It’s that time again, time for the Summer Reading List, and this year’s is the biggest yet. As always, I asked several of my friends and colleagues for their recommendations. Many thanks to all who participated, including newcomers Daniel Pinchbeck, Steve Aylett, Ian MacKaye, Mike Daily, Paul Saffo, Gareth Branwyn, Rodger Bridges, and Peter Lunenfeld,… Continue reading Summer Reading List, 2008
Scientists have used metaphors to conceptualize and understand phenomena since early Greek philosophy. Aristotle used many anthropomorphic ideas to describe natural occurrences, but the technology of the time, needing constant human intervention, offered little in the way of metaphors for the mind. Since then, theorists have compared the human mind to the clock, the steam… Continue reading Mind Wide Shut: Recent Books on Mind and Metaphor
Networks and network protocols are often seen as sites of control, but extreme connectivity eludes control. Diseases, worms, viruses, these all spread beyond our control because of connectivity — networks — that are beyond our control. When networks cause problems is it because they work too well, not because they are broken. Roy ChristopherI marshal… Continue reading Haxploitation: Three Recent Books
Just when I thought I’d missed it, The Laurelhurst Theater here in Portland brought Blade Runner: The Final Cut back around (I wasn’t here when it first played, and somehow, I missed the movie’s original release, though during that same time I managed to see all three original Star Wars movies as they came out).… Continue reading Blade Runner Redux
“Through fiction we saw the birth Of futures yet to come Yet in fiction lay the bones, ugly in their nakedness Yet under this mortal sun, we cannot hide ourselves” — Isis, “In Fiction” There’s an episode of The Twilight Zone I watched as a kid that stuck with me. I don’t remember all of… Continue reading Recurring Themes, Part Five: The End of Humanity
