Optical character recognition (OCR) is the most prominent and successful example of pattern recognition to date. There are thousands of research papers and dozens of OCR products. Optical Character Rcognition: An Illustrated Guide to the Frontier offers a perspective on the performance of current OCR systems by illustrating and explaining actual OCR errors. The pictures and analysis provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of current OCR systems, and a road map to future progress. Optical Character Recognition: An Illustrated Guide to the Frontier will pique the interest of users and developers of OCR products and desktop scanners, as well as teachers and students of pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, and information retrieval. The first chapter compares the character recognition abilities of humans and computers. The next four chapters present 280 illustrated examples of recognition errors, in a taxonomy consisting of Imaging Defects, Similar Symbols, Punctuation, and Typography. These examples were drawn from large-scale tests conducted by the authors. The final chapter discusses possible approaches for improving the accuracy of today's systems, and is followed by an annotated bibliography. Optical Character Recognition: An Illustrated Guide to the Frontier is suitable as a secondary text for a graduate level course on pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, and information retrieval, and as a reference for researchers and practitioners in industry.
Optical character recognition (OCR) is the most prominent and successful example of pattern recognition to date. There are thousands of research papers and dozens of OCR products. Optical Character Rcognition: An Illustrated Guide to the Frontier offers a perspective on the performance of current OCR systems by illustrating and explaining actual OCR errors. The pictures and analysis provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of current OCR systems, and a road map to future progress. Optical Character Recognition: An Illustrated Guide to the Frontier will pique the interest of users and developers of OCR products and desktop scanners, as well as teachers and students of pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, and information retrieval. The first chapter compares the character recognition abilities of humans and computers. The next four chapters present 280 illustrated examples of recognition errors, in a taxonomy consisting of Imaging Defects, Similar Symbols, Punctuation, and Typography. These examples were drawn from large-scale tests conducted by the authors. The final chapter discusses possible approaches for improving the accuracy of today's systems, and is followed by an annotated bibliography. Optical Character Recognition: An Illustrated Guide to the Frontier is suitable as a secondary text for a graduate level course on pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, and information retrieval, and as a reference for researchers and practitioners in industry.
When we write, we also engage in conversations with other writers. The writers are expressing ideas, sharing opinions, working through problems, agreeing, and disagreeing. The writers of Why White Rice? embrace this idea fully but also move past just saying it: they demonstrate it through a book that is a conversation on writing---distinct and honest voices contending with one another, responding to each other, and working through problems. This book on writing comes from four community college teachers with different backgrounds and training (with contributions from students, as well) in a collection of voices that speaks directly to students and writers. It drops the pretense of traditional textbooks and talks honestly with students in a way that has them reading and responding in some surprising ways. Reading this book is like sitting down with that teacher who cared enough to tell it to you straight---to be honest with you. Even if it stung a little, you knew she was right and you listened. About the Authors The book features four authors---all community college teachers, all writers, but each with different training and backgrounds. Eric DeVillez holds an MFA in creative writing from Roosevelt University, Tom Dow has a PhD in literature from Loyola University, Michael McGuire holds an MA in rhetoric and composition from Northeastern Illinois University, and Troy Swanson holds a PhD in community college leadership from Old Dominion University and holds a Masters of Library and Information Science from Dominican University. This blend of academic training and experience brings very different (and often competing) perspectives on writing, which adds to the lively conversation of the book itself. Pedagogy The book teaches by example. It models effective writing in a variety of ways while addressing the subject of writing itself. It models writing and research, quite literally, through a conversation of ideas. The text also features chapter summaries, focus boxes to highlight key points, and a comprehensive index to make it easy for readers to locate typical (and less typical) topics in writing as they are addressed throughout the conversation of the text. The book can be read in sequence from beginning to end, by chapter (in any order), or by writing topic as located through the table of contents and index. The brief response pieces are quite effective for classroom teaching as they seem to predict many questions, comments, and challenges raised by students. These response pieces are short enough to read in the classroom and offer a springboard to rich conversation.
Northern Ireland's political system is dominated by an Irish Catholic nationalist versus British Protestant unionist faultline, based upon the long-running argument over whether the region should remain part of the United Kingdom or form part of a United Ireland. Yet the largest category of elector in Northern Ireland says they are neither a unionist nor a nationalist and the third most popular political party is now Alliance, which is not aligned to either of the two traditional constitutional positions. Drawing upon a unique in-depth survey of its members, this volume analyses the history and contemporary rise of Alliance and the surge of a centrist party in Northern Irish politics which is challenging the old order. How has a party which eschews ethnic bloc politics, has no constitutional preference, and contains a mix of Catholics, Protestants, and many of no religion come to prominence in a polity whose political institutions are framed upon an old binary divide? The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland undertakes an extensive membership survey analysing the role of a non-ethnic party in an ethnic system, assessing Alliance identities, politics, and futures. Can Alliance integrate Northern Irish society through shared education and housing or will continuing polarisation thwart the Party's project? Would Alliance take a position in the event of a constitutional referendum on Northern Ireland's future - and what might that stand be? These and other key questions form part of a novel study of the party of Northern Ireland's often overlooked centre ground. The volume is essential reading for those wanting to understand how non-ethnic parties can survive and even thrive within an ethnic party system.
"His part was the grandest of any that was played."--Detective William Williams. This Thomas A. Jones work fills in many unknown aspects of the Booth-Herold escape account first exposed a century and a quarter ago. In late April 1865, journals coast to coast ran headlines about the assassins' flight following Lincoln's murder. And for decades following the United States press and authors end on end embellished and looked for new sensational angles to this story. Interest in this pivotal event continues to this day. In the Washington, D.C., area, a harbinger of spring each year is the hosted bus expedition along the Booth-Herold pathway through Southern Maryland. This Jones-Booth book gives as detailed an account as could be crafted from ten years of research of the Jones family, Charles County, Maryland, State and Federal Government primary and secondary resources. Southern Maryland pro-confederacy leanings are an important part of the Jones contributions to the Southern cause. He never could have acted alone and successfully without much support from all levels of Southern Maryland society...as indicated in this fascinating tale. And "Tom Jones" was thought by Federal authorities in early 1862 to be an "extremely dangerous" Confederate agent appointed by Richmond to be the South's top secret service agent in Maryland. The complete 1893 book authored by Jones entitled J. Wilkes Booth: An Account of His Sojourn in Southern Maryland after the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his Passage Across the Potomac, and his Death in Virginia, vintage photographs, illustrations, maps, and a bibliography enhance the text.
The third volume of this widely acclaimed series reveals the breath-taking intensity, intellectual acumen, and vast self-confidence of twenty-nine-year-old Thomas Edison. In the depths of the 1870s depression, he moved his independent research and development laboratory from industrial Newark to pastoral Menlo Park, some fifteen miles to the south on the main line of the railroad from New York to Philadelphia. There, equipped with resources for experimental development that were extraordinary for their time, Edison and a few close associates began twenty months of research that expanded their well-established accomplishments in telegraphy into pioneering work on the telephone. Edison's ideas and techniques from telegraph message recording and the telephone next led to his invention of the phonograph, the first patent for which was filed in December 1877. This invention ultimately gave Edison a world-wide reputation--and the nickname "the wizard of Menlo Park."
The fifth volume of The Papers of Thomas A. Edison covers Edison's invention and development of the first commercial incandescent electric light and power system. In the process he turned his famed Menlo Park laboratory into the first true research and development facility. This also enabled him to develop a new telephone for the British market in the midst of his herculean efforts on electric lighting. In the face of daunting technical challenges and skepticism from leading scientists and engineers, Edison and his team of experimenters and machinists found the solution to the decades-old problem of creating a practical incandescent lamp. By focusing on the characteristics of the entire system Edison reconceptualized the requirements of a successful lamp design. While rivals worked primarily on lamps, Edison developed other parts of a complete system as well. This approach was most notable in his revolutionary work on generator technology, one of the highlights of this volume. Successful exhibitions of the system in December 1879 drew crowds to Menlo Park to witness the softly glowing lamps. These spectacles gratified his financial backers but Edison realized the importance of following experimental demonstrations with the hard work of commercial development. He needed to make each component work effectively in daily use and to improve the designs so that they were easy to use and inexpensive to manufacture. To create a daytime market for electricity he also developed electric motors for a variety of uses, including electric railways, for which he built a small demonstration line at Menlo Park. To accomplish all this Edison greatly enlarged his staff to as many as sixty experimenters, machinists, carpenters, and office workers. He began manufacturing lamps at a factory in Menlo Park. At the end of 1880, Edison was ready to move his system into commercial production and made plans to produce other components in New York. He also invited New York officials to a demonstration in order to win their approval for running underground lines in lower Manhattan where he planned to put his first commercial central station. In March 1881, he moved to the Edison Electric Light Company's headquarters on Fifth Avenue and began the hard work of introducing the new electric light and power technology.
This newest volume in the acclaimed 'Papers of Thomas A. Edison' covers one year in the life of America's greatest inventor--1878. That year Edison, whom a New York newspaper in the spring first called "the Wizard of Menlo Park," developed the phonograph, one of his most famous inventions; made a breakthrough in the development of telephone transmitters, which made the instrument commercially viable; and announced the advent of domestic electric lighting, with only a few weeks' worth of tinkering necessary to complete its design (the announcement sent gas-company stocks plummeting; the research and development went on for four years). These inventions brought Edison financial support for his work and attention from the public. In January investors in the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company agreed to fund development work on the phonograph. The invention made Edison internationally famous and in May he traveled to Washington, D.C., to show the phonograph at the National Academy of Sciences, to Congress, and to President Rutherford B. Hayes at the White House. That same month Western Union agreed to pay Edison an annual salary of $6,000 for his telephone inventions, although other support from the company declined following the death of its president, William Orton. The stress of unceasing public attention, including a trans-Atlantic dispute over the question of who invented the microphone, led an exhausted Edison to travel west during the summer to witness a solar eclipse but also to seek rest. His six-week trip took him to San Francisco and the Yosemite region of California. Edison began working on electric lighting after his return and in October the Edison Electric Light Company was formed to support his research.
With his move from Menlo Park, New Jersey, to New York City at the end of March 1881, Edison shifted his focus from research and development to the commercialization of his electric lighting system. This volume of The Papers of Thomas A. Edison chronicles Edison's central role in the enormous effort to manufacture, market, and install electric lighting systems in the United States and abroad. Standard studies of this period emphasize the inauguration of the commercial electric utility industry at the Pearl Street central station. Edison and his associates, however, audaciously operated on a global scale, not just focusing on the major cities of North America and Europe but reaching simultaneously from Appleton, Wisconsin, to Australia, through the Indian subcontinent and East Asia, to Central and South America. Praise for The Papers of Thomas A. Edison: "A mine of material...Scrupulously edited...No one could ask for more...A choplicking feast for future Edison biographers-well into the next century, and perhaps beyond."- Washington Post "What is most extraordinary about the collection isn't necessarily what it reveals about Edison's inventions...It's the insight into the process. "- Associated Press "Those interested in America's technological culture can eagerly look forward to the appearance of each volume of the Edison Papers."- Technology and Culture "His lucidity comes through everywhere...His writing and drawing come together as a single, vigorous thought process."- New York Times "A triumph of the bookmaker's art, with splendidly arranged illustrations, essential background information, and cautionary reminders of the common sources on which Edison's imagination drew."- New York Review of Books "In the pages of this volume Edison the man, his work, and his times come alive...A delight to browse through or to read carefully."- Science "Beyond its status as the resource for Edison studies, providing a near inexhaustible supply of scholarly fodder, this series...will surely become a model for such projects in the future...The sheer diversity of material offered here refreshingly transcends any exclusive restriction to Edisonia."- British Journal for the History of Science
With: Historical commentaryBiographical infoAppendix with further readingsFor nearly 2,000 years, Christian mystics, martyrs, and sages have documented their search for the divine. Their writings have bestowed boundless wisdom upon subsequent generations. But they have also burdened many spiritual seekers. The sheer volume of available material creates a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Enter the Upper Room Spiritual Classics series, a collection of authoritative texts on Christian spirituality curated for the everyday reader. Designed to introduce 15 spiritual giants and the range of their works, these volumes are a first-rate resource for beginner and expert alike.The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis has perhaps influenced Christian spirituality more than any other book except the Bible. From the time of its appearance around 1420, it has been a best seller. This volume includes accessible selections from this classic of Christian spirituality and Western literature.
This is a Danish translation from the 15th century of Thomas Kempis's classic work, "The Imitation of Christ." Presented by Frederik R , nning, this edition offers readers access to the profound spiritual insights of one of Christianity's most enduring devotional texts. Explore themes of humility, self-denial, and the pursuit of inner peace through a life dedicated to Christ. This edition provides a unique opportunity to engage with a text that has shaped Christian thought and practice for centuries, rendered in the Danish language and preserving the spirit of the original. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
