4 ms·

What Is EFF Reading? Books, Movies, and TV Shows of 2015

53 points by Garbage 11y ago

scrollaway 11y ago
Would like to add to the list Person of Interest, a show I discovered earlier this year. Started pre-Snowden, it's a series about a world where the NSA has a "machine" with absolute access to all networked devices, all data, etc - and they built an AI that can process all the data and successfully warn about crime. In other words, it's about a world where crime prevention through unlimited data analysis is possible. It started off as what I thought would be another cheesy "criminal of the week" procedural... quickly jumped in quality from there. There's really good commentary on the morals and ethics of mass surveillance, the technical scenes are believable (Mr. Robot quality), and the series beautifully transitions into the science fiction genre in the later seasons in a way I've never seen on TV before.
- JustSomeNobody 11y ago
  I watched the first couple seasons and it really is a good show. I have been wanting to get caught up, but no time lately.
- Cyph0n 11y ago
  I keep hearing that it has improved, but I still can't believe that after I watched about half of the first season when it released. I guess your comment is the last straw :D
  - scrollaway 11y ago
    The first season is definitely the worst of the lot, that's always annoying. Like I said, the first impressions are very "generic monster-of-the-week procedural". The season 1 finale is one amazing piece of work, though, and it only gets better from there.
- e40 11y ago
  I loved the early episodes of PoI. I bailed on it last season, though. The writing had gotten much worse and it was getting repetitive and stale.
  - scrollaway 11y ago
    Yeah Sarah Shahi's pregnancy took its toll on the last season, unfortunately. But there are some excellent episodes in it too. "If Then Else" was one of the best ones in the series.
Cyph0n 11y ago
Many of the books look interesting, but there are simply too many given my backlog. Anyone have an idea of 2 or 3 books that are must-read material from the list?
- r3bl 11y ago
  Well, I have only read one of them, which is You're Never Weird on The Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day, but I highly recommend it. It's pretty light to read and loads of fun. You can probably read it in a day or two. There is one chapter (second to last IIRC) about the Gamergate controversy that, although I liked it, felt really out of the place with the rest of the book, but I guess it had to be said. The rest of the book was fantastic. I'm currently reading the second book mentioned in this list (Pwning Tomorrow) and I have to say that I don't like it so far. I've only read the first couple of stories so far, but they weren't anything special. I hope the book will improve later on.
e40 11y ago
Robert Charles Wilson is one of my favorite authors. He has some of the most amazing plot lines I've ever seen in SciFi. The guy is a font of amazing ideas. Reading the reviews on The Affinities (the recommended book on the EFF page), makes it seem like it's not like his other novels. The Spin series is excellent. I can recommend A Bridge of Years, Blind Lake and The Chronoliths.
walterbell 11y ago
See also the 1995 US TV series "Nowhere Man", https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowhere_Man_(TV_series) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowhere_Man_(TV_series). The single season show is online at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6fJmjt84zZjDCMUCDmvEnUKDwbWUr4JC https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6fJmjt84zZjDCMUCDmvEnUKD.... Nowhere Man was influenced by the 1960's UK TV series, "The Prisoner", https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner, online for US viewers at http://www.crackle.com/the-prisoner/ http://www.crackle.com/the-prisoner/. "Nowhere Man is the story of photojournalist Thomas Veil, who discovers that his life has been abruptly "erased": his friends claim not to know him, his wife claims not to recognize him and is living with another man. His ATM cards and credit cards no longer work. His best friend turns up dead. His mother, recovering from a stroke, is incapable of confirming his existence. In the course of a single evening, every trace of Tom's identity is gone."

53 points by Garbage 11y ago

Would like to add to the list Person of Interest, a show I discovered earlier this year. Started pre-Snowden, it's a series about a world where the NSA has a "machine" with absolute access to all networked devices, all data, etc - and they built an AI that can process all the data and successfully warn about crime. In other words, it's about a world where crime prevention through unlimited data analysis is possible. It started off as what I thought would be another cheesy "criminal of the week" procedural... quickly jumped in quality from there. There's really good commentary on the morals and ethics of mass surveillance, the technical scenes are believable (Mr. Robot quality), and the series beautifully transitions into the science fiction genre in the later seasons in a way I've never seen on TV before.

JustSomeNobody 11y ago
I watched the first couple seasons and it really is a good show. I have been wanting to get caught up, but no time lately.
Cyph0n 11y ago
I keep hearing that it has improved, but I still can't believe that after I watched about half of the first season when it released. I guess your comment is the last straw :D
- scrollaway 11y ago
  The first season is definitely the worst of the lot, that's always annoying. Like I said, the first impressions are very "generic monster-of-the-week procedural". The season 1 finale is one amazing piece of work, though, and it only gets better from there.
e40 11y ago
I loved the early episodes of PoI. I bailed on it last season, though. The writing had gotten much worse and it was getting repetitive and stale.
- scrollaway 11y ago
  Yeah Sarah Shahi's pregnancy took its toll on the last season, unfortunately. But there are some excellent episodes in it too. "If Then Else" was one of the best ones in the series.

Cyph0n 11y ago

Many of the books look interesting, but there are simply too many given my backlog. Anyone have an idea of 2 or 3 books that are must-read material from the list?

r3bl 11y ago
Well, I have only read one of them, which is You're Never Weird on The Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day, but I highly recommend it. It's pretty light to read and loads of fun. You can probably read it in a day or two. There is one chapter (second to last IIRC) about the Gamergate controversy that, although I liked it, felt really out of the place with the rest of the book, but I guess it had to be said. The rest of the book was fantastic. I'm currently reading the second book mentioned in this list (Pwning Tomorrow) and I have to say that I don't like it so far. I've only read the first couple of stories so far, but they weren't anything special. I hope the book will improve later on.

e40 11y ago

Robert Charles Wilson is one of my favorite authors. He has some of the most amazing plot lines I've ever seen in SciFi. The guy is a font of amazing ideas. Reading the reviews on The Affinities (the recommended book on the EFF page), makes it seem like it's not like his other novels. The Spin series is excellent. I can recommend A Bridge of Years, Blind Lake and The Chronoliths.

walterbell 11y ago

See also the 1995 US TV series "Nowhere Man", https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowhere_Man_(TV_series) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowhere_Man_(TV_series). The single season show is online at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6fJmjt84zZjDCMUCDmvEnUKDwbWUr4JC https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6fJmjt84zZjDCMUCDmvEnUKD.... Nowhere Man was influenced by the 1960's UK TV series, "The Prisoner", https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner, online for US viewers at http://www.crackle.com/the-prisoner/ http://www.crackle.com/the-prisoner/. "Nowhere Man is the story of photojournalist Thomas Veil, who discovers that his life has been abruptly "erased": his friends claim not to know him, his wife claims not to recognize him and is living with another man. His ATM cards and credit cards no longer work. His best friend turns up dead. His mother, recovering from a stroke, is incapable of confirming his existence. In the course of a single evening, every trace of Tom's identity is gone."