Book Review: Tech Tales

 

In this post, I am  reviewing the book "Tech Tales" which has been  published under # Blogchatter E Book Carnival 2021. Tech Tales is an E book written by Ms Jayanthi.K.Manikandan  that gives information in a nutshell about various security browsers, messengers, chat apps etc currently available and in use all over the world . Recently we had a situation in January 2021, when users of whats app had grave concerns over the company's new privacy policy. It was feared that with the acceptance of the new terms by users, what's app  would  share information about its users to Facebook. Privacy and safeguarding it has become a hot topic these days. Consequent to the announcement of the new privacy policy by what's app, users have been looking at alternative means of chatting. It is reported that over the first three weeks of January 2021, rival apps 'Telegram' and 'Signal' have gained 25 million and  7.5 million users respectively (globally)  at What's app's expense. 

The author discusses in the book the basic features and operation of both these apps apart from browsers like "Brave browser'  and search engine (DuckDuckgo) where the focus is on privacy. The book also provides information on the messenger 'Threema' which is also an open source app that gives due importance to security and does not collect user data. The features of the writing platform 'Medium' and the operating system 'Kali Linux' are all highlights of the book which has been written in a user friendly free flowing style. Readers also get information on the General data protection regulation(GDPR) which has been legislated and implemented in the European union. 

The other sites discussed in this interesting book include haveibeenpwned.com (tracking data breach), Netcraft.com (internet security services), Discord (communicating with those of  similar interests), club house (auto chat app) and a superior  security model called 'Zero trust security'. Finally some fun features under 'Top 3 google tricks' have also been included in the book which ends with a quiz that will tell how much of what you have read has been assimilated by you. I am happy to inform readers that I did pretty well on the quiz!  

It is to be confessed that when I first saw the title of the book "Tech tales", the first thought that came to mind was that this is for tech experts and not for a non technical novice like me ( HR). After reading it though, I had to agree that on the contrary, it is a book most essential to be read by the uninitiated to have basic knowledge of the developments in this field . It arms us to remain secure in the internet world  where personal privacy  is increasingly being threatened. I would not like to reveal more about the features of the apps and take away the thrill for you as reader. To my mind, the reader should read it first hand and reap the benefits. Written in a simple, matter of fact, non ambiguous style I am sure the readers would love the book as I did. 

You can download the book for free  here 

Happy reading. I also participated in the # Blogchatter Carnival 2021.