Author Archives

• Review of Kitty Hundal’s From the Shadows: Book 1 of Persecution Games

  By Ani on August 3, 2015 • ( 4 )

  

  In Canada, we like to think that our police and spy agencies are fairly well controlled and act within the law. But the recent revelations from whistleblowers, as well as Bill C-51, have shown us that some of our agencies… Read More ›

• The Future Is Scary and Islamophobic: Fearful Master by Arthur Lawrence

  By Ani on June 8, 2015 • ( 3 )

  

  If things keep going as they are, I fear that the author of this week’s book, Fearful Master, is right in predicting a world where simply being Muslim is grounds to imprison you and strip you of your American citizenship. There… Read More ›

• When Google Met Wikileaks: A New Philosophy For Our Times

  By Ani on June 1, 2015 • ( 2 )

  

  In the time of the Greeks, philosophy was developed through conversation. Socrates went around Athens talking with people and making them think about their life, their values and their actions. The art of philosophy by dialogue has not been lost… Read More ›

• Beware The Invisible Acrobat Midgets: Chameleo Is Weird, In A Good Way

  By Ani on May 11, 2015 • ( 3 )

  

  Sometimes my work as a book reviewer has me read things I wouldn’t necessarily pick out from a bookstore shelf. Take Chameleo: A Strange But True Story of Invisible Spies, Heroin Addiction, And Homeland Security for example. The title is curious,… Read More ›

• A Compelling Adventure: Robert Young Pelton’s Raven

  By Ani on May 4, 2015 • ( 1 )

  

  Raven, the first novel by international correspondent and travel/war/human catastrophe author Robert Young Pelton, is available exclusively from the author’s site as a downloadable ebook. Not knowing Robert Young Pelton as an author, I had no specific expectations around his… Read More ›

• The Essential Guide To Digital Life: Bruce Schneier’s Data And Goliath

  By Ani on March 30, 2015 • ( 2 )

  

  If you’d asked me a year ago, “do you worry about government surveillance?”, I would have said no. But today, my answer would be an empathic YES. The scary part is that, like most Canadians, I hadn’t worried about that… Read More ›

• Spam Is A Numbers Game: Brian Krebs on Unsolicited Email

  By Ani on March 9, 2015 • ( 1 )

  

  Spam: once a gross meat-like substance sold in tins that could probably survive a nuclear apocalypse. Now, it’s the stuff that clogs your inbox: penis pills and health insurance and lottery winnings and nursing degrees and whatever else spammers think… Read More ›

• Two Short Reads: A Feminist Review of the ISIS Female Recruitment Manual; and The Parade With The Drums from Anonymous Publications

  By Ani on March 2, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  This week, we’re going to look at two short but very different reads. The first one under discussion is a new Islamic State recruitment manifesto, translated in late February by the Quillam Foundation. This manifesto is aimed at Arabic women… Read More ›

• Is Infocommunism A Real Danger? The Circle by Dave Eggers

  By Ani on February 23, 2015 • ( 4 )

  

    Does the amount of things that Google knows about you scare you? In my last review, I discussed Angwin’s Dragnet Nation. This week, I’m reviewing a fictional representation of this idea pushed to its extreme: a network so all… Read More ›

• Privacy On The Web 101: Julia Angwin’s Dragnet Nation

  By Ani on February 9, 2015 • ( 6 )

  

  If you’re a newcomer to issues of privacy and security on the web, Julia Angwin’s 2014 Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance is a good place to start. In accessible language and a… Read More ›

• Review: The Martian, a Sci-Fi Novel Proving Duct Tape Really CAN Do Everything

  By Ani on February 2, 2015 • ( 1 )

  

  Previously published on Writing In My Head on December 29, 2014. You’re on a mission to Mars, and all your crewmates have left the planet, leaving you behind, because they think you’re dead. This is the premise of The Martian, probably one… Read More ›

• Canadian Resistance In The West: Chester Brown’s Louis Riel

  By Ani on January 26, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  This is the first review from our new Books Editor, Anabelle Bernard Fournier. Welcome our newest Cryptospherian, a freelance writer who hails from Victoria, British Columbia. Even though we think of ourselves as a relatively peaceful nation, there’s a lot… Read More ›