The Computers & Technology category has 840 audiobooks on Listento.it, with an average listener rating of 3.9★ across 1,046 ratings. The most-rated is Life 3.0.
The Alchemy of Us
Summary
In The Alchemy of Us, scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez examines eight inventions - clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, light bulbs, hard disks, scientific labware, and silicon chips - and reveals how they shaped the human experience. Ramirez tells the stories of the woman who sold time, the inventor who inspired Edison, and the hotheaded undertaker whose invention pointed the way to the computer. She describes, among other things, how our pursuit of precision in timepieces changed how we sleep; how the railroad helped commercialize Christmas; and how a young chemist exposed the use of Polaroid's cameras to create passbooks to track black citizens in apartheid South Africa. Ramirez shows not only how materials were shaped by inventors but also how those materials shaped culture, chronicling each invention and its consequences - intended and unintended. Filling in the gaps left by other books about technology, Ramirez showcases little-known inventors who had a significant impact but whose accomplishments have been hidden by mythmaking, bias, and convention. Doing so, she shows us the power of telling inclusive stories about technology. She also shows that innovation is universal - whether it's splicing beats with two turntables and a microphone or splicing genes with two test tubes and CRISPR.
©2020 Ainissa Ramirez (P)2020 Gildan Media
The Dream Machine
Summary
Behind every great revolution is a vision, and behind perhaps the greatest revolution of our time, personal computing, is the vision of J.C.R. Licklider. He did not design the first personal computers or write the software that ran on them, nor was he involved in the legendary early companies that brought them to the forefront of our everyday experience. He was instead a relentless visionary who saw the potential of the way individuals could interact with computers and software.
At a time when computers were a short step removed from mechanical data processors, Licklider was writing treatises on "human-computer symbiosis", "computers as communication devices", and a now not-so-unfamiliar "Intergalactic Network". His ideas became so influential, his passion so contagious, that Waldrop called him "computing's Johnny Appleseed".
In a simultaneously compelling personal narrative and comprehensive historical exposition, Waldrop tells the story of the man who not only instigated the work that led to the internet, but also shifted our understanding of what computers were and could be.
Included in this edition are also the original texts of Licklider's three most influential writings: "Man-computer symbiosis" (1960), which outlines the vision that inspired the personal computer revolution of the 1970s; his "Intergalactic Network" memo (1963), which outlines the vision that inspired the Internet; and "The computer as a communication device" (1968, coauthored with Robert Taylor), which amplifies his vision for what the network could become.
©2018 M. Mitchell Waldrop (P)2018 Stripe Press
The Alignment Problem
Summary
A jaw-dropping exploration of everything that goes wrong when we build AI systems and the movement to fix them. Today’s “machine-learning” systems, trained by data, are so effective that we’ve invited them to see and hear for us - and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Recent years have seen an eruption of concern as the field of machine learning advances. When the systems we attempt to teach will not, in the end, do what we want or what we expect, ethical and potentially existential risks emerge. Researchers call this the alignment problem. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole - and appear to assess Black and White defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And as autonomous vehicles share our streets, we are increasingly putting our lives in their hands. The mathematical and computational models driving these changes range in complexity from something that can fit on a spreadsheet to a complex system that might credibly be called “artificial intelligence.” They are steadily replacing both human judgment and explicitly programmed software. In best-selling author Brian Christian’s riveting account, we meet the alignment problem’s “first-responders,” and learn their ambitious plan to solve it before our hands are completely off the wheel. In a masterful blend of history and on-the-ground reporting, Christian traces the explosive growth in the field of machine learning and surveys its current, sprawling frontier. Listeners encounter a discipline finding its legs amid exhilarating and sometimes terrifying progress. Whether they - and we - succeed or fail in solving the alignment problem will be a defining human story. The Alignment Problem offers an unflinching reckoning with humanity’s biases and blind spots, our own unstated assumptions and often contradictory goals. A dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, it takes a hard look not only at our technology but at our culture - and finds a story by turns harrowing and hopeful.
©2020 Brian Christian (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
The One Device
Summary
The secret history of the invention that changed everything - and became the most profitable product in the world. Odds are that right now, an iPhone is within reach. But before Steve Jobs introduced us to "the one device", as he called it, a cell phone was merely what you used to make calls on the go. How did the iPhone transform our world and turn Apple into the most valuable company ever? Veteran technology journalist Brian Merchant reveals the inside story you won't hear from Cupertino - based on his exclusive interviews with the engineers, inventors, and developers who guided every stage of the iPhone's creation. This deep dive takes you from inside One Infinite Loop to 19th century France to WWII America, from the driest place on earth to a Kenyan pit of toxic e-waste, and even deep inside Shenzhen's notorious "suicide factories". It's a firsthand look at how the cutting-edge tech that makes the world work - touch screens, motion trackers, and even AI - made their way into our pockets. The One Device is a road map for design and engineering genius, an anthropology of the modern age, and an unprecedented view into one of the most secretive companies in history. This is the untold account, 10 years in the making, of the device that changed everything. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2017 Brian Merchant (P)2017 Hachette Audio
Rebooting AI
Summary
Two leaders in the field offer a compelling analysis of the current state of the art and reveal the steps we must take to achieve a truly robust artificial intelligence. Despite the hype surrounding AI, creating an intelligence that rivals or exceeds human levels is far more complicated than we have been led to believe. Professors Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis have spent their careers at the forefront of AI research and have witnessed some of the greatest milestones in the field, but they argue that a computer beating a human in Jeopardy! does not signal that we are on the doorstep of fully autonomous cars or superintelligent machines. The achievements in the field thus far have occurred in closed systems with fixed sets of rules, and these approaches are too narrow to achieve genuine intelligence. The real world, in contrast, is wildly complex and open-ended. How can we bridge this gap? What will the consequences be when we do? Taking inspiration from the human mind, Marcus and Davis explain what we need to advance AI to the next level, and suggest that if we are wise along the way, we won't need to worry about a future of machine overlords. If we focus on endowing machines with common sense and deep understanding, rather than simply focusing on statistical analysis and gathering ever-larger collections of data, we will be able to create an AI we can trust - in our homes, our cars, and our doctors' offices. Rebooting AI provides a lucid, clear-eyed assessment of the current science and offers an inspiring vision of how a new generation of AI can make our lives better.
©2019 Gary Marcus (P)2019 Random House Audio
Intuitive Design
Summary
Make your designs immediately self-explanatory and easy to use, and never “agree to disagree” again about whether they are intuitive! Your mission: To design an intuitive UI for your next project. Your problem: You’re not sure what “intuitive UI” really means. Worst problem: Your team isn’t sure either, so your discussions about intuitive design are unproductive and opinion-driven. If this sounds familiar, Intuitive Design: Eight Steps to an Intuitive UI will give you the insight, principles, and guidelines you need to get the job done. You’ll learn the objective and actionable steps for designing intuitive UIs - for mobile, web, and desktop apps. Mission accomplished! PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2018 Everett N. McKay (P)2018 Everett N. McKay
Stay Awhile and Listen
Summary
Two companies. Two opposing cultures. One multi-billion-dollar video game empire. Stay Awhile and Listen: How Two Blizzards Unleashed Diablo and Forged a Video Game Empire invites listeners to discover the origin of Blizzard North, a studio built by gamers, for gamers, and Blizzard Entertainment, a convergence of designers driven to rule their industry. Composed from exhaustive research and hundreds of personal interviews, the Stay Awhile and Listen series divulges the fated meeting that brought the two Blizzards together, the clashes that tore them apart, and their transformation from grassroots democracy to corporate empire. At the center of it all - Diablo, a hack-and-slash adventure through the darkest recesses of Hell that changed online gaming forever.
©2015 David Craddock (P)2015 Audiobooks.com
To Be a Machine
Summary
Meet the visionaries, billionaires, professors, and programmers who are using groundbreaking technology to push the limits of the human body - our senses, our intelligence, and our lifespans Once relegated to the fringes of society, transhumanism (the use of technology to enhance human intellectual and physical capability) is now poised to enter our cultural mainstream. It has found adherents in Silicon Valley billionaires Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis. Google has entered the picture, establishing a biotech subsidiary aimed at solving the problem of aging. In To Be a Machine, journalist Mark O'Connell takes a headlong dive into this burgeoning movement. He travels to the laboratories, conferences, and basements of today's foremost transhumanists, where he's presented with the staggering possibilities and moral quandaries of new technologies like mind uploading, artificial superintelligence, cryonics, and device implants. A contributor to Slate, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine, O'Connell serves as a sharp and lively guide to the outer limits of technology in the 21st century. In investigating what it means to be a machine, he offers a surprising, singular meditation on what it means to be human.
©2017 Mark O'Connell (P)2017 Random House Audio
Serve No Master
Summary
Best-selling author and lifestyle design expert Jonathan Green is finally ready to share the blueprint he used to escape the prison of poverty, debt, and office politics that still hold so many people imprisoned. He's not content with just sharing a few ideas - instead this traveling renegade is taking aim at every roadblock that keeps people from achieving their goals. From "not enough money" to "lack of connections" to "not enough time" to "I just can't seem to do it," Jon's taking laser aim at all the excuses, and breaking things down into small, simple steps that anyone can take to become wealthier, better connected, more talented, and more free. It doesn't matter if you're already working at home, squeezing in a little extra time after your job, or you don't even have a plan yet. Serve No Master isn't just a book - it's a system designed to smash the chains and give you a better financial outlook and more free time to do what you love. You're going to discover how to: Break the cycle of information buying and take action on your knowledge Develop a killer business plan that takes full advantage of your skills Get one-on-one time with the key players in your industry - even if you don't have experience Create books, compose videos, and blaze through online tasks in a fraction of the time Develop passive income and get paid over and over for what you do - with real examples Slash risks and expenses so you spend less and earn more Create effortless, unbreakable habits that fit into your life routine Get free upgrades at hotel rooms, save thousands of dollars on rent, get wild discounts on cruises around the world, and travel like a boss
©2016 Jonathan Green (P)2016 Jonathan Green
Blockchain Technology Explained
Summary
Are you ready to dive into the world of the blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies?! What is blockchain? How does block actually work? How does blockchain technology affect our future, and what can it be used for? Step up your game and take your blockchain and cryptocurrency knowledge to the next level! The blockchain is an undeniably incredible invention created by Satoshi Nakamoto. But, since then, it has evolved into something greater, and the main question every single person is asking is: What is blockchain? Blockchain is the world's leading software platform for digital assets. Digital assets, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple XRP, and Litecoin allow users to transact directly without any third-party intermediary and was built to radically improve the financial system. There is a lot of speculation and misinformation about blockchain technology. While it is a rather technical subject, it can easily be understood if taught by the right person. In this simplified guide on blockchain, you'll learn how this new technology actually works. You'll be guided through every aspect of blockchain thoroughly to gain a deeper understanding of the meaning behind it. By the end of the audiobook, you'll know everything you need to know about this topic and be ready use that information for future applications and investments. A preview of what you're getting out of Blockchain Technology Explained when downloading it today: How blockchain technology works Benefits of blockchain technology Challenges of blockchain technology Why blockchain is important Blockchain wallet The future of blockchain Blockchain programming Blockchain security Blockchain mining Much, much more!
©2018 Mark Atwood (P)2018 Mark Atwood
The Deep Learning Revolution
Summary
How deep learning - from Google Translate to driverless cars to personal cognitive assistants - is changing our lives and transforming every sector of the economy. The deep-learning revolution has brought us driverless cars, the greatly improved Google Translate, fluent conversations with Siri and Alexa, and enormous profits from automated trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Deep-learning networks can play poker better than professional poker players and defeat a world champion at Go. In this book, Terry Sejnowski explains how deep learning went from being an arcane academic field to a disruptive technology in the information economy. Sejnowski played an important role in the founding of deep learning, as one of a small group of researchers in the 1980s who challenged the prevailing logic-and-symbol based version of AI. The new version of AI Sejnowski and others developed, which became deep learning, is fueled instead by data. Deep networks learn from data in the same way that babies experience the world, starting with fresh eyes and gradually acquiring the skills needed to navigate novel environments. It took nature many millions of years to evolve human intelligence; AI is on a trajectory measured in decades. Sejnowski prepares us for a deep learning future.
©2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2019 Tantor
Cybersecurity
Summary
If you want to avoid getting hacked, having your information spread, and risking financial loss, then pay attention.... Do you create tons of accounts you will never again visit? Does your password contain a sequence of numbers, such as “123456”? Do you automatically click all links and download all email attachments coming from your friends? This audiobook will show you just how incredibly lucky you are that nobody's hacked you before. With this handy little book as your starting point, you can finally go from a starry-eyed internet user to a paranoid cybersecurity geek. With plenty of examples, this audiobook will show you that the internet is not merely a way to watch cute cat videos; it's a battlefield, a military invention that was accidentally found to be capable of overpowering any threat economically, digitally and politically. From the crudest forums to the most sophisticated online services, there is a war going on, and, whether you want it or not, you're involved by the very fact you're here, so better arm yourself with knowledge. Here’s just a tiny fraction of what you’ll discover: How the internet is held together with a pinky swear How hackers use raunchy photos to eke out private information Examples of preposterous social engineering attacks Equally preposterous defense from those attacks How people in charge don't even realize what hacking means How there's only one surefire way to protect against hacking Research on past, present, and future hacking methods Difference between good and bad hackers How to lower your exposure to hacking Why companies pester you to attach a phone number to an account Why social media is the most insecure way to spend your afternoon And much, much more....
©2018 Lester Evans (P)2019 Lester Evans
The Book of Satoshi
Summary
The Book of Satoshi, the collected writings of Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of the bitcoin. The foreword was written by Jeff Berwick.
©2014 Phil Champagne (P)2015 Phil Champagne
5 Minutes a Day Guide to Blogging
Summary
This series of books at first should be heard through completely to help familiarize the listener with the nature of the subject and the tasks at hand. The importance of covering all bases when working with a social media account cannot be stressed enough. But the real power we want the listener to get is to use this book as a "dip in" reference guide to fix and tweak any problems that might arise. This book literally can be used as a "five-minutes-a-day" guide. Search your interactive table of contents; find the relevant section in the book, and listen away. For any busy entrepreneur, time is money. We hope this series of cuts out the noise and helps you fix your social media problems. This is the first book in a series of five that will take your social media skills to the next level and help provide an income that you can control, freeing your life for the more important things. Would you like to learn how to optimize your blog for profit? Whether you're a beginner or experienced blogger, this book will enable you to create or take your blog to the next level. This book is the start you've been looking for to turn your blogging passion into profit. You'll find invaluable information on how to optimize your blog and how to kickstart your income stream.
©2015 Vidda Publishing (P)2016 Vidda Publishing
JavaScript
Summary
Are you clueless about coding? Are you lost understanding computer languages? Are you intimidated by the learning curve? Don't be! JavaScript is one of the most common and powerful computer languages around. It is easy to use, easy to understand, and is the driving force behind some of the most popular websites around. Facebook uses it. Google uses it. Netflix uses it, and yes - even Amazon uses it. Would you like to learn how to use it? JavaScript: Beginner JavaScript Coding from the Ground Up is the first entry in a series of books designed to make JavaScript accessible to the novice user. This series will break up the material into bite-sized chunks, and take listeners from uninitiated programmer to expert coder, with layman explanations and code examples. This entry will cover: An introduction to the history and usage of JavaScript Display operations Variables Data types Functions Strings Your very first JavaScript program ...and much more! A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Take the first step to becoming code savvy with one of the most popular, useful, powerful computer languages on the market. Get JavaScript: Beginner JavaScript Coding from the Ground Up, and set yourself on your own personal path to coding greatness! PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
©2017 Keith Dvorjak (P)2017 Keith Dvorjak
Microservices Architecture Handbook: Non-Programmer's Guide for Building Microservices
Summary
Are you a non-coder looking for insight into Microservices Architecture? You may be a consultant, advisor, project manager, or a novice in the IT industry...after going through this guide you will be able to appreciate Microservices and other related concepts like SOA, Monolith Architecture, DevOps, Docker, Kubernetes, etc. You will also learn about the leaders in Microservices adoption and impact it had on the overall agility and hyper-growth of the adopters. This audiobook covers the complete lifecycle for your understanding on subjects such as: integrating, testing, deploying Microservices, and security concerns while deploying them. I am confident that after listening to the audiobook you will be able to navigate the discussion with any stakeholder and take your agenda ahead. Additionally, if you are new to the industry and looking for an application development job, this audiobook will help you to prepare with all the relevant information presented to understand the topic.
©2018 Stephen Fleming (P)2018 Stephen Fleming
The Agile Mind-Set
Summary
Are you frustrated or disenchanted by the results of your Agile approach? Does Agile sound like a good idea, but you're not sure how to explain it beyond roles, practices, and meetings? Is your team going through the motions, but it's still business as usual? The missing piece is the Agile mindset - the thinking that makes Agile processes work. This book is your compass for the Agile journey. Without prescribing any process, practice, or tool, it will show you how practitioners approach: Deciding what to work on Planning and doing the work Engaging people and performing as teams Working better Pragmatic and dogma-free, this book will help you understand what it means to be Agile and how to bring others along.
©2015 3P Vantage Media (P)2016 3P Vantage Media
Exploding the Phone
Summary
Before smartphones, back even before the Internet and personal computer, a misfit group of technophiles, blind teenagers, hippies, and outlaws figured out how to hack the world’s largest machine: the telephone system. Starting with Alexander Graham Bell’s revolutionary "harmonic telegraph", by the middle of the 20th century the phone system had grown into something extraordinary, a web of cutting-edge switching machines and human operators that linked together millions of people like never before. But the network had a billion-dollar flaw, and once people discovered it, things would never be the same. Exploding the Phone tells this story in full for the first time. It traces the birth of long-distance communication and the telephone, the rise of AT&T’s monopoly, the creation of the sophisticated machines that made it all work, and the discovery of Ma Bell’s Achilles’ heel. Phil Lapsley expertly weaves together the clandestine underground of "phone phreaks" who turned the network into their electronic playground, the mobsters who exploited its flaws to avoid the feds, the explosion of telephone hacking in the counterculture, and the war between the phreaks, the phone company, and the FBI. The product of extensive original research, Exploding the Phone is a groundbreaking, captivating book.
©2013 Philip D. Lapsley. Recorded by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Computational Thinking
Summary
A few decades into the digital era, scientists discovered that thinking in terms of computation made possible an entirely new way of organizing scientific investigation; eventually, every field had a computational branch: computational physics, computational biology, computational sociology. More recently, "computational thinking" has become part of the K-12 curriculum. But what is computational thinking? This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers an accessible overview. The authors explain that computational thinking (CT) is not a set of concepts for programming; it is a way of thinking that is honed through practice: the mental skills for designing computations to do jobs for us, and for explaining and interpreting the world as a complex of information processes. Mathematically trained experts (known as "computers") who performed complex calculations as teams engaged in CT long before electronic computers. The authors identify six dimensions of today's highly developed CT - methods, machines, computing education, software engineering, computational science, and design - and cover each in a chapter. Along the way, they debunk inflated claims for CT and computation while making clear the power of CT in all its complexity and multiplicity.
©2019 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2019 Gildan Media
Deep Learning with Python
Summary
Deep Learning with Python introduces the field of deep learning using the Python language and the powerful Keras library. Written by Keras creator and Google AI researcher François Chollet, this audiobook builds your understanding through intuitive explanations and practical examples. You'll explore challenging concepts and practice with applications in computer vision, natural-language processing, and generative models. By the time you finish, you'll have the knowledge and hands-on skills to apply deep learning in your own projects. Deep learning from first principles Setting up your own deep-learning environment Image-classification models Deep learning for text and sequences Neural style transfer, text generation, and image generation Machine learning has made remarkable progress in recent years. We went from near-unusable speech and image recognition, to near-human accuracy. We went from machines that couldn't beat a serious Go player, to defeating a world champion. Behind this progress is deep learning - a combination of engineering advances, best practices, and theory that enables a wealth of previously impossible smart applications. François Chollet works on deep learning at Google in Mountain View, CA. He is the creator of the Keras deep-learning library, as well as a contributor to the TensorFlow machine-learning framework. He also does deep-learning research, with a focus on computer vision and the application of machine learning to formal reasoning. His papers have been published at major conferences in the field, including the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), the Conference and Workshop on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), and others. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2017 Manning Publications Co. (P)2018 Manning Publications Co.