Ghost Work

Ghost Work PDF Author: Mary L. Gray
Publisher: Eamon Dolan Books
ISBN: 1328566242
Category : BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Languages : en
Pages : 297

Get Book Here

Book Description
"A startling exposé of the invisible human workforce that powers the web--and how to bring it out of the shadows. Hidden beneath the surface of the internet, a new, stark reality is looming--one that cuts to the very heart of our endless debates about the impact of AI. Anthropologist Mary L. Gray and computer scientist Siddharth Suri unveil how the services we use from companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Uber can only function smoothly thanks to the judgment and experience of a vast human labor force that is kept deliberately concealed. The people who do 'ghost work' make the internet seem smart. They perform high-tech, on-demand piecework: flagging X-rated content, proofreading, transcribing audio, confirming identities, captioning video, and much more. The shameful truth is that no labor laws protect them or even acknowledge their existence. They often earn less than legal minimums for traditional work, they have no health benefits, and they can be fired at any time for any reason, or for no reason at all. An estimated 8 percent of Americans have worked in this 'ghost economy,' and that number is growing every day. In this unprecedented investigation, Gray and Suri make the case that robots will never completely eliminate 'ghost work' and the unchecked quest for artificial intelligence could spark catastrophic work conditions if not stopped in its tracks. Ultimately, they show how this essential type of work can create opportunity--rather than misery--for those who do it."--Dust jacket.

Ghost Work

Ghost Work PDF Author: Mary L. Gray
Publisher: Eamon Dolan Books
ISBN: 1328566242
Category : BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Languages : en
Pages : 297

Get Book Here

Book Description
"A startling exposé of the invisible human workforce that powers the web--and how to bring it out of the shadows. Hidden beneath the surface of the internet, a new, stark reality is looming--one that cuts to the very heart of our endless debates about the impact of AI. Anthropologist Mary L. Gray and computer scientist Siddharth Suri unveil how the services we use from companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Uber can only function smoothly thanks to the judgment and experience of a vast human labor force that is kept deliberately concealed. The people who do 'ghost work' make the internet seem smart. They perform high-tech, on-demand piecework: flagging X-rated content, proofreading, transcribing audio, confirming identities, captioning video, and much more. The shameful truth is that no labor laws protect them or even acknowledge their existence. They often earn less than legal minimums for traditional work, they have no health benefits, and they can be fired at any time for any reason, or for no reason at all. An estimated 8 percent of Americans have worked in this 'ghost economy,' and that number is growing every day. In this unprecedented investigation, Gray and Suri make the case that robots will never completely eliminate 'ghost work' and the unchecked quest for artificial intelligence could spark catastrophic work conditions if not stopped in its tracks. Ultimately, they show how this essential type of work can create opportunity--rather than misery--for those who do it."--Dust jacket.

The Ghost of Silicon Valley

The Ghost of Silicon Valley PDF Author: William D. Blankenship
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595132839
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Get Book Here

Book Description
Can one of Silicon Valley’s premier software companies be haunted? “Impossible,” says Bobby Race, CEO of the company and a powerful force in the information industry. “Don’t be so sure,” counters Kevin Pierce, a talented but down-at-the-heels portrait artist who knows too well that supernatural life does exist. Kevin has been saddled for ten years with his own personal ghost— Sport Sullivan, a cynical, street-wise gambler murdered in 1920. Desperate to save his company from the embarrassment of a haunting, Bobby Race hires Kevin to rid the company of its ghost under the guise of painting Bobby’s portrait. The ghost appears to be Cynthia Gooding, a company employee who died in a suspicious “accident” at company headquarters. Along the way Kevin becomes involved with two very sharp, quite different career women. Dorothy Lake is an emotionally buttoned down genius programmer who wants Kevin more than she will admit. Jenny Hartson, executive secretary to the CEO, is a health and exercise fanatic who wants to break Kevin of his dependency on Carta Blanca beer. Throw in Izzy Valentine, a gangster trying to buy (or threaten) his way onto Bobby’s board of directors; Big Sam Cody, the best car thief in San Francisco; and Pure John Braggia, a thug with excellent manners. With the help of Sport Sullivan (an ethereal cousin to Dr. Watson), Kevin must walk through a mine field of these dangerous characters to uncover the reason Cynthia Gooding’s ghost is haunting the executive suites of Silicon Valley.

Geek Silicon Valley

Geek Silicon Valley PDF Author: Ashlee Vance
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0762751916
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Get Book Here

Book Description
Silicon Valley veterans and newbies alike will want to explore this book that delves into the rich history behind the region that birthed the world's most important industry. Technology journalist Ashlee Vance has captured almost every aspect of the area stretching between San Francisco and San Jose, California, starting with the eager radio and electronics enthusiasts of the early 1900s and ending with the computing powerhouses of today such as Google and Apple. Along the way, the book profiles the people and places that have elevated Silicon Valley to an almost mythic pedestal. This book delivers Silicon Valley, taking us from success story to failed startup and back again as we drive the roads from San Francisco to Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and San Jose. It's full of profiles of the larger-than-life characters that pioneered the processor, computer, and Internet revolutions. The book's vibrant design includes "Silicon Valley Soundbytes" packed with insider information and trivia, and "Click Here" sidebars, which suggest places to eat, drink, and shop. Place by place, readers get the inside scoop on all the addresses that count, which include Microsoft research centers; the headquarters of Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle; research powerhouses such as Stanford University, NASA Ames, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; the Computer History Museum and The Tech Museum; the Shoreline Amphitheater; the Churchill Club; and many more.

Secrets of Silicon Valley

Secrets of Silicon Valley PDF Author: Deborah Perry Piscione
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 113732421X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Get Book Here

Book Description
While the global economy languishes, one place just keeps growing despite failing banks, uncertain markets, and high unemployment: Silicon Valley. In the last two years, more than 100 incubators have popped up there, and the number of angel investors has skyrocketed. Today, 40 percent of all venture capital investments in the United States come from Silicon Valley firms, compared to 10 percent from New York. In Secrets of Silicon Valley, entrepreneur and media commentator Deborah Perry Piscione takes us inside this vibrant ecosystem where meritocracy rules the day. She explores Silicon Valley's exceptionally risk-tolerant culture, and why it thrives despite the many laws that make California one of the worst states in the union for business. Drawing on interviews with investors, entrepreneurs, and community leaders, as well as a host of case studies from Google to Paypal, Piscione argues that Silicon Valley's unique culture is the best hope for the future of American prosperity and the global business community and offers lessons from the Valley to inspire reform in other communities and industries, from Washington, DC to Wall Street.

Hackers

Hackers PDF Author: Steven Levy
Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."
ISBN: 1449393748
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Get Book Here

Book Description
This 25th anniversary edition of Steven Levy's classic book traces the exploits of the computer revolution's original hackers -- those brilliant and eccentric nerds from the late 1950s through the early '80s who took risks, bent the rules, and pushed the world in a radical new direction. With updated material from noteworthy hackers such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Stallman, and Steve Wozniak, Hackers is a fascinating story that begins in early computer research labs and leads to the first home computers. Levy profiles the imaginative brainiacs who found clever and unorthodox solutions to computer engineering problems. They had a shared sense of values, known as "the hacker ethic," that still thrives today. Hackers captures a seminal period in recent history when underground activities blazed a trail for today's digital world, from MIT students finagling access to clunky computer-card machines to the DIY culture that spawned the Altair and the Apple II.

Disrupted

Disrupted PDF Author: Dan Lyons
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 031630607X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book Here

Book Description
An instant New York Times bestseller, Dan Lyons' "hysterical" (Recode) memoir, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "the best book about Silicon Valley," takes readers inside the maddening world of fad-chasing venture capitalists, sales bros, social climbers, and sociopaths at today's tech startups. For twenty-five years Dan Lyons was a magazine writer at the top of his profession--until one Friday morning when he received a phone call: Poof. His job no longer existed. "I think they just want to hire younger people," his boss at Newsweek told him. Fifty years old and with a wife and two young kids, Dan was, in a word, screwed. Then an idea hit. Dan had long reported on Silicon Valley and the tech explosion. Why not join it? HubSpot, a Boston start-up, was flush with $100 million in venture capital. They offered Dan a pile of stock options for the vague role of "marketing fellow." What could go wrong? HubSpotters were true believers: They were making the world a better place ... by selling email spam. The office vibe was frat house meets cult compound: The party began at four thirty on Friday and lasted well into the night; "shower pods" became hook-up dens; a push-up club met at noon in the lobby, while nearby, in the "content factory," Nerf gun fights raged. Groups went on "walking meetings," and Dan's absentee boss sent cryptic emails about employees who had "graduated" (read: been fired). In the middle of all this was Dan, exactly twice the age of the average HubSpot employee, and literally old enough to be the father of most of his co-workers, sitting at his desk on his bouncy-ball "chair."

Ghost Fleet

Ghost Fleet PDF Author: Peter Warren Singer
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0544142845
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 419

Get Book Here

Book Description
Two authorities on trends in warfare join forces to create a taut, convincing novel set in the near future in which a besieged America battles for its very existence

The Geography of Genius

The Geography of Genius PDF Author: Eric Weiner
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451691688
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Get Book Here

Book Description
Tag along on this New York Times bestselling “witty, entertaining romp” (The New York Times Book Review) as Eric Winer travels the world, from Athens to Silicon Valley—and back through history, too—to show how creative genius flourishes in specific places at specific times. In this “intellectual odyssey, traveler’s diary, and comic novel all rolled into one” (Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness), acclaimed travel writer Weiner sets out to examine the connection between our surroundings and our most innovative ideas. A “superb travel guide: funny, knowledgeable, and self-deprecating” (The Washington Post), he explores the history of places like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley to show how certain urban settings are conducive to ingenuity. With his trademark insightful humor, this “big-hearted humanist” (The Wall Street Journal) walks the same paths as the geniuses who flourished in these settings to see if the spirit of what inspired figures like Socrates, Michelangelo, and Leonardo remains. In these places, Weiner asks, “What was in the air, and can we bottle it?” “Fun and thought provoking” (Miami Herald), The Geography of Genius reevaluates the importance of culture in nurturing creativity and “offers a practical map for how we can all become a bit more inventive” (Adam Grant, author of Originals).

Haunts of San Jose

Haunts of San Jose PDF Author: David Lee
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
ISBN: 9780764330292
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
More than a million people live in the city of San Jose, and its ghosts reside right alongside the population. These contemporary stories are the result of an extensive quest for ghostly phenomena taking place from one end of the city to the other. Whether it's a haunted house on Stockton Avenue, the ghost begging for a police officer to find his murderer outside the Japanese Tea Garden, or the ghost in overalls and a cowboy hat at Tres Gringos, on Second Street, the haunts of San Jose will make you shiver as you walk the streets! Now you, too, can visit with these spirits, at your own risk!

River of Shadows

River of Shadows PDF Author: Rebecca Solnit
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101662662
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book Here

Book Description
A New York Times Notable Book Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism, The Mark Lynton History Prize, and the Sally Hacker Prize for the History of Technology “A panoramic vision of cultural change” —The New York Times Through the story of the pioneering photographer Eadweard Muybridge, the author of Orwell's Roses explores what it was about California in the late 19th-century that enabled it to become such a center of technological and cultural innovation The world as we know it today began in California in the late 1800s, and Eadweard Muybridge had a lot to do with it. This striking assertion is at the heart of Rebecca Solnit’s new book, which weaves together biography, history, and fascinating insights into art and technology to create a boldly original portrait of America on the threshold of modernity. The story of Muybridge—who in 1872 succeeded in capturing high-speed motion photographically—becomes a lens for a larger story about the acceleration and industrialization of everyday life. Solnit shows how the peculiar freedoms and opportunities of post–Civil War California led directly to the two industries—Hollywood and Silicon Valley—that have most powerfully defined contemporary society.