Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Brief Book Review: Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
Dan Brown’s Writing
I like Dan Brown. He writes entertaining, conspiracy-theory laden novels about religion, history, government, science, and technology. Digital Fortress is his earliest novel, published in 1998. It’s a good book, but as might be suspected, it’s not as good as some of his later work. In my mind both Digital Fortress and Deception Point (Brown’s third novel) pale a bit in comparison to his more popular novels: Angels & Demons (his second novel) and The Da Vinci Code (his fourth novel). This may be because his writing has gotten better, or it may be because the subject matter is more intriguing in Angels & Demons and Da Vinci.
Uber-Brief Synopsis
Digital Fortress is a book that follows the inner-workings of the NSA (National Security Administration) and code breaker Susan Fletcher. David Becker, Susan’s fiance, plays an equally large role within the book, and finds himself in Seville Spain trying to track down an item that he has been told is vital to national security. The larger issue in the novel is about balancing national safety with the right of each individual’s personal privacy. In other words, “How much about our personal lives does the government need to know to truly keep us safe?” This topic seems like old hat in a post-911, post-George W. Bush presidency era, but Brown wrote Digital Fortress before these events had taken place, so kudos to him for having insight into an important debate ahead of time.
The Good & the Bad
I liked this book, but some of the terms and technology referred to are a bit dated now. I also think that Brown’s writing becomes somewhat predictable as the story builds. To be honest, I’m not a person who usually tries to figure out how a novel or a movie is going to end. I’m more interested in experiencing the emotion that the story brings to life in the moment (novels in this sense are an escape for me because so many other types of books that I read require constant mental awareness), but even as someone uninterested in figuring the story out, I could foresee how some of the situations in Digital Fortress were going to end. I think some of this predictability is also present in Deception Point, but happily not in Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code.
One more thing to Brown’s credit: some of the characters in this book are spot on. The NSA’s lead sys-sec, Jabba, is perfectly believably and at times annoyingly so. Midge, an internal security analyst, is a perfect rendition of that snarky, intelligent, domineering woman whom you love to hate, but truthfully need. There were times within the book where these two characters, especially Jabba, were so believable, that I was getting irritated just listening to them speak.
Verdict
If you like Dan Brown’s writing, Digital Fortress is worth the read. But, read Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol (his newest book, which follows The Da Vinci Code, and which I assume is great) first.
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No commentsSteve Jobs
It’s amazing to watch Steve Jobs speak candidly about his company and the tech industry as a whole. He is such a brilliant guy. Check out all this footage from the D8 Conference this year.
http://d8.allthingsd.com/speakers/steve-jobs/
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No commentsCrush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk is perhaps best known as the creator and host of the popular video wine blog, Wine Library TV; however, he is quickly becoming known as the go-to-guy for knowledge on social media marketing. Crush It! is Vaynerchuk’s how-to book of social media brand building. Specifically @GaryVee (his twitter handle) is interested in helping people build their “personal brand” using free, social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, WordPress, Tumblr, and the like.
Crush It! is a timely book offering effective methods for building brand recognition right now. I don’t know that it will be on anybody’s radar in 10 years because the internet is an ever-changing landscape; however, if you have an interest in marketing a product, blog, church, or non-profit in 2009 or 2010 or 2011, then this book is worth your time. And…it’s an easy read. In fact it’s a bathroom-reader easy read, and it’s written in a quirky, enjoyable style.
My favorite advice / quotes from the book:
“legacy is greater than currency (126).”
“Love your family (2).”
“Work superhard (2).”
“Live your passion (2).”
“The best marketing strategy in the world….CARE! (101-102).”
I’m approaching this book mostly from the standpoint of a pastor, and I think it offers sound advice for churches. Churches aren’t selling something (or at least they shouldn’t be), but they do have the best news in the world (that you were created for God’s glory and Jesus would like to enable you to fulfill that purpose). So, I think marketing your church and it’s resources more effectively just makes sense. This is a book I would like to get in the hands of as many pastors and church marketers as possible because I think it could benefit the kingdom of God.
READ IT!
check out Gary Vaynerchuk at:
winelibrarytv.com
garyvaynerchuk.com
on twitter @garyvee
P.S. – my site could stand to take a lot of the advice in this book, and I’m working on it, but I’m not there yet!
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1 commentSocial Networks
Lately I’ve been messing with both Friendfeed and gdgt. Friendfeed is a social network aggregator of sorts; it integrates with almost all the other popular social networks and can be used as a place for additional discussion about things you’ve posted on Facebook, digg, flickr, Twitter, etc. At first I wasn’t sure how to use it, or why I would want to, but after playing with it some, I like it. It updates in real time and easily allows good discussion and comments. gdgt is a new tech / gadget site that is based around a social networking mindset. Users have a gadget profile that shows gadgets they own, used to own, or want to own. The site is a good place to discuss hacks, pros and cons of different gadgets, and the latest gadget news.
Check on my profiles on either site and consider joining the next wave of social networking craziness!
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