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2019., Riverhead Books Call No: 302.231 M133b Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "A linguistically informed look at how our digital world is transforming the English language. 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 tildes̃ 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. Because Internet is essential reading 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"--
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2019., MIT Press Call No: 174.9 S775b Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: How to repair the disconnect between designers and users, producers and consumers, and tech elites and the rest of us: toward a more democratic internet. In this provocative book, Ramesh Srinivasan describes the internet as both an enabler of frictionless efficiency and a dirty tangle of politics, economics, and other inefficient, inharmonious human activities. We may love the immediacy of Google search results, the convenience of buying from Amazon, and the elegance and power of our Apple devices, but it's a one-way, top-down process. We're not asked for our input, or our opinions--only for our data. The internet is brought to us by wealthy technologists in Silicon Valley and China. It's time, Srinivasan argues, that we think in terms beyond the Valley. Srinivasan focuses on the disconnection he sees between designers and users, producers and consumers, and tech elites and the rest of us. The recent Cambridge Analytica and Russian misinformation scandals exemplify the imbalance of a digital world that puts profits before inclusivity and democracy. In search of a more democratic internet, Srinivasan takes us to the mountains of Oaxaca, East and West Africa, China, Scandinavia, North America, and elsewhere, visiting the "design labs" of rural, low-income, and indigenous people around the world. He talks to a range of high-profile public figures--including Elizabeth Warren, David Axelrod, Eric Holder, Noam Chomsky, Lawrence Lessig, and the founders of Reddit, as well as community organizers, labor leaders, and human rights activists. To make a better internet, Srinivasan says, we need a new ethic of diversity, openness, and inclusivity, empowering those now excluded from decisions about how technologies are designed, who profits from them, and who are surveilled and exploited by them.
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[2017]., Lionsgate Call No: DVD Fic Circle Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: When Mae is hired to work for the world's largest and most powerful tech and social media company, she sees it as an opportunity. As she rises through the ranks, she is encouraged by the company's founder, Eamon Bailey, to engage in a groundbreaking experiment that pushes the boundaries of privacy, ethics and ultimately her personal freedom. Her participation in the experiment, and every decision she makes begin to affect the lives and future of her friends, family and that of humanity.
![The circle [DVD] (2017). Directed by James Ponsoldt.](/Library/images/cover/noimage.png "The circle [DVD] (2017). Directed by James Ponsoldt.")
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-- World-wide struggle for Internet freedom.c2012., Basic Books Call No: 302.231 M158c Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: Google has a history of censoring at the behest of Communist China. Research in Motion happily opens up the BlackBerry to such stalwarts of liberty as Saudi Arabia. Yahoo has betrayed the email accounts of dissidents to the PRC. Facebook's obsession with personal transparency has revealed the identities of protestors to governments. For all the overheated rhetoric of liberty and cyber-utopia, it is clear that the corporations that rule cyberspace are making decisions that show little or no concern for their impact on political freedom. In Consent of the Networked, internet policy specialist Rebecca MacKinnon argues that it's time for us to demand that our rights and freedoms are respected and protected before they're sold, legislated, programmed, and engineered away. The challenge is that building accountability into the fabric of cyberspace demands radical thinking in a completely new dimension. The corporations that build and operate the technologies that create and shape our digital world are fundamentally different from the Chevrons, Nikes, and Nabiscos whose behavior and standards can be regulated quite effectively by laws, courts, and bureaucracies answerable to voters.The public revolt against the sovereigns of cyberspace will be useless if it focuses downstream at the point of law and regulation, long after the software code has already been written, shipped, and embedded itself into the lives of millions of people. The revolution must be focused upstream at the source of the problem. Political innovation - the negotiated relationship between people with power and people whose interests and rights are affected by that power - needs to center around the point of technological conception, experimentation, and early implementation. The purpose of technology - and of the corporations that make it - is to serve humanity, not the other way around. It's time to wake up and act before the reversal becomes permanent. -- From publisher description.
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By Keen, Andrewc2007., Doubleday/Currency Call No: 303.4833 K26c Edition: 1st ed. Availability:1 of 1 At Your LibraryTable of contents only Summary Note: Silicon Valley insider and pundit Andrew Keen claims that today's new participatory Web 2.0 threatens our values, economy, and ultimately the very innovation and creativity that forms the fabric of American achievement. In today's self-broadcasting culture, where amateurism is celebrated and anyone with an opinion, however ill-informed, can publish a blog, post a video on YouTube, or change an entry on Wikipedia, the distinction between trained expert and uninformed amateur becomes blurred. When bloggers and videographers, unconstrained by professional standards or editorial filters, can manipulate public opinion, truth becomes a commodity to be bought, sold, packaged, and reinvented. The anonymity that Web 2.0 offers calls into question the reliability of the information we receive and creates an environment in which sexual predators and identity thieves can roam free. Keen urges us to consider the consequences of supporting a culture that endorses plagiarism and piracy and weakens traditional media and creative institutions.--From publisher description.
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2013., Adult, McGill-Queen's University Press Call No: 809.911 S678e Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "Can a case be made for reading literature in the digital age? Does literature still matter in this era of instant information? Is it even possible to advocate for serious, sustained reading with all manner of social media distracting us, fragmenting our concentration, and demanding short, rapid communication? In The Edge of the Precipice, Paul Socken brings together a thoughtful group of writers, editors, philosophers, librarians, archivists, and literary critics from Canada, the US, France, England, South Africa, and Australia to contemplate the state of literature in the twenty-first century."--Back cover.
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2014., Adult, HarperCollins Canada Call No: 303.48 H315e Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "Only one generation (ours) will experience life both with and without the Internet. For everyone who follows us, online life will simply be the air they breathe. Today, we revel in ubiquitous information and constant connection, rarely stopping to consider the implications for our logged-on lives. Michael Harris chronicles this massive shift, exploring what we've gained-and lost-in the bargain. He argues that our greatest loss has been that of absence itself-of silence, wonder and solitude. It's a surprisingly precious commodity, and one we have less of every year. Harris explores this "loss of lack" in chapters devoted to every corner of our lives, from sex and commerce to memory and attention span. The book's message is urgent: once we've lost the gift of absence, we may never remember its value. Michael Harris is a contributing editor at Western Living and Vancouver magazine"--Provided by publisher.
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Ã2017., General, Dey St., an imprint of William Morrow Call No: 302.231 S832e Edition: First edition. Availability:0 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "What the vast amounts of information now instantly available to us reveals about ourselves - the fears, desires, and behaviors that drive us, and the conscious and unconscious decisions we make. Fascinating, surprising, and sometimes laugh-out-loud insights into everything from economics to ethics to sports to race to sex, gender and more, all drawn from the world of big data. What percentage of white voters didn't vote for Barack Obama because he's black? Does where you go to school effect how successful you are in life? The author reveals biases deeply embedded within us, information we can use to change our culture, and the questions we're afraid to ask that might be essential to our health, both emotional and physical. All of us are touched by big data everyday, and its influence is multiplying. Everybody Lies challenges us to think differently about how we see it and the world. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is a former Google data scientist."--Provided by publisher.
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2014., Adult, Signal Call No: 302.3430 T633e Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "Cyberabuse -- tormenting, trolling, harassment, cyberbullying, stalking, and sexual extortion -- and the toll it is taking on children, youth, and adults around the world. News broadcasts and newspaper headlines are dominated by stories of cyberbullying and other digital abuse. This isn't the playground teasing and name-calling of generations before the Internet. This new abuse's unique characteristics - anonymity, permanence, and viral audience -- can relentlessly exacerbate the humiliation, pain, and danger of its victims. Ugly rumours that once snaked through school hallways and around the office water cooler are now delivered at lightning speed to the world, while sexual extortion and revenge-porn sites target those who've shared intimate images. The splendid connectivity of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, also makes us vulnerable to 'interpersonal terrorism,' while apps that promise privacy and rapid deletion are ridden with loopholes. The world of 'extreme mean' -- the people who use the Internet to undermine lives rather than improve them. Personal stories of online abuse from around the world, including the suicide of Amanda Todd and the untold costs of Rebecca Black's experience as 'the most hated girl on the Internet,' as well as interviews with troll-tormentors, accidental abusers, victimized kids, and adults. The often surprising roots of online abuse challenges current academic thinking, and offers new ways of understanding the nasty and the nefarious who erode humanity. Paula Todd is the author of 'Finding Karla.' She is a Canadian broadcaster and journalist"--Provided by publisher.
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-- How the new personalized Web is changing what we read and how we thinkBy Pariser, Eli2012., Penguin Books/Penguin Press Call No: 004.67 P231f Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: A filter bubble is a term coined by internet activist Eli Pariser in his book by the same name to describe a phenomenon in which websites use algorithms to selectively guess what information a user would like to see, based on information about the user (such as location, past click behaviour and search history). As a result, websites tend to show only information which agrees with the user's past viewpoint, effectively isolating the user in a bubble that tends to exclude contrary information.
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2015., Adult, Doubleday Canada Call No: 364.168 G653f Edition: 1st ed. Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: An FBI futurist and senior advisor to Interpol analyzes the digital underground to reveal the alarming ways criminals, corporations, and even countries are using new and emerging technologies against you.
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Ã2018., University of Toronto Press Call No: 302.23 M954i Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: Ashesh Mukherjee uses the latest research in consumer psychology to highlight five hidden costs of living online: too many temptations, too much information, too much customization, too many comparisons, and too little privacy. The book provides actionable solutions to minimize these costs. This book provides a new perspective on the dark side of the internet, and gives readers the tools to become a smart user of the internet. Residence: Montreal, QC.
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2019., Profile Books Ltd Call No: 324.70285 W983m Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "Mindf*ck is a terrifying joyride through the new corridors of power. Plunge deep inside the wave of extremism that is sweeping the globe and discover why Brexit is only the beginning. Hostile actors are coming for your data, and they want to control what you think."--.
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2014., Adult, Random House Canada Call No: 303.4833 T238p Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "The Internet has been hailed as a place where all can be heard and everyone can participate equally. But how true is this claim? In a seminal dismantling of techno-utopian visions, The People's Platform argues that for all that we "tweet" and "like" and "share," the Internet in fact reflects and amplifies real-world inequities at least as much as it ameliorates them. Online, just as off-line, attention and influence largely accrue to those who already have plenty of both. What we have seen in the virtual world so far, Astra Taylor says, has been not a revolution but a rearrangement. Although Silicon Valley tycoons have eclipsed Hollywood moguls, a handful of giants like Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook still dominate our lives. And the worst habits of the old media model--the pressure to be quick and sensational, to seek easy celebrity, to appeal to the broadest possible public--have proliferated online, where every click can be measured and where "aggregating" the work of others is the surest way to attract eyeballs and ad revenue. In a world where culture is "free," creative work has diminishing value, and advertising fuels the system, the new order looks suspiciously just like the old one. We can do better, Taylor insists. The online world does offer an unprecedented opportunity, but a democratic culture that supports diverse voices, work of lasting value, and equitable business practices will not appear as a consequence of technology alone. If we want the Internet to truly be a people's platform, we will have to make it so."--Book jacket.
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2014., Adult, Signal Call No: 323.443 F583p Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "From an acclaimed professor and former advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a passionate and edgy defense of free speech in Canada, and the role the internet plays in the issue. In February 2013, Tom Flanagan, acclaimed academic, University of Calgary professor, and former advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, made comments surrounding the issue of viewing child pornography that were tweeted from the event he was speaking at and broadcast worldwide. In the time it took to drive from Lethbridge to his home in Calgary, Flanagan's career and reputation were virtually in tatters. Every media outlet made the story front-page news, most of them deriding Flanagan and casting him as a pariah. He was made to apologize publicly for his use of words but the bottom line was that Tom Flanagan simply sounded an opinion (he in no way whatsoever suggested that he was anything but virulantly opposed to child pornography) in an academic setting. In effect, his university, several of his colleagues, and much of the media, including the CBC -- and most of Canada! -- made him persona non grata. This book is two things: The author's side of the story, and what he endured during what he calls 'The Incident,' and a passionate and convincing defense of free speech, not just in Canada but everywhere. The internet, a tool that is very much a double-edged sword when it comes to freedom of expression--it allows people to have an unfiltered voice to say what they want, but it also allows those to use it to be judge, jury and executioner against those whose opinions they disagree with. A sobering look into the kind of political correctness that has become a staple in the academic world. What happened to the author illustrates important tendencies in contemporary Canada threatening freedom of speech and discussion, and how the new technology is playing an increasing and menacing role"--Provided by publisher.
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2018., Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Call No: 418.4019 W853r Edition: First edition. Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: Draws on the author's extensive research from "Proust and the Squid" to consider the future of the reading brain and its capacity for critical thinking, empathy, and reflection in today's highly digitized world.
