Most Popular Books by Clay Shirky

Discusses and uses examples of how digital networks transform the ability of humans to gather and cooperate with one another.

The author of the breakout hit Here Comes Everybody reveals how new technology is changing us for the better. In his bestselling Here Comes Everybody, Internet guru Clay Shirky provided readers with a much-needed primer for the digital age. Now, with Cognitive Surplus, he reveals how new digital technology is unleashing a torrent of creative production that will transform our world. For the first time, people are embracing new media that allow them to pool their efforts at vanishingly low cost. The results of this aggregated effort range from mind-expanding reference tools like Wikipedia to life-saving Web sites like Ushahidi.com, which allows Kenyans to report acts of violence in real time. Cognitive Surplus explores what''s possible when people unite to use their intellect, energy, and time for the greater good.

A tremendous way for the millions who would like to tap the resources of the Internet, but can''t access it in their areas, can''t afford it, or simply don''t want to learn complicated protocols, this book shows how E-Mail users of MCI Mail, Prodigy, CompuServe, America OnLine, college or business E-Mail accounts, and other similar services can tap the vast resources of the Internet.

The buzz about Web Services gets louder every day. Is it just the latest hype, or is the promise of perfect interoperability, lower costs, and increased efficiency finally going to be fulfilled? Should you jump in now, or wait?Following the groundbreaking P2P Networking Overview from O''Reilly Research, Planning for Web Services guides tech executives and managers through the inflated claims, competing standards, and acronym soup to arrive at a realistic appraisal of Web Services'' potential for your business.Through plainspoken, impartial analysis, Planning for Web Services maps out the current state and future prospects of this still-evolving technology, and lays out the critical technical and business issues you''ll need to consider. After defining the scope of Web Services, the report looks at how they are being implemented today, and where and how they are likely to take hold in the near future. Topics include: How Web Services can replace EDI Using Web Services as middleware to create network-aware applications with RPC Advantages and hurdles to implementing Web Services on Intranet, Extranet, and public Internet sites Planning for Web Services profiles more than 30 of the key players in this emerging sector, from major tech companies like Sun, IBM, and Microsoft to startups that are driving much of the innovation in this space. The report concludes with a straightforward checklist of the strategic issues and questions every IT decision-maker should answer before committing to Web Services.

There''s so much buzz about peer-to-peer these days, it''s hard to separate facts from fiction. How do the peer-to-peer companies stack up? Which technologies are credible, and which will shake up our notions of how people use computers? More importantly, how do you see through the hype to the underlying architectures that yield opportunities for creating lasting value? The "2001 P2P Networking Overview" from O''Reilly Research is a comprehensive look at peer-to-peer from business and technical perspectives. We describe the state of the industry and offer our opinions about where it''s going to go next, with hard data to back us up. What you will find in the report: Company profilesIn-depth explanations of the underlying technologiesP2P services: present and futureAnalysis of the hype: what the press gets wrongEstimates of mindshare and community sizeOur forecasts for the field About O''Reilly Research: In O''Reilly''s book publishing business, web sites, and conferences, we''ve become famous for providing no-nonsense, in-depth information and insights about important technologies. We watch what leading-edge developers are doing, so we can tell when their work is about to "cross the chasm" and hit the mainstream. We provide the information that builds the bridge. O''Reilly combines extensive experience in new and emerging technologies with insider connection to the development community. At O''Reilly Research, we augment these insights with our exclusive statistical and computational techniques tailored for modeling, condensing, summarizing, and forecasting trends in software development.

Almost unknown to the rest of the globe, Xiaomi has become the world''s third-largest mobile phone manufacturer. Its high-end phones are tailored to Chinese and emerging markets, where it outsells even Samsung. Since the 1990s China has been climbing up the ladder of quality, from doing knockoffs to designing its own high-end goods. Xiaomi its name literally means "little rice" is landing squarely in this shift in China''s economy. But the remarkable rise of Xiaomi from startup to colossus is more than a business story, because mobile phones are special. The common desiderata of the global population, mobile phones offer the kind of freedom and connectedness that autocratic countries are terrified of. China''s fortune and future clearly lie with "opening up" to the global market, requiring it to allow local entrepreneurs to experiment. Clay Shirky, one of the most influential and original thinkers on how technological innovation affects social change around the world, now turns his attention to the most populous country of them all. The case of Xiaomi exemplifies the balancing act that China has to perfect to navigate between cheap copies and innovation, between the demands of local and global markets, and between freedom and control.

Clay Shirky, um dos mais influentes pensadores da web, abre seu livro contando uma história simples: numa tarde de 2006 uma mulher perdeu um celular no banco de trás de um táxi. O telefone foi encontrado, a identidade de quem estava de posse do aparelho foi revelada, mas isso não garantiu a sua devolução. Só depois que uma página na internet contando o caso ganhou a atenção da mídia e o novo "dono" do aparelho foi pressionado por milhares de empenhados adeptos, o caso foi solucionado. A história exemplifica bem a revolução que as tecnologias de rede social vêm desempenhando. Pela primeira vez na história, os indivíduos têm nas mãos os meios para se organizar sem a intermediação de empresas, partidos e outras instituições, compartilhando informações, produzindo de maneira colaborativa e até planejando ações coletivas de grande porte. Mas "Lá vem todo mundo" não chega apenas para celebrar os benefícios dessa transformação, Shirky apresenta os dilemas que emergem quando os grupos deixam de ser controlados por organizações. Se as novas ferramentas virtuais tornaram possível que, na Bielo-Rússia, por exemplo, eclodisse um protesto político que o governo foi impotente para deter, também viabilizam uma comunicação mais ágil entre redes terroristas. Estamos diante de um panorama que transformou o comportamento dos homens, e o autor, além de analisar os pontos positivos e negativos desse cenário, mostra como é possível participar ativamente de um dos momentos mais férteis da história humana.

Although Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in April, 1865, some Confederates refused to abandon their cause. Fallen Guidon, originally published in 1962 by Jack Rittenhouse''s Stagecoach Press in 1962, is the gripping story of one such group of men who, rather than surrender, boldly decided to follow their cavalry flag or guidon south and transplant their imperialistic vision in the troubled soil of Mexico. This little-remembered episode of the Trans-Mississippi Civil War was written as a popular history by the late Edwin Adams Davis, a respected scholar of southern and Civil War history. General Jo Shelby had led the Missouri Cavalry Division through battles at Westport, Mine Creek, Newtonia, and elsewhere. Shelby''s men were all recruits rather than draftees, fiercely loyal, and they followed the code of chivalry to a degree unusual even in the old South. While preparing to march against the Federals at Little Rock, they heard of Lee''s surrender. In a meeting at Marshall, Texas, Shelby announced, "We will stand together, we will keep our organization, our arms, our discipline, our hatred of oppression . . . that this Missouri Cavalry Division preferred exile to submission—death to dishonor." Having heard that the U.S. government wanted the Habsburg emperor Maximilian out of Mexico and that Lincoln liked the idea of ex-Confederates joining forces with Benito Juarez to oust Maximilian and his French military forces, Shelby formed his plan. Shelby believed he had found a way to save their honor and at the same time spread their lost southern empire to a new land, where riches and glory surely awaited them. Shelby and his men marched through Texas, stopping in Corsicana, Tyler, Waxahachie, Waco, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio, declaring martial law and forcibly quelling local outbreaks of looting and rioting where they found it. At the Rio Grande, in a funereal memorial, they buried their Confederate battle flag in the murky waters before heading into Mexico. Shelby''s men did not want to support Benito Juarez''s liberal guerrillas, however. Identifying themselves as "imperialists," they wanted to fight gloriously for Emperor Maximilian. In pitched battles against the local Juaristas and isolated guerrillas and bandits, they spilled blood from Piedras Negras to Mexico City and even undertook the chivalrous and bloody rescue of a woman imprisoned in a hacienda. Once in Mexico City, Shelby''s "Iron Brigade" discovered its march to have been futile, and in a bittersweet final review, Shelby said good-bye.

El impacto potencial del excedente cognitivo, esto es, el superávit de conocimiento de que disfruta nuestra sociedad, es enorme. Según Shirky, nuestra sociedad y nuestras vidas cotidianas mejorarán notablemente cuando aprendamos a aprovechar nuestro potencial altruista y nuestro tiempo libre. De hecho, el cambio ya está aquí: para redactar la Wikipedia se empleó sólo el 1% de las horas que los telespectadores estadounidenses pasan al año viendo televisión. Dicho en otras palabras, durante el tiempo en que los estadounidenses pasan ante el televisor durante un año podrían redactarse miles de wikipedias. Este cambio de paradigma es posible porque nos encanta colaborar, escribir en blogs y compartir en las redes sociales, y con ello sentirnos partícipes de algo grande. Ello permite poner nuestra inteligencia y nuestro tiempo libre a trabajar conjuntamente para crear cosas que de forma individual, o desde una empresa o institución, sería imposible crear.

"The New Normal features works made between 2001 and 2008 that draw on private information - ranging from home videos to financial data - for their raw material and subject matter. These works, and the catalogue essays, shed light on the new circumstances created by our highly technological society, in which private information has never been less private."--BOOK JACKET.

Como a internet foi capaz de transformar tão drasticamente o modo como utilizamos nosso tempo livre? Para o guru da web Clay Shirky, a resposta está em como as novas tecnologias permitem que, com baixíssimo custo e risco, apliquemos algo que sempre tivemos: a vontade de usar nossos talentos para criarmos juntos coisas novas. De consumidores passivos de produtos culturais fornecidos por uma minoria, rapidamente estamos nos transformando em criadores do que outros como nós consomem. Uma mudança que parece pequena, mas vem provocando uma verdadeira revolução. Nos últimos vinte anos, assistimos a uma transformação radical na forma como milhões de pessoas obtêm informação. Com a experiência de quem trabalha com mídia colaborativa desde o início da rede de computadores, o autor reúne diversos exemplos de novas e impressionantes ferramentas criadas de forma compartilhada. Algumas são bastante conhecidas, como a enciclopédia online Wikipédia, enquanto outras se limitam a usuários especializados, como a plataforma de programação de código aberto Apache. E ainda há os casos de ativismo político, como o site Ushahidi.com, por meio do qual quenianos puderam burlar a censura do governo e divulgar atos de violência em tempo real. Shirky ainda explica como explorar da melhor maneira as oportunidades criadas pela tecnologia e pelas redes sociais. Mesmo que cada indivíduo dedique apenas uma pequena fração de seu tempo na construção de algo útil para a população do planeta, é possível gerar uma fonte inesgotável de recursos para melhorar o mundo. Uma defesa das novas formas de consumo e produção de informação e um guia de como fazer parte desta revolução com criatividade e generosidade.

Hoe sociale media ons effectiever, creatiever en actiever maken. Je hebt een goede opleiding, een lang leven voor je en relatief veel vrije tijd. Wat doe je daarmee? Clay Shirky beschrijft in Slimmer dat we generaties lang niet veel meer met onze vrije tijd hebben gedaan dan passief tv-kijken of individuele hobbys uitoefenen. Met de komst van internet en sociale media is dat veranderd. Ineens is het mogelijk om het jarenlang opgehoopte cognitief overschot creatief te gebruiken. En dat doen we ook. Samen met anderen bedenken we oplossingen voor problemen, richten we nieuwe bedrijfjes op, creëren we acties voor goede doelen en komen we met allerlei andere gemeenschappelijke initiatieven. Die verbondenheid en kenniscreatie heeft grote invloed op onze samenleving. In Slimmer voorspelt Shirky wat we met de nieuwe digitale technologie kunnen bereiken als we eindelijk onze ongebruikte talenten en goodwill aan het werk zetten. Bekende voorbeelden zijn Wikipedia en Flickr, maar denk ook aan literatuur op FanFiction, couchsurfing en huizenruil, de website Instructables.com (vol met how to make-adviezen) en allerlei cursussen op YouTube. Clay Shirky is een warm pleitbezorger van de positieve en ongekende mogelijkheden van de sociale media. Slimmer is een boek voor iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in nieuwe media, internet en nieuwe, creatieve manieren van samenwerken.