First published in hardcover by Viking Penguin, 2014, with the title: Virtual unreality : just because the Internet told you, how do you know it's true? --verso. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Catching the stupid bug -- Appeal to authority -- An army of one -- Telling fake people from real -- The loneliness of the interconnected -- Copy, right? -- Scarcity -- All hat, no cattle -- White noise and the red queen -- Artificial unintelligence -- Make money fast -- Companies: private, public, and shady -- This is your brain... -- Living in the raw.
Summary:
"In Virtual Unreality, mathematician, science reporter, and journalist watchdog Charles Seife takes us deep into the information jungle and cuts a path through the trickery, fakery, and cyber skullduggery that the Internet enables. Providing a much-needed toolkit to help separate fact from fiction, Seife addresses the problems that face us every time we turn on our computers and Google our most recent medical symptoms, read a politician's tweet, fact-check something on Wikipedia, or start an online relationship" -- provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.