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    The Last Firewall
    The Last Firewall
    The Last Firewall
    Ebook392 pages6 hours

    The Last Firewall

    By William Hertling

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    About this ebook

    In the year 2035, robots, artificial intelligences, and neural implants have become commonplace. The Institute for Ethics keeps the peace, using social reputation to ensure that robots and humans don't harm society or each other. But a powerful AI named Adam has found a way around the restrictions.

    Catherine Matthews, nineteen years old, has a unique gift: the ability to manipulate the net with her neural implant. Yanked out of her perfectly ordinary life, Catherine becomes the last firewall standing between Adam and his quest for world domination.

    PRAISE FOR THE LAST FIREWALL

    “Awesome near-term science fiction.” – Brad Feld, Foundry Group managing director

    “An insightful and adrenaline-inducing tale of what humanity could become and the machines we could spawn.” – Ben Huh, CEO of Cheezburger

    “A fun read and tantalizing study of the future of technology: both inviting and alarming.” – Harper Reed, former CTO of Obama for America, Threadless

    "A fascinating and prescient take on what the world will look like once computers become smarter than people. Highly recommended." – Mat Ellis, Founder & CEO Cloudability

    “A phenomenal ride through a post-scarcity world where humans are caught between rogue AIs. If you like having your mind blown, read this book!” – Gene Kim, author of The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWilliam Hertling
    Release dateNov 19, 2013
    ISBN9780984755783
    The Last Firewall
    Author

    William Hertling

    William E. Hertling is a digital native who grew up on the online chat and bulletin board systems of the mid 1980s, giving him twenty-five years experience participating in and creating online culture. A science fiction writer and digital strategist, he lives in Portland, Oregon.

    Read more from William Hertling

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    4/5

    52 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      In a world where A.I. do most of the jobs for us, humanity has degraded and mostly sits and watches videos/plays video games. Very few people do anything productive any more as there is no need to.There is an underlying hate towards the robots which do all the work, as people have lost their sense of purpose and the reason why they exits.Main character Kat saves a robot which is about to be killed by thugs, but in doing so kills the thugs, and ends up on the run from police.On the way, we realise Kat's implant (which allows her to interact with the internet) is very special, and she has much greater access than anyone else.On the way, she meets a variety of interesting characters, both human and A.I.Can she use this implant to defeat a malicious entity which is lurking in the shadows?The book is well written, and I would definitely be interested in reading other books in the series.
    • 5/5
      Fast paced sci-fi with an internet focus.
    • 3/5
      Fun read :)
    • 2/5
      An excellent read and very exciting. Not a genre I have read before but something I would be happy to read again.

    Book preview

    The Last Firewall - William Hertling

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