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5 Most Wanted Computing & Internet Books on Amazon | August 2020

In this article discover the 5 Most Wanted Computing & Internet Books on Amazon.


What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions


From the creator of the wildly popular xkcd.com, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask.


Millions visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. Fans ask him a lot of strange questions: How fast can you hit a speed bump, driving, and live? When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British Empire? When will Facebook contain more profiles of dead people than living? How many humans would a T Rex rampaging through New York need to eat a day?


In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations and consults nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.



Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked


Welcome to the age of behavioral addiction--an age in which half of the American population is addicted to at least one behavior. We obsess over our emails, Instagram likes, and Facebook feeds; we binge on TV episodes and YouTube videos; we work longer hours each year; and we spend an average of three hours each day using our smartphones. Half of us would rather suffer a broken bone than a broken phone, and Millennial kids spend so much time in front of screens that they struggle to interact with real, live humans.


In this revolutionary book, Adam Alter, a professor of psychology and marketing at NYU, tracks the rise of behavioral addiction, and explains why so many of today's products are irresistible. Though these miraculous products melt the miles that separate people across the globe, their extraordinary and sometimes damaging magnetism is no accident. The companies that design these products tweak them over time until they become almost impossible to resist.


By reverse engineering behavioral addiction, Alter explains how we can harness addictive products for the good--to improve how we communicate with each other, spend and save our money, and set boundaries between work and play--and how we can mitigate their most damaging effects on our well-being, and the health and happiness of our children.



Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World


We think we know bullshit when we hear it, but do we?

Two science professors give us the tools to dismantle misinformation and think clearly in a world of fake news and bad data Politicians are unconstrained by facts. Science is conducted by press release. Start-up culture elevates hype to high art. The world is awash in bullshit, and we're drowning in it.


Based on a popular course at the University of Washington, this book gives us the tools to see through the obfuscations, deliberate and careless, that dominate every realm of our lives. In this lively, provocative guide, biologist Carl Bergstrom and data scientist Jevin West show that calling out nonsense is crucial to a properly functioning social group, whether it be a circle of friends, a community of researchers, or the citizens of a nation.


Through six rules of thumb, they help us to recognize when numbers are being manipulated, to cut through the crap wherever we encounter it - even within ourselves - and learn how to give the real facts to a crystal-loving friend or climate change denier uncle.

Calling Bullshit is an indispensable handbook to the art of scepticism.



The System: Who Owns the Internet, and How It Owns Us

The internet is a network of physical cables and connections, a web of wires enmeshing the world, linking huge data centres to one another and eventually to us. All are owned by someone, financed by someone, regulated by someone.


We refer to the internet as abstract from reality. By doing so, we obscure where the real power lies.


In this powerful and necessary book, James Ball sets out on a global journey into the inner workings of the system. From the computer scientists to the cable guys, the billionaire investors to the ad men, the intelligence agencies to the regulators, these are the real-life figures powering the internet and pulling the strings of our society.


Ball brilliantly shows how an invention once hailed as a democratising force has concentrated power in places it already existed - that the system, in other words, remains the same as it did before.



The World Of Cyberpunk 2077

An insightful, captivatingly designed, full-color hardcover that transports readers to the futuristic megalopolis of Night City--the epicenter of the vibrant new action-RPG from CD Projekt Red.


Step into the year 2077, a world dotted with dystopian metropoles where violence, oppression, and cyberware implants aren't just common--they're necessary tools to get ahead. Delve into incisive lore to discover how the economic decline of the United States created a crippling dependence on devious corporations and birthed the Free State of California. Explore the various districts, gangs, and history of Night City. Learn all there is to know about the technology of tomorrow and research the cybernetics, weapons, and vehicles of Cyberpunk 2077.


Dark Horse Books and CD Projekt Red present The World of Cyberpunk 2077--an extensive examination of the rich lore of Cyberpunk 2077. This intricately assembled tome contains everything you need to know about the history, characters, and world of the long-awaited follow-up from the creators of The Witcher video game series.








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