Author: Yasha Levine
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610398033
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
The internet is the most effective weapon the government has ever built. In this fascinating book, investigative reporter Yasha Levine uncovers the secret origins of the internet, tracing it back to a Pentagon counterinsurgency surveillance project. A visionary intelligence officer, William Godel, realized that the key to winning the war in Vietnam was not outgunning the enemy, but using new information technology to understand their motives and anticipate their movements. This idea -- using computers to spy on people and groups perceived as a threat, both at home and abroad -- drove ARPA to develop the internet in the 1960s, and continues to be at the heart of the modern internet we all know and use today. As Levine shows, surveillance wasn't something that suddenly appeared on the internet; it was woven into the fabric of the technology. But this isn't just a story about the NSA or other domestic programs run by the government. As the book spins forward in time, Levine examines the private surveillance business that powers tech-industry giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, revealing how these companies spy on their users for profit, all while doing double duty as military and intelligence contractors. Levine shows that the military and Silicon Valley are effectively inseparable: a military-digital complex that permeates everything connected to the internet, even coopting and weaponizing the antigovernment privacy movement that sprang up in the wake of Edward Snowden. With deep research, skilled storytelling, and provocative arguments, Surveillance Valley will change the way you think about the news -- and the device on which you read it.
Surveillance Valley
The Secret Story of the Dark Web
Author: Derek Mailhiot
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 286
Book Description
Ever hear of the "Dark Web"? If so, you may think it sounds rather mysterious, maybe even ominous. If that's what you think, your instincts are right -- and the Dark Web now has tens of thousands of websites and many millions of daily users. What are all those people doing on the Dark Web? Well, some people just feel strongly about their privacy and prefer to hang out where they can't be tracked and watched by anyone. Even Facebook has a website on the Dark Web where they don't keep logs on user activity. That's what the Dark Web is all about -- PRIVACY! Everyone from activists, whistleblowers, journalists, businesses, militaries, and everyday people use the Dark Web to block tracking and be anonymous. Naturally, cybercriminals have flocked to the Dark Web, too. Many of the Dark Web's most widely known websites have been criminal enterprises. At the top of the list are sites selling illegal drugs, including illegally obtained prescription medicines. Many other sites facilitate financial crime, such as money laundering, counterfeiting, or trade in stolen accounts or credit cards. But the Dark Web gets even darker than simple cybercrime. Hundreds of websites espouse extremist ideologies or support for terrorist violence, some with how-to guides or extremist community forums. Over 100 known sites peddle child pornography. Dozens of sites tout everything from hacking tools and malware to weapons and hitmen for hire. The Secret Story of the Dark Web exposes some of the more nefarious illegal activity that occurs on the Dark Web. Discover how the amorphous hacktivist collective called Anonymous has extirpated dozens of websites in its relentless mission to purge the Dark Web of child pornography. Learn how the "Kingpin of Child Porn" was caught because of a simple misstep. Find out how the 23-year old Canadian mastermind behind the largest illegal drug marketplace ever -- AlphaBay Market -- made $23 million in a few short years before his takedown by the FBI, only to be found dead in his jail cell in Thailand just days after his arrest.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 286
Book Description
Ever hear of the "Dark Web"? If so, you may think it sounds rather mysterious, maybe even ominous. If that's what you think, your instincts are right -- and the Dark Web now has tens of thousands of websites and many millions of daily users. What are all those people doing on the Dark Web? Well, some people just feel strongly about their privacy and prefer to hang out where they can't be tracked and watched by anyone. Even Facebook has a website on the Dark Web where they don't keep logs on user activity. That's what the Dark Web is all about -- PRIVACY! Everyone from activists, whistleblowers, journalists, businesses, militaries, and everyday people use the Dark Web to block tracking and be anonymous. Naturally, cybercriminals have flocked to the Dark Web, too. Many of the Dark Web's most widely known websites have been criminal enterprises. At the top of the list are sites selling illegal drugs, including illegally obtained prescription medicines. Many other sites facilitate financial crime, such as money laundering, counterfeiting, or trade in stolen accounts or credit cards. But the Dark Web gets even darker than simple cybercrime. Hundreds of websites espouse extremist ideologies or support for terrorist violence, some with how-to guides or extremist community forums. Over 100 known sites peddle child pornography. Dozens of sites tout everything from hacking tools and malware to weapons and hitmen for hire. The Secret Story of the Dark Web exposes some of the more nefarious illegal activity that occurs on the Dark Web. Discover how the amorphous hacktivist collective called Anonymous has extirpated dozens of websites in its relentless mission to purge the Dark Web of child pornography. Learn how the "Kingpin of Child Porn" was caught because of a simple misstep. Find out how the 23-year old Canadian mastermind behind the largest illegal drug marketplace ever -- AlphaBay Market -- made $23 million in a few short years before his takedown by the FBI, only to be found dead in his jail cell in Thailand just days after his arrest.
On the Way to the Web
Author: Michael Banks
Publisher: Apress
ISBN: 1430250755
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
On the Way to the Web: The Secret History of the Internet and Its Founders is an absorbing chronicle of the inventive, individualistic, and often cantankerous individuals who set the Internet free. Michael A. Banks describes how the online population created a new culture and turned a new frontier into their vision of the future. This book will introduce you to the innovators who laid the foundation for the Internet and the World Wide Web, the man who invented online chat, and the people who invented the products all of us use online every day. Learn where, when, how and why the Internet came into being, and exactly what hundreds of thousands of people were doing online before the Web. See who was behind it all, and what inspired them.
Publisher: Apress
ISBN: 1430250755
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
On the Way to the Web: The Secret History of the Internet and Its Founders is an absorbing chronicle of the inventive, individualistic, and often cantankerous individuals who set the Internet free. Michael A. Banks describes how the online population created a new culture and turned a new frontier into their vision of the future. This book will introduce you to the innovators who laid the foundation for the Internet and the World Wide Web, the man who invented online chat, and the people who invented the products all of us use online every day. Learn where, when, how and why the Internet came into being, and exactly what hundreds of thousands of people were doing online before the Web. See who was behind it all, and what inspired them.
Dotcom Secrets
Author: Russell Brunson
Publisher: Hay House, Inc
ISBN: 140196060X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 425
Book Description
Master the science of funnel building to grow your company online with sales funnels in this updated edition from the $100M entrepreneur and co-founder of the software company ClickFunnels. DotCom Secrets is not just another "how-to" book on internet marketing. This book is not about getting more traffic to your website--yet the secrets you'll learn will help you to get exponentially more traffic than ever before. This book is not about increasing your conversions--yet these secrets will increase your conversions more than any headline tweak or split test you could ever hope to make. Low traffic or low conversion rates are symptoms of a much greater problem that's a little harder to see (that's the bad news), but a lot easier to fix (that's the good news). What most businesses really have is a "funnel" problem. Your funnel is the online process that you take your potential customers through to turn them into actual customers. Everyone has a funnel (even if they don't realize it), and yours is either bringing more customers to you, or repelling them. In this updated edition, Russell Brunson, CEO and co-founder of the multimillion-dollar software company ClickFunnels, reveals his greatest secrets to generating leads and selling products and services after running tens of thousands of his own split tests. Stop repelling potential customers. Implement these processes, funnels, frameworks, and scripts now so you can fix your funnel, turn it into the most profitable member of your team, and grow your company online.
Publisher: Hay House, Inc
ISBN: 140196060X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 425
Book Description
Master the science of funnel building to grow your company online with sales funnels in this updated edition from the $100M entrepreneur and co-founder of the software company ClickFunnels. DotCom Secrets is not just another "how-to" book on internet marketing. This book is not about getting more traffic to your website--yet the secrets you'll learn will help you to get exponentially more traffic than ever before. This book is not about increasing your conversions--yet these secrets will increase your conversions more than any headline tweak or split test you could ever hope to make. Low traffic or low conversion rates are symptoms of a much greater problem that's a little harder to see (that's the bad news), but a lot easier to fix (that's the good news). What most businesses really have is a "funnel" problem. Your funnel is the online process that you take your potential customers through to turn them into actual customers. Everyone has a funnel (even if they don't realize it), and yours is either bringing more customers to you, or repelling them. In this updated edition, Russell Brunson, CEO and co-founder of the multimillion-dollar software company ClickFunnels, reveals his greatest secrets to generating leads and selling products and services after running tens of thousands of his own split tests. Stop repelling potential customers. Implement these processes, funnels, frameworks, and scripts now so you can fix your funnel, turn it into the most profitable member of your team, and grow your company online.
Secrets and Lies
Author: Bruce Schneier
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119092434
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 453
Book Description
This anniversary edition which has stood the test of time as a runaway best-seller provides a practical, straight-forward guide to achieving security throughout computer networks. No theory, no math, no fiction of what should be working but isn't, just the facts. Known as the master of cryptography, Schneier uses his extensive field experience with his own clients to dispel the myths that often mislead IT managers as they try to build secure systems. A much-touted section: Schneier's tutorial on just what cryptography (a subset of computer security) can and cannot do for them, has received far-reaching praise from both the technical and business community. Praise for Secrets and Lies "This is a business issue, not a technical one, and executives can no longer leave such decisions to techies. That's why Secrets and Lies belongs in every manager's library."-Business Week "Startlingly lively....a jewel box of little surprises you can actually use."-Fortune "Secrets is a comprehensive, well-written work on a topic few business leaders can afford to neglect."-Business 2.0 "Instead of talking algorithms to geeky programmers, [Schneier] offers a primer in practical computer security aimed at those shopping, communicating or doing business online-almost everyone, in other words."-The Economist "Schneier...peppers the book with lively anecdotes and aphorisms, making it unusually accessible."-Los Angeles Times With a new and compelling Introduction by the author, this premium edition will become a keepsake for security enthusiasts of every stripe.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119092434
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 453
Book Description
This anniversary edition which has stood the test of time as a runaway best-seller provides a practical, straight-forward guide to achieving security throughout computer networks. No theory, no math, no fiction of what should be working but isn't, just the facts. Known as the master of cryptography, Schneier uses his extensive field experience with his own clients to dispel the myths that often mislead IT managers as they try to build secure systems. A much-touted section: Schneier's tutorial on just what cryptography (a subset of computer security) can and cannot do for them, has received far-reaching praise from both the technical and business community. Praise for Secrets and Lies "This is a business issue, not a technical one, and executives can no longer leave such decisions to techies. That's why Secrets and Lies belongs in every manager's library."-Business Week "Startlingly lively....a jewel box of little surprises you can actually use."-Fortune "Secrets is a comprehensive, well-written work on a topic few business leaders can afford to neglect."-Business 2.0 "Instead of talking algorithms to geeky programmers, [Schneier] offers a primer in practical computer security aimed at those shopping, communicating or doing business online-almost everyone, in other words."-The Economist "Schneier...peppers the book with lively anecdotes and aphorisms, making it unusually accessible."-Los Angeles Times With a new and compelling Introduction by the author, this premium edition will become a keepsake for security enthusiasts of every stripe.
Writers in the Secret Garden
Author: Cecilia Aragon
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262355639
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 168
Book Description
An in-depth examination of the novel ways young people support and learn from each other though participation in online fanfiction communities. Over the past twenty years, amateur fanfiction writers have published an astonishing amount of fiction in online repositories. More than 1.5 million enthusiastic fanfiction writers—primarily young people in their teens and twenties—have contributed nearly seven million stories and more than 176 million reviews to a single online site, Fanfiction.net. In this book, Cecilia Aragon and Katie Davis provide an in-depth examination of fanfiction writers and fanfiction repositories, finding that these sites are not shallow agglomerations and regurgitations of pop culture but rather online spaces for sophisticated and informal learning. Through their participation in online fanfiction communities, young people find ways to support and learn from one another. Aragon and Davis term this novel system of interactive advice and instruction distributed mentoring, and describe its seven attributes, each of which is supported by an aspect of networked technologies: aggregation, accretion, acceleration, abundance, availability, asynchronicity, and affect. Employing an innovative combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses, they provide an in-depth ethnography, reporting on a nine-month study of three fanfiction sites, and offer a quantitative analysis of lexical diversity in the 61.5 billion words on the Fanfiction.net site. Going beyond fandom, Aragon and Davis consider how distributed mentoring could improve not only other online learning platforms but also formal writing instruction in schools.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262355639
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 168
Book Description
An in-depth examination of the novel ways young people support and learn from each other though participation in online fanfiction communities. Over the past twenty years, amateur fanfiction writers have published an astonishing amount of fiction in online repositories. More than 1.5 million enthusiastic fanfiction writers—primarily young people in their teens and twenties—have contributed nearly seven million stories and more than 176 million reviews to a single online site, Fanfiction.net. In this book, Cecilia Aragon and Katie Davis provide an in-depth examination of fanfiction writers and fanfiction repositories, finding that these sites are not shallow agglomerations and regurgitations of pop culture but rather online spaces for sophisticated and informal learning. Through their participation in online fanfiction communities, young people find ways to support and learn from one another. Aragon and Davis term this novel system of interactive advice and instruction distributed mentoring, and describe its seven attributes, each of which is supported by an aspect of networked technologies: aggregation, accretion, acceleration, abundance, availability, asynchronicity, and affect. Employing an innovative combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses, they provide an in-depth ethnography, reporting on a nine-month study of three fanfiction sites, and offer a quantitative analysis of lexical diversity in the 61.5 billion words on the Fanfiction.net site. Going beyond fandom, Aragon and Davis consider how distributed mentoring could improve not only other online learning platforms but also formal writing instruction in schools.
Secret Conversations with Internet Millionaires
Author: Robert Plank
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781481825214
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
ATTENTION: You have just been granted special access to be a fly on the wall and spy in 10 private conversations with people who have the following in common: 1. Every single person in this book has generated over ONE MILLION DOLLARS in online sales 2. They didn't inherit the money. Instead, each person built an online business from scratch, from humble beginnings, stumbled at several obstacles, but thanks to an overwhelming desire to meet their goals, course-corrected their way to success 3. Whether it was through software, seminars, services, affiliate marketing, or information products -- each person found a way to channel their passion to a side business, remove the 80% that didn't work, and scale up the 20% that remained into a full time income 4. Each person you'll hear from found a way to move outside their comfort zone -- and use tools like paid advertising, public speaking, list building, social media, or joint venture to generate traffic and put that business on autopilot 5. All the interviewees listed here are so enthusiastic about their business that they freely share what's working for them -- there's nothing left out, there are no "half baked" action plans, and there are no "closed door" secrets. It's all laid out in the open for you in this guide and it's up to you to apply them Although you might not be a PHP programmer like Robert Plank, a list builder like Lance Tamashiro, a product creator like Kevin Riley, an internet marketer like Willie Crawford, an affiliate marketer like Jason Parker, a business builder like Stu McLaren, a copywriter like Ryan Healy, a strategist like Ray Edwards, a speaker like David Cavanagh, or a teacher like Armand Morin... you can definitely apply the techniques explained here in your own business and everyday life.
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781481825214
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
ATTENTION: You have just been granted special access to be a fly on the wall and spy in 10 private conversations with people who have the following in common: 1. Every single person in this book has generated over ONE MILLION DOLLARS in online sales 2. They didn't inherit the money. Instead, each person built an online business from scratch, from humble beginnings, stumbled at several obstacles, but thanks to an overwhelming desire to meet their goals, course-corrected their way to success 3. Whether it was through software, seminars, services, affiliate marketing, or information products -- each person found a way to channel their passion to a side business, remove the 80% that didn't work, and scale up the 20% that remained into a full time income 4. Each person you'll hear from found a way to move outside their comfort zone -- and use tools like paid advertising, public speaking, list building, social media, or joint venture to generate traffic and put that business on autopilot 5. All the interviewees listed here are so enthusiastic about their business that they freely share what's working for them -- there's nothing left out, there are no "half baked" action plans, and there are no "closed door" secrets. It's all laid out in the open for you in this guide and it's up to you to apply them Although you might not be a PHP programmer like Robert Plank, a list builder like Lance Tamashiro, a product creator like Kevin Riley, an internet marketer like Willie Crawford, an affiliate marketer like Jason Parker, a business builder like Stu McLaren, a copywriter like Ryan Healy, a strategist like Ray Edwards, a speaker like David Cavanagh, or a teacher like Armand Morin... you can definitely apply the techniques explained here in your own business and everyday life.
How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone
Author: Brian McCullough
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
ISBN: 1631493086
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 371
Book Description
A Library Journal Best Book of the Year Tech-guru Brian McCullough delivers a rollicking history of the internet, why it exploded, and how it changed everything. The internet was never intended for you, opines Brian McCullough in this lively narrative of an era that utterly transformed everything we thought we knew about technology. In How the Internet Happened, he chronicles the whole fascinating story for the first time, beginning in a dusty Illinois basement in 1993, when a group of college kids set off a once-in-an-epoch revolution with what would become the first “dotcom.” Depicting the lives of now-famous innovators like Netscape’s Marc Andreessen and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, McCullough also reveals surprising quirks and unknown tales as he tracks both the technology and the culture around the internet’s rise. Cinematic in detail and unprecedented in scope, the result both enlightens and informs as it draws back the curtain on the new rhythm of disruption and innovation the internet fostered, and helps to redefine an era that changed every part of our lives.
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
ISBN: 1631493086
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 371
Book Description
A Library Journal Best Book of the Year Tech-guru Brian McCullough delivers a rollicking history of the internet, why it exploded, and how it changed everything. The internet was never intended for you, opines Brian McCullough in this lively narrative of an era that utterly transformed everything we thought we knew about technology. In How the Internet Happened, he chronicles the whole fascinating story for the first time, beginning in a dusty Illinois basement in 1993, when a group of college kids set off a once-in-an-epoch revolution with what would become the first “dotcom.” Depicting the lives of now-famous innovators like Netscape’s Marc Andreessen and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, McCullough also reveals surprising quirks and unknown tales as he tracks both the technology and the culture around the internet’s rise. Cinematic in detail and unprecedented in scope, the result both enlightens and informs as it draws back the curtain on the new rhythm of disruption and innovation the internet fostered, and helps to redefine an era that changed every part of our lives.
Broad Band
Author: Claire L. Evans
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735211760
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
If you loved Hidden Figures or The Rise of the Rocket Girls, you'll love Claire Evans' breakthrough book on the women who brought you the internet--written out of history, until now. "This is a radically important, timely work," says Miranda July, filmmaker and author of The First Bad Man. The history of technology you probably know is one of men and machines, garages and riches, alpha nerds and brogrammers--but from Ada Lovelace, who wrote the first computer program in the Victorian Age, to the cyberpunk Web designers of the 1990s, female visionaries have always been at the vanguard of technology and innovation. In fact, women turn up at the very beginning of every important wave in technology. They may have been hidden in plain sight, their inventions and contributions touching our lives in ways we don't even realize, but they have always been part of the story. VICE reporter and YACHT lead singer Claire L. Evans finally gives these unsung female heroes their due with her insightful social history of the Broad Band, the women who made the internet what it is today. Seek inspiration from Grace Hopper, the tenacious mathematician who democratized computing by leading the charge for machine-independent programming languages after World War II. Meet Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler, the one-woman Google who kept the earliest version of the Internet online, and Stacy Horn, who ran one of the first-ever social networks on a shoestring out of her New York City apartment in the 1980s. Join the ranks of the pioneers who defied social convention to become database poets, information-wranglers, hypertext dreamers, and glass ceiling-shattering dot com-era entrepreneurs. This inspiring call to action shines a light on the bright minds whom history forgot, and shows us how they will continue to shape our world in ways we can no longer ignore. Welcome to the Broad Band. You're next.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735211760
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
If you loved Hidden Figures or The Rise of the Rocket Girls, you'll love Claire Evans' breakthrough book on the women who brought you the internet--written out of history, until now. "This is a radically important, timely work," says Miranda July, filmmaker and author of The First Bad Man. The history of technology you probably know is one of men and machines, garages and riches, alpha nerds and brogrammers--but from Ada Lovelace, who wrote the first computer program in the Victorian Age, to the cyberpunk Web designers of the 1990s, female visionaries have always been at the vanguard of technology and innovation. In fact, women turn up at the very beginning of every important wave in technology. They may have been hidden in plain sight, their inventions and contributions touching our lives in ways we don't even realize, but they have always been part of the story. VICE reporter and YACHT lead singer Claire L. Evans finally gives these unsung female heroes their due with her insightful social history of the Broad Band, the women who made the internet what it is today. Seek inspiration from Grace Hopper, the tenacious mathematician who democratized computing by leading the charge for machine-independent programming languages after World War II. Meet Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler, the one-woman Google who kept the earliest version of the Internet online, and Stacy Horn, who ran one of the first-ever social networks on a shoestring out of her New York City apartment in the 1980s. Join the ranks of the pioneers who defied social convention to become database poets, information-wranglers, hypertext dreamers, and glass ceiling-shattering dot com-era entrepreneurs. This inspiring call to action shines a light on the bright minds whom history forgot, and shows us how they will continue to shape our world in ways we can no longer ignore. Welcome to the Broad Band. You're next.
Because Internet
Author: Gretchen McCulloch
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735210942
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!! Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Amazon, and The Washington Post A Wired Must-Read Book of Summer “Gretchen McCulloch is the internet’s favorite linguist, and this book is essential reading. Reading her work is like suddenly being able to see the matrix.” —Jonny Sun, author of everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time. Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735210942
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!! Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Amazon, and The Washington Post A Wired Must-Read Book of Summer “Gretchen McCulloch is the internet’s favorite linguist, and this book is essential reading. Reading her work is like suddenly being able to see the matrix.” —Jonny Sun, author of everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time. Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.