After Michael Chorost suddenly lost what was left of his hearing, he took the radical step of having a cochlear implant -- a tiny computer -- installed in his head. A technological marvel, the device not only restored to him the world of sound but also could be routinely upgraded with new software. Despite his intitial fear of the technology's potentially dehumanizing effects, Chorost's implant allowed him to connect with others in surprising ways: as a cyborg, he learned about love, joine...

What if digital communication felt as real as being touched?This question led Michael Chorost to explore profound new ideas triggered by lab research around the world, and the result is the book you now hold. Marvelous and momentous, World Wide Mind takes mind-to-mind communication out of the realm of science fiction and reveals how we are on the verge of a radical new understanding of human interaction.Chorost himself has computers in his head tha...

What knowledge and skills do designers of learning technologies need? What is the best way to train them to create high-quality educational technologies? Distilling the wisdom of expert instructors and designers, this cutting-edge guide offers a clear, accessible balance of theory and practical examples.This cutting-edge guide:synthesizes learning, instructional design, and educational technology perspectives on learning-centered technology — highlighting how...

Where do you begin with a writer as original and brilliant as David Foster Wallace? Here — with a carefully considered selection of his extraordinary body of work, chosen by a range of great writers, critics, and those who worked with him most closely.This volume presents his most dazzling, funniest, and most heartbreaking work — essays like his famous cruise-ship piece, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," excerpts from his novels The Broom of the Sys...

From the author of The Forever War comes the Worlds trilogy finale: the last of humanity faces extinction on a doomed voyage to a new home in the stars.Hugo and Nebula Award–Winning AuthorThe Earth is no more, an uninhabitable shell following the one-day war that obliterated the population. In the decades that followed, the surviving Worlds orbiting the dead planet have become the last refuge of ...

13 essays on the importance of representation in science fiction and fantasy, with an introduction by author Alex Dally MacFarlane. Proceeds from the sale of this collection go to the Carl Brandon Society to support Con or Bust. Full table of contents: Introduction by Alex Dally MacFarlane. “Parched” by Mark Oshiro. “Boys’ Books” by Katharine Kerr. “Clicking” by Susan Jane Bigelow. “The Princess Problem” by Charlotte Ashley. “Autism, Representa...

What is there to do, when you have the power to do anything? John can fly, he can see through solid objects, he can take over the world and give it back again, but what he's looking for is something else…At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

“Powerful . . . a poetic meditation on how love or attempts at loving can drive us to madness.”—The Boston Globe“We learn about the cracks in Felix’s upbringing, the hurt from the breakup itself, and a pain that spans a lifetime, all through a sharp millennial voice.”—TimeA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, Chicago Public Library, Electric LitWhen Camonghne Felix goes through a monumen...

From the director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory—“a stimulating book written by one of the major players in the field—perhaps the major player.... Offers surprisingly deep glimpses into what it is to be human” (The New York Times Book Review).Are we really on the brink of having robots to mop our floors, do our dishes, mow our lawns, and clean our windows? And are researchers that close to creating robots that can think, feel, repair themsel...

**FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZENamed one of the best books of the year by: THE NEW YORKER • THE WASHINGTON POST • THE ATLANTIC • NPR • PUBLISHERS WEEKLY • LITHUB"Fascinating...The great strength of this memoir is its voracious, humble curiosity." - The Atlantic, The 10 Best Books of the YearA witty, winning, and revelatory personal narrative of the author’s transition from sightedness to blindness and his quest to learn...

The surprising science of hearing and the remarkable technologies that can help us hear betterOur sense of hearing makes it easy to connect with the world and the people around us. The human system for processing sound is a biological marvel, an intricate assembly of delicate membranes, bones, receptor cells, and neurons. Yet many people take their ears for granted, abusing them with loud restaurants, rock concerts, and Q-tips. And then, eventually, most of us star...

For twenty-two years, Katherine Bouton had a secret that grew harder to keep every day. An editor at The New York Times, at daily editorial meetings she couldn't hear what her colleagues were saying. She had gone profoundly deaf in her left ear; her right was getting worse. As she once put it, she was "the kind of person who might have used an ear trumpet in the nineteenth century."Audiologists agree that we're experiencing a national epidemic of hearing impairment. At pres...