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Author: Derrick Jensen
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Published: 2004
Total Pages: 298
ISBN-13: 1931498520
DOWNLOAD EBOOKJensen and Draffan look at the way machine readable devices that track our identities and purchases have infiltrated our lives and have come to define our culture.
Author: Ellen Ullman
Publisher: Picador
Published: 2012-02-28
Total Pages: 209
ISBN-13: 1250024587
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWith a New Introduction by Jaron Lanier A Salon Best Book of the Year In 1997, the computer was still a relatively new tool---a sleek and unforgiving machine that was beyond the grasp of most users. With intimate and unflinching detail, software engineer Ellen Ullman examines the strange ecstasy of being at the forefront of the predominantly male technological revolution, and the difficulty of translating the inherent messiness of human life into artful and efficient code. Close to the Machine is an elegant and revelatory mediation on the dawn of the digital era.
Author: Glenn Povey
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 1998-06-15
Total Pages: 264
ISBN-13: 9780312191757
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFrom gigs in tiny church halls in the mid-sixties to multimillion-selling albums and spectacular stadium shows all around the world, the Pink Floyd story is a pop legend. Pink Floyd: In the Flesh combines, for the first time, a detailed listing of every single Pink Floyd show with a biographical account of the band's collective and individual careers. Illustrated throughout with scores of previously unpublished photographs and a wealth of rare graphic memorabilia, including posters, advertisements, handbills and tickets from every era of the band's remarkable thirty-year history.
Author: Arthur I. Miller
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2019-10-01
Total Pages: 429
ISBN-13: 0262042851
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn authority on creativity introduces us to AI-powered computers that are creating art, literature, and music that may well surpass the creations of humans. Today's computers are composing music that sounds “more Bach than Bach,” turning photographs into paintings in the style of Van Gogh's Starry Night, and even writing screenplays. But are computers truly creative—or are they merely tools to be used by musicians, artists, and writers? In this book, Arthur I. Miller takes us on a tour of creativity in the age of machines. Miller, an authority on creativity, identifies the key factors essential to the creative process, from “the need for introspection” to “the ability to discover the key problem.” He talks to people on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence, encountering computers that mimic the brain and machines that have defeated champions in chess, Jeopardy!, and Go. In the central part of the book, Miller explores the riches of computer-created art, introducing us to artists and computer scientists who have, among much else, unleashed an artificial neural network to create a nightmarish, multi-eyed dog-cat; taught AI to imagine; developed a robot that paints; created algorithms for poetry; and produced the world's first computer-composed musical, Beyond the Fence, staged by Android Lloyd Webber and friends. But, Miller writes, in order to be truly creative, machines will need to step into the world. He probes the nature of consciousness and speaks to researchers trying to develop emotions and consciousness in computers. Miller argues that computers can already be as creative as humans—and someday will surpass us. But this is not a dystopian account; Miller celebrates the creative possibilities of artificial intelligence in art, music, and literature.
Author: Vicki Ruebel
Publisher: Martingale
Published: 2019-12-02
Total Pages: 99
ISBN-13: 168356068X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWelcome to a machine-quilting book like no other. It's a helpful guide to machine-quilting designs for a dozen classic quilt blocks! No guessing, no stressing--these 61 designs show you exactly how to quilt specific blocks, and you choose the challenge. With four to six ways to quilt each block, you'll find machine-quilting designs for beginners, advanced quilters, and everyone in between. Designs are rated with one, two, or three spools: One spool: Light quilting, no marking, easy to stitch--perfect for finishing quilts quickly. Two spools: A little more adventurous--try swirls, pebbles, feathers, and more. Three spools: Dense quilting, grid work, and ruler work--plus more feathers! Start with an introduction to basic tools, supplies, and best practices. Then jump right in with color-coded illustrations that tell you which path to follow and when. Yes, you can quilt it--begin with any of the blocks below and Vicki Ruebel will show you how! Log Cabin * Snowball * Bear's Paw * Sawtooth Star * Courthouse Steps * Churn Dash * Granny Square * Eight-Pointed Star * Nine Patch * Double X * Friendship Star * Ohio Star
Author: Caroline Baillie
Publisher: Morgan & Claypool Publishers
Published: 2009
Total Pages: 339
ISBN-13: 1598296620
DOWNLOAD EBOOKEngineers work in an increasingly complex entanglement of ideas, people, cultures, technology, systems and environments. Today, decisions made by engineers often have serious implications for not only their clients but for society as a whole and the natural world. Such decisions may potentially influence cultures, ways of living, as well as alter ecosystems which are in delicate balance. In order to make appropriate decisions and to co-create ideas and innovations within and among the complex networks of communities which currently exist and are shaped by our decisions, we need to regain our place as professionals, to realise the significance of our work and to take responsibility in a much deeper sense. Engineers must develop the 'ability to respond' to emerging needs of all people, across all cultures. To do this requires insights and knowledge which are at present largely within the domain of the social and political sciences but which need to be shared with our students in ways which are meaningful and relevant to engineering. This book attempts to do just that. In Part 1 Baillie introduces ideas associated with the ways in which engineers relate to the communities in which they work. Drawing on scholarship from science and technology studies, globalisation and development studies, as well as work in science communication and dialogue, this introductory text sets the scene for an engineering community which engages with the public. In Part 2 Catalano frames the thinking processes necessary to create ethical and just decisions in engineering, to understand the implications of our current decision making processes and think about ways in which we might adapt these to become more socially just in the future. In Part 3 Baillie and Catalano have provided case studies of everyday issues such as water, garbage and alarm clocks, to help us consider how we might see through the lenses of our new knowledge from Parts 1 and 2 and apply this to our every day existence as engineers.
Author: Wendy Lynne Lee
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2017-02-22
Total Pages: 471
ISBN-13: 0739176897
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIf we were to ask what is the root cause of our current and unprecedented environmental crisis, climate change, many, particularly on the progressive Left, would refer to the excesses of capitalism—and they’d be right. In Eco-Nihilism: The Philosophical Geopolitics of the Climate Change Apocalypse, Wendy Lynne Lee demonstrates that there are no versions of conquest capital compatible with the fact of a finite planet and that a logic whose operating premise is growth is destined to not only exhaust our planetary resources, but also generate profound social injustice and geopolitical violence in its pursuit. Nonetheless, it is clear that the violence and injustice of capital is selective—some benefit greatly while others are subjugated to its pathological drive to profit. Hence, Lee argues that any comprehensive analysis of what Jason Moore has dubbed the Capitalocene must include an equally probing account of human chauvinism, that is, the axes along which capital is supplied with resources and labor. Defined in terms of race, sex, gender, and species, these axes come ready-made to the advantage of capitalist commodification. Without an understanding of how and why, humanity will remain doomed to settling for a sustainably unjust world as opposed to realizing a just and desirable one. Indeed, on our current trajectory, we may not even achieve the sustainable. The introduction of climate change into the mix of environmental deterioration, the ever-widening economic gap between global North and global South, and the accelerating violence of terrorism, civil war, and human slavery make of a warming planet a combustible world. The only way out requires ending the myth of endless resources, a rejection of climate change denial, and a radical re-valuation of human-centeredness, not as a locus of power, but as an opportunity to take moral and epistemic responsibility for a world whose biotic diversity and ecological integrity make the struggle to realize it worthwhile. This solution demands not only an end to capitalism, but the deliberate reclamation of value—aesthetic, moral, and civic—and a radical transformation of both personal and collective conscience. Lee appeals to the experiential aesthetics of John Dewey and the feminist concept of the standpoint of the subjugated. She argues for a version of the precautionary principle informed by an environmentally and socially responsible concept of the desirable future as the clearest path away from the precipice.
Author: Azazel Rama
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2014-04-10
Total Pages: 423
ISBN-13: 1491729511
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAzazel Rama is a poet and artist from the San Francisco Bay Area who has been tapped into the spirit realm for the past 20 years. After dropping out of the Bay Area underground, he has finally decided to share with the world his unique understanding of the astral plane and the curious inhabitants therein. This large volume presents a poetic and lively take on magical theory and modern Occult philosophies, while disclosing some of the authors more personal experiences with aliens and other denizens of the spirit world. The text gets deep into the symbolisms of our collective unconscious, revealing a truly interconnected understanding of 'natural morals', while at the same time delivering tongue-in-cheek anti-theist arguments sprinkled with a dark and sometimes satanic sense of humor. In the spirit of Ragnar Redbeard's 'Might Is Right', (the legendary text aptly quoted in Anton LaVey's 'The Satanic Bible') these encoded grimoires are a wild and winding map of a deeper conscious nature. Sometimes ranting, and often a bit mad (were all a bit mad), the information is sprinkled with esoteric poetry and symbolic illustrations, building into a climax that might come as a bit of a surprise! Chaos magician, urban shaman, synchromystic, or perhaps a member of a secret orders or sect? Azazel Rama remains a mystery to the modern spiritual community, and a rebel against many popular and accepted ideals. Come inside and join The Church Of The Free Mind where you will be taken on a wondrous ride through the multiverse of our collective lives! BACK COVER COPY: Welcome to a world of subversive literature filled with magical wisdom and the decoding of the occult. In this volume, author Azazel Rama explores the ancient secrets of astral travel and reveals a doorway to the multiverse of endless potential. He then reveals how the heretical views of science and nature can slay the dragon of religion with common sense. This is not a self-help seminar filled with happy sunshine, nonsense codes, and false rainbows; this is a journey into the forbidden. The Church of the Free Mind has opened its gates, and within this Holy Temple no messiah shall be said to exist. Written as a diatribe against words, this is the true philosophy of a snake swallowing its own tail. Behold the self-consuming god that exists within the flesh and souls of all living beings. Embark upon a spiritual exploration of a higher order of freedom as it relates to an unconsciously connected society of human animals, and learn the moral codes of Mother Nature as she echoes a sense of natural law through the depths of our collective being. This collection of essays proposes a way to enter a new cycle of human understanding.
Author: Brian Merchant
Publisher: Hachette UK
Published: 2023-09-26
Total Pages: 545
ISBN-13: 0316487732
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"The most important book to read about the AI boom" (Wired): The "gripping" (New Yorker) true story of the first time machines came for human jobs—and how the Luddite uprising explains the power, threat, and toll of big tech and AI today Named one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, Wired, and the Financial Times • A Next Big Idea Book Club "Must-Read" The most urgent story in modern tech begins not in Silicon Valley but two hundred years ago in rural England, when workers known as the Luddites rose up rather than starve at the hands of factory owners who were using automated machines to erase their livelihoods. The Luddites organized guerrilla raids to smash those machines—on punishment of death—and won the support of Lord Byron, enraged the Prince Regent, and inspired the birth of science fiction. This all-but-forgotten class struggle brought nineteenth-century England to its knees. Today, technology imperils millions of jobs, robots are crowding factory floors, and artificial intelligence will soon pervade every aspect of our economy. How will this change the way we live? And what can we do about it? The answers lie in Blood in the Machine. Brian Merchant intertwines a lucid examination of our current age with the story of the Luddites, showing how automation changed our world—and is shaping our future.
Author: Ryan North
Publisher: Machines of Death LLC
Published: 2010
Total Pages: 468
ISBN-13: 0982167121
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMACHINE OF DEATH tells thirty-four different stories about people who know how they will die. Prepare to have your tears jerked, your spine tingled, your funny bone tickled, your mind blown, your pulse quickened, or your heart warmed. Or better yet, simply prepare to be surprised. Because even when people do have perfect knowledge of the future, there's no telling exactly how things will turn out.
