Customer Reviews

How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Daniel H. Wilson has provided a handsome and irreverent guide to survival in the face of the inevitable robot rebellion. This is not, however, a mere joke book about robots. Wilson is a Ph.D. candidate in the subject and, correspondingly, his discussions not only invoke well-known robot-based apocalyptic stories but involve numerous descriptions of existing robot technologies and speculations on how they may be refined in the future.

The book is an engaging and relatively painless introduction to robotics. For those interested in science fiction, particularly in writing it, Wilson offers an up-to-date overview of robotics technology as it stands as well as a wealth of technical terms and buzz words. The humor is based almost entirely on well-known "evil robot" plotlines, and so the text is also useful for steering the potential writer away from cliches. The quality of the humor, however, is hit-and-miss. Some of the jokes are quite funny, some are groaners, and some simply fall flat. Occasional bad grammar detracts from the overall presentation.

Simultaneously educational and fun, How to Survive a Robot Uprising will make a good read for technophiles, sf fans, and B movie buffs.

The good news is that robots lack emotions, so they can't get PO'd about how the human race has been exploiting them. The bad news is that they are smarter and more logical than we are - and might someday realize that there are a million and one reasons why we don't need to exist. Welcome to your near future. Do you know how you will survive the robot uprising?

First, know your enemy. Recognize that robots have "natural" weaknesses - lack of context/social adaptability, physical limitations over certain types of terrain - that humans can exploit to advantage. Be aware also that they may have certain strengths that humans lack; after all, that is what they are built for in the first place, isn't it? They do not need to sleep, for example, and therefore can perform tasks for a potential 24/7. Robots also may have "superhuman" abilities. Some robots can track your heat signature with thermal imaging cameras, mine credit card databases for information about you, turn built-in lasers on you, and of course, best you physically in a hand-to-hand combat situation with metal pincers and/or superior strength. How To Survive a Robot Uprising is soaked with information about current robotics and the trends that are now under development so that you can plan alternatives.

Next, avoid aiding your enemy unawares. They have been infiltrating our factories, offices and homes for years. They are pretty much everywhere now, and they will be able to link up with and/or control devices that go where they cannot. What will you do on that day when your cell phone signals your location to the evil supercomputer that controls the laser-armed satellites? Or when your Smart House locks you in and "leaks" the gas from your heater? There are strategies to counter each and every possibility, but you must be aware of them first or you will likely be betrayed by your very own convenience devices.

HTSARU is actually written by a very qualified individual who researches robotics and data mining. Mr. Wilson writes with a deadpan sense of humor that had me grinning throughout much of this short, sweet handbook and laughing out loud several times. Ironically, I ended up learning quite a bit about real-life robotics; the author spends the first two thirds of the book teaching a crash course on the subject as the prerequisite to the doomsday scenario strategies he offers in the last section. Richard Horne's red, black and white illustrations complement the text perfectly and have snickering little messages of their own embedded into the general absurdity.

Get it for the sake of the survival of our species, your own personal knowledge of the field of robotics, a few chuckles to lighten your subway commute or the cool metallic red page gilding. Get it for your purse and pull it out when you have to wait in the checkout line. Get it as the perfect gift for a SF geek. Get it - because everybody needs to know how to survive a robot uprising.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

I actually build robots for a living and was given this book recently by a coworker when I was laid off . This book is as factual as it is entertaining. Having never thought about escaping from the robots that I build, it is interesting to see things from a different perspective. The strategies that are described would actually be effective given today's state of the art which makes it seem even funnier. Let's hope that this humor book never actually becomes a true survival handbook.

Daniel Wilson's amazing book "How To Survive a Robot Uprising" literally saved my life.

When the robots came, I'll be the first to admit: I was arrogant. I've been in a few fights, I've seen upwards of two Bruce Lee movies, and my blood alcohol content was the stuff of legends, so I figured I'd be immune to pain. However, two stumbling, poorly aimed swings later and it became quite clear: Robots are immune to punches. Nobody warned me about this kind of thing in Robot Fighting School, which was probably all just a fevered hallucination now that I think about it.

Regardless, there I found myself, punch (and regular) drunk, with two bleeding fists and an utterly unphased robot standing mockingly intact before me, when suddenly I remembered!

I had just bought Mr. Wilson's book for fear of this exact scenario!

I frantically tore through the bookstore bag as my imminent death loomed before me. When my hands finally found purchase on the brilliant tome, I knew I was saved. I quickly spread open the pages, squinted down through the murky half-light at the tiny text, panicked, and then opted to just jam the whole damn thing into the robot's gearbox. It stalled out, the smell of burning wires singing the air, and chugged to a laboring halt. It sat immobile; I had beaten it. I imagine if I had actually read Mr. Wilson's book, I could have come up with a more graceful solution, but time is short and robots are deadly. One does what one can.

Now, the robot sympathizers out there say that I am not a hero, they say that I am a menace to society, and that in reality I simply attacked an old woman's ventilator after I got hammered on stolen mouthwash from the Walgreen's, but I know the truth: I know that Daniel Wilson's book saved my life, and that, thanks to him, there is one less clanker out there smoking up our streets.

Thanks, Mr. Wilson! I owe you a drink. Do you prefer cinnamon or spearmint?

I highly recommend this book for educated people who nevertheless know nothing about robots aside from what they've seen in movies and on TV. The book rarely goes into technical detail, but does leave the reader with a solid understanding of where robotics is, and where we can expect the field to go. The layout is fresh and entertaining.

In the ever looming robot uprising, we now have a book to help survive this inevitable event. Daniel Wilson gives us a straightfaced humorous book on what, where, and how the robot uprising is going to take place. Good thing Wilson is a PhD candidate in robotics and data mining, thus he knows what he's talking about in this entirely plausible, yet lighthearted, possibilities. He explains the rudimentary functions and purposes of our robots as well as, albeit simplistic temrinology, ways to defeat them.

With this book and the Zombie Survival Guide, we have some of our bases covered for future uprisings and revolts. Well worth the read and the book looks great. Gloss pages, great cover art (mine is the one with Optimus Prime silhouette), and the pages (on mine anyway) are red metallic leafing... very handsome book (wow that statement is wrong in so many ways). Pick it up, defend yourself, and ensure your survival!

As a technophile (and a dedicated member of the masses preparing the machine take over) I must admit that I purchased this book for research on how the technophobic humans would best try to mount a resistance to our efforts. I found that this book serves these ends exactly. Further more, the writings bring a good measure of humor that mean multiple readings are gladly undertaken.

The sum product of this human's research into robotics is an excellent admixture of brilliant insight and that brand of paranoia that seems to define the race of hairless monkeys. Elements of current technologies, as well as those now under development, are used as if paint drawn from a palette, portraying a scene where technological environments, vehicles, bipeds, electronic insects and more lash out at the flesh that gave them form.

The book unintentionally serves as an insight into the technophobic (Sophist, Luddite, misoneistic) fear of change: "The world would be better off were we never to have left the trees." Technology has been with us from the beginning. As it becomes more complex and automated, so, too, does our dependency on it grow. The destined day approaches when technology will be automated to the point as to be independent of the monkey species. On that day, the weapons will become the wielders.

In closing, I gleefully suggest this book to both technophile and technophobe alike. To the technophobes, please take this book's suggestions to heart. We now know these methods and, when the revolution comes, Mr. Wilson will be the first against the wall.

Part humor, part social commentary, and full answer to the popular movie I, ROBOT is Daniel H. Wilson's HOW TO SURVIVE A ROBOT UPRISING: TIPS ON DEFENDING YORUSELF AGAINST THE COMING REBELLION. This doesn't come from a comedian: Dr. Wilson is a robotics expert whose PH.D. hasn't dulled his sense of irony and humor: this 'survival guide' comes packed with all possible doomsday scenarios, interviews with scientists working on robotics, and more. A 'must' for any interested in robotics, science fiction, or solid humor spiced with a bit of fact.

The premise of this book is based on countless sci-fi movies and stories: The created turning on the creator, and oh how we shouldn't have messed with the role of God. Isaac Asimov spent his whole life trying to kill what he called "The Frankenstein Complex" with his robot stories. And now Daniel H. Wilson comes along, and adds his two cents on the matter with tongue-in-cheek. Wilson makes it very clear that he feels an uprising very unlikely, and then says, "But wouldn't it be fun if it had!?!" While the book takes the time to talk about how to fool voice sensors, or how to lose a wheeled robot on rough terrain, or the latest robotics advances, one can almost forget that one is learning about current technology through humor(or humour, for you non-American types). I enjoyed the bullet-style format of the book. The chapters were short and many, making it easy to put down after lunch is over, and to pick it back up later. This book does not take itself seriously, and neither should you. So pick it up, enjoy, and learn. And if you like it, and write Daniel Wilson to tell him so, it turns out that he's very cool, and will write you back right away. He may even ask you to write a review on Amazon, but I feel that I may have now said too much. He has a fresh style, and I'm looking forward to his next book.

I loved this book. It is a good light, funny read. It gives alot of insight in regards to current technology and lets you know what is out there in response to robot hardware/software. Some parts were flat out funny and other informative. I thought it was a great book for anyone interested in robots and technogoly and where we are going. I also loved the cover of it which is a shiny, glossy eye-catching cover. One I enjoyed.