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Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age
by Michael A. HiltzikThe Pulitzer Prize-winner’s classic account of the legendary research lab that gave rise to the Digital Age.In the 1970s and ‘80s, Xerox Corporation brought together a brain-trust of engineering geniuses dubbed PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). This brilliant group created several monumental innovations that triggered a technological revolution, including the first personal computer, the laser printer, and the graphical interface (one of the main precursors of the Internet). And when these breakthroughs were rejected by the corporation, these determined inventors turned their ideas into empires that changed the world.Based on extensive interviews with the scientists, engineers, administrators, and executives who lived the story, Dealers of Lightning details PARC’s rise from humble beginnings to a hothouse for ideas. It also shows why Xerox was never able to grasp the cutting-edge innovations PARC delivered. Michael A. Hiltzik offers an unprecedented look at the ideas, the inventions, and the individuals that propelled Xerox PARC to the frontier of techno-history—and the corporate machinations that almost prevented it from achieving greatness.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, the Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything
by Joe TrippiIn a blend of Wired magazine and The Boys on the Bus, the man who invented Internet politics tells the story of how it was done and reveals how every sector can benefit from tech revolution.Campaign manager Joe Trippi, who signed on to run Howard Dean’s campaign when there was less than $100,000 in the till and fewer than 500 people involved, transformed the most obsure candidate in the field into the Democratic frontrunner and all-but-coronated party nominee in less than a year. The secret of Trippi’s off-the-charts success: a revolutionary use of the Internet, and an impassioned, contagious desire to overthrow politics-as-usual. Before Dean knew it, he had a groundswell of 600,000 Americans behind him, was leading in every poll, and had raised $45 million—more money than any Democrat in history. We now know that unprecedented fundraising, unheard-of numbers of people checking in on the Internet, chatting on blogs, reaching out to their fellow voters and showing up at house parties really can compete with—and in so many ways exceed— the more traditional approaches to winning in politics. But the why’s and how’s leave much fertile ground to plow, and for the first time, Trippi, an icon to all the Dean supporters he energized, is sharing his lessons learned, along with colorful behind-the-scenes stories from the campaign trail. Perhaps lulled by the bust of the dot.com boom, many have dismissed the Internet as old news. But if Dean’s campaign wasn’t enough of a wake-up call, this book is: Trippi reveals just how the sleeping power of technology can be harnessed, and illuminates how every organization and individual in America can benefit from the tidal wave of change on the horizon.
Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion
by Gary VaynerchukIn Crush It!, online marketing trailblazer Gary Vaynerchuk tells business owners what they need to do to boost their sales using the internet—just as he has done to build his family’s wine store from a $4 million business to a $60 million one. Crush It! will show readers how to find their passion, then step by step how to turn it into a flourishing, monetized business.
How the Left Swiftboated America: The Liberal Media Conspiracy to Make You Think George Bush Was the Worst President in History
by John GibsonIn How the Left Swiftboated America, FOX commentator and bestselling author John Gibson offers the first comprehensive defense of the Bush presidency against its numerous detractors. In this provocative political work, Gibson explores who was right and who was wrong in taking us into the Iraq War and a host of other issues, arguing that it was the Left that actually lied while claiming to expose the truth.
This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All
by Marilyn JohnsonIn This Book is Overdue!, acclaimed author Marilyn Johnson celebrates libraries and librarians, and, as she did in her popular first book, The Dead Beat, discovers offbeat and eloquent characters in the quietest corners. In defiance of doomsayers, Johnson finds librarians more vital and necessary than ever, as they fuse the tools of the digital age with love for the written word and the enduring values of truth, service to all, and free speech. This Book Is Overdue! is a romp through the ranks of information professionals who organize our messy world and offer old-fashioned human help through the maze.
China's Megatrends: The 8 Pillars of a New Society
by John Naisbitt Doris Naisbitt“[John Naisbitt’s] vision of the world’s economy has the mark of genius.” —Minneapolis Star TribuneInternationally-renowned futurist and bestselling author John Naisbitt is back with China’s Megatrends, the most comprehensive look at the present and future of China and the transformation that is reshaping its economic, political, and social systems. Since publishing the enormously popular Megatrends—a New York Times bestseller for two years that has been published in 57 countries—John Naisbitt has become the most respected and well-known prognosticator of global trends. To write China’s Megatrends, Naisbitt and wife Doris were granted unprecedented access by the Chinese government to all aspects of the country and its social model. Using the same techniques of information gathering and analysis as Megatrends, the Naisbitts present a prescient and unique perspective on the emergent global power and its role in the future of globalization.
alibaba: The Inside Story Behind Jack Ma and the Creation of the World's Biggest Online Marketplace
by Liu Shiying Martha AveryThe first in-depth look at the multibillion-dollar company Alibaba.com—known to many as "China's eBay"—and the inspirational story behind the man who created it.A bestseller in China and now translated into English and updated with recent events, Alibaba by Liu Shiying and Martha Avery tells the remarkable story behind the Internet phenomenon Alibaba.com and its founder Jack Ma, a man Barron's named one of the World's Top 30 CEOs in 2008. Ma's rise to prominence presents a riveting story: Despite growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution—in a period of total state control of the economy—he developed the keen entrepreneurial instincts that propelled him to billionaire status and enabled him to build a company outside the usual government channels. These instincts and habits incorporated martial arts training and allowed him to recognize, early on, that the Internet could leverage his company to rapid growth and also transform the way business is done around the world. Alibaba.com, where businesses can buy and sell everything from air beds to zippers, started with a modest initial investment of $60,000 and has grown exponentially since its founding in 1999 to become the world's biggest business-to-business Web site. In 2007 it became the second largest IPO in history (after Google), and Fast Company has named it one of the world's most innovative companies. As a result, smart investors and technology insiders will be keeping a close eye on Alibaba for years to come. Whether you're seeking to understand China's meteoric rise, or just searching for the next Google, Yahoo!, or Amazon, Alibaba is crucial reading.
Mrs. Yonkers Is Bonkers! (My Weird School #18)
by Dan Gutman Jim PaillotSomething weird is going on!Mrs. Yonkers, the computer teacher, is the nerdiest teacher in the history of the world. She can type with her feet! She buys foam cheeseheads off eBay! She even puts a Webcam on a turtle! Is she trying to take over the planet?
Only You Can Save Mankind (Johnny Maxwell Trilogy #1)
by Terry PratchettThe alien spaceship is in his sights. His finger is on the Fire button. Johnny Maxwell is about to set the new high score on the computer game Only You Can Save Mankind. <P><P>Suddenly:We wish to talk. <P><P>Huh? <P><P> We surrender. <P><P>The aliens aren't supposed to surrender -- they're supposed to die! Now what is Johnny going to do with a fleet of alien prisoners who know their rights under the international rules of war and are demanding safe-conduct? It's hard enough trying to save Mankind from the Galactic Hordes. It's even harder trying to save the Galactic Hordes from Mankind. <P><P>But it's just a game, isn't it? Isn't it? <P><P>Master storyteller Terry Pratchett leaves readers breathless -- with laughter, and with suspense -- in a reality-bending tale of virtual heroism.
Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It
by Richard A. Clarke Robert K. KnakeAn essential, eye-opening book about cyberterrorism, cyber war, and the next great threat to our national security. “Cyber War may be the most important book about national security policy in the last several years.” –SlateFormer presidential advisor and counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke sounds a timely and chilling warning about America’s vulnerability in a terrifying new international conflict. Cyber War is a powerful book about technology, government, and military strategy; about criminals, spies, soldiers, and hackers. It explains clearly and convincingly what cyber war is, and how vulnerable we are as a nation and as individuals to the vast and looming web of cyber criminals.Every concerned American should read this startling and explosive book that offers an insider’s view of White House ‘Situation Room’ operations and carries the reader to the frontlines of our cyber defense. Cyber War exposes a virulent threat to our nation’s security.
The Trillion-Dollar Conspiracy: How the New World Order, Man-Made Diseases, and Zombie Banks Are Destroying America
by Jim Marrs“Jim Marrs can’t be ignored. Few in this country shout about The Truth louder than he.”—Dallas ObserverIn The Trillion-Dollar Conspiracy, Jim Marrs, the New York Times bestselling author of Rule by Secrecy and The Rise of The Fourth Reich, offers a terrifying proposition: that the current economic collapse has been engineered by a tyrannous government and multinational corporations determined to enslave us. Read The Trillion-Dollar Conspiracy and find out how the New World Order, man-made diseases, and zombie banks are destroying America.
Hamlet's BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age
by William PowersA crisp, passionately argued answer to the question that everyone who's grown dependent on digital devices is asking: "Where's the rest of my life?"At a time when we're all trying to make sense of our relentlessly connected lives, this revelatory book presents a bold new approach to the digital age. Part intellectual journey, part memoir, Hamlet's BlackBerry sets out to solve what William Powers calls the conundrum of connectedness. Our computers and mobile devices do wonderful things for us. But they also impose an enormous burden, making it harder for us to focus, do our best work, build strong relationships, and find the depth and fulfillment we crave.Hamlet's BlackBerry argues that we need a new way of thinking, an everyday philosophy for life with screens. To find it, Powers reaches into the past, uncovering a rich trove of ideas that have helped people manage and enjoy their connected lives for thousands of years. New technologies have always brought the mix of excitement and stress that we feel today. Drawing on some of history's most brilliant thinkers, from Plato to Shakespeare to Thoreau, he shows that digital connectedness serves us best when it's balanced by its opposite, disconnectedness. Using his own life as laboratory and object lesson, Powers demonstrates why this is the moment to revisit our relationship to screens and mobile technologies, and how profound the rewards of doing so can be. Lively, original, and entertaining, Hamlet's BlackBerry will challenge you to rethink your digital life.
The Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters, and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama
by Will BunchIn The Backlash, Liberal columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter Will Bunch goes behind the scenes of America’s new extreme right-wing minority to explore how their campaign of misinformation, their distortion of President Obama, and their collective fear of the future combine to pose a very real threat to our democratic system. From health care reform to immigration policies, The Backlash is a gripping investigation into the emerging voice of the dangerous American right wing.
What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption
by Roo Rogers Rachel Botsman“Amidst a thousand tirades against the excesses and waste of consumer society, [this book] offers us something genuinely new and invigorating: a way out.” —Steven Johnson, New York Times–bestselling author of The Infernal MachineA groundbreaking and original book, What’s Mine is Yours articulates for the first time the roots of “collaborative consumption,” the authors’ term for the technology-based peer communities that are transforming the traditional landscape of business, consumerism, and the way we live. Those who seek an alternative to voracious shopping and the mindless accumulation of possessions will be inspired by this landmark contribution to the evolving ecology of commerce and sustainability.“Driven by growing dissatisfaction with their role as robotic consumers manipulated by marketing, people are turning more and more to models of consumption that emphasize usefulness over ownership, community over selfishness, and sustainability over novelty . . . Part cultural critique and part practical guide to the fledgling collaborative consumption market, the book provides a wealth of information for consumers looking to redefine their relationships with both the things they use and the communities they live in.” —Publishers Weekly
C-Scape: Conquer the Forces Changing Business Today
by Larry Kramer“[Larry Kramer’s] MarketWatch.com is not just my favorite business website, it’s my personal homepage.” —Warren Buffett“[Larry Kramer] is the toughest and most ethical foe imaginable. His observations reflect a deep understanding of how the media works and what consumers want.” —Jim CramerFrom Larry Kramer, the founder of MarketWatch.com and former president of CBS Digital Media, comes a bold, pioneering report on what businesses must do to survive and thrive in the digital media revolution. Using case studies of companies such as Apple, Procter & Gamble, Netflix, and GE, Kramer not only draws a clear map of twenty-first century commerce, but charts the way forward. Readers wondering how to implement digital-age business strategies like those found in Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody, Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail, or Jeff Jarvis’ What Would Google Do, look no further than Kramer’s groundbreaking C-Scape.
How to Buy, Sell, and Profit on eBay
by Adam GinsbergA lively insider's guide to starting a successful small business selling items old and new on eBay, written with personal anecdotes, well-kept secrets, and insider tips by Adam Ginsberg, eBay's most successful private salesperson. This is the insider's guide to making money on eBay. Adam Ginsberg is the most successful seller on eBay, moving around a million dollars' worth of merchandise every month. Not only will he impart his personal secrets on how to sell on eBay -learned through years of experience - and his tips on expanding your small business using eBay as a global market, but he'll also give fun side-notes and anecdotes, keeping the book lively and making it a fun and interesting read. This book will be a must-have for all current and aspiring eBay sellers, all small-business owners, and anyone who wants to learn how to start a million-dollar company.
The Thank You Economy
by Gary Vaynerchuk“Gary Vaynerchuk has seen the future of marketing. The Thank You Economy shows how it's built on both the time-honored techniques of listening to and appreciating customers and newer services like Twitter that allow you to engage directly with customers at unprecedented scale and speed. The book, like Gary, is also a lot of fun and full of passion.” —Dick Costolo, chief executive officer, TwitterGary Vaynerchuk, the New York Times bestselling author and creator of Wine Library TV, is back with a bold and expansive look at the evolution of today's marketplace, revealing the essential factors defining and driving successful relationships between businesses and consumers. In this groundbreaking follow-up to the bestselling Crush It!, Vaynerchuk—one of Bloomberg Businessweek’s “20 People Every Entrepreneur Should Follow”—looks beyond a numbers-based analysis to explore the value of social interactions in building our economy.
Clone: The Road To Dolly, And The Path Ahead
by Gina KolataThe birth of Dolly -- the world's first clone -- placed in our hands the secret of creation. Few discoveries have so altered our notion of what it means to be human, or presented such a Gordian knot of ethical, spiritual, and scientific questions. Noted science journalist Gina Kolata broke the news nationally in The New York Times and was the first reporter to speak with Dr. Ian Wilmut, the embryologist who cloned Dolly. Now Kolata reveals the story behind Dolly, interweaving the social and cultural tales of our fear and fascination with cloning, reaching back nearly a century, with the riveting scientific accountof how a clone came to be and the mind-boggling questions Dolly presents for our future.Clone is a compelling blend of scientific suspense, dreams dashed, and frauds exposed, with provocative philosophical questions and an astute assessment of why Dolly's birth was only possible now. Like The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Lucy, and Chaos, this book gives us a window on history in the making, and an understanding of its profound effect on our lives.
Infinite Reality: The Hidden Blueprint of Our Virtual Lives
by Jeremy Bailenson Jim Blascovich“Enough with speculation about our digital future. Infinite Reality is the straight dope on what is and isn’t happening to us right now, from two of the only scientists working on the boundaries between real life and its virtual extensions.”—Douglas Rushkoff, author of Program or Be ProgrammedCan our brains recognize where "reality" ends and "virtual" begins? Where will technology lead us in five, fifty, or five hundred years? An unrivaled guide to our digital future that has been cited by the Supreme Court, Infinite Reality is a mind-bending "journey through the virtual universe" (Wall Street Journal). Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson, two pioneering authorities, explore the profound potential of emerging technologies and reveal how our brains behave in digital worlds.Along the way, Bailenson and Blascovich examine the timeless philosophical questions of the self and "reality" that arise through the digital experience; explain how virtual reality's latest and future forms—including immersive video games and social-networking sites—will soon be seamlessly integrated into our lives; show the many surprising practical applications of virtual reality, from education and medicine to sex and warfare; and probe further-off possibilities like "total personality downloads" that would allow your great-great-grandchildren to have a conversation with "you" a century or more after your death.Equally fascinating, farsighted, and profound, Infinite Reality is an essential guide to our virtual future, where the experience of being human will be deeply transformed.
Going Digital: Simple Tools and Techniques for Sharing and Enjoying Your Digital Photos and Home Movies
by Alex L. GoldfaynGet digital prints that look better than film, create amazing photo and video DVDs, and even learn to use your camera phone to its maximum potential with this non-technical, easy-to-understand guide Imagine displaying your photos on your television in big-screen glory, set to your favorite music. Imagine digitizing your old home movies, editing out unwanted parts, and sharing them on DVDs. And imagine sharing photos and movies of your child's first steps moments after they happen -- online, over the cell phone, or even on an electronic picture frame half a world away. With today's technology, all that is possible -- and more! Going Digital will arm you with the tools and techniques you need to share your digital memories with friends and family -- online and offline, on the computer, and in the living room. Written in down-to-earth language for people with all levels of technological knowledge, it's a user-friendly guide that will change your life -- and your family's.
Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet
by Andrew Blum“Andrew Blum plunges into the unseen but real ether of the Internet in a journey both compelling and profound….You will never open an email in quite the same way again.”—Tom Vanderbilt, New York Times bestselling author of TrafficWhen your Internet cable leaves your living room, where does it go? Almost everything about our day-to-day lives—and the broader scheme of human culture—can be found on the Internet. But what is it physically? And where is it really? Our mental map of the network is as blank as the map of the ocean that Columbus carried on his first Atlantic voyage. The Internet, its material nuts and bolts, is an unexplored territory. Until now.In Tubes, journalist Andrew Blum goes inside the Internet's physical infrastructure and flips on the lights, revealing an utterly fresh look at the online world we think we know. It is a shockingly tactile realm of unmarked compounds, populated by a special caste of engineer who pieces together our networks by hand; where glass fibers pulse with light and creaky telegraph buildings, tortuously rewired, become communication hubs once again. From the room in Los Angeles where the Internet first flickered to life to the caverns beneath Manhattan where new fiber-optic cable is buried; from the coast of Portugal, where a ten-thousand-mile undersea cable just two thumbs wide connects Europe and Africa, to the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, where Google, Microsoft, and Facebook have built monumental data centers—Blum chronicles the dramatic story of the Internet's development, explains how it all works, and takes the first-ever in-depth look inside its hidden monuments.This is a book about real places on the map: their sounds and smells, their storied pasts, their physical details, and the people who live there. For all the talk of the "placelessness" of our digital age, the Internet is as fixed in real, physical spaces as the railroad or telephone. You can map it and touch it, and you can visit it. Is the Internet in fact "a series of tubes" as Ted Stevens, the late senator from Alaska, once famously described it? How can we know the Internet's possibilities if we don't know its parts?Like Tracy Kidder's classic The Soul of a New Machine or Tom Vanderbilt's recent bestseller Traffic, Tubes combines on-the-ground reporting and lucid explanation into an engaging, mind-bending narrative to help us understand the physical world that underlies our digital lives.
Culture: Leading Scientists Explore Civilizations, Art, Networks, Reputation, and the Online Revolution (Best of Edge Series)
by John Brockman"Theway Brockman interlaces essays about research on the frontiers of science withones on artistic vision, education, psychology and economics is sure to buzzany brain." —Chicago Sun-Times, on This Will Change EverythingLaunchinga hard-hitting new series from Edge.org and Harper Perennial, editor JohnBrockman delivers this cutting-edge master class covering everything you needto know about Culture. With original contributions by the world’sleading thinkers and scientists, including Jared Diamond, Daniel C. Dennett,Brian Eno, Jaron Lanier,Nicholas Christakis, and others, Culture offers a mind-expanding primeron a fundamental topic. Unparalleled in scope, depth, insight and quality, Edge.org’s Culture is not to be missed.
The History of the World According to Facebook
by Wylie OverstreetThe Sun is now friends with Earth and 7 other planetsPluto: Not cool.What if Facebook had emerged with the Big Bang, and every historical event took place online? Imagine how we’d we see history if . . .On April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln updated his status: "Taking the missus to the theater"God and Stephen Hawking trolled each other in a comment war over the creation of the universe?Alexander the Great "checked into" all the countries he conqueredDonald Trump and Vladimir Putin "Liked" each other's cryptic statusesIrreverent and clever, The History of the World According to Facebook goes back through time, from the beginning of the world to the present, to cover all the major events and eras of human history, such as the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and the Information Age. Filled with hundreds of actual figures from across the centuries and thousands of invented statuses, comments, and actions lampooning Facebook users’ penchant for oversharing, abbreviation, self-importance, and lazy jargon, The History of the World According to Facebook defies all attempts at taking the multi-billion user social media platform SRSLY. It is the funniest parody of history and the dawn of man since, well, the dawn of man.
The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company
by Michael S. MaloneBased on unprecedented access to the corporation’s archives, The Intel Trinity is the first full history of Intel Corporation—the essential company of the digital age— told through the lives of the three most important figures in the company’s history: Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove.Often hailed the “most important company in the world,” Intel remains, more than four decades after its inception, a defining company of the global digital economy. The legendary inventors of the microprocessor-the single most important product in the modern world-Intel today builds the tiny “engines” that power almost every intelligent electronic device on the planet.But the true story of Intel is the human story of the trio of geniuses behind it. Michael S. Malone reveals how each brought different things to Intel, and at different times. Noyce, the most respected high tech figure of his generation, brought credibility (and money) to the company’s founding; Moore made Intel the world’s technological leader; and Grove, has relentlessly driven the company to ever-higher levels of success and competitiveness. Without any one of these figures, Intel would never have achieved its historic success; with them, Intel made possible the personal computer, Internet, telecommunications, and the personal electronics revolutions.The Intel Trinity is not just the story of Intel’s legendary past; it also offers an analysis of the formidable challenges that lie ahead as the company struggles to maintain its dominance, its culture, and its legacy.With eight pages of black-and-white photos.
Data-ism: The Revolution Transforming Decision Making, Consumer Behavior, and Almost Everything Else
by Steve Lohr“Lohr uses his Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting skills to dig into and explain the power, pervasiveness, and potential downside of big data.” —Library JournalIn Data-ism, New York Times reporter Steve Lohr explains how big-data technology is ushering in a revolution in proportions that promise to be the basis of the next wave of efficiency and innovation across the economy. But more is at work here than technology. Big data is also the vehicle for a point of view, or philosophy, about how decisions will be—and perhaps should be—made in the future. Lohr investigates the benefits of data while also examining its dark side.Data-ism is about this next phase, in which vast Internet-scale data sets are used for discovery and prediction in virtually every field. It shows how this new revolution will change decision making—by relying more on data and analysis, and less on intuition and experience—and transform the nature of leadership and management. Focusing on young entrepreneurs at the forefront of data science as well as on giant companies such as IBM that are making big bets on data science for the future of their businesses, Data-ism is a field guide to what is ahead, explaining how individuals and institutions will need to exploit, protect, and manage data to stay competitive in the coming years. With rich examples of how the rise of big data is affecting everyday life, Data-ism also raises provocative questions about policy and practice that have wide implications for everyone.The age of data-ism is here. But are we ready to handle its consequences, good and bad?