Book Review Sci Fi · 100 words
What kind of life will we find in the depths of Europa's Oceans? What kind of life will we allow an AI with human level intelligence? The ten stories in Sapience: A Collection of Science Fiction Short Stories explore these questions and many more. A delightful - and weird - collection of sci-fi shorts. All loosely tied together by the looming moon of Jupiter. A couple were a little too grim…
Continue reading →Book Review technology · 200 words
Technology has become the architect of our intimacies. Online, we fall prey to the illusion of companionship, gathering thousands of Twitter and Facebook friends, and confusing tweets and wall posts with authentic communication. But this relentless connection leads to a deep solitude. MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues that as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down. A profound and…
Continue reading →Book Review feminism · 350 words
Why do we find it so hard to say 'No'? What does poker teach us about power structures? How can feminism be more inclusive? The Guilty Feminist will challenge you, reassure you and empower you to see the world differently. A fantastic book. Even if you've listened religiously to The Guilty Feminist Podcast, or seen the author's solo shows, there's plenty of new material in here. It's a…
Continue reading →Book Review magic · 150 words
Winner of the 2016 British Fantasy Society Award for Best Newcomer. Shortlisted for the 2016 British Fantasy Society Award for Best Novel. Shortlisted for the 2016 Locus First Novel Award. Sorcerer to the Crown is the first in Zen Cho's thrilling magical adventure series, the Sorcerer Royal Trilogy. This was an absolute delight to read. Magic, racism, and sexism, wrapped together with…
Continue reading →Book Review economics facebook · 9 comments · 550 words
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a deeply-reasoned examination of the threat of unprecedented power free from democratic oversight. As it explores this new capitalism's impact on society, politics, business, and technology, it exposes the struggles that will decide both the next chapter of capitalism and the meaning of information civilization. It shows how we can protect ourselves and our …
Continue reading →Book Review time travel · 1 comment · 150 words
The first book in the bestselling Chronicles of St Mary's series which follows a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets as they hurtle their way around History. This is stupid amounts of fun! A roaring adventure through time. Doesn't bother getting hung-up on paradoxes - or science - but goes straight for the heart of history. Historians! Specifically, historians fightin', drinkin', and…
Continue reading →Book Review economics technology · 4 comments · 250 words
This book debunks the myth of the State as a large bureaucratic organization that can at best facilitate the creative innovation which happens in the dynamic private sector. It argues that in the history of modern capitalism the State has not only fixed market failures but also shaped and created markets, actively investing in new technologies and sectors that private investors only later find…
Continue reading →Book Review discworld · 1 comment · 200 words
Paul Kidby has collected the very best of his Discworld illustrations in this definitive volume, including 40 pieces never before seen, 30 pieces that have only appeared in foreign editions, limited editions and BCA editions, and 17 book cover illustrations that have never been seen without cover text. If Pratchett's pen gave his characters life, Paul Kidby's brush allowed them to live it, and…
Continue reading →Book Review · 1 comment · 100 words
The visionary author’s masterpiece pulls us—along with her Black female hero—through time to face the horrors of slavery and explore the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now. Brutal and perfectly executed sci-fi. Doesn't waste any time on the well-worn tropes of paradoxes or stealing a sports almanac. I'd usually find the lack of exposition to be annoying - but here the s…
Continue reading →Book Review design usability · 150 words
In Mismatch, Kat Holmes describes how design can lead to exclusion, and how design can also remedy exclusion. Inclusive design methods—designing objects with rather than for excluded users—can create elegant solutions that work well and benefit all. Holmes tells stories of pioneers of inclusive design, many of whom were drawn to work on inclusion because of their own experiences of exclusion. P…
Continue reading →Book Review · 1 comment · 200 words · Viewed ~1,662 times
Red belongs to the Agency, a post-singularity technotopia. Blue belongs to Garden, a single vast consciousness embedded in all organic matter. Their pasts are bloody and their futures mutually exclusive. They have nothing in common—save that they’re the best, and they’re alone. Now what began as a battlefield boast grows into a dangerous game, one both Red and Blue are determined to win. Becau…
Continue reading →Book Review gender · 1 comment · 200 words
Do you have a female brain or a male brain? Or is that the wrong question? We live in a gendered world where we are bombarded with messages about sex and gender. On a daily basis we face deeply ingrained beliefs that your sex determines your skills and preferences, from toys and colours to career choice and salaries. But what does this constant gendering mean for our thoughts, decisions and…
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