Tag Archives: technology

Future Crimes

Posted on January 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

Future Crimes; Everything is Connected, Everyone is Vulnerable, and What We Can Do About ItPaperback subtitle: Inside the Digital Underground and the Battle for Our Connected World © 2015 Marc Goodman608 pages “It’s not safe out here. It’s wondrous, with treasures to … Continue reading →

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Data and Goliath

Posted on January 20, 2016 by smellincoffee

Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World© 2015 Bruce Schneier400 pages, including 160 pgs of citations. You’re being watched — all the time, no matter where you go or what you do. Not … Continue reading →

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The Grid

Posted on December 8, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World© 2007 Phillip Schewe310 pages In every room there sits a caged beast waiting to cause mischief, but which most of the time  is put to honest work, instead.  When … Continue reading →

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10 Don’ts On Your Digital Devices

Posted on August 6, 2015 by smellincoffee

10 Don’ts On Your Digital Devices© 2015 Eric Rzesut, Daniel Bachrach180 pages Networked computers are no longer the hulking monsters of the 1970s,  only found in  industrial and military installations. In the second decade of the 21st century, they are … Continue reading →

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@ War

Posted on March 9, 2015 by smellincoffee

@ War: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex © 2014 Shane Harris 288 pages In the 21st century, intelligence and war are no longer the domain of pipe-smoking spooks hiding behind newspapers, and uniformed soldiers on the march. When so … Continue reading →

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The Internet Police

Posted on February 14, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Internet Police: How Crime Went Online (and the Cops Followed)© 2014 Nate Anderson 310 pages  Not since the steam engine has the world been so utterly transformed than by the Internet. Originally a military network, it is now infrastructure, undergirding modern life … Continue reading →

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Player Piano

Posted on November 6, 2014 by smellincoffee

Player Piano© 1952 Kurt Vonnegut352 pages “I’d be in exile now, but everywhere’s the same…”      Not since the roaring twenties was American society so giddily obsessed with newfangled stuff than in the 1950s.  Americans were awash in material prosperity, … Continue reading →

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Seeing like a State

Posted on October 9, 2014 by smellincoffee

Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition have Failed© 1999 James Scott464 pages             Seeing like a State scrutinizes the organizational approach of state governments and other large institutions from the … Continue reading →

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The Age of Steam

Posted on August 22, 2014 by smellincoffee

A Brief History of the Age of Steam© 2007 Thomas Crump288 pages For most of human history, transportation over land has been prohibitively expensive, limited to highly lucrative goods like silk. Trade grew from the rivers, as did civilization. But … Continue reading →

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More Work for Mother

Posted on May 5, 2014 by smellincoffee

More Work for Mother: the Ironies of American Housework © 1985 Ruth Cowan            288 pages        Throughout the 20thcentury,  households were transformed by a new abundance of labor-saving devices, from washing machines to toaster ovens, and processed … Continue reading →

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