Authors: Roger Chesneau.
Paperback, 64 pages
Publisher: Chatham Publishing
Publication Date: 2004-03-16
Edition: 1st

Reviews :

    ...

Authors:
Paperback, 451 pages
Publisher: The MIT Press
Publication Date: 2001-04-16


Reviews :

    In Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias, Peter Ludlow extends the approach he used so successfully in High Noon on the Electronic Frontier, offering a collection of writings that reflects the eclectic nature of the online world, as well as its tremendous energy and creativity. This time the subject is the emergence of governance structures within online communities and the visions of political sovereignty shaping some of those communities. Ludlow virtual communities as laboratories for conducting experiments in the construction of new societies and governance structures. While many online experiments will fail, Ludlow argues that given the synergy of the online world, new and superior governance structures may emerge. Indeed, utopian visions are not out of place, provided that we understand the new utopias to be fleeting localized "islands in the Net" and not permanent institutions.

The book is organized in five sections. The first section considers the sovereignty of the Internet. The second section asks how widespread access to resources such as Pretty Good Privacy and anonymous remailers allows the possibility of "Crypto Anarchy"—essentially carving out space for activities that lie outside the purview of nation states and other traditional powers. The third section shows how the growth of e-commerce is raising questions of legal jurisdiction and taxation for which the geographic boundaries of nation-states are obsolete. The fourth section looks at specific experimental governance structures evolved by online communities. The fifth section considers utopian and anti-utopian visions for cyberspace.

Contributors:
Richard Barbrook, John Perry Barlow, William E. Baugh Jr., David S. Bennahum, Hakim Bey, David Brin, Andy Cameron, Dorothy E. Denning, Mark Dery, Kevin Doyle, Duncan Frissell, Eric Hughes, Karrie Jacobs, David Johnson, Peter Ludlow, Timothy C. May, Jennifer L. Mnookin, Nathan Newman, David G. Post, Jedediah S. Purdy, Charles J. Stivale....

    Freedom's not dead in cyberspace. That's the premise of philosopher Peter Ludlow and most of the contributors to his Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias, and it's hard to argue otherwise after reading it. Deliberately freeing the volume from the shackles of academic rigor (and jargon), Ludlow draws deeply from the cyber-underground and mixes classic rants with post-millennial realism. From John Perry Barlow's chestnut "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" to Jedediah Purdy's cautionary "The God of the Digerati," the collection is direct, confrontational, and thought-provoking.

Though the topic of virtual communities has been thoroughly explored elsewhere, the possibility of spaces free from terrestrial jurisdiction--called "Temporary Autonomous Zones" by Hakim Bey--has not yet penetrated mainstream thought. Strong encryption and essential qualities of the Internet--like portability--ensure that such utopias will remain theoretically and practically tenable through the foreseeable future, and Ludlow's visionaries want to see them flower. The penultimate section on experimental governing systems and the appended interview with Noam Chomsky demolishing widely held beliefs about anarchy crown the book with deep thinking about issues vital to the future of freedom--online and off. It's exciting to see this work get the widespread attention it deserves--with any luck, the iconic Net user will soon trade in the pocket protector for an eye patch. --Rob Lightner ...

Authors: H. W. Buxton.
Hardcover, 425 pages
Publisher: The MIT Press
Publication Date: 1987-12-04


Reviews :

    Written but never published during his lifetime, this memoir of the founding father of computing is an indispensable primary source of information about Babbage's personal character and work. It brings to light his astonishingly wide range of interests, from mathematics to political economy and social reform, and dispels the myth of an "irascible" and "eccentric" personality, helping to clarify Babbage's position in the history of science.

Buxton's memoir was written between 1872 and 1880 and is volume 13 in the Charles Babbage Institute Reprint Series for the History of Computing....

Authors: Jeffrey S. Young.
Hardcover, 440 pages
Publisher: Scott Foresman Trade
Publication Date: 1987-12

Authors: Neal Koblitz.
Hardcover, 392 pages
Publisher: Springer
Publication Date: 2007-12-18
Edition: 1

Reviews :

   

These autobiographical memoirs of Neal Koblitz, coinventor of one of the two most popular forms of encryption and digital signature, cover many topics besides his own personal career in mathematics and cryptography - travels to the Soviet Union, Latin America, Vietnam and elsewhere, political activism, and academic controversies relating to math education, the C. P. Snow two-culture problem, and mistreatment of women in academia.

The stories speak for themselves and reflect the experiences of a student and later a scientist caught up in the tumultuous events of his generation.

...

Authors: Mike Hally.
Hardcover, 300 pages
Publisher: Joseph Henry Press
Publication Date: 2005-09-30


Reviews :

    The first truly modern computers were introduced just after World War II. Practical, electronic, multipurpose, digital machines with memory for both data and programs, they were developed by a range of pioneering teams across four continents. This is the story of how it all started.

We’ve come so far, so fast. Within a relatively short period of time, we’ve managed to put enormous computing power in offices and homes around the globe. But before there was an IBM, before there were laptops and personal PCs, there were small, independent teams of pioneers working on the development of the very first computer. Spread across four continents and ranging in temperament and talent, they built practical, electronic, multi-purpose, digital machines with memory for both data and programs.

Tracing the period just after World War II when the first truly modern computers were developed, The Electronic Brain chronicles the escapades of the world’s first "techies." Some of the initial projects are quite famous and well known, such as "LEO", the Lyons Electronic Office, which was developed by the catering company J. Lyons & Co. in London in the 1940s. Others are a bit more arcane, such as the ABC, which was built in a basement at Iowa State College and was abandoned to obscurity at the beginning of WWII. And then – like the ale of the Rand 409 which was constructed in a barn in Connecticut under the watchful eye of a stuffed moose – there are the stories that are virtually unknown. All combine to create a fascinating history of a now-ubiquitous technology.

Relying on extensive interviews from surviving members of the original teams of hardware jockeys, author Mike Hally recreates the atmosphere of the early days of computing. Rich with provocative and entertaining descriptions, we are introduced to the many eccentric, obsessive, and fiercely loyal men and women who laid the foundations for the computerized world in which we now live. As the acronyms fly fast and furious – UNIVAC, CSIRAC, and MESM, to name just a few -- The Electronic Brain provides a vivid sense of time, place, and science....

Authors:
Hardcover, 758 pages
Publisher: Academic Press
Publication Date: 1981-06

Authors: M. A. Jackson.
Hardcover, 310 pages
Publisher: Academic Press
Publication Date: 1975-10
Edition: 1

Authors: Vincent F. Hendricks. Jacek Malinowski.
Hardcover, 392 pages
Publisher: Springer
Publication Date: 2003-09-30
Edition: 1

Reviews :

    In 1953, exactly 50 years ago to this day, the first volume of Studia Logica appeared under the auspices of The Philosophical Committee of The Polish Academy of Sciences. Now, five decades later the present volume is dedicated to a celebration of this 50th Anniversary of Studia Logica. The volume features a series of papers by distinguished scholars reflecting both the aim and scope of this journal for symbolic logic.
The Anniversary volume offers contributions from J. van Benthem, W. Buszkowski, M.L. Dalla Chiara, M. Fitting, J.M. Font, R. Giuntini, R. Goldblatt, V. Marra, D. Mundici, R. Leporini, S.P. Odintsov, H. Ono, G. Priest, H. Wansing, V.R. Wojcicki and J. Zygmunt....

Authors: Adele Goldberg.
Paperback, 560 pages
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
Publication Date: 1988-01-01