bang. Pure Data (2006)

“Pd (aka Pure Data) is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical processing. Pd is free software. It is subject of a constant process of change, revealing new characteristics with each application. Is it a tool/media/instrument? Is this a question that can be answered? Is it a decision that needs to be made at all?

This publication is a compilation of texts describing different approaches to Pd, a profile of its usage and development. It is contradictory, and at the end, one finds oneself with a lot of open questions, on a technical level as well as on a philosophical one.

The 1st International Pd-Convention in Graz in fall 2004 was the motivation for this book. The authors participated at this meeting, and an accompanying DVD shows some of the works that were presented at this occasion.”

With articles from: Frank Barknecht, Reinhard Braun, Ramiro Cosentino, Günther Geiger, Thomas Grill, Cyrille Henry, Jürgen Hofbauer, Reni Hofmüller, Werner Jauk, Brian Jurish, Andrea Mayr, Thomas Musil, Michael Pinter, Miller Puckette, Marc Ries, Winfreid Ritsch, Andrey Savitsky, Christian Scheib, Susanne Schmidt, Hans-Christoph Steiner, James Tittle, Harald A. Wiltsche, IOhannes m zmölnig.

Edited by Fränk Zimmer
Publisher Wolke, Hofheim, 2006
Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5 License
175 pages

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EFF: Surveillance Self-Defense (2009)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has created this Surveillance Self-Defense site to educate the American public about the law and technology of government surveillance in the United States, providing the information and tools necessary to evaluate the threat of surveillance and take appropriate steps to defend against it.

Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD) exists to answer two main questions: What can the government legally do to spy on your computer data and communications? And what can you legally do to protect yourself against such spying?

After an introductory discussion of how you should think about making security decisions — it’s all about risk management — we’ll be answering those two questions for three types of data:

First, we’re going to talk about the threat to the data stored on your computer posed by searches and seizures by law enforcement, as well as subpoenas demanding your records.

Second, we’re going to talk about the threat to your data on the wire — that is, your data as it’s being transmitted — posed by wiretapping and other real-time surveillance of your telephone and Internet communications by law enforcement.

Third, we’re going to describe the information about you that is stored by third parties like your phone company and your Internet service provider, and how law enforcement officials can get it.

In each of these three sections, we’re going to give you practical advice about how to protect your private data against law enforcement agents.

In a fourth section, we’ll also provide some basic information about the U.S. government’s expanded legal authority when it comes to foreign intelligence and terrorism investigations.

Finally, we’ve collected several articles about specific defensive technologies that you can use to protect your privacy, which are linked to from the other sections or can be accessed individually. So, for example, if you’re only looking for information about how to securely delete your files, or how to use encryption to protect the privacy of your emails or instant messages, you can just directly visit that article.

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Nicolas Collins: Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking (2006)

“Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking provides a long-needed, practical, and engaging introduction for students of electronic music, installation and sound-art to the craft of making–as well as creatively cannibalizing–electronic circuits for artistic purposes. Designed for practioners and students of electronic art, it provides a guided tour through the world of electronics, encouraging artists to get to know the inner workings of basic electronic devices so they can creatively use them for their own ends.

Handmade Electronic Music introduces the basic of practical circuitry while instructing the student in basic electronic principles, always from the practical point of view of an artist. It teaches a style of intuitive and sensual experimentation that has been lost in this day of prefabricated electronic musical instruments whose inner workings are not open to experimentation. It encourages artists to transcend their fear of electronic technology to launch themselves into the pleasure of working creatively with all kinds of analog circuitry.”

Publisher Routledge, 2006
ISBN 0415975921, 9780415975926
245 pages

Key terms: photoresistor, resistor, Nicolas Collins, Circuit Bending, David Tudor, David Behrman, breadboard, Alvin Lucier, Phil Archer, Yasunao Tone, tape head, Schmitt Trigger, Integrated Circuit, electronic music, Stephen Vitiello, volts, soldering iron, Radio Shack, electrical tape, oscillator

Online companion to Third edition
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