strongly recommend picking it up if you are serious about Flash development.
Dare I give this book less than 5 stars?!!.......2003-02-25
This book is well written, and the author knows what he's talking about. However, I found he repeats things and often complicates simple things. After reading the chapter about PocketPC Flash technology I found it offered no more information than the Macromedia SDK (free on their website). He does offer some additional advice on PPC game development such as color and art optimization; common sense to most Flash developers. The book attemps to explain how to program a complete game in ActionScript, but does not elaborate on the details of ActionScript (ie: mentions the use of arrays, but doesn't explain their complex charictaristics). If your looking to learn ActionScript, this is not the book. Overall, this book has the advantage of being one of the first in it's catagory.
A no-nonsense, highly accessible, step-by-step guide.......2003-01-06
Collaboratively written by computer program and gaming experts Jon Warren Lentz, Bill Turner, and Ian Chia, Flash: The Future is a no-nonsense, highly accessible, step-by-step guide to creating content and applications for platforms such as handhelds, wireless devices, video/DVD, Pocket PCS, and more. Flash applications, Pocket Internet Explorer, Flash animations, ActionScript techniques, eMbedded Visual Basic, Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++, and much, much more are all deftly covered with illustrative examples and walk-through explanations. An accompanying CD-ROM contains code and examples drawn from the text, as well as bonus developer tools for the Pocket PC. Flash: The Future is a highly recommended addition to any personal or professional Computer Graphics/Design reference collection.
excellent companion to flashenabled!!.......2002-12-02
the book starts off listing various ppcs in comparison and then by goes through (in very good detail) the layout considerations to take when creating flash apps for pocket pcs. many aspects are covered in a way that's very easy to follow along with. a lot of this information will save you plenty of headaches down the road. softkeys (mapping of the device's cursor input) is covered in extreme detail and the source files for all of this is covered very well. c++ (etc.) wrappers are explained in detail so as to hide the ppc's menus, going fullscreen, and more. source code for these techniques are supplied as well on the cd. very valuable stuff. the code is explained in nice detail. classes in c++ and AS are covered in an appendix and are very worthwhile inclusions. transfering flash to television and dvd is covered in depth (and is a first in a book like this.) using flash animations in your dvd menu systems is shown in a step-by-step walkthrough. many of the perils of transfering flash to video/television is covered and workaround techniques are explained. the future of flash on devices is a running theme throughout the book and offers many great insights. the use of XML Socket, loadvars versus XML, etc. is covered. there is a wealth of knowledge to be gained in this well-paced book on the subject of flash on things other than the desktop. it's a bit more technical than flashenabled. the collection of the two books together == a 5 out of 5. these should be your flash device bibles when you want to get involved in creating apps and experiments to run on devices. WONDERFUL stuff. a defacto standard for mobile and other-than desktop Flash deployments. The CD alone is worth price of admission. And that chris pelsor is such a viking!
Book Description
The Handbook of Exotic Options is the first book to explain the theoretical foundations, structures, and applications of these exciting new instruments. Edited by Israel Nelken, one of the foremost experts in the field, this handbook provides an in-depth explanation of the latest uses of exotic options by institutional investors and corporate treasurers, as well as the latest thinking on advanced topics. Readers will find valuable discussions of: Options theory, volatility, and pricing; The Brownian Motion and the Black Scholes Model; Risk management applications of exotic options.
Customer Reviews:
Misleading title.......2001-11-25
Dr. Nelken has compiled a series of articles
by a variety of authors dealing with particularly
diverse aspects of exotic options.
Although some of the papers contain useful
information, the book does not deserve to
be called a "handbook": it is more like a
loose compilation, thus making it useless
as a reference.
I ordered the book in 1998 at my local
bookstore and felt cheated after the
first browsing. The extra star is there
to praise the occasional pearl of wisdom
you will encounter while reading through
all 15 chapters.
Finally, the cover advertises with
"valuable software included", referring
to a demo (!) of EXOTICOP (c). I strongly
disagree: the program is nothing more
than a black-scholes type exotics pricer
with a primitive interface, barely touching
the level of an undergraduate paper.
To add insult to injury, some of the
input parameters are frozen in the
demo version.
To put it in dealer's phraseology, this
book is a big yours.
Book Description
Do you know what is the real cost of your software? Before you reach for a calculator, be forewarned that it's a trick question. Even technology industry analysts and seasoned IT executives have difficulty putting a hard figure on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of today's enterprise application solutions. What makes the equation so tricky is the sheer number of variables that must be factored in, many of which cannot be lined up in a neat column and reconciled, such as issues of security, availability, performance, problem resolution and change management. The End of Software: Transforming Your Business for the On Demand Future, by
Dr. Timothy Chou, is a groundbreaking book for business managers and executives that challenges conventional approaches to business software and proposes new alternatives to managing and maintaining the systems that companies depend on.
Read What Industry Experts Have to Say:
- "Whether you rely on computer software to run your business, create software solutions, or invest in software companies, you are facing the shift from software as a product to software as a service. In The End of Software, Dr. Timothy Chou makes the case for Software on Demand and shows you who's already out there creating and using this new model." Fred Magner, Chief Information Officer, Unocal Corporation
- "As a pioneer of the On Demand delivery model, Dr. Chou challenges certain conventions long held by the software industry. The End of Software provokes industry participants to re-think how big software should be packaged, sold and delivered in the future." Stephen Wong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Embarcadero Technologies
- "Dr. Timothy Chou's book The End of Software presents a logical argument for the shift from selling and buying software, or the promise of the value that software represents, to selling and buying the actual value that software can bring to a user. This is very persuasive, especially when you consider the legacy of software vendors, who are notorious for over-promising and under-delivering. As Dr. Chou so clearly understands (and why shouldn't he-he's lived it), this new delivery method simply makes sense. But the world is often slow to change; as keen observers of the technology industry, we'll be watching closely." John S. DiFucci, Senior Software Analyst, Managing Director, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.
Download Description
Do you know what is the real cost of your software? Before you reach for a calculator, be forewarned that it's a trick question. Even technology industry analysts and seasoned IT executives have difficulty putting a hard figure on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of today's enterprise application solutions. What makes the equation so tricky is the sheer number of variables that must be factored in, many of which cannot be lined up in a neat column and reconciled, such as issues of security, availability, performance, problem resolution and change management. The End of Software: Transforming Your Business for the On Demand Future, by Dr. Timothy Chou, is a groundbreaking book for business managers and executives that challenges conventional approaches to business software and proposes new alternatives to managing and maintaining the systems that companies depend on. Read What Industry Experts Have to Say: ""Whether you rely on computer software to run your business, create software solutions, or invest in software companies, you are facing the shift from software as a product to software as a service. In The End of Software, Dr. Timothy Chou makes the case for Software on Demand and shows you who's already out there creating and using this new model."" Fred Magner, Chief Information Officer, Unocal Corporation ""As a pioneer of the On Demand delivery model, Dr. Chou challenges certain conventions long held by the software industry. The End of Software provokes industry participants to re-think how big software should be packaged, sold and delivered in the future."" Stephen Wong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Embarcadero Technologies ""Dr. Timothy Chou's book The End of Software presents a logical argument for the shift from selling and buying software, or the promise of the value that software represents, to selling and buying the actual value that software can bring to a user. This is very persuasive, especially when you consider the legacy of software vendors, who are notorious for over-promising and under-delivering. As Dr. Chou so clearly understands (and why shouldn't he-he's lived it), this new delivery method simply makes sense. But the world is often slow to change; as keen observers of the technology industry, we'll be watching closely."" John S. DiFucci, Senior Software Analyst, Managing Director, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.
Customer Reviews:
Skimpy.......2004-10-01
Directed at a nontechnical reader, Chou suggests why a radical turn towards a new model of on demand software might help your company. He cites the massive cost that companies already pay, in maintaining software. From annual licensing fees to the cost of sysadmins to manually install patches and upgrades. Chou points out, as have others, that the Total Cost of Ownership can be several multiples of an initial outlay.
Therefore, his branch of Oracle advocates a utility-like approach. You buy capacity on an as-needed basis. There are possible trends, like an increased automation of patches and upgrades, that aid his case.
Left unsaid in all this is how Oracle is playing catchup. For example, IBM has devoted massive resources in this field, under such names as Globus, utility, grid, autonomous and on-demand computing. This book is rather skimpy. Apart from general statements, I kept searching in it for more details. A far more substantial book is "On Demand Computing" by Fellenstein (IBM Press). You may want to check that book instead.
On Demand Software with some Oracle perspective.......2004-09-24
While there are strong arguments in favor of the software on demand model of usage and Dr. Chou makes most of them, he also sometimes descends into a rambling state. There is some repetition and some irrelevancies; my estimate is that ten percent of the material could have been left out. Dr. Chou is the president of Oracle on Demand, so of course he has a vested interest in praising the software on demand model. Nevertheless, he does a reasonably good job of keeping his prose from reaching the level of evangelisms.
The software on demand model is one where the user essentially rents the software on an on-demand basis. When needed, the latest version is either downloaded or run directly on a server. The primary advantage is one of remaining current. The present situation regarding regular security patches is only marginally viable. Nearly all system managers live in fear of failures whenever a new service pack or patch is installed. The recent situation with the latest Microsoft XP service pack is a case in point. When a vendor has to include a list of all the applications that will fail after the service pack is installed and how to get them functional again, then there is a major problem. If the software runs on the vendor's server, then this problem is alleviated.
This will also prevent the current problems with unpatched systems. IT people are generally swamped and the fear of crashes after installing a patch is one of the primary reasons why patches are not applied. Many of the recent systemic viral/worm attacks occurred well after a patch that could prevent it was available.
Of course, there are problems with the distributed computing model. It will require that all vendors have bulletproof servers and connections. It would only take a small amount of downtime or a major security breach to convince many customers that they prefer to have the software on their machines. Also, the current model forces application developers to create significant upgrades. For if they don't, users will continue to use the older versions and the revenue stream will dry up. Therefore, if an oligarchy or monopoly were to develop, innovation could suffer. Finally, since the models for on demand software are not yet clearly delineated, no one knows how providers will interact with their customers. Many people have doubts about how this will work, and the recording industry has recently engaged in some disturbing legal actions. These actions could be unique to the recording industry or a precursor to how the on demand world would function. While Chou does mention some of these problems, they are not delved into in great detail, which is a weakness of the book.
If you are someone whose portfolio includes the planning of organizational software usage, then you should read this book. The strengths outnumber the weaknesses, so if you read it keeping the perspective of the author in mind, then you will learn the most significant aspects of a new way of "consuming" software.
IT Outsourcing, the Oracle Model.......2004-09-24
Although titled The End of Software, the book really doesn't mean that. It's about outsourcing the IT function along the lines of EDS, IBM's Global Services, or Oracle On Demand. As president of Oracle On Demand, most of the busines stories concern successful contracts where Oracle On Demand has set up or replaced the IT department in a number of companies. What the title means is that the end user does not buy the software, he buys the service provided by that software. There's still an awful lot of software involved.
There are clear advantages to this kind of outsourcing. The big outsourcing companies have exonomies of scale, they can buy dozens or thousands of computers, all just alike. This minimizes the maintenance effort, they can upgrade the software on all units cheaper than a company can do it on a few machines. It improves reliability, they can use this machine if that one is broken. They can fully understand the laws, such as the privacy laws relating to human resources information. And they have many other advantages.
Unfortunately this does come with some disadvantages as well. For one thing, they use standardized software packages, if your application fits, that's great, otherwise, well....
Then you have to be of the right size. Too small and they're not interested. Too large and you probably have your own legacy systems that switching off may lose you a lot of historical information.
This is an interesting book, well worth reading if you are in the IT department of a middle sized business. It clearly explains the advantages of the outsourcing business model.
Average customer rating:
|
Graphics Recognition. Ten Years Review and Future Perspectives: 6th International Workshop, GREC 2005, Hong Kong, China, August 25-26, 2005, Revised Selected Papers (Lecture Notes in Computer Science)
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 3540347119 |
Book Description
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Graphics Recognition, GREC 2005, held in Hong Kong, China in August 2005.
The 37 revised full papers presented together with a panel discussion report were carefully selected and improved during two rounds of reviewing and revision. The papers are organized in topical sections on engineering drawings vectorization and recognition, symbol recognition, graphic image analysis, structural document analysis, sketching and online graphics recognition, curves and shape processing, and graphics recognition contest results.
Average customer rating:
- Every desk should have a copy: by a practitioner for practitioners
- Excellent Book
- A fundamental source in a pricing area
- Very helpful book
- Nice idea, but MANY errors
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The Complete Guide to Option Pricing Formulas
Espen Gaardner Haug
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Similar Items:
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The Volatility Surface: A Practitioner's Guide (Wiley Finance)
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Option Pricing Models and Volatility Using Excel-VBA (Wiley Finance)
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Options, Futures and Other Derivatives (6th Edition)
ASIN: 0786312408 |
Book Description
When pricing options in todayÕs fast-action markets, you need quick access to precise facts and market-tested information. The Complete Guide to Options Pricing Formulas is the only authoritative, comprehensive reference to make the necessary set of option pricing tools available in one place. This invaluable reference work, which includes valuable software and ready-to-use programming code to enhance your understanding of the options pricing models discussed and their practical implementations, also gives you a complete listing of key options formulas, all in a dictionary format for ease of use; commentary from derivatives expert and author Espen Gaarder Haug that explains key points in the most important and useful formulas; practitioner-oriented formulas, and highlights of the latest options pricing research from major institutions worldwide; and much more! Invaluable for both experienced users and those learning how to use the tools of valuation, The Complete Guide to Options Pricing Formulas is the first and only book to place all of the research and information you need at your fingertips with precise directions on maximizing its real-world value.
Customer Reviews:
Every desk should have a copy: by a practitioner for practitioners.......2007-01-11
If you want to cook, buy the paperback edition of "The Joy of Cooking" (JoC) and low and behold, your cooking will improve. JoC is a recipe book, but as you work through it you learn principals for cooking that are widely applicable.
If you want to be in quantfin you need to buy The Complee Book of Option Pricing Formulas: it is the "Joy of Cooking" for options. As you work through the collection, the formulas, and look at the code (on a wonderful CDROM) low and behold you'll get better at all principals, concepts, and conceptions on how code works for option pricing formulas.
A word about errors: even critical editions of long-dead authors have errors in them, just look at the "errata" sheets from The Library of America critical editions.
For the first edition Espen Haug put his errata sheet immediately up on his website, and it also is widely available with a simple GOOGLE search (lots of people have copies on the various quant fin discussion boards). 10 seconds extra work versus whining away about how something isn't perfect? Oh, grow up. You rationally will be spending that much extra time on learning this code and digesting material in this book anyway.
Excellent in every way.
Excellent Book.......2006-05-12
A very exhaustive list of the formula for the most used option.
A must for all Option trader. The codes are very helpfull also.
A fundamental source in a pricing area.......2005-09-22
It's not expensive and almost complete. Don't show the Greeks' formulas, which is very important for practitioners.
Very helpful book.......2005-08-11
I have been using this book for many years now and it is absolutely fantastic. This book is useful for practical users as a first step towards option pricing. This book is not intented for critical analysis and derivation of the formulas (there are a zillion research papers for that). I like the approach of the book. It keeps it simple - input parameters, formula, result. It has many examples which helps me to calibrate my results.
Bottom line - if you have a PhD and strong math background read the source literature and research papers. For the rest of us this is "the" book.
Nice idea, but MANY errors.......2004-07-28
This book is the "standard" for providing straightforward code demonstrating various options pricing techniques, and perhaps deservedly so -- after all, it really doesn't have too many competitors in that niche. However, even in the course of the fairly straightforward applications I've had for this book (mostly simple equity Cox-Ross and Black-Scholes modeling), I've been shocked by the number of blatant mathematical errors (in the formulas for rho with distinct carry and risk-free rates, for instance). Clearly, the author and editors didn't bother to spend much time verifying that the formulas they cite are actually correct. (I'm actually shocked to see a fellow reviewer praise the "proofreading" -- I'm guessing he or she never actually had to use any of the formulas in this book!)
Bottom line -- if you're looking for a handy, compact reference of option pricing formulas, this is probably what you'll end up with. But be careful. It is SO frustrating to spend hours trying to figure out where you made a mistake in implementing one of these models, only to learn that you DIDN'T make a mistake -- the mistake was in your source. Consider yourself warned...
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