387 pages | Tor Books (August 1996) | ISBN: 0312856091 | PDF | 1.1 MB

Interstellar troubleshooter John Bandicut returns for an amiably routine third installment (after Strange Attractors) in Carvel's Chaos Chronicles, journeying to a world where the dominant civilization, the Neri, live under the sea. There, Bandicut and his motley crew (comprised of three aliens, two robots and an artificial intelligence in Bandicut's brain), aided by "translator-stones" that let him communicate with other species, deal with two menaces: the Astari, land-dwelling survivors of a crashed starship, and the Maw of the Abyss, a sapient interstellar portal that has accidentally endangered the planet while trying to repair itself. The witty tale moves briskly, as Bandicut and company solve one puzzle after another, but the multiplicity of technological marvels leaves many of them underdeveloped or implausible. Flavorless dialogue, moreover, undermines not only the wit but the characterization, particularly of the aliens. Loyal fans of the series should enjoy this competent, but by no means exceptional, work.

319 pages | Tor Books (March 1995) | ISBN: 0312856415 | PDF | 1.1 MB

The second installment in the Chaos Chronicles dispatches genetically altered earthling John Bandicut to a massive planet-like place called Shipworld to help the alien Ik find his friend. In lieu of a preface, John\'s history and earlier adventures are revealed via one of Carver\'s several futuristic beings?a chaos-manipulating Quarx that lives inside the protagonist\'s head. Readers, too, might hope for the Quarx\'s clarifying assistance: characters\' motivations are somewhat hazy here?Why must John battle Shipworld\'s malevolent elements? What is Ik\'s secret agenda??and an assortment of odd keystrokes that supposedly identify the speakers in a series of inner and outer voices proves confusing. Also, Carver is slow to deliver on his implicit promise to deliver hard science. Still, his story is capably told, with welcome infusions of humor periodically bolstering the complex narrative.

325 pages | Tor Books (April 1994) | ISBN: 0312856407 | PDF | 1.1 MB

In this promising series kickoff about an astronaut exploring the surface of Neptune’s moon, Triton, Carver ( Dragons in the Stars ) masterfully captures the joy of exploration, although the story itself follows a fairly standard save-the-world plot. Pilot John Bandicut has been cut off from his internal link to the “datanet” by faulty technology, leaving him subject to maddening “silence-fugues.” His need for contact makes him a perfect candidate for a symbiotic relationship with the alien quarx, who are trying to save humanity from a mysterious disaster threatening Earth. The quarx, creations whose understanding of Terran culture comes mostly from monitoring old TV and radio programs, have a certain gee-whiz quality, although their interactions with the datanet are intriguing. A rather adolescent love story combines amusingly with an unlikely case of xenophobia, and a fiery conclusion sets Bandicut up for further adventures in yet another alien world, where Carver may find greater room to employ his gift for the fine rendering of difficult scientific concepts.

Beginning Databases with PostgreSQL: From Novice to Professional, Second Edition /by Neil Matthew(Author), Richard Stones (Author) .PostgreSQL is arguably the most powerful open-source relational database system. It has grown from academic research beginnings into a functionally-rich, standards-compliant, and enterprise-ready database used by organizations all over the world. And it's completely free to use.
Beginning Databases with PostgreSQL offers readers a thorough overview of database basics, starting with an explanation of why you might need to use a database, and following with a summary of what different database types have to offer when compared to alternatives like spreadsheets. You'll also learn all about relational database design topics such as the SQL query language, and introduce core principles including normalization and referential integrity.
The book continues with a complete tutorial on PostgreSQL features and functions and include information on database construction and administration. Key features such as transactions, stored procedures and triggers are covered, along with many of the capabilities new to version 8. To help you get started quickly, step-by-step instructions on installing PostgreSQL on Windows and Linux/UNIX systems are included.
In the remainder of the book we show you how to make the most of PostgreSQL features in your own applications using a wide range of programming languages, including C, Perl, PHP, Java and C#. Many example programs are presented in the book, and all are available for download from the Apress web site.
By the end of the book you will be able to install, use, and effectively manage a PostgreSQL server, design and implement a database, and create and deploy your own database applications.

432 pages | Tor Books (October 28, 2008) | ISBN: 0312864531 | PDF | 1.6 MB

The long-anticipated fourth entry in Carver’s Chaos Chronicles (after 1996’s The Infinite Sea) is space opera at its most agreeably and classically science fictional. Someone or something is plotting murder on an interstellar scale, and a small company of exiles led by human John Bandicut may be the galaxy’s only chance of salvation. The prospective victims are sentient stars living in the Orion Nebula; half the challenge is simply opening communications. Luckily, Bandicut’s allies and sponsors include robots, noncorporeal symbiotes and the incredibly ancient multidimensional entity Deeaab. With such a large cast and a parallel plot involving a threat to Earth itself, character development is necessarily sketched broadly. Some may find the narrative overly stage-managed, but Carver skillfully rotates viewpoints and weaves the choreography directly into the plot. This installment is a cut above the earlier books and will be entirely accessible to any reader who appreciates high-powered stellar and n-dimensional physics blended with old-school space-faring.