Tag Archives: digital world

Warcross

Posted on August 20, 2023 by smellincoffee

Emika Chen is a young woman, desperately in debt because a past criminal record makes it impossible for her to obtain the kinds of work that she’s developed skills for. What’s she’s good at coding and hacking, and these days … Continue reading →

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The Every

Posted on November 9, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Every© 2021 Dave Eggers608 pages Nearly ten years ago, Dave Eggers published The Circle,   about the rise of an uber-corporation whose products had transformed not only the digital world, but were beginning to shape society as well.  Think … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 In and Unlocked, a bonus novella pub. 2014 John Sclazi 336 pages Read 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 … 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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