From - Wed Jan 14 17:14:50 1998 Return-Path: Received: from relay1.UU.NET by mrco.carleton.ca (4.1/SMI-4.0) id AA00800; Wed, 17 Feb 93 01:29:34 EST Received: from nyx.cs.du.edu by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA10469; Wed, 17 Feb 93 01:30:07 -0500 Received: by nyx.cs.du.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA13265; Tue, 16 Feb 93 23:30:17 MST From: ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu (andy) Message-Id: <9302170630.AA13265@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 #239 To: future-digest@nyx.cs.du.edu Date: Tue, 16 Feb 93 23:30:16 MST X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] Status: O Content-Length: 16849 X-Lines: 429 X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 ______________________________________________________________________ |______________ / | | / | | u t u r e <___________ u l t u r e | _______________________________________________________________________| Issue #239 Tuesday, February 16th 1993 Today's Topics: --------------- "WAX or the discovery of tv among the bees" new playdates Future Culture List : Add Satire on Time 'cyberpunk' article [annotated] TAZ __________________________________________________________________________ Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1993 19:28:04 -0500 (EST) From: K_MACARTHUR@UNHH.UNH.EDU (Korac MacArthur) Subject: TAZ It sounds like an interesting read, I'm willing to have an open mind. Where does one go about obtaining it? Is it nettable via ftp or is it in hardcopy form only at certain bookstores? Inquiring minds want to grow. Korac ______________________________ From: "Alexander.Burton" Date: Tue, 16 Feb 93 11:30:02 GMT Subject: Future Culture List : Add After seeing an old copy of your future culture list I would like to be added to the mailing list. Yours, alexb@uk.ac.plym.sc or s03206@uk.ac.plym.pa ______________________________ Date: 16 Feb 1993 12:44:20 -0600 (CST) From: Scotto >me neither. but *applied* memetics? if there was a way to figure out how ideas >could actually be engineered, so to speak, to spread as far as possible? that'd >be useful for anyone with any notion of changing the way the Net sees and >thinks about itself... "Applied memetics," in this context, already has a name. It's called "Public Relations." ______________________________ Subject: Satire on Time 'cyberpunk' article [annotated] Date: Tue, 16 Feb 93 14:57:40 CST From: "Bill Humphries, Data Husbandry Flunky" ______________________________ From: the! The article starts out well, poking fun at _Time_ magazine's gulability. However, anyone familiar with Noam Chomskey's models of media capture wouldn't be surprised by how _Time_ prints anything with 'expert' stamped on it. The article then collapses into juvenile name-calling and stereotyping. There's certainly aspects of 'cyberpunk/M2K' culture which are ripe for satire, and perhaps if the writer spent some time researcing [yes, even satires need to be researched, else the writer comes across as a 'nattering nabob of negatitism'], they could have written a screamingly funny article. Instead, they chose to stick with the usual assumptions that any net.user's sex partner is thier left hand. CYBERDUMB: Dispelling the Cyberpunk Myth by Kelly Ambrose Two weeks ago, _Time_ became the first major new magazine to devote an entire front page article to the "cyberpunk" movement. According to _Time_, cyberpunks are hip, new youths of the '90s who love computers and are determined to use them for recreational purposes. This cyberpunk counter- culture, or "cyberculture" is supposedly into VIRTUAL REALITY, rave dance parties, and pleasure-inducing brain implants, all of which they learn about by tapping into CYBERSPACE. They listen to INDUSTRIAL MUSIC, write in HYPERTEXT, and use SMART DRUGS. It's a totally new and futuristic subculture that's sweeping the world, and we all owe a big debt to _Time_ for finally breaking this important story. Of course, just becase _Time_ swallowed the cyberpunk myth hook, line and sinker doesn't mean _you_ have believe that nonsense. Keep in mind that _Time_ has no idea what youngsters do these days, and if you and your friends told _Time_ that the TWENTYSOMETHING GENERATION was into decorative soaps, pre-revolutionary American History, or playing marbles, they'd buy it whole- sale. Slip in some superfluous sex and include a few postive comments about the Clinton administration [sic], and chances are you'd be guaranteed a spot in the April issue. Despite the supposed pervasiveness of this trend, these cyberpunks seem conspicously absent from view. The only picture _Time_ could find of one shows some loser with a horrible, pre-pubescent moustache locked up in a minimum security jail for stealing computer credit ratings. Despite _Time's_ attempts to make this guy look tough by putting mirrored sunglasses on him, the picture is far from threatening. Another guy was branded as a cyberpunk for stealing service off a 900# sex line. If social rejects like these two are supposedly leading this "futuristic subculture," the trend is destined to burn out before it's even started. [NB: Bruce Sterling, in the book _The_Hacker_Crackdown_, notes that most 'hacker' crime is credit card and phone fraud done with nothing more sophisticated than a telephone.] _Time_ seems to have gotten the bulk of their story from people who write cyberpunk novels and market cyberpunk magazines. It's obvious that these folks have cleverly fed _Time_ this cyberbologna because they have a financial stake in the success of the cyberpunk phenomenon. Their success in duping one of the country's most popular news sources should serve as an inspiration to us all. With this in mind, we'd like to take this opportunity to dispell the cyberpunk myth completely, before the powers that be at Fox can produce a television series centered around it. What follows is a guide to some of the myths and truths about the cyberpunk movement. Be sure to download it into your personal computer which you, as a cyberpunk, probably have built into the side of your skull, according to _Time_. CYBERMYTH: "Cyber" means computer/information oriented, while a "punk" is a member of a fringe group or radical counterculture. Hence the word "cyberpunk." CYBERFACT: The term "cyberpunk" was coined for no other reason than it sounds cool and conjures images of evil robots on DR. WHO. [NB: Minnesota writer Bruce Bethke first used the term as the title of a story published in 1980. Editor Gardner Dozios didn't know or remember that Bethke had coined it when pressed by the press for a term describing Gibson, Sterling, Cadigan, Rucker et. al.. Bethke has gone on record as claiming the word, most people don't give a damn.] CYBERMYTH: A typical cyberpunk will spend all day hacking at his/her computer, and then go dance all night at a super-secret "rave" party. CYBERFACT: Most people who regularly attend rave parties can barely get the cover off a Colecovision, much less operate sophisticated computers or design virtual reality programs. People capable of those tasks are generally at least 35 years old, or are young males who hang around at Radio Shack and don't meet any girls their age. If they are, indeed, computer hackers, they almost always use their abilities to illegally copy the latest video games. CYBERMYTH: Cyberpunks are connected to each other through worldwide computer information nets called "cyberspace." CYBERFACT: Computer geek cyberpunks are connected through role-playing games and science-fiction conventions; rave-going cyberpunks are connected through MTV'S 120 MINUTES and by their common desire to spend as much money as possible in their attempts to look poor. [NB By the way, the Internet has grown since you took CS 105. Do some reasearch.] CYBERMYTH: Cyberpunks use space-age drugs called "smart drugs" to boost their intelligence. CYBERFACT: Even cyberpunks know that drugs don't make you smart, just popular and desirable to the opposite sex. CYBERMYTH: With cyberpunk technology, people will soon be able to experience VIRTUAL SEX. It's all part of the magic of computers! CYBERFACT: In many "adult" video games, when players reach the higher levels of play, they can see a digitized pictures [sic] of naked boobies. [NB: following the layout of the article in _Time_, _The_Onion_ provided definitions of highlighted, "hypertext" terms on a sidebar which I reproduce below.] _TIME_ -- A usually respectable fluff journalism magazine which, for reasons unknown, insists on making itself look completely goofy from time to time by reporting on "what these kids today are doing." VIRTUAL REALITY -- A technological advance that will make really neat video games. Any of its other potential uses will probably not be experienced by any proclaimed cyberpunks. CYBERSPACE -- An exciting network over which travels futuristic computer- ized information. Before it was deemed cyberspace, this network was known simply as "the phone lines." INDUSTRIAL MUSIC -- Although some describe it as the sound of today's cyberpunk youth, it is actually to sound of pampered suburbanites trying to sound tough and scary. HYPERTEXT -- The way _Time_ wrote their cyberpunk article, explaining various words in the margin. As to subtly mock _Time_, this article is in hypertext as well. We are very funny here at _The_Onion_. SMART DRUGS -- As opposed to Gulible drugs, which are taken in scads by the people who actually believe in the cyberpunk silliness. TWENTYSOMETHING GENERATION -- An elite group which, according to the media, will soon completely take over the planet. Its members include Ricky Schroeder and that guy on the Burger King commericals [NB: Dan Cortense, son of Dodger's manager Tommy LaSorta.] DR. WHO -- An English science-fiction show loved by cyberpunks because of its innovated plot structure, compelling villians and scantily clad female characters. MTV'S 120 MINUTES -- Where members of the twentysomething generation learn about the hottest new "alternative" music ... but that's another cynical and self-debasing [NB You've slandered programmers, anyone under 30, writers, SF fans, people who go to raves. You haven't engaged in 'self-debasing'.] VIRTUAL SEX -- Having sex using computers. People have been having sex using mechanical instruments for some time. Would a vibrating anal butt plug hooked up to a Macintosh constitute virtual sex? Only _Time_ knows the answer. [NB Read Susie Bright, if you aren't afraid of lesbians who like to come.] -------------- Bill Humphries : U. Wisconsin Economics : 608-262-4543 "The best of monopoly profits is a quiet life." -- Lord Hicks ______________________________ Date: Mon, 15 Feb 93 23:54:43 EST From: artist1@rdrc.rpi.edu (Artist # 1) Subject: "WAX or the discovery of tv among the bees" new playdates ======================= Previous readers: thanks for all the notes and help with the SF/Berkeley screenings... they actually went well, despite the lack of press. =========================================================== "WAX or the discovery of television among the bees" (85:00) =========================================================== Here's the (nearly) bi-monthly posting of where my film is playing, in case you want to catch it. I'm posting two weeks early, because suddenly there is a playdate in Chicago (there were several notes from folks wondering if that would happen). Also, I won't be able to respond to mail questions between Feb. 24th and March 17th, so now is the time. If you don't know anything about the film, you can write me, and I will send you a text file (about 70k now) with newspaper reviews, and a variety of descriptions; included are some net reviews I either found, or was lucky enough to have forwarded on to me. The film has recently made 2 "10 best" lists here in New York (NY Press and another). You can write me at: artist1@rdrc.rpi.edu (my name is David Blair) Obviously, I am self-distributing, in case you wonder why I have taken the taking the liberty of posting. Dates listed this month are in: Chicago, Boston, Edinburgh, Providence, Vienna, Austin, Cincinnati, Portland (ME), Waterville (ME), Saratoga Springs (NY), Rohnert Park (CA), Los Angeles. ------------- As usual, following are some quotes, to warm you up, then the detailed listing of the above playdates: William Gibson (author, Neuromancer, Count Zero, etc.) on WAX: "Authentically peculiar. Like something from the network vaults of an alternate universe." William T. Vollman (author, "You Bright and Risen Angels", "The Iceshirt", "The Rainbow Stories", all Penguin/Viking Press) "I admire your dark and paranoid visions in all of their intergalactic complexity." Larry McCaffery (editor, "Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook on Cyberpunk and Postmodern Fiction", Duke University Press): "WAX strikes me as a truly major accomplishment, intellectually rich, verbally inventive, visually stunning, and -- perhaps most remarkable of all -- as emotionally resonant as any film I've come across in recent years." Brooks Landon (author, "Aesthetics of Ambivalence: Rethinking SF Film in the Age of Electronic (Re)Production", Greenwood Press) "WAX is like no movie you have ever seen. Call it postmodern, postcyberpunk... or post cinema, the point is this 85 minute celebration of the possibilities of "electronic cinema" may well indicate the future direction of SF film, if not "film" itself. Timothy Leary "WAX is a treat for the eyeballs, a delight for the receptor sites, a brilliant illumination for our left brains and our right brains!" Here are the screenings: Fri. Feb. 19 to Thur. Feb. 25th Music Box Theatre Chicago 871 6607 10 pm every night, with midnight shows on the weekend (film) Friday, Feb. 19 Media Lab, MIT semi-closed screening (write me if you're interested) (video projection; maker present) week of Feb. 16th Filmhouse, Edinburgh, UK not sure... sometime this week (film) Feb. 24-28th Brown University, Providence, RI as part of Vanguard Fiction Festival, aka "Unpspeakable Practices II". Mainly experimental, cyberpunk, and Hypertext writers (lots of 'em!), with some visual artists. Attendees include Kathy Acker, Paul Auster, Paul DeFilippo, Raymond Federman, Siri Hustvedt, Mark Leyner, Larry McCaffery, Michael Joyce, Florence Ormezzano, Ronald Sukenick, and about 35 others. Sponsored by the English Department (Robert Coover). Everything is free. Info: 401 863-3260. If you're in/near (even far away from) Providence, check it out! (film; maker present) March 6, 7pm Hillus Intermediale Projektforschung, Vienna, Austria Wahringerstr. 59 tel: 222 405 8791 Lots going on at this one from Feb-June, if you're in this town. Workshop on networked art, connect with On-Line symposium in Graz, continuing series called Binary Window with stuff like: "A reference to distraction including animals and machines" [Peter Weiss, March 12]; Int'l artist groups March 16-19; Haus-musik... using world wide data and stock information to control computers and robots [Mathias Fuchs, Klaus Strickner, Thomas Feuerstein, Mai Zabelka, April 14], (video; maker present) March 19-25 (open ended) Dobie Screening Room Austin, TX. 472 3240 midnight shows (film) March 19-20, 26-7, April 2-3 Webster University Cincinnati 968 7487 on double bill with "Tetsuo" (film) March 20-3 The Movies Portland, Maine twice a night (film) March 26-9 Railroad Square Cinema Waterville , Maine twice a night (film) March 26th Saratoga Springs Public Library evening (video; maker present) April 2-3 Sonoma Film Institute Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA evenings (film) April 27-8 NuArt (a Landmark theatre) Los Angeles 6 shows (film) A Japanese-language film version will open in Tokyo in the early summer. Thanks for your attention. If you think of a good venue, let me know! If you are curious about cassettes, I am selling a limited edition of 500, signed and numbered, to help pay off the post production and distribution expenses. They are $36 postpaid. My address is David Blair P.O. Box 174, Cooper Station New York, NY 10276 in the UK, PAL versions, within this numbered sequence, are available for 22 pounds (postpaid) from: NSFA c/o Chris Reed BBR PO Box 625 Sheffield S13GY, UK _________________________________________________________________________ | | | 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. | |_________________________________________________________________________|