Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free

I worked on an audiobook all day yesterday. I don’t think I can talk about the specifics of it, but I’m proud of the word I did.

But I can point out this cool news that Cory Doctorow posted on boingboing yesterday, about an audtiobook that I read for him a couple of years ago:

I released an audio edition of the book in 2014, read by the incomparable Wil Wheaton, who also read the audiobook of my novel Homeland). At the time, I tried to get Neil and Amanda into a studio to record their intros, but we couldn’t get the stars to align.

But good things come to those who wait! Neil Gaiman’s 2016 essay collection The View From the Cheap Seats includes his introduction to my book, and the audiobook edition — which Neil himself read — therefore includes Neil’s reading of this essay.

Thanks to Neil, his agents, and the kind people at Harper Audio, I was able to get permission to include Neil’s reading of his essay for a remastered audio version of the audiobook.

I really like Information Doesn’t Want To Be Free. I learned a lot from it, and it helped me grow as an independent artist and creator. You can get your own DRM-free copy for $15.

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14 thoughts on “Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free”

“but I’m proud of the word I did.”

Can’t tell if type-o or word-play….

Wil says:

6 December, 2016 at 12:05 pm

Oh that would be my stupid fingers being stupid.
1. mimi (@mimi78) says:
  
  6 December, 2016 at 12:30 pm
  
  and “audtiobook.” I didn’t want to. But it’s there.

Homeland was awesome work both in writing and your performance, Wil. Should have won awards!

I totally loved Ready Player One. Audiobooks in my car are my friend. The last time I got to read a book with words was when I went alone to Canada six months ago. The books I read include pictures, and large colorful words and if they don’t, they induce sleep, or make the children scream and cry. (for some reason). RPO led me to blowing my way through season 1 of Serial, some of You Must Remember This and then an absolute shit ton of the Nerdist and am now a worshipper of the King of The Nerds. You know it’s not you. Have a superb day.

Very nice, Wil. Hope you’re having a great day !

I love your audiobooks–to the point of getting some just because you’re the narrator. Thanks for introducing me to Jon Scalzi novels, by the way, they’re great 🙂

Just wanted to let you know that I love listening to audiobooks that you narrated.

this’ll be me firstest audio book – the material is intriguing and somewhat upsetting – obvious truths tend to do that to lil ol’ moi

That’s great, I really liked your reading of Ready player one. Will give this a listen for shure.

Ya, Cory D. is a good man.

The Geeks, sportos, jocks, motorheads, wastiods… they all love him. Here’s a righteous dude.

Thanks for the reco – Maybe that’s what I need. I’ve been plowing through too many dimestore detective novels lately. Earlier this year I was trying to wrap my head around recent scientific breakthroughs. A very interesting book on quantum biology came out this past year. For some reason, the way the guy described indeterminancy, it finally made intuitive sense to me. Maybe physicists should find a better way to describe it than Schrödinger’s cat which intimates that we affect quantum probability without explaining the simple reason why. The Schrödinger’s cat example, while well meaning, almost makes it sound like our knowledge of an event changes its outcome. I’ve always vaguely thought I didn’t truly understand Q. I. because there was some ergo propter hoc thing going on that was beyond my ability to grok. Turns out I understood it all along, at least conceptually. Let’s not get carried away, I’m no physicist, but I understood that WE don’t affect anything, but the big ‘ol flashlight we shine in that cat-box to take a good look at the famous feline definitely pisses off the pussy(cat). A more intuitive explanation might be something like: “Our observation is not what effects spin state, but the condition of energy bombardment that we must impose on quanta to observe them will naturally have an effect. When said like that, quantum indeterminancy could be explained to a six year old… well some of it… duality / mixed states / distributions… probably not. But conceptually, is fairly straightforward. Simple explanations are very valuable when describing basic concepts of physics. I remember the first time I read Einstein’s theory of relativity. He starts by telling you to imagine that you’re sitting on a train car going down the track and then to describe your interaction with objects that are not on the train. ie., relative objects… How brilliantly simple. Did that mean I could derive the general theory or Schrödinger’s equations as a geeky teen? Ha ha… Hell no. But conceptually, they’re both fairly straightforward. Think of how good it would be for humanity if the majority of people understood some of the basic concepts of physics. Perhaps fewer people would throw their hands up and decide it would be easier to abdicate responsibility for knowing, and attribute everything to an imaginary friend who loves them and/or will torture them depending on how fervently they ‘believe’.

But I digress… a lot… Ha ha.

Hey Wil, I love your audio book readings; is there a place to get a list of the books you’ve recorded?

The only work of yours I’m aware of is Welcome to Night Vale and XKCD’s What If…

I suspect you’re working on the same project today. Based on an email I got, the author isn’t being quite as careful with that information as you are. 😉 I look forward to hearing it when it gets released.