Entry tags:
recent reads
I've been reading a lot of non-fiction lately, mostly having to do with computer technology.
Hackers by Steven Levy is basically a history of the computing world and its peculiar offspring - hackers and their hacker-ish philosophy. It took me a while to get into the book because the minute details of the hardships of early computing didn't really interest me, until the focus was more on the people involved. Then it became more like reading about Mark and his friends, but 30 years ago! (Although I'd find it a stretch to call them heroes.) The computer world moves fast - this edition was reprinted in 1994, so it barely even touches on stuff like the Internet, if at all, so to me, it seemed really outdated, and I had to keep remembering that one gigabyte was actually a lot back in those days. And I also learned about where the philosophy of open-source came from and discovered that Bill Gates was a jackass about it even in his teenage days. Unsurprisingly, the book's focus is mainly on the white nerdy males - the only major female that is talked about in any length is Roberta Williams, one of the founders of Sierra Online, who basically got addicted to games. It's fascinating learning about how the industry evolves from an idealistic movement to one that has to concern itself with business deals, stock options, and the newcomers' inability to deal with ever-changing markets. The other thing that fascinated me was how much leeway was given to star hackers - if a hacker proved his ability, then all sorts of concessions were made. That's something that's still very much part of the culture - many of the people I know who work in tech insist on doing a bulk of their work at night; when they do come into work, t-shirts and jeans are their uniforms, and the free sodas keep them fueled throughout the day. Of course they also work round the clock, so the companies don't really complain. Google, in addition to feeding their people, providing transportation, and health care, also provides free laundry services.
The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling is basically about the birth of the EFF. It shares some overlap with Hackers, but the people Sterling focuses on are basically screwing around with phone systems instead of computers. It's a great look at how law enforcement, in their eagerness to capture so-called criminals, don't actually realize that the so-called criminals are smart and resourceful enough to band together and use the law back against them. Again, the focus of this book is on white nerdy males who don't seem to realize that the world outside computers can and will intrude upon them, even if they think they're not doing anything wrong. I find this naivety completely fascinating, as it's a sort of luxurious assumption that only the most sheltered, privileged people can make. For example, many of the hackers were actually in communication with law enforcement, whose resources are stretched to the max, but they didn't get suspicious of this at all. They assumed that the law enforcement would warn them if they were about to get in trouble, and would tell them to knock it off for a bit, and then they could safely get back to whatever it is they were doing. My mind boggled at this revelation. Like Hackers, this book is kind of outdated at this point (a hacker stole over 200 megabytes of information!), but it's still an interesting look at the culture and how it's shaped the current one.
Other book I just finished: Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century - an anthology of short stories and criticism edited by Justine Larbalestier.
Hackers by Steven Levy is basically a history of the computing world and its peculiar offspring - hackers and their hacker-ish philosophy. It took me a while to get into the book because the minute details of the hardships of early computing didn't really interest me, until the focus was more on the people involved. Then it became more like reading about Mark and his friends, but 30 years ago! (Although I'd find it a stretch to call them heroes.) The computer world moves fast - this edition was reprinted in 1994, so it barely even touches on stuff like the Internet, if at all, so to me, it seemed really outdated, and I had to keep remembering that one gigabyte was actually a lot back in those days. And I also learned about where the philosophy of open-source came from and discovered that Bill Gates was a jackass about it even in his teenage days. Unsurprisingly, the book's focus is mainly on the white nerdy males - the only major female that is talked about in any length is Roberta Williams, one of the founders of Sierra Online, who basically got addicted to games. It's fascinating learning about how the industry evolves from an idealistic movement to one that has to concern itself with business deals, stock options, and the newcomers' inability to deal with ever-changing markets. The other thing that fascinated me was how much leeway was given to star hackers - if a hacker proved his ability, then all sorts of concessions were made. That's something that's still very much part of the culture - many of the people I know who work in tech insist on doing a bulk of their work at night; when they do come into work, t-shirts and jeans are their uniforms, and the free sodas keep them fueled throughout the day. Of course they also work round the clock, so the companies don't really complain. Google, in addition to feeding their people, providing transportation, and health care, also provides free laundry services.
The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling is basically about the birth of the EFF. It shares some overlap with Hackers, but the people Sterling focuses on are basically screwing around with phone systems instead of computers. It's a great look at how law enforcement, in their eagerness to capture so-called criminals, don't actually realize that the so-called criminals are smart and resourceful enough to band together and use the law back against them. Again, the focus of this book is on white nerdy males who don't seem to realize that the world outside computers can and will intrude upon them, even if they think they're not doing anything wrong. I find this naivety completely fascinating, as it's a sort of luxurious assumption that only the most sheltered, privileged people can make. For example, many of the hackers were actually in communication with law enforcement, whose resources are stretched to the max, but they didn't get suspicious of this at all. They assumed that the law enforcement would warn them if they were about to get in trouble, and would tell them to knock it off for a bit, and then they could safely get back to whatever it is they were doing. My mind boggled at this revelation. Like Hackers, this book is kind of outdated at this point (a hacker stole over 200 megabytes of information!), but it's still an interesting look at the culture and how it's shaped the current one.
Other book I just finished: Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century - an anthology of short stories and criticism edited by Justine Larbalestier.