Tag Archives: digital world

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 →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Pirate Cinema

Posted on August 16, 2018 by smellincoffee

Pirate Cinema© 2012 Cory Doctorow384 pages All Cecil B. DeVille wanted to do was make movies. He didn’t mean to ruin his family’s lives or start a revolution. In the not-too-distant future,  consumer electronics have concealed chips which monitor and … Continue reading →

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

The Art of Invisibility

Posted on June 28, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Art of Invisibility: The World’s Most Famous Hacker Teaches You How to Be Safe in the Age of Big Brother and Big Data© 2017 Kevin Mitnick320 pages So, you want to be invisible online? Great. All you’ll need is three … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Daemon

Posted on June 21, 2018 by smellincoffee

 Daemon© 2006 Daniel Suarez444 pages SO YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION YES NO When a incomparable programming genius known for his immersive games and uncanny AI dies, his greatest creation awakes.  A sophisticated program running in the background begins … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Ready Player One

Posted on June 6, 2018 by smellincoffee

Ready Player One © 2011 Ernest Cline 354 pages Audible presentation read by Wil Wheaton, runtime 15 hr 46 min Who knew that School House Rock could save the world?  When an eccentric genius dies and leaves a will laden … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

How Microsoft’s Mogul Reinvented an Industry

Posted on June 1, 2018 by smellincoffee

Gates: How Microsoft’s Mogul Reinvented an Industry-and Made Himself the Richest Man in America © 1994 Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews 560 pages   I recently watched Pirates of Silicon Valley, a questionably-acted movie based on the rise of  Bill … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Inevitable

Posted on March 21, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future© 2016 Kevin Kelly336 pages No one can say where exactly a ball thrown in the air will land,  but at least on Earth it’s a certainty that a … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Short rounds: of cybercities and medicinal ectasy

Posted on March 8, 2018 by smellincoffee

Recently I’ve read a couple of books that I wasn’t particularly impressed with, but  they weren’t stinkers enough to merit one of those rare-but-fun-to-write negative reviews.  They’re in that “I can manage a paragraph of mixed interest and disappointment” grey … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The Silent Intelligence

Posted on February 26, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Silent Intelligence: The Internet of Things© 2013 Daniel Kellmereit, Daniel Obodovski166 pages A couple of years ago I created a Digital World label in recognition of the fact that the Internet was no longer a discrete service that one could … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments