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Protocol Fiction Aesthetics

ArticleJames Langdon

Protocolized debuts a new visual art direction for issue #71, releasing two custom image generation models developed by artist Darius Ou and editor James Langdon in collaboration with TITLES. The shift moves away from Midjourney-generated imagery influenced by 1950s pulp sci-fi toward a more conceptually grounded aesthetic inspired by John W. Campbell's editorial approach in Astounding Stories.

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Theorizing Protocolization Ii Atomic

This article continues a theoretical investigation into protocolization as a planetary transformation of technologically-mediated behaviors into coordination infrastructure, arguing that protocols operate invisibly across technical, institutional, and social domains at multiple scales. The authors seek to develop formal models and generalizable features of protocols that can be reliably applied across diverse contexts, addressing the methodological challenge of locating and theorizing protocolization despite its ubiquity and invisibility.

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What Is Protocol Fiction

The Protocol Fiction Special Interest Group explores what protocol fiction is as a genre, moving beyond the tautological definition of science fiction focused on protocols to foundational concepts like Chiang's Law, which positions protocol fiction in the science fiction camp where 'strange rules' (protocols) serve as world-shaping technologies. The group examines genre from multiple angles including reader-writer contracts, discourse modes, and commercial publishing categories.

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Theorizing Protocolization I New

This essay introduces protocolization as a planetary phenomenon where progress occurs through invisibility and the expansion of computational systems, establishing qualitative frameworks before Part II develops formal theoretical apparatus. The authors present this work from the Special Interest Group in Formal Protocol Theory (SIGFPT) as an invitation to collectively theorize how protocols structure contemporary life at planetary scale.

Venkatesh Rao, Patrick Nast