BigAl's Books and Pals specializes in reviews of ebooks, and Kindle titles in particular. BigAl is also an Amazon Top 100 reviewer, and I feel very fortunate that he took the time to read my book. The fact that he gave it the following glowing review is just icing on the cake!
Author:
Oregonian William Van Winkle has over twenty years of involvement in the personal computer industry, the last fourteen as a journalist. For more, visit his blog.
Description:
For almost ten years William Van Winkle has interviewed some of the most influential people in science and technology for CPU (Computer Power User) Magazine. This book is a collection of twenty-five of those interviews, some old and some recent. Each also has additional information that catches up on what the interviewee has done since, updates some of the things discussed, or provides predictions or further insights from the interview subject. Two additional volumes are planned.
Appraisal:
Wow.
As someone who has been involved in technology my entire working life and who considers himself well read on many of these subjects, I was amazed at the breadth of topics covered and how much I learned. Van Winkle’s interviews even extracted new information from the interview subjects I thought I knew all about.
The only negative I found was the propensity of some of the interviewees to use acronyms and jargon in their answers. Obviously, Van Winkle couldn’t control how his subjects answered the questions. Given the breadth of subjects discussed, many readers may find a section on a subject they’re interested in requires additional research to translate the jargon. However, most sections should be understandable to the majority of readers with a basic knowledge of computers and the internet.
There were three sections of particular interest to avid readers of e-books. The interviews with Mark Coker, the founder of the e-book distribution company Smashwords, and Bob Young, co-founder of Red Hat (a software company) and (more important for us) founder of LuLu Publishing, give their thoughts on publishing and e-books. I also thought the 2003 interview with Esther Dyson (the “First Lady of the Internet”) was especially interesting when she was talking about the music industry and its difficulties at the time. Her comments seem to apply to the publishing industry today.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: **** Four stars
CPU Magazine and William Van Winkle present the greatest minds in modern technology...
Monday, July 18, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
When Hacking Leads to War
According to the BBC, the U.S. is set to make military retaliation an option in the face of cyber-attacks. This follows the hacking last month of top-tier defense contractor Lockheed Martin. While on one hand Washington notes this being a "last resort" measure, The Wall Street Journal quoted one military official as saying, "If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks."
With the rise of tactical hacking against government-related interests on the rise around the world, this is no small matter. One need only recall 9/11 and the resulting Patriot Act to realize that attacks, whether real or virtual, that lead to military action can also have a direct impact on civil rights.
With eerie prescience, I touched on this matter with Amit Yoran, the first director of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Cyber Security Division. An excerpt is below, but you can read the whole interview in Architects of Tomorrow.
CPU: So are we in a state of cyber war?
Yoran: Exactly. If everyone believes that’s the right term and frame of reference—a “cyber war”— then perhaps they will believe that the Department of Defense is the best way for the United States to protect itself. I don’t believe that’s the best outcome for us.
With the rise of tactical hacking against government-related interests on the rise around the world, this is no small matter. One need only recall 9/11 and the resulting Patriot Act to realize that attacks, whether real or virtual, that lead to military action can also have a direct impact on civil rights.
With eerie prescience, I touched on this matter with Amit Yoran, the first director of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Cyber Security Division. An excerpt is below, but you can read the whole interview in Architects of Tomorrow.
Yoran: There is a high volume of cyber threats and attacks going on, but I’m cautious to use phrases like “cyber war” and “cyber terrorism.” When you do, you not only have a strong emotional connotation, but it also brings in a certain legal frame of reference—Title 10, the Department of Defense, and other constructs that may or may not make sense for a lot of cyber activities.
CPU: You’re saying, “Don’t make the problem bigger than it is, otherwise you might wind up losing some of the liberties you currently enjoy.”
Monday, May 2, 2011
Opera CEO Sings of Future Browsing
CPU: Until now, browsers have more or less been windows onto the Web, but perhaps that role is expanding. Looking into the future, how do you think we’ll be describing browsers years from now?
von Tetzchner: Browsers will be everywhere. You will find them in all kinds of devices. The Web will come more distributed and the browsers will get server capabilities built in (like we have done with Opera Unite). You will have your home and all your devices connected. The devices will be interconnected and connected to the Web, as well.
Examples of devices being connected (many already starting to connect) include:
- Blu-ray players
- Media players
- Receivers
- TVs
- Set-top boxes
- Photo frames
- Cars
- Fridges
- Stoves
- Home surveillance
- Home automation
The browser will also extend into robotics and you will be able to remote control devices through the Web. The opportunities in this are immense. We have ourselves played with this through Opera Unite and JavaScript plugins. As an example, a couple of the guys built a remote controlled car with a built in Web camera using those technologies. The future will be very exciting, and there will be a lot of new innovation.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Friday Freebie!
Need a little weekend reading? Of course you do. So here it is: email me at architectsoftomorrow [at] gmail [dot] com with the word FREEBIE in the subject today, Friday the 22nd, and I'll send you a Smashwords coupon good for a copy of Architects of Tomorrow, Volume 1 in the digital format of your choice. No strings attached. I won't even ask for a Smashwords and/or Amazon review...unless you really want to leave one, for which I'd be very grateful.
All good? Email me!
All good? Email me!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Amazon's #2 Reviewer Give "Architects, Vol. 1" FIVE Stars!
Arth Denton is Amazon's #2 ranking reviewer. The top Amazon reviewers often receive over 1,000 review solicitations each week. Yet he made the time to review Architects of Tomorrow, Volume 1 when I cold called him. I thought if I was lucky, he might give me three stars. I was praying for four. Instead, he posted this:
Time capsule
For the past 10 years or so, William Van Winkle's job or one of his jobs was to engage captains of our high tech industry as well as the established or lesser known prophets, visionaries and gurus and interview them on behalf of the CPU (Computer Power User) magazine. This first volume of "Architects of Tomorrow" collects interviews from around 2002-2005 and, with one exception or two, adds a 2010-2011 follow up where the reader is given an update on the interviewee's career or path in life, some of the topics discussed way back then are revisited and new insights or predictions may be offered.
I admit that I generally do not enjoy reading/watching/listening to interviews because in many instances they are either prearranged events or the interviewer is unprepared or unable to ask intelligent or meaning questions or it all turns into a sterile cat and mouse game where the thrill is supposed to be watching he subject caught unprepared or trapped into saying something that could be viewed as ignorant, outrageous, unacceptable or subversive by the standards that the majority of the audience accepts at that time. Mr. Van Winkle's interviews are nothing but. He is not an hollowed celebrity (a good thing), he generally knows his interviewees and he is prepared to discuss the issues - the many aspects of what we can call 'the computer industry' and its impact on our daily lives and our future. His intimate knowledge and understanding of the topics discussed tend to generate intelligent and meaningful questions which in turn tend to produce interesting comments and answers from his subjects. Which is what makes most of these interviews interesting and a pleasure to read even when the featured personality is unknown or indifferent to the reader and even though the bulk of these interviews content is 'dated' - 7-8-9 years is a long, long time when the talk is 'computers and computer technology'.
The 'dated' quality of the interviews is what actually makes them a good read, at least for anyone who enjoys reading 'history'. There is very little 'new' in the initial interview but comparing the predictions and the insights offered 'then' with the realities of 'today' makes for good reading. To me, it was something to what I expect would be the thrill of opening a time capsule - not that I ever opened one myself. And I can imagine, 5 or ten years from now, re-reading this collection in 2020, staring with the 2002 original interview and its 2011 update. Well... I'll probably do that.
As for the 'who' is featured in the book, Amazon's 'product description' section has the complete list. I suspect that each reader will find 'interesting' and 'indifferent' personalities on the list and some may even skip over some. I didn't skip any myself but, I must admit that some of the people interviewed I didn't care much about while some were a treat to read. But, even when the topic or the person being interviewed weren't that interesting to me, the questions asked were good, intelligent questions, almost forcing good intelligent answers.
Reading "Architects of Tomorrow" was a pleasure and being asked by the author to review his book - yes, I received a free copy - was a privilege.
Time capsule
For the past 10 years or so, William Van Winkle's job or one of his jobs was to engage captains of our high tech industry as well as the established or lesser known prophets, visionaries and gurus and interview them on behalf of the CPU (Computer Power User) magazine. This first volume of "Architects of Tomorrow" collects interviews from around 2002-2005 and, with one exception or two, adds a 2010-2011 follow up where the reader is given an update on the interviewee's career or path in life, some of the topics discussed way back then are revisited and new insights or predictions may be offered.
I admit that I generally do not enjoy reading/watching/listening to interviews because in many instances they are either prearranged events or the interviewer is unprepared or unable to ask intelligent or meaning questions or it all turns into a sterile cat and mouse game where the thrill is supposed to be watching he subject caught unprepared or trapped into saying something that could be viewed as ignorant, outrageous, unacceptable or subversive by the standards that the majority of the audience accepts at that time. Mr. Van Winkle's interviews are nothing but. He is not an hollowed celebrity (a good thing), he generally knows his interviewees and he is prepared to discuss the issues - the many aspects of what we can call 'the computer industry' and its impact on our daily lives and our future. His intimate knowledge and understanding of the topics discussed tend to generate intelligent and meaningful questions which in turn tend to produce interesting comments and answers from his subjects. Which is what makes most of these interviews interesting and a pleasure to read even when the featured personality is unknown or indifferent to the reader and even though the bulk of these interviews content is 'dated' - 7-8-9 years is a long, long time when the talk is 'computers and computer technology'.
The 'dated' quality of the interviews is what actually makes them a good read, at least for anyone who enjoys reading 'history'. There is very little 'new' in the initial interview but comparing the predictions and the insights offered 'then' with the realities of 'today' makes for good reading. To me, it was something to what I expect would be the thrill of opening a time capsule - not that I ever opened one myself. And I can imagine, 5 or ten years from now, re-reading this collection in 2020, staring with the 2002 original interview and its 2011 update. Well... I'll probably do that.
As for the 'who' is featured in the book, Amazon's 'product description' section has the complete list. I suspect that each reader will find 'interesting' and 'indifferent' personalities on the list and some may even skip over some. I didn't skip any myself but, I must admit that some of the people interviewed I didn't care much about while some were a treat to read. But, even when the topic or the person being interviewed weren't that interesting to me, the questions asked were good, intelligent questions, almost forcing good intelligent answers.
Reading "Architects of Tomorrow" was a pleasure and being asked by the author to review his book - yes, I received a free copy - was a privilege.
Friday, April 8, 2011
How to Argue Like an Intel Bigwig
With "Architects of Tomorrow, Volume 1" up and running, it's time to get "Volume 2" under way. One of the first interviewees on the roster is Intel's David "Dadi" Perlmutter, the man behind everything from the 387 co-processor to Centrino and the architectural shift away from brute gigahertz. One of the things I enjoy doing in these interviews is getting to know the personalities behind the technology. Knowing Dadi's reputation as an epic arguer during product development, we shared this:
Perlmutter: My assistant nods her head [laughs]. I hope I’m not argumentative in a disruptive manner. Call it more of a debate than argument, because “argument,” at least in my understanding of the nuances of English, is more of a negative. Debate is trying to get things sorted out and understood from multiple angles. It’s the Jewish scholar way of learning, very much about debate. You have this opinion? OK, I’ll use the other opinion. When you have been convinced by me, I’ll argue the other way. That’s a very good way to make sure you don’t agree on things too soon. Sometimes in team dynamics, you get to where everybody’s happy and loves the idea, and they just move on with it—but it isn’t necessarily the right one. So you want to ask the next question to make sure that all of the angles have been understood and you bring in people that have different opinions. It can’t just be me. There has to be discussion. The culture must be a thoughtful one. The trick is to know when to get out of the room, because you can stay in that phase forever. The art is to understand where the debate becomes an argument and you’re stuck and everybody is saying the same thing again and again instead of bringing in new ideas. I regret to say that sometimes we direct the debate for too long. I will not say that I know the exact point to get out.
CPU: “Forbes” described you as “a relentless arguer.” Is this accurate?
Monday, April 4, 2011
IBM Takes Us a Step Closer to the Singularity
Fast forward 22 years. IBM Research today announced that it has successfully developed an antimicrobial polymer able to target and destroy drug-resistant superbugs, such as the much-dreaded MRSA. (I came down with MRSA after a nasty spider bite a few years back, and I would've paid anything to be rid of that pain.) As IBM describes it here, scientists "have now successfully developed a new biodegradable and in vivo-applicable antimicrobial polymer, which can selectively eliminate the bacteria without destroying the surrounding healthy red blood cells." The nanoscale engineering required to manipulate atoms now bears fruit as devices that operate at the sub-cellular level.
The polymers self-assemble when introduced to water, either in the body or on the skin. The post-assembly structures use electrostatic interaction to locate targeted bacteria membranes and burrow inside them. Because the cells are destroyed, there's no mutation into an evolved, potentially more virulent strain. Unlike prior attempts at similar treatments, IBM's polymers don't attack red blood cells, and they biodegrade within the body so as to be expelled as waste.
In the image to the right, you can see an untreated MRSA cell on the left and that same cell after being hit by IBM's nanoscale polymers on the right. Most people have MRSA on their skin. We're surrounded by it. Fortunately, it only rarely (although increasingly frequently) develops into an infection. Don't be surprised if these polymers end up in everyday products such as deodorant and disposable wipes.
I find it interesting to view this announcement within the context of the technological development Ray Kurzweil discussed in his "Architects of Tomorrow, Volume 1" interview. He predicts the rise of nanoscale devices exactly like this as a key step in greatly extending human longevity and melding humans with machine intelligence. If we can instruct such self-assembling agents to go to specific cells and perform exact tasks, the potential applications are limitless.
I find it interesting to view this announcement within the context of the technological development Ray Kurzweil discussed in his "Architects of Tomorrow, Volume 1" interview. He predicts the rise of nanoscale devices exactly like this as a key step in greatly extending human longevity and melding humans with machine intelligence. If we can instruct such self-assembling agents to go to specific cells and perform exact tasks, the potential applications are limitless.
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