Authors: Marc A. Smith.
Paperback, 328 pages
Publisher: Routledge
Publication Date: 1999-02-10
Edition: 1

Reviews :

    As new societies and relationships are formed in the virtual landscape of cyberspace, we are now having to consider the potential consequences this might have on our own community and societies, and reconsider how the concept of community is changing. Leading experts on the internet discuss such issues as race, gender, power, economics and ethics in cyberspace, focusing on four areas: identity, social order and control, community structure and dynamics, and collective action. Clearly written and covering all the main topics, this edited volume is an essential introduction to the internet....

    Editors Smith and Kollock have gathered contributors with a variety of viewpoints to examine both the "legitimacy" of community in cyberspace and to question how it operates. While the authors do conclude that communities in cyberspace are real communities, they explore the sometimes surprising ways in which cybercommunities differ from their geographically based counterparts.

There are four primary issues probed here: the question of online identity in an environment where individuals cannot be seen; the question of social order and control in what is, at least on the surface, a largely anarchic environment; the structure and dynamics of online communities; and the cybercommunity as a foundation for collective action.

There's much here to provoke long discussions both online and off, such as the argument that the screen doesn't eliminate the consideration of racial identity so much as it allows for the development of nonvisual criteria for people to judge (or misjudge) the races of others. This book was compiled to be used in the college classroom, although it's not jargon laden or difficult to read. It will appeal to anyone who is professionally or individually involved with virtual communities. --Elizabeth Lewis...

Authors: Mark Poster.
Paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication Date: 2006


Reviews :

    Information Please advances the ongoing critical project of the media scholar Mark Poster: theorizing the social and cultural effects of electronically mediated information. In this book Poster conceptualizes a new relation of humans to information machines, a relation that avoids privileging either the human or the machine but instead focuses on the structures of their interactions. Synthesizing a broad range of critical theory, he explores how texts, images, and sounds are made different when they are mediated by information machines, how this difference affects individuals as well as social and political formations, and how it creates opportunities for progressive change.

Poster’s critique develops through a series of lively studies. Analyzing the appearance of Sesame Street’s Bert next to Osama Bin Laden in a New York Times news photo, he examines the political repercussions of this Internet “hoax” as well as the unlimited opportunities that Internet technology presents for the appropriation and alteration of information. He considers the implications of open-source licensing agreements, online personas, the sudden rise of and interest in identity theft, peer-to-peer file sharing, and more. Focusing explicitly on theory, he reflects on the limitations of critical concepts developed before the emergence of new media, particularly globally networked digital communications, and he argues that, contrary to the assertions of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, new media do not necessarily reproduce neoimperialisms. Urging a rethinking of assumptions ingrained during the dominance of broadcast media, Poster charts new directions for work on politics and digital culture....

Authors: Visions of Governance in the 21st Century (Program).
Paperback, 224 pages
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Publication Date: 2002-03

Authors: Frances Cairncross. Frances C. Cairncross.
Paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Publication Date: 2001-03
Edition: Revised

Reviews :

    In this paperback edition of the acclaimed book, "The Death of Distance", journalist Frances Cairncross of "The Economist" shows us how the world is changing with the introduction of the Internet and wireless technology. First published in 1997, Cairncross' provocative book - based on evidence from two sweeping surveys on telecommunications - argues that new communications technologies are rapidly obliterating distance as a relevant factor in how we conduct our business and personal lives. Now, the author has substantially rewritten and updated the book, with 70 percent new data, fresh analysis, and new company examples to offer a look at the economic landscape ahead.Cairncross argues that the story today is not only the diminishing importance of distance, but also the mobility and ubiquity of technology. New material covers the implications of recent events and debates including: the rise and fall of the dot-com phenomenon; the spread of mobile telephones and other wireless communications; the wave of technology mergers; the authenticity of the "new economy;" diverging trends in business-to-consumer and business-to-business e-commerce; the restructuring of the organization in the wake of the Internet; the increasing impact of patent law on the communications economy; the so-called "digital divide"; and, the democratizing effects of communications technology on companies, governments, and society. With an updated "Trendspotter's Guide" that offers a snapshot of the new opportunities and challenges we face in a wireless world, this timely book will help all of us envision and enjoy an increasingly connected future....

    From the advent of electronic communications, there's been talk about how the world has been shrinking. Frances Cairncross, senior editor for the Economist, makes her case from an economical standpoint: The growing ease and speed of communication is creating a world where the miles have little to do with our ability to work or interact together. Cairncross predicts that it won't be long before people organize globally on the basis of language and three basic time shifts--one for the Americas, one for Europe, and one for East Asia and Australia. Much work that can be done on a computer can be done from anywhere. Workers can code software in one part of the world and pass it to a company hundreds of miles away that will assemble the code for marketing. And with workers able to earn a living from anywhere, countries may find themselves competing for citizens as people relocate for reasons ranging from lower taxes to nicer weather. Cairncross discusses about 30 major changes likely to result from these trends, including greater self-policing of businesses, an unavoidable loss of personal privacy, and a diminishing need for countries to want emigration....

Authors: Harry Henderson.
Paperback, 256 pages
Publisher: Facts on File
Publication Date: 2004-04
Edition: 2

Reviews :

    The US Department of Labor projects that eight out of ten of the fastest-growing occupations in the United States between 2000 and 2010 will be in computers and that the computer and data processing services industry will have the fastest wage and salary employment growth of all industries. This book is a straightforward guide to jobs in the computer industry. It covers more than 80 jobs, profiling everything from programming and manufacturing to software instruction and sales. For this new edition, all entries have been reviewed and updated with the latest information and many new profiles have been added to cover emerging jobs including data miner, bioinformatics specialist, system administrator, technical recruiter or agent and online writer/editor. The "Industry Outlook" section reflects recent changes in the field, such as areas that fallen of (dot-com business)_and areas likely to grow (bioinformatics)....

Authors: Alliance for Technology Access.
Paperback, 364 pages
Publisher: Hunter House (CA)
Publication Date: 2000-03
Edition: 3rd

Reviews :

    This newly expanded book describes how to make use of conventional and assistive technologies, and explains how to determine needs. An indispensable resource guide, it lists funding sources, government programs, publications, and technology vendors....

Authors: Tiziana Terranova.
Paperback, 208 pages
Publisher: Pluto Press
Publication Date: 2004-07-22


Reviews :

    In an age of email lists and discussion groups, e-zines and weblogs, bringing together users, consumers, workers and activists from around the globe, what kinds of political subjectivity are emerging? What kinds of politics become possible in a time of information overload and media saturation? What structures of power and control operate over a self-organising system like the internet? In this highly original new work, Tiziana Terranova investigates the political dimension of the network culture in which we now live, and explores what the new forms of communication and organisation might mean for our understanding of power and politics. Terranova engages with key concepts and debates in cultural theory and cultural politics, using examples from media culture, computing, network dynamics, and internet activism within the anti-capitalist and anti-war movements. Network Culture concludes that the nonlinear network dynamics that link different modes of communication at different levels (from local radio to satellite television, from the national press to the internet, from broadcasting to rumours and conspiracy theories) provide the conditions within which another politics can emerge. This other politics, the book suggests, does not entail the production of a new political discourse or ideology, but the invention of micropolitical tactics able to stand up to new forms of social control....

Authors: William Shaw.
Hardcover, 299 pages
Publisher: PennWell Corp.
Publication Date: 2006-07-28


Reviews :

    SCADA technology quietly operates in the background of critical utility and industrial facilities nationwide. This important tool efficiently manages utility assets, refineries and other critical industrial segments, but protecting SCADA networks from cyber attacks, hackers and even physical assault is becoming a test of will, cleverness and determination. Cybersecurity for SCADA Systems provides a high-level overview of this unique technology, with an explanation of each market segment. Readers will understand the vital issues, and learn strategies for decreasing or eliminating system vulnerabilities.





Benefits for readers: Functional breakdown and explanation of the typical features, capabilities, and components of a SCADA system; IT and cybersecurity technology and terminology overview and explanation; Industry-specific as well as generalized discussion of SCADA vulnerabilities and available remediation strategies; and Discussion of physical and electronic security issues and strategies

Suitable for the non-technical management level personnel as well as IT personnel without SCADA experience...

Authors: Matt Curtin.
Hardcover, 291 pages
Publisher: Springer
Publication Date: 2005-02-16
Edition: 1

Reviews :

   

In the 1960s, it became increasingly clear that more and more information was going to be stored on computers, not on pieces of paper. With these changes in technology and the ways it was used came a need to protect both the systems and the information. For the next ten years, encryption systems of varying strengths were developed, but none proved to be rigorous enough. In 1973, the NBS put out an open call for a new, stronger encryption system that would become the new federal standard. Several years later, IBM responded with a system called Lucifer that came to simply be known as DES (data encryption standard).

The strength of an encryption system is best measured by the attacks it is able to withstand, and because DES was the federal standard, many tried to test its limits. (It should also be noted that a number of cryptographers and computer scientists told the NSA that DES was not nearly strong enough and would be easily hacked.) Rogue hackers, usually out to steal as much information as possible, tried to break DES. A number of "white hat" hackers also tested the system and reported on their successes. Still others attacked DES because they believed it had outlived its effectiveness and was becoming increasingly vulnerable. The sum total of these efforts to use all of the possible keys to break DES over time made for a brute force attack.

In 1996, the supposedly uncrackable DES was broken. In this captivating and intriguing book, Matt Curtin charts DES’s rise and fall and chronicles the efforts of those who were determined to master it.

...

Authors:
Hardcover, 365 pages
Publisher: IGI Global
Publication Date: 2006-10-30


Reviews :

    Issues and Trends in Technology and Human Interaction consists of research in the areas of e-commerce through law and culture, intellectual capital in knowledge management, and the philosophy of technology, among other topics. This book also investigates the interaction of technology and humans from a variety of viewpoints, and presents technology assessment of software/hardware development, interaction and conversion between technologies and their impact on society, and phenomenology of e-government....