Matthew Fuller analyses the tools which we all use everyday to interface with the world - Web browsers, search engines, word processors. He presents a 'critical help system' to help us understand what is really going on behind the menu and the windows of our computer screens.

Have you ever wondered how stealth planes achieve "invisibility," how sunken ships are found, or how fishermen track schools of fish in vast expanses of ocean? Radar and sonar echolocation—a simple matter of sending, receiving, and processing signals. Weaving history with simple science, Mark Denny deftly reveals the world of radar and sonar to the curious reader, technology buff, and expert alike. He begins with an early history of the Chain Home radar system used during World War II and then provides accessible and engaging explanations of the physics that make signal processing possible. Basic diagrams and formulas show how electromagnetic and sound waves are transmitted, received, and converted into images, allowing you to literally see in the dark. A section on bioacoustic echolocation, with a focus on the superior sonar systems of bats and whales and a discussion of the advanced technology of next-generation airborne signal processors, opens the imagination to fascinating possibilities for the future.

Computer software and its structures, devices and processes are woven into our everyday life. Their significance is not just technical: the algorithms, programming languages, abstractions and metadata that millions of people rely on every day have far-reaching implications for the way we understand the underlying dynamics of contemporary societies. In this innovative new book, software studies theorist Matthew Fuller examines how the introduction and expansion of computational systems into areas ranging from urban planning and state surveillance to games and voting systems are transforming our understanding of politics, culture and aesthetics in the twenty-first century. Combining historical insight and a deep understanding of the technology powering modern software systems with a powerful critical perspective, this book opens up new ways of understanding the fundamental infrastructures of contemporary life, economies, entertainment and warfare. In so doing Fuller shows that everyone must learn ‘how to be a geek’, as the seemingly opaque processes and structures of modern computer and software technology have a significance that no-one can afford to ignore. This powerful and engaging book will be of interest to everyone interested in a critical understanding of the political and cultural ramifications of digital media and computing in the modern world.

Timecracks act as portals to other dimensions. They have existed since the creation of time, and when one arrives during a storm at the newly discovered pyramid site in the Yucatan jungle, it's the beginning of a nightmare journey into another world for archaeologist, Malcolm Kinross and his wife, Lucy. And when another timecrack strikes the secretive energy facility in New Mexico, their sons, Archie and Richard, along with their tutor, Marjorie, and their uncle, Professor John Strawbridge, all find themselves thrust into the same world of New Arrivals, ancient warring tribes and deadly enemies. Richard is endowed with the ability to 'see' beyond his own world. Can he help Archie to find their parents, and help the scientists at Mount Tengi to find a way for all of them to return home, and can he escape the clutches of the mad high priest, Prince Lotane?

Isolated from the rest of the universe, the world of Harmony and its close-knit colony planets are drawn into the conflict between the human-based Confederate Star System and the alien Marillon Empire, with their unique natural resources at stake, while Harmony is confronted by its own internal dissention in which one young woman may hold the key to salvation--or destruction.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of The Martian, a lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this “propulsive” (Entertainment Weekly), cinematic thriller full of suspense, humor, and fascinating science—in development as a major motion picture starring Ryan Gosling. HUGO AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST BOOKS: Bill Gates, GatesNotes, New York Public Library, Parade, Newsweek, Polygon, Shelf Awareness, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal • “An epic story of redemption, discovery and cool speculative sci-fi.”—USA Today “If you loved The Martian, you’ll go crazy for Weir’s latest.”—The Washington Post Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone. Or does he? An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.

A "dirty materialist" ride through the media cultures of pirate radio, photography, the Internet, media art, cultural evolution, and surveillance.

In the chaos wrought by the death of Grendel-Khan Orion Assante, his young son Jupiter—heir to the throne—finds protection with his father’s secret weapon: an unstoppable cybernetic paladin of destruction! The story of Grendel Prime unfolds in three tales that form the apotheosis of Wagner’s visionary, centuries-spanning narrative: the Eisner Award-winning War Child, with art by Patrick McEown; the riveting Past Prime novel, written by Greg Rucka with pen-and-ink illustrations by Wagner; and the lush, painted Devil Quest, recounting Prime’s search through an apocalyptic future for the seeds of his own past. Over five hundred pages of ultra-stylish art and story, culminating in “A Grendel Primer,” Wagner’s A-to-Z overview of all things Grendel!

This collection of short expository, critical and speculative texts offers a field guide to the cultural, political, social and aesthetic impact of software. Experts from a range of disciplines each take a key topic in software and the understanding of software, such as algorithms and logical structures.