Tracing the genealogy of our physical interaction with mobile devices back to textile and needlecraft culture. For many of our interactions with digital media, we do not sit at a keyboard but hold a mobile device in our hands. We turn and tilt and stroke and tap, and through these physical interactions with an object we make things: images, links, sites, networks. In The Fabric of Interface, Stephen Monteiro argues that our everyday digital practice has taken on traits common to textile and needlecraft culture. Our smart phones and tablets use some of the same skills—manual dexterity, pattern making, and linking—required by the handloom, the needlepoint hoop, and the lap-sized quilting frame. Monteiro goes on to argue that the capacity of textile metaphors to describe computing (weaving code, threaded discussions, zipped files, software patches, switch fabrics) represents deeper connections between digital communication and what has been called “homecraft” or “women's work.” Connecting networked media to practices that seem alien to media technologies, Monteiro identifies handicraft and textile techniques in the production of software and hardware, and cites the punched cards that were read by a loom's rods as a primitive form of computer memory; examines textual and visual discourses that position the digital image as a malleable fabric across its production, access, and use; compares the digital labor of liking, linking, and tagging to such earlier forms of collective production as quilting bees and piecework; and describes how the convergence of intimacy and handiwork at the screen interface, combined with needlecraft aesthetics, genders networked culture and activities in unexpected ways.

Our love affair with the digital interface is out of control. We’ve embraced it in the boardroom, the bedroom, and the bathroom. Screens have taken over our lives. Most people spend over eight hours a day staring at a screen, and some “technological innovators” are hoping to grab even more of your eyeball time. You have screens in your pocket, in your car, on your appliances, and maybe even on your face. Average smartphone users check their phones 150 times a day, responding to the addictive buzz of Facebook or emails or Twitter. Are you sick? There’s an app for that! Need to pray? There’s an app for that! Dead? Well, there’s an app for that, too! And most apps are intentionally addictive distractions that end up taking our attention away from things like family, friends, sleep, and oncoming traffic. There’s a better way. In this book, innovator Golden Krishna challenges our world of nagging, screen-based bondage, and shows how we can build a technologically advanced world without digital interfaces. In his insightful, raw, and often hilarious criticism, Golden reveals fascinating ways to think beyond screens using three principles that lead to more meaningful innovation. Whether you’re working in technology, or just wary of a gadget-filled future, you’ll be enlighted and entertained while discovering that the best interface is no interface.

Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals For many IT organizations, today''s greatest challenge is to drive more value, efficiency, and utilization from data centers. Virtualization is the best way to meet this challenge. Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals brings together the comprehensive knowledge Cisco professionals need to apply virtualization throughout their data center environments. Leading data center expert Gustavo A. A. Santana thoroughly explores all components of an end-to-end data center virtualization solution, including networking, storage, servers, operating systems, application optimization, and security. Rather than focusing on a single product or technology, he explores product capabilities as interoperable design tools that can be combined and integrated with other solutions, including VMware vSphere. With the author''s guidance, you''ll learn how to define and implement highly-efficient architectures for new, expanded, or retrofit data center projects. By doing so, you can deliver agile application provisioning without purchasing unnecessary infrastructure, and establish a strong foundation for new cloud computing and IT-as-a-service initiatives. Throughout, Santana illuminates key theoretical concepts through realistic use cases, real-world designs, illustrative configuration examples, and verification outputs. Appendixes provide valuable reference information, including relevant Cisco data center products and CLI principles for IOS and NX-OS. With this approach, Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals will be an indispensable resource for anyone preparing for the CCNA Data Center, CCNP Data Center, or CCIE Data Center certification exams. Gustavo A. A. Santana, CCIE® No. 8806, is a Cisco Technical Solutions Architect working in enterprise and service provider data center projects that require deep integration across technology areas such as networking, application optimization, storage, and servers. He has more than 15 years of data center experience, and has led and coordinated a team of specialized Cisco engineers in Brazil. He holds two CCIE certifications (Routing & Switching and Storage Networking), and is a VMware Certified Professional (VCP) and SNIA Certified Storage Networking Expert (SCSN-E). A frequent speaker at Cisco and data center industry events, he blogs on data center virtualization at gustavoaasantana.net. Learn how virtualization can transform and improve traditional data center network topologies Understand the key characteristics and value of each data center virtualization technology Walk through key decisions, and transform choices into architecture Smoothly migrate existing data centers toward greater virtualization Burst silos that have traditionally made data centers inefficient Master foundational technologies such as VLANs, VRF, and virtual contexts Use virtual PortChannel and FabricPath to overcome the limits of STP Optimize cabling and network management with fabric extender (FEX) virtualized chassis Extend Layer 2 domains to distant data center sites using MPLS and Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV) Use VSANs to overcome Fibre Channel fabric challenges Improve SAN data protection, environment isolation, and scalability Consolidate I/O through Data Center Bridging and FCoE Use virtualization to radically simplify server environments Create server profiles that streamline "bare metal" server provisioning "Transcend the rack" through virtualized networking based on Nexus 1000V and VM-FEX Leverage opportunities to deploy virtual network services more efficiently Evolve data center virtualization toward full-fledged private clouds -Reviews - "The variety of material that Gustavo covers in this work would appeal to anyone responsible for Data Centers today. His grasp of virtualization technologies and ability to relate it in both technical and non-technical terms makes for compelling reading. This is not your ordinary tech manual. Through use of relatable visual cues, Gustavo provides information that is easily recalled on the subject of virtualization, reaching across Subject Matter Expertise domains. Whether you consider yourself well-versed or a novice on the topic, working in large or small environments, this work will provide a clear understanding of the diverse subject of virtualization." -- Bill Dufresne, CCIE 4375, Distinguished Systems Engineer, Cisco (Americas) "..this book is an essential reference and will be valuable asset for potential candidates pursuing their Cisco Data Center certifications. I am confident that in reading this book, individuals will inevitably gain extensive knowledge and hands-on experience during their certification preparations. If you''re looking for a truly comprehensive guide to virtualization, this is the one!" -- Yusuf Bhaiji, Senior Manager, Expert Certifications (CCIE, CCDE, CCAr), Learning@Cisco "When one first looks at those classic Cisco Data Center blueprints, it is very common to become distracted with the overwhelming number of pieces and linkages. By creating a solid theoretical foundation and providing rich sets of companion examples to illustrate each concept, Gustavo''s book brings hope back to IT Professionals from different areas of expertise. Apparently complex topics are demystified and the insertion of products, mechanisms, protocols and technologies in the overall Data Center Architecture is clearly explained, thus enabling you to achieve robust designs and successful deployments. A must read... Definitely!" -- Alexandre M. S. P. Moraes, Consulting Systems Engineer -- Author of "Cisco Firewalls"

Offers key historical and interpretative texts on the development and role of "the screen" in communications and the social sphere.

In June 2016 Dr Pawel Michal Orzechowski was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Sciences for the work presented in this book. From the abstract: The inability to touch fabrics online frustrates consumers, who are used to evaluating physical textiles by engaging in complex, natural gestural interactions. The goal of this thesis was to create a fabric simulator that minimized this perceptual gap, enabling accurate perception of the qualities of fabrics presented digitally. We designed iShoogle, a multi-gesture touch-screen sound-enabled fabric simulator that aimed to create an accurate representation of fabric qualities without the need for touching the physical fabric swatch. iShoogle uses on-screen gestures (inspired by natural on- fabric movements e.g. Crunching) to control pre-recorded videos and audio of fabrics being deformed (e.g. being Crunched). iShoogle creates an illusion of direct video manipulation and also direct manipulation of the displayed fabric

A practicing engineer's inclusive review of communication systems based on shared-bus and shared-memory switch/router architectures This book delves into the inner workings of router and switch design in a comprehensive manner that is accessible to a broad audience. It begins by describing the role of switch/routers in a network, then moves on to the functional composition of a switch/router. A comparison of centralized versus distributed design of the architecture is also presented. The author discusses use of bus versus shared-memory for communication within a design, and also covers Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms and configuration tools. Written in a simple style and language to allow readers to easily understand and appreciate the material presented, Switch/Router Architectures: Shared-Bus and Shared-Memory Based Systems discusses the design of multilayer switches—starting with the basic concepts and on to the basic architectures. It describes the evolution of multilayer switch designs and highlights the major performance issues affecting each design. It addresses the need to build faster multilayer switches and examines the architectural constraints imposed by the various multilayer switch designs. The book also discusses design issues including performance, implementation complexity, and scalability to higher speeds. This resource also: Summarizes principles of operation and explores the most common installed routers Covers the design of example architectures (shared bus and memory based architectures), starting from early software based designs Provides case studies to enhance reader comprehension Switch/Router Architectures: Shared-Bus and Shared-Memory Based Systems is an excellent guide for advanced undergraduate and graduate level students, as well for engineers and researchers working in the field.

Crossbar switch fabrics offer many benefits when designing switch/routers. This book discusses switch/router architectures using design examples and case studies of well-known systems that employ crossbar switch fabric as their internal interconnects. This book looks to explain the design of switch/routers from a practicing engineer’s perspective. It uses a broad range of design examples to illustrate switch/router designs and provides case studies to enhance readers comprehension of switch/router architectures. The book goes on to discuss industry best practices in switch/router design and explains the key features and differences between unicast and multicast packet forwarding architectures. This book will be of benefit to telecoms/networking industry professionals and engineers as well as researchers and academics looking for more practical and efficient approaches for designing non-blocking crossbar switch fabrics.