An interdisciplinary collection of essays on telepistemology—the study of knowledge acquired at a distance. The Robot in the Garden initiates a critical theory of telerobotics and introduces telepistemology, the study of knowledge acquired at a distance. Many of our most influential technologies, the telescope, telephone, and television, were developed to provide knowledge at a distance. Telerobots, remotely controlled robots, facilitate action at a distance. Specialists use telerobots to explore actively environments such as Mars, the Titanic, and Chernobyl. Military personnel increasingly employ reconnaissance drones and telerobotic missiles. At home, we have remote controls for the garage door, car alarm, and television (the latter a remote for the remote). The Internet dramatically extends our scope and reach. Thousands of cameras and robots are now accessible online. Although the role of technical mediation has been of interest to philosophers since the seventeenth century, the Internet forces a reconsideration. As the public gains access to telerobotic instruments previously restricted to scientists and soldiers, questions of mediation, knowledge, and trust take on new significance for everyday life. Telerobotics is a mode of representation. But representations can misrepresent. If Orson Welles's "War of the Worlds" was the defining moment for radio, what will be the defining moment for the Internet? As artists have always been concerned with how representations provide us with knowledge, the book also looks at telerobotics' potential as an artistic medium. The seventeen essays, by leading figures in philosophy, art, history, and engineering, are organized into three sections: Philosophy; Art, History, and Critical Theory; and Engineering, Interface, and System Design. Contributors: Albert Borgmann, Tom Campanella, John Canny, Judith Donath, Hubert Dreyfus, Ken Goldberg, Alvin Goldman, Oliver Grau, Marina Gržinić, Blake Hannaford, Michael Idinopulos, Martin Jay, Eduardo Kac, Machiko Kusahara, Jeff Malpas, Lev Manovich, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Eric Paulos, Catherine Wilson

For fans of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS, THE FIFTEEN LIVES OF HARRY AUGUST and ET. 'A MOST UNUSUAL AND DELIGHTFUL BOOK' Alexander McCall Smith Funny, touching, charming, wise: a friendship novel that explores what it is to be human. Some time in the future: Ben Chambers wakes up to find an old robot - rusty and dazed- sitting underneath the willow tree in his garden. It's not a new android model, the type people now use for domestic chores around the house, but an antique one, no longer of any use. Refusing to throw it on the skip as his wife Amy advises, he brings it inside. He names it Tang. Tang turns out to be needy, he has a chronic oil leak and some inside parts don't work properly. As Ben - who has never wanted children or even a job - grows closer to his new friend, he and his wife, Amy, grow further apart. When Amy finally walks out, Ben begins to realise he has now alienated all the human beings in his life. But his new friend needs to be fixed, if he is to have a future. And so Ben decides to take Tang back to his maker, half way across the world, on a remote island in the Pacific ... Soon to be a major Warner Brothers Japan movie, starring Kazunari Ninomiya from Arashi READERS LOVE IT TOO: There were so many funny parts in this book and i did not want it to end' 5 ***** 'A lovely book about friendship and discovery. Heartwarming' 4 **** 'i knew nothing about this book when i started it and i could not put it down' 5 **** 'Wonderful. i did not want it to stop' 5 **** 'The characters are drawn with such tenderness' 5 ****

Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, A Checklist, 1700-1974, Volume one of Two, contains an Author Index, Title Index, Series Index, Awards Index, and the Ace and Belmont Doubles Index.

»The Machine in the Garden« gilt als Gründungstext der Amerikastudien als wissenschaftliche Disziplin. Die Beiträger des Sammelbands unterziehen das dort proklamierte Spannungsverhältnis zwischen Natur und Technik einer Relektüre. Sie untersuchen industrielle, bürokratische und digitale »Gärten« in Film und Literatur und beleuchten deren Funktion vor verschiedenen kulturhistorischen Hintergründen.

The Southern View is an underground satirical newspaper written, illustrated, published, and distributed by John S. Osler III. The delights contained in these never-before-anthologized articles from the past two years are of the highest order, the sort equaled only by, say, a nice, oaky Merlot, or playing pinball while really drunk.

'Wonderfully entertaining . . . Maeve is on cracking form' - Jilly Cooper In A Country Garden is a heartwarming, hilarious tale of growing old not-so-gracefully, from the bestselling author of The Time of Their Lives, Maeve Haran. Lifelong friends Claudia, Ella, Laura and Sal celebrated sixty as the new forty, determined not to let age change things. But now they are looking at the future and wondering how to make growing old more fun. Why not live together and have sunny afternoons on the lawn, helping and supporting each other when any of them need it - and still keep enjoying life? Joined by Claudia’s reluctant husband and Sal’s energetic new fiancé, they ignore the protests of their children and pool their resources in a lovely manor house in the country. Only Laura holds out, determined she still has some living to do, especially now she has met the dashing Gavin through an online dating app. But life still has plenty of surprises in store plus a little romance in what the locals dub a New Age Old Age Commune. But are your best friends the last people you should end up living with?

What is life? Is it just the biologically familiar--birds, trees, snails, people--or is it an infinitely complex set of patterns that a computer could simulate? What role does intelligence play in separating the organic from the inorganic, the living from the inert? Does life evolve along a predestined path, or does it suddenly emerge from what appeared lifeless and programmatic? In this easily accessible and wide-ranging survey, Claus Emmeche outlines many of the challenges and controversies involved in the dynamic and curious science of artificial life. Emmeche describes the work being done by an international network of biologists, computer scientists, and physicists who are using computers to study life as it could be, or as it might evolve under conditions different from those on earth. Many artificial-life researchers believe that they can create new life in the computer by simulating the processes observed in traditional, biological life-forms. The flight of a flock of birds, for example, can be reproduced faithfully and in all its complexity by a relatively simple computer program that is designed to generate electronic "boids." Are these "boids" then alive? The central problem, Emmeche notes, lies in defining the salient differences between biological life and computer simulations of its processes. And yet, if we can breathe life into a computer, what might this mean for our other assumptions about what it means to be alive? The Garden in the Machine touches on every aspect of this complex and rapidly developing discipline, including its connections to artificial intelligence, chaos theory, computational theory, and studies of emergence. Drawing on the most current work in the field, this book is a major overview of artificial life. Professionals and nonscientists alike will find it an invaluable guide to concepts and technologies that may forever change our definition of life.

Evan searches for Amanda and their children. A new demon intervenes with Evan's search. Will this demon stop Evan in his tracks or will Evan use the Darkness to his advantage. Xavier tries to hold on to his faith. As an old friend returns to guide him one last time. Amanda tries to stay strong but she can't hold on much longer. Will Evan save her before it's too late? Meanwhile, why is Clark just watching?

Often described as post-apocalyptic, the work of sculptor Huma Bhabha responds to the violence and turmoil in the world around her through depictions of anthropomorphic figures—or “characters,” as Bhabha calls them—that often appear to be dismembered, melted, or dissected. This book, accompanying a sitespecific installation at the Metropolitan Museum, features an interview with the artist that provides new insights into her diverse influences, from historic sculptures to science-fiction movies, and elaborates on how art history, politics, and socioeconomic issues inform her work. In his incisive essay, curator Shanay Jhaveri explores Bhabha’s working process and her oeuvre over the last twenty years. A second essay, by film critic Ed Halter, delves into the impact of cinema on Bhabha’s sculpture. This beautifully illustrated publication is the sixth edition in a series that documents and contextualizes The Met’s annual rooftop commissions.

Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems 2008 (June 24-27, 2008; São Luís, Brazil) brought together leading scientists and engineers who use analytic, syntactic and computational methods both to understand the prodigious processing properties of biological systems and, specifically, of the brain, and to exploit such knowledge to advance computational methods towards ever higher levels of cognitive competence. This book includes the papers presented at four major symposia: Part I - Cognitive Neuroscience Part II - Biologically Inspired Systems Part III - Neural Computation Part IV - Models of Consciousness.