Christopher Davies – författare

Revised and expanded to reflect the most recent innovations in the field, The Scientific Examination of Documents, Fourth Edition is a handy, accessible volume detailing current best-practices for forensic document examination. Since the first edition published in 1989, there have been drastic changes in the field of forensic document examination—both from the use of the analytic techniques available to the professional examiner—and the changes to technology in office and printing equipment and inks. The purpose of analyzing any material used in the production of a questioned document, such as an ink or a piece of paper, is to compare it with another material elsewhere in the questioned document itself—or on another document—to determine whether or not they share a common origin. There may also be a need to provide information for the investigator about the possible origins of the document. This latest edition reflects the myriad changes and advances that have occurred in the last 10 to 15 years. Topics covered include: current thinking on handwriting interpretation; accidental and deliberate modification of handwriting; the proper collection of samples; a discussion of shredded documents; professional accreditation standards, qualifications, and training; and modern digital imaging and analysis of documents and handwriting utilizing software and imaging, including reconstruction of an image from erasures, obliteration and other document altering methods. A new section addresses cognitive bias and Chapter 8 is completely updated to cover the advances in print and photocopied documents, based on current technology, and analytical developments in the comparison of such documents.Key features: Discusses issues regarding handwritten, photocopied, and printed documents—including inkjet versus digital printing Presents the advances and capabilities modern office fax, photocopy, and printing technologies—and implications for document examination Details and reinforces the importance of ensuring proper scientific methods during an examination Addresses current Raman spectroscopy, UV-VIS, mass spectroscopy, and SEM analysis techniques Highlights the importance, and implications, of biological and fingerprint evidence from documents that can be collected, examined, and utilized in a case The Scientific Examination of Documents, Fourth Edition serves as an invaluable resource to established professionals, those just entering the field, and legal and investigative professionals outside the discipline who have a professional interest dealing with questioned documents in the course of their work.

The revised edition of this highly practical guide to creating and using multi-sensory environments is packed full of ideas for low-cost, easy-to-assemble multi-sensory environments suitable for children of varying ages and abilities. Each creative learning environment is designed to be constructed in a classroom or school hall, encouraging creative thinking and learning, and the development of social and emotional skills. Each environment idea is accompanied by suggestions for use for children with special educational needs.Key features of the revised edition include: Ideas for creating sensory experiences that stimulate all the sensory channels – auditory, visual, kinaesthetic, olfactory and gustatory Suggestions for extension or differentiation depending on student capability or time available A summary of the theory and background to multi-sensory learning, to allow you to adapt the suggested scenarios according to the needs of individual learnersAlthough these activities will be of particular value for children with special educational needs or sensory impairments, they are more broadly designed to provide stimulating learning environments, as promoted in the themes and principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance. This is an invaluable resource for teachers and other professionals in education.

The revised edition of this highly practical guide to creating and using multi-sensory environments is packed full of ideas for low-cost, easy-to-assemble multi-sensory environments suitable for children of varying ages and abilities. Each creative learning environment is designed to be constructed in a classroom or school hall, encouraging creative thinking and learning, and the development of social and emotional skills. Each environment idea is accompanied by suggestions for use for children with special educational needs.Key features of the revised edition include: Ideas for creating sensory experiences that stimulate all the sensory channels – auditory, visual, kinaesthetic, olfactory and gustatory Suggestions for extension or differentiation depending on student capability or time available A summary of the theory and background to multi-sensory learning, to allow you to adapt the suggested scenarios according to the needs of individual learnersAlthough these activities will be of particular value for children with special educational needs or sensory impairments, they are more broadly designed to provide stimulating learning environments, as promoted in the themes and principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance. This is an invaluable resource for teachers and other professionals in education.

Wrexham has a long history. An important market town in the Middle Ages, close to the border with England, it became the most populous settlement in Wales and today is the largest town or city in North Wales. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Wrexham was at the forefront of industrial development, noted for coal and lead mining, iron, steel and leather production and brewing. Although many of these traditional industries have declined in recent years, Wrexham has become a commercial and retail centre for North Wales, as well as an administrative and educational hub for the area, and in 2022 was awarded city status. Wrexham's diverse heritage is reflected in its buildings, from the late medieval splendour of St Giles’ Church, the many other historic buildings in the town centre including arcades and indoor markets, to surviving industrial buildings and the world’s oldest international football stadium.Wrexham in 50 Buildings explores the history of this city in North Wales through a selection of its most interesting buildings and structures, showing the changes that have taken place over the years. The book will appeal to all those who live in Wrexham or who have an interest in the area.

Revised and expanded to reflect the most recent innovations in the field, The Scientific Examination of Documents, Fourth Edition is a handy, accessible volume detailing current best-practices for forensic document examination. Since the first edition published in 1989, there have been drastic changes in the field of forensic document examination—both from the use of the analytic techniques available to the professional examiner—and the changes to technology in office and printing equipment and inks. The purpose of analyzing any material used in the production of a questioned document, such as an ink or a piece of paper, is to compare it with another material elsewhere in the questioned document itself—or on another document—to determine whether or not they share a common origin. There may also be a need to provide information for the investigator about the possible origins of the document. This latest edition reflects the myriad changes and advances that have occurred in the last 10 to 15 years. Topics covered include: current thinking on handwriting interpretation; accidental and deliberate modification of handwriting; the proper collection of samples; a discussion of shredded documents; professional accreditation standards, qualifications, and training; and modern digital imaging and analysis of documents and handwriting utilizing software and imaging, including reconstruction of an image from erasures, obliteration and other document altering methods. A new section addresses cognitive bias and Chapter 8 is completely updated to cover the advances in print and photocopied documents, based on current technology, and analytical developments in the comparison of such documents.Key features: Discusses issues regarding handwritten, photocopied, and printed documents—including inkjet versus digital printing Presents the advances and capabilities modern office fax, photocopy, and printing technologies—and implications for document examination Details and reinforces the importance of ensuring proper scientific methods during an examination Addresses current Raman spectroscopy, UV-VIS, mass spectroscopy, and SEM analysis techniques Highlights the importance, and implications, of biological and fingerprint evidence from documents that can be collected, examined, and utilized in a caseThe Scientific Examination of Documents, Fourth Edition serves as an invaluable resource to established professionals, those just entering the field, and legal and investigative professionals outside the discipline who have a professional interest dealing with questioned documents in the course of their work.

DESCRIPTION

Project tracking systems, test and build tools, source control, continuous integration, and other built-in parts of the software development lifecycle generate a wealth of data that can be used to track and improve the quality and performance of products, processes, and teams. Although the iterative nature of Agile development is perfect for data-driven continuous improvement, the collection, analysis, and application of meaningful metrics often fades in favor of subjective measures that offer less insight into the real challenges of making better software.

 

Continuous Improvement: Measuring and enhancing the performance of Agile teams is a practical book that shows how to take the data already being generated to make teams, processes, and products better. It points out which metrics to use to objectively measure performance and what data really counts, along with where to find it, how to get it, and how to analyze it. The book also shows how all team members can publish their own metrics through dashboards and radiators, taking charge of communicating performance and individual accountability. Along the way, it offers practical data analysis techniques, including a few emerging Big Data practices.

 

KEY SELLING POINTS

Straightforward to-the-point writing

Contains techniques and tools to improve output

Uses everyday examples to get readers up and running quickly

Empowers and motivates Agile teams to measure and improve

 

AUDIENCE

The reader will ideally be on or be responsible for a team that is practicing Agile development or is about to begin using Agile development.

 

ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY

All practices in this book are designed to work with any development process or tool stack. For its examples, this book uses the Groovy scripting language to gather data and Grails to create the web based dashboards and radiators. MongoDB, a flexible database with built in data analysis, is used to dissect and serve up the data.