Cult of the Dead Cow

Author: Joseph Menn
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 9781541762367
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The shocking untold story of the elite secret society of hackers fighting to protect our privacy, our freedom -- even democracy itself Cult of the Dead Cow is the tale of the oldest, most respected, and most famous American hacking group of all time. Though until now it has remained mostly anonymous, its members invented the concept of hacktivism, released the top tool for testing password security, and created what was for years the best technique for controlling computers from afar, forcing giant companies to work harder to protect customers. They contributed to the development of Tor, the most important privacy tool on the net, and helped build cyberweapons that advanced US security without injuring anyone. With its origins in the earliest days of the Internet, the cDc is full of oddball characters -- activists, artists, even future politicians. Many of these hackers have become top executives and advisors walking the corridors of power in Washington and Silicon Valley. The most famous is former Texas Congressman and current presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, whose time in the cDc set him up to found a tech business, launch an alternative publication in El Paso, and make long-shot bets on unconventional campaigns. Today, the group and its followers are battling electoral misinformation, making personal data safer, and battling to keep technology a force for good instead of for surveillance and oppression. Cult of the Dead Cow shows how governments, corporations, and criminals came to hold immense power over individuals and how we can fight back against them.

The Book of Cao: Enlightenment through a Poke in the Eye

Author:
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0974653713
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 170

Book Description

Breaking and Entering

Author: Jeremy N. Smith
Publisher: Mariner Books
ISBN: 0544903218
Category : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Languages : en
Pages : 309

Book Description
This taut, true thriller dives into a dark world that touches us all, as seen through the brilliant, breakneck career of an extraordinary hacker--a woman known only as Alien. When she arrived at MIT in the 1990s, Alien was quickly drawn to the school's tradition of high-risk physical trespassing: the original "hacking." Within a year, one of her hallmates was dead and two others were arraigned. Alien's adventures were only just beginning. After a stint at the storied, secretive Los Alamos National Laboratory, Alien was recruited by a top cybersecurity firm where she deployed her cache of virtual weapons--and the trespassing and social engineering talents she had developed while "hacking" at MIT. The company tested its clients' security by every means possible--not just coding, but donning disguises and sneaking past guards and secretaries into the C-suite. Alien now runs a boutique hacking outfit that caters to some of the world's biggest and most vulnerable institutions--banks, retailers, government agencies. Her work combines devilish charm, old-school deception, and next generation spycraft. In Breaking and Entering, cybersecurity finally gets the rich, character-driven, fast-paced treatment it deserves.

Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches

Author: Marvin Harris
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307801225
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
One of America's leading anthropolgists offers solutions to the perplexing question of why people behave the way they do. Why do Hindus worship cows? Why do Jews and Moslems refuse to eat pork? Why did so many people in post-medieval Europe believe in witches? Marvin Harris answers these and other perplexing questions about human behavior, showing that no matter how bizarre a people's behavior may seem, it always stems from identifiable and intelligble sources.

The Reality Game

Author: Samuel Woolley
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1541768248
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 221

Book Description
Fake news posts and Twitter trolls were just the beginning. What will happen when misinformation moves from our social media feeds into our everyday lives? Online disinformation stormed our political process in 2016 and has only worsened since. Yet as Samuel Woolley shows in this urgent book, it may pale in comparison to what's to come: humanlike automated voice systems, machine learning, "deepfake" AI-edited videos and images, interactive memes, virtual reality, and more. These technologies have the power not just to manipulate our politics, but to make us doubt our eyes and ears and even feelings. Deeply researched and compellingly written, The Reality Game describes the profound impact these technologies will have on our lives. Each new invention built without regard for its consequences edges us further into this digital dystopia. Yet Woolley does not despair. Instead, he argues pointedly for a new culture of innovation, one built around accountability and especially transparency. With social media dragging us into a never-ending culture war, we must learn to stop fighting and instead prevent future manipulation. This book shows how we can use our new tools not to control people but to empower them.

Going Bovine

Author: Libba Bray
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 0385733976
Category : Automobile travel
Languages : en
Pages : 498

Book Description
Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen year-old who, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeld Jakob's (aka mad cow) disease, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed video gaming dwarf he meets in the hospital in an attempt to find a cure.

All the Rave

Author: Joseph Menn
Publisher: Crown Business
ISBN: 1400050065
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Book Description
At age seventeen, Shawn Fanning designed a computer program that transformed the Internet into an unlimited library of free music. Tens of millions of young people quickly signed on, Time magazine put Fanning on its cover, and his company, Napster, became a household name. It did not take long for the music industry to declare war, one that has now engulfed the biggest entertainment and technology companies on the planet. For All the Rave, top cyberculture journalist Joseph Menn gained unprecedented access to Fanning, other key Napster and music executives, reams of internal e-mails, unpublished court records, and other resources. The result is the definitive account of the Napster saga, for the first time revealing secret take-over and settlement talks, the unseen role of Shawn’s uncle in controlling Napster, and hidden agendas and infighting from Napster’s trenches to the top ranks of the German media giant Bertelsmann. All the Rave is a riveting account of genius and greed, visionary leaps and disastrous business decisions, and the clash of the hacker and investor cultures with that of the copyright establishment. Napster left a generation of music fans feeling that paying the recording industry close to twenty dollars for a CD was a foolish and unnecessary extravagance, which provoked a still-growing backlash against digital media consumers that might leave them with less control than ever. Here is the inside story of the young visionary and the company that made it happen. From the Hardcover edition.

Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things?

Author: Robert Bartlett
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691159130
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 806

Book Description
A sweeping, authoritative, and entertaining history of the Christian cult of the saints from its origin to the Reformation From its earliest centuries, one of the most notable features of Christianity has been the veneration of the saints—the holy dead. This ambitious history tells the fascinating story of the cult of the saints from its origins in the second-century days of the Christian martyrs to the Protestant Reformation. Robert Bartlett examines all of the most important aspects of the saints—including miracles, relics, pilgrimages, shrines, and the saints' role in the calendar, literature, and art. The book explores the central role played by the bodies and body parts of saints, and the special treatment these relics received. From the routes, dangers, and rewards of pilgrimage, to the saints' impact on everyday life, Bartlett's account is an unmatched examination of an important and intriguing part of the religious life of the past—as well as the present.

The Fifth Domain

Author: Richard A. Clarke
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525561986
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
An urgent warning from two bestselling security experts--and a gripping inside look at how governments, firms, and ordinary citizens can confront and contain the tyrants, hackers, and criminals bent on turning the digital realm into a war zone. "In the battle raging between offense and defense in cyberspace, Clarke and Knake have some important ideas about how we can avoid cyberwar for our country, prevent cybercrime against our companies, and in doing so, reduce resentment, division, and instability at home and abroad."--Bill Clinton There is much to fear in the dark corners of cyberspace: we have entered an age in which online threats carry real-world consequences. But we do not have to let autocrats and criminals run amok in the digital realm. We now know a great deal about how to make cyberspace far less dangerous--and about how to defend our security, economy, democracy, and privacy from cyber attack. Our guides to the fifth domain -- the Pentagon's term for cyberspace -- are two of America's top cybersecurity experts, seasoned practitioners who are as familiar with the White House Situation Room as they are with Fortune 500 boardrooms. Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake offer a vivid, engrossing tour of the often unfamiliar terrain of cyberspace, introducing us to the scientists, executives, and public servants who have learned through hard experience how government agencies and private firms can fend off cyber threats. With a focus on solutions over scaremongering, and backed by decades of high-level experience in the White House and the private sector, The Fifth Domain delivers a riveting, agenda-setting insider look at what works in the struggle to avoid cyberwar.

Stalking the Herd

Author: Christopher O'Brien
Publisher: SCB Distributors
ISBN: 1939149304
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 633

Book Description
Who or What is Behind the Cattle Mutilations? The cattle mutilation phenomenon is an ongoing mystery that has endured for almost 50 years. What have we learned, if anything, from the countless reports filed? Who or what is behind the death and disfigurement of livestock reported as mutilated around the globe? Are these deaths simply attributable to natural predators and scavengers? Or is the military/government somehow involved; perhaps monitoring “mad cow disease”? Are the deaths the action of ritual “cultists” as police say the evidence would suggest? Is it possible that alien predators are involved, as some researchers and the media have suggested? Are black helicopters or UFOs related to the cattle mutilation phenomenon as many witnesses have claimed? Regardless of who or what is responsible, what are the motivations behind perpetrating what may be the greatest unsolved serial crime spree of all time? Stalking the Herd addresses these questions in depth and also offers an objective look at the history of our venerated relationship with cattle, the first domesticated livestock. Is there a connection between these ritualistic cattle deaths and humankind’s ancient practice of animal sacrifice? Why are there no Brahman cattle mutilations in India where cattle are revered to this day? Are aliens gathering genetic material for unknown purposes? What about the thousands of pounds of scientific forensic evidence? Are some hidden sections of the military conducting secret projects that—for some reason known only to them—involve the mutilation of hundreds of cattle in an area that includes Colorado Springs, the NORAD command base inside Cheyenne Mountain and the strange little town called Dulce on a small Apache Reservation?