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The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers is a 1998 book by …
I really enjoyed Lindsay's writing style, it hits the essentials of JSON without any filler. It would be great if more technical books were written in this style!
“Ross Ulbricht had been doing all his Silk Road work from his main daily laptop. One afternoon in September 2013, …
Open Circuits is a photographic exploration of the beautiful design inside everyday electronics. Its stunning cross-section photography unlocks a hidden …
It's refreshing to read a book that encourages exploring childlike curiosities to problems instead of relying solely on the cold, mechanical, unimaginative steady drumbeat of logic.
This passage nicely summed up the theme of the book for me (replace "messages" for ideas and it still applies beautifully):
"Quite simply, all powerful messages must contain an element of absurdity, illogicality, costliness, disproportion, inefficiency, scarcity, difficulty or extravagance - because rational behaviour and talk, for all their strengths, convey no meaning."
An excellent & quick read on the basics of networking for sys admins and the rest of us mere mortals! I especially liked the chapter on using tcpdump for packet sniffing.
Michael W. Lucas (yes, it's important to put the "W." in there if you do a Google search; you'll know what I mean if you leave it out) has a humourous and engaging writing style that gets right to the heart of solving those technical woes that might await you.
Mimi is a 'waste girl', a member of the lowest caste on Silicon Isle.
Located …
Chen Qiufan's "The Waste Tide" is a beautifully haunting novel. A highly recommend read.
Set in the fictitious future city of Silicon Isle -- a depressing nightmare where migrant workers toil night and day to take apart e-waste in an unforgiving filthy, toxic, cancer-inducing environment.
The world-building and characters Chen captures are rich and deep. You feel for Mimi and her unfortunate migrant workers who are treated like worthless dirt by Silicon Isle's affluent & arrogant caste.
And you encounter many gems along the way, such as the fusion of Chinese myths, a spirit-powered mech of death, as well as hilarious and visually entertaining snippets:
"The woman grabbed him by the left leg and dragged the powerless Kaizong into a temporary shed filled with junked prostheses. She pulled a rubber dildo out of the pile and, with astounding arm strength, stretched it into a rope, which she used to tie …
Chen Qiufan's "The Waste Tide" is a beautifully haunting novel. A highly recommend read.
Set in the fictitious future city of Silicon Isle -- a depressing nightmare where migrant workers toil night and day to take apart e-waste in an unforgiving filthy, toxic, cancer-inducing environment.
The world-building and characters Chen captures are rich and deep. You feel for Mimi and her unfortunate migrant workers who are treated like worthless dirt by Silicon Isle's affluent & arrogant caste.
And you encounter many gems along the way, such as the fusion of Chinese myths, a spirit-powered mech of death, as well as hilarious and visually entertaining snippets:
"The woman grabbed him by the left leg and dragged the powerless Kaizong into a temporary shed filled with junked prostheses. She pulled a rubber dildo out of the pile and, with astounding arm strength, stretched it into a rope, which she used to tie Kaizong's hands securely to a water pipe. 'You better learn your lesson. Next time, I'll use your own dick.' The woman cackled..."
Ouch!
Mimi is a 'waste girl', a member of the lowest caste on Silicon Isle.
Located off China's southeastern coast, Silicon …
AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order is a 2018 non-fiction book …
Mr. Lee makes good arguments for why China may become a dominant global powerhouse in AI. In a growing multipolar world, his arguments are very reasonable.
In essence, the arguments boil down to two major shifts:
The described 'gladiator' style of entrepreneurship in China where ultra nimble founders do anything it takes to beat out the competition and tune to market demands is worth a read alone. There's even an interesting story of how search engine competitors played nasty tricks on Google China.
This was the most important takeaway from the book for me. The …
Mr. Lee makes good arguments for why China may become a dominant global powerhouse in AI. In a growing multipolar world, his arguments are very reasonable.
In essence, the arguments boil down to two major shifts:
The described 'gladiator' style of entrepreneurship in China where ultra nimble founders do anything it takes to beat out the competition and tune to market demands is worth a read alone. There's even an interesting story of how search engine competitors played nasty tricks on Google China.
This was the most important takeaway from the book for me. The difference between how U.S. and Chinese companies collect data. This is the crux of Mr. Lee's argument of why China may end up leading AI.
Chinese companies are more vertically integrated and collect significantly more offline, real-world data than the average U.S. company (which are more focused on collecting online data -- such as browsing habits, likes, views, etc.).
Chinese companies know the what, when, where you purchased your meals, booked your doctor appointment, spent on a makeover, traveled to, even right down to your phone battery levels. That is, they "embrace the messy details of the real world" & this is what gives them an advantage over Silicon Valley. The offline-to-online (020) merger of daily life across billions of consumers will become the data oil that will feed and run these powerful AI algorithms.
This is a very interesting read and recommended it.
