Always On

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Author : Naomi S. Baron
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines

Summary : In Always On, Naomi S. Baron reveals that online and mobile technologies--including instant messaging, cell phones, multitasking, Facebook, blogs, and wikis--are profoundly influencing how we read and write, speak and listen, but not in the ways we might suppose. Baron draws on a decade of research to provide an eye-opening look at language in an online and mobile world. She reveals for instance that email, IM, and text messaging have had surprisingly little impact on student writing. Electronic media has magnified the laid-back "whatever" attitude toward formal writing that young people everywhere have embraced, but it is not a cause of it. A more troubling trend, according to Baron, is the myriad ways in which we block incoming IMs, camouflage ourselves on Facebook, and use ring tones or caller ID to screen incoming calls on our mobile phones. Our ability to decide who to talk to, she argues, is likely to be among the most lasting influences that information technology has upon the ways we communicate with one another. Moreover, as more and more people are "always on" one technology or another--whether communicating, working, or just surfing the web or playing games--we have to ask what kind of people do we become, as individuals and as family members or friends, if the relationships we form must increasingly compete for our attention with digital media? Our 300-year-old written culture is on the verge of redefinition, Baron notes. It's up to us to determine how and when we use language technologies, and to weigh the personal and social benefits--and costs--of being "always on." This engaging and lucidly-crafted book gives us the tools for taking on these challenges.

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Author : Rory Cellan-Jones
Genre : Technology & Engineering

Summary : 'Delightfully insightful and intensely readable [...] There is an energy and drama to Rory's writing which nonetheless leaves space for us, the reader, to make up our minds' – Stephen Fry The inside story of how tech became personal and pernicious, from the BBC's technology correspondent. We live at a time when billions have access to unbelievably powerful technology. The most extraordinary tool that has been invented in the last century, the smartphone, is forcing radical changes in the way we live and work - and unlike previous technologies it is in the hands of just about everyone. Coupled with the rise of social media, this has ushered in a new era of deeply personal technology, where individuals now have the ability to work, create and communicate on their own terms, rather than wait for permission from giant corporations or governments. At least that is the optimistic view. This book takes readers on an entertaining ride through this turbulent era, as related by an author with a ringside seat to the key moments of the technology revolution. We remember the excitement and wonder that came with the arrival of Apple's iPhone with all the promise it offered. We see tech empires rise and fall as these devices send shockwaves through every industry and leave the corporate titans of the analogue era floundering in their wake. We see that early utopianism about the potential of the mobile social revolution to transform society for the better fade, as criminals, bullies and predators poison the well of social media. And we hear from those at the forefront of the tech revolution, including Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, Tim Berners-Lee, Martha Lane-Fox and Jimmy Wales, to gain their unique insights and predictions for what may be to come. Always On immerses the reader in the most important story of our times – the dramatic impact of hyperconnectivity, the smartphone and social media on everything from our democracy to our employment and our health. The final section of the book draws on the author's own personal experience with technology and medicine, considering how COVID-19 made us look again to computing in our battle to confront the greatest challenge of modern times.

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Author : Alan Drake
Genre : Religion

Summary : If you will put God first in your life, seeking his Kingdom, doing His will, and giving priority to His concerns, you will see that He will honor that by personally taking care of you in return. It can be exciting to watch God Himself intervene to make sure that your needs are always met, always on time, every single time. Your trust in Him will grow as you see that you can safely depend on Him to care for your needs. As you place your trust in God, putting Him first in your life, you will find that God will make sure that you always have what you really need. He will always meet your needs on time; and when necessary, He will make a way where there seems to be no way!

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Author : Susan May Warren
Genre : Fiction

Summary : After a failed dig in Honduras, aspiring archaeologist Casper Christiansen heads home to Minnesota to face his unresolved feelings for Raina Beaumont, the woman of his dreams. But when he arrives unannounced on her doorstep, he receives the shock of a lifetime: Raina is pregnant with someone else’s baby. Heartbroken, especially when he discovers the identity of the baby’s father, Casper tables his dreams and determines to be dependable for once, helping his older brother, Darek, prepare the family resort for its grand reopening. Casper longs to be the hero of at least one family story, but a never-ending Deep Haven winter and costly repairs threaten their efforts—and the future of the resort. Worse, one of Casper’s new jobs constantly brings him into contact with Raina, whom he can’t seem to forget. A tentative friendship begins to heal fresh wounds, but can they possibly overcome past mistakes and current choices to discover a future together?

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Author : Shanae Johnson
Genre : Fiction

Summary : When trauma claimed his memories, only her love can guide him to a new future. After weeks missing in action and presumed dead, Private Reece Cartwright wakes up in a cave in the desert. His only possessions are a worn Bible, a handwritten love letter, and no memories of who he was. He’s eager to return home and reclaim his life and the love of the woman who wrote the letter. Her words give him a peace his ravaged mind and body desperately need—he only wishes he could remember her. Beth Barrett has loved her best friend’s brother her whole life but only gets the confidence to tell Reece when he’s overseas serving their country. When her letter gets no response for months, she decides her only chance at a family of her own is to agree to marry the church’s new youth pastor. . . until Reece returns believing the two of them are engaged. Reece’s memories are still MIA, but with his family home in ashes, his best shot at a new life is to marry Beth and create a new home together on the Purple Heart Ranch. With a chance at true love so close, can Beth go through with marriage to a man she doesn’t love? Or marry Reece whose memories could resurface at any time and prove their relationship a lie? Find out if love can truly heal all wounds in this light-hearted, sweet romance of convenient arrangements that unfold into lasting love. Always On His Mind is the seventh in a continuing series of marriage of convenience tales featuring Wounded Warriors who are healed with the power of love.

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Author : Brian X. Chen
Genre : Technology & Engineering

Summary : Even Steve Jobs didn't know what he had on his hands when he announced the original iPhone as a combination of a mere "three revolutionary products"--an iPod, a cell phone, and a keyboard-less handheld computer. Once Apple introduced the App Store and opened it up to outside developers, however, the iPhone became capable of serving a rapidly growing number of functions--now more than 200,000 and counting. But the iPhone has implications far beyond the phone or gadget market. In fact, it's opening the way to what Brian Chen calls the "always-on" future, where we are all constantly connected to a global Internet via flexible, incredibly capable gadgets that allow us to do anything, anytime, from anywhere. This has far-reaching implications--both positive and negative--throughout all areas of our lives, opening the door for incredible personal and societal advances while potentially sacrificing both privacy and creative freedom in the process. Always On is the first book to look at the surprising and expansive significance of Apple's incredibly powerful vertical business model, and the future it portends.

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Author : Brian X. Chen
Genre : Technology & Engineering

Summary : Even Steve Jobs didn't know what he had on his hands when he announced the original iPhone as a combination of a mere "three revolutionary products"--an iPod, a cell phone, and a keyboard-less handheld computer. Once Apple introduced the App Store and opened it up to outside developers, however, the iPhone became capable of serving a rapidly growing number of functions--now more than 200,000 and counting. But the iPhone has implications far beyond the phone or gadget market. In fact, it's opening the way to what Brian Chen calls the "always-on" future, where we are all constantly connected to a global Internet via flexible, incredibly capable gadgets that allow us to do anything, anytime, from anywhere. This has far-reaching implications--both positive and negative--throughout all areas of our lives, opening the door for incredible personal and societal advances while potentially sacrificing both privacy and creative freedom in the process. Always On is the first book to look at the surprising and expansive significance of Apple's incredibly powerful vertical business model, and the future it portends.