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William Gibson Interview @ AICN
Well, the slashdot crew is all out killing time and brain cells giving away the Beanie Awards at LinuxWorld (Best Real Propeller Beanie: Jay Sulzberger of the NYLUG). Look for the chock-full-of-fun wrap-up tomorrow, but in the meantime, forge5 writes "Ain't It Cool News has an excellent article on Alexandra DuPont interviewing William "FREAKING" Gibson. They talk about The Matrix, his books, and his X-Files episode. Check it out! "
the double edged sword is that your a linux zeelot *AND* a gay commie!!! your zeltory is not amusing!!!
Eliet trolls never harass people, but then truly eliet trolls never get modded down, ether. We are all to subtle. God damn I'm leet
--3117
take a barbed hook and ram it up yer ass. now attach a hefty rope to that hook. now attach the other end of the rope to a truck. now have the driver slowly creep forward to remove slack from the rope. now have the driver rev the truck and then abruptly let off the cluth. thank you.
Snow Crash
Ninja guy runs around killing people and
blowing things up. Lots of cool *action*
but that's it.
Neuromancer
Incredible. "Out of body experience"
Gibson is similar to Katz?
feh.
if you think gibson is an asshole, stay away from harlon ellison. :)
From the interview it sounds like they never got around to making them. I've searched high and low for them and can't seem to dig them up. The poem itself is quite good though. Read carefully and you'll see scenes from several of his short stories, from Burning Chrome, and the title itself seems to come from Count Zero. It's the title of some art work in a gallery in Paris.
Paraphrasing the previous views on
Gibson vs Stephenson:
Gibson - literary, cool words and phrasing
Stephenson - highly developed plot, technical
I agree with these views. I much prefer Stephenson to Gibson. I think he is a much greater science fiction writer. He researches the technology and explains it in the books. He looks at the possible consequences of the use of technology. He introduces interesting concepts and philosophies that make me think.
Stephenson is not without literary talent. He uses many device to good effect. In "Cryptonomicon" The plot is split along two intertwined timelines.
He can alter his style to good effect.
This helps him to develop the characters. For example when writing about Lawrence - a crypto genius - in "Cryptonomicon", the writing tends to become more mathematical and analytical as Lawrence gets caught up in his thoughts. Some sections of "Cryptonomicon" are accounts written by the characters in their own particular style.
As a result of Stephenson complicated plots the characters are alway much more developed that the characters in a Gibson novel.
The first Gibson novel I read was "Idoru", its still my favorite. I can remember the furore that occurred when "Chopper" (who Blackwell was based on) appeared on a live chat show drunk.
Gibson is ok for a light read but he doesn't inspire or make me think.
erfukhjkfdhfk BLAH!!! DFGdjfkgsdj;lgjdflgjdl;sfgj BLAH!!!ew;klrjfjdf FUCK
The trolls are coming out of the woodwork and youre not dealing with them. Deal them a -1 please. Thanks.
Posting anonymously for obvious reasons. (To avoid harassment by the troll community.)
A concerned Slashdotter.
Hes an idiot. To quote someone else - " thats not writing - thats typing"
I'm running lynx/debian on one box NS/duhs on the other. Don't see any ?'s except where intended.
I think he means most big budget movies promote a crypto-fascist theme. Not that they are blatantly fascist but that themes in the plot subtly promote fascism. The Matrix was all about technology being used to control people and how individuals need to empower themselves to gain back freedom. That is not typical for a big budget movie.
Pixar managed it with the Toy Storys, witch does not count as Disney. And "Disney maybe"? Bambi? Cark Barks? etc. etc. etc. etc.
In My Not So Honest Opinion ?
Yahoo lists it as beeing on www.idoru.com but... I think the original Yardshow has closed down as "the guy who ran it decided to get a life" as Gibson said it in a recent interview on Salon(i think).
...mmm. From the first trilogy, i would suggest 'count zero ' (whatever the original english title should be), IMNSHO the most readable. Mona Lisa Overdrive is kinda chef d'oeuvresque, but with less fast paced action and guns on the roof.
...In fact, Virtual Lite is maybe a little more valuable for the wannabee.
the shorts stories in burning chrome are at the nadir of the genre (hehe). I personnally especially like 'The WInter Market' (hype business and recorded personnalities) and 'Hinterland' (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.... Hinterland), while 'Hotel New Rose' and 'Fragment De Roses En Hologramme' (whatever...) are quite good too.
Alien III worth the reading. I'll bring Neuromancer on a desert island. Idoru is cute.
I gotta go now.
La vente continue pendant les travaux, le monde n'a pas de fin
(this is a quote, espece de putain d'enculé de modérateur trop stupide)
STAR (as in hot young actress) WARS
...and a gift. gift?! what gift?!
chapter vi
a story of tender love
natalie portman has returned to her home town of albany new york to rescue her friend, mae ling mak, from the clutches of the vile gangster, naked & petrified guy.
little does natalie know that the evil open source empire, led by esr, has begun construction on a new sendmail daemon even more powerful than the first dreaded sendmail.
once completed, this new daemon will spell certain doom for the natalie portman fan-club, ending their means of sending fan-mail...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
open source man arrives at the development house. workers are scuttling about attempting to look busy.
project leader: open source man, this is an unexpected pleasure. we are honored by your presence.
open source man: you may dispense with the pleasantries, project leader. i am here to put you back on schedule.
project leader: i assure you, open source man, my men are working as fast as they can.
open source man: perhaps i can find new ways to motivate them!
project leader: the new sendmail daemon will be completed on schedule!
open source man: esr does not share your optimistic appraisal of the situation.
project leader: but he asks the impossible! i need more volunteers!
open source man: then perhaps you can tell him when he arrives here.
project leader: esr is coming here?!
open source man: that is correct, project leader, and he is most displeased with your apparant lack of progress.
project leader: we shall double our efforts!
open source man: i hope so, project leader, for your sake. esr is not as forgiving as i am.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
c3-rms and linus-d2 are walking down the sidewalk in albany new york, headed for the naked & petrified guy's palace.
c3-rms: of course i'm worried. and you should be, too. lando johansen and poor alan cox never returned from this awful place.
linus-d2: chirp, chirp.
c3-rms: don't be so sure. if i told you half the things i've heard about this naked & petrified guy, you'd probably short-circuit.
the two droids approach the gate of the massive palace.
c3-rms: linus, are you sure this is the right place? i better knock, i suppose.
c3-rms knocks on the iron door.
c3-rms: there doesn't seem to be anyone there. let's go back and tell mistress portman.
a small hatch opens in the middle of the door and an aibo head pops out.
aibo head:tnaw uoy od kcuf eht tahw?
c3-rms: goodness gracious me! yug deifirtep & dekan eht ot egassem a evig ot emoc evah ew. smr-3c ma i dna 2d-sunil si siht.
the aibo examines the droids, laughs, then returns to its hole.
c3-rms:i don't think they're going to let us in, linus. we'd better go!
the door opens and linus rushes inside. hesitantly, c3-rms follows.
c3-rms: oh, linus! linus, wait for me!
the giant door slams shut behind the droids. two naked and petrified statue gaurds close in on the droids.
c3-rms: just you deliver mistress portman's message and get us out of here.
out of the darkness, a naked & petrified lacey chabert enters the room.
lacey chabert statue: olleh
c3-rms:oh, my! olleh. we bring a message to your master, the naked & petrified guy.
linus-d2: chirp, beep, chirp.
c3-rms:
lacey shakes her head. lacey holds out her hand toward linus, who chirps in protest as he backs away.
c3-rms: he says that our instructions are to give it only to nake & petrified himself. i'm terribly sorry. i'm afraid he's ever so stubborn about these sorts of things.
lacey motions for the droids to follow her. lacey leads the droids into the naked & petrified guy's throne room. they stand nervously before him.
c3-rms: the message, linus, the message.
a projection of natalie portman beams out from the center of linus' head... the projection speaks...
natalie portman: greetings exalted one. allow me to introduce myself. i am natalie portman, hot young actress and friend to mae ling mak. i know that you are powerful, mighty naked & petrified, and that your lust for mae ling must be equally powerful. i seek an audience with your greatness to bargain for mae ling's life. with your wisdom, i'm sure that we can work out an arrangement which will be mutually beneficial and enable us to avoid any unpleasant confrontation. as a token of my goodwill, i present to you a gift: these two droids. both are hardworking and will serve you well.
naked & petrified guy: there will be no bargain! i will not give up my favorite wall decoration. i like mae ling where she is!
the naked and petrified guy points to mae ling mak, naked & petrified and hanging on the wall.
c3-rms: linus, look! it's mae ling! and she's still frozen in carbonite!
the droids are taken away for processing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
a party is underway in the throne room. larry wall and tom christiansen are topless and chained. the naked & petrified guy holds the chains as the two dance. the naked & petrified guy grows disgusted with the two constantly making sexual advances toward each other. he presses a button on his throne and the two dancers fall into a pit with a giant aibo. the aibo is equipped with a scientifically proven magic petrification ray. the aibo petrifies the two dancers. laughter fills the room full of naked & petrified teen girls.
suddenly, a blast from the hallway interrupts the merriment. a masked figure walks in with a large hairy handcuffed beast.
c3-rms: oh no! alan cox!
naked & petrified guy: at last, we have the mighty alan cox!
the naked & petrified guy motions for c3-rms to come translate. c3-rms complies.
c3-rms: the illustrious naked & petrified guy bids you welcome and will gladly pay you the reward of twenty-five thousand.
bounty hunter: i want fifty thousand. no less.
the naked and petrified guy becomes enraged. he knocks c3-rms back. c3-rms regains his footing.
c3-rms: uh, the mighty naked & petrified guy asks why he must pay fifty thousand.
the bounty hunter holds up a small brown ball.
c3-rms: because he's holding a ball of gnu dung!
naked & petrified guy: this bounty hunter is my kind of scum. fearless and inventive....
c3-rms: the naked & petrified guy offers you the sum of thirty-five and he'll throw in a cute teen girl naked and petrified.
the bounty hunter nods.
c3-rms: he agrees!
the bounty hunter joins in the resumed celebration as alan cox is taken away by a pair of naked and petrified cute teen girls.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
it is dark and quiet in the throne room. all of the cute naked & petrified teen girls are passed out from the drunken festivities. the bounty hunter steps quietly toward the petrified mae ling mak. the bounty hunter flips a switch on one side of mae ling's encasement. the encasement falls to the floor. the bounty hunter pulls a depetrification lever. a bright light shines through the carbonite. mae ling mak's naked body falls out of the shell and onto the floor. the bounty hunter lifts her up. mae ling regains consciousness.
bounty hunter: just relax for a moment. you're free of the carbonite.
mae ling mak: i can't see!
bounty hunter: your eyesight will return in time.
mae ling mak: where am i?
bounty hunter: the naked & petrified guy's palace.
mae ling mak: who are you?
the bounty hunter removes his mask... it's matalie, natalie portman's identical twin sister!
matalie: someone who loves you!
mae ling mak: matalie!
matalie: i gotta get you outta here.
as matalie helps mae ling mak to her feet, a deep cackle booms from a curtain next to them.
mae ling mak: i know that laugh.
the curtain opens to reveal the naked & petrified guy and his cronies, including c3-rms, whose mouth is being covered by lacey chabert, naked and petrified.
mae ling mak: hey, naked and petrified guy, i was just on my way to bring you some cute teen girls, but i got a little sidetracked. it's not my fault!
naked & petrified guy: it's too late for that, mae ling. you may have been a good provider of cute teen girls, but now you're highway pavement!
mae ling mak: look!
naked & petrified guy: take him away!
a couple of naked & petrified cute teen girls grab mae ling mak and drag her off.
mae ling mak: naked & petrified, i'll pay you triple... you're throwing away 24 cute teen girls here. don't be a fool!
mae ling mak is removed from the scene. the naked & petrified guy turns his attentions to matalie.
naked & petrified guy: bring her to me!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
all is dark and quiet in the entranceway to the naked & petrified guy's palace. the main gate raises to let in a bright white light from outside. the silhouetted figure of natalie portman enters the palace. two naked & petrified cute teen girls try to bar natalie's progress. natalie raises her hand and the guards fall back. natalie proceeds on to the naked & petrified guy's throne room. natalie portman enters the throne room and the naked & petrified guy awakes.
natalie portman lifts her skirt as her twin sister watches.
natalie portman: you will bring mae ling mak and alan cox to me.
naked & petrified guy: your sexual powers will not work on me, girl!
natalie portman: nevertheless, i am taking mae ling and her friends. you can either profit by this or be destroyed. it's your choice. but i warn you not to underestimate the powers of my hot young body.
the naked and petrified guy glares at natalie portman smugly. he presses the button to the trapdoor.
naked & petrified guy: there will be no bargain, young actress. i shall enjoy admiring you nude and imobile.
natalie portman falls into the pit with the giant aibo, equipped with the scientifically proven magic petrification ray. the aibo's ray warms up and it begins to fire, but not before natalie pulls a mirror from her purse and holds it up to the aibo. the ray reflects from the mirror and petrifies the aibo.
a naked and petrified cmdr taco and hemos come into the chamber. they are devastated at the loss of the aibo.
the naked & petrified guy is also infuriated.
naked & petrified guy: bring me mak and cox! they will all suffer for this outrage!
several naked & petrified cute teen girls scramble about. mae ling mak, alan cox and natalie portman are brought before the naked & petrified guy. c3-rms translates.
c3-rms: oh dear. his high exaltedness, the great naked & petrified guy, has decreed that you are to be terminated immediately.
mae ling mak: good, i hate long waits.
c3-rms: you will therefore be taken to the dune sea and cast into a pit of hot grits.
mae ling mak: doesn't sound so bad.
c3-rms: there you will find a new definition of pain and suffering as your are slowly digested over a thousand years.
mae ling mak: on second thought, let's pass on that.
natalie portman: you should have bargained, naked & petrified guy. that's the last mistake you'll ever make!
the naked & petrified guy cackles evilly as the prisoners are hearded off.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
at the pit of hot grits, natalie portman, alan cox and mae ling mak are moved into position to be pushed into the pit from a small sail barge. matalie linus-d2 watch from the naked & petrified guy's larger sail barge.
a naked & petrified cute teen girl moves natalie portman into position. natalie portman nods to lando johansen and linus-d2. they indicate acknowledgement of the signal. natalie is pushed over the plank, but she grabs onto it as she falls and bounces back. at the same moment, linus-d2 ejects a can of mace from a compartment in his head. natalie uses the mace to send various naked & petrified teen girls carreening into the pit of hot grits. the grits bubble in delight.
matalie takes advantage of the chaos. she grabs the chain connecting her to the naked & petrified guy and uses it to strangle him.
lando johansen frees mae ling mak and alan cox, who join natalie portman in the fight. natalie makes her way to the main sail barge, while matalie is freed by linus-d2.
linus-d2 and c3-rms dive into the sand. natalie portman grabs her twin sister and jumps back onto the smaller sail barge with lando johansen, mae ling mak and alan cox after setting off the large petrification ray on the main sail barge.
as the smaller sail barge collects the droids and flies away, the entire large sail barge is petrified and collapses under its own weight.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
open source man and the sendmail project leader kneal at the entranceway of the development shop. esr enters the room.
esr: rise my friend.
open source man and the project leader rise and walk alongside esr.
open source man: the sendmail daemon will be completed on schedule.
esr: you have done well, open source man. and now i sense you wish to continue your quest to open source young natalie portman.
open source man: yes, my master.
esr: patience, my friend. in time she will seek you out. and when she does, you must bring her before me. she has developed nicely. only together can we turn her to the open source side.
open source man: as you wish.
esr: everything is proceeding as i have foreseen.
esr laughes as they walk down the hallway.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
linus-d2 waits outside in the rain. natalie portman is inside a small hut with grace hopper.
betty davis: hmmm. that face you make. look i so old to young eyes?
natalie portman: no... of course not.
betty davis: i do, yes, i do! sick have i become. old and weak. when nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not! soon i will rest. yes, forever sleep. earned it i have.
natalie portman: mistress davis, you can't die.
betty davis: strong am i with femininity. but not that strong! twilight is upon me and soon night must fall. that is the way of things... the way of the hot young actress.
natalie portman: but i need your help. i've come back to complete the training.
betty davis: no more training do you require. already know you that which you need.
natalie portman: then i am a hot young actress?
betty davis: ohhhh. not yet. one thing remains: open source man. you must confront open source man. only then a hot young actress will you be. and confront him you will.
natalie portman: mistress davis.... was open source man the president of my fan club?
betty davis: mmmm... rest i need. yes... rest.
natalie portman: betty, i must know.
betty davis: the president of your fan club he was. told you did he?
natalie portman: yes.
betty davis: unexpected this is. and unfortunate.
natalie portman: unfortunate that i know the truth?
betty davis: no. unfortunate that you rushed to face him... that incomplete was your hotness. not ready for a sexual relationship were you. remember, a hot young actresses strength flows from her hot young buttocks. but beware. anger, fear, agression. the open source side are they. once you start down the open source path, forever will it dominate your destiny. consume you it will. natalie... natalie... do not... do not underestimate the powers of esr, or suffer open source man's fate you will. natalie, when gone am i, the last of the hot young actresses will you be. natalie, hotness is strong in your family. pass on what you have learned. natalie... there is... another.... port... port... man.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
natalie portman wanders back outside. she is depressed.
natalie portman: i can't do it linus. i can't go on alone.
hedy lamar: betty davis will always be with you.
natalie looks up and sees the spirit of hedy lamar. hedy approaches natalie and they sit together on a tree trunk.
natalie portman:hedy lamar! why didn't you tell me? you told me open source man tied up and bludgeoned the president of my fan club!
hedy lamar: the president of your fan club was seduced by the open source community. he ceased to be anonymous coward and became open source man. when that happened, the good man who was the president of your fan club was destroyed. so what i have told you was true... from a certain point of view.
natalie portman: a certain point of view!
hedy lamar: natalie, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view. anonymous was a good friend. when i first knew him, anonymous was already a great fan of yours. i was amazed at how obsessed he was with you. i took it upon myself to train him as the president of your fan club. i thought i could instruct him just as well as betty davis. i was wrong.
natalie portman: there's still good in him.
hedy lamar: he is more machine now than man. horny and desperate.
natalie portman: i can't do it, hedy. i can't kill the president of my own fan club.
hedy lamar: then esr has already won. you were our only hope.
natalie portman: betty spoke of another.
hedy lamar: the other she spoke of is your identical twin sister.
natalie portman: but i have no sister.
hedy lamar: to protect you both from esr, you were hidden from him when you were born.
natalie portman: matalie! matalie's my sister!
hedy lamar: your insight serves you well. bury your feelings deep down, natalie. they do you credit. but they could be made to serve esr.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A BUNCH OF STUFF HAPPENS
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
two random open source developers enter the cat-walk holding natalie portman in chains.
random open source developer #1: this is the hot young actress who surrendered to us. although she denies it, i believe there may be more of them and i request permission to conduct a search of the area. she was armed only with this.
the random open source developer hands open source man a spray-can of mace.
open source man: good work coder. leave us. conduct your search and bring her companions to me.
the random open source developers leave.
open source man: esr has been expecting you.
natalie portman: i know, president.
open source man: so... you've accepted the truth!
natalie portman: i've accepted the truth that you were once anonymous coward... president of my fan club.
open source man: that name no longer holds any meaning for me!
natalie portman: it's the name of your true self. you've only forgotten. i know there is good in you! esr hasn't driven it from you fully! that was why you couldn't bludgeon me before. that's why you won't bring me to esr now.
open source man seems distracted by natalie's firm buttocks.
open source man: i see your figure has filled out. your development is complete. indeed you are alluring as esr has forseen.
natalie is unsure of what open source man plans on doing. she is a bit nervous.
natalie portman: come with me.
open source man: my girlfriend once thought as you do. you don't know the power of open source! i must obey esr!
natalie portman: i will not be open sourced. and you will be forced to bludgeon me with the open source gnu sausage.
open source man: if that is your destiny...
natalie portman: search your feelings, anonymous. you can't do this! i feel the conflict within you! let go of your lust!
open source man: it is too late for me, natalie.
open source man motions for an open source developer.
open source man: esr will show you the true nature of open source. he is your master now!
dissappointed, natalie nods her head.
natalie portman: then the president of my fan club is truly dead.
as the open source developer takes natalie away, open source man gazes longingly at her buttocks. he turns to look out the window, harkening back to his innocent youth, when he was president of the natalie portman fan-club. he sighs, deeply.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
open source man and natalie portman enter esr's throne-room. esr is sitting in a chair at the top of a platform. open source man and natalie portman approach.
esr: welcome, hot young actress, i've been expecting you. you'll no longer need those.
esr waves a finger and natalie's hand-cuffs fall off.
esr: guards... leave us.
the gaurds leave.
esr: i am looking forward to completing your sexual development. in time, you will call me master.
natalie portman: you're gravely mistaken. you won't open source me.
esr: oh no, my hot young actress, you will find it is you who are mistaken... about a great many things.
open source man: her can of mace.
esr: ah yes. a hot young actresses weapon. much like the ones that have been used on me time and again. by now you must know your old fan-club president can never be turned from the open-source side. so will it be with you.
natalie portman: you're wrong. soon i'll be dead and you with me.
esr: laughs. perhaps you refer to the imminent attack of your fans. yes. i assure you, we are quite safe from your fans here.
natalie portman: your overconfidence is your weakness.
esr: your faith in your fans is yours.
open source man: it is pointless to resist, natalie.
esr: everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. your fans are walking into a trap. it was i who allowed the natalie portman fan club to know the location of the code generator. i assure you, it is quite safe from your pitiful little band. an entire legion of my best coders await them. oh... i'm afraid the sendmail daemon will be quite operational when your fans arrive!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
natalie portman is hiding in esr's throne room. open source man is trying to locate her.
open source man: you cannot hide forever, natalie.
natalie portman: i will not be open sourced.
open source man: give yourself to the open source community. it is the only way you can save your friends.
natalie portman strains to contain her thoughts.
open source man: ah yes, your thoughts betray you. your feelings for them are strong. especially for... sister. so... you have a twin sister! now your feelings have betrayed her too. your parents were wise to hide her from me. now their failure is complete! if you will not be open sourced, then perhaps she will!
natalie portman jumps out from behind a mainframe, wielding a can of mace. she begins beating open source man back with it.
natalie portman: noooooooo!
natalie portman sprays open source man in the face with the self-protection spray. he crumples to the ground, holding his arm out to protect his face from another attack.
natalie portman is crazed with the power of open source.
esr cackles evilly as he steps down from his platform toward natalie.
esr: good. good! your open-sourcedness has made you powerful. now, release your sexuality and take open source man's place at my side.
natalie looks down at the fallen open source man, breathing heavily as his sinuses sting from the mace. she harkens back to her youthful obsession with a hot young actor.
natalie portman: never. i'll never turn to the open source side. you failed your highness. i am chaste, like open source man before me!
esr: so be it, closed-source girl. if you will not be open sourced, then you will be bludgeoned with the open source sausage!
esr grabs a giant sausage with a taxidermied gnu's head mounted on the end of it. he begins to beat natalie with it.
esr: hot young actress... only now, at the end, do you understand! you have paid the price for your lack of vision!
esr thrashes some more... open source man shakes off the mace.
esr: your hot young femininity is no match for the power of open source!
esr beats natalie again. open source man pulls himself to his feet and stands next to esr.
esr: and now, young portman, you will feel the full wrath of the gnu!
natalie portman screams in horror as esr thrashes her harder.
natalie portman: aaaargghghghghgh! open source man! please! help me!
open source man looks fondly upon natalie's firm young buttocks. he looks at esr. with a final surge of passion for the hot young actress, open source man lifts esr over his head and carries him to the window. open source man tosses esr into the blackness of night, but not before esr gets several good whacks in with the open source sausage.
open source man collapses to the floor. natalie portman crawls over to him and holds his head gently in her arms...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
natalie portman drags open source man through the development house. esr writings are flying around everywhere in the turmoil. the building is about to collapse from the attack of the natalie portman fan-club alliance. natalie is trying to reach a cart to drive her and open source man out to safety.
open source man: natalie, help me take these pants off.
natalie portman: but you'll make a mess all over the floor!
open source man: nothing can stop that now. just for once, let me love you with my own genitalia.
natalie nods in agreement. she removes open source man's pants. he smiles with relief. natalie gazes upon the pale, disfigured genitalia with pity.
open source man: now... go. leave me!
natalie portman: i'll not leave you. i've got to let you open source me!
open source man: you already have! you were hot! you were hot, natalie! tell your sister, you were ho...
with that, open source man slips away into a coma of bliss. filled with sorrow and pity, natalie takes one last look at the exposed genitalia. the warehouse begins to crumble. natalie quickly drags open source man's carcass onto the cart and escapes before the building collapses.
natalie reaches the street-corner. she spots her parents waiting to pick her up as designated. she dumps open source man onto the sidewalk, under a power line. she scribbles her phone number on a piece of paper and lays it on his chest. as she walks away, the tremors from the crumbling of the development house cause the power line to snap. it lands on open source man and ignites him. wistfully, natalie watches as he burns to a crisp.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
natalie portman is at a party with matalie and the members of the fan-club. she harkens back to the previous week when open source man saved her. she looks out the window... open source man's blue-auraed spirit is standing in the front lawn, naked and aroused, warmly smiling at her. natalie smiles back before rejoining her friends...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
the end.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
starring
open source man
anonymous coward
natalie portman
natalie portman
matalie
natalie portman
esr
esr
naked & petrified guy
anonymous coward
lacey chabert naked & petrified
lacey chabert naked & petrified
mae ling mak naked & petrified
mae ling mak naked & petrified
mae ling mak clothed & mobile
mae ling mak clothed & mobile
c3-rms
richard m. stallman
linus-d2
linus torvalds
open source gnu sausage
farmland national headquarters mascot sausage + taxidermied gnu's head
with special appearances by
tom christiansen (sweaty topless male dancer #1)
larry wall (sweaty topless male dancer #2)
produced by
anonymous coward
directed by
anonymous coward
written by
anonymous coward
special visual effects
anonymous coward
sound design
anonymous coward
music
anonymous coward
key grip
anonymous coward
sausage wrangler
anonymous coward
thank you.
modirate this up sukas!
SO weird. cool though
Neal Stephanson's stories are much easier to read
Well, if "easy to read" is a prerequisite for you, may I suggest Dr. Seuss? If that is too elementary, then I hear that Judy Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret is a rip-snorting good read. After all, we would not want to give you material that is too advanced for you. Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle might be an entertaining way for you to spend a month or two.
Gibson Cocktail
3/4 ounce chilled dry vermouth
2 ounces chilled gin
cocktail onion
Shake well with ice and strain into glass. Serve with small pearl cocktail onion.
Jay is the Corresponding Secretary of LXNY, which is for all free software including Linux... NYLUG is run by a nice fellow who works for VA Linux.
Its the DVDCCA, not "CMA" you god damn idiot. I'm glad your so informed on these issues
zeel0t.
It's because you're not a fucking linux zealot/communist. They don't appreciate non-commies/non-linux zealots.
BLOW IT OUT YER ASS
I hate when people can't take the time to change their weird codes into ASCII. We end up with the replacement of every quote or apostrophe with a question mark, which makes pages hard to read.
Switch the . and the @ to email me.
My buddy interviewed Gibson in SF a couple months ago. He was really cool and personable. Check it out: http://www.art-damage.com/gibson.html
Now Phillip K. Dick, there's the man. Through a looking glass darkly, invents the idea of the worm, is ~cyberpunk and has a kind of indepth character.
Actually, the worm was invented by John Brunner in The Shockwave Rider.
While I'm posting, I'll throw in with the love Stephenson, don't care for Gibson side. (Although I enjoyed Burning Chrome when I read it way back when, and his X-Files episode, as well.)
So, is extrans formatting broken for everyone else?
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
After meeting Gibson about 12 years ago, I rather thought that first he thought most of his readers where idiots. One of the questions I had was "What other writers influenced you?"
His comment was "Thomas Pynchon, but I am sure you have never heard of him."
Um I thought... I had just read, V and had read Gravity's Rainbow years before, and I realized that:
A He did not think much of his "fans".
B He was truly an asshole.
C He was not half as clever as he wants to be.
I have read everything sense this through glasses tinted with A, B and C.
Writers that are cool (And I have met) to there fans and very smart.
Are
Bruce Sterling
Greg Bear
Neal Stephenson
"Think of it as evolution in action."
That isn't the attitude I like to hear from a "hard" science fiction author
Which Gibson isn't. Gibson's books are about now, not the future, in the same way as Pynchon's historical novels are about now. The point of the tech aspects is to induce vertigo and to force the reader to re-view the world magnified and distorted but still recognisable. I'd argue that he isn't even Sci-Fi, or rather that if he is then we have to allow so many writers into the genre as to make it a pointless distinction.
For example, the idoru was based on a real attempt to build a popular virtual singing star in Japan: the Sci-Fi theme of the book is there to make you question what celebrity is when the image is more simulacrum than real. If he just wrote a book called "neat things that have happened in Japan" his arguments would be less forceful.
-- need more time?
Shit.
That should be the *post* decrypto-automatic menace.
That means after the not so secret menacing machines took over the world.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
You should give The Difference Engine a chance. I too hate Sterling's writing (I couldn't get past the first couple of pages in Islands in the Net) but Difference Engine was good.
I really like Gibson's earlier stuff, but his last trilogy I found shallow and only somewhat interesting.
Scuttlemonkey is a troll
It's not for everyone.. Different people have different tastes. Personally, I prefer Gibson over Stephenson!
I used to be kind of down on Gibson, but I've learned to appreciate him, over the course of his last trilogy.
If you like the way Gibson writes, I highly recommend Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler, two other writers who wrote fiction about their here and now.
The best thing about Gibson, of course, is that he lives in the best city in Northern America.
Best,
(jfb)
To spur "enterprise Linux," Big Bang, the distributed two-phase commit.
I found the Virtual Light trilogy quite enjoyable; he's definitely matured as a writer (even if he'll never be a Phil Dick), and the ideas are interesting.
...) And that of course says nothing about other fictions --- Poe and Borges both wrote what could be considered SF. But I digress.
Still, Gibson isn't much of a stylist, and I can certainly see why people aren't hot on him. I think that his vision of modern life is strong enough to carry the books past a certain (dreadfully?) predictability, but YMMV.
Try "Virtual Light," "Idoru" and "All Tomorrow's Parties" as a more facile expression of Gibson's abilities. People whose judgement I trust recommend "The Difference Engine" to me, but I detest the writing of Sterling and haven't had much motivation to check it out.
As far as SF goes, I'll take Vance or Silverberg over anyone writing today (or yesterday, or the day before
Best,
(jfb)
To spur "enterprise Linux," Big Bang, the distributed two-phase commit.
Yes, the artwork does (did) exist... the etchings in the cover of the book/box were of genetic code.
It was on display (along with the only known copies of the book/box itself) at the first public unveiling in Manhattan... and that's where we got the original copy and posted it...
Cheers.
Something I thought was kinda of interesting was what Gibson wanted to do for his next book: :-}
he wants to write something where the reader says "Wait a minute! That WAS science fiction, but it was also completely contemporary reality with next to nothing made up"
I couldn't help thinking that this is the response I had to a certain recent novel--Let me think...what was the name again.....oh yeah! The Cryptonomicon!
but maybe I am wrong...
Slackware: old school feel, new school gear.
I am not a LitCrit (no do I play one on TV), but let me try to explain.
Calling something <em>crypto-fascist</em> implies that it advocates fascism without being overt about it. Fascism requires unswerving loyalty to a strong leader (or nation), exaults military virtues above all else and considers democracy and a diversity of opinion to be weaknesses.
A <em>subtext</em> is a literary term for the hidden meaning of a work, which is often more important that the story. It is the "message" of the movie. if you will.
So, consider a pair of examples:
"The Matrix" has an "awakening "subtext; its message is "open your eyes and take control of your life". A "good-hearted" message, Gibson calls it.
"T2" tells us that we can only be saved by super-robots from the future, and that by following its orders we will survive.
Deciding which is crypto-fascist is left as an excersice for the reader.
Kind Regards,
Kind Regards,
Bruce
So he invented a couple of cool words: "Neuromacer" in particular. Apart from that... his writing is... average, I'd say. Neal Stephanson's stories are much easier to read, and make a lot more sense.
Sure, he was somewhat of a pioneer, but the more I read his books, the more I think that people shouldn't judge him as one of the "science fiction greats"
For instance:
That isn't the attitude I like to hear from a "hard" science fiction author - I might excuse it is his stories were better written, but they aren't. If I want to hear about clothes, I'll read Vouge or something.
The more I see of this guy, the more I am impressed by him. WG is definitely one of the literary geniuses of our day. He blows my mind. /.
Get this guy on
The Information Revolution will be fought on the command line.
It seems to me that the only a few creative types (in the 20th century) have been able to truely entertain both children and adults. (Jim Henson, Dr. Suess, George Lucas, Frank L. Baum, and maybe Disney).
And the very best (IMHO) tried to entertain the child while teaching the adult something about their child's world. Examples would be "The Lorax" which tries to show what a child might think about industry or "The Labrynth" which is probably just about the best movie to show a preteen to prep them and you for their voyage into adult hood.
Sorry, but I had to comment because I just found out I'm going to be a father (due 8/12) and I've been thinking about this alot!
Myddrin
I dunno, but in Red Dwarf, Lister likes to use the term too.
Sorry, but it's basically almost ?unreadable? because of all the misplaced ???? characters where ?"? should be. Maybe this problem should be written up on the ?Frontpage?!!
?????!
-M
Ah, screw that. If I had root, I'd rather:
/usr/bin/Microsoft /usr/bin/RedHat /usr/bin/VALinux /usr/bin/USMilitary /usr/bin/Congress
chown ucblockhead
chown ucblockhead
chown ucblockhead
chown ucblockhead
chown ucblockhead
But then, I always was kind of selfish.
The cake is a pie
From what I've heard, Gibson's very approachable. I talked to both Gibson and Sterling at a book signing for "Difference Engine" and found this to be the case. He definitely wasn't playing the stuck up auther.
(Neither was Sterling, for that matter.)
Someone from Slashdot ought to contact his agent.
My signed first edition of "Neuromancer" vanished about a year later. [Sniff.] I remember when it came out. It was the first of an early-eighties series spotlighting first novels by young rising stars (which unfortunately seems to have died with its editor, Terry Carr.) The second and third books were Lucious Shepard's "Green Eyes" and Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Wild Shore". Great stuff.
The cake is a pie
If we are all living in the Matrix then
./DOJ
we need someone to get root (somehow)
then
kill -9 MPAA
kill -9 DVD_CMA
kill -9 USPTO
# how do you cause Microsoft to fork into separate processes?
# O Yeah now i remember...
Anyone know what order the books are in? which ones should be read first, etc?
If I wanted to read something Gibson, what should I try?
This is great! Please, moderate the parent up - or start reading at -1. Believe me it's worth it!
---
Book(n): Utensil used to pass time while waiting for the TV repairman
William Gibson Interview @ AICN
Posted by michael on Fri February 04, 04:09 AM
from the idoru dept.
Yay! I finally have my own department... so when am I moving in, fellows?
How the hell did this person get an interview with Gibson? I could maybe understand if this was for People magazine or something, but AICN?!
Could the questions have been more superficial? I read the whole thing fully expecting the next question to be something along the lines of "blonde or brunette?"
Slashdot could have done a better interview.
Personally, I'm still down on Gibson. I read some of his early stuff as it was first serialised in the pulps ("Count Zero," "Mona Lisa Overdrive") and found it ponderous and trite. Maybe he's gotten better with age, but there's enough stuff out there that I KNOW I'll like that I'm hesitant to bother finding out.
Any recommendations for a Gibson dissenter?
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
I would *love* to see Molly in a movie. (for those who don't know... if Trinity were really a badass, she'd have permanent, Woverine-esque claws to go with the leather pants and bad attitude...)
;)
I hate to get technical, here, but I've read Neuromancer about 7 times... and Molly didn't have spurs like Wolverine. What she had were little blades that slid out from underneath her fingernails, much like a cat's retractable claws.
Just thought I'd make that little correction
-- Dr. E --
Agreeing with many of the comments posted -- Gibson is Literature with a Capital L. Some would say a visionary, a spotter of trends, and he himself describes his writing as that moment before the bug hits the windshield (windshield being reality, his writing is just a tad out in front of us, taking a peek right around the corner). Individual Opinions aside -- the SciFi community appluaded his entrance on the scene by giving him the TripleCrown for Neuromancer -- swept the 3 big sci fi awards in 84 I recall... Further, in the halls of academia THEY ARE STUDYING HIM. You can find a couple of essays and analysis of his writings -- they're breakin him down! Personally -- he's got a cool soul! I've got a drummer/programmer buddy, I play guitar, I strum a chord and just FEEL that Marshall stack holding the sustain of six strings in tune all vibrating and humming and SINGING. I say Oh Man, Listen to THat, FEEL THAT! And my drummer begins to explain why the frequencies of the individual notes mesh to create a larger sound, how harmonics work, yada yada yada... He doesn't FEEL it at all (same guy told me why my pulse was racing on a Roller Coaster...)... And that's what's up with Gibson -- he resonates! He hums and vibrates around in the brain of those that dig him. Those that want to analyse him may miss the point, miss the beauty, miss the forest for the trees... all that cliche stuff... And the trees themselves are so cool. His writing is pure poetry. Every sentance rolls past the eyes with rythmn. Every scene a slice of life... In a way, he's like that Steve Jobs ZONE OF ILLUSION trick -- when STeve talks about apple people forget reality! Same with Gibson -- in a purely sci-fi analysis -- He Suspends our Disbelief. We know he ain't writing about reality, but you don't figure that in while your reading him -- It's Real! And of course -- he's out in front! Stephenson and others are riding on his coat tails. He started it, he continues it, he's the capital A Artist that mere technicians come behind and mimic. I've tried reading Snowcrash 3 or 4 times and couldn't get past the first 10 pages. Just a matter of style. One of only five books I've stopped reading. So I can't bag on STephenson cause I haven't read him -- I just know he didn't sync with me. Baird was a tough one too (and Gibson digs her). And what the hecks up with CRYPTOMIUM (?) -- nobdoy I know has finished it... Yet it continues to be praised? Everybody says it has a Capital R Research undertone that's a real drag. A snobby kinda look how much I've studied my topic -type undercurrent... A good novel can be told in 180 pages -- everything else is fluff, especially when you get over about 300 pages. Right about there you need to think about splitting the book, making sequels or trilogies... (but yeah, I always look for big ol' books to get a good return on my $$$, but sometimes it's just a waste of time....) Well, I'll be back on this ... BTW -- ANYBODY been able to get to his Yardshow Website???? His official site? No luck here...
Hrm, I suppose that explains it, but as you said Terminator and T2 both used the same situation, so it wouldn't be without precedent.
I think what you're describing is a 'theme' not a 'subtext'... It sounded like he was saying that movies with that cash value were crypto-fascist. I could just be on crack, though.
Amber Yuan (--ell7)
"and dear god does this website suck now." -- CmdrTaco
Think it might be possible to do a slashdot interview with WG? Slashdot's getting pretty famous now, and I think all of us would love to see it.
Amber Yuan (--ell7)
"and dear god does this website suck now." -- CmdrTaco
Ok, I might sound stupid here, but...
"[the matrix] didn't have the kind of crypto-fascist subtext that one might expect with that kind of money. "
Does anyone know what he means by that?
Amber Yuan (--ell7)
"and dear god does this website suck now." -- CmdrTaco
I love the book, and I havn't heard from anyone who didn't (care to pipe up, I'd love to hear why you didn't :).
You'll apreciate it more if you read Iduro and Virtual Light as well, but I've heard people complain about Iduro (i read it several years ago), and VL kind of bored me.
Amber Yuan (--ell7)
"and dear god does this website suck now." -- CmdrTaco
I got modded down to negative 5 as well. I think it has something to do with all the image posting that was going on earlier today. The ops apparently decided that they should erase every trace of the bug's existence. Even to posts in TrollTalk.
Amber Yuan (--ell7)
"and dear god does this website suck now." -- CmdrTaco
Oh man. William "FREAKING" Gibson.
I would *love* to see Molly in a movie. (for those who don't know... if Trinity were really a badass, she'd have permanent, Woverine-esque claws to go with the leather pants and bad attitude...)
Heck, that was worth it, just to hear Gibson make fun of Johnny Mnemonic. Maybe 'The Matrix' was how Keanu chose to make up for his sins there.
Or, even better, the gov't would never have funded The Internet as it is today... maybe. But it sure has helped the economy.
Man, Gibson entertains me. You know, when he got his Apple ][, he expected some kind of pulsating crystal inside. Man, was he disappointed. He's a visionary alright. We even get to read Neuromancer for my Science Fiction class. Yes!
Thank you slashdot, you've made my day.
---
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
I beg to differ. Of his mainstream fiction I've read The Wasp Factory and Walking On Glass, both of which I have found excellent -- gripping, entertaining and impeccably crafted. I've read one of his scifi books, Consider Phlebas, and while the scenery and concepts were impressive (the megaships, for example), the story itself seemed too much the standard space opera to be very interesting.
Back in 1992, I did a philosophy subject (Metaphysics) at university. We were handed a booklet of photocopied essays and writings. One of these (which we covered in the "nature of identity" part of the course) was Gibson's The Winter Market.
There were also two stories about time travel -- one by Bradbury and one by Heinlein -- showing the wrong and right way to cover such a concept.
I must agree with you here. Jeff Noon's writing has a lyrical quality reminiscent of Gibson at his finest, and manages to mix ultra-gritty realism with amazing flights of fancy, and make it all credible. (One particularly apt word I've seen used to describe Noon's writings is kaleidopunk.)
In particular, Vurt and the Pixel Juice story compilation are essential reading.
Though they're definitely not hard sci-fi.
NPR featured an interview with William freaking Gibson on their Talk of the Nation program way back in November. There might not be enough Gibson in the interview to satisfy the die-hard GibsonPhile, as he shared airtime with David Brin, Anne Simon, and a whole lot of callers (it's a call-in talk show). But if you're still interested (and if these links work) you can go to their Talk of the Nation site, or listen to the RealAudio version.
You can read the interview (and download a Palm doc of it) here. The raw transcript is here.
</shameless plug>
This is the best out-of-context quote I think I've ever seen:
"Well, I'm playing with it, but it hasn't yet completely entangled me. If I play with it sufficiently, it probably will."
-- William Gibson
--J(K) DOS is like Unix in exactly the same way that a pinto is like an aircraft carrier.
8 hours before story posts? I can't deal with that. I know the /. crew is busy at linuxworld and all - but for those of us who work for a certain company in redmond, that's not considered a good excuse.
It's been awful. Around 7:00 PST one of my developers started twitching and muttering 'need slashdot, need slashdot.' By 8:00 he was screaming about being attacked by snakes. Then he went nuts and started attacking us. By this time the rest of us were shaking so badly we couldn't fight him off. We would have been in trouble if my non-techie boss hadn't arrived and beat him senseless with an unsold copy of MS Bob. (see, it is good for something.)
Please don't do this again.
I need my fix.
--Shoeboy