[-empyre-] Collision/Senses with Nancy Paterson, William Tremblay, Jackbackrack wrap

["Jim Andrews" <jim@vispo.com>]

Many thanks to Nancy Paterson ( http://www.vacuumwoman.com/ ) and also
William Tremblay and Jackbackrack for December on -empyre- concerning
collision/senses.

Best wishes to Nancy on her MULTI project (
http://www.vacuumwoman.com/multi ) in Toronto.

It seems that on -empyre- we find ourselves discussing the limits of what
computers are capable of from time to time. As Nancy says: "...the
underlying info proc theory or philosophy of computation is what needs to be
examined in order to get to virtualization. The future network will be
capable of multiple forms of intelligence."

I've been on the look-out for books/information that popularizes the theory
of computation/automata theory recently. There are the rigorous texts of
Computer Science such as "Introduction to Languages and the Theory of
Computation" (by John Martin), "Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages,
and Computation" (by John E. Hopcroft) and other such 'text books'. But
concerning accurate popularizations, there doesn't seem to be as much out
there as one would hope. "Godel, Escher, Bach" is a classic, as is
"Metamagical Themas", both by Douglas R. Hofstadter. Two books I've ordered
recently that I've seen reviewed very positively are by William Poundstone:
"The Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific
Knowledge" and "Prisoner's Dilemma". I would recommend Poundstone's site at
http://williampoundstone.net for it's fascinating approach to poetry and
fiction in the digital.

Best wishes to the -empyre- subscribers. Let's hope 2005 is better than the
rest of the new millenium so far.

ja
http://subtle.net/empyre
http://vispo.com