Bøger af Steven Bell

Most emerging applications in imaging and machine learning must perform immense amounts of computation while holding to strict limits on energy and power. To meet these goals, architects are building increasingly specialized compute engines tailored for these specific tasks. The resulting computer systems are heterogeneous, containing multiple processing cores with wildly different execution models. Unfortunately, the cost of producing this specialized hardware--and the software to control it--is astronomical. Moreover, the task of porting algorithms to these heterogeneous machines typically requires that the algorithm be partitioned across the machine and rewritten for each specific architecture, which is time consuming and prone to error. Over the last several years, the authors have approached this problem using domain-specific languages (DSLs): high-level programming languages customized for specific domains, such as database manipulation, machine learning, or image processing. By giving up generality, these languages are able to provide high-level abstractions to the developer while producing high-performance output. The purpose of this book is to spur the adoption and the creation of domain-specific languages, especially for the task of creating hardware designs. In the first chapter, a short historical journey explains the forces driving computer architecture today. Chapter 2 describes the various methods for producing designs for accelerators, outlining the push for more abstraction and the tools that enable designers to work at a higher conceptual level. From there, Chapter 3 provides a brief introduction to image processing algorithms and hardware design patterns for implementing them. Chapters 4 and 5 describe and compare Darkroom and Halide, two domain-specific languages created for image processing that produce high-performance designs for both FPGAs and CPUs from the same source code, enabling rapid design cycles and quick porting of algorithms. The final section describes how the DSL approach also simplifies the problem of interfacing between application code and the accelerator by generating the driver stack in addition to the accelerator configuration. This book should serve as a useful introduction to domain-specialized computing for computer architecture students and as a primer on domain-specific languages and image processing hardware for those with more experience in the field.

Dynamite and Davey: The Explosive Lives of The British Bulldogs is the triumphant but ultimately tragic story of Tom Billington and Davey Boy Smith. Cousins born just a couple of years apart in a small mining town near Wigan, Tom and Davey discovered the art of wrestling as schoolboys. Tom went on to become 'The Dynamite Kid', arguably the greatest and most pioneering wrestler in history, but his short temper and determination to reach the top of a sport dominated by naturally bigger men would be his undoing. The more reserved Davey became a global superstar, but followed his cousin not just into exceptionalism, but into heavy substance abuse as well. Ultimately, the extraordinarily dysfunctional world of pro wrestling would prove too much for the cousins from Golborne - one proud, one naive. Together they became the best and most influential tag team of their generation. But they could not escape their demons, and their triumphs eventually submitted to their tragedy. Dynamite and Davey is a gripping cautionary tale.

The story of rugby and wrestling legend Douglas 'Duggy' Clark. By 24 Duggy was a rugby league great before being called up to serve in the Great War. He was awarded the Military Medal for bravery, but his war injuries were so severe he was discharged with a 20% disability certificate. Yet Duggy returned to achieve more extraordinary sporting feats.

From Triumph to Tragedy is the glorious, uplifting but ultimately tragic story of Chapecoense, the small-town Brazilian football club that made worldwide news following their meteoric rise from non-league to continental sensation. Yet the headlines that will be remembered centre on the air disaster en route to what should have been their greatest ever match. Less than ten years after the local mayor had intervened to save the club from liquidation, Associacao Chapecoense de Futebol had become champions of the Santa Catarina State Championship. At the summit of the Brazilian national league structure, they also qualified sensationally for the final of the Copa Sul Americana. The team of rejects and journeymen became heroes not just in their own city, but also to the whole nation. But the final was never to take place, as tragedy struck to render all those triumphant nights insignificant. Could the club now stage one more incredible recovery to allow Era Chape to continue, rather than to accept their fate as the tragic team beloved in fans' memories?

Your customers want innovation and value, and they want it now. How can you apply Lean principles and practices throughout your enterprise to drive operational excellence, reduce costs while improving quality, enable efficient growth, and accelerate idea-to-value innovation? Shingo Prize-winning author Steve Bell and other thought leaders show you how¿guiding you to more effectively align people and purpose, promote enterprise agility, and leverage transformative IT capabilities to create market-differentiating value for your customers.