Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy
The Many Faces of Anonymous
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy
Buy for $17.62
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Tavia Gilbert
About this listen
Here is the ultimate book on the worldwide movement of hackers, pranksters, and activists that operates under the non-name Anonymous, by the writer the Huffington Post says "knows all of [Anonymous's] deepest, darkest secrets."
Half a dozen years ago, anthropologist Gabriella Coleman set out to study the rise of this global phenomenon just as some of its members were turning to political protest and dangerous disruption. She ended up becoming so closely connected to Anonymous that the tricky story of her inside-outside status as Anon confidante, interpreter, and erstwhile mouthpiece forms one of the themes of this witty and entirely engrossing book. The narrative brims with details unearthed from within a notoriously mysterious subculture, whose semi-legendary tricksters - such as Topiary, tflow, Anachaos, and Sabu - emerge as complex, diverse, politically and culturally sophisticated people. Propelled by years of chats and encounters with a multitude of hackers, Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy is filled with insights into the meaning of digital activism and little-understood facets of culture in the Internet age.
©2014 Gabriella Coleman (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
We Are Anonymous
- Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency
- By: Parmy Olson
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,234
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,086
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,092
In late 2010, thousands of hacktivists joined a mass digital assault by Anonymous on the websites of VISA, MasterCard, and PayPal to protest their treatment of WikiLeaks. Splinter groups then infiltrated the networks of totalitarian governments in Libya and Tunisia, and an elite team of six people calling themselves LulzSec attacked the FBI, CIA, and Sony. They were flippant and taunting, grabbed headlines, and amassed more than a quarter of a million Twitter followers.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting book, AWFUL narration
- By Jen on 11-11-14
By: Parmy Olson
-
Tracers in the Dark
- The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency
- By: Andy Greenberg
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 832
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 723
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 722
Over the last decade, a single innovation has massively fueled digital black markets: cryptocurrency. Crime lords inhabiting lawless corners of the internet have operated more freely—whether in drug dealing, money laundering, or human trafficking—than their analog counterparts could have ever dreamed of. By transacting not in dollars or pounds but in currencies with anonymous ledgers, overseen by no government, beholden to no bankers, these black marketeers have sought to rob law enforcement of their chief method of cracking down on illicit finance: following the money.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Could not put this down
- By Mike Reaves on 01-28-23
By: Andy Greenberg
-
Sandworm
- A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers
- By: Andy Greenberg
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,199
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,828
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,824
In 2014, the world witnessed the start of a mysterious series of cyberattacks. Targeting American utility companies, NATO, and electric grids in Eastern Europe, the strikes grew ever more brazen. They culminated in the summer of 2017, when the malware known as NotPetya was unleashed, penetrating, disrupting, and paralyzing some of the world's largest businesses—from drug manufacturers to software developers to shipping companies. At the attack's epicenter in Ukraine, ATMs froze. The railway and postal systems shut down. Hospitals went dark.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thru the eyes of the Sandworm's hunters and prey
- By ndru1 on 11-12-19
By: Andy Greenberg
-
Pegasus
- How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy
- By: Laurent Richard, Sandrine Rigaud, Rachel Maddow
- Narrated by: Andrew Wehrlen, Rachel Maddow, Rachel Perry
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 247
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 224
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 223
Laurent Richard and Sandrine Rigaud's Pegasus: How a Spy in Our Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy is the story of the one of the most sophisticated and invasive surveillance weapons ever created, used by governments around the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible!
- By Silvershopper on 01-18-23
By: Laurent Richard, and others
-
Cult of the Dead Cow
- How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World
- By: Joseph Menn
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 957
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 808
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 807
Cult of the Dead Cow is the tale of the oldest, most respected, and most famous American hacking group of all time. Though until now it has remained mostly anonymous, its members invented the concept of hacktivism. Today, the group and its followers are battling electoral misinformation, making personal data safer, and battling to keep technology a force for good instead of for surveillance and oppression. Cult of the Dead Cow shows how governments, corporations, and criminals came to hold immense power over individuals and how we can fight back against them.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Liberal Bias Rife and Unchecked
- By Sam Kopp on 12-18-19
By: Joseph Menn
-
Countdown to Zero Day
- Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon
- By: Kim Zetter
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,370
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,063
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,059
The virus now known as Stuxnet was unlike any other piece of malware built before: Rather than simply hijacking targeted computers or stealing information from them, it proved that a piece of code could escape the digital realm and wreak actual, physical destruction—in this case, on an Iranian nuclear facility.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazingly detailed, sober and above all, damning
- By Greg on 11-22-14
By: Kim Zetter
-
We Are Anonymous
- Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency
- By: Parmy Olson
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,234
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,086
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,092
In late 2010, thousands of hacktivists joined a mass digital assault by Anonymous on the websites of VISA, MasterCard, and PayPal to protest their treatment of WikiLeaks. Splinter groups then infiltrated the networks of totalitarian governments in Libya and Tunisia, and an elite team of six people calling themselves LulzSec attacked the FBI, CIA, and Sony. They were flippant and taunting, grabbed headlines, and amassed more than a quarter of a million Twitter followers.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting book, AWFUL narration
- By Jen on 11-11-14
By: Parmy Olson
-
Tracers in the Dark
- The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency
- By: Andy Greenberg
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 832
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 723
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 722
Over the last decade, a single innovation has massively fueled digital black markets: cryptocurrency. Crime lords inhabiting lawless corners of the internet have operated more freely—whether in drug dealing, money laundering, or human trafficking—than their analog counterparts could have ever dreamed of. By transacting not in dollars or pounds but in currencies with anonymous ledgers, overseen by no government, beholden to no bankers, these black marketeers have sought to rob law enforcement of their chief method of cracking down on illicit finance: following the money.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Could not put this down
- By Mike Reaves on 01-28-23
By: Andy Greenberg
-
Sandworm
- A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers
- By: Andy Greenberg
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,199
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,828
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,824
In 2014, the world witnessed the start of a mysterious series of cyberattacks. Targeting American utility companies, NATO, and electric grids in Eastern Europe, the strikes grew ever more brazen. They culminated in the summer of 2017, when the malware known as NotPetya was unleashed, penetrating, disrupting, and paralyzing some of the world's largest businesses—from drug manufacturers to software developers to shipping companies. At the attack's epicenter in Ukraine, ATMs froze. The railway and postal systems shut down. Hospitals went dark.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thru the eyes of the Sandworm's hunters and prey
- By ndru1 on 11-12-19
By: Andy Greenberg
-
Pegasus
- How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy
- By: Laurent Richard, Sandrine Rigaud, Rachel Maddow
- Narrated by: Andrew Wehrlen, Rachel Maddow, Rachel Perry
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 247
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 224
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 223
Laurent Richard and Sandrine Rigaud's Pegasus: How a Spy in Our Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy is the story of the one of the most sophisticated and invasive surveillance weapons ever created, used by governments around the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible!
- By Silvershopper on 01-18-23
By: Laurent Richard, and others
-
Cult of the Dead Cow
- How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World
- By: Joseph Menn
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 957
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 808
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 807
Cult of the Dead Cow is the tale of the oldest, most respected, and most famous American hacking group of all time. Though until now it has remained mostly anonymous, its members invented the concept of hacktivism. Today, the group and its followers are battling electoral misinformation, making personal data safer, and battling to keep technology a force for good instead of for surveillance and oppression. Cult of the Dead Cow shows how governments, corporations, and criminals came to hold immense power over individuals and how we can fight back against them.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Liberal Bias Rife and Unchecked
- By Sam Kopp on 12-18-19
By: Joseph Menn
-
Countdown to Zero Day
- Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon
- By: Kim Zetter
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,370
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,063
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,059
The virus now known as Stuxnet was unlike any other piece of malware built before: Rather than simply hijacking targeted computers or stealing information from them, it proved that a piece of code could escape the digital realm and wreak actual, physical destruction—in this case, on an Iranian nuclear facility.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazingly detailed, sober and above all, damning
- By Greg on 11-22-14
By: Kim Zetter
-
Kingpin
- How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground
- By: Kevin Poulsen
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,856
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,653
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,652
The word spread through the hacking underground like some unstoppable new virus: Someone - some brilliant, audacious crook - had just staged a hostile takeover of an online criminal network that siphoned billions of dollars from the U.S. economy. The FBI rushed to launch an ambitious undercover operation aimed at tracking down this new kingpin. Other agencies around the world deployed dozens of moles and double agents.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This should be a movie
- By Hijenks on 05-19-15
By: Kevin Poulsen
-
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Steven Levy
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,962
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,737
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,733
Steven Levy's classic book traces the exploits of the computer revolution's original hackers - those brilliant and eccentric nerds from the late 1950s through the early '80s who took risks, bent the rules, and pushed the world in a radical new direction. With updated material from noteworthy hackers such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Stallman, and Steve Wozniak, Hackers is a fascinating story that begins in early computer research labs and leads to the first home computers.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Remember Why You Got Into Computing
- By Dan Collins on 07-01-16
By: Steven Levy
-
No Place to Hide
- Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State
- By: Glenn Greenwald
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,940
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,616
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,610
In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald set out for Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have astonishing evidence of pervasive government spying and insisted on communicating only through heavily encrypted channels. That source turned out to be the 29-year-old NSA contractor Edward Snowden, and his revelations about the agency’s widespread, systemic overreach proved to be some of the most explosive and consequential news in recent history, triggering a fierce debate over national security....
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Best Read in Print Format
- By Alfredo Ramirez on 11-22-14
By: Glenn Greenwald
-
A Spark of Light
- A Novel
- By: Jodi Picoult
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Jodi Picoult
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5,339
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,776
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4,763
The number-one New York Times best-selling author of Small Great Things returns with a powerful and provocative new novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart-stopping crisis. The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center - a women’s reproductive health services clinic. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage. After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter. Then he finds out that his 15-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 10-05-18
By: Jodi Picoult
-
Fancy Bear Goes Phishing
- The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks
- By: Scott J. Shapiro
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
It’s a signal paradox of our times that we live in an information society but do not know how it works. And without understanding how our information is stored, used, and protected, we are vulnerable to having it exploited. In Fancy Bear Goes Phishing, Scott J. Shapiro draws on his popular Yale University class about hacking to expose the secrets of the digital age. With lucidity and wit, he establishes that cybercrime has less to do with defective programming than with the faulty wiring of our psyches and society.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
I can't seem to like this book...
- By Ken Vanden branden on 07-23-23
By: Scott J. Shapiro
-
The Romanovs
- 1613-1918
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Simon Beale
- Length: 28 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,332
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,196
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,191
This is the intimate story of 20 tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Simon Sebag Montefiore's gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence, and wild extravagance, with a global cast of adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries, and poets, from Ivan the Terrible to Tolstoy and Pushkin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Scholarly but gripping
- By William on 06-16-16
-
Ghost in the Wires
- My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker
- By: Kevin Mitnick, William L. Simon
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,880
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,725
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,739
Kevin Mitnick was the most elusive computer break-in artist in history. He accessed computers and networks at the world’s biggest companies—and however fast the authorities were, Mitnick was faster, sprinting through phone switches, computer systems, and cellular networks. He spent years skipping through cyberspace, always three steps ahead and labeled unstoppable.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
For a smart guy, Mitnick was an idiot
- By Joshua on 09-17-14
By: Kevin Mitnick, and others
-
Spies, Lies, and Algorithms
- The History and Future of American Intelligence
- By: Amy B. Zegart
- Narrated by: Amy B. Zegart
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 240
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 240
In Spies, Lies, and Algorithms, Amy Zegart separates fact from fiction as she offers an engaging and enlightening account of the past, present, and future of American espionage as it faces a revolution driven by digital technology. Drawing on decades of research and hundreds of interviews with intelligence officials, Zegart provides a history of US espionage, gives an overview of intelligence basics and life inside America's intelligence agencies, and explores the vexed issues of traitors, covert action, and congressional oversight.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Superb and insightful!
- By Cameron on 02-01-22
By: Amy B. Zegart
-
The Cult of We
- WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion
- By: Eliot Brown, Maureen Farrell
- Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 925
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 775
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 771
WeWork would be worth $10 trillion, more than any other company in the world. It wasn’t just an office space provider. It was a tech company - an AI startup, even. Its WeGrow schools and WeLive residences would revolutionize education and housing. One day, mused founder Adam Neumann, a Middle East peace accord would be signed in a WeWork. The company might help colonize Mars. And Neumann would become the world’s first trillionaire.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible
- By Reeka on 08-02-21
By: Eliot Brown, and others
-
The Three-Body Problem
- By: Cixin Liu, Ken Liu - translator
- Narrated by: Rosalind Chao
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 702
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 634
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 634
Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Why Rosalamd Chao?
- By Erin on 02-29-24
By: Cixin Liu, and others
-
We Are All Targets
- How Renegade Hackers Invented Cyber War and Unleashed an Age of Global Chaos
- By: Matt Potter
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8
Two years before 9/11, the United States was attacked by an unknown enemy. No advance warning was given, and it didn't target civilians. Instead, tomahawk missiles started missing their targets, US agents were swept up by hostile governments, and America’s enemies seemed to know its every move in advance. A new phase of warfare—cyber war—had arrived. And within two decades it escaped Pandora's Box, plunging us into a state of total war where every day, countless cyber attacks perpetrated by states and mercenaries are reshaping the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Chilling
- By Mark Ingram on 02-06-25
By: Matt Potter
-
Cyber Wars
- Hacks That Shocked the Business World
- By: Charles Arthur
- Narrated by: Joe Jameson
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
Cyber Wars gives you the dramatic inside stories of some of the world's biggest cyber attacks. These are the game-changing hacks that make organisations around the world tremble and leaders stop and consider just how safe they really are. Charles Arthur provides a gripping account of why each hack happened, what techniques were used, what the consequences were and how they could have been prevented. Cyber attacks are some of the most frightening threats currently facing business leaders, and this book provides a deep insight into understanding how they work.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
For the security professional and average joe
- By Quella on 01-11-19
By: Charles Arthur
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 04-23-17
Informative and interesting
This book examines Anonymous through an anthropological lens. Fascinating and in-depth. Energetic narrator is easy to listen to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nathan
- 03-27-17
NPR meets 50 Shades "of Anonymous"
The narration spoiled it. The only thing missing were crunchy footsteps and acoustic guitar fillers.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tam Chronin
- 06-16-21
Pound? Hashtag? Hiring the wrong narrator?
The book is good. The narrator's voice is pleasant. This is NOT a good book for this narrator, though. Has she ever been on the internet? I'm having a hard time finishing this because she's completely clueless!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Christopher
- 02-07-17
Some old and new info on Anonymous
I got through half the book before I got new information on this subject. A lot of it has already been depicted in the movie (mentioned also in this book) "We are Legion". It was nice to have that reference to look back on when listening to the details of what transpired in the early days of Anonymous. I highly suggest that the prospective listener samples the audio performance before committing to this audiobook. The narrator has received a lot of bad reviews on her previous performances. I didn't mind her too much, but was ready for the novel to be over with. The author is sympathetic to the cause to a certain extent, so if you do not want to hear this group being accolated then steer away. This book though new on audible, is an older book. Otherwise it was very interesting. I'm glad I spent the credit but could see how others may not be too thrilled.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- nateallred
- 03-28-17
A worthwhile listen.
It is a good overview of Anonymous and hacker culture. It draws some interesting conclusions about the the topic, but at times gets bogged down in details of particular events and conversations that make the story drag.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shannon
- 08-16-23
Intriguing
I found this fascinating. The story filled in quite a few questions and blanks I had over the years. All the chapters packed in great information except for the writers own personal last chapter. Listen to the first 3-5 minutes of the last chapter and then it hits personal reflection.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- J. E. JORDAN
- 05-11-17
A Bit like Listening to a Police Scanner
Disclosure: I still had an hour or two to go, but I just can't... For most of the book, I've been trying to hold on for the good part. So in this review, I'm going to try to warn off others who might share my tastes, while leaving open the possibility that others may see things differently. Okay? Here goes...
First of all, the book is rife with things that I guess all fall under the rubric of cyber addresses. If I were reading, I'd breeze past them. In an audio book, they all have to be read aloud. Maybe these strings of numbers and symbols are meaningful to some people. To me it was like someone reading serial numbers off the back of discarded electronics.
Maybe there aren't as many as it seems (hundreds? maybe thousands?), but I felt like I was frequently checking out, waiting for the natural language to start again. The reader does a good job getting through them without much delay, but she's still got to read them and it takes time.
Then as a story I couldn't really care about these people and I did try. It's most definitely not Mr. Robot or the hacking subplot in House of Cards, which are probably totally unrealistic. What do I know?... except that they kept my attention.
We rarely find out what personally motivates these people we hear from, so it was really hard for me to identify with them, to love them or to despise them. (I do fear them. Many times in drafting this review, I've written and deleted confessions that I fear these people will come after me for having written any kind of honest review at all. I guess in the end I have to trust they really do value freedom of expression.) We learn that some are motivated by lols, and that the prankster is a recurrent mythical character, but why should these particular people be so motivated by mayhem? For another example, some of the hackers go ballistic when one of their group gives an interview and makes himself sound more important than he is... but WHY? Who cares? The world is full of blowhards. But what in these people's characters, experiences, histories makes this error so grievous? Is it the same motivation for each of them or are there idiosyncratic motivations? Unless I missed something, which is entirely possible, we never really learn that sort of thing. I'm not sure the author even knows.
Finally, there's a lot of rather tedious recounting of rudderless IR chats. It's the nature of leaderless organizations to be rudderless, I get it, but that doesn't make for interesting reading/listening ... not for me anyway.
Maybe the meaty anthropological analysis came right at the end, but for many hours it's like... well, in a lot of ways it's like listening to a police scanner. It's mostly just "stuff", especially if you aren't in-the-know already, and you hope something exciting will happen, but there's no guarantee.
I'm sure this book would appeal to some people, just like listening to a police scanner appeals to some people, but I just couldn't wait until I was liberated to go listen to something else.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- ~cw.
- 06-23-17
Captivating the whole time
Coleman is a fantastic story teller and an insightful scholar. I initially doubted some of her ideas about cultural cues, but ultimately had to agree with her assessment. Gilbert is a great narrator and I'll be searching out her other work as soon as I finish this review. Yup, she's that good.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Oliver Jackson
- 03-09-17
Great look into the world of anons
Well written, well spoken, and so far my favourite work on anonymous. the author put in the time to understand the topic and translate the lulz.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- S. Yates
- 10-26-17
Good, but sometimes lacks objectivity
3.5 stars.
Good book by an anthropologist who studied the collective Anonymous. She clearly spent years on her subject, and attempted to immerse herself to be able to explain their dynamics, structure (or lack thereof), myriad motivations, and societal impact. And as a window into the major doings of Anonymous, she largely succeeds in giving the reader that vantage point. However, she often seems to have lost some of the arms length objectivity that most scientists strive for, and her sympathies and amusement with her subject often taint the work product. Not quite as good as Parmy Olson's "We Are Anonymous" (which had a snappier writing style and felt more like investigative journalism), but a worthy entry into the cataloging of Anonymous.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful