Computers Audiobooks | Science & Technology

More Awesome Than Money: Four Boys and Their Heroic Quest to Save Your Privacy from Facebook

Their idea was simple. Four NYU undergrads wanted to build a social network that would allow users to control their personal data instead of surrendering it to big businesses like Facebook. They called it Diaspora. In days they raised $200,000, and reporters, venture capitalists, and the digital community's most legendary figures were soon monitoring their progress. Max dreamed of being a CEO. Ilya was the idealist. Dan coded like a pro. And Rafi tried to keep them all on track. But as the months passed and the money ran out, the Diaspora Four fell victim to errors, bad decisions, and their own hubris. In November 2011, Ilya committed suicide. Diaspora has been tech news since day one, but the story reaches far beyond Silicon Valley to the now urgent issues about the future of the Internet. With the cooperation of the surviving partners, New York Times bestselling author Jim Dwyer tells a riveting story of four ambitious and naive young men who tried to rebottle the genie of personal privacy—and paid the ultimate price.

Jim Dwyer (Author), Pete Larkin (Narrator)

Audiobook

Dark Pools: The rise of A.I. trading machines and the looming threat to Wall Street

Dark Pools is the pacy, revealing, and profoundly chilling tale of how global markets have been hijacked by trading robots - many so self-directed that humans can't predict what they'll do next.It's the story of the blisteringly intelligent computer programmers behind the rise of these 'bots'. And it's a timely warning that as artificial intelligence gradually takes over, we could be on the verge of global meltdown. 'Scott Patterson has the ability to see things you and I don't notice.' Nassim Nicholas Taleb, New York Times bestselling author of Antifragile, Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan

Scott Patterson (Author), Byron Wagner (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution

The major thrust of Isaacson's biographical tale of these great pioneers and entrepreneurs is that most of the innovations of the digital age were done collaboratively. It is through this collaboration, not only among peers but across generations, that made possible the handing off of visionary ideas that transformed our world. The parallel story is that of the personal computer. Devised as a tool for solo creativity (somewhat hippie San Francisco), it came together with the Internet, which was built on collaboration in the late 80s. Isaacson compares it to the inventions of the steam engine and mechanical processes that led to the Industrial Revolution. There are one billion people presently connected. In this colorful saga, we start with Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's daughter, who wrote a treatise on a general purpose computer in the middle of the nineteenth century. The book is filled with fascinating personalities, from early pioneers such as Vannevar Bush, Steward Brand, Doug Engelbart, Howard Aiken, Robert Noyce, Andy Grave, to Bill Gates and Jobs and Wozniak. And from Lovelace to Jobs, Isaacson adds that the crucial digital insights have come from those who connect the humanities to technology, the arts to the sciences, beauty to utility. The interplay of these will continue to invent new forms of content. This is the biggest story out there.

Walter Isaacson (Author), Dennis Boutsikaris (Narrator)

Audiobook

Virtually Human

Every day, social media is automatically uploading our thoughts, memories, preferences, beliefs, and history to a virtual existence, essentially creating a “mindfile” of users. From this mindfile, thousands of software engineers across the globe are working on “mindware” to create personalities and humanlike consciousness in computer software—or cyberconsciousness. In the next decade or two, these efforts will result in the first digital copies of our identities, which will be our “mindclones.” As we communicate with our own mindclones, and as they and we interact with mindclones of other people, even those whose bodies have died, these cyberconscious beings will become part of the fabric of our daily lives and routines. In Virtually Human, author Martine Rothblatt shares her insights into how cyberconsciousness will manifest in our lives and what we need to consider when a new, high-tech population of mindclones awakens to the rights, privileges, and obligations humans take for granted. With her passion, commitment, and continued financial investment in this emerging technology, she is poised to be a leader in the paradigm shift already under way. Virtually Human conveys in clear, positive language a profound understanding of how close we are to achieving a full simulation of the human brain via software and computer technology. It raises numerous ethical and moral questions we absolutely need to address now, before the technology becomes commercially viable and accessible to all of us. Rothblatt launches an urgent investigation into what we will all face over the coming decades as our relationship with our virtual selves evolves and deepens. She gives us the philosophical and technological tools to understand the far-reaching implications of artificial intelligence. Martine Rothblatt has been at the forefront of AI research and is a clearheaded—and optimistic—thinker when it comes to understanding the ethical concerns that will play a significant role as we move toward living side by side with our mindclones. Virtually Human will be the essential companion audiobook to the future of mankind.

Martine Rothblatt (Author), Jeff Cummings, Laural Merlington (Narrator)

Audiobook

Cloud Surfing: A New Way to Think About Risk, Innovation, Scale, and Success

When people hear "the Cloud," they think of cloud computing, just a sliver of what the Cloud is today. The Cloud has grown: it represents the consummate disruptor to structure; a pervasive social and economic network that will soon connect and define more of the world than any other political, social, or economic organization. The Cloud is the first megatrend of the twenty-first century, one that will shape the way we will address virtually every challenge we face for at least the next 100 years. It is where we will all live, work, and play in the coming decades. The Cloud is where your kids go to dive into online play. It's where you meet and make friends in social networks. It's where companies find the next big idea. It's where political campaigns are won and lost. Cloud Surfing is the groundbreaking book that will explain how to access the full value of the Cloud and how to embrace its possibilities.

Tom Koulopoulos (Author), Tom Koulopoulos (Narrator)

Audiobook

Steve Jobs

La biografía definitiva de Steve Jobs, el fundador de Apple, escrita con su colaboración.La muerte de Steve Jobs ha conmocionado al mundo. Tras entrevistarlo en más de cuarenta ocasiones en los últimos dos años, además de a un centenar de personas de su entorno, familiares, amigos, adversarios y colegas, Walter Isaacson nos presenta la única biografía escrita con la colaboración de Jobs, el retrato definitivo de uno de los iconos indiscutibles de nuestro tiempo, la crónica de la agitada vida y abrasiva personalidad del genio cuya creatividad, energía y afán de perfeccionismo revolucionaron seis industrias: la informática, el cine de animación, la música, la telefonía, las tabletas y la edición digital.Consciente de que la mejor manera de crear valor en el siglo XXI es conectar la creatividad con la tecnología, Jobs fundó una empresa en la que impresionantes saltos de la imaginación van de la mano de asombrosos logros tecnológicos.Aunque Jobs colaboró en el libro, no pidió ningún control sobre el contenido, ni siquiera ejerció el derecho a leerlo antes de su publicación. No rehuyó ningún tema y animó a la gente que conocía a hablar con franqueza. He hecho muchas cosas de las que no me siento orgulloso, como dejar a mi novia embarazada a los veintitrés años y cómo me comporté entonces, pero no hay ningún cadáver en mi armario que no pueda salir a la luz .Jobs habla con una sinceridad a veces brutal sobre la gente con la que ha trabajado y contra la que ha competido. De igual modo, sus amigos, rivales y colegas ofrecen una visión sin edulcorar de las pasiones, los demonios, el perfeccionismo, los deseos, el talento, los trucos y la obsesión por controlarlo todo que modelaron su visión empresarial y los innovadores productos que logró crear.Su historia, por tanto, está llena de enseñanzas sobre innovación, carácter, liderazgo y valores. La vida de un genio capaz de enfurecer y seducir a partes iguales.Reseña: El fallecimiento de Steve Jobs ha precipitado un alud de libros sobre su figura. De todos ellos, la aproximación más completa e interesante al personaje es la de Isaacson. La Vanguardia

Walter Isaacson (Author), Roberto Medina (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You

In December 2009, Google began customizing its search results for each user. Instead of giving you the most broadly popular result, Google now tries to predict what you are most likely to click on. According to MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser, Google's change in policy is symptomatic of the most significant shift to take place on the Web in recent years—the rise of personalization. In this groundbreaking investigation of the new hidden Web, Pariser uncovers how this growing trend threatens to control how we consume and share information as a society—and reveals what we can do about it. Though the phenomenon has gone largely undetected until now, personalized filters are sweeping the Web, creating individual universes of information for each of us. Facebook—the primary news source for an increasing number of Americans—prioritizes the links it believes will appeal to you so that if you are a liberal, you can expect to see only progressive links. Even an old-media bastion like The Washington Post devotes the top of its home page to a news feed with the links your Facebook friends are sharing. Behind the scenes, a burgeoning industry of data companies is tracking your personal information to sell to advertisers, from your political leanings to the color you painted your living room to the hiking boots you just browsed on Zappos. In a personalized world, we will increasingly be typed and fed only news that is pleasant, familiar, and confirms our beliefs—and because these filters are invisible, we won't know what is being hidden from us. Our past interests will determine what we are exposed to in the future, leaving less room for the unexpected encounters that spark creativity, innovation, and the democratic exchange of ideas. While we all worry that the Internet is eroding privacy or shrinking our attention spans, Pariser uncovers a more pernicious and far-reaching trend and shows how we can—and must—change course. With vivid detail and remarkable scope, The Filter Bubble reveals how personalization undermines the Internet's original purpose as an open platform for the spread of ideas and could leave us all in an isolated, echoing world.

Eli Pariser (Author), Kirby Heyborne (Narrator)

Audiobook

Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other

Consider Facebook—it's human contact, only easier to engage with and easier to avoid. Developing technology promises closeness. Sometimes it delivers, but much of our modern life leaves us less connected with people and more connected to simulations of them. In Alone Together, MIT technology and society professor Sherry Turkle explores the power of our new tools and toys to dramatically alter our social lives. It's a nuanced exploration of what we are looking for—and sacrificing—in a world of electronic companions and social networking tools, and an argument that, despite the hand-waving of today's self-described prophets of the future, it will be the next generation who will chart the path between isolation and connectivity.

Sherry Turkle (Author), Laural Merlington (Narrator)

Audiobook

Enterprise 2.0: Wie das soziale Web Unternehmen und Märkte revolutioniert

Das Web 2.0, auch soziales Internet genannt, hat bereits zu nachdrücklichen Änderungen in unserem Kommunikationsverhalten geführt: Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Chats und Wikis sind zunehmend die Standardwerkzeuge, wenn wir Menschen kontaktieren, Ereignisse kommentieren, Wissen konsumieren oder Ideen produzieren. Diese Internetrevolution bleibt nicht ohne umwälzende Folgen auf den Alltag und die Organisationsstruktur von Unternehmen - auch wenn ihr Geschäft nicht direkt mit der Welt des Web 2.0 zu tun hat. Doch das ist nicht nur Bedrohung, sondern auch Verheißung: Richtig eingesetzt, können die Werkzeuge und die Philosophie des Web 2.0 ganz neue Geschäftsfelder eröffnen, Entscheidungsprozesse optimieren und die Mitarbeitermotivation steigern.

Oliver Driesen (Author), Oliver Driesen, Yve Fehring (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Formula: How Algorithms Solve all our Problems ... and Create More

What if everything in life could be reduced to a simple formula? What if numbers were able to tell us which partners we were best matched with - not just in terms of attractiveness, but for a long-term committed marriage? Or if they could say which films would be the biggest hits at the box office, and what changes could be made to those films to make them even more successful? Or even who out of us is likely to commit certain crimes, and when? This may sound like the world of science-fiction, but in fact it is just the tip of the iceberg in a world that is increasingly ruled by complex algorithms and neural networks. In The Formula, Luke Dormehl takes you inside the world of numbers, asking how we came to believe in the all-conquering power of algorithms; introducing the mathematicians, artificial intelligence experts and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who are shaping this brave new world, and ultimately asking how we survive in an era where numbers can sometimes seem to create as many problems as they solve.

Luke Dormehl (Author), Daniel Weyman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It

Richard A. Clarke warned America once before about the havoc terrorism would wreak on our national security-and he was right. Now he warns us of another threat, silent but equally dangerous. Cyber War is a powerful book about technology, government, and military strategy; about criminals, spies, soldiers, and hackers. This is the first book about the war of the future-cyber war-and a convincing argument that we may already be in peril of losing it. Cyber War goes behind the "geek talk" of hackers and computer scientists to explain clearly and convincingly what cyber war is, how cyber weapons work, and how vulnerable we are as a nation and as individuals to the vast and looming web of cyber criminals. From the first cyber crisis meeting in the White House a decade ago to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley and the electrical tunnels under Manhattan, Clarke and coauthor Robert K. Knake trace the rise of the cyber age and profile the unlikely characters and places at the epicenter of the battlefield. They recount the foreign cyber spies who hacked into the office of the Secretary of Defense, the control systems for U.S. electric power grids, and the plans to protect America's latest fighter aircraft. Economically and militarily, Clarke and Knake argue, what we've already lost in the new millennium's cyber battles is tantamount to the Soviet and Chinese theft of our nuclear bomb secrets in the 1940s and 1950s. The possibilities of what we stand to lose in an all-out cyber war-our individual and national security among them-are just as chilling. Powerful and convincing, Cyber War begins the critical debate about the next great threat to national security.

Richard A. Clarke, Robert K. Knake (Author), Pete Larkin (Narrator)

Audiobook

Life after Television: The Coming Transformation of Media and American Life

In this remarkably prescient book, Gilder predicts how television will merge with other technologies and evolve into the telecomputer, a personal computer adapted for video processing and connected by fiberoptic threads to other personal computers around the world. This interactive system will change how we do business, educate our children, and spend our leisure time. It will imperil all large, centralized organizations, including broadcasting and cable networks, phone companies, government bureaucracies, and multinational corporations. But the United States has only to unleash its industrial resources to command the “telefuture,” in which new technology will overthrow the stultifying influence of mass media, renew the power of individuals, and promote democracy throughout the world. “[A]n exciting, visionary glimpse of the future….even couch potatoes will be stimulated by this thought-provoking essay.”—Publishers Weekly

George Gilder (Author), Jeff Riggenbach (Narrator)

Audiobook

Computers Audiobooks in Science & Technology