David Foster

Generative modeling is one of the hottest topics in artificial intelligence. Recent advances in the field have shown how it's possible to teach a machine to excel at human endeavors--such as drawing, composing music, and completing tasks--by generating an understanding of how its actions affect its environment. With this practical book, machine learning engineers and data scientists will learn how to recreate some of the most famous examples of generative deep learning models, such as variational autoencoders and generative adversarial networks (GANs). You'll also learn how to apply the techniques to your own datasets. David Foster, cofounder of Applied Data Science, demonstrates the inner workings of each technique, starting with the basics of deep learning before advancing to the most cutting-edge algorithms in the field. Through tips and tricks, you'll learn how to make your models learn more efficiently and become more creative. Get a fundamental overview of generative modeling Learn how to use the Keras and TensorFlow libraries for deep learning Discover how variational autoencoders (VAEs) work Get practical examples of generative adversarial networks (GANs) Understand how to build generative models that learn how to paint, write, and compose Apply generative models within a reinforcement learning setting to accomplish tasks

Teaching Machines to Paint, Write, Compose and Play

Generative Deep Learning

A satirical adult novel which explores the pseudo-ethics of masculinist society, originally published in 1991. Other novels by the author include 'North South West', 'The Pure Land', 'Moonlite' and 'The Glade within the Grove'.

Mates of Mars

Teaching Machines to Paint, Write, Compose, and Play

Generative modeling is one of the hottest topics in AI. It’s now possible to teach a machine to excel at human endeavors such as painting, writing, and composing music. With this practical book, machine-learning engineers and data scientists will discover how to re-create some of the most impressive examples of generative deep learning models, such as variational autoencoders,generative adversarial networks (GANs), encoder-decoder models and world models. Author David Foster demonstrates the inner workings of each technique, starting with the basics of deep learning before advancing to some of the most cutting-edge algorithms in the field. Through tips and tricks, you’ll understand how to make your models learn more efficiently and become more creative. Discover how variational autoencoders can change facial expressions in photos Build practical GAN examples from scratch, including CycleGAN for style transfer and MuseGAN for music generation Create recurrent generative models for text generation and learn how to improve the models using attention Understand how generative models can help agents to accomplish tasks within a reinforcement learning setting Explore the architecture of the Transformer (BERT, GPT-2) and image generation models such as ProGAN and StyleGAN

Sons of the Rumour is nothing short of a dazzling and genre-defying work of genius. Foster retells the tale of the legendary eighth-century King Shahrban of Persia who, furious at his wife's infidelity, has decided to marry and then behead a fresh virgin every day. But then the king meets Scheherazade, a beauty of such wiles and storytelling gifts she manages to entertain the him for 1001 nights, staving off death for both herself and her countrywomen. In the process, she also bears him three sons, wisely educates him in morality and kindness, and eventually convinces him to take her as his lawful wife.Intersecting with the historical tale is the story of Al Morrisey - a middle-aged, Anglo-Irish, former jazz-drumming everyman, on the run from a failed marriage, and cursed with Freudian daydreams of his mother and peculiar nightmares of all things Persian - as he vainly attempts to reconcile the past with the present and reclaim some of his youthful vigour.Ingeniously manipulating the frame tale of the Arabian Nights, and utilising all his narrative gifts of adventurous satire, David Foster has produced a work of fiction like no other. Sprawling, ambitious, explicit but frequently hilarious, Sons of the Rumour is a modern masterpiece, an utterly original novel by one of Australia's greatest living writers, a man who the Sydney Morning Herald critic Andrew Riemer has called Patrick White's worthy successor.Sons of the Rumour Extract (.pdf)

Sons of the Rumour

Generative AI is the hottest topic in tech. This practical book teaches machine learning engineers and data scientists how to use TensorFlow and Keras to create impressive generative deep learning models from scratch, including variational autoencoders (VAEs), generative adversarial networks (GANs), Transformers, normalizing flows, energy-based models, and denoising diffusion models. The book starts with the basics of deep learning and progresses to cutting-edge architectures. Through tips and tricks, you'll understand how to make your models learn more efficiently and become more creative. Discover how VAEs can change facial expressions in photos Train GANs to generate images based on your own dataset Build diffusion models to produce new varieties of flowers Train your own GPT for text generation Learn how large language models like ChatGPT are trained Explore state-of-the-art architectures such as StyleGAN2 and ViT-VQGAN Compose polyphonic music using Transformers and MuseGAN Understand how generative world models can solve reinforcement learning tasks Dive into multimodal models such as DALL.E 2, Imagen, and Stable Diffusion This book also explores the future of generative AI and how individuals and companies can proactively begin to leverage this remarkable new technology to create competitive advantage.

Reprint of a novel, originally published in 1987, which is a rewriting of Goldoni's 18th century comedy 'The Venetian Twins'. Noel Horniman, a no-nonsense Australian poet, and his ex-wife, Judy Rankenfile, experience the wonders and treacheries of Venetian intrigue while living in the city on a literature board grant. Other novels by the author include 'North South West' and 'The Glade within the Grove'.

Testostero

Monasteries and gaols: David Foster reflects that during the course of his life the monasteries have emptied while the gaols are doing nicely. Set in Goulburn and its surrounds, where Foster resides, The Contemptuary is a lament for a dying faith, a commentary on prison life and, perhaps unexpectedly from Foster in this, his sixteenth novel, an unputdownable whodunnit. 'Attempt to characterise Foster's writing and eventually one will run out of adjectives. There is simply no one remotely like him in contemporary Australian fiction. He is so far ahead of everyone else that it's not funny.' - Australian Book Review

The Contemptuary

David Foster is a Benedictine Monk of Downside Abbey and chaplain to Downside School. He has always been concerned to bring the riches of the monastic tradition to lay people as they struggle to live the Christian life in the modern world. Lectio Divina or the art of spiritual reading is an art which is all but lost outside monastic communities. But following St Benedict's opening command in his Rule to 'listen', attending to the word of God through the printed text is an art which needs to be rediscovered in a world in which we are surrounded by a cacophony of sound and noise. David Foster has written a masterly guide to this art.

Lectio Divina

Reading with God

Claudio Cobelli

Gianna Toffolo

The use of mathematical modeling techniques in biomedical research is playing an increasingly important role in the understanding of the pathophysiology of disease processes. This includes not only understanding mechanisms of physiological processes, but also diagnosis and treatment. In addition, its introduction in the study of genomics and proteomics is key in understanding the functional characteristics of gene expression and protein assembly and secretion. Finally, with the increasing complexity and associated cost of drug development, modeling techniques are being used to streamline the process. This book is designed to give the reader the mathematical and statistical information necessary to design tracer kinetic studies, to use noncompartmental methodologies and/or to develop multicompartmental models to interpret the data. The book starts with a review of fundamentals of radioactive and stable isotope tracer kinetics and then proceeds with a description of the noncompartmental and multicompartmental modeling methodologies to study systems in the steady state. The focus is on understanding the basic assumptions inherent in the methodologies and the underlying mathematics and statistics, on discussing how to assess how `good' a model is and on giving some hints on how better to design kinetic studies, in order to increase the probability of a successful study and to ensure the maximal information content in the experimental data to be extracted. The book has an extensive section on parameter estimation, i.e., fitting models to data, first in general terms and then specifically related to noncompartmental and compartmental models. This is written from a basic point of view, and is intended to remove the mystery from the `black box' of computer optimization software. Finally, a special application often found in tracer kinetic analysis, precursor-product relationships, is discussed. Throughout the book, the goal is to provide even the novice with sufficient background so that he/she can feel comfortable. A number of case studies, based upon real experimental data, are carried through the text. Other examples illustrate specific points. All data examples are provided on a floppy disk.

Tracer Kinetics in Biomedical Research

The 30th-anniversary edition of this popular guide is fully updated with all the information you need for a safe and enjoyable trek on the West Coast Trail. The bestselling Blisters and Blisshas been thetrekker's guide to the West Coast Trail since 1989. The 75-kilometre trail on Vancouver Island is rated as one of the world's greatest hikes. In this revised ninth edition, David Foster and Wayne Aitken once again provide a practical and easy-to-use resource for the thousands of hikers who visit the West Coast Trail every year. Combining current and accurate trail information with hundreds of safety and planning tips, this is the ideal guide for novices and experienced trekkers alike.

A Trekker's Guide to the West Coast Trail, Ninth Edition

Blisters and Bliss

Further adventures of Dog Rock's postal detective D'Arcy D'Oliveres.

The Pale Blue Crochet Coathanger Cover

In a culture where coffee shops are an expected sight on every street corner and café menus require twenty feet of wall space, it can be a daunting experience to journey into the surprisingly vast world of coffee. There are resources to guide you through the espresso menu, but in this day and age, you need more than a book of facts. The American barista plays as much a role as the coffee itself in your café experience. Hip, tattooed, and full of opinions, baristas pride themselves on their coffee snobbery, and for better or worse, they are the gatekeepers of your caffeine. Luckily, The Coffee Snob is your sharp-tongued crash course to the world of espresso and the baristas who prepare it for you. David Foster's fast paced, clever book is a wealth of information about the core café menu told through the lens of his years of experience as a barista. Find out why coffee snobs scoff at the "skinny vanilla latte," and why macchiatos have become a metaphor for the battle between corporate coffee and small independent shops. Whether you want to know more about your favorite drink or branch out into new caffeinated horizons, The Coffee Snob will empower you to order your next espresso drink with confidence and just a touch of barista-certified snobbery.

A Brief Introduction to the Café Menu

The Coffee Snob

Carmen de Urioste

Daniel Altamiranda

Covering Spanish Literature from Origins to the 1700s. First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

From Origins to 1700 (Volume Two)

Spanish Literature: A Collection of Essays

Being a General and Instructive Work on Artistic Angling

The Scientific Angler

Dewey, Nelson

Wayne Aitken

Each year, thousands of trekkers tackle the 75-kilometre West Coast Trail between Bamfield and Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. And for over twelve years, this book has been the definitive guide to the world-famous trail. This fifth edition is completely up-to-date and expanded to include the latest on trail information, reservations, travel connections, and trekker tips. The illustrations are a delight, and the book now includes a special section for northbound and southbound hikers.

Blisters and Bliss : a Trekker's Guide to the West Coast Trail

Claudia Ferman

Twenty-nine collected essays represent a critical history of Shakespeare's play as text and as theater, beginning with Samuel Johnson in 1765, and ending with a review of the Royal Shakespeare Company production in 1991. The criticism centers on three aspects of the play: the love/friendship debate.

Collected Essays and Interviews

The Postmodern in Latin and Latino American Cultural Narratives

Benjamin Easterday

Sharidan Williams-Sotelo

Randy Jon Morgan

Rick Tuber

Always Another Mountain is the whimsical life story of David Foster, an adventurer, an outdoors man, and a man afflicted with the debilitating lung disorder Cystic Fibrosis. This book is adapted from the screenplay and draws the reader in through film styled scene descriptions. The story is an inspirational love story with many notes of humor that will leave you the reader with a full range of emotions. David had a passion for life and a love of the outdoors which transcended the physical limitations brought on by this incurable disease. Foster wanted to leave this world better than he found it, and wanted his life to serve as an inspiration not only for those suffering from CF, but for all of us. This is a story that touches on triumphs and tragedies that all those afflicted with cystic fibrosis must face during their shortened lives, and specifically David Foster's life. ""I'm just like anyone else, I just cough a little more"" -DavidFoster

Always Another Mountain, Living With Cystic Fibrosis

Author, trainer, pastor, and radio talk show host David Foster urges readers to rip off the labels, libels, and limitations people have stuck on them and commit to a lifelong pursuit of excellence.

David Foster

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