Download or read book The Evolution of Wired Life written by C. Jonscher and published by Trade Paper Press. This book was released on 1999-08-30 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jonscher brings human history from pre-

Download or read book The Evolution of Wired Life written by Charles Jonscher and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2000-08-01 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Thoughtful and erudite... Intelligent and readable...Will appeal to people who enjoyed Longitude by Dava Sobel or Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh." -The San Diego Union Tribune "Most engaging."-The Boston Globe "An optimistic and reassuring assertion that no matter what wonders we invent, human beings . . . remain infinitely more complex and interesting."-The Economist A lively, informative examination of the computer revolution-and why the top-performing information-processing device is still the human brain. If we believe the forecasts of many computer enthusiasts, a wave of amazing devices will soon fundamentally change our lives, and the "thinking machine" is just around the corner. In this authoritative and entertaining book, critically acclaimed author Charles Jonscher presents the other side of the argument: while communication developments have changed society, they also have their limits. He shows us that in order to understand the true transformative powers of the new technologies, we must know about the long history of their development-and why no calculating machine can match the creative power of the human mind. Rich in insights from literature, philosophy, and history, The Evolution of Wired Life offers a fascinating look at the development of the digital era, from the invention of the first alphabetic language to the printing press to the World Wide Web.

Download or read book Evolution written by Douglas Palmer and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Evolution" recreates the 3.5 billion-year story of life on Earth in stunning detail through vivid full-color illustrations and graphics, the latest scientific information, and hundreds of photographs--a beautifully detailed panorama of communities from microbes to humankind that have lived on the planet's continents and in its oceans.

Download or read book Wired written by Bob Woodward and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This reissue of Bob Woodword’s classic book about John Belushi—one of the most interesting performers and personalities in show business history—“is told with the same narrative style that Woodward employed so effectively in All the President’s Men and The Final Days” (Chicago Tribune). John Belushi was found dead of a drug overdose March 5, 1982, in a seedy hotel bungalow off Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Belushi’s death was the beginning of a trail that led Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward on an investigation that examines the dark side of American show business—TV, rock and roll, and the movie industry. From on-the-record interviews with 217 people, including Belushi's widow, his former partner Dan Aykroyd, Belushi’s movie directors including Jack Nicholson and Steven Spielberg, actors Chevy Chase, Robin Williams, and Carrie Fisher, the movie executives, the agents, Belushi’s drug dealers, and those who live in the show business underground, the author has written a close portrait of a great American comic talent, and of his struggle to succeed and to survive that ended in tragedy. Using diaries, accountants’ records, phone bills, travel records, medical records, and interviews with firsthand witnesses, Woodward has followed Belushi’s life from childhood in a small town outside Chicago to his meteoric rise to fame. Bob Woodward has written a spellbinding account of rise and fall, a cautionary tale for our times, and a poignant and gentle portrait of a young man who had so much, gave so much, and lost so much.

Download or read book What Technology Wants written by Kevin Kelly and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-09-27 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Inevitable— a sweeping vision of technology as a living force that can expand our individual potential In this provocative book, one of today's most respected thinkers turns the conversation about technology on its head by viewing technology as a natural system, an extension of biological evolution. By mapping the behavior of life, we paradoxically get a glimpse at where technology is headed-or "what it wants." Kevin Kelly offers a dozen trajectories in the coming decades for this near-living system. And as we align ourselves with technology's agenda, we can capture its colossal potential. This visionary and optimistic book explores how technology gives our lives greater meaning and is a must-read for anyone curious about the future.

Download or read book Normandy written by Wayne Vansant and published by Zenith Press. This book was released on 2012-09-15 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Normandy depicts the planning and execution of Operation Overlord in 96 full-color pages. The initial paratrooper assault is shown, as well as the storming of the five D-Day beaches: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. But the story does not end there. Once the Allies got ashore, they had to stay ashore. The Germans made every effort to push them back into the sea. This book depicts the such key events in the Allied liberation of Europe as: 1. Construction of the Mulberry Harbors, two giant artificial harbors built in England and floated across the English Channel so that troops, vehicles, and supplies could be offloaded across the invasion beaches.2. The Capture of Cherbourg, the nearest French port, against a labyrinth of Gennan pillboxes.3. The American fight through the heavy bocage (hedgerow country) to take the vital town of Saint-Lô.4. The British-Canadian struggle for the city of Caen against the “Hitler Youth Division,” made up of 23,000 seventeen- and eighteen-year-old Nazi fanatics.5. The breakout of General Patton’s Third Army and the desperate US 30th Division’s defense of Mortaine.6. The Falaise Pocket, known as the “Killing Ground, ” where the remnants of two German armies were trapped and bombed and shelled into submission. The slaughter was so great that 5,000 Germans were buried in one mass grave. 7. The Liberation of Paris, led by the 2nd Free French Armored Division, which had been fighting for four long years with this goal in mind.

Download or read book The Lifecycle of Software Objects written by Ted Chiang and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What's the best way to create artificial intelligence? In 1950, Alan Turing wrote, "Many people think that a very abstract activity, like the playing of chess, would be best. It can also be maintained that it is best to provide the machine with the best sense organs that money can buy, and then teach it to understand and speak English. This process could follow the normal teaching of a child. Things would be pointed out and named, etc. Again I do not know what the right answer is, but I think both approaches should be tried." The first approach has been tried many times in both science fiction and reality. In this new novella, at over 30,000 words, his longest work to date, Ted Chiang offers a detailed imagining of how the second approach might work within the contemporary landscape of startup companies, massively-multiplayer online gaming, and open-source software. It's a story of two people and the artificial intelligences they helped create, following them for more than a decade as they deal with the upgrades and obsolescence that are inevitable in the world of software. At the same time, it's an examination of the difference between processing power and intelligence, and of what it means to have a real relationship with an artificial entity.

Download or read book Wonderful Life with the Elements written by Bunpei Yorifuji and published by No Starch Press. This book was released on 2012-09-12 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the brilliant mind of Japanese artist Bunpei Yorifuji comes Wonderful Life with the Elements, an illustrated guide to the periodic table that gives chemistry a friendly face. In this super periodic table, every element is a unique character whose properties are represented visually: heavy elements are fat, man-made elements are robots, and noble gases sport impressive afros. Every detail is significant, from the length of an element's beard to the clothes on its back. You'll also learn about each element's discovery, its common uses, and other vital stats like whether it floats—or explodes—in water. Why bother trudging through a traditional periodic table? In this periodic paradise, the elements are people too. And once you've met them, you'll never forget them.

Download or read book Dot Complicated written by Randi Zuckerberg and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With Dot Complicated: Untangling Our Wired Lives, new media pioneer Randi Zuckerberg offers an entertaining and essential guide to understanding how technology and social media influence and inform our lives online and off. Zuckerberg has been on the frontline of the social media movement since Facebook’s early days and her following six years as a marketing executive for the company. Her part memoir, part how-to manual addresses issues of privacy, online presence, networking, etiquette, and the future of social change.

Download or read book Wired for Culture Origins of the Human Social Mind written by Mark Pagel and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2012-02-07 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating, far-reaching study of how our species' innate capacity for culture altered the course of our social and evolutionary history. A unique trait of the human species is that our personalities, lifestyles, and worldviews are shaped by an accident of birth—namely, the culture into which we are born. It is our cultures and not our genes that determine which foods we eat, which languages we speak, which people we love and marry, and which people we kill in war. But how did our species develop a mind that is hardwired for culture—and why? Evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel tracks this intriguing question through the last 80,000 years of human evolution, revealing how an innate propensity to contribute and conform to the culture of our birth not only enabled human survival and progress in the past but also continues to influence our behavior today. Shedding light on our species’ defining attributes—from art, morality, and altruism to self-interest, deception, and prejudice—Wired for Culture offers surprising new insights into what it means to be human.

Download or read book Off The Day the Internet Died written by Chris Colin and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One day all the screens went dark--and we couldn't even post about it. We all dream about it: a life free of scrolling, tweeting, liking, faving, streaming, replying, apologizing for not replying, and other assaults on our poor, saturated brains. But what would an analog world actually look like? Chris Colin, author of What to Talk About, paints a picture that's a little Edenic and a little demented. Un-barraged by celeb gossip and political news, we begin to notice nature again. We take walks, stare at the clouds, and listen to podcasts consisting of our own thoughts. Snapchatting gives way to endless rounds of Go Fish. Minecraft is a game involving sticks and leaves. We talk to our neighbors--not about the TV shows we're streaming--and occasionally we fall in love. Delivered in a pitch-perfect, tongue-in-cheek biblical style, this little book imagines an alternate reality that will hit home in our tech-addled worlds. Rinee Shah's playful illustrations perfectly capture the absurdity of life reflected in our screens. Whether you're addicted to tech or not, you'll see something of yourself when you put down your phone and pick up this smart, funny book.

Download or read book Frank Reade written by Paul Guinan and published by Harry N. Abrams. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fictional biography of the inventing and exploring Reade family, who travel the world and seek adventure with their helicopter airships, submarines, and robots.

Download or read book Media and New Capitalism in the Digital Age written by E. Fisher and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-03-15 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the new terrain of network capitalism through the transformations of the discourse on technology. Rather than viewing such discourse as either a true or false reflection of reality, Fisher evaluates the ideological role that technology discourse plays in the legitimation of a new form of capitalism. Based on an extensive empirical analysis, the book argues that contemporary technology discourse at one and the same time promises more personal empowerment through network technology and legitimates a more privatized, flexible, and precarious economic constellations. Such discourse signals a new tradeoff in the political culture of capitalism, from a legitimation discourse which emphasizes the capacity of technology and technique to bring about social emancipation (through equality, stability, and security) to a legitimation discourse which focuses on the capacity of technology to bring about individual emancipation (through individual empowerment, authenticity, creativity, and cooperation). Contrary to the prevailing assumption that sees network technology as liberating from the rigidity and pitfalls of a stifling, Fordist capitalism, the book offers a theoretical framework which sees contemporary technology discourse as an ideology that legitimates the economic, social, and political arrangements of the new capitalism.

Download or read book Entrepreneurship and the Wired Life written by Fernando Flores and published by Demos. This book was released on 2000 with total page 25 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shows how the emergence of the knowledge-based economy has resulted in a decline in the traditional career-based approach to working life. Examines the development of new forms of working life: a 'wired' (fast, globally networked, project-centred) form of productivity which is emerging in high-tech and media centres and entrepreneurship. Discusses the implications for individuals and communities and considers how public policies can best respond to these changes.

Download or read book Net Works written by xtine burrough and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-05-23 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Net Works offers an inside look into the process of successfully developing thoughtful, innovative digital media. In many practice-based art texts and classrooms, technology is divorced from the socio-political concerns of those using it. Although there are many resources for media theorists, practice-based students sometimes find it difficult to engage with a text that fails to relate theoretical concerns to the act of creating. Net Works strives to fill that gap. Using websites as case studies, each chapter introduces a different style of web project--from formalist play to social activism to data visualization--and then includes the artists' or entrepreneurs' reflections on the particular challenges and outcomes of developing that web project. Scholarly introductions to each section apply a theoretical frame for the projects. A companion website offers further resources for hands-on learning. Combining practical skills for web authoring with critical perspectives on the web, Net Works is ideal for courses in new media design, art, communication, critical studies, media and technology, or popular digital/internet culture.

Download or read book Prometheus Wired written by Darin Barney and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Prometheus Wired, Darin Barney debunks claims that a networked society will provide the infrastructure for a political revolution and shows that the resources we need for understanding and making sound judgments about this new technology are surprisingly close at hand. By looking to thinkers who grappled with the relationship of society and technology, such as Plato, Aristotle, Marx, and Heidegger, Barney critically examines such assertions about the character of digital networks.

Download or read book Hard Wired written by Emma Carney and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-14 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fresh out of school and emerging as one of Australia's future distance running stars, Emma Carney discovered the sport of triathlon. The sport was never the same again. With an unmatched record, she devastated the international circuit. Defined by a relentless pursuit of sporting excellence, Emma was known to detest losing more than she loved to win. At home in the cutthroat world of professional sport, Emma didn't expect a welcoming party waiting for her when she reached the pinnacle of triathlon. A fiercely independent athlete, fitting in and conforming was never her style. Rules annoyed her. Authority irritated her. And that complicated things... Emma's is a life publicly defined by winning. But like sport, nothing is predictable. Success is fickle, life is fragile. Emma's story reveals that international sporting success is about much more than winning. Courage is a constant. Hard work and dedication are vital, as are unwavering passion, belief, and desire. But there is more. Emma's story also raises questions: who is truly there when things go wrong, when the system fails? Who cares when you find yourself dying on the roadside, saving yourself only to then lose your sister, identity, self-belief and hope in everything you once believed in...?