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So You Want to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Story, and Building a Community That Will Listen
by Kristen MeinzerAn inspiring, comprehensive, step-by-step guide to creating a hit show, So You Want to Start a Podcast covers everything from hosting and guest booking to editing and marketing - while offering plenty of encouragement and insider stories along the way. Though they are the fastest-growing form of media, podcasts can actually be tricky to create—and even harder to sustain. Few know the secrets of successfully creating a knockout podcast better than Kristen Meinzer. An award-winning commentator, producer, and former director of nonfiction programming for Slate’s sister company, Panoply, Meinzer has also hosted three successful podcasts, reaching more than ten million listeners. Now, she shares her expertise, providing aspiring podcasters with crucial information and guidance to work smarter, not harder as they start their own audio forum.Meinzer believes that we each have a unique voice that deserves to be heard. But many of us may need some help transforming our ideas into reality. So You Want to Start a Podcast asks the tough but important questions to help budding podcasters define and achieve their goals, including:Why do you want to start a podcast? Think about specifically why you want to start a podcast versus a blog, zine, YouTube channel, Instagram feed, or other media outlet. Find out if a podcast is really the best way to tell your story—and what you really need (and don’t need!) in order to get started.What is your show about? For any advertiser, corporate partner, or press outlet, you need a snappy pitch. How would you describe what you want to do in two to three sentences?Who is your podcast for? Who are you trying to reach? How will your content and tone appeal to those listeners?How is your show going to be structured? Create a step-by-step map planning the show out. Think about length, segments, interviews, advice, news reads, and other aspects of successful podcasts you can adapt for your own.With this motivational how-to guide—the only one on the subject available—you’ll find the smart, bottom-line advice and inspiration you need to produce an entertaining and informative podcast and promote it to an audience that will love it. So You Want to Start a Podcast gives you the tools you need to start a podcast—and the insight to keep it thriving!
Message Not Found
by Dante MedemaAn emotionally complex portrayal of secrets, loss, and grief from Dante Medema, Indies Introduce author of the Indie Next Pick title The Truth Project. Bailey and Vanessa shared everything: laughter, secrets, and packets of Pop Rocks to ward off bad days. But that all changed the night Vanessa left Bailey’s, headed for home, and ended up swerving off a cliff nowhere near her house. Now Bailey, who thought she knew Vanessa better than anyone in the world, is left with a million unanswered questions, and the only person with answers is gone.To help grieve her loss, Bailey creates a chat bot of Vanessa using years’ worth of their shared text messages and emails. The more data she uploads to the bot, the more it feels like she’s really talking to her best friend. That is, until the bot starts dropping hints that there was more going on with Vanessa than Bailey realized—a secret so big, it may have contributed to Vanessa’s death.This compelling puzzle of a story, filled with engrossing twists and turns, is written in alternating prose and text message formats. Teens will gobble up this fast-paced page-turner.
An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination
by Sheera Frenkel Cecilia KangThe award-winning insiders’ account of the scandals and toxic culture at Facebook—“thorough, high-caliber investigative reporting” (Kirkus, starred review).In An Ugly Truth, New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang present a behind-the-scenes exposé of Facebook’s fall from grace. They reveal explosive details about how the tech giant set out to connect the world—while also mishandling users’ data, spreading fake news, and amplifying dangerous, polarizing hate speech. The company, many said, had simply lost its way. But the truth is far more complex. Facebook’s engineers were instructed to create tools that encouraged people to spend as much time on the platform as possible, even if that meant promoting inflammatory rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and partisan filter bubbles. And while consumers and lawmakers were outraged by privacy breaches and misinformation, Facebook solidified its role as the world’s most voracious data-mining machine, posting record profits, and shoring up its dominance via aggressive lobbying efforts.Drawing on their unrivaled sources, Frenkel and Kang take readers inside the alliances and rivalries within the company to demonstrate that the company’s “missteps” were no such thing—this is how Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg built Facebook to perform. In An Ugly Truth, they are at last held accountable. A Book of the Year: Fortune, Foreign Affairs, The Times (London), Cosmopolitan, TechCrunch, WIRED
Targeted: The Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower's Inside Story of How Big Data, Trump, and Facebook Broke Democracy and How It Can Happen Again
by Brittany KaiserAn “important and gripping” memoir by the woman who blew the whistle on Cambridge Analytica and the data industry’s unethical practices (The Washington Post).When Brittany Kaiser joined Cambridge Analytica—the UK-based political consulting firm funded by conservative billionaire and Donald Trump patron Robert Mercer—she was an idealistic young professional, a veteran of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign with degrees in human rights law and international relations. Her goal was to utilize data for humanitarian purposes, most notably to prevent genocide and human rights abuses. But her experience inside Cambridge Analytica opened her eyes to the tremendous risks this unregulated industry poses to privacy and democracy. In this explosive memoir, she reveals the disturbing truth about the multi-billion-dollar data industry, revealing how companies are getting richer using our personal information and exposing how Cambridge Analytica exploited weaknesses in privacy laws to help elect Donald Trump in 2016.Targeted is Kaiser’s eyewitness chronicle of the dramatic and disturbing story of the rise and fall of Cambridge Analytica. She reveals how Facebook’s lax policies and lack of sufficient national laws allowed voters to be manipulated in both Britain and the US, where personal data was weaponized to spread fake news and racist messaging during the Brexit vote and the 2016 election. In the aftermath, as she became aware of the horrifying reality of what Cambridge Analytica had done, Kaiser made the difficult choice to expose the truth. Risking her career, relationships, and personal safety, she told authorities about the industry’s unethical practices, eventually testifying before Parliament about the company’s Brexit efforts and helping Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, alongside at least ten other international investigations.Packed with never-before-publicly-told stories, Targeted goes inside the secretive meetings with Trump campaign personnel—and makes the case that legal oversight of the data industry is not only justifiable but essential to ensuring the long-term safety of our democracy.“Captivating and revelatory.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)Includes photographs
The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects
by Andrew ChenA startup executive and investor draws on expertise developed at the premier venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and as an executive at Uber to address how tech’s most successful products have solved the dreaded "cold start problem”—by leveraging network effects to launch and scale toward billions of users.Although software has become easier to build, launching and scaling new products and services remains difficult. Startups face daunting challenges entering the technology ecosystem, including stiff competition, copycats, and ineffective marketing channels. Teams launching new products must consider the advantages of “the network effect,” where a product or service’s value increases as more users engage with it. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other tech giants utilize network effects, and most tech products incorporate them, whether they’re messaging apps, workplace collaboration tools, or marketplaces. Network effects provide a path for fledgling products to break through, attracting new users through viral growth and word of mouth.Yet most entrepreneurs lack the vocabulary and context to describe them—much less understand the fundamental principles that drive the effect. What exactly are network effects? How do teams create and build them into their products? How do products compete in a market where every player has them? Andrew Chen draws on his experience and on interviews with the CEOs and founding teams of LinkedIn, Twitch, Zoom, Dropbox, Tinder, Uber, Airbnb, and Pinterest to offer unique insights in answering these questions. Chen also provides practical frameworks and principles that can be applied across products and industries. The Cold Start Problem reveals what makes winning networks thrive, why some startups fail to successfully scale, and, most crucially, why products that create and compete using the network effect are vitally important today.
How to Drag a Body and Other Safety Tips You Hope to Never Need: Survival Tricks for Hacking, Hurricanes, and Hazards Life Might Throw at You
by Judith Matloff“Matloff assesses major threats with careful authority and good humor, then gives us the logistical and emotional tools necessary to cope with them.” —Ada Calhoun, New York Times–bestselling author of Why We Can’t SleepIn an age of anxiety, we yearn for some control. We want to make sensible decisions to keep us on track when everything seems to be going off the rails. As a seasoned war correspondent with over thirty years of experience in crisis zones and a pioneering safety consultant, Judith Matloff knows about personal security and risk management. In How to Drag a Body and Other Safety Tips You Hope to Never Need, she shares her tried-and-true methods to help you confidently handle whatever challenges comes your way. Learn how to:Perform emergency first aidCreate a bunkerKeep yourself safe when travelingKeep yourself safe onlineKeep yourself safe in any circumstance with invaluable tips on dozens of other situationsBlending humorous anecdotes with serious advice, Matloff explains how to remain upright in stampedes, avoid bank fraud, prevent sexual assault, stay clean in a shelter, and even be emotionally prepared for loss. From cybersecurity and active shooter situations to natural disasters and emotional resilience, her tips will give even the most anxious person a sense of control over life’s unpredictable perils. Unfortunately, we can’t anticipate all the crises of our lives. But with this book, you’ll find the skills and confidence you need to weather an emergency.Includes illustrations“This wise and witty book will tell you everything you need to know in order to face catastrophes great and small.” —Susan Cain, New York Times–bestselling author of Quiet
Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism
by Sharyl AttkissonUSA TODAY BESTSELLER!New York Times bestselling author Sharyl Attkisson takes on the media’s misreporting on Black Lives Matter, coronavirus, Joe Biden, Silicon Valley censorship, and more.When the facts don’t fit their Narrative, the media abandons the facts, not the Narrative. Virtually every piece of information you get through the media has been massaged, shaped, curated, and manipulated before it reaches you. Some of it is censored entirely. The news can no longer be counted on to reflect all the facts. Instead of telling us what happened yesterday, they tell us what’s new in the prepackaged soap opera they’ve been calling the news.For the past four years, five-time Emmy Award–winning investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Sharyl Attkisson has been collecting and dissecting alarming incidents tracing the shocking devolution of what used to be the most respected news organizations on the planet. For the first time, top news executives and reporters representing every major national television news outlet—from ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN to FOX and MSNBC—speak frankly, confiding in Attkisson about the death of the news as they once knew it. Their concern transcends partisan divides.Most frightening of all, a broad campaign in the media has convinced many Americans not only to accept but to demand censorship over journalism. It is a stroke of genius on the part of those seeking to influence public opinion: undermine public confidence in the news, then insist upon “curating” information and divining the “truth.” The thinking is done for you. They’ll decide which pesky facts shouldn’t cross your desk by declaring them false, irrelevant, debunked, unsafe, or out-of-bounds.We have reached a state of utter absurdity, where journalism schools teach students that their own, personal truth or chosen narratives matter more than reality. In Slanted, Attkisson digs into the language of propagandists, the persistence of false media narratives, the driving forces behind today's dangerous blend of facts and opinion, the abandonment of journalism ethics, and the new, Orwellian definition of what it means to report the news.
Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You): A How-to Guide from the First Family of Podcasting
by Justin McElroy Travis McElroy Griffin McElroyFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling McElroy Brothers, creators of the hit podcasts My Brother, My Brother and Me and The Adventure Zone, comes a helpful and hilarious how-to podcast guide covering everything you need to know to make, produce, edit, and promote a podcast…and get rich* doing it! (*Results not guaranteed.)Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy made their names as “advice giving brothers who have no business giving advice” (New York Times) on the hit podcast My Brother, My Brother and Me. But while they may not have the best relationship or workplace advice, they certainly make you laugh, and they do know a thing or two about podcasting. In fact, the McElroy Brothers have spent the last decade making podcasts, including My Brother, My Brother and Me; The Adventure Zone; Sawbones; and more. From their start, independently producing and releasing the early episodes of My Brother, My Brother and Me, to their eleven currently available podcasts, the McElroys have become experts in creating successful podcasts. And now, they want to share what they’ve learned with you. In Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You), the McElroy Brothers will walk you through the process of turning an idea into ear-candy for legions of fans, sharing their expertise on everything from deciding on an effective name (definitely not something like My Brother, My Brother and Me), what type of microphone to use (definitely not one from the video game Rock Band), to making lots and lots of money (spoiler: you probably won’t). A must-read for anyone interested in podcasting, Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You) shares the keys to success as well as the mistakes to avoid and draws on the vast experiences of three of the funniest and most successful podcasters working today.
If You, Then Me
by Yvonne WoonWarm and funny, this coming-of-age romcom from teen author Yvonne Woon is set in Silicon Valley and delves into the questions we all ask when making mistakes—in life and in love—perfect for fans of Emergency Contact and When Dimple Met Rishi. <p><p> What would you ask your future self? First question: What does it feel like to kiss someone?Xia is stuck in a lonely, boring loop. Her only escapes are Wiser, an artificial intelligence app she designed to answer questions as her future self, and a mysterious online crush she knows only as ObjectPermanence. <p><p> Until one day Xia enrolls at the Foundry, an app incubator for tech prodigies in Silicon Valley, and suddenly anything is possible. Flirting with Mast, a classmate also working on AI, leads to a date. Speaking up generates a vindictive nemesis intent on publicly humiliating her. And running into Mitzy Erst, Foundry alumna and Xia’s idol, could give Xia all the answers. <p><p> And then Xia receives a shocking message from ObjectPermanence. He is at the Foundry, too. Xia is torn between Mast and ObjectPermanence—just as Mitzy pushes her towards a shiny new future. Xia doesn’t have to ask Wiser to know: The right choice could transform her into the future self of her dreams, but the wrong one could destroy her.
Ask Your Developer: How to Harness the Power of Software Developers and Win in the 21st Century
by Jeff LawsonJeff Lawson, software developer turned CEO of Twilio, creates a new playbook for unleashing the full potential of software developers in any organization, showing how to help management utilize this coveted and valuable workforce to enable growth, solve a wide range of business problems and drive digital transformation.From banking and retail to insurance and finance, every industry is turning digital, and every company needs the best software to win the hearts and minds of customers. The landscape has shifted from the classic build vs. buy question, to one of build vs. die. Companies have to get this right to survive. But how do they make this transition?Software developers are sought after, highly paid, and desperately needed to compete in the modern, digital economy. Yet most companies treat them like digital factory workers without really understanding how to unleash their full potential. Lawson argues that developers are the creative workforce who can solve major business problems and create hit products for customers—not just grind through rote tasks. From Google and Amazon, to one-person online software companies—companies that bring software developers in as partners are winning. Lawson shows how leaders who build industry changing software products consistently do three things well. First, they understand why software developers matter more than ever. Second, they understand developers and know how to motivate them. And third, they invest in their developers' success. As a software developer and public company CEO, Lawson uses his unique position to bridge the language and tools executives use with the unique culture of high performing, creative software developers. Ask Your Developer is a toolkit to help business leaders, product managers, technical leaders, software developers, and executives achieve their common goal—building great digital products and experiences. How to compete in the digital economy? In short: Ask Your Developer.
The Game Master: Summer Schooled
by Rebecca Zamolo Matt SlaysFrom Matt and Rebecca Zamolo, creators of the mega-popular YouTube series Game Master Network, comes a new thrilling novel about everyone’s favorite mystery-solving team as they go toe-to-toe with the mysterious and menacing Game Master. <P><P>Rebecca Zamolo is on a mission to save her summer. Instead of going to camp like she’d planned, she’s been stuck in summer school. But today is the day! She’s going to present her final science assignment—using her Nana’s borrowed vintage zoetrope—and then she’ll be free to have fun. <P><P>But as Becca and her classmates wait for her teacher to arrive, a menacing voice comes over the intercom claiming to be the Game Master! The kids quickly discover that the Game Master has locked the doors, scared off the teachers, and made it clear that if Becca and her friends don’t solve the clues that have been left behind, they’ll never get back Becca’s irreplaceable zoetrope, never finish summer school, and never get to enjoy what’s left of their summer vacations. <P><P> Becca doesn’t know who is behind this, but she won’t let the Game Master win. But will she and her classmates be able to work together to solve the puzzles and escape their school before time runs out? Join YouTube’s favorite mystery solving team as they go toe-to-toe with the Game Master in the first book of this action-packed series from beloved YouTube creators Rebecca Zamolo and Matt Yoakum aka MattySlays, stars of the hugely popular Game Master Network. <P><P>Fans of StacyPlays’s Wild Rescuers series and Pat & Jen’s PopularMMOs Presents graphic novels will love this thrilling and engaging YouTube-inspired adventure. <P><P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Game Master: Mansion Mystery
by Rebecca Zamolo Matt SlaysNew York Times bestselling authors and creators of the mega-popular YouTube series Game Master Network Matt and Rebecca Zamolo return with a brand-new adventure about everyone’s favorite mystery-solving team. Rebecca Zamolo has managed to foil the Game Master’s plans before, but this time the Game Master has snake-napped Nacho, her good friend Miguel’s pet. No way is Becca going to let the Game Master get away with this dastardly plan. But when the clues lead Becca and her new friends in the direction of the one house in their entire neighborhood that none of them ever want to go near, they know they have no choice but to screw up their courage and dare to investigate, if they want to rescue Nacho.But the problem is that getting into the superspooky house is way easier than getting out. The Game Master is up to their old tricks, and Becca, Matt, Kylie, Frankie, and Miguel are going to have to face their fears and use all their smarts and strengths to solve the puzzles and games and save the day.Mansion Mystery is another action-packed adventure from New York Times bestselling authors and super-sleuthing team Rebecca and Matt Zamolo, stars of the hugely popular Game Master Network.Read the book and unlock special clues that will open exclusive content online!
The Couch Potato (The Food Group)
by Jory JohnAn Instant New York Times Bestseller * An Instant Indie Bestseller * An Indie Next List SelectionFeeling fried? Peel yourself on the couch and meet your new pal-tato! The winning fourth picture book from the #1 New York Times bestselling creators of The Bad Seed, The Good Egg, and The Cool Bean, Jory John and Pete Oswald, will get you and your kids moving!The Couch Potato has everything within reach and doesn't have to move from the sunken couch cushion. But when the electricity goes out, Couch Potato is forced to peel away from the comforts of the living room and venture outside. Could fresh air and sunshine possibly be better than the views on screen?Readers of all ages will laugh along as their new best spuddy learns that balancing screen time and playtime is the root to true happiness.Check out Jory John and Pete Oswald’s funny, bestselling books for kids 4-8 and anyone who wants a laugh:The Bad SeedThe Good EggThe Cool BeanThe Couch PotatoThe Good Egg Presents: The Great Eggscape!The Bad Seed Presents: The Good, the Bad, the Spooky!The Cool Bean Presents: As Cool as It GetsThat’s What Dinosaurs Do
How Big-Tech Barons Smash Innovation—and How to Strike Back
by Ariel Ezrachi Maurice E. StuckeTwo market experts deconstruct the drivers and inhibitors to innovation in the digital economy, explain how large tech companies can stifle disruption, assess the toll of their technologies on our well-being and democracy, and outline policy changes to take power away from big tech and return it to entrepreneurs.Silicon Valley’s genius combined with limited corporate regulation promised a new age of technological innovation in which entrepreneurs would create companies that would in turn fuel unprecedented job growth. Yet disruptive innovation has stagnated even as the five leading tech giants, which account for approximately 25 percent of the S&P 500’s market capitalization, are expanding to unimaginable scale and power. In How Big-Tech Barons Smash Innovation—and How to Strike Back, Ariel Ezrachi and Maurice E. Stucke explain why this is happening and what we can do to reverse it.While many distrust the Big-Tech Barons, the prevailing belief is that innovation is thriving online. It isn’t. Rather than disruptive innovations that create significant value, we are getting technologies that primarily extract value and reduce well-being. Using vivid examples and relying on their work in the field, the authors explain how the leading tech companies design their sprawling ecosystems to extract more profits (while crushing any entrepreneur that poses a threat). As a result, we get less innovation that benefits us and more innovations that surpass the dreams of yesteryears’ autocracies. The Tech Barons’ technologies, which seek to decode our emotions and thoughts to better manipulate our behavior, are undermining political stability and democracy while fueling tribalism and hate.But it’s not hopeless. The authors reveal that sustained innovation scales with cities not companies, and that we, as a society, should profoundly alter our investment strategy and priorities to certain entrepreneurs (“Tech Pirates”) and cities’ infrastructure.
Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
by Tony FadellTony Fadell led the teams that created the iPod, iPhone and Nest Learning Thermostat and learned enough in 30+ years in Silicon Valley about leadership, design, startups, Apple, Google, decision-making, mentorship, devastating failure and unbelievable success to fill an encyclopedia.So that’s what this book is. An advice encyclopedia. A mentor in a box. Written for anyone who wants to grow at work—from young grads navigating their first jobs to CEOs deciding whether to sell their company—Build is full of personal stories, practical advice and fascinating insights into some of the most impactful products and people of the 20th century.Each quick 5-20 page entry builds on the previous one, charting Tony’s personal journey from a product designer to a leader, from a startup founder to an executive to a mentor. Tony uses examples that are instantly captivating, like the process of building the very first iPod and iPhone. Every chapter is designed to help readers with a problem they’re facing right now—how to get funding for their startup, whether to quit their job or not, or just how to deal with the jerk in the next cubicle.Tony forged his path to success alongside mentors like Steve Jobs and Bill Campbell, icons of Silicon Valley who succeeded time and time again. But Tony doesn’t follow the Silicon Valley credo that you have to reinvent everything from scratch to make something great. His advice is unorthodox because it’s old school. Because Tony’s learned that human nature doesn’t change. You don’t have to reinvent how you lead and manage—just what you make. And Tony’s ready to help everyone make things worth making.
The Digital Silk Road: China's Quest to Wire the World and Win the Future
by Jonathan E. HillmanAn expert on China’s global infrastructure expansion provides an urgent look at the battle to connect and control tomorrow’s networks.From the ocean floor to outer space, China’s Digital Silk Road aims to wire the world and rewrite the global order. Taking readers on a journey inside China’s surveillance state, rural America, and Africa’s megacities, Jonathan Hillman reveals what China’s expanding digital footprint looks like on the ground and explores the economic and strategic consequences of a future in which all routers lead to Beijing.If China becomes the world’s chief network operator, it could reap a commercial and strategic windfall, including many advantages currently enjoyed by the United States. It could reshape global flows of data, finance, and communications to reflect its interests. It could possess an unrivaled understanding of market movements, the deliberations of foreign competitors, and the lives of countless individuals enmeshed in its networks. However, China’s digital dominance is not yet assured. Beijing remains vulnerable in several key dimensions, the United States and its allies have an opportunity to offer better alternatives, and the rest of the world has a voice. But winning the battle for tomorrow’s networks will require the United States to innovate and take greater risks in emerging markets. Networks create large winners, and this is a contest America cannot afford to lose.
You Will Get Through This Night
by Daniel HowellA practical guide to taking control of your mental health for today, tomorrow, and the days after, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author and beloved entertainer. ‘There’s a moment at the end of every day, where the world falls away and you are left alone with your thoughts. A reckoning, when the things you have been pushing to the background, come forward and demand your attention.’ Written by Daniel Howell, in consultation with a qualified psychologist, in an entertaining and personal way from the perspective of someone who has been through it all—this no-nonsense book gives you the tools to understand your mind so you can be in control and really live. Split into three chapters for each stage of the journey: This Night - how to get through your toughest moments and be prepared to face anything. Tomorrow - small steps to change your thoughts and actions with a big impact on your life. The Days After - help to look after yourself in the long term and not just survive, but thrive. You will laugh and learn—but most of all, this book will assure you that even in your darkest times, there is always hope. You will get through this night.
Incredible Doom (Incredible Doom #1)
by Matthew Bogart Jesse Holden“Incredibly strong and not a little disturbing.” —Cory Doctorow, author of In Real LifeWelcome to a new age…the age of the internet. Allison is drowning under the weight of her manipulative stage magician father. When he brings home the family’s first computer, she escapes into a thrilling new world where she meetings Samir, a like-minded new online friend who has just agreed to run away from home with her. After moving to a new town and leaving all of his friends behind, Richard receives a mysterious note in his locker with instructions on how to connect to “Evol BBS,” a dial-in bulletin board system, and meets a fierce punk named Tina who comes into his life and shakes his entire worldview loose. Unlikely alliances, first love, and minor crime sprees abound in this teen graphic novel debut about making connections while your world is falling apart.“Perfectly captures the mystery and wonder of the early days of the internet.” —Andy Baio, author of Waxy.org and co-founder of XOXO "A rush of love for brave beginnings—of both the early internet and the teens who used it to find themselves and each other." —Eleanor Davis, author of The Hard Tomorrow and How to Be Happy "A compelling story complimented by pleasingly minimal art that skillfully evokes a sense of loneliness and isolation. " —Savanna Ganucheau, co-creator of Bloom "A sharp and authentic wild ride that brought me back to my teenage years as a punk with a dial-up connection.” —Kevin Panetta, co-creator of Bloom “A poignant and often hilarious reminder that technology is at its best when it’s easing the ache of loneliness and bringing people together." —Jeff Zentner, Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King
Incredible Doom: Volume 2 (Incredible Doom #2)
by Matthew Bogart Jesse Holden“A thrilling tale of found family discovered between lines of code.”—Sara Alfageeh, co-creator of SquireWELCOME TO EVOL HOUSE…It may look to the unwitting outsider like a broken-down ranch house in the Ohio suburbs—but to those in the know, Evol House is the unexpected sanctuary of truant teens, punk rockers, nerds, and outcasts. At least, that’s what it’s supposed to be. Lately, it feels like everything’s falling apart.In this thrilling sequel to graphic novel Incredible Doom: Volume 1, Samir finds that life as a teenage runaway isn’t all he thought it would be; Allison spirals trying to impress her new “friends”, Tina considers leaving town to follow a passionate new connection; and Richard faces down a volatile classmate with a score to settle.Can these friendships, forged on the internet—the most controversial tool of the modern era—survive the “real world”… or will they drop like a bad connection?Praise for Incredible Doom 1: “Perfectly captures the mystery and wonder of the early days of the internet.” —Andy Baio, author of Waxy.org and co-founder of XOXO"A rush of love for brave beginnings—of both the early internet and the teens who used it to find themselves and each other." —Eleanor Davis, author of The Hard Tomorrow and How to Be Happy"A compelling story complimented by pleasingly minimal art that skillfully evokes a sense of loneliness and isolation." —Savanna Ganucheau, co-creator of Bloom"A sharp and authentic wild ride that brought me back to my teenage years as a punk with a dial-up connection.” —Kevin Panetta, co-creator of Bloom“A poignant and often hilarious reminder that technology is at its best when it’s easing the ache of loneliness and bringing people together." —Jeff Zentner, Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King“The human stories of desperation, of reaching out, and of discovering new worlds really shine here.” —Booklist (starred review)“A retro-tech drama that gets so much of the Nineties right that it hurts.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot
by Rob Reich Jeremy M. Weinstein Mehran Sahami"System Error is a triumph: an analysis of the critical challenges facing our digital society that is as accessible as it is sophisticated." — Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New AmericaA forward-thinking manifesto from three Stanford professors—experts who have worked at ground zero of the tech revolution for decades—which reveals how big tech’s obsession with optimization and efficiency has sacrificed fundamental human values and outlines steps we can take to change course, renew our democracy, and save ourselves.In no more than the blink of an eye, a naïve optimism about technology’s liberating potential has given way to a dystopian obsession with biased algorithms, surveillance capitalism, and job-displacing robots. Yet too few of us see any alternative to accepting the onward march of technology. We have simply accepted a technological future designed for us by technologists, the venture capitalists who fund them, and the politicians who give them free rein.It doesn’t need to be this way.System Error exposes the root of our current predicament: how big tech’s relentless focus on optimization is driving a future that reinforces discrimination, erodes privacy, displaces workers, and pollutes the information we get. This optimization mindset substitutes what companies care about for the values that we as a democratic society might choose to prioritize. Well-intentioned optimizers fail to measure all that is meaningful and, when their creative disruptions achieve great scale, they impose their values upon the rest of us.Armed with an understanding of how technologists think and exercise their power, three Stanford professors—a philosopher working at the intersection of tech and ethics, a political scientist who served under Obama, and the director of the undergraduate Computer Science program at Stanford (also an early Google engineer)—reveal how we can hold that power to account.Troubled by the values that permeate the university’s student body and its culture, they worked together to chart a new path forward, creating a popular course to transform how tomorrow’s technologists approach their profession. Now, as the dominance of big tech becomes an explosive societal conundrum, they share their provocative insights and concrete solutions to help everyone understand what is happening, what is at stake, and what we can do to control technology instead of letting it control us.
Winner Sells All: Amazon, Walmart, and the Battle for Our Wallets
by Jason Del ReyA riveting investigation of the no-holds-barred battle between Amazon and Walmart to become the king of commerce.For years, Walmart and Amazon operated in separate spheres—one a massive brick-and-mortar retailer, the other an online giant. But in 2016, Walmart aggressively moved into the world of e-commerce, while Amazon made big bets in physical retail.The resulting rivalry is a bare-knuckle power struggle as each titan tries to outmaneuver the other to become the biggest omnichannel retailer in the world. As the two megacorporations have consolidated power, troubling consequences have also emerged—for consumers and small merchants faced with fewer buying and selling options, and for millions of workers paid meager wages for demanding and sometimes dangerous work.Winner Sells All is a tale of disruption and big money moves, with legendary executives and fearless entrepreneurs in a battle—between rival corporations and sometimes even within the same company—to invent the future and cement their own legacies. Veteran journalist Jason Del Rey chronicles the defining business clash of this generation—a war waged for our loyalty and our wallets, with hundreds of billions of dollars at stake and millions of jobs on the line. As both companies continue to expand their empires into new industries, Winner Sells All reveals how this battle will change the ways we shop, live, and work—for decades to come.
How to Fool Your Parents: 25 Brain-Breaking Magic Tricks
by David KwongEvery kid can be a magician with these easy-to-learn, top-secret tricks from celebrity magician David Kwong! How to Fool Your Parents is the essential guide to the mysteries of magic, with more than two dozen illusions perfectly designed for young, aspiring tricksters, using everyday, household objects!How to Fool Your Parents is the twenty-first-century guide to the magic of magic. Jam-packed with dozens of tricks, this guide features fully illustrated, easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions to make fooling anyone more fun than ever. Expect to become a master at:Sleight of handCard tricksCell phone and technology magicUsing secret codes and signalsAND MORE!This is the first magic book for the digital generation, giving kids all the tools they need to create, explore, and experiment—whether they're making magic with a deck of cards or on their smartphone. And it all comes from the master of the sleight-of-hand himself, David Kwong, whose one-man shows have been selling out theaters and delighting audiences for years.Get ready to become a true trickster—and to leave your family and friends utterly astonished!
Among Us: 100% Unofficial Game Guide (100% Unofficial)
by Matt YeoBased on the smash hit game, Among Us: The Unofficial Game Guide is an in-depth handbook to the world of Among Us!View secret mini-games, discover layered maps, analyze strengths & weaknesses of crewmates and benefits of ghosts, and much more. This unofficial guidebook is a must for fans of the smash hit game Among Us!Among Us is set in space where you and a group of crewmates are given tasks and problems to complete in order to survive. But, among the group lives an imposter whose sole goal is to sabotage the group’s progress and eventually take out every player on that team. It’s up to you and the rest of the crew members to discover who it is!Among Us has quickly become one of the most played games of 2020, with a 10/10 rating on Steam, becoming a hit with over 100 million fans of all ages. It is available for download on iOS, Android, and Windows.
Dark Parts of the Universe
by Samuel MillerOuter Banks meets Bone Gap in New York Times bestselling author Samuel Miller’s propulsive and genre-bending YA mystery, following a group of teenagers who discover a dead body while playing an app-based adventure game that sends players to “random” locations, unlocking a much deeper mystery about their small town. In Calico Springs, Willie’s life has been defined by two powerful forces: God and the river. The “miracle boy” died for five minutes as a young child, and ever since, Willie is certain he survived for a reason, but that purpose didn’t become clear until he found the Game.The Game is called Manifest Atlas, and the concept is simple: enter an intention and the Game provides a target—a blinking blue dot on the map. Willie’s second time playing Manifest Atlas, his intention takes him to an ominous target: three empty graves. Willie is sure the Game is telling him he’s going to die.Willie’s older brother, Bones, doesn’t believe him, but their friends are intrigued. Sarai, a girl from across the river, sets the next intention: something bloody. The group follows the Game’s coordinates and they discover something even more unsettling than the graves: a dead body. Sarai’s stepfather’s body. The Game is suddenly personal.Willie is dedicated to proving the Game works while Sarai is set on finding out what happened to her stepdad. Bones just wants to enjoy his last summer before real life begins. As the group digs deeper into Manifest Atlas, stranger and wilder things begin to appear, unlocking a much deeper mystery running like an undercurrent through the small town.
The Trolls of Wall Street: How the Outcasts and Insurgents Are Hacking the Markets
by Nathaniel PopperThe dramatic story of an improbable gang of self-proclaimed “degenerates” who made WallStreetBets into a cultural movement that moved from the fringes of the internet to the center of Wall Street, upending the global financial markets and changing how an entire generation thinks about money, investing, and themselves. Jaime Rogozinski and Jordan Zazzara were not what anyone would mistake for traditional financial power players. But they turned WallStreetBets, a subreddit focused on risky financial trading, into one of the most disruptive forces to bubble up from the fringes of the internet. This crude and unassuming message board harnessed the power of memes and trolling to create a new kind of online community. The group intertwined with the distrust and turmoil of our times and spoke to a generation of young men who were struggling to find their place in the world. Deeply reported and fast moving, The Trolls of Wall Street is the suspenseful story of the people who made and lost millions, battling with each other—and with Wall Street—for power and status. It is a sobering account of how millions of young Americans became obsessed with money and the markets, casting a long and lasting influence over finance, politics, and popular culture.