Coelacanth History: Uncle Buddy’s Phantom Funhouse and the Cybertext of Things

Author(s):  
Stuart Moulthrop

This chapter reflects on John McDaid’s author traversal of his 1993 hypermedia novel, Uncle Buddy’s Phantom Funhouse, a groundbreaking work not just for its comprehensive exploration of Apple’s HyperCard authoring system, but also because of its principle of “modally appropriate” presentation, involving non-digital artifacts as well. Built around the science-fictional notion of time travel and multiverses, the Funhouse thus invites consideration of his own curious history, in which it figures as a kind of broken time machine. Comparing McDaid’s work with later, similar projects from the video game world, the chapter argues for an understanding of digital culture that moves beyond the harsh binaries of obsolescence. As McDaid says: “We win by losing.”

Time Travel ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 59-65
Author(s):  
Nikk Effingham

Bootstrapped things are things which are, at least partially, responsible for their own existence. For instance, a bootstrapped object might be someone who was their own mother whilst bootstrapped knowledge might exist because someone uses a time machine to go back in time and tell themselves how to make that time machine. The Bootstrapping Paradox is this: time travel is possible; were time travel possible, bootstrapped entities would be possible; such entities are impossible. This chapter investigates the different types of bootstrapped entity (objects, information, and causal loops). It then argues that you can avoid the paradox by denying that time travel necessitates bootstrapped objects and, more importantly, that there are also no good reasons to think bootstrapped entities are impossible.


Leonardo ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tack Woo ◽  
Kwangyun Wohn ◽  
Nigel Johnson

This article introduces a new concept, digital interactivity, through examining local digital culture; and video game culture is employed as a metaphor to interpret local digital culture. As a result, ‘control-’ and ‘communication’-based interaction are initiated, based on ‘user to media’ relationships. Based on the degree of physical interaction, ‘liminal’ and ‘transitive’ interactions are initiated. Less physical digital interaction is described as ‘liminal’ interaction and more physical digital interaction is described as ‘transitive’ interaction. These new classes of digital interaction can be applied to real-world examples, such as digital interactive installation artworks and video games.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deep Bhattacharjee

An arbitrary advanced civilization might have the technology to travel back and forth in time and that too within a large timescale like say ‘a thousand years’ into the past or future. But to us, in present day scenario, this ‘time travel’ seems impossible. Although many mathematical thesis have been published with sound theories about the structure and definitions’ of ‘time travels’ but still from an engineering feat, it’s practically impossible. Therefore, the time travel is a far more mathematical abstract concept and a source of science fiction for today’s physicists. However, theorists are not restrained by any limits or bounds and they likes to explore the plausibility of travelling through times and its fundamental overlying principles. Firstly, its necessary to develop a theory that is suitable for humans to travel in time like ‘without falling inside a black hole’ or ‘without any need of exotic matter’ or ‘without creating any paradoxes’ but we will consider ‘micro black hole and high gravity potentials’. So, to develop a more practical theory, its necessary that one needs to consider the factors which is not too hypothetical to be achieved by human beings at the present notion of technologies available to us. So, if such a theory can be achieved with a high degree of accuracy then the travelling through time will be possible by manipulating the circuits and machinery and creating a time machine after all at the end. However, travelling to future, although is theoretically plausible, travelling to past is always restricted due to the nature of ‘the birth of various paradoxes’ that may happen in due times. So, to extent the notion of casual loops without getting too far away with the absurdity of the physics, this paper will view the time from a new perspective and then it will aim to develop a theory so that its best fit within the current feats of technological challenges that we are facing today. Starting from the ‘relativity’ which first gives the scientific definition of ‘time travel’, ‘time’ as a whole has always been considered as 4th dimensions along with space and the other 3 spatial dimensions being orthogonal to them. But, what if there already exists an embedded 2-time dimension in our space-time and there is already existent ‘causal loops’ in our universe but what needs to be done is the action of a ‘temporal agent’ who can make the hidden 2nd dimensions of time prominent ‘from hiding’ and we are free to explore the ‘temporal loops’ in our space-time. This temporal agent can be any human beings with a high source of available technology or can be in any form of machinery like the ‘time machines’ which will allow the ‘embedded 2nd dimensions’ prominent from the hiding so that humans could explore the feats of ‘time travelling’. This paper is typically presented to deal with these ideas of 2nd time dimensions and causal loops in space-times where any object (or rather humans) can travel back and forth in time riding on these 2-time dimensions. My objective will always remain to focus ‘time’ from the perspectives of ‘2 dimensions’ in the form of a ‘circle’ rather than a linear straight line of 1 dimension and thereby manipulating the idea of this extra dimensions in such a way that, travelling through time can be achieved in practicality without getting washed away by too much abstract mathematics as theoretical physicists often likes to do. Its not quite easy to present time in such a form but I will try my best to do so and also keeping in mind that my theory is consistent with the current available technological challenges faced by experimental physicists and engineers in designing a time machine. A consistent theory is always necessary for practical implementation and that’s what I always intend to do and this paper is just the reflections of my ideas to provide an easy through to ‘time travel’ by focusing the extra hidden dimensions of time in nature. The possible outcome of these phenomena has been discussed thoroughly using logics & mathematics which will insight into a far more in-depth concept by taking us in exploring the 2-Time Dimensions in this universe and the related outcome or consequences of this more than 1 Time Dimensions. Moreover, this paper aims to provide the repetition or Looping of Timelines in a 2D Minkowski lightcone with the help of (exponential wavefunctions) which results in the occurring of same event in a synchronic pattern along with a desired property which will prove that, ‘N” past timelines are connected with “N+1+1……” future timelines and it is the law of nature to select the appropriate future timelines related to the past timelines which have the least degrees of errors in the “exponential wavefunctions” introduced in this paper. We will give an insight about the metric by taking time as ‘imaginary’ and how it solves the ‘singularity problem’ from Schwarzschild and Lemaitre metrics respectively. Then the concept of spatial divergence has been used.


Time Travel ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 147-175
Author(s):  
Nikk Effingham

How would probability work in a time travel scenario? This chapter offers answers for both the Ludovician and the non-Ludovician who believes the world is indexed. Given Ludovicianism (and impossability theory), metaphysical impossibilities can have a positive objective chance. Nevertheless, we should say our credence of these things coming about is zero. The chapter argues that the upshot of this is that we should never expect any time travel to happen. Indeed, the more likely it looks as if you can travel in time (and, e.g., build a working time machine), the more likely it is that some calamity affects you (or all of us!) to prevent that happening. At an indexed world, things work substantially differently. At an indexed world, credence and chance don’t come apart. The chapter argues that at an indexed world, we might expect time travel to occur.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Liu

In the relatively young field of new media studies, both video games and online dating platforms are identified as being important and popular genres of digital products, which are often discussed separately. This article argues that these two genres of digital products are not so much separate but entangled elements of the same processes of technological shifts in media industry, development of people’s online leisure activities, and the convergence of digital genres. To provide empirical evidence, this article examines a Chinese dancing video game, QQ Dazzling Dance (QQ Xuan Wu), which creatively juxtaposes these two genres of participatory digital culture and recognizes the analytical and critical values in doing so.


Author(s):  
Caroline Whippey

This study examines the ways in which users interact with information in the video game World of Warcraft. Utilizing data gathered through participant observation and the recording of public chat, this presentation explores how information is presented as well as how players seek, share, and utilize the information they encounter.Cette étude examine l’interaction des usagers avec l’information dans le jeu vidéo World of Warcraft. L’analyse de données recueillies par l’observation des participants et l’enregistrement de séances de clavardage publiques permet d’explorer comment l’information est présentée et comment les joueurs recherchent, partagent et utilisent l’information qui leur est présentée. 


Think ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (19) ◽  
pp. 47-48
Author(s):  
Stephen Law

A strange story about time travel.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document