The Bookian » Machine Intelligence

Wetware

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:12:17 +0000

Found this book in an alley. Signed up for a lower body transplant. Melted the top half. Walked around as a birdbath with legs for awhile. Tried to get brain back but the beaurocracy was terrible. What can one do? Wetware is one of the classics of the cyborg life. Just doesnt get any better. Thought it was particularly pertinent for the new millennium as the weapons of choice are now IEDs, which means there are a lotta people walking around part machine anyway. And the book is awesome in its treatment of those tiny aspects of the human that have to deal with the techno-integration aliens. Donna Haraways Cyborg manifesto with cool characters and the theory subsumed into plot of ultra-hip coolness. This book scores ten Zaphod Beeblebrox heads for ultra-coolness. Includes Mechanical Ego ring! – reviewed by blockhead five

Software

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:08:17 +0000

The first in Ruckers Ware series, and the first book in which Ruckerbeing tips over the boundary of suspicion that he is not pure Meat, but part Machine bopper meat writing machine intelligence cyborgized into superconducting free will. The tactic of writing from the point of view of your flesh components in an effort to garner empathy is particularly hyperspatially valid. Although I preferred Wetware in terms of plotification, Software has a few more rough edges, which I enjoy more, particularly in the current environment of over formulaic literature. If youve got to use a formula, at least use some recursive computability, please! The endless linearity of the majority of formula driven plottings must have some role in the higher order of overall thermodynamic regulation. But the entire Ware series defys this gravitas, and is well worth starting if youve never encountered it. – reviewed by sta hi

Software Engineering and Computer Games

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:58:17 +0000

Not to review textbooks, but this is a good textbook. Its rare that discussions of engineering veer into the conceptual gestalt as much, especially as practices become enmeshed in ratiocination to the nth degree. The window foundation class codebase is highly outdated and inappropriate for the level of design presentation and discussion, but if taken as a mere example of one instantiation of a uml take, sok. – reviewed by proggie

The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul: What Gnarly Computation Taught Me About Ultimate Reality, the Meaning of Life, and How to Be Happy

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:49:17 +0000

Ok. Universal automatism. This is hopeful. However, if you remove four letters, you are left with Universal Autism. Is this where www.omat.com will take us? Rucker has a good discussion here about the integration of meat and machine, but before we reach that physical stage, there are some conceptual machines that might need to be looked at. Hey, nice new hardware! dont forget to upgrade the software! The scary thing is the implications of software development lag behind the hardware. Its like giving a two year old a loaded gun. by the time the kids software figures out the gun is dangerous, teh gun (sic) has killed off the software. Either way, there should be more discussions of these types of implications of whatever before we eventually whatever, whenever. Recommended. – reviewed by cone