Technology: general issues Books

Book SynopsisHow we are tracked, surveilled, tantalized, and seduced by machines ranging from smart watches and Roombas to immersive art installations.Sensing machines are everywhere in our world. As we move through the day, electronic sensors and computers adjust our thermostats, guide our Roombas, count our steps, change the orientation of an image when we rotate our phones. There are more of these electronic devices in the world than there are people—in 2020, thirty to fifty billion of them (versus 7.8 billion people), with more than a trillion expected in the next decade. In Sensing Machines, Chris Salter examines how we are tracked, surveilled, tantalized, and seduced by machines ranging from smart watches and mood trackers to massive immersive art installations. Salter, an artist/scholar who has worked with sensors and computers for more than twenty years, explains that the quantification of bodies, senses, and experience did not begin with the surveil

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Book SynopsisStories behind essential microfluidic devices, from the inkjet printer to DNA sequencing chip.Hidden from view, microfluidics underlies a variety of devices that are essential to our lives, from inkjet printers to glucometers for the monitoring of diabetes. Microfluidics—which refers to the technology of miniature fluidic devices and the study of fluids at submillimeter levels—is invisible to most of us because it is hidden beneath ingenious user interfaces. In this book, Albert Folch, a leading researcher in microfluidics, describes the development and use of key microfluidic devices. He explains not only the technology but also the efforts, teams, places, and circumstances that enabled these inventions. Folch reports, for example, that the inkjet printer was one of the first microfluidic devices invented, and traces its roots back to nineteenth-century discoveries in the behavior of fluid jets. He also describes how rapid speed microfluidic DNA

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Book SynopsisA history of urban travel demand modeling (UTDM) and its enormous influence on American life from the 1920s to the present.For better and worse, the automobile has been an integral part of the American way of life for decades. Its ascendance would have been far less spectacular, however, had engineers and planners not devised urban travel demand modeling (UTDM). This book tells the story of this irreplaceable engineering tool that has helped cities accommodate continuous rise in traffic from the 1950s on. Beginning with UTDM’s origins as a method to help plan new infrastructure, Konstantinos Chatzis follows its trajectory through new generations of models that helped make optimal use of existing capacity and examines related policy instruments, including the recent use of intelligent transportation systems.Chatzis investigates these models as evolving entities involving humans and nonhumans that were shaped

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Book SynopsisIn 1937, H. G. Wells proposed a predigital, freely available World Encyclopedia to represent a civilization-saving World Brain.In a series of talks and essays in 1937, H. G. Wells proselytized for what he called a World Brain, as manifested in a World Encyclopedia--a repository of scientifically established knowledge--that would spread enlightenment around the world and lead to world peace. Wells, known to readers today as the author of The War of the Worlds and other science fiction classics, was imagining something like a predigital Wikipedia. The World Encyclopedia would provide a summary of verified reality (in about forty volumes); it would be widely available, free of copyright, and utilize the latest technology. Of course, as Bruce Sterling points out in the foreword to this edition of Wells's work, the World Brain didn't happen; the internet did. And yet, Wells anticipated aspects of the internet, envisioning the World Brain as a technical system o

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Book SynopsisA lively and entertaining guide to ethics in a technological age.Most people have a strong sense of right and wrong, and they aren't shy about expressing their opinions. But when we take a polarizing stand on something we regard as an eternal truth, we often forget that ethics evolve over time. Many shifts in the right versus wrong pendulum are driven by advances in technology. Our great-grandparents might be shocked by in vitro fertilization; our great-grandchildren might be shocked by the messiness of pregnancy, childbirth, and unedited genes. In Right/Wrong, Juan Enriquez reflects on what happens to our ethics as technology makes the once unimaginable a commonplace occurrence.

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Book SynopsisManipulative communication—from early twentieth-century propaganda to today’s online con artistry—examined through the lens of social engineering. The United States is awash in manipulated information about everything from election results to the effectiveness of medical treatments. Corporate social media is an especially good channel for manipulative communication, with Facebook a particularly willing vehicle for it. In Social Engineering, Robert Gehl and Sean Lawson show that online misinformation has its roots in earlier techniques: mass social engineering of the early twentieth century and interpersonal hacker social engineering of the 1970s, converging today into what they call “masspersonal social engineering.” As Gehl and Lawson trace contemporary manipulative communication back to earlier forms of social engineering, possibilities for amelioration become clearer. The authors show how specific manipulative

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Book SynopsisHow to co-create—and why: the emergence of media co-creation as a concept and as a practice grounded in equity and justice.Co-creation is everywhere: It’s how the internet was built; it generated massive prehistoric rock carvings; it powered the development of vaccines for COVID-19 in record time. Co-creation offers alternatives to the idea of the solitary author privileged by top-down media. But co-creation is easy to miss, as individuals often take credit for—and profit from—collective forms of authorship, erasing whole cultures and narratives as they do so. Collective Wisdom offers the first guide to co-creation as a concept and as a practice, tracing co-creation in a media-making that ranges from collaborative journalism to human–AI partnerships. Why co-create—and why now? The many coauthors, drawing on a remarkable array of professional and personal experience, focus on the radical, sustained practices of co-cr

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Book SynopsisHow is digitalization of the offshore oil industry fundamentally changing how we understand work and ways of knowing?Digitalization sits at the forefront of public and academic conversation today, calling into question how we work and how we know. In Digital Oil, Eric Monteiro uses the Norwegian offshore oil and gas industry as a lens to investigate the effects of digitalization on embodied labor, and in doing so shows how our use of new digital technology transforms work and knowing. For years, roughnecks have performed the dangerous and unwieldy work of extracting the oil that lies three miles below the seabed along the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Today, the Norwegian oil industry is largely digital, operated by sensors and driven by data. Digital representations of physical processes inform work practices and decision-making with remotely operated, unmanned deep-sea facilities. Drawing on two decades of in-depth interviews, observations, news clip

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Book SynopsisTechnology companies claim to connect people through touchscreens, but by conflating physical contact with emotional sentiments, they displace the constructed aspects of devices and women and other oppressed individuals’ critiques of how such technologies function.Technology companies and device designers correlate touchscreens and online sites with physical contact and emotional sentiments, promising unmediated experiences in which the screen falls away in favor of visceral materiality and connections. While touchscreens are key elements of most people’s everyday lives, critical frameworks for understanding the embodied experiences of using them are wanting. In Touch Screen Theory, Michele White focuses on the relation between physically touching and emotionally feeling to recenter the bodies and identities that are empowered, produced, and displaced by these digital technologies and settings. Drawing on detailed cases and humanities methods, White sh

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Book SynopsisThis handy jobsite tool will become as indispensable to you as your cell phone, tape measure, and level. This pocket-friendly companion to the International Residential Code discusses the impact of 2015 code changes to common walls separating townhouses, remodeling of an existing basement, and more.

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Book SynopsisEverything you need to pass the welding certification examsâfully updated for the latest advances!This thoroughly revised study guide helps you pass your licensing certification examsâincluding the AWS certification examâand obtain your professional license. Inside, you'll find a valuable review of material that is most likely to appear on welding certification examsâfrom basic safety and cutting practices to different types of welding, including plasma-arc, shielded-metal-arc, oxyacetylene, flux-cored, gas metal, and gas tungsten, brazing, soldering, and more.Welding Licensing Exam Study Guide, Second Edition features: Over 1,000 updated multiple-choice and true-false practice exam questions and answers Numerous welding calculations and troubleshooting tips Hundreds of detailed drawings and illustrations New: Info on plastic pipes and tubing New: Methods of welding repair and maintenance In-depth coverag

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Book SynopsisThe Taking Sides Collection on McGraw-Hill Create includes current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. This Collection contains a multitude of current and classic issues to enhance and customize your course. You can browse the entire Taking Sides Collection on Create or you can search by topic, author, or keywords. Each Taking Sides issue is thoughtfully framed with Learning Outcomes, an Issue Summary, an Introduction, and an "Exploring the Issue" section featuring Critical Thinking and Reflection, Is There Common Ground?, Additional Resources, and Internet References. Go to the Taking Sides Collection on McGraw-Hill Create at www.mcgrawhillcreate.com/takingsides and click on "Explore this Collection" to browse the entire Collection. Select individual Taking Sides issues to enhance your course, or acceTable of ContentsUnit 1: The Place of Science and Technology in SocietyIssue: Should the Funding of Scientific Research Be Left to the Private Sector? Yes: Terence Kealey, from “The Case against Public Science,” Cato Unbound (2013) No: David Guston, from “The State Will Always Need Science,” Cato Unbound Response Essay (2013)Terence Kealey argues that “the strongest argument for the government funding of science today is anecdotal.” Private funding is sufficient, as it has been for centuries. David Guston argues that without public sponsorship of scientific research, there would only be private sponsorship of research. Public sponsorship provides a necessary non-market way of setting priorities for R&D. "Knowledge inputs" (data or evidence) are necessary for the proper function of the state.Issue: Should the Public Have to Pay to See the Results of Federally Funded Research?Yes: Ralph Oman, from “Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Courts, The Internet, and Intellectual Property, Hearing on ‘The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act,’” U.S. House of Representatives (2009)No: Stuart M. Shieber, from “Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Hearing on ‘Examining Public Access and Scholarly Publication Interests,’” U.S. House of Representatives (2012)Attorney and past register of copyrights Ralph Oman contends that “If the NIH [National Institutes of Health] succeeds in putting all of the NIH-related peer-reviewed articles on its online database for free within one year of publication, the private publishers will be hard-pressed to survive.” Allowing private publishers to continue to profit by publishing the results of publically funded research is the best way to ensure public benefit. Stuart M. Shieber argues that the concerns of traditional journal publishers that open access publishing will endanger their survival are not justified. The data show that publisher profitability has increased despite the recent economic downturn. Providing open access to the publicly funded research literature amplifies the diffusion of knowledge and benefits researchers, taxpayers, and everyone who gains from new medicines, new technologies, new jobs, and new solutions to long-standing problems of every kind.Issue: Can Science Be Trusted Without Government Regulation?Yes: David R. Franz, from “The Dual Use Dilemma: Crying Out for Leadership,” Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy (2013)No: Robert Gatter, from “Regulating Dual Use Research to Promote Public Trust: A Reply to Dr. Franz,” Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy (2013)David R. Franz argues that “when rules for the few become too disruptive to the work of the many, communities of trust can break down.” Exceptional research leaders create a culture of responsibility in which safety rulebooks can be thin and their laboratories will be safer, more secure, and more productive. Government regulation leads to thicker rulebooks and more wasted effort without increasing safety and security. Robert Gatter argues that the research enterprise must be trustworthy to the public at large. Because scientists share a bias in favor of discovery rather than public safety, they cannot be trusted to regulate themselves. Government regulation is essential.Unit 2: Energy and the EnvironmentIssue: Is it Necessary to Reduce Carbon Emissions to Fight Global Warming? Yes: D. J. Wuebbles et al., from “Climate Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume I,” U.S. Global Change Research Program (2017) No: Kevin D. Dayaratna, Nicolas D. Loris, and David W. Kreutzer, from "Consequences of Paris Protocol: Devastating Economic Costs, Essentially Zero Environmental Benefits,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder (2016) D. J. Wuebbles et al. argue that, particularly given the tendency of climate models to underestimate the effects of carbon emissions (from large-scale combustion of fossil fuels and from deforestation), avoiding dangerous warming of the climate will require reducing net global CO2 emissions. Kevin D. Dayaratna, Nicholas D. Loris, and David W. Kreutzer argue that trying to meet the requirements of the 2015 Paris Agreement by restricting the use of fossil fuels would harm several sectors of the U.S. economy with little if any benefit to the environment. By 2035, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would lose $2.5 trillion, consumer electric bills would go up by 13 percent, and family income would lose $20,000.Issue: Would a Carbon Tax Help Slow Global Warming?Yes: James Rydge, from “Implementing Effective Carbon Pricing,” The New Climate Economy (2015)No: Robert P. Murphy, Patrick J. Michaels, and Paul C. Knappenberger, from "The Case Against a Carbon Tax,” Cato Institute (2015)James Rydge argues that the case for using carbon pricing (via a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system) as an important component of efforts to bring carbon emissions and their effects on global climate change under control is strong, momentum is growing, and effects on competitiveness can be dealt with via international cooperation. Therefore all developed and emerging economies, and others where possible, should commit to introducing or strengthening carbon pricing by 2020, and should phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Robert P. Murphy, Patrick J. Michaels, and Paul C. Knappenberger argue that the economics of climate change reveal that the case for a U.S. carbon tax is very weak, partly because reining in global warming cannot be justified in cost/benefit terms. Even a well-designed carbon tax would probably cause more harm than good.Issue: Is Home Solar the Wave of the Future?Yes: Peter Bronski et al., from “The Economics of Grid Defection,” Rocky Mountain Institute (2014)No: Peter Kind, from “Disruptive Challenges: Financial Implications and Strategic Responses to a Changing Retail Electric Business,” Edison Electric Institute (2013)Peter Bronski et al., of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) argue that the combination of home solar power with storage technologies such as batteries offer to make the electricity grid optional for many consumers, perhaps as early as the 2020s. Utilities have an opportunity to exploit the spread of “distributed electricity generation” to provide a robust, reliable electricity supply. Peter Kind, executive director of Energy Infrastructure Advocates, argues that increased interest in “distributed energy resources” such as home solar power and energy efficiency, among other factors, is threatening to reduce revenue and increase costs for electrical utilities. In order to protect investors and capital availability, electrical utilities must consider new charges for customers who reduce their electricity usage, decreased payments to homeowners using net metering, and even new charges to users of “distributed energy resources” to offset “stranded costs” (such as no longer needed power plants).Unit 3: Human Health and WelfareIssue: Do We Have a Population Problem?Yes: Dennis Dimick, from “As World’s Population Booms, Will Its Resources Be Enough for Us?” National Geographic (2014)No: Tom Bethell, from “Population, Economy, and God,” The American Spectator (2009)Dennis Dimick argues that new projections of higher population growth through the twenty-first century are reason for concern, largely because of the conflict between population size and resource use. The environmental impact of population also depends on technology, affluence, and waste, but educated women have smaller families and technology (electric lights, for instance) aids education. Controlling population appears to be essential. Tom Bethell argues that population alarmists project their fears onto popular concerns, currently the environment, and every time their scare-mongering turns out to be based on faulty premises. Blaming environmental problems will be no different. Societies are sustained not by population control but by belief in God.Issue: Can Vaccines Cause Autism?Yes: Arjun Walia, from “Scientific Evidence Suggests the Vaccine-Autism Link Can No Longer Be Ignored,” Collective Evolution (2013)No: Harriet Hall, from “Vaccines and Autism: A Deadly Manufactroversy,” Skeptic (2009)Arjun Walia argues that the scientific consensus on the safety of vaccines may be suspect because “the corporate media is owned by the major vaccine manufacturers.” He describes 22 studies that suggest that the connection between childhood vaccines and autism is real or that suggest possible mechanisms for the connection. Harriet Hall argues that the controversy over whether vaccines cause autism has been manufactured by dishonest, self-serving researchers and physicians, ignorant celebrities, conspiracy theorists, and the media. The result is a resurgence of preventable diseases and childhood deaths. Vaccines save lives. Autism's causes are probably genetic.Issue: Should We Worry That Cell Phones Cause Cancer? Yes: Mark Hertsgaard and Mark Dowie, “How Big Wireless Made Us Think That Cell Phones Are Safe: A Special Investigation,” The Nation (2018) No: David H. Gorski, “The Nation Indulges in Fear Mongering about Cell Phones and Cancer,” Science Based Medicine (2018) Mark Hertsgaard and Mark Dowie ar gue that the true hazards of cell phones have been covered up by the telecommunications industry in a way similar to the way the tobacco industry covered up the hazards of tobacco and the fossil fuels industry covered up the climate implications of carbon dioxide emissions. David H. Gorski argues that Hertsgaard and Dowie, despite their disclaimer denying that they are saying that cell phones cause cancer are clearly and misleadingly stoking fears that cell phones do precisely that. The research to date does not demonstrate that wireless phones cause cancer or have other adverse health effects.Issue: Should Genetically Modified Foods Be Labeled?Yes: Todd Daloz, from “Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health, Hearing on ‘A National Framework for the Review and Labeling of Biotechnology in Food,’” U.S. House of Representatives (2015) No: L. Val Giddings, from “Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health, Hearing on ‘A National Framework for the Review and Labeling of Biotechnology in Food,’” U.S. House of Representatives (2015) Todd Daloz argues that Vermont's legislation requiring labeling of genetically modified crops (GMOs) is amply justified by the public's need for factual information about the food they eat, and that federal preemption of state labeling laws, without providing a suitable substitute, is unreasonable. L. Val Giddings argues that there is no scientific doubt that GMO crops are safe to eat, the federal government already has sufficient authority to regulate the sale and labeling of GMO foods, and the push for labeling laws is a thinly disguised effort to ban GMOs in favor of less safe and more expensive alternatives, such as organic foods.Unit 4: SpaceIssue: Should We Try to Stop an Asteroid or Comet Impact?Yes: National Science and Technology Council, from “National Near-Earth Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan: A Report by the Interagency Working Group for Detecting and Mitigating the Impact of Earth-Bound Near-Earth Objects,” www.whitehouse.gov (2018) No: Clark R. Chapman, from “What Will Happen When the Next Asteroid Strikes?" Astronomy Magazine (2011)The Interagency Working Group for Detecting and Mitigating the Impact of Earth-Bound Near-Earth Objects of the National Science and Technology Council (NEO) argues that NEO impacts pose a significant challenge to society. Dealing with that challenge requires national and international cooperation to detect potential impacts, devise ways to ward them off, and to devise procedures for coping with and recovering from NEO impact emergencies. Clark R. Chapman argues that though the consequences of an asteroid or comet impact would be catastrophic, efforts to prevent the impact would be futile. It is far more appropriate to incorporate such impact disasters into more conventional disaster planning.Issue: Will the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Ever Succeed?Yes: Seth Shostak, from “Using Radio in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” U.S. House of Representatives (2014)No: Peter Schenkel, from “SETI Requires a Skeptical Reappraisal,” Skeptical Inquirer (2006)Radio astronomer and Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) researcher Seth Shostak defends SETI and argues that if the assumptions behind the search are well grounded, “it is not hyperbole to suggest that scientists could very well discover extraterrestrial intelligence within two decades.” Peter Schenkel argues that SETI’s lack of success to date, coupled with the apparent uniqueness of Earth’s history and suitability for life, suggests that intelligent life is probably rare in our galaxy and that the enthusiastic optimism of SETI proponents should be reined in.Issue: Should the United States Continue Its Human Spaceflight Program?Yes: Committee on Human Spaceflight, from “Pathways to Exploration: Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration,” The National Academies Press (2014)No: Amitai Etzioni, from “Final Frontier vs. Fruitful Frontier: The Case for Increasing Ocean Exploration,” Issues in Science and Technology (2014)The National Research Council’s Committee on Human Spaceflight argues that the combination of the pragmatic benefits of and the human aspirations associated with human spaceflight are great enough to justify continuing the United States’ human spaceflight program. Professor Amitai Etzioni argues that the Earth’s oceans offer more potential discoveries, more resources for human use, and more contributions to national security and disaster preparedness than outer space. The exploration of space should be replaced by the exploration of the oceans, and the necessary budgetary resources should be taken from NASA.Unit 5: The Computer RevolutionIssue: Do Artificial Intelligence Research and Applications Need to Be Regulated? Yes: Matthew U. Scherer, from “Regulating Artificial Intelligence Systems: Risks, Challenges, Competencies, and Strategies,” Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (2016) No: Amitai Etzioni and Oren Etzioni, from “Perspective: Should Artificial Intelligence Be Regulated,” Issues in Science and Technology (2017) Matthew U. Scherer argues that concerns about artificial intelligence‘s (AI's) impact on society warrant legislative action, perhaps in the form of an Artificial Intelligence Development Act that would create a regulatory agency "tasked with certifying the safety of AI systems" and the competence of practitioners. The Act would also create a liability system to allow existing legal systems to ensure compensation for victims of AI and motivate increased attention to safety. Amitai Etzioni and Oren Etzioni argue that neither artificial intelligence (AI) nor its risks are well defined. What is needed is oversight systems or "AI Guardians" and a Cyber Age Commission that would examine the situation and promote public dialogue before seeking regulatory solutions.Issue: Must Self-Driving Cars Be Safer Than the Average Human Driver? Yes: Gill Pratt, from statement on “Self-Driving Cars: Road to Deployment,” before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy & Commerce, Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection (2017) No: Robbie Diamond and Amitai Y. Bin-Nun, from statement on “Self-Driving Cars: Road to Deployment,” before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy & Commerce, Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection (2017) Gill Pratt argues that even though self-driving cars will be safer than human-driven cars, people will not accept them until they are much, much safer than human drivers. Robbie Diamond and Amitai Y. Bin-Nun argue that the deployment of self-driving cars will reduce traffic deaths (most of which are due to human error) and should be permitted as soon as the safety of the vehicles exceeds that of the average human driver. Unit 6: EthicsIssue: Should Animals Be Considered Persons? Yes: Karen Davis, from “The Provocative Elitism of 'Personhood' for Nonhuman Creatures in Animal Advocacy Parlance and Polemics,” Journal of Evolution and Technology (2014) No: Richard L. Cupp, from “Human Responsibility, Not Legal Personhood, for Nonhuman Animals,” Engage (2015) Karen Davis argues that it is not only the "higher" animals that we should consider "persons." “Lower” animals should not be considered nonpersons and doomed to exploitation. Richard L. Cupp argues that there is no need for radical restructuring of our legal system to grant animals personhood. Rather, we should focus on human legal accountability for responsible treatment of nonhuman animals. Issue: Should Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Be Released into the Environment to Fight Disease?Yes: Hadyn Parry, from “Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Hearing on ‘Science of Zika: The DNA of an Epidemic,’” U.S. House of Representatives (2016)No: Eric Hoffman, from “Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes in the U.S.,” Friends of the Earth (2012)Hadyn Parry argues that genetically engineered mosquitoes hold the potential to reduce mosquito populations and control the spread of diseases such as Zika and dengue. Eric Hoffman, a biotechnology campaigner with Friends of the Earth, argues that a great deal of research remains to be done to prove the safety to both the environment and public health of releasing genetically engineered mosquitoes. In addition, medical ethics require that participants in a medical trial must be able to opt out at any time, which means that a single resident of a release area must be able to call a halt to the release program.Issue: Is Gene-Editing of Human Embryos Coming Soon?Yes: Antonio Regalado, from “Engineering the Perfect Baby,” MIT Technology Review (2015)No: Elizabeth McNally, from “Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Subcommittee on Research and Technology, Hearing on ‘The Science and Ethics of Genetically Engineered Human DNA,’” U.S. House of Representatives (2015)Antonio Regalado describes recent progress in using the new CRISPR technology to edit the genes of mammalian cells, including embryos. He argues that although many people involved in the research are cautious, what was until recently only a theoretical possibility is now a very real possibility. We are very close to being able to engineer the genes of human embryos (for a variety of reasons) and most people have no idea of what is coming. Elizabeth McNally agrees that the technology is developing rapidly and has much to offer but is more reserved in her evaluation. She argues that it is necessary to regulate the technology and its uses, including limiting or prohibiting uses where changes would be passed to the next generation. However, “the justified use of this approach is certainly conceivable and may one day be appropriate.”

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Book SynopsisThe coauthors of the seminal book The Virtual Corporation describe how the rise of artificial intelligence and virtual environments are ushering in an epic cultural transformation--and how we can thrive in this new era.We are at the dawn of the Autonomous Revolution, a turning point in human history as decisive as the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. More and more, AI-based machines are replacing human beings, and online environments are gathering our data and using it to manipulate us. This loss of human autonomy amounts to nothing less than a societal phase change, a fundamental paradigm shift. The same institutions will remain--schools, banks, churches, and corporations--but they will radically change form, obey new rules, and use new tools. William H. Davidow and Michael S. Malone go deeply into the enormous implications of these developments. They show why increases in productivity no longer translate into increases in the GDP and how zero cost, one-to-many communications have been turned into tools for cybercrime and propaganda. Many of the book''s recommendations--such as using taxes to control irresponsible internet behavior and enabling people to put their data into what are essentially virtual personal information "safety deposit boxes"--are bold and visionary, but we must figure out how we will deal with these emerging challenges now, before the Autonomous Revolution overcomes us.

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Book SynopsisTechnology can be a great gift. It allows us to communicate with people all over the world instantly. But it can also do great harm if not used wisely. This short book gives helpful suggestions for how to use technology to glorify God in our lives, as well as making us aware of what dangers there are in misusing technology.Trade ReviewGod’s gifts can quickly become idols, and technology is no exception. In nine concise chapters, John Perritt helps young people think through why they use technology the way they do, and also why it can be unhealthy and dangerous. Pastors will want parents and youth leaders to make use of this valuable resource. -- Charles M. Wingard (Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Dean of Students, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi)… explains that God’s Word gives us wisdom for every aspect of life, and that Jesus is Lord of All – including technology. -- Sharon James (Social Policy Analyst, The Christian Institute)… encourages us to actually think about our use of technology and to steer a sensible and God–honouring course past the dangers that are encountered in cyber–space. -- David J. Randall (Author of ‘Why I Am Not an Atheist’ and ‘Christianity – Is It True?’)John Perritt has given us a concise and direct outlook on technology that’s rooted in the unchanging truths of God’s Word. This book will lead your students into navigating technology to the glory of God while enabling their own human flourishing. -- Walt Mueller (President, Center for Parent/Youth Understanding)

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Book SynopsisWhen Ken Kamen launched his financial services career, technology had just begun to transform how we earn, spend, save, and invest money—along with every other aspect of our lives. Today, nearly four decades later, we have access to boundless possibilities with only a few keystrokes. Technology empowers us by making countless tasks easier and speedier to accomplish, but it also compounds our human tendencies to act impulsively and emotionally, both of which are enemies of long-term financial security. Computers and search engines have lulled us into complacency, making it easy to find just-in-time answers to all our questions. The unexpected consequence has been a decline in the desire, and even the skills, to plan ahead. In Don’t Let Technology Crack Your Nest Egg, Kamen presents startling facts that reveal how our reliance on technology poses growing economic dangers. For example, our addiction to our screens leads us to squander our most precious resource: time. Aspirational consumption has become such a budget-breaker that 60% of millennials say their #1 money-saving plan is to stop following social media. The incremental growth of cashless transactions makes us increasingly lax about tracking our spending. And although computers provide us access to a cornucopia of information, many people carelessly put their trust in “knowledge” from unreliable sources. In the real world, we guard our wallets and lock our doors to protect ourselves from unknown threats. But in the virtual world, we are cavalier about allowing motivated parties to invade our privacy and track our behavior, manipulate our buying decisions, and sway our opinions. We trust that simplistic, computer-generated solutions are comprehensive enough to provide carefully considered recommendations for our own particular needs. We allow our cyberself to wander the internet, compromising our identity and acting as an unsupervised agent on our behalf in our interactions and transactions with strangers. Kamen explores the wide-ranging consequences these new forces can have on our financial futures. This book will be cautionary and eye-opening both to older readers with a nest egg to protect and to younger readers just building one—to anyone, in fact, wanting financial insight into navigating a world that is rapidly being transformed by technology.Trade Review"As personal finance books go, Don't Let Technology Crack Your Nest Egg is a welcome change of pace from typical fare. No forgone lattes here. It might require some work to apply concepts and ideas, but personal finance do-it-yourselfers should get some fresh food for thought." Brian Hershberg, Barron's

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Book SynopsisDiscover the many features of the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT 2.0 set. The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book is the complete, illustrated, beginner's guide to MINDSTORMS that you've been looking for. The crystal clear instructions in the Discovery Book will show you how to harness the capabilities of the NXT 2.0 set to build and program your own robots. Author and robotics instructor Laurens Valk walks you through the set, showing you how to use its various pieces, and how to use the NXT software to program robots. Interactive tutorials make it easy for you to reach an advanced level of programming as you learn to build robots that move, monitor sensors, and use advanced programming techniques like data wires and variables. You'll build eight increasingly sophisticated robots like the Strider (a six-legged walking creature), the CCC (a climbing vehicle), the Hybrid Brick Sorter (a robot that sorts by color and size), and the Snatcher (an autonomous robotic arm). Numerous building and pTrade Review"The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book should come with every MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Kit."—WiredTable of ContentsChapter 1: Collecting the Equipment for Your RobotChapter 2: Building Your First RobotChapter 3: Creating and Modifying ProgramsChapter 4: Working with Programming Blocks: Move, Sound, and DisplayChapter 5: Waiting, Repeating and Other Programming TechniquesChapter 6: Understanding SensorsChapter 7: Using the Touch, Color, and Rotation SensorsChapter 8: Shot-Roller: A Robotic Defense SystemChapter 9: Strider: The Six-Legged Walking CreatureChapter 10: Using Data Hubs and Data WiresChapter 11: Using Data Blocks and Using Data Wires with Loops and SwitchesChapter 12: Using Variables, Constants, and Playing Games on the NXTChapter 13: Snatcher: The Autonomous Robotic ArmChapter 14: Hybrid Brick Sorter: Sort Bricks by Color and SizeChapter 15: CCC: The Compact Chimney ClimberAppendix: Transferring Programs to the NXT with USB or Bluetooth

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