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Uncomputable : play and politics in the long digital age / Alexander R. Galloway.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Brooklyn : Verso Books, 2021Description: xv, 263 pages : illustrations ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781839763984
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 23 004.09 GAL 017587
Contents:
Cover Page -- Halftitle Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- A Letter from Paris -- Introduction -- Part I: Photography -- 1. Petrified Photography -- 2. Dimensions Without Depth -- 3. The Parallel Image -- 4. Photographic Modeling -- 5. Our Best Machines Are Made of Sunshine -- Part II: Weaving -- 6. Spider Work -- 7. The Crumb Machine -- 8. Regular Irregularity -- 9. Algebraic Weaving -- 10. Webs Rewoven -- Part III: The Digital -- 11. From One to Two -- 12. The Cybernetic Hypothesis -- 13. Latticework -- 14. A Regular Discrete Framework Part IV: Computable Creatures -- 15. Experiments in Bionumeric Evolution -- 16. Conjectural Biology -- 17. Intensity and Survival -- 18. Parallel Causality -- Part V: Crystalline War -- 19. Times of Crisis -- 20. The Game of War -- 21. A Nostalgic Algorithm? -- 22. Some Problems with the Data -- 23. Crystal Aesthetics -- Part VI: Black Box -- 24. Black Box Cypher -- 25. Black Box Function -- 26. The Tyranny of Structurelessness -- 27. The Tragedy of Interactivity -- 28. Toward a Practical Nonexistence -- Afterword: A Note on Method -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index
Summary: "Narrating some lesser known episodes from the deep history of digital machines, Alexander R. Galloway explains the technology that drives the world today, and the fascinating people who brought these machines to life. With an eye to both the computable and the uncomputable, Galloway shows how computation emerges or fails to emerge, how the digital thrives but also atrophies, how networks interconnect while also fray and fall apart. By re-building obsolete technology using today's software, the past comes to light in new ways, from intricate algebraic patterns woven on a hand loom, to striking artificial-life simulations, to war games and back boxes. A description of the past, this book is also an assessment of all that remains uncomputable as we continue to live in the aftermath of the long digital age"--
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Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
Book Book Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore 004.09 GAL 017587 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 017587

Cover Page --
Halftitle Page --
Title Page --
Copyright Page --
Dedication --
Contents --
List of Illustrations --
A Letter from Paris --
Introduction --
Part I: Photography --
1. Petrified Photography --
2. Dimensions Without Depth --
3. The Parallel Image --
4. Photographic Modeling --
5. Our Best Machines Are Made of Sunshine --
Part II: Weaving --
6. Spider Work --
7. The Crumb Machine --
8. Regular Irregularity --
9. Algebraic Weaving --
10. Webs Rewoven --
Part III: The Digital --
11. From One to Two --
12. The Cybernetic Hypothesis --
13. Latticework --
14. A Regular Discrete Framework Part IV: Computable Creatures --
15. Experiments in Bionumeric Evolution --
16. Conjectural Biology --
17. Intensity and Survival --
18. Parallel Causality --
Part V: Crystalline War --
19. Times of Crisis --
20. The Game of War --
21. A Nostalgic Algorithm? --
22. Some Problems with the Data --
23. Crystal Aesthetics --
Part VI: Black Box --
24. Black Box Cypher --
25. Black Box Function --
26. The Tyranny of Structurelessness --
27. The Tragedy of Interactivity --
28. Toward a Practical Nonexistence --
Afterword: A Note on Method --
Acknowledgments --
Notes --
Index

"Narrating some lesser known episodes from the deep history of digital machines, Alexander R. Galloway explains the technology that drives the world today, and the fascinating people who brought these machines to life. With an eye to both the computable and the uncomputable, Galloway shows how computation emerges or fails to emerge, how the digital thrives but also atrophies, how networks interconnect while also fray and fall apart. By re-building obsolete technology using today's software, the past comes to light in new ways, from intricate algebraic patterns woven on a hand loom, to striking artificial-life simulations, to war games and back boxes. A description of the past, this book is also an assessment of all that remains uncomputable as we continue to live in the aftermath of the long digital age"--

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