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Reviews
A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend them Back by Bruce Schneier
brewdy_reader's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ-๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ โข ๐๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ โข ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค๐ด โข ๐๐ด๐บ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐บ โข ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ด
Iโll start by saying this is not what I thought it would be about. This is not a Robin Hood story about how the computer geeks stick it to the man; rather, this is a much broader discussion of how corporations and wealthy individuals systemically manipulate and circumvent rules/laws/contracts for personal gain.
Many of these loopholes become normalized & accepted, which ultimately further stratifies wealth and power dynamics. Whatโs the diff between cheating the system and taking advantage of a flaw.
Although dry, the chapters are very short, making the book more accessible to those amongst us who are challenged by non-fiction attention deficit challenges.
I found some chapters fascinating and others dry & textbook-like, but the subjects are diverse: hedge fund tactics (high frequency trading), cognitive hacks used by ads and social media to trick our brains, casino and ATM hacks, adversarial AI, and even airline and travel hacking. I geeked out ๐ค. I'd recommend it if you appreciate academic style non-fiction with each chapter formatted as a brief case-study into a specific subtopic.
Iโll start by saying this is not what I thought it would be about. This is not a Robin Hood story about how the computer geeks stick it to the man; rather, this is a much broader discussion of how corporations and wealthy individuals systemically manipulate and circumvent rules/laws/contracts for personal gain.
Many of these loopholes become normalized & accepted, which ultimately further stratifies wealth and power dynamics. Whatโs the diff between cheating the system and taking advantage of a flaw.
Although dry, the chapters are very short, making the book more accessible to those amongst us who are challenged by non-fiction attention deficit challenges.
I found some chapters fascinating and others dry & textbook-like, but the subjects are diverse: hedge fund tactics (high frequency trading), cognitive hacks used by ads and social media to trick our brains, casino and ATM hacks, adversarial AI, and even airline and travel hacking. I geeked out ๐ค. I'd recommend it if you appreciate academic style non-fiction with each chapter formatted as a brief case-study into a specific subtopic.
journeytothenewworlds07's review
4.0
Want to wash your dirty money? Just buy a hundred-million-dollar property in London, and borrow against it. Want to understand how AI learned to beat the classic game Pong, or how it beat a human in a game of 1-on-1 soccer? This book explores how the most intelligent, crafty, and corrupt among us look at things not as barriers, but as opportunities for "hacks".
Cheating is not hacking, and neither is breaking the law. This book explains the difference.
Cheating is not hacking, and neither is breaking the law. This book explains the difference.
randomly's review
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
For anyone who follows current events, most of this book will not be news. The section on hacking AI (and how AI is hacking us) was the most interesting part, well worth a skim or library borrow.
For a more in-depth look at hacking, I'd recommend the author's thoughtful and substantive blog, Schneier on Security.
For a more in-depth look at hacking, I'd recommend the author's thoughtful and substantive blog, Schneier on Security.