Steven Levy

From the author who made "hacker" a household word comes a groundbreaking book about the most hotly debated subject of the digital age. "Crypto" concerns privacy in the information age and about the nerds and visionaries who, nearly 20 years ago, predicted that the Internet's greatest virtue--free access to information--was also its most perilous drawback: a possible end to privacy.

"Welcome to Mac" – with those words, a new era was born. From the moment the public met Macintosh – introduced by an apocalyptic commercial that had a nation rubbing its eyes in astonishment – it was clear that there had never been anything like it. Its creators had been commanded to devise a personal computer that was not just good, not just great, but "insanely great" – so great that it would change the world. And it did. Macintosh won over a fanatic cult audience with its friendly interface, its attention to aesthetic detail, and what could only be called its quirky personality. It invaded not only people's offices and homes, but their minds as well. The Mac also catapulted the computer industry into an unprecedented mix of technics, economics, and show biz. Eventually, the essence of Macintosh found its way to nearly all computers, and has fundamentally changed the way we deal with information. Like the Model T or the Apollo mission, Macintosh thrust America into a new millennium. Now, on the Mac's tenth anniversary, Insanely Great tells the exciting story of the machine that became a kind of Manhattan Project in a box. Veteran technology writer and Macworld columnist Steven Levy zooms in on the machine – the product of the collective will of its sometimes maniacal creators and its dedicated users – as well as the fortunes of the unique company responsible for the Mac's evolution. Levy looks beneath the surface of our stormy romance with silicon and software, at how the Mac proved to be a harbinger of our changing relationship with technology. And he tells how he – a self-described proto-Luddite – became a convert, seduced by a machine and its vision. Full of insider anecdotes, peppered with Levy's sharp commentary – and created entirely on the machine it celebrates – Insanely Great is the definitive book on the most important computer ever made. It is a must-have for Mac users, as well as for anyone curious about how we've arrived at the portal of the interactive era.

The harrowing tale of Ira Einhorn, who was Philadelphia’s leading 60′s hippie and 70′s New Age activist — supposedly a beacon for pacifism and good feelings. This all changed in 1979, when a search of his apartment for evidence related to the disappearance of his girlfriend 18 months earlier yielded her body, mumified in a trunk in his closet. Einhorn claimed frameup, and the powerful friends he had charmed over the years, politicians, scientists, businesspeople, and thinkers supported him. His lawyer Arlen Spector (now Senator Spector) won him a low bail. But before his trial, in 1981, he fled.

Written with full cooperation from top management, including cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, this is the inside story behind Google, the most successful and most admired technology company of our time, told by one of our best technology writers. Few companies in history have ever been as successful and as admired as Google, the company that has transformed the Internet and become an indispensable part of our lives. How has Google done it? Veteran technology reporter Steven Levy was granted unprecedented access to the company, and in this revelatory book he takes readers inside Google headquarters—the Googleplex—to show how Google works. While they were still students at Stanford, Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin revolutionized Internet search. They followed this brilliant innovation with another, as two of Google’s earliest employees found a way to do what no one else had: make billions of dollars from Internet advertising. With this cash cow, Google was able to expand dramatically and take on other transformative projects: more efficient data centers, open-source cell phones, free Internet video (YouTube), cloud computing, digitizing books, and much more. The key to Google’s success in all these businesses, Levy reveals, is its engineering mind-set and adoption of such Internet values as speed, openness, experimentation, and risk taking. After its unapologetically elitist approach to hiring, Google pampers its engineers—free food and dry cleaning, on-site doctors and masseuses—and gives them all the resources they need to succeed. Even today, with a workforce of more than 23,000, Larry Page signs off on every hire. But has Google lost its innovative edge? With its newest initiative, social networking, Google is chasing a successful competitor for the first time. Some employees are leaving the company for smaller, nimbler start-ups. Can the company that famously decided not to be evil still compete? No other book has ever turned Google inside out as Levy does with In the Plex.

This title examines the remarkable lives of Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes and their work building the social networking site Facebook. Readers will learn about each founder?s background and education, as well as his early career. Also covered is a look at how Facebook operates, issues the company faces, its successes, and its impact on society. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.

Forty-six-year-old book editor Elisha Reid has focused entirely on her career in publishing until the sudden death of her brother from pancreatic cancer leaves her with two nieces to care for. As she learns about the demands of motherhood and balancing with work, she also unexpectedly forms a romantic attachment with her most difficult author, Ryan Sutherland, a Tom Clancy type, who has his own demons to face. Can an old dog learn new tricks? Can this professional woman learn to deal with this unexpected tragedy and create a new life for herself and her nieces?