Periodic surveys in the last decade have asked people what they'd rather sacrifice for a year: their smartphone or sex? In every survey, nearly half of the respondents chose abstinence over the loss of their touch screens. How did computers come to be such a dominant part of our everyday lives, so essential an appendage that some regard them as more necessary than a romantic partner?
Darwin was very nearly rejected from the voyage that yielded his groundbreaking theories because the ship's captain was an amateur physiognomist who didn't like the cut of Darwin's jib. “He doubted whether anyone with my nose could possess sufficient energy and determination for the voyage,“ wrote Darwin in his autobiography. “But I think he was afterwards well-satisfied that my nose had spoken falsely.“
so-soMeh. This felt not so different from The Circle, just more of cyber-corporations getting more ludicrous and digging roots further into every aspect of humanity. It‘s a tense read, funny and scary at the same time because it‘s easy to see the parallel with reality.
I‘d definitely say #borrowdontbuy but also I wouldn‘t say you‘d miss much if you skip it.
pickWell, this was a terrifying read for my sociopolitical theme. Kashmir Hill is a NYT journalist investigating Clearview AI. This facial recognition platform claims a 98.6% accuracy rate, with over 50 billion facial profiles, harvested from all public websites.
Highly recommended as it's important we realise what these companies are doing and the consequences of their product.
panAn in depth, pre-Snowden journalistic investigation into the world of whistleblowers and data leakers.
This was a tough read to get into. Interesting, but dry and dense. Every chapter is also an interweaving of multiple people‘s stories. Pair all that with intentional misgendering and deadnaming of Chelsea Manning and glossing over Julian Assange‘s sexual assault allegations, this is not a book I need to keep or revisit. 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
#TodayILearned more about Spyware😡🤢
I haven‘t read Ronan Farrow‘s reporting on Pegasus, but this 61 minute documentary on HBO Max gives a great overview.
Tagged the book that‘s lauded as the best owner‘s manual on going off the digital grid. We‘ve got the book and someday I‘ll read it. Just doesn‘t seem like there‘s much you can do to minimize intrusions unless you‘re truly willing to give up connected tech. I‘m not there, yet.
1. I‘m decent—I probably know a little more than most people my age but can‘t hold a candle to the youngsters! Although I have noticed that their extensive tech knowledge doesn‘t extend to practical applications. They‘re experts with social media posting and video games, but they‘re lost if you ask them to create a spreadsheet or format a text document. 🤦♀️
2. The Circle by Dave Eggers - I loved it—so satirical!
#Two4Tuesday
so-soThis book (sequel to Eggers' The Circle) took me a looong time to finish. It's a dystopian story that imagines a world where Meta and Amazon become this massive tech monopoly and take over surveillance, medicine, consumption, and basically every aspect of one's life. The amount of tech advancements described in the book was a bit overwhelming, but also mirrors reality in a sense. I don't know, I just had a hard time with this one.
![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png){kind=icon}