Best of
Internet

2008

The Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey


Emmanuel Goldstein - 2008
    Find the best of the magazine's writing in Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey, a collection of the strongest, most interesting, and often most controversial articles covering 24 years of changes in technology, all from a hacker's perspective. Included are stories about the creation of the infamous tone dialer "red box" that allowed hackers to make free phone calls from payphones, the founding of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the insecurity of modern locks.

Guerilla Open Access Manifesto


Aaron Swartz - 2008
    On January 13th 2013, two days after his death, Anonymous hacked MIT's website and posted a copy of this manifesto, along with a message which can be read in full at: http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/13/anon..."You were the best of us; may you yet bring out the best in us.-Anonymous, Jan 13, 2013."This manifesto is openly available across the internet, including at the official URL where it has been posted in numerous languages.

The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind


James Boyle - 2008
    Boyle argues that just as every informed citizen needs to know at least something about the environment or civil rights, every citizen should also understand intellectual property law. Why? Because intellectual property rights mark out the ground rules of the information society, and today’s policies are unbalanced, unsupported by evidence, and often detrimental to cultural access, free speech, digital creativity, and scientific innovation.Boyle identifies as a major problem the widespread failure to understand the importance of the public domain—the realm of material that everyone is free to use and share without permission or fee. The public domain is as vital to innovation and culture as the realm of material protected by intellectual property rights, he asserts, and he calls for a movement akin to the environmental movement to preserve it. With a clear analysis of issues ranging from Jefferson’s philosophy of innovation to musical sampling, synthetic biology and Internet file sharing, this timely book brings a positive new perspective to important cultural and legal debates. If we continue to enclose the “commons of the mind,” Boyle argues, we will all be the poorer.

Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics


Brian Clifton - 2008
    Its revised interface and new features will offer even more ways to increase the value of your web site, and this book will teach you how to use each one to best advantage. Featuring new content based on reader and client requests, the book helps you implement new methods and concepts, track social and mobile visitors, use the new multichannel funnel reporting features, understand which filters to use, and much more.Gets you up and running with all the new tools in the revamped Google Analytics, and includes content requested by readers and users especially for new GA users Covers social media analytics features, advanced segmentation displays, multi-dashboard configurations, and using Top 20 reports Provides a detailed best-practices implementation guide covering advanced topics, such as how to set up GA to track dynamic web pages, banners, outgoing links, and contact forms Includes case studies and demonstrates how to optimize pay-per-click accounts, integrate AdSense, work with new reports and reporting tools, use ad version testing, and more Make your web site a more effective business tool with the detailed information and advice about Google Analytics in Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics, 3nd Edition.

Is This Thing On?, Revised Edition: A Computer Handbook for Late Bloomers, Technophobes, and the Kicking & Screaming


Abby Stokes - 2008
    Abby Stokes is the perfect guide to the digital domain: She's taught more than 140,000 seniors how to use a computer. In an easy, authoritative, hand-holding way, she covers it all: how to choose, buy, and start using a computer. How to connect to the Internet, sign up for e-mail, and use search engines. Plus, how and why to get digital in the first place: the ins and outs of online shopping, banking, travel planning, dating, research; how to take and share digital photographs and videos; how to discover online communities, and use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube; the world of apps, online music, and streaming movies; and, importantly, online security and "netiquette." There's information on iPads, smartphones--including the Blackberry, iPhone, and Android--and e-readers like Nook and Kindle. A companion website--www.abbyandme.com--plus a Facebook page and Twitter feed provide easy and safe access to this brave new world.

Network Security Technologies and Solutions (CCIE Professional Development Series) (CCIE Professional Development (Unnumbered))


Yusuf Bhaiji - 2008
    9305 Network Security Technologies and Solutions is a comprehensive reference to the most cutting-edge security products and methodologies available to networking professionals today. This book helps you understand and implement current, state-of-the-art network security technologies to ensure secure communications throughout the network infrastructure. With an easy-to-follow approach, this book serves as a central repository of security knowledge to help you implement end-to-end security solutions and provides a single source of knowledge covering the entire range of the Cisco network security portfolio. The book is divided into five parts mapping to Cisco security technologies and solutions: perimeter security, identity security and access management, data privacy, security monitoring, and security management. Together, all these elements enable dynamic links between customer security policy, user or host identity, and network infrastructures. With this definitive reference, you can gain a greater understanding of the solutions available and learn how to build integrated, secure networks in today’s modern, heterogeneous networking environment. This book is an excellent resource for those seeking a comprehensive reference on mature and emerging security tactics and is also a great study guide for the CCIE Security exam. “Yusuf’s extensive experience as a mentor and advisor in the security technology field has honed his ability to translate highly technical information into a straight-forward, easy-to-understand format. If you’re looking for a truly comprehensive guide to network security, this is the one! ” –Steve Gordon, Vice President, Technical Services, Cisco Yusuf Bhaiji, CCIE No. 9305 (R&S and Security), has been with Cisco for seven years and is cur

AFK


Huckleberry Hax - 2008
    I wonder when magical turned into mundane, when novelty turned into necessity. I wonder when it was that SL stopped being something I chose to do and became something I needed to do instead. I wonder when it was that I became addicted. *Really* addicted. I wonder if it could have been any other way, and I honestly doubt that it could have." A Second Life® detective reflects on cases and confessions, on love, on anger, on understanding Second Life as perhaps the greatest liberator there has ever been, and on falling for the oldest trick in the book, just the same...

Copy, Rip, Burn: The Politics of Copyleft and Open Source


David M. Berry - 2008
    While big companies complain about lost profits, the individual has never enjoyed such freedom and autonomy.Berry explores this debate in a concise way, offering an ideal introduction for anyone not versed in the legalistic terminology that -- up until now -- has dominated coverage of this issue.Looking at the historical development of the free software and the open source movement he examines its growth, politics and potential impact, showing how the ideas that inspired the movement have now begun to influence the wider cultural landscape. He explores whether free software offers us the potential to re-think our relationship with technology in the information society.This book will appeal to students of media and journalism, and anyone interested in new opportunities for creating a truly independent and democratic media.

Internet Inquiry: Conversations about Method


Annette N. Markham - 2008
    Internet Inquiry: Conversations About Method takes students into the minds of top internet researchers as they discuss how they have worked through critical challenges as they research online social environments. Editors Annette N. Markham and Nancy K. Baym illustrate that good research choices are not random but are deliberate, studied, and internally consistent. Rather than providing single "how to" answers, this book presents distinctive and divergent viewpoints on how to think about and conduct qualitative internet studies.

Investigating Science Communication in the Information Age: Implications for Public Engagement and Popular Media


Richard Holliman - 2008
    It addresses current theoretical, practical and policy developments in science communication, including recent calls for greater openness andtransparency; and engagement and dialogue on the part of professional scientists with members of the public. It provides a timely and wide-ranging review of contemporary issues in science communication, focusing on two broad themes.The first theme critically reviews the recent dialogic turn and ascendant branding of 'public engagement with science'. It addresses contemporary theoretical and conceptual issues facing science communication researchers, and draws on a range of methodological approaches and examples.The second theme, popular media, examines recent trends in the theory and research of these forms of science communication. It includes contemporary accounts of the study of 'traditional' forms of popular media, including television and newspapers, examining how they are produced, represented andconsumed. This theme also documents examples where novel forms of popular media are challenging researchers to re-think how they approach these forms of science communication.A companion volume, Practising Science Communication in the Information Age, provides an ideal introduction to anyone wishing to reflect on the practices of contemporary science communication.

Adobe AIR in Action


Joseph Lott - 2008
    This exciting new technology is still in beta, but it's already being adopted by such web giants as eBay. With AIR, Web developers use their existing skills to build rich applications that flow seamlessly between the internet and the desktop.Adobe AIR in Action introduces AIR to developers familiar with Flex and JavaScript, showing them how to build solid AIR-driven desktop and hybrid applications. Using small examples, the expert authors walk web developers through the new topics they will need to develop AIR applications for the desktop. Readers will learn the essential features of the AIR API with examples and code samples that web professionals can use to get up and running in AIR quickly. The book describes how to create and customize native windows, read and write files and folders on the local file system.Web developers who read this book will be able to take instant advantage of the increased resources available to desktop applications. Sometimes-connected, web-enabled applications are gaining in popularity, and web developers of all stripes will want to add these skills to their toolbox.Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.

The 2009 Internet Directory: Web 2.0 Edition


Vince Averello - 2008
    Belicove Nancy Conner Adrienne Crew Sherry Kinkoph Gunter Faithe Wempen The Best of the New Web 2.0 Internet at Your Fingertips! A whole new Web s coming to life: new tools, communities, video, podcasts, everything! You won t find these exciting Web 2.0 destinations with old-fashioned Internet directories and it ll take forever to find them on search engines. But they re all at your fingertips, right here! Carefully selected by humans, not algorithms, here are the Net s 3,000 best Web 2.0 destinations: amazing new sites, tools, and resources for your whole life! They ll help you Have way more fun! Build your business Buy the right stuff, and avoid the junk Stay totally up-to-date on news, politics, science Be a better parent Go green Get healthier and stay healthier Deepen your faith Pursue your hobbies Plan incredible vacations Find the perfect restaurant And more much more!"

Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches


Felicia Donovan - 2008
    This book provides a good primer on how your personal information can be easily obtained by some of the folks you least want to have it." -Maureen Boyle, crime reporter, The Enterprise of Brockton, MA "Experts Felicia Donovan and Kristyn Bernier pull no punches in explaining the dangers lurking on the Web, from identity appropriation and theft to using new technology and the Internet to facilitate real-life stalking. Parents especially will be shocked at how easy it is for predators to target and solicit children online. "By clearly explaining the dangers that lurk online and highlighting practical tips to minimize your risk, the authors have created a book that not only educates but empowers readers to protect themselves." -Jennifer Hemmingsen, columnist and former public safety reporter, The (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Gazette Written by leading cyber crime investigators, Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches takes you behind the scenes to reveal the truth behind Internet crime, telling shocking stories that aren't covered by the media, and showing you exactly how to protect yourself and your children. This is the Internet crime wave as it really looks to law enforcement insiders: the truth about crime on social networks and YouTube, cyber stalking and criminal cyber bullying, online child predators, identity theft, even the latest cell phone crimes. Here are actual cases and actual criminals, presented by investigators who have been recognized by the FBI and the N.H. Department of Justice. These stories are true--and if you want to stay safe, you need to know about them. - Learn how today's criminals can track your whereabouts, read your emails, and steal your identity - Find out how much of your personal information is already online--and how to keep the rest private - Learn how cyber stalkers really think--and how to protect yourself from them - Protect your laptop, your iPod, and your precious data from getting stolen - Encounter the "dark side" of Internet dating - Discover the hidden crime wave on today's specialized social networks - Uncover the cell phone "upskirters" and "downblousers" --and the technicalities that keep them out of jail - Follow cyber crime specialists as they investigate and catch online sexual predators - Get the real truth about phishing, pharming, criminal spam, and online scams - See how investigations really work--and why TV crime shows often get it wrong! - Walk through your own personal, step-by-step, online safety checkup

New Tech, New Ties: How Mobile Communication Is Reshaping Social Cohesion


Rich Ling - 2008
    With a traditional land-line telephone, we place calls to a location and ask hopefully if someone is "there"; with a mobile phone, we have instant and perpetual access to friends and family regardless of where they are. But when we are engaged in these intimate conversations with absent friends, what happens to our relationship with the people who are actually in the same room with us? In New Tech, New Ties, Rich Ling examines how the mobile telephone affects both kinds of interactions--those mediated by mobile communication and those that are face to face. Ling finds that through the use of various social rituals the mobile telephone strengthens social ties within the circle of friends and family--sometimes at the expense of interaction with those who are physically present--and creates what he calls "bounded solidarity." Ling argues that mobile communication helps to engender and develop social cohesion within the family and the peer group. Drawing on the work of Emile Durkheim, Erving Goffman, and Randall Collins, Ling shows that ritual interaction is a catalyst for the development of social bonding. From this perspective, he examines how mobile communication affects face-to-face ritual situations and how ritual is used in interaction mediated by mobile communication. He looks at the evidence, including interviews and observations from around the world, that documents the effect of mobile communication on social bonding and also examines some of the other possibly problematic issues raised by tighter social cohesion in small groups.Rich Ling is Senior Researcher at the Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor and Adjunct Research Scientist at the University of Michigan. He is the author of The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone's Impact on Society.

Rails for PHP Developers


Derek DeVries - 2008
    Ruby on Rails is another key tool to add to your web development toolbox. Rails is a high-level web development framework that emphasizes high productivity and clean code. However, the Ruby language and Rails framework take a different approach from the way many PHP developers write applications.Ruby lies at the foundation of Rails, and we'll teach you the Ruby language from the beginning by building on your existing foundation of PHP. We'll explore Ruby through parallel code examples that illustrate the differences between the languages, and help you understand the Ruby idioms and how they differ from popular PHP code and style.You'll then learn the Rails framework by iteratively building a complete application, starting from the home page through to a finished product. Along the way, you'll build your skills as a Rails developer by learning the Rails fundamentals such as MVC structure, domain modeling, and testing.In addition to serving as a guide to learning both Ruby and Rails from a PHP developer's perspective, this book includes two extensive reference chapters. They map the most common PHP tasks to their equivalents in the Ruby and Rails world, giving you at-a-glance information that you'll refer to often.

Hidden Circles in the Web: Feminist Wicca, Occult Knowledge, and Process Thought


Constance Wise - 2008
    In Hidden Circles in the Web, scholar and practitioner Constance Wise explores Feminist Wicca through the lens of process thought, developing a new theaology of feminist spirituality that can enrich and deepen the religious practice. Although the twentieth-century philosophy of process thought is often portrayed as a complex and inaccessible system, Wise explains its concepts in simple language and illustrates her points with accessible examples from life. Wise invites readers into the hidden wisdom of Feminist Wicca and process thought, proposing statements of Feminist Wiccan beliefs and practices in six areas: history, anthropology, epistemology, ethics, cosmology, and theaology. While the focus of the book is on Feminist Wicca, her insights into process thought apply to an array of traditions and will interest a range of practitioners and scholars across the religious spectrum.

Professional JavaScript Frameworks: Prototype, YUI, Ext JS, Dojo and MooTools


Ara Pehlivanian - 2008
    Over the past few years, there's been a small renaissance in JavaScript as a language. A variety of projects have sprung up to build reusable JS libraries and frameworks -- and at this point, a good number of them have matured and shown staying power that they're worth taking a serious look at and relying on in professional projects.JavaScript has grown in popularity in parallel with the Web and today is supported by all major browsers and new web technologies. JavaScript has been extended over time to deliver high-performing and incredibly impressive Web user experiences, using technologies including Adobe Flash, AJAX, and Microsoft Silverlight.As JavaScript is used increasingly for "serious" development on the Web, the lessons that have been learned and the tools that have been invented along the way are being consolidated and shared by developers in the form of libraries and frameworks. However, since JavaScript is such a flexible and dynamic language, each framework can present very different approaches to the problems of web development -- each with its own pros and cons.Coverage of the individual libraries and frameworks includes:Prototype: Extending and Enhancing DOM Elements Prototype: Handling Cross-Browser Events Prototype: Simplifying AJAX and Dynamic Data Prototype: Working with Forms Prototype: Manipulating Common Data Structures and Functions Prototype: Extending Prototype Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI): Traversing and Manipulating the DOM with YUI YUI: Handling Cross-Browser Events YUI: Using Animation and Drag and Drop YUI: Simplifying AJAX and Dynamic Loading YUI: Building User Interfaces with Widgets Enhancing Development with the YUI Core YUI: Dealing with Data, Tables, and Charts Working with YUI CSS Tools Building and Deploying YUI ExtJS: Architecture and Library Conventions ExtJS: Elements, DomHelper, and Templates ExtJS: Components, Layouts, and Windows ExtJS: Handling Data and Talking with the Server ExtJS: DataViews and Grids ExtJS: Form Controls, Validation Dojo: Enhancing Development with Dojo Core Dojo: Manipulating the DOM Dojo: Handling Events Dojo: Composing Animations Dojo: Working with AJAX and Dynamic Data Dojo: Building User Interfaces with Widgets Building and Deploying Dojo Expanding Dojo Enhancing Development with MooTools MooTools: Manipulating the DOM and Handling Events MooTools: Simplifying AJAX and Handling Dynamic Data MooTools: Building User Interfaces and Using Animation

The Hyperlinked Society: Questioning Connections in the Digital Age


Lokman Tsui - 2008
    Bringing together a prominent array of thinkers from industry and the academy, The Hyperlinked Society addresses a provocative series of questions about the ways in which hyperlinks organize behavior online. How do media producers' considerations of links change the way they approach their work, and how do these considerations in turn affect the ways that audiences consume news and entertainment? What role do economic and political considerations play in information producers' creation of links? How do links shape the size and scope of the public sphere in the digital age? Are hyperlinks "bridging" mechanisms that encourage people to see beyond their personal beliefs to a broader and more diverse world? Or do they simply reinforce existing bonds by encouraging people to ignore social and political perspectives that conflict with their existing interests and beliefs?This pathbreaking collection of essays will be valuable to anyone interested in the now taken for granted connections that structure communication, commerce, and civic discourse in the world of digital media."This collection provides a broad and deep examination of the social, political, and economic implications of the evolving, web-based media environment. The Hyperlinked Society will be a very useful contribution to the scholarly debate about the role of the internet in modern society, and especially about the interaction between the internet and other media systems in modern society." ---Charles Steinfield, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media, Michigan State UniversityJoseph Turow is Robert Lewis Shayon Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. He was named a Distinguished Scholar by the National Communication Association and a Fellow of the International Communication Association in 2010. He has authored eight books, edited five, and written more than 100 articles on mass media industries. His books include Niche Envy: Marketing Discrimination in the Digital Age and Breaking up America: Advertisers and the New Media World.Lokman Tsui is a doctoral candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. His research interests center on new media and global communication.Cover image: This graph from Lada Adamic's chapter depicts the link structure of political blogs in the United States. The shapes reflect the blogs, and the colors of the shapes reflect political orientation---red for conservative blogs, blue for liberal ones. The size of each blog reflects the number of blogs that link to it.digitalculturebooks is an imprint of the University of Michigan Press and the Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library dedicated to publishing innovative and accessible work exploring new media and their impact on society, culture, and scholarly communication. Visit the website at www.digitalculture.org.

Media and the Making of Modern Germany: Mass Communications, Society, and Politics from the Empire to the Third Reich


Corey Ross - 2008
    Nowhere in Europe were the tensions and controversies surrounding the rise of mass culture more politically charged than in Germany--debates that played fatefully into the hands of the radical right. Corey Ross provides the first general account of the expansion of the mass media in Germany up to the Second World War, examining how the rise of film, radio, recorded music, popular press, and advertising fitted into the wider development of social, political, and cultural life.Spanning the period from the late nineteenth century to the Third Reich, Media and the Making of Modern Germany shows how the social impact and meaning of 'mass culture' were by no means straightforward or homogenizing, but rather changed under different political and economic circumstances. By locating the rapid expansion of communications media and commercial entertainments firmly within their broader social and political context, Ross sheds new light on the relationship between mass media, social change, and political culture during this tumultuous period in German history.

Internet Governance: The New Frontier of Global Institutions


John Mathiason - 2008
    It is ubiquitous and is changing politics, economics and social relations. Its borderless nature affects the roles of individuals, the magic of the marketplace and the problems of government regulation. As its development has increased apace, contradictions have arisen between existing regulatory regimes, private interests, government concerns, international norms and national interests. Unlike most areas where there are global institutions, and the role of governments is predominant, the Internet is a field where the private sector and civil society each have a role as important - or sometimes more important - than governments.Based on international regime theory, this book analyses how the multi-stakeholder institutions have grown along with the Internet itself. Starting with an examination of how communications were regulated under the Westphalian system, John Mathiason shows how governance of the Internet started as a technical issue but became increasingly political as the management of critical resources began to conflict with other international regimes.