Control + Alt + Delete: A Dictionary of Cyberslang - Softcover

"Not since Dr. Johnson explained the English language to the people ofhis time has there been a lexicon so witty, deep and indispensable. For any citizen of either the analog or digital space who wishes to live in this century instead of the last, this is required reading." --Stanley Bing, author and columnist for" Fortune" magazine Though handy and attractively designed, Jonathon Keats' "Control + Alt + Delete: A Dictionary of Cyberslang" is notable mostly for its refreshing, techno-skeptic tone, which ranges from wry to sour. Consider his judgment on hard drives and RAM ("random access memory"): "[F]or truly long-term storage of detailed information (such as the instructions in the Egyptian "Book of the Dead") papyrus outperforms both." And Mr. Keats can scarcely conceal his contempt for the "digerati" who proclaim the wonders of the digital age: "They have advanced the idea, scarcely challenged today, that the ills of society are essentially technical problems, to be solv

The Twentieth Century revolution in technology has also sparked a revolution in language, with new words being created and accepted into mainstream at unprecedented rates. "Control+Alt+Delete" is a handy reference for anyone who doesn't know what blook, chiptune, or silvercast mean. Featuring 250 terms, this unique volume covers all the basics, such as blogs and wikis, as well as more advanced terminology. BUG - According to legend, the first "bug" to cause system malfunction was actually a moth in a computer at Harvard shortly after World War II. WEBLOGISTAN - A segment of the blogsphere maintained by Iranian activists as a parallel universe to their country's oppressive political landscape.