Tag Archives: digital world

Doctorow duo on digital rights activism

Posted on June 2, 2022 by smellincoffee

I recently read two short titles by Cory Doctorow, a SF author and internet freedom activist. For  at least the last twenty years, Cory Doctorow has been thinking about the future of intellectual property, copyright, and the open internet. He … Continue reading →

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Optimal

Posted on May 23, 2022 by smellincoffee

Optimal© 2020 J.M. Berger355 pages Jack has known nothing but the System his entire life.  He rises when it tells him to, he dresses in the outfit its algorithms choose for him, he follows prompts to a selected diner and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Dogfight

Posted on May 20, 2022 by smellincoffee

Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution© 2013 Fred Vogelstein272 pages Fifteen years ago, Apple inaugurated a technical and social revolution when it released the first iPhone.  It did so in close partnership with Google, … Continue reading →

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There Is No Cloud

Posted on August 12, 2021 by smellincoffee

There Is No Cloud© 2021 Kat Wheeler189 pages Okay, Google,  I’d like to set up a Routine. When I am murdered alone in my office, please call the police, unlock the door, and turn off the coffee pot.   Matt Rodriguez … Continue reading →

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Broadcast

Posted on August 9, 2021 by smellincoffee

Broadcast© 2017 Liam Brown288 pages Most people, if approached by a corporation and asked for permission to plant a microchip in their brainstem, would say “Nope” and back away from the crazy man. But David Callow isn’t most people: he’s … Continue reading →

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Locked In (and Unlocked)

Posted on March 12, 2019 by smellincoffee

Lock Inand Unlocked, a bonus novellapub. 2014 John Sclazi336 pagesRead by Wil Wheaton It looks, from the outside, like a simple case. There’s a body with a knife in it, recently planted. There’s a man in the room who was … Continue reading →

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How the Internet Happened

Posted on January 16, 2019 by smellincoffee

How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone© 2018 Brian McCullough400 pages Who’s ready for a little nostalgia? Brian McCullough, host of the Internet History podcast,  here turns his research and many interviews in a compact history of how … Continue reading →

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Invisible Man and Everybody Lies

Posted on January 13, 2019 by smellincoffee

This week I’ve finished two books of interest, the first being a classics club entry (Invisible Man), and the other a book on big data and statistics.  Everybody Lies  played true to its title, opening with ways that analysis of … Continue reading →

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LikeWar

Posted on January 9, 2019 by smellincoffee

LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media© 2018 P.W. Singer & Emerson T. Brooking412 pages The digital world is not simply one in which people can tweet restaurant reviews from the very table at which they’re ignoring their dinner date.  It … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

In the Plex

Posted on January 6, 2019 by smellincoffee

In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives pub. 2011 Steven Levy 437 pages Full disclosure: I was a passionate Googler ten years ago, an early adopter of anything that the Mountain Brook, CA firm produced — … Continue reading →

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