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Book The People Vs Tech

Download or read book The People Vs Tech written by Jamie Bartlett and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-04-05 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the bestselling author of The Dark Net comes a book that explains all the dangers of the digital revolution and offers concrete solutions on how we can protect our personal privacy, and democracy itself. The internet was meant to set us free. But have we unwittingly handed too much away to shadowy powers behind a wall of code, all manipulated by a handful of Silicon Valley utopians, ad men, and venture capitalists? And, in light of recent data breach scandals around companies like Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, what does that mean for democracy, our delicately balanced system of government that was created long before big data, total information, and artificial intelligence? In this urgent polemic, Jamie Bartlett argues that through our unquestioning embrace of big tech, the building blocks of democracy are slowly being removed. The middle class is being eroded, sovereign authority and civil society is weakened, and we citizens are losing our critical faculties, maybe even our free will. The People Vs Tech is an enthralling account of how our fragile political system is being threatened by the digital revolution. Bartlett explains that by upholding six key pillars of democracy, we can save it before it is too late. We need to become active citizens, uphold a shared democratic culture, protect free elections, promote equality, safeguard competitive and civic freedoms, and trust in a sovereign authority. This essential book shows that the stakes couldn't be higher and that, unless we radically alter our course, democracy will join feudalism, supreme monarchies and communism as just another political experiment that quietly disappeared.

Book The People Vs Tech

Download or read book The People Vs Tech written by Jamie Bartlett and published by Random House. This book was released on 2018-04-05 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **Winner of the 2019 Transmission Prize** **Longlisted for the 2019 Orwell Prize for Political Writing** ‘A superb book by one of the world’s leading experts on the digital revolution’ David Patrikarakos, Literary Review ‘This book could not have come at a better moment... The People Vs Tech makes clear that there is still time – just – for us to take back control’ - Camilla Cavendish, Sunday Times The internet was meant to set us free. Tech has radically changed the way we live our lives. But have we unwittingly handed too much away to shadowy powers behind a wall of code, all manipulated by a handful of Silicon Valley utopians, ad men, and venture capitalists? And, in light of recent data breach scandals around companies like Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, what does that mean for democracy, our delicately balanced system of government that was created long before big data, total information and artificial intelligence? In this urgent polemic, Jamie Bartlett argues that through our unquestioning embrace of big tech, the building blocks of democracy are slowly being removed. The middle class is being eroded, sovereign authority and civil society is weakened, and we citizens are losing our critical faculties, maybe even our free will. The People Vs Tech is an enthralling account of how our fragile political system is being threatened by the digital revolution. Bartlett explains that by upholding six key pillars of democracy, we can save it before it is too late. We need to become active citizens; uphold a shared democratic culture; protect free elections; promote equality; safeguard competitive and civic freedoms; and trust in a sovereign authority. This essential book shows that the stakes couldn’t be higher and that, unless we radically alter our course, democracy will join feudalism, supreme monarchies and communism as just another political experiment that quietly disappeared.

Book Who   s Driving Innovation

Download or read book Who s Driving Innovation written by Jack Stilgoe and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-11-26 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A much needed, sobering look at the seductive promises of new technologies. You couldn’t ask for a better guide than Jack Stilgoe. His book is measured, fair and incisive.”Hannah Fry, University College London, UK, and author of Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine “A cracking and insightful little book that thoughtfully examines the most important political and social question we face: how to define and meaningfully control the technologies that are starting to run our lives.”Jamie Bartlett, author of The People vs Tech: How the Internet is Killing Democracy (and How We Save It) "Innovation has not only a rate but also a direction. Stilgoe’s excellent new book tackles the directionality of AI with a strong call to action. The book critiques the idea that technology is a pre-determined force, and puts forward a concrete proposal on how to make sure we are making decisions along the way that ask who is benefitting and how can we open the possibilities of innovation while steering them to deliver social benefit."Mariana Mazzucato, University College London, UK, and author of The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy “Looking closely at the prospects and problems for ‘autonomous vehicles,’ Jack Stilgoe uncovers layer after layer of an even more fascinating story - the bizarre disconnect between technological means and basic human ends in our time. A tour de force of history and theory, the book is rich in substance, unsettling in its questions and great fun to read.”Langdon Winner, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA Too often, we understand the effects of technological change only in hindsight. When technologies are new, it is not clear where they are taking us or who's driving. Innovators tend to accentuate the benefits rather than risks or other injustices. Technologies like self-driving cars are not as inevitable as the hype would suggest. If we want to realise the opportunities, spread the benefits to people who normally lose out and manage the risks, Silicon Valley’s disruptive innovation is a bad model. Steering innovation in the public interest means finding new ways for public and private sector organisations to collaborate.

Book Your Post Has Been Removed

Download or read book Your Post Has Been Removed written by Frederik Stjernfelt and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-01-01 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access monograph argues established democratic norms for freedom of expression should be implemented on the internet. Moderating policies of tech companies as Facebook, Twitter and Google have resulted in posts being removed on an industrial scale. While this moderation is often encouraged by governments - on the pretext that terrorism, bullying, pornography, "hate speech" and "fake news" will slowly disappear from the internet - it enables tech companies to censure our society. It is the social media companies who define what is blacklisted in their community standards. And given the dominance of social media in our information society, we run the risk of outsourcing the definition of our principles for discussion in the public domain to private companies. Instead of leaving it to social media companies only to take action, the authors argue democratic institutions should take an active role in moderating criminal content on the internet. To make this possible, tech companies should be analyzed whether they are approaching a monopoly. Antitrust legislation should be applied to bring those monopolies within democratic governmental oversight. Despite being in different stages in their lives, Anne Mette is in the startup phase of her research career, while Frederik is one of the most prolific philosophers in Denmark, the authors found each other in their concern about Free Speech on the internet. The book was originally published in Danish as Dit opslag er blevet fjernet - techgiganter & ytringsfrihed. Praise for 'Your Post has been Removed' "From my perspective both as a politician and as private book collector, this is the most important non-fiction book of the 21st Century. It should be disseminated to all European citizens. The learnings of this book and the use we make of them today are crucial for every man, woman and child on earth. Now and in the future." Jens Rohde, member of the European Parliament for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe "This timely book compellingly presents an impressive array of information and analysis about the urgent threats the tech giants pose to the robust freedom of speech and access to information that are essential for individual liberty and democratic self-government. It constructively explores potential strategies for restoring individual control over information flows to and about us. Policymakers worldwide should take heed!" Nadine Strossen, Professor, New York Law School. Author, HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship.

Book Google Leaks

Download or read book Google Leaks written by Zach Vorhies and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Story of Big Tech Censorship and Bias and the Fight to Save Our Country The madness of Google's attempt to mold our reality into a version dictated by their corporate values has never been portrayed better than in this chilling account by Google whistleblower, Zach Vorhies. As a senior engineer at Zach watched in horror from the inside as the 2016 election of Donald Trump drove Google into a frenzy of censorship and political manipulation. The American ideal of an honest, hard-fought battle of ideas—when the contest is over, shaking hands and working together to solve problems—was replaced by a different, darker ethic alien to this country's history as wave after of censorship destroyed free speech and entire market sectors. Working with New York Times bestselling author Kent Heckenlively (Plague of Corruption), Vorhies and Heckenlively weave a tale of a tech industry once beloved by its central figure for its innovation and original thinking, turned into a terrifying “woke-church” of censorship and political intolerance. For Zach, an intuitive counter-thinker, brought up on the dystopian futures of George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Ray Bradbury, it was clear that Google was attempting nothing less than a seamless rewriting of the operating code of reality in which many would not be allowed to participate. Using Google's own internal search engine, Zach discovered their real "AI-Censorship" system called “Machine Learning Fairness,” which he claims is a merging of critical race theory and AI that was secretly released on their users of search, news and YouTube. He collected and released 950 pages of these documents to the Department of Justice and to the public in the summer of 2019 through Project Veritas with James O'Keefe, which quickly became their most popular whistleblower story, which started a trend of big whistleblowing. From Google re-writing their news algorithms to target Trump to using human tragedy emergencies to inject permanent blacklists, Zach and Kent provide a “you are there” perspective on how Google turned to the dark side to seize power. They finish by laying out a solution to fight censorship. Read this book if you care to know how Google tries to manipulate, censor, and downrank the voice of its users.

Book Artificial Unintelligence

Download or read book Artificial Unintelligence written by Meredith Broussard and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-01-29 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to understanding the inner workings and outer limits of technology and why we should never assume that computers always get it right. In Artificial Unintelligence, Meredith Broussard argues that our collective enthusiasm for applying computer technology to every aspect of life has resulted in a tremendous amount of poorly designed systems. We are so eager to do everything digitally—hiring, driving, paying bills, even choosing romantic partners—that we have stopped demanding that our technology actually work. Broussard, a software developer and journalist, reminds us that there are fundamental limits to what we can (and should) do with technology. With this book, she offers a guide to understanding the inner workings and outer limits of technology—and issues a warning that we should never assume that computers always get things right. Making a case against technochauvinism—the belief that technology is always the solution—Broussard argues that it's just not true that social problems would inevitably retreat before a digitally enabled Utopia. To prove her point, she undertakes a series of adventures in computer programming. She goes for an alarming ride in a driverless car, concluding “the cyborg future is not coming any time soon”; uses artificial intelligence to investigate why students can't pass standardized tests; deploys machine learning to predict which passengers survived the Titanic disaster; and attempts to repair the U.S. campaign finance system by building AI software. If we understand the limits of what we can do with technology, Broussard tells us, we can make better choices about what we should do with it to make the world better for everyone.

Book Radicals

    Book Details:
  • Author : Jamie Bartlett
  • Publisher : Random House
  • Release : 2017-05-18
  • ISBN : 1473535611
  • Pages : 354 pages

Download or read book Radicals written by Jamie Bartlett and published by Random House. This book was released on 2017-05-18 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the creator of hit podcast The Missing Cryptoqueen ______________________________ 'Thoughtful and intelligent' Observer 'Inside the anti-political revolt that gave us Brexit and Trump' Evening Standard 'Fascinating... Excellent' Literary Review 'Must read ... A radical odyssey' Daily Mail In the last few years the world has changed in unexpected ways. The power of radical ideas and groups is growing. What was once considered extreme is now the mainstream. But what is life like on the political fringes? What is the real power of radicals? Radicals is an exploration of the individuals, groups and movements who are rejecting the way we live now, and attempting to find alternatives. In it, Jamie Bartlett, one of the world’s leading thinkers on radical politics and technology, takes us inside the strange and exciting worlds of the innovators, disruptors, idealists and extremists who think society is broken, and believe they know how to fix it. From dawn raids into open mines to the darkest recesses of the internet, Radicals introduces us to some of the most secretive and influential movements today: techno-futurists questing for immortality, far-right groups seeking to close borders, militant environmentalists striving to save the planet's natural reserves by any means possible, libertarian movements founding new countries, autonomous cooperatives in self-sustaining micro-societies, and psychedelic pioneers attempting to heal society with the help of powerful hallucinogens. As well as providing a fascinating glimpse at the people and ideas driving these groups, Radicals also presents a startling argument: radicals are not only the symptoms of a deep unrest within the world today, but might also offer the most plausible models for our future.

Book The Psychology of Social Media

Download or read book The Psychology of Social Media written by Ciarán Mc Mahon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-03-25 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are we really being ourselves on social media? Can we benefit from connecting with people we barely know online? Why do some people overshare on social networking sites? The Psychology of Social Media explores how so much of our everyday lives is played out online, and how this can impact our identity, wellbeing and relationships. It looks at how our online profiles, connections, status updates and sharing of photographs can be a way to express ourselves and form connections, but also highlights the pitfalls of social media including privacy issues. From FOMO to fraping, and from subtweeting to selfies, The Psychology of Social Media shows how social media has developed a whole new world of communication, and for better or worse is likely to continue to be an essential part of how we understand our selves.

Book Why We Get the Wrong Politicians

Download or read book Why We Get the Wrong Politicians written by Isabel Hardman and published by Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2018-09-06 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: REVISED AND UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE EXPLOSIVE EVENTS OF 2021 and 2022 Winner at the Parliamentary Book Awards Shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year Longlisted for the Orwell Prize ____________ Daily Telegraph's Best Books of the Year Guardian's Best Books of the Year Evening Standard's Best Books of the Year Daily Mail's Best Books of the Year BBC's Biggest Books Prospect's Best Books of the Year Politicians are consistently voted the least trusted professional group by the UK public. They've recently become embroiled in scandals relating to everything from expenses to sexual harassment to illicit parties. Every year, they introduce new legislation that doesn't do what it sets out to achieve - often with terrible financial and human costs. But, with some notable exceptions, they are decent, hard-working people, doing a hugely difficult and demanding job. In this searching examination of our political class, award-winning journalist Isabel Hardman tries to square this circle. She lifts the lid on the strange world of Westminster and asks why we end up with representatives with whom we are so unhappy. Filled with forensic analysis and revealing reportage, this landmark and accessible book is a must read for anyone who wants to see a future with better government. 'This book has the power to fundamentally change how we do things in this country.' Emily Maitlis 'An entertaining read that addresses hard questions... invaluable for those who think they know what's wrong with Westminster but have no idea how to put it right.' John Humphrys

Book How To Be a Geek

    Book Details:
  • Author : Matthew Fuller
  • Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
  • Release : 2017-05-15
  • ISBN : 1509517197
  • Pages : 240 pages

Download or read book How To Be a Geek written by Matthew Fuller and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-05-15 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Computer software and its structures, devices and processes are woven into our everyday life. Their significance is not just technical: the algorithms, programming languages, abstractions and metadata that millions of people rely on every day have far-reaching implications for the way we understand the underlying dynamics of contemporary societies. In this innovative new book, software studies theorist Matthew Fuller examines how the introduction and expansion of computational systems into areas ranging from urban planning and state surveillance to games and voting systems are transforming our understanding of politics, culture and aesthetics in the twenty-first century. Combining historical insight and a deep understanding of the technology powering modern software systems with a powerful critical perspective, this book opens up new ways of understanding the fundamental infrastructures of contemporary life, economies, entertainment and warfare. In so doing Fuller shows that everyone must learn ‘how to be a geek’, as the seemingly opaque processes and structures of modern computer and software technology have a significance that no-one can afford to ignore. This powerful and engaging book will be of interest to everyone interested in a critical understanding of the political and cultural ramifications of digital media and computing in the modern world.

Book Bourbon Empire

    Book Details:
  • Author : Reid Mitenbuler
  • Publisher : Penguin
  • Release : 2015-05-12
  • ISBN : 0698145402
  • Pages : 322 pages

Download or read book Bourbon Empire written by Reid Mitenbuler and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How bourbon came to be, and why it’s experiencing such a revival today Unraveling the many myths and misconceptions surrounding America’s most iconic spirit, Bourbon Empire traces a history that spans frontier rebellion, Gilded Age corruption, and the magic of Madison Avenue. Whiskey has profoundly influenced America’s political, economic, and cultural destiny, just as those same factors have inspired the evolution and unique flavor of the whiskey itself. Taking readers behind the curtain of an enchanting—and sometimes exasperating—industry, the work of writer Reid Mitenbuler crackles with attitude and commentary about taste, choice, and history. Few products better embody the United States, or American business, than bourbon. A tale of innovation, success, downfall, and resurrection, Bourbon Empire is an exploration of the spirit in all its unique forms, creating an indelible portrait of both bourbon and the people who make it.

Book The Psychology of Silicon Valley

Download or read book The Psychology of Silicon Valley written by Katy Cook and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Misinformation. Job displacement. Information overload. Economic inequality. Digital addiction. The breakdown of democracy, civility, and truth itself. This open access book explores the conscious and unconscious norms, values, and characteristics that drive behaviors within the high-tech capital of the world, Silicon Valley, and the sector it represents. In an era where the reach and influence of a single industry has the potential to define the future of our world, it has become apparent just how little we know about the organizations driving these changes. The Psychology of Silicon Valley offers a revealing look inside the mind of world’s most influential industry and how the identity, culture, myths, and motivations of Big Tech are harming society. The book argues that the bad values and lack of emotional intelligence borne in the vacuum of Silicon Valley will have lasting consequences on everything from social equality to the future of work to our collective mental health. Katy Cook expertly walks us through the psychological landscape of Silicon Valley, including its leadership, ethical, and cultural problems, and artfully explains why we cannot afford to ignore the psychology and values that are behind our technology any longer.

Book Authoritarianism Goes Global

Download or read book Authoritarianism Goes Global written by Larry Diamond and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With democracy in decline, authoritarian governments are staging a comeback around the world. Over the past decade, illiberal powers have become emboldened and gained influence within the global arena. Leading authoritarian countries—including China, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela—have developed new tools and strategies to contain the spread of democracy and challenge the liberal international political order. Meanwhile, the advanced democracies have retreated, failing to respond to the threat posed by the authoritarians. As undemocratic regimes become more assertive, they are working together to repress civil society while tightening their grip on cyberspace and expanding their reach in international media. These political changes have fostered the emergence of new counternorms—such as the authoritarian subversion of credible election monitoring—that threaten to further erode the global standing of liberal democracy. In Authoritarianism Goes Global, a distinguished group of contributors present fresh insights on the complicated issues surrounding the authoritarian resurgence and the implications of these systemic shifts for the international order. This collection of essays is critical for advancing our understanding of the emerging challenges to democratic development. Contributors: Anne Applebaum, Anne-Marie Brady, Alexander Cooley, Javier Corrales, Ron Deibert, Larry Diamond, Patrick Merloe, Abbas Milani, Andrew Nathan, Marc F. Plattner, Peter Pomerantsev, Douglas Rutzen, Lilia Shevtsova, Alex Vatanka, Christopher Walker, and Frederic Wehrey

Book The Robots Are Coming

Download or read book The Robots Are Coming written by Andres Oppenheimer and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Staying true to his trademark journalistic approach, Andrés Oppenheimer takes his readers on yet another journey, this time across the globe, in a thought-provoking search to understand what the future holds for today's jobs in the foreseeable age of automation. The Robots Are Coming! centers around the issue of jobs and their future in the context of rapid automation and the growth of online products and services. As two of Oppenheimer's interviewees -- both experts in technology and economics from Oxford University -- indicate, forty-seven percent of existing jobs are at risk of becoming automated or rendered obsolete by other technological changes in the next twenty years. Oppenheimer examines current changes in several fields, including the food business, legal work, banking, and medicine, speaking with experts in the field, and citing articles and literature on automation in various areas of the workforce. He contrasts the perspectives of "techno-optimists" with those of "techno-negativists" and generally attempts to find a middle ground between an alarmist vision of the future, and one that is too uncritical. A self-described "cautious optimist", Oppenheimer believes that technology will not create massive unemployment, but rather will drastically change what work looks like.

Book Pentagon 9 11

    Book Details:
  • Author : Alfred Goldberg
  • Publisher : Office of the Secretary, Historical Offi
  • Release : 2007-09-05
  • ISBN :
  • Pages : 330 pages

Download or read book Pentagon 9 11 written by Alfred Goldberg and published by Office of the Secretary, Historical Offi. This book was released on 2007-09-05 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most comprehensive account to date of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and aftermath, this volume includes unprecedented details on the impact on the Pentagon building and personnel and the scope of the rescue, recovery, and caregiving effort. It features 32 pages of photographs and more than a dozen diagrams and illustrations not previously available.

Book Cheat

    Book Details:
  • Author : Titus O'Reily
  • Publisher : Random House Australia
  • Release : 2021-11-02
  • ISBN : 1760894494
  • Pages : 306 pages

Download or read book Cheat written by Titus O'Reily and published by Random House Australia. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where there's sport, there's cheating. No sport is immune; athletics, swimming, rugby, American Football, cricket, baseball, badminton, motorsports, tennis and curling. Yes, even that sport on the ice with brooms. Almost as soon as humans started playing sport competitively, they started to cheat. They cheated to win, for the fame, for the money and sometimes for reasons that are hard to understand. From the fiendishly clever to the outright hare brained, the borderline to the blatant, Titus O'Reily takes us through the many and varied ways athletes and countries have tried to cheat over the years. There's the winner of the New York marathon who was driven in a car part of the way, the male basketballer whose drug test revealed he was pregnant, the Tour De France where many of the riders took the train, the Spanish Paralympic basketball team who faked being intellectually disabled to win gold at the 2000 Paralympics. As well as sharing an alarming amount of tales involving swapping bodily fluids, Titus takes you through doping, illegal equipment, bribes, playing dirty, faking injuries, wearing disguises, dodgy referees, ball tampering, eye gouging, itching powder, licking an opponent to distract them and sending a dwarf out to bat to shrink the strike zone. Just as sport has become more sophisticated, so has cheating in sport, from state backed doping programs to tiny motors in Tour De France bikes. What does this say about us, that we cheat with such regularity and creativity? Will technology help stop cheating or will it only make it worse?