Totally Wired
Totally Wired

Author: Andrew Smith

Publisher: Grove Press

Published: 2019-03-12

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 080214697X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“The Social Network meets Hammer of the Gods” in this story of a 1990s web titan who made a fortune and lost it all—and what happened afterward (The Independent). One day in February 2001, Josh Harris woke to certain knowledge that he was about to lose everything. The man Time magazine called “The Warhol of the Web” was reduced to a helpless spectator as his fortune dwindled from 85 million dollars to nothing, all in the space of a week. Harris had been a maverick genius preternaturally adapted to the new online world. He founded New York’s first dotcom, Pseudo.com, and paved the way for a cadre of twentysomethings to follow, riding a wave of tech euphoria to unimagined wealth and fame for five years—before the great dotcom crash, in which Web 1.0 was wiped from the face of the earth. Long before then, though, Harris’s view of the web had darkened, and he began a series of lurid social experiments aimed at illustrating his worst fear: that the internet would soon alter the very fabric of society—cognitive, social, political, and otherwise. In Totally Wired, journalist Andrew Smith seeks to unravel the opaque and mysterious episodes of the early dotcom craze, in which the seeds of our current reality were sown. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Harris and those who worked alongside him in downtown Manhattan’s “Silicon Alley,” the tale moves from a compound in Ethiopia through New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, London, and Salt Lake City, Utah; from the dawn of the web to the present, taking in the rise of alternative facts, troll society, and the unexpected origins of the net itself, as our world has grown uncannily to resemble the one Harris predicted—and urged us to evade. “Raucous, whimsical, sad and very funny…a fascinating account of what could have been, what briefly was, what almost lasted.” ―TheWall Street Journal “Told with verve and style…A valuable history.” ―Kirkus Reviews “A brilliant exploration of madness and genius in the early days of the web.”―The Guardian “Dark and compelling.”―Daily Mail “This is a book whose time has come.”―Sunday Times

Moondust
Moondust

Author: Andrew Smith

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2006-04-04

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 0747588147

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In 1999, Andrew Smith was interviewing Charlie Duke, astronaut and moon walker, for the Sunday Times. During the course of the interview, which took place at Duke's Texan home, the telephone rang and Charlie left the room to answer it. When he returned, some twenty minutes later, he seemed visibly upset. It seemed that he'd just heard that, the previous day, one of his fellow moon walkers, the astronaut Pete Conrad, had died. The more Charlie spoke the more Andrew realised that his grief was something more than the mere fact of losing a friend. 'Now theres only nine of us,' he said. Only nine. Which meant that, one day not long from now, there would be none, and when that day came, no one on earth would have known the giddy thrill of gazing back at us from the surface of the moon. The thought shocked Andrew, and still does. Moondust is his attempt to understand why. The Apollo moon programme has been called the last optimistic act of the 20th Century. Over a strange three year period between 1969 and 1972, twelve men made the longest and most eccentric of all journeys, and all were indelibly marked by it. In Moondust Andrew sets out to interview all the remaining astronauts who walked on the moon, and to find out how their lives were changed for ever by what had happened. 'Where do you go after you've been to the moon?' In addition to this question that would prove hugely troubling to many of the returned astronauts, they also had to deal with the fantasies of faceless millions at their backs, for this was the first truly global media event. The walkers would forever be caught between the gravitational pull of the moon and the earth's collective dreaming.

The American People
The American People

Author: B.A. Botkin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-02-13

Total Pages: 566

ISBN-13: 1000679470

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This stimulating anthology, prepared by the great folklorist, B.A. Botkin, is comprised of the traditional songs, stories, customs, and beliefs which have been handed down, by word of mouth, for so long that they seem to have a life of their own. For Botkin, they are at the core of peoplehood. When one thinks of American folklore one thinks not only of the folklore of American life, the traditions that have sprung up on American soil, but also of the literature of folklore, the migratory traditions that have found a home in the New World.

Chutin' the Bull
Chutin' the Bull

Author: Mark George

Publisher: Mark George and Outskirts Press

Published: 2013-07-24

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1478703105

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Research has shown that laughter increases serotonin levels. Read this book and take plenty of fluids. In Chutin' the Bull, psychotherapist Mark George examines the distracted mind and finds hope for change in a crazy world; one where people and animals talk out their dilemmas. Whether it's goldfish hoping for a better life, a poor soul overcoming a fear of snakes in his toilet, or a couple breaking up over syntax, this book is filled with creatures engaging in healing conversations to cope with life's stresses...and funny things happen! Where do serial killers go for help? Are we teaching our kids to become socialists? Why does "going green" frankly stink when you get right down to it? Join Mark George as he tries to make sense of utter nonsense through hilarious dialogues of people and animals seeking relief in a stressed-out world!

Devil's Doorknob
Devil's Doorknob

Author: Chris Angstrom

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2000-08-31

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0595127975

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Casino and brothel owner Royal Shane--deeply religious, uncouthly alcoholic, and circling the drain--is faced with ruin when state engineers decide to reroute an existing freeway away from his border gambling joint. He launches on a blackout drunk, during which he apparently murders his young business manager, whom he blames for the crisis. Is he innocent . . . or not? The police would certainly like to know, but Shane isn't sure himself. Enter a young, somewhat confused civil servant named Philip Hansen, who complicates things further by falling for one of Shane's prostitutes--even as he courts the love of his life, a New England transplant named Tessa Oulette. Shane is determined to establish his innocence and save his businesses through trickery. The hooker has some devious schemes of her own. Things could get downright dangerous here, if the characters weren't so comically inept.

The Devil and the Dark Water
The Devil and the Dark Water

Author: Stuart Turton

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Published: 2020-10-06

Total Pages: 652

ISBN-13: 1728206030

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Compulsively readable."—New York Times Book Review From Stuart Turton, author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, comes an extraordinary new locked-room murder mystery. A murder on the high seas. A remarkable detective duo. A demon who may or may not exist. It's 1634, and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent. Among the other guests is Sara Wessel, a noblewoman with a secret. But no sooner is their ship out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A strange symbol appears on the sail. A dead leper stalks the decks. Livestock dies in the night. And then the passengers hear a terrible voice, whispering to them in the darkness, promising three unholy miracles, followed by a slaughter. First an impossible pursuit. Second an impossible theft. And third an impossible murder. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes? With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent and Sara can solve a mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board. Shirley Jackson meets Sherlock Holmes in this chilling thriller of supernatural horror, occult suspicion, and paranormal mystery on the high seas.

Stagolee Shot Billy
Stagolee Shot Billy

Author: Cecil Brown

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-07-01

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780674028906

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Although his story has been told countless times--by performers from Ma Rainey, Cab Calloway, and the Isley Brothers to Ike and Tina Turner, James Brown, and Taj Mahal--no one seems to know who Stagolee really is. Stack Lee? Stagger Lee? He has gone by all these names in the ballad that has kept his exploits before us for over a century. Delving into a subculture of St. Louis known as "Deep Morgan," Cecil Brown emerges with the facts behind the legend to unfold the mystery of Stack Lee and the incident that led to murder in 1895. How the legend grew is a story in itself, and Brown tracks it through variants of the song "Stack Lee"--from early ragtime versions of the '20s, to Mississippi John Hurt's rendition in the '30s, to John Lomax's 1940s prison versions, to interpretations by Lloyd Price, James Brown, and Wilson Pickett, right up to the hip-hop renderings of the '90s. Drawing upon the works of James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and Ralph Ellison, Brown describes the powerful influence of a legend bigger than literature, one whose transformation reflects changing views of black musical forms, and African Americans' altered attitudes toward black male identity, gender, and police brutality. This book takes you to the heart of America, into the soul and circumstances of a legend that has conveyed a painful and elusive truth about our culture.

Devil's Comet
Devil's Comet

Author: Tina Marie Kelly

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2010-08

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1452049912

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Over 65 million years ago fragments from an unknown comet struck the Earth and annihilated the entire species of dinosaurs. Over 1200 years ago pieces of an unknown comet struck the earth and sent the world into the Dark Ages. Now that comet is back to deliver another destructive blow to mankind. Devil's Comet return has resurrected a powerful demon whose sole mission is to recruit enough souls to help him open the doorway to Hell. With time running out, the fate of the world lies in the hands of eight people that must learn to put aside their differences and work together to prevent the End of Days. Now hold on and Brace For Impact!!!!

Devil in the Stack
Devil in the Stack

Author: Andrew Smith

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Published: 2024-08-20

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780802158840

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From internationally-bestselling author and journalist Andrew Smith, an immersive, alarming, sharp-eyed journey into the bizarre world of computer code, told through his sometimes painful, often amusing attempt to become a coder himself Throughout history, technological revolutions have been driven by the invention of machines. But today, the power of the technology transforming our world lies in an intangible and impenetrable cosmos of software: algorithmic code. So symbiotic has our relationship with this code become that we barely notice it anymore. We can't see it, are not even sure how to think about it, and yet we do almost nothing that doesn't depend on it. In a world increasingly governed by technologies that so few can comprehend, who--or what--controls the future? Devil in the Stack follows Andrew Smith on his immersive trip into the world of coding, passing through the stories of logic, machine-learning and early computing, from Ada Lovelace to Alan Turing, and up to the present moment, behind the scenes into the lives--and minds--of the new frontiers people of the 21st century: those who write code. Smith embarks on a quest to understand this sect in what he believes to be the only way possible: by learning to code himself. Expansive and effervescent, Devil in the Stack delivers a portrait of code as both a vivid culture and an impending threat. How do we control a technology that most people can't understand? And are we programming ourselves out of existence? Perhaps most terrifying of all: Is there something about the way we compute - the way code works - that is innately at odds with the way humans have evolved? By turns revelatory, unsettling, and joyously funny, Devil in the Stack is an essential book for our times, of vital interest to anyone hoping to participate in the future-defining technological debates to come.