Advertisement for magnetic drum memory units. Electronics Magazine, April 1953. Reproduced in Ceruzzi, A History of Modern Computing, p. 39

Scattershot suggestions for diversion and instruction:

Media critic Jeff Sconce's delightfully dyspeptic blog:  http://ludicdespair.blogspot.com/

Organization for media and political activism co-founded by media philosopher Bernard Stiegler: http://arsindustrialis.org/

Occasional meditations from media and communications theorist Ben Peters:  http://petersbenjamin.wordpress.com/

Political group co-founded by philosopher Barbara Cassin: www.appeldesappels.org

Isaac Bigsby Trogdon, design & web development, Berlin: www.isaacbigsbytrogdon.com

Dyssembler, record label for house, r&b, bass music, Berlin:  www.dyss.net

Musings by environmental historian Etienne Benson: www.etiennebenson.com

Speculations and commentary from media theorist Jussi Parikka: www.jussiparikka.net

Recent work by Tommaso Venturini of the MediaLab at Sciences Po Paris: www.tommasoventurini.it/web/

Paris-itical comments from DJay Indie Eclectique: www.parisnormal.blogspot.com/

At the intersections of American, German and French theory, there is Shane Denson's Interdisciplinary Media Initiative in Hannover: http://medieninitiative.wordpress.com/

Miscellany from the blog of economist and sociologist Rigas Arvanatis http://rigas.ouvaton.org/

Cutting edge research on art and philosophy at Collapse: http://urbanomic.com/

The New Media field manual collates new work on new media: http://newmediafieldmanual.wordpress.com/

Digital historian and media archaeologist Stefan Höltgen: http://www.simulationsraum.de

Film scholar Chuck Kleinhans on chow http://chuckandchow.tumblr.com/ (and just as delectable, the journal he and Julia Lesage co-edit, Jump Cut http://www.ejumpcut.org/home.html )