Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy ReviewWhen it comes to books and hype, there is not often a distinction when it comes to marketing. At least this is the case with Privacy Lost: How Technology is Endangering Your Privacy by David H. Holtzman (2006, 352 pages, Josey-Bass, ISBN 0787985112). The cover touts "A technologist, Former Security Analyst, and Military Codebreaker Tells You What You Need To Know About Your Privacy", and the forward is written by US Senator Evan Bayh.
All of this glitz does not cover the fact that the book does not break any new ground in privacy literature, and that the author does not necessarily break any new ground in the existing literature on privacy issues. However, the book does address one thing not covered with the focus of other books: protection of your on-line and real life personal brand.
Take by itself, readers will find the book enlightening if they have not read anything else on the topic. Holtzman begins by covering what he considers to be the seven sins against privacy (which is perhaps the strongest part of the book), and discussions of the collateral damage to society. He then covers why he feels technology is key to our loss of privacy. He endeavors to cover the context of our view of privacy and privacy law, but falls short in this area, He also goes on to discuss the existing and growing threats to our privacy. He talks about the invasion of our privacy by marketers (again, nothing new here). The book wraps up by talking about ways to fight back. One particular approach that I personally like is to be the curmudgeon, or fighting to not give up information when requested. Sure they may already have it, but at least one can sleep at night thinking they are fighting back.
As a whole, the book takes too superficial a look at the issues, without doing into adequate background and depth. This is where the book gets swallowed up in its own hype cycle and falls short of other privacy titles. There is no doubt that the author has background and experience. It just does not translate effectively in this book. It is also ironic that he was once the chief technology officer for Network Solutions, which makes customers pay extra to protect their private information.
Who Should Read This Book?
If someone has only a cursory interest on the topic, this book will be adequate. However, a book that is a much better read and covers the background, growth and tensions in privacy would be better served to read The Digital Person: Technology And Privacy In The Information Age by Daniel Solove.
The Scorecard
Par on an average Par 4 playing downwind.Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy OverviewWhile other books in the field focus on specific aspects of privacy or how to avoid invasions, David H. Holtzman--a master technologist, internet pioneer, security analyst, and former military codebreaker--presents a comprehensive insider's expos? of the world of invasive technology, who's using it, and how our privacy is at risk. Holtzman starts out by categorizing privacy violations into "The 7 Sins Against Privacy" and then goes on to explain in compelling and easy to understand language exactly how privacy is being eroded in every aspect of our lives.Holtzman vividly reveals actual invasions and the dangers associated with the loss of privacy, and he takes a realistic look at the trade offs between privacy and such vital issues as security, rights, and economic development.Praise for Privacy Lost"Whether we know it or not, we have all become citizens of the Digital Age. As such we need to take responsibility for our conduct, our safety, and our privacy. David Holtzman is deeply knowledgeable about the industry and passionate about the issues. Regardless of your political views, you will come away from this book better equipped to meet the challenges before us all."--Geoffrey A. Moore, author, Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution"Holtzman has drafted a blueprint all citizens of this great land ought to read if they desire to understand what privacy truly means, why it is important to both their everyday life as well as to their understanding of what it really means to be free, and what they can do to salvage what little privacy is left them. Privacy Lost needs to be readily available on the desks of all concerned citizens--heavily dog-eared and underlined."--Bob Barr, practicing attorney and former Member of theUnited States House of Representatives

Want to learn more information about Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Stelarc: The Monograph (Electronic Culture: History, Theory, and Practice) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Stelarc: The Monograph (Electronic Culture: History, Theory, and Practice)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Stelarc: The Monograph (Electronic Culture: History, Theory, and Practice). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Stelarc: The Monograph (Electronic Culture: History, Theory, and Practice) ReviewIn the early 80s, I brought Stelarc to speak at Caltech. He showed up with a mechanical third arm and a collection of slides. He proceeded to declaim at length about his previous art performances throughout the world, and his vision of what his performances were meant to convey to a lay audience. Then, I recently ran across this book, with a foreword by William Gibson, no less.
It is a collection of essays by various intellectuals, revolving around analysing Stelarc. His worldview is presented. A different approach from that epitomised in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Kapek's RUR, Saberhagen's Berserkers or the Terminator movies. Those echo the fear of a machine, born of man, that turns against humans. Instead, Stelarc's view is much cheerier. He is a performance artist, whose exhibitions are physical metaphors that suggest a peaceful evolution of humans, where we incorporate technological items into or perhaps on or around our bodies. He draws a distinction between Darwinian evolution, where obsolescence can mean extinction. Instead, any differences between us and machines are elided, as we absorb what they can offer, to exhance and extend our capabilities.
To some this is repulsive. To others, it is a glittering vision of a transhumanist future. Where we can someday (soon?) overcome the limitations of frail flesh. The book has echoes of views espoused by Vernor Vinge and Ray Kurzweil. Though it does not go so far as to posit a technological singularity in the near future.
The photos in the book show Stelarc's remarkable talent. He has exhibited in Tokyo, Copenhagen, London and many other places since the 1980s. In many of the photos, he is naked, but adorned with some strange electromechanical gizmo, that has some type of feedback with his body. (When he spoke at Caltech, he was fully clothed.) Other photos show him dangling by many fish hooks through his skin. In one instance, one storey above a city street.
At least one chapter comments on the irony of his exhibitions. While he speaks of a metaphor of transcending the human form, his very nakedness starkly emphasises that form.
Of course, when he first did his exhibitions, all he could provide were rough metaphors. Limited by the crude mechanical devices of the time. But as microminiturisation proceeds, and as genetic engineering takes on more of an engineering aspect, all coupled with a world wide web, then he looks prescient.Stelarc: The Monograph (Electronic Culture: History, Theory, and Practice) OverviewStelarc is the most celebrated artist in the world working withintechnology and the visual arts. He is both an artist and a phenomenon, using hisbody as medium and exhibition space. Working in the interface between the body andthe machine, employing virtual reality, robotics, medical instruments, prosthetics,and the Internet, Stelarc's art includes physical acts that don't always looksurvivable -- or, as science fiction novelist William Gibson puts it in hisforeword, "sometimes seem to include the possibility of terminality."Stelarc'sprojects include Third Hand, a grasping and wrist rotating mechanism with arudimentary sense of touch that is attached to the artist and activated by EMG fromother body areas; Amplified Body, in which the artist performs acoustically with hisbrainwaves, muscles, pulse, and blood flow signals; and the Stomach Sculpture, adevice -- or "aesthetic adornment" -- placed in the artist's stomach and presentedthrough video. Works in progress include the Extra Ear Project, a soft prosthesis ofskin and cartilage to be constructed on the artist's arm. Stelarc's work bothreflects and determines new directions in performance art and body art. Althoughthere have been hundreds of articles written about Stelarc since he began performingin the late 1960s, Stelarc: The Monograph is the first comprehensive study ofStelarc's work practice in over thirty years. Gathering a range of writers whoapproach the work from a variety of perspectives, it includes William Gibson'saccount of his meetings with Stelarc, Arthur and Marilouise Kroker's emphatic "WEARE ALL STELARCS NOW," and Stelarc himself in conversation with Marquard Smith.Taken together, these writers give us a multiplicity of ways to think aboutStelarc.

Want to learn more information about Stelarc: The Monograph (Electronic Culture: History, Theory, and Practice)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Junana Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Junana? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Junana. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Junana ReviewIn a society quickly shifting into an age of hyper-connectivity, Junana is a timely read. The narrative is as fast-paced and complex as our supermodern technosocial lives. Caron creates a world so vivid and omniscient that one wonders if Caron is simply reporting on something that is already happening. Caron effortlessly handles multiple perspectives, social classes and age groups. Junana should appeal to educators, marketers, programmers and anyone who is a critical thinker looking for something unique and rich for their cranium to bite into. Junana is an important work that provides a lens with which to greater understand the rapid change we're currently experiencing.Junana OverviewJunana tracks the arc of a new society in an alternative present time, using concepts and technologies that are mostly available today. Junana displays the future of education that many top scholars in the field are beginning to discuss. The eventual convergence of Internet gaming and education will put powerful learning tools into the hands of teens. In Junana we follow several of these teens as their world explodes through their Game experiences. In Junana the future is now, and we are all gamers. Junana is the beginning of a series of books that lead the reader into this new present. The next book, Junana: Game Nation, explores the impacts of a new society of gamers creating the first non-place-based polity. This could mean war.

Want to learn more information about Junana?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Cyberdrome Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Cyberdrome? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Cyberdrome. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Cyberdrome ReviewReal Scifi!
What a thrill ride! Just finished Cyberdrome. The sample convinced me to buy the full download right away. Top notch, highly original, this should be selling in bucket-fulls.
Cyberdrome is relentlessly fast-paced. It is very imaginative, with multiple environments and scenarios, and a multitude of potential bad guys. Separating out the heroes, anti-heroes and out-and-out bad guys from the rest, while keeping abreast of the twists and turns in this fascinating plot, is a job and a half! The film Tron comes to mind here, with humans trapped inside a giant computer but there the resemblance ends. Instead of low-res graphics, Cyberdrome is the equivalent of fully rendered 3D action, with protagonists pitted not against a guy on a cycle but against a megalomaniac computer program with versatile adversaries at its command.
Being ex-IT myself I liked all the computer references but understanding these was not essential to following the thrust and heady zest of the novel.
Reminds me also of Ghost in the Shell, where variously cyberised humans inhabit a hazardous future world somewhere between program data and reality. However, Cyberdrome has the benefit of humans fully integrated with the computer and non-stop, heart-pumping action along the way. If you like the film `Avatar', you will almost certainly like this.
Cyberdrome OverviewA disturbing glimpse into a digital future, not far from now.Mathew Grey is a brilliant scientist who accidentally unleashed a man-made plague that ravaged America's heartland, and now threatens the rest of the planet. Riddled with guilt and running out of time, he decides to use a dangerous technology to enter a computer-generated reality called Cyberdrome, hoping to unravel a mystery that could be the key to Earth's survival.Alek Grey was an athlete whose career was cut short by a near-fatal accident. Now he is a software hacker with the unique ability to outsmart the best Artificial Intelligence programs of his day. When he is called in after one of his programs inadvertently attacks Cyberdrome, he is shocked to learn that both his father and ex-fiancée have become trapped inside the simulation, unable to be removed without risk of death.Alek knows of only one way to rescue the people he loves, but will he risk all of humanity to save them?

Want to learn more information about Cyberdrome?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design ReviewReview of Smart Things Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design
So, What's Up With the Chair?
Is it just me, or did anyone else wonder about the intriguing chair embossed on the front cover? I don't believe the author writes about chairs anywhere in the entire book. Indeed, there is scant mention of any kind of furniture aside from a 1 page sidebar.
I decided to review this book after previewing the section about Moore's Law. I was impressed with the author's insights and observations about this apparently misunderstood "law". Now that I've read the entire book, and taken some time to think about it, I must say I learned a few interesting things from it.
The book attempts to provide an introduction to ideas and techniques useful in ubiquitous computing user experience design. It does this by providing a little history, some design frameworks and methodologies, complimented by case studies of commercial products.
There are a some intellectual gems here, such as the author's observation that "design is as much a process of discovering constraints as creating within them". Or, the idea that most every industrially created product has an "information shadow", which is the digitally accessible information about it.
I especially like the concept of "smart garbage", in which objects self-disclose how to fix, disassemble and recycle them.
If you are a designer, some of the author's recommended techniques such as the "desire line method" (see where people are walking and making paths across the grass, then install your sidewalks there) are worth considering. Advice that a product "has to work for someone before it can work for anyone" is worth keeping in mind, and could prove to be a great persuading tool in heated design meetings.
I particularly liked the author's ideas about metaphors. They are "the tools of thought" and allow consumers of novel gadgets to comprehend them by relating them to concrete concepts.
I am thankful to the author for helping me understand why I so much dislike being present when a robot vacuum cleaner (Roomba) is operating: "they were designed to emulate insect behavior". (And I hate bugs.)
So, what's not like?
Well, a few things actually.
In addition to insects, I hate typo's. No author, and no book is perfect, and so I have developed the ability to ignore the existence of a reasonable number of typo's without undue discomfort. However this book has exceeded my pain threshold. Typo agony begins even before the first page of the book, in the third paragraph of the Preface ("user experience design from a different perspectives:"). And there are unfortunately more to follow, including footnotes in the sidebar, mixed up labels, and so on.
The writing is sometimes obscure, as if the reader is assumed to have prior detailed knowledge about what is being said (in that case, why read the book?). For example, on the last page of chapter 15 the author shows a photo of two wooden blocks, with mating wooden joints facing each other, and sliding doors opened to reveal circuit boards hidden within. His description is
"Cottram (2009) for example, used light-weight technology prototyping components to explore the heavyweight idea of 'a harmonious intersection between tradition and technology, between natural materials, high craft and digital functionality'"
Huh?
Perhaps I'm missing something, but that description tells me next to nothing about the two wooden blocks, what they are for, what they do, or why I should even care.
One of the author's design recommendations is "Focus On Core Functionality" (title of section 18.1.2 ). I fail to see how that is consistent with the idea of adding LCD picture frames (and other gadgets) to the exterior of a refrigerator, whose core functionality seems to me to be to keep food fresh and cold. Yet the author describes this appliance - the Whirlpool Centralpark - as a "successful user experience design".
In reading this book, I kept asking myself if perhaps this ubiquitous computing thing is going a bit too far. Although he ignores this idea until the final chapter, the author seems to be having his own doubts as well. He confides that in order to write the book he "had to escape pervasive digital technology", by composing it in an anti-digital coffee shop, with no networking or electrical outlets.
In conclusion, this is a book which would be of most interest to designers, and retired nerds (like myself). The author is very clever, with a breadth of knowledge about his subject area, and some interesting insights. I look forward to reading his future work, (especially if he reveals the secret of the cover chair).Disclosures:
I did not pay for my copy of this book. As a member of the Amazon Vine program I received it for free.
I have a long and varied background in software design, having worked on cell phones when the vast majority of the public did not know or care what they were (quite understandably, since at that time the handset was the size of a small lunch box). I moved on to other projects, until decades later, I found myself working again with these vastly improved gadgets (by then most everyone knew what they were, and indeed most everyone owned one). As a designer, I was drawn to this book after reading the preface which states it is primarily a tool for design practitioners.Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design OverviewThe world of smart shoes, appliances, and phones is already here, but the practice of user experience (UX) design for ubiquitous computing is still relatively new. Design companies like IDEO and frogdesign are regularly asked to design products that unify software interaction, device design and service design -- which are all the key components of ubiquitous computing UX -- and practicing designers need a way to tackle practical challenges of design. Theory is not enough for them -- luckily the industry is now mature enough to have tried and tested best practices and case studies from the field. Smart Things presents a problem-solving approach to addressing designers' needs and concentrates on process, rather than technological detail, to keep from being quickly outdated. It pays close attention to the capabilities and limitations of the medium in question and discusses the tradeoffs and challenges of design in a commercial environment. Divided into two sections, frameworks and techniques, the book discusses broad design methods and case studies that reflect key aspects of these approaches. The book then presents a set of techniques highly valuable to a practicing designer. It is intentionally not a comprehensive tutorial of user-centered design'as that is covered in many other books'but it is a handful of techniques useful when designing ubiquitous computing user experiences.In short, Smart Things gives its readers both the "why" of this kind of design and the "how," in well-defined chunks.* Tackles design of products in the post-Web world where computers no longer have to be monolithic, expensive general-purpose devices* Features broad frameworks and processes, practical advice to help approach specifics, and techniques for the unique design challenges* Presents case studies that describe, in detail, how others have solved problems, managed trade-offs, and met successes

Want to learn more information about Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The World Teacher for All Humanity Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The World Teacher for All Humanity? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The World Teacher for All Humanity. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The World Teacher for All Humanity ReviewThis is the latest book of Benjamin Creme, a British painter who in the mid-1970s embarked on an extraordinary mission, announcing to a cynical world the imminent return of the Christ. His first one, published in 1979, earned him worldwide attention and a guest appearance in the Merv Griffin show. Since then, Creme has produced a dozen volumes ranging from introductions to ageless wisdom and philosophical discourses to political and social reform agendas. His main topic in over 4300 printed pages has never changed, however. A teacher for all humanity is slowly but steadily emerging to help us tackle problems that by now have reached lethal magnitude. Bound by law not to infringe human free will, he may openly present himself only after the general public has been exposed to his ideas.
Unlike religious saviors and political demagogues, this teacher has clear proposals for the regeneration of the planet. If we accept that humanity is one species, then its survival depends on safeguarding living conditions for all its members. This can reasonably be achieved through a balanced distribution of world resources. By adopting sharing in vital sectors of world economy (basic food, health care, and educational needs) we establish trust; and the resulting goodwill makes all things possible, including the elimination of war.
These ideas are anathema to oligarchs and fundamentalists around the globe. Indeed, the delayed public appearance of the world teacher has much to do with their efforts to discredit Creme and distort his message. The evidence continues to grow in his favor, however. Photographs, accurate predictions of events, independent testimonies, and a global wave of miracles, all suggest there is a kernel of truth in Creme's story.
Another source of trust is the author's independence from vested interests and ideologies. (In ten years of researching this story, I have found no evidence that Creme makes a living from his books and lectures.) He is thus free from peer pressure, the imperative of convincing readers, and the anxiety of selling fast. His conversational prose reveals the heart of our modern problems with disarming honesty and radiant insight. And his description of the world teacher's ideas and transformative presence among us is, at the very least, warm and uplifting. I recommend this book as a short discourse on the biggest imaginable subject: our collective survival.The World Teacher for All Humanity OverviewAs Maitreya, the World Teacher, stands poised ready to emerge into full public work, Benjamin Creme's latest book, The World Teacher forAll Humanity, is an overview of the background to this momentous event.The book details the planned return of our planetary Hierarchy and the descent of Maitreya from His Himalayan retreat in July 1977 and of His work in the world, albeit behind the scenes since then. It speaks too of the enormous changes that His presence has brought about; of His plans andprojects, and His priorities and recommendations in the immediate future time. It shows Him as a great and powerful Avatar and, at the same time, as a friend and brother of humanity.Maitreya's advice will bring humanity to a simple choice between two lines of action: to ignore His recommendations and continue in our present mode oflife, and so face self destruction; or to accept gladly His counsel toinaugurate a system of sharing and justice which will guarantee a peaceful and prosperous future for humanity, and the creation of a civilization based on the inner divinity of all men.

Want to learn more information about The World Teacher for All Humanity?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...