[SIGCIS-Members] the nature of computational error

[Carolyn Kane]

Hi all,

Just copying the email I sent to Matthew a few days ago to contribute to
the scholarship on this subject.


"....a copy of my recent book (*High-Tech Trash: Glitch, Noise, and
Aesthetic Failure
<https://www.luminosoa.org/site/books/10.1525/luminos.83/>, *University of
California Press, 2019) which addresses themes of error, accident, and
failure in computational systems, albeit primarily from the perspective of
aesthetics."

The book can also be downloaded for free, through open access here: *High-Tech
Trash: Glitch, Noise, and Aesthetic Failure
<https://www.luminosoa.org/site/books/10.1525/luminos.83/>*


Best,


Carolyn L. Kane, Author of
*High-Tech Trash: Glitch, Noise, and Aesthetic Failure
<https://www.luminosoa.org/site/books/10.1525/luminos.83/>*
(University of California Press, 2019)

*Chromatic Algorithms: Synthetic Color, Computer Art, and Aesthetics after
Code
<http://www.amazon.com/Chromatic-Algorithms-Carolyn-L-Kane/dp/022600273X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387478152&sr=1-3>*
  (University of Chicago Press, 2014)

https://www.ryerson.ca/kane/
Associate Professor, School of Professional Communication
Faculty of Communication and Design
Ryerson University
80 Gould Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5B 2K3


Carolyn L. Kane, Author of
*High-Tech Trash: Glitch, Noise, and Aesthetic Failure
<https://www.luminosoa.org/site/books/10.1525/luminos.83/>*
(University of California Press, 2019)

*Chromatic Algorithms: Synthetic Color, Computer Art, and Aesthetics after
Code
<http://www.amazon.com/Chromatic-Algorithms-Carolyn-L-Kane/dp/022600273X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387478152&sr=1-3>*
  (University of Chicago Press, 2014)

https://www.ryerson.ca/kane/
Associate Professor, School of Professional Communication
Faculty of Communication and Design
Ryerson University
80 Gould Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5B 2K3




On Fri, Jul 3, 2020 at 1:55 PM Matthew Kirschenbaum <mkirschenbaum at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I am interested in a better understanding of the nature of computational
> error. My sense is that actual, literal (mathematical) mistakes in modern
> computers are quite rare; the notorious Pentium bug of the early 1990s is
> the exception that proves the rule. Most bugs are, rather, code proceeding
> to a perfectly correct logical outcome that just so happens to be inimical
> or intractable to the user and/or other dependent elements of the system.
> The Y2K "bug," for instance, was actually code executing in ways that were
> entirely internally self-consistent, however much havoc the code would
> wreak (or was expected to wreak).
>
> Can anyone recommend reading that will help me formulate such thoughts
> with greater confidence and accuracy? Or serve as a corrective? I'd like to
> read something fundamental and even philosophical about, as my subject line
> has it, *the nature of computational error*. I'd also be interested in
> collecting other instances comparable to the Pentium bug--bugs that were
> actual flaws and mistakes hardwired at the deepest levels of a system.
>
> Thank you-- Matt
>
>
> --
> Matthew Kirschenbaum
> Professor of English and Digital Studies
> Director, Graduate Certificate in Digital Studies
> Printer's Devil, BookLab
> University of Maryland
> mgk at umd.edu
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