http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcSxL8GUn-g

Funny, I could have made almost the exact same comment about “Mainspring” which was recommended some time back. Definitely should have waited for the paperback in that instance.

And just so I’m not all negativity, many thanks to BoingBoing for introducing me to Karl Schroeder. Now that’s the crazy hi-lo, worlds-within-worlds SF that I can dig.

As other reviews of the book have pointed out, it’s actually a weird experience to read a book like this written by someone who actually knows the technology he is writing about.

While the plot and gadgets taken as a whole might be a stretch, there really isn’t any one thing described in the book that isn’t available off-the-shelf (or maybe off the shelf within a year or so) or via a little hacking given the resources in the book. Pretty much a whole book that never calls for a sarcastic, “Yeah, riiiiight” comment.

That said, while I find the book’s concept interesting, I’m thoroughly underwhelmed by the writing. It’s rife with run-of-the-mill pot-boiler cliches and melodramatic prose. Not that there’s anything wrong with a pot-boiler! But I expected something a little better from a novel that came highly recommended by the good people at both boingboing and slashdot.

And as for stolen credit card numbers, yeah, it’s bad. However, how about some more laws and regulations on what and how long data can be stored and what minimal requirements are imposed on the infrastructure? Seems like that would be the obvious first step.
What about the method of payment itself? I mean, the system is *based* on the pull-model with little or no actual verification needed, so anyone can charge the card if the number is known. That’s like walking into a bank saying you’re someone else and emptying their accounts without having to prove you identity. Whose brainfart was that?
The proper way of doing online payments would be to start with a simple wire transfer made in your own online bank. The identities of the participants in the transaction are known by the banking system so devising ways, protocols, for withdrawing payment etc. shouldn’t be that difficult to create and implement in the international banking community. But no, instead we pay extra for the privilege of using a system that is flawed at its very core.