From - Wed Jan 14 11:44:00 1998 Return-Path: Received: from relay1.UU.NET by mrco.carleton.ca (4.1/SMI-4.0) id AA06742; Fri, 22 Jan 93 01:38:12 EST Received: from nyx.cs.du.edu by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA17068; Fri, 22 Jan 93 01:30:47 -0500 Received: by nyx.cs.du.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA14137; Thu, 21 Jan 93 23:30:15 MST From: ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu (andy) Message-Id: <9301220630.AA14137@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 #188 To: future-digest@nyx.cs.du.edu Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 23:30:14 MST X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] Status: R ______________________________________________________________________ |______________ / | | / | | u t u r e <___________ u l t u r e | _______________________________________________________________________| Issue #188 Thursday, January 21st 1993 Today's Topics: --------------- call-151 (Re: Kroupa) Classic Cyberdelic fiction Drexler Free Internet MEMES & the NET Re: Pseudo-Raves.. Re: WIRED online? Re: WIRED online? Re: your mail Re: your mail - sci.physics Speculative Cyberdelic Fiction (was re: someone's mail) Speculative Cyberdelic Fiction (was re:I ate my shorts) __________________________________________________________________________ From: ahawks (a dimension of sight and sound) Subject: Re: WIRED online? Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 11:48:15 MST New fresh-scented *Andrew S Hall* (150% real fruit juices!) says: | |I may have missed it, but can someone tell me the number or (esp) |internet number for WIRED online? If it has been on the list, just |E-mail it to me. | |Thanks, Andrew Hall ashall@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu They're over at @wired.com...... Umm, I just sent that On Being Wired crap over to Louis R. [the Eggman] last nite, along with a request that they do their best to keep their eyes peeled on the net, since this is where ThingsHappen. So, hopefully, we'll see some wired folx around here, maybe some other email lists. All he said in his reply was that I've seen Wired without having seen it and "we''ll be in touch", so, hopefully they will be. PS: If anybody wants me to transcribe the NewsWeek article on Wired from. Jan 18, I can do that too. -- ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu FutureCulture: In/f0rmation ahawks@mindvox.phantom.com future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu ______________________________ From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion) Subject: Re: Pseudo-Raves.. Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 13:56:06 EST Beyond the ultraworld of Christopher L. Tumber: > > Be thankfull for what you got! > > Ottawa had its FIRST rave about 2 weeks ago. > > It was in a BAR, > > In HULL, > > And was lamelamelamelamelame! > > (Can you say marketing bandwagon?) Of course we have had some raves in warehouses and each week there are several techno rave nights in clubs (Dax saturn 6 is the coolest), but the vibe is not there yet. For now, it's a "let's make lots of money" ((c) petshop boys 8) ) ambiance... > Anyhow, In > Ontario last call is 1am. In Quebec, it is 3am. Ottawa lies > next to the Ottawa river. The Ottawa river forms the border between > Ontario and Quebec. Right over the bridge, on the other side of the > river is a small town called Hull which has a disproportinate number > of bars/clubs. Unfortunately, Hull is not very discerning about its > patrons, and the place is generally overrun by 14 year olds. Thousands > and thousands of them pretending to be cool...bleh!> I have been to Ottawa pretty recently and went to the 216 and Knox at OttawaU (Droit commun/law building) and after that went to hull cause there's not a lot of action in Ottawa. In Hull, i went to the bistrot (i think). It's a transformed house on the promenade. There was also a big club right in front, but it didn't look very cool. Anyway, as you know, they didn't play much techno. It was more grunge and industrial (maybe altern also, with groups like the the). Ciao, -- Francois Dion ' _ _ _ CISM (_) (_) _) FM Montreal , Canada Email: CISM@ERE.UMontreal.CA (_) / . _) 10000 Watts Telephone no: (514) 343-7511 _______________________________________________________________________________ Audio-C-DJ-Fractals-Future-Label-Multimedia-Music-Radio-Rave-Video-VR-Volvo-... ______________________________ From: jesse@picasso.ocis.temple.edu (Jesse Davis) Subject: Re: your mail Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 16:39:16 EST New Fresh Scented Andy (Alive and Kicking :)) says: If you get stoned or trip every day, you're still viewing life from one perspective no matter how infinite your mind seems - it stil all stems from LSD. quick note from the Lost Classics Department: if anyone following this thread has time, check out the now-almost-forgotten and hard-to-find sci-fi oh-god-andy's-wired-post-has-me-hyphenating story "No Direction Home" by Norman Spinrad. I have it in an anthology titled _Modern Science Fiction_ (Anchor Press/Doubleday 1974, Norman Spinrad, ed). To sum up in a sentence, it deals with a future in which _everyone_ takes psychedelics, every day, and what happens when someone tries the "straight trip". Very well-written, very interesting, and very relevant. The anthology as a whole is awfully good, too. :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Jesse Davis | | |jesse@picasso.ocis. | "Metaphor is my mathematics" | | temple.edu | (Permission pending) | | 215-545-3724 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ______________________________ From: ahawks (perpetually living) Subject: Speculative Cyberdelic Fiction (was re: someone's mail) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 15:06:08 MST New fresh-scented *Jesse Davis* (150% real fruit juices!) says: | |New Fresh Scented Andy (Alive and Kicking :)) says: | If you get stoned or trip every day, you're still viewing life from one | perspective no matter how infinite your mind seems - it stil all stems | from LSD. | |quick note from the Lost Classics Department: if anyone following this |thread has time, check out the now-almost-forgotten and hard-to-find |sci-fi oh-god-andy's-wired-post-has-me-hyphenating story "No Direction |Home" by Norman Spinrad. I have it in an anthology titled _Modern |Science Fiction_ (Anchor Press/Doubleday 1974, Norman Spinrad, ed). |To sum up in a sentence, it deals with a future in which _everyone_ |takes psychedelics, every day, and what happens when someone tries |the "straight trip". Very well-written, very interesting, and very |relevant. The anthology as a whole is awfully good, too. :) Drugs have always played an interesting side-hand to science-fiction... When I read Brave New World for high school, we had this talk about Huxley's inclusion of soma in BNW. The teacher spouted some anti-drug thing, so I said something about Huxley's known interest and exploration with psychedelics (read Storming Heaven by Jay Stevens, Doors of Perception/Heaven & Hell by Huxley), which changed the ontext of the conversation a bit.... [InSync note: listening to a T99 song that samples from the movie version of Brave New World - a cheez-whiz made-for-TV from the 70s] Anyway, I think it perfectly natural that psychedelics be included in both realistsic and speculative SF. SF has always been about showing us who we are through a variety of PossibleWorlds, presenting fantastic ideas in new-and-different lights, and that's a definite parallel with psychedelics....psychedelics are stimulators, of thoughts and ideas..... | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Jesse Davis | | | |jesse@picasso.ocis. | "Metaphor is my mathematics" | | | temple.edu | (Permission pending) | | | 215-545-3724 | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu FutureCulture: In/f0rmation ahawks@mindvox.phantom.com future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu ______________________________ Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 17:04:48 -0500 From: ah185@yfn.ysu.edu (Christopher L. Tumber) Subject: Re: Pseudo-Raves.. Francois Dion asks: > BTW, are you on the ne-raves@gnu.ai.mit.edu mailing list? It c > related stuff for the north east. I am now! Thanks! Re: Hull Yeah, The Bistro is pretty imfamous for trendiness. I gave up on Hull years ago. It's a pain in the ass getting there and back... Serious traffic, no busses so ya gotta take a cab (Don't even THINK of bringing your car! You have no idea how many people I've know get their cars trashed/ripped) and basically, the bars suck. If you HAVE to go to Hull, try Club Z's alternative (industrial) Wednesdays. Ottawa HAD an amazing club called Gigi's (in the market) but it died about a year and a half to two years ago. I never made it to Dr. Fred's Indiginous Cave but it was supposed to be cool. Cafe Deluxe (in the market) can be good, but can also be really bad. The new Zaphod's (on Bank?) is probly good, but a bit out of my stomping grounds. If your into trendoid ultra hipness, there's plenty of fodder on Elgin. Basically, for a good time in Ottawa, your best bet is a private party. ______________________________ From: Ess-tee-ee-vee-ee Subject: Re: WIRED online? Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 16:20:32 CST ______________________________ From: the! By all means, Andy. Feel free. I'm sure we'd enjoy anything which comes up that you, or anyone else for that matter, has the time to transcribe and post to the list. Many of us are students so we don't always have the time to read all this very applicable and pertinent stuph. Steve J. White ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The opinions expressed herein are aragorn@convex.csd.uwm.edu sometimes those of others. aragorn@csd4.csd.uwm.edu ______________________________ Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 17:24:51 -0500 From: ah185@yfn.ysu.edu (Christopher L. Tumber) Subject: Free Internet I absolutely aggree Internet should be madere available and accessable to all! I short while ago, I posted a message in alt.internet.access.wanted (?) looking for full Internet connectivity from Ottawa. I got two replies... slightly less than encouraging (Ottawa has a pop. of about 650,000 regionally and is often nicknamed 'silicon valley north' because of all the hi-tech). At Carleton University (approx 20,000 students) you MUST be a graduate student to get access. No outsiders or undergrads (In Canada, undergrads outnumber grads AT LEAST 6 or 7 to 1). I have HEARD that at Ottawa U. you have to be a comp. sci. student, but that's just hearsay. Myself, I get access through the Freenets. What is Freenet? Kinda like PBS. You don't get some of the hits (FTP, Telnet) but the basics are there. Like PBS though, it's sold as 'educational' and 'informative'. Ah, hell, just read this.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Freenet 101 by Vortigern Jan 7 '92 Forward ------- This is a reasonably comprehensive overview of things to do on Freenets. There is LOTS to see and do however, this file does not attempt to cover EVERYTHING but does cover what I consider to be the most interesting stuff. In some cases, this file only gives a cursory overview of an item, leaving it up to you to read the help files. There is little point to simply reprinting help files here. The best teacher is experience, but you can't play with what you can't find. Consider this file a road map if you will. It tells you where you can go, but might not tell you exactly which turns to take. For many people, Freenet is their only link with Internet. In many ways, this file is also an introduction to Internet, with a Freenet slant. Freenets are only going to become more important as new ones are introduced, and more people join the online world through them. Now's the time to get to know them. Overview -------- At the time of this writing, there are seven publicly accessible Freenets. They are Cleveland, Youngstown, Heartland, Tri-State, Ottawa, Victoria and Lorain County. Only two are very well developed: Cleveland and Youngstown. You should go about getting accounts on both as quickly as possible. This requires logging in to set up the account and a letter with a signed release. Approval is QUICK however, mine took about a week, (including snail-mail delivery) with no voice verification. Cleveland is the largest Freenet. You can expect 200+ people online, particularly during peak hours. Cleveland has an excellent selection of Usenet groups, and Irc is always jumping. Unfortunately, it can also be difficult to get onto because it's so busy. Youngstown is far smaller than Cleveland. Youngstown's selection of Usenet groups is nowhere near that of Cleveland's and IRC is pretty dead. However you should have no trouble getting through to it. The other Freenets are VERY small and fledgeling. In many cases there is very little activity, with a poor selection (or none whatsoever!) of Usenet groups. In many cases their best use is as a mailbox drop or gateway. All Freenets except Tri-State use the same (Freeport) software and are similar in function though menues tend to be set up differently, and there may be mods. Tri-State has recently installed new software provided by Cincinati Bell... I have not as yet had time to explore this fully. It is similar to Freeport in some ways, but seems VERY slow. Loging On --------- Freenet Phone Number Telnet address Cleveland (216) 368-3888 hela.ins.cwru.edu Heartland (309) 674-1100 heartland.bradley.edu Lorain (216) 233-5929 132.162.32.99 Medina (216) 723-6732 unavailable (new) Ottawa (613) 780-3733 freenet.carleton.ca Tri State (513) 579-1990 129.137.100.3 Victoria ( ) - freenet.victoria.bc.ca Youngstown (216) 742-3072 yfn.ysu.edu Getting Around -------------- The menus on the various Freenets are all set up differently (Thank you SO much!). In general, the teleport (Telnet) and Usenet are found under Communications from the main menu and E-mail is in the post office. You can also usually use the go command to get directly to someplace...ie go teleport, go usenet. Otherwise, you just have to pretty much wander around when you encounter a new Freenet. E-mail ------ E-mail allows you to send mail to ANY Internet site, as well as a number of connected networks (Bitnet, Compuserve, Fido etc). You find Email in the Post Office . You MUST know the address of the person you're mailing to. There's no practical way to look it up. A person's address may look kinda strange to you at first. Think of it as an abbreviation, or as if you were mailing a letter using only their Zip/Postal Code. Signature Files --------------- Freenet allows four line Taglines. This is added to the end of all messages you write (Usenet, Email, Local etc..). This allows you to 'sign' all your message with a witty comment, ascii art etc. without having to re-type it constantly. You find the .sig file editor in the Post Office. Local Sigs ---------- Each Freenet has its own local sigs. Some are active, some are dead. Topics are pretty diversified. Keep in mind there are A LOT of 'new user' types on the various Freenets. This is good if you yourself fall into this catagory. If you're a 'power user' however, you might find yourself sticking with Usenet. Usenet ------ Usenet is a collection of local, national and international message bases with THOUSANDS of echoes (newsgroups) set up in 'hierarchies' resembling tree-structured directories. The Freenet newsreader features nested menus with numbers corresponding to newsgroups. You can also use Go to get directly to a group (ie 'go alt.sex'). Usenet can be found under the Communications menu (a different # selection on different Freenets). Or, you can type Go Usenet. Cleveland has the best selection of newsgroups (including 'adult' ones but you need to send a statement of age with your application for access). Usenet Binaries --------------- Binary files are posted in a number of newsgroups (comp.binaries.ibm.pc, alt.binaries.erotica.pictures, alt.binaries.sounds.misc etc) you need to capture/log the message(s). Then, edit out all extraneous stuff (Header etc..everything before begin and after the final end) concat files (if it is split up into parts) and shoot it through UUdecode. Check the FAQ in the relevant comp.binaries.* for your machine. You can also get binaries through FTPmail. FAQs ---- FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) are regularly posted on numerous Newsgroups and mailing lists which feature questions and/or subjects which re-occur frequently. Newsgroup FAQs are usually published on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. A list of FAQ's is usually available in news.lists, news.announce.newusers and news.answers (Usenet). If you are new to a Newsgroup, or Usenet in general, and have a BURNING question, before you make yourself look stupid and annoy a lot of people read the FAQ! FTP --- You can only do FTP (File Transfer Protocol) by mail. This allows you to download files off other systems (ie wuarchive.wustl.edu, ftp.eff.org etc). In order to do this you send mail to the Ftpmail server... ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com Your letter is to contain the commands used in the FTP. To get the help file, send e-mail (to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com) and put HELP as the first and only line of the message. It's very straightforward. A couple sample FTP by mail follow (comments are mine... don't send them too!) to get a copy of the first issue of phrack, send e-mail to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com, the message should look like this... connect ftp.eff.org <----Connect w/ the system, only ONE system per letter ascii <----Specifies an Ascii file chdir /pub/cud/phrack <----Change to proper directory, only ONE per letter! chunksize 100000 <----This is the maximum setting. get phrack-1 <----get file, max 10 files per letter quit <----end it. If a file is too big, it will be split up, it's up to you to put it back together. Chunksize determines how big a file may be before it is split up for mailing. To get a copy of a particular gif, again, send e-mail to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com, the message should look like this... connect wuarchive.wustl.edu <---Connect to the system binary <---It's a binary file uuencode <---Send it uuencoded chdir /graphics/gif <---goto the directory chunksize 100000 <---This is the maximum setting get agif.gif <---get your gif quit <---end it Depending upon how busy it is, delivery of your file can take from half a day, to a couple days. You should get a confirmation of your request shortly after you send the e-mail. On Freenet, you have a maximum mail space of 100k. However, if you do any FTP by mail, you WILL exceed this. After 100k you will get warning messages. The TRUE maximum is 2megs. After that stuff will bounce (be undeliverable) so you must be sure to clean it out. In additon, if you're over quota for more than a day, EVERYTHING may be deleted. If you don't know WHERE a file is you want, you can ask Archie to look for it for you. Archie is a database which lists all files on Internet archives. Send mail to the Archie mail server with Help as the contents of the message. The address is archie@archie.rutgers.edu Mailing Lists ------------- There are NUMEROUS mailing lists out there. Some are full fledged electronic magazines, others are simple little memo's, some are realtime alternatives to Usenet. To subscribe to one you generally either send e-mail to the editor/author or to a listserver requesting a subscription. When dealing with a listserver, it's all automated, so you have to be explicit and follow a specific syntax (like FTPmail). Generally, if the server doesn't recognise your message as a command, or you send a request for help, it will mail you its help file. A list of some mailing lists is usually found in news.lists, news.announce.newusers and news.answers (Usenet). Some good mailing lists include...Computer Underground Digest tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu Cypherpunks cypherpunks-request@toad.com Digital Free Press dfp-req@underg.ucf.org Future Culture future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu Phrack listserv@stormking.com IRC --- IRC is internet's version of teleconference or multi-line chat. On Cleveland, it's not unusual to see 50 people in IRC. IRC is a bit crude looking in my opnion, and overly complex, however like any CB chat it can be a lot of fun. I STRONGLY reccomend you read the help files, there are NUMEROUS commands! Some important ones are... /nick <---Change your nickname ie /nick Vortigern /who 0 <---Show everyone in IRC /join <---Join a channel ie /join #Hello /list <---Show everyone in a channel ie /list #Hello /msg <---Send a private page ie /msg You got the stuff? I got the cash... ALL commands begin with a / Telnet ------ Telnet allows you to connect through to another computer system. The Freenet you are on 'calls' the system you want, and acts as a bridge between you and the remote system. Freenet allows you to do a limited Telnet. Generally you are restricted to other Freenets plus a number of National and International libraries and other 'educational' sites. Destinations ------------ The following are Freenet Telnet destinations at the time of this writing. In some cases (ie Ottawa, Victoria), these destinations are NOT all contained in one area, you have to look around (ie under 'Libraries'). Cleveland Freenet Telnet Destinations ------------------------------------- Freenets: CIVITAS: The Electronic Home of NPTN Heartland Tri-State Youngstown Lorain County Libraries within Ohio: Cleveland Public Library Case Western Reserve University - EuclidPLUS Cleveland State University - Scholar Kent State University - CATALYST Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine - NEOCAT Oberlin College - OBIS The Ohio State University - LCS Youngstown State University Libraries within the U.S.: The Library of Congress (Data Research Associates) University of California - MELVYL Colorado Alliance - CARL Boston University - TOMUS New York University - BOBCAT University of Illinois - Illinet Iinternational Libraries: AUSTRALIA: Australian National University CANADA: University of Calgary GERMANY: University of Konstanz ISRAEL: InterUniversity Catalog System (Seven Universities) MEXICO: Monterrey Institute of Technology NEW ZEALAND: Victoria University of Wellington SWEDEN: Lund University SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Other Information Resources: AGRICULTURE: PENpages (Penn State Univ.) GEOGRAPHY: Geographic Information Server (Univ of Michigan) OCEANOGRAPHY: Ocean Information Center (Univ. of Delaware) SPACE SCIENCE: NASA Spacelink (Huntsville, Ala.) WEATHER: Weather Underground (Univ of Michigan) The COSY conferencing system (British Columbia, Canada) Other Network BBS's: CUINFO (Cornell University) TECHINFO (Mass Instit of Technology) EBBS (Univ of North Carolina--Chapel Hill) CWIS (Univ of North Carolina--Chapel Hill) CWIS (Appalachian State Univ) CWIS (New Mexico State University) Youngstwown Freenet Telnet Destinations --------------------------------------- Freenets: Cleveland Heartland Lorain Tri-State Ottawa Victoria Libraries within Ohio: Kent State University - CATALYST Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine - NEOUCOM Ohio State Universities - LCS Youngstown State University Case Western Reserve University - EUCLID Cleveland State University - Scholar Cleveland Public Library Libraries within the US: University of California - MELVYL Colorado Alliance - CARL Boston University - TOMUS University of Pittsburgh - PITTCAT The Library of Congress The Woman's Collection at TWU Other Information Resources: AGRICULTURE: PENpages (Penn State University) GEOGRAPHY: Geographic Information Server (Univ. of Michigan) WEATHER: Weather Underground (Univ. of Michigan) OCEANOGRAPHY: Ocean Information Center (Univ. of Delaware) SPACE SCIENCE: NASA Spacelink (Huntsville, AL) EDUCATORS: Cosy (British Columbia CANADA) EDUCATORS: Argonne Nat. Labs - Educational Programs Other Network BBS's: CUINFO (Cornell University) EBBS (University of North Carolina -- Chapel Hill) TECHINFO (Mass. Institute of Technology) CWIS (University of North Carolina -- Chapel Hill) CWIS (Appalachian State University) CWIS (New Mexico State University) WWW (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) WWW (New Jersey Institute of Technology) IDS World Network Heartland Freenet Telnet Destinations ------------------------------------- Freenets: Cleveland Lorain Ottawa Tri-State Victoria Youngstown Libraries: Alpha Park Public Library Chillicothe Township Free Public Library Creve Coeur Public Library Deer Creek District Library Dunlap Public Library District Esther Washburn Public Library Eureka Public Library District Fondulac Public Library District Galva Public Library District Henry Public Library Illinois Prairie District Public Library Kewanee Public Library District Lacon Public Library Lillie M. Evans Memorial Library Mackinaw District Library Marquette Heights Public Library Morrison and Mary Wiley Library Morton Public Library Neponset Public Library District Parlin Ingersoll Library Pekin Public Library Peoria Heights Public Library Peoria Public Library Toulon Public Library Washington Township Public Library Other Systems: Cornell University Electronic Information Source FEDIX/MOLIS (Minority Databases) Library Resources at the Univ. of Illinois Library of Congress (Data Research Associates) NASA SpaceLink PENpages from Penn State Univ. (Agricultural/Senior Info) University of Michigan Weather News Ottawa Freenet Telnet Destinations ---------------------------------- Freenets: Cleveland Heartland Youngstown Victoria Libraries: Ottawa Public Library Carleton University Library Catalog Victoria Freenet Telnet Destinations ------------------------------------ Freenets: Cleveland Heartland Lorain Ottawa Tri-State Youngstown Labraries: Greater Victoria Public Library Camosun College Library Comosun College Gopher UVic Gopher Other: NASA Spacelink Lorain Freenet Telnet Destinations ---------------------------------- Freenets: Cleveland Heartland Tri-State Youngstown The Future ---------- Freenets are planned for the following cities: Buffalo, New York Chicago, Illinois Denver Colorado Helsinki, Finland Los Angeles, California Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota Portland, Oregon Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Summit, New Jersey Washinton, D.C. Wellington, New Zealand There you go. Freenet is nowhere near as good as full Internet connectivity, but its FREE and for many people the only way to get hooked into Internet. For more information on Freenets: Dr. Tom Grunder President NPTN Box 1987 Cleveland, Ohio 44106 Voice: (216) 368-2733 Fax: (216) 368-5436 Internet: aa001@cleveland.freenet.edu Compuserve: 72135,1536 Questions, Comments, Additions and Corrections to this file are welcome at ah185@yfn.ysu.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ______________________________ Date: 21 Jan 1993 17:13:05 -0600 (CST) From: "free agent .rez" Subject: MEMES & the NET >From: IN%"jesse@picasso.ocis.temple.EDU" 21-JAN-1993 15:39:11.97 >To: IN%"REZABEK1037@iscsvax.uni.edu" >Subj: RE: net.memetics >Hi...well-thought-out article. Couple things... >1) If you have no objections, I'm adding the "Metaphor is my >mathematics" bite to my .sig...very nice...i'll attribute it >to you, if i can get your real name... sure. heath michael rezabek. >2) Interesting difference in mechanism of mutation between the >net and genetic reproduction: as you say, there are a limited ># of nodes. However, a certain number of them, the university >nodes, are available to any college student. Out of this intensely >diverse population, it will presumably be those with memes that >help them succeed in that environment who continue to have net >access after graduation. This provides a fitness criteria...one >which, much like those in the 'natural' environment, is complex >and perhaps chaotic in the sense that it is intensely iterative. >PS...the contrast between this situation and genetic evolution may not have >been clear there...in nature, addition to the gene pool is slow and occurs >through mutation...on the net there is a constant influx from outside... >similar in some ways to the ocean washing new organisms into a tide pool. >Offhand, it seems like a much less stable system -- although it does have >constraints based on the proposed fitness criteria...someone without >technical proficiency, for example, is likely to find hirself without >net access after college... ok, lemme cross-check. your point is that those who embrace the meme.flux of the net will be more likely to exist in some capacity CONNECTED to the net after college? sounds quite valid. the point about the hyper-active rate of memetic transcription/mutation which the net makes POSSIBLE for the first time in the history of humanity is one which i feel CANNOT be stressed strongly enough; good to see you bring it up. there IS an inherent power here... the thing is, without any message, the net will turn into a memetic black hole. IF it can be fronted as *IMPORTANT,* culturally, this will not happen. that's my schtick. i actually have very LITTLE "technical proficiency" with networking... just the basics, more or less. but i suppose i DO have ANOTHER memetic advantage in that i seem to be able to see this nifty model of what's going ON in here that actually WORKS. ergo, i'll have net.access 'til the sun goes out if i can help it, and it'll STILL be a part of my career. IMHO, the area of cultural studies will be the next one, after comp engineers proper, who will be able to sustain themselves by net-based means. that's what i'm trying to do. the net (among other things) has shown me that detachment from the area of study does NOT CONSTRUCTIVE GOOD when dealing in words and culture. but diving in requires a whole new set of thingamajiggies... .rez - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "The targeted numerals of the ACADEMY LEADER were hypnogogic sigils preceding the dreamstate of film." -- w g ______________________________ Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 15:44:23 -0800 From: Brian Willoughby Subject: call-151 (Re: Kroupa) | Subject: Re: Kroupa | Date: Wed, 20 Jan 93 17:25:28 MST | X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] | | (IMHO, the "joshua" and "call-151" are bad enough. And I was | depressed to learn that I couldn't reboot the whole damn system | by dooing a "call-151" and then a "c600g" [Anybody remember | that?]). Not only do I remember it, but there is a fairly active mailing list specifically for Apple ][ folks who now use their 15 MIPS NeXT computers to emulate multiple Apples. So I can still talk that language and my computer will listen... --- Brian Willoughby Software Design Engineer, BSEE NCSU BrianW@SoundS.WA.com Sound Consulting: Software Design and Development NeXTmail welcome ______________________________ From: mtressle@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Soma Holiday) Subject: Speculative Cyberdelic Fiction (was re:I ate my shorts) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 19:27:57 EST Hi. Long time listener, first time caller. A bunch of other people write this: =>New fresh-scented *Jesse Davis* (150% real fruit juices!) says: =>| =>|New Fresh Scented Andy (Alive and Kicking :)) says: =>| If you get stoned or trip every day, you're still viewing life from one =>| perspective no matter how infinite your mind seems - it stil all stems =>| from LSD. =>| =>|quick note from the Lost Classics Department: if anyone following this =>|thread has time, check out the now-almost-forgotten and hard-to-find =>|sci-fi oh-god-andy's-wired-post-has-me-hyphenating story "No Direction =>|Home" by Norman Spinrad. I have it in an anthology titled _Modern =>|Science Fiction_ (Anchor Press/Doubleday 1974, Norman Spinrad, ed). =>|To sum up in a sentence, it deals with a future in which _everyone_ =>|takes psychedelics, every day, and what happens when someone tries =>|the "straight trip". Very well-written, very interesting, and very =>|relevant. The anthology as a whole is awfully good, too. :) => A story I read by Paul Di Fillipo had me immediately thinking back to the Spinrad one. For some bizarre occurence I can't find the anthology from whence it came. Must've taken it home over Christmas. ANYWAY, His slant was that there were new drugs available which changed your perceptions to be exactly like someone elses, AND they followed a pattern. So, If I take a pill or whatever, and YOU take a pill, we both get the same visual responses, instead of our own independent trips. The PATTERN meant that your tripped was based on something. The first pills were based on some Painter, meaning that you saw the world as that painter would, in his style. As the story progressed, the main couple began taking this drug patterned after weirder and weirder artists...Van Goh, Dali, Escher, Charles Schulz, etc. etc. One of the two guys started getting too weirded out and tried to quit, which really sucked for his wife since she didn't have anyone to share her trip with. It really put a stress on their marriage, but through proper counselling they have now raised a boy named Helmut and put him through private school in the Alps... =>[InSync note: listening to a T99 song that samples from the movie =>version of Brave New World - a cheez-whiz made-for-TV from the 70s] => I was always wondering why no one ever made a movie of Brave New World. And, seeing it was made as a 70 TV flick, there STILL isn't one out. (Please tell me that the movie is good and not some cornball "Starsky and Hutch take a trip, meet Tonto, and Tonto falls in love with Farrah Fawcett but kills himself because he found out who Charlie REALLY was...) BTW, is Di Fillipo ever going to put out a novel, or at least a Greatest Hits collection? It really sucks having to scour through ever Sci Fi rag in the bookstore on the hope that he might be in there. If anyone can point me to some stories of his, please do. I've only read about 5 or 6 of his stories, and only one was a bit weak. The rest were, um, Stellar. =>| ------------------------------------------------------------------------ =>| | Jesse Davis | | =>| |jesse@picasso.ocis. | "Metaphor is my mathematics" | =>| | temple.edu | (Permission pending) | =>| | 215-545-3724 | | =>| ------------------------------------------------------------------------ => =>-- => => ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu FutureCulture: In/f0rmation => ahawks@mindvox.phantom.com future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu => -- mike mtressle@bsu-cs.bsu.edu mtressle@lovelace.bsu.edu 00MBTRESSLER@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu _I_ want a piece of MEAT! ______________________________ From: arthurc@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (Arthur Chandler) Subject: Classic Cyberdelic fiction Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 16:37:49 PST Don't forget Aldous Huxley's utopian novel, *Island,* in which the taking of psychedelics is part of the society's ritual -- like going to church on Sundays. ______________________________ Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 18:23:05 PST From: alves@convict (David Alves) Subject: Drexler I was just at a Livermore Lab reception. Some people in the lab are pushing to have Drexler invited to speak here. This would be part of an effort to throw some of the lab's "not designated for bombs" internal money at nanotech research. This was all over a few glasses of wine but some of the head money people were involved. I thought it was interesting and if anyone involved in such research knows anyone here they should probably give them a call and "keep in touch" - it might be good timing. dave ______________________________ From: zane@ddsw1.mcs.com (Sameer Parekh) Subject: Re: your mail Date: Wed, 20 Jan 93 21:08:58 -0600 In message <01GTN2BJ0K2I90NYQK@iscsvax.uni.edu>, Scotto writes: > > I've found that I've chosen to prioritize where I communicate. I find, for > example, that I receive a great deal more satisfaction entering into > discussions with the people on this list than I ever did on Usenet -- it seems > that here, just as in realspace, there are forums that are more productive for > communication. > I have found a very nice analogy, which sums up my view of the Internet very well. As I think Paul has said before, and some others said later, the Internet is *the* place, like Paris was the place to be during Hemmingway's time. With such a metaphor, the internet is a "city." The Usenet would be the public square, where everyone just talks past each other, not that many people listening. There *are* corners in the square though, which make sense. (sci.physics maybe? I don't read it, but from John Baez's comments it seems like that place is very coherent.) Mailing lists are like cafes, where people sit in a small, intimate setting and discuss issues over a some coffee. (Or hash, as your tastes may dictate. :-) Leri-l, is a home, a crash-pad, a place to hang out. -- | Sameer_Parekh zane@ddsw1.MCS.COM | | "Specialization is for Insects" | | Question Authory/Think Alternatives | | -Robert A. Heinlein | "A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded" -Abraham Lincoln ______________________________ Subject: Re: your mail - sci.physics Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 21:39:00 EST From: Mitchell Porter > I have found a very nice analogy, which sums up my view of the > Internet very well. As I think Paul has said before, and some others > said later, the Internet is *the* place, like Paris was the place to be > during Hemmingway's time. With such a metaphor, the internet is a > "city." The Usenet would be the public square, where everyone just > talks past each other, not that many people listening. There *are* > corners in the square though, which make sense. (sci.physics maybe? I > don't read it, but from John Baez's comments it seems like that place is > very coherent.) concerning the coherence of sci.physics... that is the newsgroup where there have been so many would-be revolutionaries of physics that they developed a "Crackpot Index" for posts (say, 5 points for EACH WORD ALL IN CAPS, 20 points for each self-comparison to Galileo or Einstein.. stuff like that) and that they are in the process of setting out to create a new newsgroup, sci.physics.research. Since I became a mailing list junkie, I hardly read Usenet at all any more. Too much good stuff hapening here in the catacombs. _________________________________________________________________________ | | | 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. | |_________________________________________________________________________|