- CYBERCULTURE
- "Rich
Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times"
by Robert W. McChesney
A noted historian of the early broadcasting age, Robert McChesney
turns his gaze to the present in this impassioned, deeply researched
critique of the state of communications in America and around
the globe. The increasingly tightfisted corporate control of publishing,
television, and radio is, in McChesney's unabashedly left-wing
view, one of the leading threats to true, robust democracy in
the world today. Even the Internet, he argues in "Rich Media,
Poor Democracy," is falling under the sway of the conglomerates
faster than its democratic potential can be realized. His idea
of a remedy (increased funding for nonprofit journalism and tighter
regulation of corporate media) may not suit you, but his sharp,
stimulating analysis is hard to dismiss.
- "Database
Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century"
by Simson Garfinkel
Forget the common cold for a moment. Instead, consider the rise
of "false data syndrome," a deceptive method of identification
derived from numbers rather than more recognizable human traits.
Simson Garfinkel couples this idea with concepts like "data shadow"
and "datasphere" in "Database Nation," offering a decidedly unappealing
scenario of how we have overlooked privacy with the advent of
advanced technology. According to Garfinkel, "technology is not
privacy neutral." It leaves us with only two choices: 1) allow
our personal data to rest in the public domain or 2) become hermits
(no credit cards, no midnight video jaunts-- you get the point).
- "The
Internet Edge: Social, Legal, and Technological Challenges for
a Networked World"
by Mark J. Stefik
It's hard enough keeping up with today's advances in technology
without worrying about tomorrow's--but that's always where the
action is. Xerox PARC scientist Mark Stefik gets paid to think
about and act on future technology, and his fascinating, enjoyable
report, "The Internet Edge," shows us what we're becoming as our
information technology gets more ubiquitous and transparent. Suits
and nerds alike will love his pragmatic, brainstorming style that
reaches back into our technological history to make sense of the
road ahead. Chapters cover portability, digital commerce, publishing,
privacy, and more, examining changes in the breadth of our social
experience as well as our work lives.
- "Code
and Other Laws of Cyberspace"
by Lawrence Lessig
Everyone knows that cyberspace is a wild frontier that can't be
regulated, right? Everyone is wrong, and that's why we should
all read Harvard Law prof (and famous Microsoft trial expert)
Lawrence Lessig's eye-opening, jaw-dropping book "Code," the best
guide yet to the future that's heading our way like a frictionless
freight train. For such an analytical book, it's also anecdote-studded
and utterly fun to read.
- "Faster:
The Acceleration of Just About Everything"
by James Gleick
Never in the history of the human race have so many had so much
to do in so little time. That, anyway, is the impression most
of us have of civilized life at the turn of the millennium, and
"Faster" only sharpens it. Elegantly composed and insightfully
researched, "Faster" delivers a brisk volley of observations on
how microchips, media, and economics, among other things, have
accelerated the pace of everyday experience over the course of
the manic 20th century.
- "User
Friendly"
by J.D. Illiad Frazer
Yes, it's a cliche, but it's true enough to be worth repeating:
"User Friendly" is to the open-source world what Dilbert is to
the swarming hives of Windows cubicles. Set in an ISP company
that keeps getitbusng bought and sold, the constant remains a team
of cynical, hilarious techies. M.B.A.s and marketers drift in
and out, as do CEOs, often making statements like, "I can't surf
the Web. I think the Internet is broken." For anyone who's dealt
with similar situations, "User Friendly" is the ultimate in-joke.
- "Zero:
The biography of a dangerous idea"
by Charles Seife
The seemingly impossible Zen task--writing a book about nothing--has
a loophole: people have been chatitbusng, learning, and even fighting
about nothing for millennia. "Zero," by noted science writer Charles
Seife, starts with the story of a modern battleship stopped dead
in the water by a loose zero, then rewinds back to several hundred
years BCE. Some empty-headed genius improved the traditional Eastern
counting methods immeasurably by adding zero as a placeholder,
which allowed the genesis of our still-used decimal system.
- "The
Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age
of the Internet"
edited by Ken Goldberg
The 17 essays collected in "The Robot in the Garden" are by leading
notables in the philosophy, art, history, and engineering arenas
and are organized into three sections: Philosophy; Art, History,
and Critical Theory; and Engineering, Interface, and System Design.
Among the theories explored in this text are telerobotics and
telepistemology (the study of knowledge acquired at a distance).
- "Age
of Access: How the Shift from Ownership to Access Is Transforming
Capitalism"
by Jeremy Rifkin
Jeremy Rifkin, author of "The End of Work," has argued that computers,
robotics, telecommunications, and biotechnologies are quickly
replacing humans in most facets of our everyday lives. "Age of
Access" examines how "new technologies are eliminating the concepts
of 'property' and 'ownership' from our lives," how we make transactions,
and how we're replacing physical property with "access-providers."
- WEB DESIGN
- "Microsoft
Site Server 3.0 Commerce Edition"
by David Libertone and Andrew Scoppa
It would be nice if we developers could always learn new products
and platforms thoroughly before being asked to build wonderful
creations with them. In reality, however, we often must get up
to speed almost instantly. This brief title offers a crash course
in Site Server 3 Commerce Edition--a key product for many e-commerce
Web storefronts. It blows through the material rapidly, maximizing
product screen shots and minimizing text discussion. The book
shows you how to create a site and customize it to your client's
needs. You won't find everything you need to know here, but you'll
find enough to survive.
- "Beginning
Active Server Pages 3.0"
by Brian Francis et al.
Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP) development platform continues
to gain steam in Web development circles and is the tool of choice
for many serious coders. If you're new to Web development and
considering which platform to dive into, ASP is a safe bet. This
superb guide is perfect for those new to Web development or just
new to ASP. It covers how to build well-designed applications
for Web servers on the Windows 2000 platform. In addition to the
basics, you'll learn how to connect efficiently to databases,
manage state, and leverage components. This is a fine introduction
to ASP.
- "Building
Web Applications with UML"
by Jim Conallen
Web applications often begin as a deceivingly straightforward
idea but then quickly evolve into confusion and inefficiency.
The key to rolling out successful deployments is planning and
team communication. The Universal Modeling Language (UML) is the
lingua franca of software architects and is applicable to the
Web with its Web Application Extension (WAE). This short guide
is perfect for both UML users moving to the Web and Web developers
who want to learn UML. The author does a wonderful job of summarizing
and illustrating the unique technologies and protocols of the
Web and then explaining how to represent complete Web applications
with the graphical elements of UML.
- "Flash
4 Magic"
by David J. Emberton
Flash has moved beyond Java and even Shockwave because it's inexpensive,
accessible, and powerful. If you need a specific Flash solution
or you learn best by getitbusng your hands dirty, the project-based
"Flash 4 Magic" will work well for you.
- "Professional
Active Server Pages 3.0"
by Alex Homer et al.
The team behind Professional Active Server Pages 3 has written
a definitive guide for the latest version of ASP included with
Windows 2000. This lengthy text offers a comprehensive look at
the technology and is geared toward seasoned professionals who
want to truly master this important development platform.
- "JavaScript:
The Definitive Guide"
by David Flanagan
In typical O'Reilly & Associates fashion, "JavaScript: The Definitive
Guide" documents every nuance of the JavaScript 1.1 language specification.
It may appear dry on the surface (many pages have the spare style
of Unix online documentation), but this is the book you'll pull
off your shelf when you want to know which method returns the
primitive value of an object.
- "Creating
Stores on the Web"
by by Ben Sawyer, Dave Greely, and Joe Caautorbusdella
The second edition of "Creating Stores on the Web" bridges an
important gap in the current crop of e-commerce books because
it focuses on the general challenges facing would-be online sellers
and provides resource pointers for the reader to clear each hurdle.
This isn't a technical book but rather a pragmatic walk through
all the issues you'll face when hanging your shingle out on the
Web. This book is great if you're curious about how commerce on
the Web works. It provides a rather comprehensive overview of
each key topic, including business models, marketing, shipping,
design, and payment processing.
- "Internet
Core Protocols: The Definitive Reference"
by Eric Hall
For network administrators, support professionals, and system
designers, intimate knowledge of the network protocols that form
the nuts and bolts of the Internet is crucial. "Internet Core
Protocols: The Definitive Guide" is a superb summary of the nitty-gritty
details of the most important Net standards.
- "Big
Book of World Wide Web RFCs"
by Pete Loshin
RFCs (Request for Comments) are published all over the Web, but
they're often difficult to find. Part of a new series to index
and collate RFCs, Pete Loshin's "Big Book of World Wide Web RFCs,"
includes all of the RFCs on the protocols that define Web pages,
the interaction between Web servers and browsers, and how Web
resources are identified and located by browsers and servers.
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