|
| 
 enlarge | Author: Daniel H. Wilson
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $8.01
You Save: $5.94 (43%)
New (28) Used (20) Collectible (1) from $6.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 14578
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.4 x 0.5
ISBN: 1582345929
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.607
EAN: 9781582345925
ASIN: 1582345929
Publication Date: November 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Absolutely Brand New & In Stock. 100% 30-Day Money Back. Direct from our warehouse. Ships by USPS. 1+ million customers served-In business since 1986. Happy Customers is Our #1 Goal. Toll Free Support
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Entertaining and Educational Read! April 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I came across this author's second book Where's My Jetpack?: A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived a few months ago. It was a sensational read so I eagerly ordered this, his first book. The same great entertaining and at the same educational way of writing makes this another very enjoyable must own book. Plus you are not going to throw this one away either as when the inevitable war against the machines happens, you're going to need to refresh your knowledge by rereading this. So maybe order a few copies, one for the home and the others in the places you have prepared in the wilderness to live as you flee, regroup with other humans and make your plans to combat the machines.
With a masters degree in robotics and data mining Daniel Wilson certainly knows his stuff but has the ability to teach the reader some of it in everyday language. Throw in frequent humorous lines such as "Your robo-vacuum may be bumping into your feet in a malevolent attempt to kill you - or just trying to snuggle" and you've got another book that once you start you just can't put down.
Wilson has four books out at the time of this review along with Where's My Jet Pack you'll also want to get How to Build a Robot Army: Tips on Defending Planet Earth Against Alien Invaders, Ninjas, and Zombies and his latest Mad Scientist Hall of Fame: Muwahahahaha!. If humorous human peril survival guides against what we hope in our lifetime are an enemy we only come across only in the movies is also your thing also get Max Brook's The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead.
 Format Your Tickle Bone February 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a really cool book, its very light to read, and if you have the time you will go through it in no time. I sneaked in a read every now and then between my crazy busy life, and I was finished with it in less than 3 days, but it was totally worth it.
Its both a tech and a comedy book, I liked the way the book was put together, he would first tell you about a technology, lets say "Smart House", he would explain what it is, how it works and all the good tech stuff (but in a very simple non-geek speak way). Then he would follow it up with "well, what would you do if your Smart House tries to kill you", genius.
He's not reverse engineering, he's just helping you survive the uprising =). The book is funny, with some hilarious illustrations and just fun to read, I would totally get a sequel like "How to survive an internet crashing"
Highly recommended for anyone who likes technology and laughter.
Enjoy
Fun and smart! December 11, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a nice piece of bathroom literature.
It does a really good job of threading the needle between assuming the audience knows too much and the audience knowing too little, which is absolutely essential to humor of this kind.
There are enough asides and subtle references to keep it conversational as well and will get you to smile and think a pretty good bit.
If you are a fan of 2001, Terminator, Iron Giant, Fast Cheap and Out of Control, or any other kind of sci-fi involving robots, OR The Zombie Survival Guide, I can recommend this without apprehension.
funny, but a one trick pony September 2, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a funny book, and it provides interesting insight into the current state of robotics, but it is essentially an elaboration of one joke.
A somewhat entertaining mix of research and humor August 30, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book combines good analyses of recent robotics research with an understanding of movie scenarios about robot intentions ("how could millions of dollars of special effects lead us astray?") to produce advice of unknown value about how humans might deal with any malicious robots of the next decade or two.
It focuses mainly on what an ordinary individual or small groups can do to save themselves or postpone their demise, and says little about whether a major uprising can be prevented.
The book's style is somewhat like the Daily Show's style, mixing a good deal of accurate reporting with occasional bits of obvious satire ("Robots have no emotions. Sensing your fear could make a robot jealous"), but it doesn't quite attain the Daily Show's entertainment value.
Its analyses of the weaknesses of current robot sensors and intelligence should make it required reading for any science fiction author or movie producer who wants to appear realistic (I haven't been paying enough attention to those fields recently to know whether such people still exist). But it needs a bit of common sense to be used properly. It's all too easy to imagine a gullible movie producer following its advice to have humans build a time machine and escape to the Cretaceous without pondering whether the robots will use similar time machines to follow them.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
