It’s domestic terrorism as you’ve never seen it before. An al-Qaeda cell uses cutting-edge drone technology to circumvent post-9/11 airport security measures. Within eight hours, two planes crash. The President faces an unthinkable decision: ground all planes—and the economy—or keep flying and risk more deaths. Based on real-life technology, Drone Games is a fascinating fictional account of terrorism’s future.
2023rd Edition. When does the past begin and when does the future end? Red Giant Star: A dystopian, yet still plausible notion. Konstantin T. Salmann What Goodreads.com readers are saying about this book: **** Dive into a cosmic adventure with the "Red Giant Star: Trilogy" by Konstantin Salmann! This captivating trilogy takes you on a thrilling journey through space and time, blending science and fiction seamlessly. From vivid world-building to complex characters, the author's imagination shines brilliantly. Each book in the trilogy offers a unique twist on the age-old quest for exploration and discovery, with characters who leap off the pages and into your heart. While the plot can be a bit dense at times, the payoff is worth it! The climax and resolution leave you pondering the mysteries of the universe long after the final page. Overall, "Red Giant Star: Trilogy" is a cosmic gem, earning 4 stars for its ambition, creativity, and unforgettable characters. *** I liked it! Where to start? The thing that I loved the most, is that the author is very descriptive in his writing. This makes it easy for me to imagine the world and story he built in a way that I can plough through the book with ease. But some of the prose is a bit janky, but it doesn’t affect the enjoyment that much. I think it is because the author tries to do more than just novel? It is unique it that aspect .......... Without spoiling too much, the author has built an interesting world. It would be cool to visit it someday, if it exists! (Cause who knows, maybe it does?) **** I loved this story. What a planet Errat is.. And the particle aliens. Nevon is hit by a vehicle and wakes up in another unknown territory. He has amnesia. But as soon he discovers it's not earth things are getting very different. What I loved about the book is that the author is very descriptive about this. So at one point I started to believe that this planet is real... Another thing is pace. Something is happening at every page. I wish author write more books and make it a bigger series. **** This book is an ambitious project to imagine how our world could look like in 200 years from now. The story touches a number of topics that are especially relevant in our world today: the role of technology in societies, race relations, surveillance, freedom, work (or lack thereof), and the role or function of citizens toward their societies.... ***** "A feeling of security is not brought on by the environment, but the people that surround you." This statement from the start of the book is present up to the end...... ***** Okay. I have to say that this book is wonderful and kind of a prophecy of what the future might look like. I enjoyed the flow of the novel, the setting, the description and the climax. All of this drives the reader to just turn to the next page. It's not something you can just dive into, and kudos to the author for that. Really a good job by the author......
New York magazine was born in 1968 after a run as an insert of the New York Herald Tribune and quickly made a place for itself as the trusted resource for readers across the country. With award-winning writing and photography covering everything from politics and food to theater and fashion, the magazine's consistent mission has been to reflect back to its audience the energy and excitement of the city itself, while celebrating New York as both a place and an idea.
In 2010, 60 states had a military drone program. Today at least 113 countries and 65 non-state actors now have access to weaponized drone technologies. Alongside this, established ‘drone powers’ – the U.S., China, Turkey, and Iran – have expanded their own use of military drones, increasing the sale and deployment of drones around the world. In the De Gruyter Handbook of Drone Warfare, drone expert, policy adviser, and historian, Dr James Patton Rogers, brings together 37 of the world’s leading voices on the growing issues of commercial and military drone technologies. From the origins of military drones in the early 1900s and the resurgence of drone use during the War on Terror, through to the global proliferation of drones across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, this handbook explores the moral, ethical, technological, legal, military, geopolitical, social, and strategic issues at the heart of drone warfare. The first handbook of its kind, the volume also addresses Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine, the rise of Iranian and Houthi drones, and provides a focused analysis of the future of drone warfare and the opportunities and perils of AI, autonomy, and swarming technologies in the coming Third Drone Age.
Now in full color, the 10th anniversary edition of this classic book takes you deep into the influences that underlie modern video games, and examines the elements they share with traditional games such as checkers. At the heart of his exploration, veteran game designer Raph Koster takes a close look at the concept of fun and why it’s the most vital element in any game. Why do some games become boring quickly, while others remain fun for years? How do games serve as fundamental and powerful learning tools? Whether you’re a game developer, dedicated gamer, or curious observer, this illustrated, fully updated edition helps you understand what drives this major cultural force, and inspires you to take it further. You’ll discover that: Games play into our innate ability to seek patterns and solve puzzles Most successful games are built upon the same elements Slightly more females than males now play games Many games still teach primitive survival skills Fictional dressing for modern games is more developed than the conceptual elements Truly creative designers seldom use other games for inspiration Games are beginning to evolve beyond their prehistoric origins
Following his acclaimed history of the Situationist International up until the late sixties, The Beach Beneath the Street, McKenzie Wark returns with a companion volume which puts the late work of the Situationists in a broader and deeper context, charting their contemporary relevance and their deep critique of modernity. Wark builds on their work to map the historical stages of the society of the spectacle, from the diffuse to the integrated to what he calls the disintegrating spectacle. The Spectacle of Disintegration takes the reader through the critique of political aesthetics of former Situationist T.J. Clark, the Fourierist utopia of Raoul Vaneigem, René Vienet’s earthy situationist cinema, Gianfranco Sangunetti’s pranking of the Italian ruling class, Alice-Becker Ho’s account of the anonymous language of the Romany, Guy Debord’s late films and his surprising work as a game designer. At once an extraordinary counter history of radical praxis and a call to arms in the age of financial crisis and the resurgence of the streets, The Spectacle of Disintegration recalls the hidden journeys taken in the attempt to leave the twentieth century, and plots an exit from the twenty first. The dustjacket unfolds to reveal a fold-out poster of the collaborative graphic essay combining text selected by McKenzie Wark with composition and drawings by Kevin C. Pyle.
Hugo and Shirley Jackson award-winning Peter Watts stands on the cutting edge of hard SF with his acclaimed novel, Blindsight Two months since the stars fell... Two months of silence, while a world held its breath. Now some half-derelict space probe, sparking fitfully past Neptune's orbit, hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam. Whatever's out there isn't talking to us. It's talking to some distant star, perhaps. Or perhaps to something closer, something en route. So who do you send to force introductions with unknown and unknowable alien intellect that doesn't wish to be met? You send a linguist with multiple personalities, her brain surgically partitioned into separate, sentient processing cores. You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultrasound. You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won't be needed. You send a monster to command them all, an extinct hominid predator once called vampire, recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths. And you send a synthesist—an informational topologist with half his mind gone—as an interface between here and there. Pray they can be trusted with the fate of a world. They may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Combat drones are transforming attitudes about the use of military force. Military casualties and the costs of conflict sap public support for war and for political and military leaders. Combat drones offer an unprecedented ability to reduce these costs by increasing accuracy, reducing the risks to civilians, and protecting military personnel from harm. These advantages should make drone strikes more popular than operations involving ground troops. Yet many critics believe drone warfare will make political leaders too willing to authorize wars, weakening constraints on the use of force. Because combat drones are relatively new, these arguments have been based on anecdotes, a handful of public opinion polls, or theoretical speculation. Drones and Support for the Use of Force uses experimental research to analyze the effects of combat drones on Americans’ support for the use of force. The authors’ findings—that drones have had important but nuanced effects on support for the use of force—have implications for democratic control of military action and civil-military relations and provide insight into how the proliferation of military technologies influences foreign policy.
Tracking originated with man’s need for food; he needed to understand what he was following and what the rewards would be if he was successful. Little has changed over time about the terms of tracking. We still track game for sport and food, but we have also found other uses for tracking. Border police patrol to stop illegal immigrants from entering their country; the military tracks down wanted terrorists or enemy forces. Tracking has become a military skill. In the SAS Tracking Handbook, former SAS soldier and British Empire Medal (BEM) award–winner Barry Davies teaches not only how to survive in the outdoors with the skills of tracking, but how to use these skills from a military standpoint. Included in this book are many helpful tips on topics including: The types of dogs used for tracking. Traps for catching wild animals. Modern military tracking. Using your surroundings to your advantage. And much more. The success or failure of the modern tracker is dependent on the personal skills of the individual tracker. Training is vital in learning tracking skills, and continuous exercise the best way to interpret signs. These skills are rarely found, but they remain hidden deep within all of us. So whether you’re already a skilled tracker or a novice in the field, the SAS Tracking Handbook will be your guide to mastering this old and respected art.
