Ethan Zuckerman, director of the Center for the Study of Civic Media at MIT, an internet activist, and blogger, describes in his debut book how social media, transportation hubs, and new information technologies are changing our lives. The new interconnected world doesn't function quite as techno-optimists and columnists imagine, but it already exists, and learning to live in it, using the internet and other tools effectively for good rather than harm, is an increasingly pressing challenge.