The Hype Machine

The Hype Machine PDF Author: Sinan Aral
Publisher: Currency
ISBN: 0525574522
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
A landmark insider’s tour of how social media affects our decision-making and shapes our world in ways both useful and dangerous, with critical insights into the social media trends of the 2020 election and beyond “The book might be described as prophetic. . . . At least two of Aral’s three predictions have come to fruition.”—New York NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY WIRED • LONGLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD Social media connected the world—and gave rise to fake news and increasing polarization. It is paramount, MIT professor Sinan Aral says, that we recognize the outsize effect social media has on us—on our politics, our economy, and even our personal health—in order to steer today’s social technology toward its great promise while avoiding the ways it can pull us apart. Drawing on decades of his own research and business experience, Aral goes under the hood of the most powerful social networks to tackle the critical question of just how much social media actually shapes our choices, for better or worse. He shows how the tech behind social media offers the same set of behavior influencing levers to everyone who hopes to change the way we think and act—from Russian hackers to brand marketers—which is why its consequences affect everything from elections to business, dating to health. Along the way, he covers a wide array of topics, including how network effects fuel Twitter’s and Facebook’s massive growth, the neuroscience of how social media affects our brains, the real consequences of fake news, the power of social ratings, and the impact of social media on our kids. In mapping out strategies for being more thoughtful consumers of social media, The Hype Machine offers the definitive guide to understanding and harnessing for good the technology that has redefined our world overnight.

The Hype Machine

The Hype Machine PDF Author: Sinan Aral
Publisher: Currency
ISBN: 0525574522
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 417

Get Book

Book Description
A landmark insider’s tour of how social media affects our decision-making and shapes our world in ways both useful and dangerous, with critical insights into the social media trends of the 2020 election and beyond “The book might be described as prophetic. . . . At least two of Aral’s three predictions have come to fruition.”—New York NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY WIRED • LONGLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD Social media connected the world—and gave rise to fake news and increasing polarization. It is paramount, MIT professor Sinan Aral says, that we recognize the outsize effect social media has on us—on our politics, our economy, and even our personal health—in order to steer today’s social technology toward its great promise while avoiding the ways it can pull us apart. Drawing on decades of his own research and business experience, Aral goes under the hood of the most powerful social networks to tackle the critical question of just how much social media actually shapes our choices, for better or worse. He shows how the tech behind social media offers the same set of behavior influencing levers to everyone who hopes to change the way we think and act—from Russian hackers to brand marketers—which is why its consequences affect everything from elections to business, dating to health. Along the way, he covers a wide array of topics, including how network effects fuel Twitter’s and Facebook’s massive growth, the neuroscience of how social media affects our brains, the real consequences of fake news, the power of social ratings, and the impact of social media on our kids. In mapping out strategies for being more thoughtful consumers of social media, The Hype Machine offers the definitive guide to understanding and harnessing for good the technology that has redefined our world overnight.

The Charisma Machine

The Charisma Machine PDF Author: Morgan G. Ames
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262537443
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
A fascinating examination of technological utopianism and its complicated consequences. In The Charisma Machine, Morgan Ames chronicles the life and legacy of the One Laptop per Child project and explains why—despite its failures—the same utopian visions that inspired OLPC still motivate other projects trying to use technology to “disrupt” education and development. Announced in 2005 by MIT Media Lab cofounder Nicholas Negroponte, One Laptop per Child promised to transform the lives of children across the Global South with a small, sturdy, and cheap laptop computer, powered by a hand crank. In reality, the project fell short in many ways—starting with the hand crank, which never materialized. Yet the project remained charismatic to many who were captivated by its claims of access to educational opportunities previously out of reach. Behind its promises, OLPC, like many technology projects that make similarly grand claims, had a fundamentally flawed vision of who the computer was made for and what role technology should play in learning. Drawing on fifty years of history and a seven-month study of a model OLPC project in Paraguay, Ames reveals that the laptops were not only frustrating to use, easy to break, and hard to repair, they were designed for “technically precocious boys”—idealized younger versions of the developers themselves—rather than the children who were actually using them. The Charisma Machine offers a cautionary tale about the allure of technology hype and the problems that result when utopian dreams drive technology development.

Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men

Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men PDF Author: Evan Dorkin
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
ISBN: 1506708781
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Book Description
This eight-time Eisner Award-winning comic book series blending fantasy and humor features the adventures of paranormal pets investigating the horrors of Burden Hill. A heroic pack of canines known as the Wise Dogs sets off on a mission to clean up a Pennsylvania corridor plagued by seemingly unrelated occult disturbances that include a fire salamander and a horde of mutant lurkers. A link is found among the various disturbances, leading our heroes to a mountain village inhabited by a survivalist witch-cult who have discovered the existence of a "Blood Lure" attracting occult forces, creatures, and many more terrors to Burden Hill! Award-winning comics creators Evan Dorkin (Milk & Cheese) and Ben Dewey (The Autumnlands) come together to share the lives of some unlikely heroes. This volume collects the comic-book series Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men issues #1-4, published by Dark Horse Comics.

Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of Modern American Politics

Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of Modern American Politics PDF Author: Terry Golway
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0871407922
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
“Golway’s revisionist take is a useful reminder of the unmatched ingenuity of American politics.”—Wall Street Journal History casts Tammany Hall as shorthand for the worst of urban politics: graft and patronage personified by notoriously crooked characters. In his groundbreaking work Machine Made, journalist and historian Terry Golway dismantles these stereotypes, focusing on the many benefits of machine politics for marginalized immigrants. As thousands sought refuge from Ireland’s potato famine, the very question of who would be included under the protection of American democracy was at stake. Tammany’s transactional politics were at the heart of crucial social reforms—such as child labor laws, workers’ compensation, and minimum wages— and Golway demonstrates that American political history cannot be understood without Tammany’s profound contribution. Culminating in FDR’s New Deal, Machine Made reveals how Tammany Hall “changed the role of government—for the better to millions of disenfranchised recent American arrivals” (New York Observer).

Never Be Alone Again

Never Be Alone Again PDF Author: Lina Abascal
Publisher: Two Palms Publishing
ISBN: 9780578983004
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN: How Bloghouse United the Internet and the Dancefloor is the first book dedicated to the music and Internet culture in the early 2000s known as bloghouse. With a foreword by DJ/producer A-Trak the book includes over 50 original interviews with musicians, bloggers, music industry professionals, and party people from around the world including Steve Aoki, The Bloody Beetroots, Girl Talk, The Cobra Snake, Chromeo, Flosstradamus, The Cool Kids, MySpace Music, MSTRKRFT, and Simian Mobile Disco. NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN chronicles the rise of the DJ-slash-It Girl, roaming party photography, illegal Mp3 file sharing, canonical scene reports of bloghouse capitals Los Angeles and Paris, the overlooked impact of suburban Latino communities on nightlife, Kanye West's contribution to the movement, and the slow death of the blog itself.

Social Media Is Bullshit

Social Media Is Bullshit PDF Author: B. J. Mendelson
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250017505
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
A provocative look at social media that dispels the hype and tells you all you need to know about using the Web to expand your business If you listen to the pundits, Internet gurus, marketing consultants, and even the mainstream media, you could think social media was the second coming. When it comes to business, they declare that it's revolutionizing advertising, PR, customer relations—everything. And they all agree: it is here to stay. In this lively, insightful guide, journalist and social critic B.J. Mendelson skillfully debunks the myths of social media. He illustrates how the notion of "social media" first came to prominence, why it has become such a powerful presence in the marketing field, and who stands to benefit each time it's touted in the press. He shows you why all the Facebook friends and Twitter followers in the world mean nothing to you and your business without old-fashioned, real-world connections. He examines popular tales of social media "success," and reveals some unsettling truths behind the surface. And he tells you how to best harness the potential of the Internet—without spending a fortune in the process. Social media is bullshit. This book gives the knowledge and tools you really need to connect with customers and grow your brand.

The Big R-Book

The Big R-Book PDF Author: Philippe J. S. De Brouwer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119632722
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 928

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Book Description
Introduces professionals and scientists to statistics and machine learning using the programming language R Written by and for practitioners, this book provides an overall introduction to R, focusing on tools and methods commonly used in data science, and placing emphasis on practice and business use. It covers a wide range of topics in a single volume, including big data, databases, statistical machine learning, data wrangling, data visualization, and the reporting of results. The topics covered are all important for someone with a science/math background that is looking to quickly learn several practical technologies to enter or transition to the growing field of data science. The Big R-Book for Professionals: From Data Science to Learning Machines and Reporting with R includes nine parts, starting with an introduction to the subject and followed by an overview of R and elements of statistics. The third part revolves around data, while the fourth focuses on data wrangling. Part 5 teaches readers about exploring data. In Part 6 we learn to build models, Part 7 introduces the reader to the reality in companies, Part 8 covers reports and interactive applications and finally Part 9 introduces the reader to big data and performance computing. It also includes some helpful appendices. Provides a practical guide for non-experts with a focus on business users Contains a unique combination of topics including an introduction to R, machine learning, mathematical models, data wrangling, and reporting Uses a practical tone and integrates multiple topics in a coherent framework Demystifies the hype around machine learning and AI by enabling readers to understand the provided models and program them in R Shows readers how to visualize results in static and interactive reports Supplementary materials includes PDF slides based on the book’s content, as well as all the extracted R-code and is available to everyone on a Wiley Book Companion Site The Big R-Book is an excellent guide for science technology, engineering, or mathematics students who wish to make a successful transition from the academic world to the professional. It will also appeal to all young data scientists, quantitative analysts, and analytics professionals, as well as those who make mathematical models.

Wonderstruck

Wonderstruck PDF Author: Brian Selznick
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 1407166557
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
Ben's story takes place in 1977 and is told in words. Rose's story in 1927 is told entirely in pictures. Ever since his mother died, Ben feels lost. At home with her father, Rose feels alone. When Ben finds a mysterious clue hidden in his mother's room, both children risk everything to find what's missing.

The Humachine

The Humachine PDF Author: Nada R. Sanders
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429671202
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
There is a lot of hype, hand-waving, and ink being spilled about artificial intelligence (AI) in business. The amount of coverage of this topic in the trade press and on shareholder calls is evidence of a large change currently underway. It is awesome and terrifying. You might think of AI as a major environmental factor that is creating an evolutionary pressure that will force enterprise to evolve or perish. For those companies that do survive the "silicon wave" sweeping through the global economy, the issue becomes how to keep their humanity amidst the tumult. What started as an inquiry into how executives can adopt AI to harness the best of human and machine capabilities turned into a much more profound rumination on the future of humanity and enterprise. This is a wake-up call for business leaders across all sectors of the economy. Not only should you implement AI regardless of your industry, but once you do, you should fight to stay true to your purpose, your ethical convictions, indeed your humanity, even as our organizations continue to evolve. While not holding any punches about the dangers posed by overpowered AI, this book uniquely surveys where technology is limited, and gives reason for cautious optimism about the true opportunities that lie amidst all the disruptive change currently underway. As such, it is distinctively more optimistic than many of the competing titles on Big Technology. This compelling book weaves together business strategy and philosophy of mind, behavioral psychology and the limits of technology, leadership and law. The authors set out to identify where humans and machines can best complement one another to create an enterprise greater than the sum total of its parts: the Humachine. Combining the global business and forecasting acumen of Professor Nada R. Sanders, PhD, with the legal and philosophical insight of John D. Wood, Esq., the authors combine their strengths to bring us this profound yet accessible book. This is a "must read" for anyone interested in AI and the future of human enterprise.

Human + Machine

Human + Machine PDF Author: Paul R. Daugherty
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 1633693872
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
AI is radically transforming business. Are you ready? Look around you. Artificial intelligence is no longer just a futuristic notion. It's here right now--in software that senses what we need, supply chains that "think" in real time, and robots that respond to changes in their environment. Twenty-first-century pioneer companies are already using AI to innovate and grow fast. The bottom line is this: Businesses that understand how to harness AI can surge ahead. Those that neglect it will fall behind. Which side are you on? In Human + Machine, Accenture leaders Paul R. Daugherty and H. James (Jim) Wilson show that the essence of the AI paradigm shift is the transformation of all business processes within an organization--whether related to breakthrough innovation, everyday customer service, or personal productivity habits. As humans and smart machines collaborate ever more closely, work processes become more fluid and adaptive, enabling companies to change them on the fly--or to completely reimagine them. AI is changing all the rules of how companies operate. Based on the authors' experience and research with 1,500 organizations, the book reveals how companies are using the new rules of AI to leap ahead on innovation and profitability, as well as what you can do to achieve similar results. It describes six entirely new types of hybrid human + machine roles that every company must develop, and it includes a "leader’s guide" with the five crucial principles required to become an AI-fueled business. Human + Machine provides the missing and much-needed management playbook for success in our new age of AI. BOOK PROCEEDS FOR THE AI GENERATION The authors' goal in publishing Human + Machine is to help executives, workers, students and others navigate the changes that AI is making to business and the economy. They believe AI will bring innovations that truly improve the way the world works and lives. However, AI will cause disruption, and many people will need education, training and support to prepare for the newly created jobs. To support this need, the authors are donating the royalties received from the sale of this book to fund education and retraining programs focused on developing fusion skills for the age of artificial intelligence.