From - Wed Jan 14 17:05:59 1998 Return-Path: Received: from relay1.UU.NET by mrco.carleton.ca (4.1/SMI-4.0) id AA00997; Tue, 9 Feb 93 19:47:35 EST Received: from nyx.cs.du.edu by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA20013; Tue, 9 Feb 93 19:42:35 -0500 Received: by nyx.cs.du.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA17949; Tue, 9 Feb 93 17:31:15 MST From: ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu (andy) Message-Id: <9302100031.AA17949@nyx.cs.du.edu> X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University of Denver. The University has neither control over nor responsibility for the opinions or correct identity of users. Subject: FutureCulture Digest #223 To: future-digest@nyx.cs.du.edu Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 17:31:12 MST X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 ______________________________________________________________________ |______________ / | | / | | u t u r e <___________ u l t u r e | _______________________________________________________________________| Issue #223 Tuesday, February 9th 1993 Today's Topics: --------------- Failed Message =O CyberKop on da Beat! Ain't no jokey jokey! dudez hit piece o' the week ISDN (was: Future of the Matrix) oops! (was Top of the Ramen to ya!) PMC review of _Snow Crash_ Re: Future of the Matrix Re: non computer-literate people ? Re: re: PoMo essay thingy Re: requests and stuff Re: Somebody type something interesting (for a change) Re: Somebody type something interesting (for a change) Re: Somebody type something interesting (for a change) (fwd) Re: what's hot and what's not (fwd) - ICB? re: what's hot and what's not (fwd) - ICB? requests and stuff Wired Info Needed __________________________________________________________________________ Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1993 19:38:48 +0100 From: cardell@lysator.liu.se Subject: ISDN (was: Future of the Matrix) I don't understand what's so great about ISDN either, but I don't think so because of the loss of a market. There *is* a market, but ISDN is *way* to slow and old now. The teleco people are always behind in the development... An example would be the Swedish teleco which has thrown away 250 MSEK on a system that copies the French Minitel and then withdraw all the terminals and closed the system. Ha! mikael cardell S P U N K P R E S S ______________________________ Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1993 19:40:18 +0100 From: cardell@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: re: PoMo essay thingy Michael is wrong, you can *not* get the whole PMC at once just as any ordinary e-zine. This is too bad for me, but good for others I suppose. mikael cardell S P U N K P R E S S ______________________________ From: ahawks (mr. tripppp) Subject: requests and stuff Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 12:05:38 MST Ok, in case anyone missed it before: I AM NO LONGER SENDING OUT AGRIPPA AND AGR1PPA. ok? ok. DON'T ASK ME WHERE TO GET IT. IT'S BEEN POSTED TO ALT.CP A FEW TIMES, IT'S FTPABLE AND LISTED IN THE FAQ, AND LOTS OF PEOPLE HERE HAVE A COP® THAT SHOULD GIVE ĻU SOME CLUES. ok? ok. ALL REQUESTS GO TO future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu. ok? ok. *IF* A FEW ATTEMPTS AT UNSUBSCRIBING DON'T WORK, *THEN* SEND ĻUR UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST TO ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu AND PLEASE INCLUDE WHAT FORMAT ĻU'RE SUBSCRIBED TO. ok? ok. ALL MESSAGES TO FUTURECULTURE GO TO future@nyx.cs.du.edu, NOWHERE ELSE. ok? ok. IF ĻU HAVE AN PROBLEM WITH THE LIST ITSELF ĻU DON'T TELL THE WHOLE LIST OR THE SÓADMINDS, PLEASE TELL THE PERSON WHO MAINTAINS THE FORUM ITSELF, WHICH IN THIS CASE HAPPENS TO BE ME. THUS, MAIL ĻUR COMPLAINTS TO ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu. ok? ok. *LOTS* OF PEOPLE AREN'T FOLLOWING THESE GUIDELINES. *LOTS* OF PEOPLE AREN'T FOLLOWING THESE GUIDELINES. there's nothin shittier than having a cool, nice liberal sysadmin forward you complaints or concerns about your own list. it will be taken down altogether if people insist on being stupid. so, get it together folx. take 2 seconds out of your day to confirm that you're sending the righ message to the right address. -- andy ______________________________ From: ahawks (mr. tripppp) Subject: Re: Somebody type something interesting (for a change) Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 12:37:34 MST The huge ever-growing pulsating ultraworld of Stuart John: | |--- I know more than you do... --- |I was watching some docu about a famous physicist the other |day and he was saying he hated being a member of some |honorary society because you spend ages trying to get into |it, then once you're there they spend the whole time |discussing who they're not going to let in... |ah, sounds familiar... yes, but the peopl who decide "who's not a Cyberpunk (tm)" are usually the self-labeled ones who jost got into it, ie, just read neuromancer, just hacked root, just found vassopresin. IMHO the people who have watched the bubble morph are less willing to disagree with a person when they shout so boldly from the highest gridpoint "i am a cyberpunk", rather they'd ask 'em why they say that, figure out Where They're Coming From, Where U'z At. |Recent discussions about how bad the Time article was got |me thinking... I don't think it was bad. The only bad thing about it was the shameless self-promotion the author farted out over on alt.cp....My God, how dare he bring atention to himself on the net for one measly little article. =) |the culture *needs* to grow, and people *are* |going to be inspired by media blanket terms like 'cyberpunk' |so what easier way for people to fit in immediately than to label |themselves 'cyberpunk' ? It's not the easiest of concepts |to grasp because it covers a very diverse range of subjects, |and the fact that a lot of the culture is just interaction |with other people must seem very alien. These people should |be encouraged to participate, it just no good pointing the |finger and saying 'ha, cyber-wannabe'. The message should be |OK so you're interested in and sci-fi films and books and |whatever else inspires you towards the future, now come and {cyberpunk is really about the present.} |discuss coz you're point of view is part of the fabric of the |culture itself. *And* hopefully you can learn something which |you never knew, or you'll pick up an idea which you never even |considered... no qualms or anything there, good ideas, except that, generally, The Blanket you spoke about is torn and tattered at its' very fibers when perpetuated by surf-oriented pop culture media. i personally find a Blanket useless unless it keeps me warm, and if there's lots of holes it can't keep you warm. so how do we fix the holes? the fibers of the blanket *get_together* and repair them. Getting Together implies communication about This Whole Cyberpunk Thang (tm): your individual grounding and your individual trajectory, and what you see as the consensus grounding and the consensus trajectory. |--- Cyberspace --- |Someone typed yesterday words to the effect that the Matrix (tm) isn't |up and running coz there's not enough resources and/or incentive. |Which is a valid point. What company in their right collective |mind is going to invest huge amounts of R&D in developing the technology, |*then* chuck lots of cash into developing ice to protect their data, and |more to the point why would they put sensitive data into an abstract form |in the first place. What possible advantage could there be in saying |'here's our database, don't come and look around it' when it's pretty damn |obvious that most people/companies will. It's human nature. Huh? are you talking about a Gibson cyberspace here? Well, what difference is there between a phonenumber, a Telenet PAD, and a 3d interactive revolving triangle that represents a company? none. The only difference is the expanded senses of the Gibson cyberspace world, which aren't really all that necessary when your goal is o get *in* to the triangle, and not say "ooo, look at how big *this* triangle is". So now one might say, "yes, there you go, you can see just how *big* the triangle is which you can't see from a telephone number or PAD", but you can also get a scope of this fairly easily via dialup or PAD by what information you're presented with, initial attempts at entering the system, and most importantly other side information related to word of mouth. |--- The latest software --- |Anyone get the feeling that Microsoft's ultimate operating system NT is |just a re-invention of the proverbial wheel ? who cares, Mac. =) |--- Video --- |Anyone know how VideoPlus (tm) codes work ? The numbers don't seem to |correspond to anything and its bloody annoying me. VideoPlus, is that like VCRPLus or whatever? There was source code for fguring out any program's number posted o alt.sources or something similar awhile back. |--- Who are you ? --- |So someone explain future culture identity. Obviously outrageous |foil space suits are out, people are slamming 'cyberpunk' labels, |the clothing thread seemed to suggest black jeans, but this isn't |really sufficient enough..., individualism ? too many people subscribe |to that view (a culture of individualists ?) how would you recognise |someone in the street who shares a passion for all things futuristic |and technological ? (would you want to ?) does the anonymity of the |internet give people enough courage to speak up when they would not |do so in the company of others ? is it a mind-thing with no relevance |to a conventional form of identity ? ie. clothes, hair-colour etc. Well, cyberpunk culture is probably one of the first bubbles where virtual culture plays an important role. In virtual culture anonymity is high up on the priority list, generally as far as history of virtual culture is concerned, as is individualism. If there's anything Meaningful about cyberpunk culture, I think it is those two things: the relative degree of individualism associated with the bubble in comparison with other bubbles, and the importance of and reliance on virtual cultre as one of the mianstays of the cyberpunk bubble. now that's just the cyberpunk bubble, and don't confuse it wih the new edge bubble, the futureculture bubble, teechnoculture bubble, or cyberculture bubble, which are all different in some respects. see my futureculture manifesto. |--- Future Culture --- |What about non computer-literate people ? after all, there *are* more of |them than there are computers... imho, you don't have to have a computer to label yourself or to be labeled by others as "a cyberd00d" |are they missing out ? i have friends who are studying for humanities |degrees, and are quite happy in their ignorance of technology, they |think computers are just toys for playing Sonic, or controlling microwaves... |to be into Future-Culture seems to require an affinity with science/computers |in the first place, which shuts out so many people who don't have this access, |( perhaps the people who would make the most valuable contributions |since their chosen studies are more related to human interaction !? ) i think a the very least what is necessary is an acknowledgement that computers exist and have affected our lives beyond just some secretary sitting at his desk doing mindless data entry. that they effect communicaion, the humanities, politics, information structures, etc. as longas you know that a computer is *more* than Sonic the Hedgehog, or a microwave oven, you're ok. |It's like discussing society in scientific terms without input |from humanitarians who know what it's really about. | |--- Stereotypes --- |Why are most scientists seen as being 'boring' ??? are we ? or is that just |an English thing ? because we are increasingly a soundbyte fun-filled pop culture world which does not parallel science at all, or rather does not parallel traditional science or what is still deemed "good science" (ie,s cientific method). |--- Hi-tech bio-tech --- |Saw in the news today some American student took her own tonsils out coz |she couldn't afford hospital treatment ?!?! argh |Talking of body parts, which would be the best to be enhanced/upgraded ? |Would infra-red vision be of much use to us ? How about not being |dependent on food ?! pierce your scrotum. |*The ultimate merger of machines & man*, but is this really all it's cracked |up to be ? general consensus seems to be for small invisible chips |performing menial tasks (such as tattoo forming ?!). Hardly much of a leap |forward for man/woman ?! do we still view machines as tools, and not as an |extension of ourselves ? a tool is an extension of yourself. |[goes off to have lunch...] [goes off to get a job] |-- |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | Mentor Graphics Corporation (UK) | _ European Technical Centre, Hollybank House, | ( `/_ Mount Lane, BRACKNELL, Berkshire. RG12 3BD |(_)(_(/ Tel: +44 344 867555 |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |Stuart_John@MENTORG.COM #include |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |SATRIANISATRIANISATRIANISATRIANISATRIANISATRIANISATRIANI -- andy ______________________________ Date: 09 Feb 1993 12:48:37 -0700 (MST) From: michael@nsma.arizona.edu (Michael S. Williams) Subject: oops! (was Top of the Ramen to ya!) Looks like I sent my Top-Ramen-Ramble directly to everybody on the list, instead of to the list itself (which is where this hopefully goes). Sorry about that. See what too much of the stuff can do to ya? :-) -Michael <><-><--><---><----><-----><------><======><------><-----><----><---><--><-><> Michael Williams, michael@nsma.arizona.edu University of Arizona's Division of Neural Systems, Memory & Aging 344 Life Sciences Bldg, North Tucson, AZ 85724 (602)626-2611 <><-><--><---><----><-----><------><======><------><-----><----><---><--><-><> ______________________________ From: ahawks (mr. tripppp) Subject: =O Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 12:39:40 MST =O =P -- andy ______________________________ Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1993 13:45:33 +0600 (CST) From: Patrick McKee Subject: Re: requests and stuff On Tue, 9 Feb 1993, mr. tripppp wrote: [a bunch of stuff that you should know already! It's GONE....] But, for the faint at heart, just check out #CyberPunk on IRC. They have a cool little bot that will download a whole slew of interesting shit. Once you are on #CyberPunk just type: Well, I wont make it that easy, just do it. They have both agrippa's and a lot of other stuph. Ok? Ok. Patrick ______________________________ Subject: CyberKop on da Beat! Ain't no jokey jokey! dudez Date: Mon, 8 Feb 93 21:05:38 CST From: David Smith Forwarded message: ______________________________ From: flesh@cyberden.sf.ca.us Subject: hit piece o' the week Date: Mon, 08 Feb 93 03:32:56 PST Taken from the San Francisco Chronicle. Sun Feb 7, 1992 Sunday Punch section. Page 4. CĀERCOP PATROLS THE COMPUTER COMPUTER UNDERWORLD Bulletin boards are his beat By Ralph Blumenthal He patrols the back alleys of cyberspace at the edge of the electronic frontier. Traveling on beams of electrons, he is invisible, formless- the ultimate undercover agent He's "Phrakr Trackr" of the Hi-tech Crime Network. But don't look for him in comic books or the video store. He's real. his beat takes in the thousands of computer bulletin boards where anyone with a computer and a modem and a phone can dial up and exchange information, or even start a bulletin board. Usually the subject is as innocuous as a computer game program or a recipe or pet grooming. But increasingly, the authorities say, the bulletin boards have become underground marketplaces for stolen telephone access codes and credit card numbers, along with child pornography and other contraband. Now, law-enforcement agencies have stepped up counter attacks, including computer-based stings. That's the passion of Phraker Tracker, (pronounced FRAK-er TRAC-er), an organized crime investigator, founder of a network of police computer buffs that now span 28 states, and self-proclaimed scourge of "hackers" who break into computer networks, "phreakers" who steal telephone services and "phrackers" who are a combination of both. In his newsletter called "FBI" (Find um, Bust um, Incarcerate um"), he warned: Every move you make, Every breath you take, We'll be watching you. Braze, he uploaded the taunt onto bulletin boards last June in an effort, as he wrote, to sow "anarchy, chaos, mistrust and fear" in the "phracker community." Boyish, with closely cropped hair and a penchant for suspenders and rakish double-breasted suits, the 36-year old crime investigator works in the organized crime, racketeering and narcotics bureau of a large law-enforcement agency in the East. Like other undercover agents whose success and safety hinge on an ability to blend in with their targets even though they chafe at the anonymity of their work, he was eager to draw attention to his operations, provided his identity was withheld. While infiltrating electronic bulletin boards and investigating computer crime is part of his job, he said that Hi-Tech Crime Network that he organized last year to educate other officers around the country is his own project, for which he has spent some $4,000 of his own money on computer equipment nd telephone bills. Though his investigations have yet to yield arrests, he said he is studying nine boards and building cases with officers in three other states. "It takes time," he said. "ļu don't just buy one thing and arrest them. They'd know you were a cop. ļu buy things over a period of time, and make several arrests." While the Secret Service and the FBI are also conducting investigations, he said, local law enforcement also has jurisdiction. Others corroborated his account. His information, jibes, furthermore, with well-documented efforts by law-enforcement agencies nation-wide to penetrate the perhaps 10 percent of the nation's estimated 30,000 electronic bulletin boards where computer criminals traffic in stolen information, child pornography, poison recipes, and bomb-making instructions. "I want to make more cops aware of high-tech crime," he said as he typed at a home computer recently, reading his electronic mail from other officers and leaving messages on bulletin boards that offered stolen credit card numbers, and telephone calling codes. These were not pranks of teenage computer whizzes, he said. "This is an organized criminal activity. The victims are everybody. We all end up paying for it." Richard Pettillo, manager of corporate security for AT&T, said such fraud now costs the industry, and thereby customers, an estimated $2 billion a year and continues to grow. "It's an epidemic, let's face it," he said. "Criminals are constantly working at ways to get around our controls. We liken it to a chess game." Bruce Sterling, a chronicler of the computer wars and author of "The Hacker Crackdown" (bantam, 1992), concluded that while mischievous intrusions into computer fraud, especially telecommunications crime, is growing by leaps and bounds." This despite a crackdown by several agencies around the nation in 1990 that resulted in the seizure of some 40 computers and 23,000 floppy disks. To telecommunications giants like AT&T, MCI, and Sprint, the primary fraud is theft of long-distance calling card numbers More difficult to detect are break-ins to a company's phone system - called a private branch exchange, or PBX. These thefts can afford free outside calling at the company's expense and can escape notice until the bill arrives. Among recent victims were the financially struggling New ļrk Post, which suffered a $40,000 loss. Toward the end of a month, as the likelihood of their detection rises, "phreakers" often post PBX access codes on electronic bulletin boards, allowing wider exploitation and muddying the trail for investigators. The techniques for such electronic break-ins are widely disseminated on bulletin boards. In addition, many experts say, the more secretive boards have become forums for pedophiles and other sexual predators who also inhabit cyberspace, that unfixable geography where disembodied strangers known only by their pseudonyms, or "handles," chat by computer and phone lines. Pornography, even moving pictures from overseas, are stored as files that can be downloaded by minors into home computers at will. Chief Alfred O. Olsen of the Warwick Township Police Department in Litiz, PA., who has worked with the high-tech crime group and its founder, said in a recent report that he became aware of the nefarious uses of some of the boards as a result of a rape case in which the suspect met victims through a computer bulletin board. To get onto a bulletin board, a computer user needs only a communications program like Crosstalk and a modem that will send and recieve signals over a phone line. Each board has it's own phone number and is usually maintained by its originator, a system operator who sets the rules for access and coordinates the message traffic. Each board commonly offers the phone numbers of many other boards, as well as programs for starting yet other boards. But so-called underground boards offering illicit services require secret passwords, usually granted only to those who attend face-to-face meetings intended to weed out the police. Computer civil-libertarians like the Electronic Frontier Foundation counter that the police typically have difficulty differentiating between criminal schemes and constitutionally protected free speech. But Phrakr Trakr said he understood the distinction. "If you want to write how to kill your parents, that's OK." he said , citing a bulletin board "phile" on how to dispose of a murdered parent's body. "But selling credit cards is something else." Learning the idioms was the first step in infiltrating a bulletin board system, he said. He used a software program on an IBM clone and a telephone modem to log onto one of several clandestine boards; he did this by using false identification and access passwords he had acquired be satisfying a series of questions testing his authenticity. He was scanning the messages when the systems operator who policed the board broke in: "What's up need any help?" "ļ dude," he typed out, "Looking fer ATT's got any?" The operator provided the handle, or nickname, of someone who might have credit-card calling numbers. Phrakr Trakr left a message for him and addressed the operator. "Thanks for the codez." he typed, adding: "ļu only one getting any." If future transactions proved rewarding, he said, he would try to lure the supplier to a face-to-face meeting where he could be arrested by local authorities on other charges, safeguarding the confidentiality of the undercover exchange. He rummaged through other boards, finding files on how to turn household chemicals into deadly poisons, how to build an "Assassin Box" to send a supposedly lethal power surge through a telephone line, and how to use a tone dialer to make free calls from certain coin telephones. Then it was time to log onto his own bulletin board--protected by his own high-security measures--to check the mail from fellow members of the Hi-Tech Crime Network. Tim left a message saying he had found a bulletin board he was investigating concealed an even more interesting underground board. "I'm in the process of getting elite access right now," he wrote "Hope it works." But Tim wanted to know, what if he was asked to provide card numbers in return? "Always put them on the defensive," counseled Phrakr Trakr. "Let them know you're interested but come across as being cautious. They will understand that. Upload some files you got from this board and that should give you some credibility. Have an attitude. Most hackers/phreakers do." __________________________________________________________________________ | / |\ | H E \  B E R |/ E N [ flesh@cyberden.sf.ca.us ] The CyberDen - Public Access Waffle Usenet System - 415/472-5527 ______________________________ Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 12:00:18 PST From: Al Sargent Subject: Re: Future of the Matrix ļu could be right about ISDN. I think it might take something else for people to start using the Matrix. I think more people will begin using computers and "The Matrix" when personal communicators like the Eo and the Newton get to a price where the average Joe can afford them. The Joe Average will start sending email to his friends, and start setting up mailing lists, and bboards, and generally doing things with the Matrix. Something like a price of a couple of hundred dollars for a Newton with celluar modem will do the trick. Look at the Fax, and at cellular phones and answering machines -- all of them are cheap and effective ways of communicating, and all have permeated our society. al ~~ From deh1@Lehigh.EDU Mon Feb 8 19:49:52 1993 ~~ X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University ~~ of Denver. The University has neither control over nor ~~ responsibility for the opinions or correct identity of users. ~~ Date: Mon, 08 Feb 1993 22:43:45 EST ~~ From: deh1@Lehigh.EDU (Darrel Herbst) ~~ Subject: Future of the Matrix ~~ To: future@nyx.cs.du.edu ~~ ~~ People spoke before of the mass integration that will occur come the advent of ~~ ISDN, yeah well I remember when they said the same thing about the Modem. ~~ What happened from that big hullabaloo? Not much, I say. ______________________________ From: u9009914@athmail1.causeway.qub.ac.uk Subject: Re: non computer-literate people ? Date: Tue, 09 Feb 93 19:34:52 GMT A few comments on the non computer-literate people vs the net discussion. People will in general only use things that they find easy to use. Look at video recorders lots of them about, almost as easy to use as a tape recorder. Computers are seen as a terribly complex thing "I won't touch that it will explode" is something that we all have met I'm sure. Once computers are seen as being simple or easier to use they will be much more widely used. What is needed is a simplier front end to mailers and the mailing system, I've spent a lot of time recently explaining to Computer Sci undergrads how to mail people -- the info is there in the net (Brenden Kehoe's sp?? excellent Zen & internet now a book from Prentice-Hall) etc People just need a prompt/help in the right direction --------------- Universities in the states seem much more friendly towards outside access -- ftp'able sites; PD unix access; finger to a univ and some have help even. In the uk most univ's are unfriendly finger turned off very few ftp sites etc Also people in the states seem much more computer friendly, thriving e-lists, irc etc eg sf-raves approx 70 plus msgs/day -- one large city uk-raves approx 1-5 msgs/day -- 60 million person country ok that's isn't completely valid ukrave covers too large an area and the S/N ratio on sfraves is high - can i have a lift to... etc I only got real net.access about nov92, when my university finally made the student access workstations net.mailable etc since then I've found some nice virtual communities virtual-worlds; future-culture; sfraves - til it got to much 60+/day etc The net is one of the fastest means of global comms (many to many) around and an amazing info resource it should be made accessible to all - people have a right to info... (glut) :) if this reads a bit confused - sorry gav u9009914@athmail1.causeway.qub.ac.uk <-- preferred gr.bell@v2.qub.ac.uk :: undergrad Psychology/CompSci another day, same shit, different colour maybe, ______________________________ From: Unpleasant Chameleon Subject: Re: Somebody type something interesting (for a change) (fwd) Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 12:18:46 PST > > |--- Video --- > |Anyone know how VideoPlus (tm) codes work ? The numbers don't seem to > |correspond to anything and its bloody annoying me. > > VideoPlus, is that like VCRPLus or whatever? There was source code > for fguring out any program's number posted o alt.sources or something > similar awhile back. Couldn't someone with the ability to do that learn how to PROGRAM THEIR VCR in the first place?!? (Sorry- personal vendetta against VCR Plus) Seriously though, doesn't it annoy anyone else that there is a $60 device to perform a function it should take 2 minutes to learn how to do? Before we can even THINK about a computer in every home jacked to the net, we have gotta destroy VCR Plus. Or at least the need for it. Are people really that afraid of machines? -- GRiM ______________________________ Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1993 13:07:50 EST From: stimpy@dcv4kd.phs.com Subject: Re: Somebody type something interesting (for a change) stuartj@MENTORG.COM (Stuart John) writes... >--- Controlling computers with brainwaves --- >Does anyone doing this research have *any* idea how >scrambled the jellyware gets after starin' at a >monitor all day long ? and stressing out when the >compiler bombs ? why would anyone want to control >computers with brainwaves ? mind you it would probably >be more responsive than my Sun optical mouse... Remember that you only use 10% of your brain's capacity. What if you could allocate an entirely different area of your brain to control software? I would love to be able to jack my brain into my xterminal. Think of the response time! Of course when your brain encountered a 56K or T1 link, it would be too slow to use. Hell, ethernet would be too slow. 8-) One of the first interesting notes on this list was about the raw processing speed of the human brain. I think it was estimmated at about 10 trillion instructions per second. That is using a local interface of course. ;-) >Anyone get the feeling that Microsoft's ultimate operating system NT is >just a re-invention of the proverbial wheel ? No. It is a big improvement on the proverbial wheel DOS. >--- Who are you ? --- Who cares who how we dress. Styles will always be changing. And yes, the internet does allow inhibited people to speak up. Of course the truly inhibited still lurk. >--- Future Culture --- >What about non computer-literate people ? after all, there *are* more of >them than there are computers... WRONG! I have found that most "MIS" types are truly computer ignorant. They are just politically-motivated yuppie sponges. Finding a true computer professional is not an easy task. Also, the last time I checked there were over a billion microprocessors out there. >--- Stereotypes --- >Why are most scientists seen as being 'boring' ??? are we ? or is that just >an English thing ? I find scientists exciting. Alas, the mundane population does find us boring. Matt Holdrege stimpy@dcv4kd.phs.com "I am what I am & thats all that I am" - Popeye the Sailor Man ______________________________ From: StevenJ Subject: re: what's hot and what's not (fwd) - ICB? Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 15:18:46 CST ______________________________ From: the! ->are there 'icb servers' one can telnet o,or something like that? Not exactly. ICB runs on one machine and everyone telnet's to it. Thus the lack of use by non-US users. Steve J. White homoNuevo ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The goal of science is the destruction aragorn@convex.csd.uwm.edu of all mystery." - B.F. Skinner aragorn@csd4.csd.uwm.edu ______________________________ From: hgm@unity.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: Somebody type something interesting (for a change) Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1993 16:43:23 -0500 (EST) > > > > > |--- Video --- > > |Anyone know how VideoPlus (tm) codes work ? The numbers don't seem to > > |correspond to anything and its bloody annoying me. > > > > VideoPlus, is that like VCRPLus or whatever? There was source code > > for fguring out any program's number posted o alt.sources or something > > similar awhile back. > > Couldn't someone with the ability to do that learn how to PROGRAM THEIR VCR > in the first place?!? (Sorry- personal vendetta against VCR Plus) > Seriously though, doesn't it annoy anyone else that there is a $60 device to > perform a function it should take 2 minutes to learn how to do? Before we can > even THINK about a computer in every home jacked to the net, we have gotta > destroy VCR Plus. Or at least the need for it. Are people really that afraid > of machines? > As someone who bought a VCRPlus for a friend for Christmas, I feel qualified to respond. This particular person is much like the general "computer illiterate" population. They have graduated from the VCR that had the little hard-to-read buttons (I still have one of those) to the "user-friendly" on-screen programming type. He still tends to make mistakes programming the VCR occasionally, and worse, sometimes sets the VCR clock wrong after a power failure. A VCR plus has it's own power source (batteries) that have a life of between one and two years. It's not dependant on the VCR's smarts at all, it has it's own clock. It will tell you how much tape you'll need for all of the programs you have stored in it. ļu can program it months in advance. I consider the VCR plus to be a very successful attempt at simplifying a user interface. If you want to program the VCR for a program that doesn't have a VCR plus code, then you are still able to use your VCR's built in ability. Perhaps it's best to think of VCR plus as a "macro language" for your VCR. What does this have to do with FC? It must be kept in mind when thinking of futuretech as a consumer iten that it's very application driven. People will buy something it does something that they want to do, not just because a technology is sexy. The multimedia revolution that everyone was predicting ten-twenty years ago is indeed now happening, but not quite in the way most envisioned. CD-ROM techology isn't being used as much as a great learning tool, as it is a format for home video gaming technology; Sega's MegaCD is now the largest installed base of CDROM users. This is not a bad thing; it gets people confortable with the format, and prepares them for the next step, whatever it might be (3D0,CDI?). --hal ______________________________ From: jmueg@unity.ncsu.edu Subject: PMC review of _Snow Crash_ Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1993 16:53:47 -0500 (EST) I've seen a couple of messages on this list about Stuart Moulthrop's review of _Snow Crash_, published in _Postmodern Culture_. I co-edit _Postmodern Culture_, and I'd like to invite anyone who's interested to subscribe--it's free and available to anyone on Bitnet or the internet (you compuserve people may have some trouble retrieving files longer than 50K, due to restrictions imposed by Compuserve on the size of files it will accept from the internet...) To subscribe, send a message to pmc@ncsuvm.cc.ncsu.edu asking to be subscribed to the journal: please give a first and last name in the text of your message, as the Listserv software wants a name to go with the address. By writing to the same address, you can subscribe to PMC-Talk, a discussion group on postmodernism (which has its own files, too). All journal and PMC-TALK files are available via anonymous ftp to ncsuvm.cc.ncsu.edu, in the directory PMC. John Unsworth ______________________________ Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 15:39:49 CST From: UUCP (rmail) Subject: Failed Message ļur message was not delivered to: Kelly.Byrne@mixcom.com ((USER) Unknown user name in "Kelly.Byrne@mixcom.com") --------------- Returned Mail --------------- Received: from spool.mu.edu by spool.mu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA08737; Tue, 9 Feb 93 13:41:25 CST Received: from nyx.cs.du.edu by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA22394; Tue, 9 Feb 93 14:09:13 -0500 Received: by nyx.cs.du.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA01316; Tue, 9 Feb 93 12:05:39 MST From: ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu (mr. tripppp) Message-Id: <9302091905.AA01316@nyx.cs.du.edu> X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University of Denver. The University has neither control over nor responsibility for the opinions or correct identity of users. Subject: requests and stuff To: FutureCulture Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 12:05:38 MST X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] Ok, in case anyone missed it before: I AM NO LONGER SENDING OUT AGRIPPA AND AGR1PPA. ok? ok. DON'T ASK ME WHERE TO GET IT. IT'S BEEN POSTED TO ALT.CP A FEW TIMES, IT'S FTPABLE AND LISTED IN THE FAQ, AND LOTS OF PEOPLE HERE HAVE A COP® THAT SHOULD GIVE ĻU SOME CLUES. ok? ok. ALL REQUESTS GO TO future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu. ok? ok. *IF* A FEW ATTEMPTS AT UNSUBSCRIBING DON'T WORK, *THEN* SEND ĻUR UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST TO ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu AND PLEASE INCLUDE WHAT FORMAT ĻU'RE SUBSCRIBED TO. ok? ok. ALL MESSAGES TO FUTURECULTURE GO TO future@nyx.cs.du.edu, NOWHERE ELSE. ok? ok. IF ĻU HAVE AN PROBLEM WITH THE LIST ITSELF ĻU DON'T TELL THE WHOLE LIST OR THE SÓADMINDS, PLEASE TELL THE PERSON WHO MAINTAINS THE FORUM ITSELF, WHICH IN THIS CASE HAPPENS TO BE ME. THUS, MAIL ĻUR COMPLAINTS TO ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu. ok? ok. *LOTS* OF PEOPLE AREN'T FOLLOWING THESE GUIDELINES. *LOTS* OF PEOPLE AREN'T FOLLOWING THESE GUIDELINES. there's nothin shittier than having a cool, nice liberal sysadmin forward you complaints or concerns about your own list. it will be taken down altogether if people insist on being stupid. so, get it together folx. take 2 seconds out of your day to confirm that you're sending the righ message to the right address. -- andy --------------- End of Returned Mail ------------- ______________________________ Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 15:40:00 CST From: UUCP (rmail) Subject: Failed Message ļur message was not delivered to: Kelly.Byrne@mixcom.com ((USER) Unknown user name in "Kelly.Byrne@mixcom.com") --------------- Returned Mail --------------- Received: from spool.mu.edu by spool.mu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA09413; Tue, 9 Feb 93 14:01:42 CST Received: from nyx.cs.du.edu by relay2.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA04236; Tue, 9 Feb 93 14:48:37 -0500 Received: by nyx.cs.du.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA06438; Tue, 9 Feb 93 12:39:41 MST From: ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu (mr. tripppp) Message-Id: <9302091939.AA06438@nyx.cs.du.edu> X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University of Denver. The University has neither control over nor responsibility for the opinions or correct identity of users. Subject: =O To: FutureCulture Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 12:39:40 MST X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] =O =P -- andy --------------- End of Returned Mail ------------- ______________________________ Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 17:23:06 EST From: grass@chaos.ento.vt.edu (Scott Huddle) Subject: Wired Info Needed Anyone have the 800 number for Wired magazine, I subscribed but haven't gotten my first issue yet, and it really burns me when I see a copy at Walden-crooks. I remember part of the number as 800 4 WIRED (can anyone fill in the rest of the digits?) -- -scott ______________________________ Subject: Re: what's hot and what's not (fwd) - ICB? Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 18:44:35 EST From: Mitchell Porter > Not exactly. ICB runs on one machine and everyone telnet's to it. Thus the > lack of use by non-US users. hey, some of us non-US users have telnet too you know! is the address a secret? _________________________________________________________________________ | | | That's all for today! | | To send a message to the list: future@nyx.cs.du.edu | | To subscribe/unsubscribe/change format: future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu | | All other requests: future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu | | List Maintainer is: (andy [aka hawkeye]) ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu | |_________________________________________________________________________| | | | The opinions expressed in FutureCulture are those of the individual | | author only. | |_________________________________________________________________________|