|
In Flux
by Richard and Tim Seltzer
118 pages
|
"In Flux" is a personal account that strives to understand how technology is changing our lives. It puts AI into context and suggests how we can nudge the future this way or that.
|
|
|
|
|
Ebook
|
$2.99
|
Download Ebook instantly!
(PDF, ePub, and Kindle)
|
|
|
Paperback
|
$15.95
|
+ $8.59 shipping & handling (USA)
(add $2.20 S&H
per additional copy)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Category: Autobiography:Business
|
(requires Adobe Reader)
|
|
About the Book
|
In Flux is a hybrid work—part memoir, part speculative essay—that chronicles Richard Seltzer’s personal journey through the early days of the internet, especially his time at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and his experience promoting AltaVista, the pioneering search engine. Co-authored with his son Tim Seltzer, the book traces technological change across decades, connecting personal anecdotes to broader cultural, economic, and ethical shifts.
The book is structured in three major parts:
1. DEC, the Web, and AltaVista – An insider’s retrospective on how the early internet was shaped by open access, technological idealism, and the cultural environment of DEC. Seltzer recounts his involvement in internet evangelism and the design philosophy of AltaVista, emphasizing principles like equality of access, textual search indexing, and decentralized community-building.
2. Empowerment and Bias – A reflective section that blends sociopolitical commentary and personal narrative. It critiques the unintended consequences of early internet optimism, maps out the tensions between grassroots empowerment and emergent monopolies, and questions how individual actions shape or distort history.
3. Ebooks, Copyright, and AI – A forward-looking and sometimes cautionary exploration of digital publishing, intellectual property, and the rising influence of AI. It offers critiques of corporate control over content and user data, proposing more equitable and decentralized alternatives.
Throughout, the book weaves themes of idealism, disillusionment, and cautious hope, arguing that technological shifts present both opportunity and risk, and that ordinary people can nudge the future this way or that.
|
|
Related Titles
|
-
Grandad Jokes: 3000 Jokes on Trump and Other Nonsense
by
Richard Seltzer
Jokes for every taste and mood. An antidote to social distancing, political chaos, environmental crisis, and war. Laughs to help you get back to feeling normal.
-
The Lizard of Oz and Other Stories
by
Richard Seltzer
Satiric, child-like fantasy. When an elementary class sets out on a quest to save the world from disenchantment, their adventures reveal paradoxes of the human mind and ways of awakening the magic within us.
-
Why Knot: A Personal Quest
by
Richard Seltzer
132 short essays -- "some fun, some profound". Intriguing observations based on common sense logic. Ideas that could change your life or the world.
-
We All Are Shakespeare
by
Richard Seltzer
Shakespeare literally comes alive. Liam knows Shakespeare. All of Shakespeare. Every word of every play. No one knows how or why. But tell him a line, and he'll go into a trance and perform the whole play brilliantly.
-
We First Met in Ithaca, or Was It Eden?
by
Richard Seltzer
Elle and Oz, strangers ready to start new lives, meet by chance and swap stories in an abandoned house. They realize the stories are coming to them from an unknown source and discover connections with one another in previous lives.
-
Trojan Tales
by
Richard Seltzer
Dive into the world of the Trojan War as lived by Helen. Paris, and Menelaus; Polyxena and Achilles; Ktimene (Odysseus' sister) and Eumaeus the swineherd. What should they do? Do they have a choice?
-
Meter Maid Marion, How to Tutor a Ghost, The Third Tortoise
by
Richard Seltzer
Twenty-four stories plus self-contained excerpts from nine novels, ranging from romance to mind-twisting fantasy to realism, to history. Some include elements of all of those.
-
Let the Women Have Their Say: a Trojan Novel
by
Richard Seltzer
The women of Troy find ways to shape their own destinies in a world dominated by men. Their motivations and resourcefulness will surprise you. See Cassandra, Helen, Clytemnestra, Iphigenia, Polyxena, and Andromache as they have their say.
-
The Bulatovich Saga: The Name of Hero
by
Richard Seltzer
First of a trilogy of historical novels based on the life of Alexander Bulatovich, a Ukrainian/Russian explorer in Ethiopia, a cavalry officer during Russia's conquest of Manchuria, and later a monk at Mount Athos and a religious leader.
-
One Family
by
Richard Seltzer
Tangled threads of association connect history, genealogy, literature, and personal memories.
|
| About the Author |
 |
Richard is the author of two dozen books. He has been editor, novelist, Russian translator, part-time spy, Internet evangelist, and ebook entrepreneur. He has published children's fantasies, historical novels, and pioneering books about how to do business on the Internet. |
|
