Business & Culture Books - Page 10

Rapture for the Geeks: When AI Outsmarts IQ

Richard Dooling

Amazon Price: $14.96 List Price: $22.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Harmony Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $9.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Culture
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Computer Science -> Artificial Intelligence -> General
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Computer Science -> Artificial Intelligence -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Will the Geeks inherit the earth?

If computers become twice as fast and twice as capable every two years, how long is it before they’re as intelligent as humans? More intelligent? And then in two more years, twice as intelligent? How long before you won’t be able to tell if you are texting a person or an especially ingenious chatterbot program designed to simulate intelligent human conversation?

According to Richard Dooling in Rapture for the Geeks—maybe not that long. It took humans millions of years to develop opposable thumbs (which we now use to build computers), but computers go from megabytes to gigabytes in five years; from the invention of the PC to the Internet in less than fifteen. At the accelerating rate of technological development, AI should surpass IQ in the next seven to thirty-seven years (depending on who you ask). We are sluggish biological sorcerers, but we’ve managed to create whiz-bang machines that are evolving much faster than we are.

In this fascinating, entertaining, and illuminating book, Dooling looks at what some of the greatest minds have to say about our role in a future in which technology rapidly leaves us in the dust. As Dooling writes, comparing human evolution to technological evolution is “worse than apples and oranges: It’s appliances versus orangutans.” Is the era of Singularity, when machines outthink humans, almost upon us? Will we be enslaved by our supercomputer overlords, as many a sci-fi writer has wondered? Or will humans live lives of leisure with computers doing all the heavy lifting?

With antic wit, fearless prescience, and common sense, Dooling provocatively examines nothing less than what it means to be human in what he playfully calls the age of b.s. (before Singularity)—and what life will be like when we are no longer alone with Mother Nature at Darwin’s card table. Are computers thinking and feeling if they can mimic human speech and emotions? Does processing capability equal consciousness? What happens to our quaint beliefs about God when we’re all worshipping technology? What if the human compulsion to create ever more capable machines ultimately leads to our own extinction? Will human ingenuity and faith ultimately prevail over our technological obsessions? Dooling hopes so, and his cautionary glimpses into the future are the best medicine to restore our humanity.

Digital Photography for Dummies

Julie Adair King

By: John Wiley & Sons Inc Amazon Marketplace: 9 new & used starting at $1.23

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Photography -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Photography -> General AAS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Culture

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Your digital camera can do so much! And Digital Photography For Dummies, 6^th Edition helps you shoot, edit, and share great photos. This full-color guide is packed with stuff that’s not in your camera manual — tips on upgrading your equipment, working with focus and exposure, shooting like a pro, organizing and enhancing your images, and printing them or getting them online.

Are you already you’re hip-deep in images? Here’s how to manage them. This guide helps you learn what you need for the way you take pictures, how to prolong battery life, the pros and cons of digital SLR, and more. Baffled by the lingo? The glossary explains all those terms and acronyms. You’ll also learn to:

• Set up your camera for basic shooting and learn to use automatic mode, common scene modes, and all the camera’s features
• Manage depth of field, exposure, and white balance, and make easy fixes with your photo editor
• Compose your photos for better pictures
• Easily transfer your pictures to the computer, print them, or distribute them electronically
• Edit your images and fix common problems like dim photos and red-eye
• Send photos to a cell phone
• Organize your pictures so you can find what you want
• Decide if your camera needs updating, what equipment you need, and what your digital darkroom should have

Rich, full-color examples show what you can achieve. Digital Photography For Dummies, 6^th Edition will make your digital camera a lot more fun!

The Future of the Internet--And How to Stop It

Jonathan Zittrain

Amazon Price: $19.80 List Price: $30.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Yale University Press Amazon Marketplace: 52 new & used starting at $14.37

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Home Computing -> Internet -> General AAS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Culture
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Privacy

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This extraordinary book explains the engine that has catapulted the Internet from backwater to ubiquity—and reveals that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of its users, the generative Internet is on a path to a lockdown, ending its cycle of innovation—and facilitating unsettling new kinds of control.

 

IPods, iPhones, Xboxes, and TiVos represent the first wave of Internet-centered products that can’t be easily modified by anyone except their vendors or selected partners. These “tethered appliances” have already been used in remarkable but little-known ways: car GPS systems have been reconfigured at the demand of law enforcement to eavesdrop on the occupants at all times, and digital video recorders have been ordered to self-destruct thanks to a lawsuit against the manufacturer thousands of miles away. New Web 2.0 platforms like Google mash-ups and Facebook are rightly touted—but their applications can be similarly monitored and eliminated from a central source. As tethered appliances and applications eclipse the PC, the very nature of the Internet—its “generativity,” or innovative character—is at risk.

 

The Internet’s current trajectory is one of lost opportunity. Its salvation, Zittrain argues, lies in the hands of its millions of users. Drawing on generative technologies like Wikipedia that have so far survived their own successes, this book shows how to develop new technologies and social structures that allow users to work creatively and collaboratively, participate in solutions, and become true “netizens.”

(20080725)

The Tower and the Cloud: Higher Education in the Age of Cloud Computing

By: EDUCAUSE Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $19.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Culture

Editorial Review:

The emergence of the networked information economy is unleashing two powerful forces. On one hand, easy access to high-speed networks is empowering individuals. People can now discover and consume information resources and services globally from their homes. Further, new social computing approaches are inviting people to share in the creation and edification of information on the Internet. Empowerment of the individual -- or consumerization -- is reducing the individual's reliance on traditional brick-and-mortar institutions in favor of new and emerging virtual ones. Second, ubiquitous access to high-speed networks along with network standards, open standards and content, and techniques for virtualizing hardware, software, and services is making it possible to leverage scale economies in unprecedented ways. What appears to be emerging is industrial-scale computing -- a standardized infrastructure for delivering computing power, network bandwidth, data storage and protection, and services. Consumerization and industrialization beg the question "Is this the end of the middle?"; that is, what will be the role of "enterprise" IT in the future? Indeed, the bigger question is what will become of all of our intermediating institutions? This volume examines the impact of IT on higher education and on the IT organization in higher education. International customers: contact EDUCAUSE at info@educause.edu.

Internet, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method

Don A. Dillman, Jolene D. Smyth, Leah Melani Christian

Amazon Price: $63.80 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $54.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Web Marketing
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> Statistics
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent Reference 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Overall there appears to be some confusion over the purpose of the book, but if you are trying to improve responses and design of the actual instrument, this book is excellent. If you need help figuring out sampling and the such, you aren't ready for the book.

There are many people who do still use paper surveys and even mail them and given it's in the title, it's a bit surprising reviewers found this absurd.

Perhaps more absurd are the complaints relating to how unscientific the work is. Dillman has published a great deal in the scientific literature on how to improve the quality of the data through better visual design. That is not saying he does not understand the importance of sampling. It does indicate the book he is going to write is going to assume you have very basic understanding of survey methodology and you are looking to improve the usability of a survey with the assumption in mind.

Dillman's research provides excellent guidelines for creating visual surveys that are likely to improve the accuracy and reliability of the responses. If that's what you are looking for, it's the best book on the subject and is grounded in the literature.

If you need a book on sampling, come back to this book later.

Editorial Review:

For over two decades, Dillman's classic text on survey design has aided both students and professionals in effectively planning and conducting mail, telephone, and, more recently, internet surveys. The Third Edition presents thoroughly updated and revised information about all aspects of survey research and features expanded coverage of online surveys. Dillman's unique Tailored Design Method, thoroughly explained and illustrated in the book, is the preferred model for practice. This invaluable resource is crucial for any researcher seeking to increase response rates and obtain high-quality feedback from survey questions.

Quit Your Job (and Never Go Back) - How to Create, Start, & Market an Online Business for Under $500 in 30 Days or Less (WorkYourselfUp.com Presents)

David, R Hooper, David Hooper

Amazon Price: $10.36 List Price: $12.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Kathode Ray Enterprises, LLC Amazon Marketplace: 20 new & used starting at $7.43

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Marketing & Sales -> General AAS
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Small Business & Entrepreneurship -> Entrepreneurship
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Do you dream of quitting your job and being your own boss? If so, this book is for you! Wouldn't it be great if you could work from anywhere you wanted and choose your own hours? No longer would you be tied to a desk, have to fight rush hour traffic, or miss an important event because you had to be at the office. Does the thought, "I want to start a business just like that!" come to mind when you visit a site on the Internet? And imagine if you could wake up every morning, excited about the day ahead, and say to yourself, "I can't believe people pay me to do this!" Now is the time for you, to not only have the freedom you've always wanted, but to bring your online business ideas to life. Thousands of people all over the world are making money on their own terms and doing it all from their computers. And if they can do it, so can you. Say "goodbye" to the speed limit holding you back from success! "Quit Your Job (and Never Go Back): How to Create, Start & Market an Online Business for Under $500 in 30 Days or Less" is a step-by-step workbook which will help you get an online business up and running more quickly and easily than you ever thought possible. In this book, you'll learn: - The truth about how to make money online - How to effectively deal with obstacles that are stopping you - Simple methods to market your business and bring unlimited visitors to your Web site - The major advantages of doing online business...and never want to do offline business again - How to avoid the Internet marketing pitfalls that plague 98% of the people who are currently doing business online - How to find hungry buyers and get the most money from them - How to connect with your customers and build customer loyalty - How to avoid giving up on your dream By following the advice and answering the thought-provoking questions found within this book, you will be ready to start your new online business and earn the money you deserve. About the Author: David Hooper is the founder of Work Yourself Up!, a business development organization specializing in small and medium-sized companies to sell more product, increase consumer knowledge, and make more money. He is known for combining traditional business and direct marketing knowledge with guerrilla marketing techniques necessary for companies to compete.

The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage

Cliff Stoll

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Pocket Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $5.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Biographies
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Culture
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Government

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 156 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Before the Internet became widely known as a global tool for terrorists, one perceptive U.S. citizen recognized its ominous potential. Armed with clear evidence of computer espionage, he began a highly personal quest to expose a hidden network of spies that threatened national security. But would the authorities back him up? Cliff Stoll's dramatic firsthand account is "a computer-age detective story, instantly fascinating [and] astonishingly gripping" (Smithsonian).

Cliff Stoll was an astronomer turned systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Lab when a 75-cent accounting error alerted him to the presence of an unauthorized user on his system. The hacker's code name was "Hunter" -- a mysterious invader who managed to break into U.S. computer systems and steal sensitive military and security information. Stoll began a one-man hunt of his own: spying on the spy. It was a dangerous game of deception, broken codes, satellites, and missile bases -- a one-man sting operation that finally gained the attention of the CIA...and ultimately trapped an international spy ring fueled by cash, cocaine, and the KGB.

Facebook: The Missing Manual

E. Vander Veer

Amazon Price: $13.59 List Price: $19.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Pogue Press Amazon Marketplace: 52 new & used starting at $9.32

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Home Computing -> Internet -> General AAS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Web Marketing
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Networks, Protocols & APIs -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Facebook is the wildly popular, free social networking site that combines the best of blogs, online forums, photo sharing, clever applications, and interaction among friends. The one thing it doesn't have is a user's guide to help you truly take advantage of it. Until now. Facebook: The Missing Manual gives you a crystal clear and entertaining look at everything this fascinating Facebook phenomenon has to offer. Teeming with high-quality color graphics, each page in this Missing Manual is uniquely designed to help you with specific Facebook tasks, such as signing up, networking, shopping, joining groups, finding or filling a job, and a whole lot more. You'll discover how to create your page and make connections with other members in no time everybody who went to your school, for example, or those who work at your company or play on your soccer team. Then, bingo! Instant access to the personal and professional details of all the folks you're connected with, the people they're connected with, and so on, and so on. With Facebook: The Missing Manual, you learn to: Join a network, whether it's where you went to school, work-related, or based on other interests Look up old friends, find new ones, and decide who you'd like to keep track of Contact members by virtually poking them, or leaving notes on their message boards Get automatic updates from Facebook friends and send updates of your own Participate in groups of particular interest and meet up with members face-to-face Buy and sell using Facebook's marketplace and classified ads Find a job or hire employees by combing through the member pool Use Facebook as a collaboration tool to keep team members, co-workers, clients, and projects upto date Play it safe by using a multi-pronged approach to ensuring your privacy Think of Facebook as a 30-million-plus-entry searchable Rolodex on steroids! With help from this guide, you'll quickly get into the Facebook experience without getting in over your head.

Facebook: The Missing Manual Sneak Preview: Five Tips and Tricks
1. Never check the "Remember me" box when logging onto the site. (Doing so puts your account at unnecessary risk and saves you very little time or effort.)
2. When you register for the site, use your actual birthday so that your friends will get an automatic heads-up a few days before the Big Day (all the better to fete you with).
3. Never add compromising photos or info to your Facebook profile; bosses, teachers, hiring managers, and others can use legitimate means to see your profile *even if* you think you've adjusted your privacy settings to prevent them.
4. If you're on Facebook to find a gig (or a date), be sure to sprinkle keywords liberally in your profile descriptions. Doing so ups the odds of your appearing in other members' searches.
5. Before you fill out your profile, first head to the main menu and click the "privacy" link (little-p) and follow the steps in Chapter 12 of the book to customize who gets to see how much of your personal information.

Starting an Online Business All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Shannon Belew, Joel Elad

Amazon Price: $19.79 List Price: $29.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: For Dummies Amazon Marketplace: 61 new & used starting at $10.14

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> E-commerce -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> E-commerce -> General AAS
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Small Business & Entrepreneurship -> Entrepreneurship

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Excellent- From Basic info to More Advanced all in One! 5 out of 5 stars.
32 of 32 people found this review helpful.

This book was a real surprise. I fully expected to use it as a resource for new Ebay/Web commerce users that we help teach but found it excelled not only in the basics but in pretty much the whole plan of where you would want to be online in the long run. I am particulary fond of books that discuss legal and accounting set up and this one covers a lot of good info like type of organization, record keeping, copyrights and trademarks, a tax overview etc. A great foundation for the new online business. There is a lot of information regarding web site design, internet security and boosting your sales. Usually many books would leave off in this area but not this one. It has information on taking your retail business online , selling from a storefront and covers some important ideas like affiliate marketing and finding a niche. Whether deciding to operate on Ebay or with your own website this book is jam packed with information. Even as an experienced online user I found myself making notes from many of the sections in the book including those with suggestions on what to do to expand sales, deal with changes and other customer issues. Just as a note this is one huge book. Over 800 pages including the index and for the price a bargain. For Ebayers I would recommend this book and a general Ebay book as a package to buy. If working directly on your own e-commerce site I would recommend this book with with a web 2.0 or social marketing book.

Editorial Review:

• Eleven minibooks comprising nearly 800 pages offer would-be online entrepreneurs all the information they need to launch an e-business and succeed in today's marketplace
• Unlike competing guides, this book explains how to redesign a site, retool marketing strategies, and run a nonprofit site as well as offering in-depth coverage of how to secure a site and move from retail to e-tail
• Minibooks cover online business basics, legal and accounting matters, Web site design, operational issues once a business is up and running, Internet security, how to boost sales, taking a brick-and-mortar business online, storefront selling at eBay and elsewhere, fundraising at a nonprofit site, running a niche e-business, and advanced e-commerce techniques and strategies

The Findability Formula: The Easy, Non-Technical Approach to Search Engine Marketing

Heather F. Lutze

Amazon Price: $15.61 List Price: $22.95 Not yet published By: Wiley

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Retailing
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Marketing & Sales -> Marketing -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Marketing & Sales -> Marketing -> General AAS

Editorial Review:

To be successful in business you must be able to attract the right clients and persuade them to buy. However, on the internet, people only see what the search engines direct them to and the competition for those top spots is fierce. So how do you ensure that your business is front-and-center when prospects are searching for solutions? The answer is The Findability Formula. The Findability Formula is for anyone who wants to improve results from Internet marketing. The book is specifically written for business owners who are frustrated with a website that is not showing up in search results and not generating business. The Findability Formula will help readers understand how prospects and customers search for products and services on the Internet, and will show them, step-by-step, how to optimize their findability. The book will be a non-technical guide to effectively building and implementing, from the ground up, an Internet search marketing program that gets results. The reader will learn how paid search works, and how paid and organic search can work together to create optimum web visibility and reduce paid search costs over time. The basic message of the book is that there is a formula for findability and for converting prospects to purchasers.

Readers' Benefits from The Findability Formula:
* A complete step-by-step approach to search engine marketing applicable to any product or service, The Findability Formula will include easy-to-follow instruction from chapter to chapter as well as launch checklists in the appendix.
* The most up-to-date search research and statistics available, including uncommon ways to connect with your online buyer.
* Shows the reader how to avoid common search marketing mistakes that cost big money. How to not be bullied and take control of in-house e-commerce department strategies and SEM agencies.
* A small company can compete successfully in search with larger, well-established competitors. How to work smarter to get even better search engine "findability".
* Maximizes the reader's investment. The reader won't waste money by needlessly paying for "clicks" from customers who have no intention of buying. The investment in this book will be repaid thousands of times over.
* Saves time, money and energy in creating in-house search marketing programs and properly tracking results by keyword. Negates the need to hire outside SEM agencies