Slashdot Mirror
Internet Babylon
Along with all the incredible things I somehow missed over the last few years (e.g., the Amazing Mahir), Holden brought to mind a number of wonderful yet somehow forgotten memories (e.g., All Your Base Are Belong To Us). Then there's all the great stuff that, like so much on the Internet, no longer exists but which provided tons of laughs at the time (e.g., Evil Bert). And I never tire of the great web creations that keep on giving, such as the phenomenal Star Wars Kid parodies.
Unlike most of us, Holden didn't just wander willy-nilly all over the Internet -- well, maybe he did, but he put together a well-organized book that breaks his subject down into six parts spread across twenty chapters. First up is "The Rich and (In)famous." Here you can read all about the online doings of celebrities, serial killers, has-beens and wannabes. Holden will lead you to the Partridge Family Temple, introduce you to the unique musical stylings of Star Trek actors, and even point you to refreshers on Manson Family Values.
Next up is "The Afterlife." On the Internet, nothing truly dies. You can explore the mysterious deaths of Elvis and other celebrities, become a knowledgeable amateur sleuth hot on the trail of Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac killer, and other inhuman monsters, help look for ghosts via webcam in haunted buildings, and even watch a body decompose inside a coffin. (Actually, that last idea fell through, but it's sure to happen eventually.) Of course, you might want to get religion before you take your own one step beyond, and the Internet puts a wide variety of "religions" at your fingertips. With the good comes the bad, and the Internet does, unfortunately, have a dark underbelly of criminality and evil; in the section "Bad Boys and Naughty Girls," Holden gives you the scoop on famous hackers and their exploits, viruses and their creators, and the cretins who curse us all with unwanted spam. He basically takes you on a guided tour of the dark side of the World Wide Web.
As we all know, the Internet has revolutionized politics, and Holden devotes three fascinating chapters to political intrigue, scandals, and government secrets online. In the past, politicians could keep their perverted behavior secret from the public, but the Internet has changed all that -- just ask Bill Clinton. In this online age, rumors and scandals can be spread across the entire world in a matter of minutes, and Holden shows us how the Internet has at times shaped the content of traditional journalism (as well as supplying us with some of the funniest jokes and parodies known to man).
Anyone who browses the Internet soon learns that there are people out there who will do anything to get attention, and those with some sort of self-styled mission will stop at nothing to get their points across. This is the realm of flame wars, denial of service attacks, as well as really, really silly web sites you can't believe anyone would ever think of creating. The unlikeliest of Internet heroes are honored in this section: the Amazing Mahir of "I Kiss You!!!!!" fame, the Star Wars Kid (one of my personal favorites), and even one of the little guys - the man who invented the Smiley symbol. It all wraps up with a look at "Big (And Not So Big) Business." Remember the Pets.com Sock Puppet, who enjoyed much more success than Pets.com ever did? That's just one dot-com disaster story; here, you will learn about some of the worst Internet business plans ever put together.
Believe me, I have only scratched the surface of the material covered in this book. Internet Babylon is chock full of fascinating, oftentimes hilarious stories (and pictures) of the continually surprising sites and sounds the Internet has brought to life. You'll learn a little bit about the creation and evolution of the Internet, but mostly you'll revel in all the crazy online manifestations Holden holds under the microscope.
Let me close with a word of warning. I'm a big horror fan, and I've seen some pretty disgusting things in my life; I like to think I'm tough enough to stand anything. Thus, I ignored Holden's warnings about some of the more disturbing web content that can be found out there and rushed right off to one aptly-described shocking site. Let's just say I'll never be able to watch weight lifting again. I know you will want to take a gander at many of the sites Holden refers to throughout this book, so I just want to advise you to proceed carefully: as this fascinating book proves, you can find absolutely anything out there online, and some of it ain't pretty.
You can purchase Internet Babylon: Secrets, Scandals, and Shocks on the Information Superhighway from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
...for pot smokers and others with massive defects to their short-term memory.
http://gmail.google.com/gmail/a-5f4bb6e3a-1c957fae 3f-a4c127be7b
Just remove that bit of space after that fae
Different guy here, and who knows if someone might snatch this up before you see it, but worth a shot. And if someone does, I suppose it's still a good dead for me, so hooray.
Someone explain to me whats on blacksnake.com
I've sent many people their that have never spoken to me again. I'm not going to look at it though. Just wondering what the site had on it.
In this issue we review:
* A Into a World of Hate: A Journey Among the Extreme Right, by Nick Ryan
* A Hundred Little Hitlers : The Death of a Black Man, the Trial of a White Racist, and the Rise of the Neo-Nazi Movement in America by Elinor Langer
* Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement by Kathleen M. Blee
* Contemporary Voices of White Nationalism in America by Carol M. Swain (Editor), Russ Nieli
A Into a World of Hate: A Journey Among the Extreme Right, by Nick Ryan
Overview:
At a time of heightened fears over terrorism and Islam; as frustration builds with immigration and asylum; and as millions vote for far-right political parties, Into A World Of Hate is Nick Ryan's powerful odyssey into the world of the extreme right.
Already being compared to Orwell's non-fiction, Ryan spent six arduous years traveling amongst a huge array of right-wing extremists. Winning the trust of the men and women at the heart of these movements - from bombers to presidential candidates, moving from the backstreets of London through Europe and into the heartlands of the USA - Ryan depicts a frustrated landscape of identity, belonging and belief.
In a blend of adventure and social commentary, Into A World Of Hate charts the flip-side to al-Qaeda: a dark glimpse into the rise of tribalism within our societies.
1.
A Hundred Little Hitlers : The Death of a Black Man, the Trial of a White Racist, and the Rise of the Neo-Nazi Movement in America
by Elinor Langer
Overview:
A riveting account of a skinhead killing and a chilling look at the world in which it happened
On November 12, 1988, a group of Portland, Oregon, skinheads known as East Side White Pride met for an evening of beer and racist banter. Later that night, they encountered three Ethiopians; a street fight broke out and Kenneth Mieske brutally beat Mulugeta Seraw with a bat. In the early-morning hours, Seraw died.
Drawing on more than ten years of original research, award-winning journalist Elinor Langer takes the Seraw case as the occasion for a thorough investigation of the Nazi-inspired racist movement in the United States. She vividly reconstructs the world of the skinheads, both in Portland and nationally: their origins in the punk scene, their basement shrines to Nazi power, their moments of glory on Oprah and Geraldo. She delves into the long-standing radical groups with which the skinheads became allied, tracking the progress of such powerful figures as white Aryan resistance leader Tom Metzger through the stations of the far right, from the Birch Society to Christian Identity to David Duke's Klan. In gripping detail, she follows ambitious civil-rights lawyer Morris Dees's efforts to prove Metzger responsible for the Portland killing-a sensational campaign to curb the growth of neo-Nazism.
Compelling, disturbing, and important, A Hundred Little Hitlers is both an epic account of racism and justice, and a close examination of social forces that loom ever more dangerously today.
3.
Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement by Kathleen M. Blee
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this timely account, based on in-depth interviews with 34 women in organized racist and anti-Semitic groups (Christian Identity, neo-Nazi, white power skinheads, Ku Klux Klan) and a study of their publications between 1993 and 1994, Blee, a sociology professor and author of Women of the Klan, takes a penetrating look at how "ordinary women... become wedded to dangerous and bizarre racist agendas." Blee reveals these woman as monstrous, but not monsters distinguished from mainstream society by their virulent racism and anti-Semitism and their general hostility toward the most benign feminism. They come from every region, and are often educated and middle-class, working in professions like education, nursing and engineering. For women, Blee explains, intense racism is often the result of their participation in r