Matt Severnson has assembled a team of hard-working, quasi-geek individuals to build a revolutionary website for a northern Michigan city. The system becomes a big hit despite the group members' idiosyncratic traits. Fast food addiction, incessant sexual tension and heated bingo competition constantly distract the team. While the opportunity arises to build the first nationwide, government-sponsored high-speed Internet portal, the issue comes second to Matt's relationship with Katy, the team's co-leader. They cannot hate each other enough to halt their steamy romance, but they can't love each other enough to share anything but a fish dinner.

The Developers mixes the insane and obscene with technology, romance and pop culture. But while the book's web development group tries to make its mark on the virtual world, it encounters pre-eminent issues that will soon be shaping the Internet of the future: Are individuals losing their remaining privacy due to the World Wide Web? Will online social interaction eventually replace in-person gatherings as a necessary means?

Latest News

New U.S. government 'transparent' sites

July 02, 2009 - Where do your tax dollars go? What data is being collected in this country anyway? Previously, these were difficult questions to answer, but the new administration appears to be making headway toward real answers.

At USAspending.gov, site visitors can see who is receiving federal funds, what industries are benefiting the most from the dough and which contractors are winning contracts. At Data.gov, users can check out numerous types of data catalogs, in numerous formats as well.



Community website (like .comU) purchased by AOL

June 17, 2009 - I found out the other day through an internal company email that AOL has recently purchased two companies as part of its local strategy initiative. I was immensely surprised when checking out one of them, Patch, which is essentially a community-based website geared toward providing info with a small-town flavor. It's quite remarkable how similar this site is to .comU, the original website built by "The Developers."



One thousand books

May 24, 2009 - I remember reading or hearing something a few years ago that said only 10 percent of all books published ever sell 1,000 copies or more. I cannot seem to find exact numbers anywhere, however, I found a boatload of other statistics on the Para Publishing website. The self-publishing numbers are pretty low ... only 3.4 percent of Xlibris copies have sold more than 500 copies, for example.

Locations

If you have been to this page before, you probably know that I used to have a list of bookstores where you could purchase The Developers. Unfortunately, that is no longer possible because I have no clue what stores are carrying the book now.

The bad news is that if you ask me about a specific store, I really don't have a clue. The good news is that there's a chance the book is available near you. You can enter most chain book stores, ask for The Developers and at the very least, they'll be able to find it in their online inventory.

But if not, have no fear! You can also purchase from Amazon.com.

There is a catch, however, with Amazon.com, as you can purchase books from would-be reviewers who are basically gobbling up advance copies to sell online. I don't make a cent from these purchases, so if you do buy my book, or any other, from Amazon, I would recommend purchasing from a reputable seller ... like Amazon. Even if it's a couple of dollars more, most authors would prefer you buy from them and share it with 10 other people than buy from someone who conned them out of a book in the first place.

About the author

Ben Woods is a technology and humor columnist who is published on various websites, including WHAS-11 in Louisville, and ihigh.com, a high school web portal. He worked in the newspaper business for eight years and has been published in a variety of printed publications.

A Purdue University graduate with a Communication degree, journalism concentration, and English minor, Woods currently is a software engineer for AOL/Platform-A in Baltimore. With experience both as a writer and a computer programmer, Woods can relate highly technological ideas to the masses with ease and in a satirical way.