Slashdot Mirror
Cybersyn And Early Uniminds
An anonymous reader writes "The Guardian Website is running a story on Cybersyn. An experimental computer network based on cybernetic principles that was used by Chile's revolutionary government between 1971 and 1973 to provide a real-time, decentralized form of economic analysis in the nationalized sector of the Chilean economy. The network has been described as Chile's Internet. There is a photo of the control room which looks something like the deck of the Starship Enterprise.
The whole thing was the brainchild of Stafford Beer, a sort of British Buckminster Fuller. All very Orwellian and Big Brother, the whole experiment was brought to an end by the CIA sponsored coup d'etat on the September 11th, 1973."
First thought it was about pr0n or Kazaa (or using blink tags), but no.
Voters, workplaces and the government were to be linked together by a new, interactive national communications network, which would transform their relationship into something profoundly more equal and responsive than before - a sort of socialist internet, decades ahead of its time.
Uhhh, no, that's nothing like the Internet, actually. The Internet links men with chicks, to transform their relationship into something profoundly more equal and responsive than before - the guys shell out money and get pr0n. Nothing socialist about it, and certainly nothing to do with voters.
What's your damage, Heather?
That doesn't look like the deck of the Enterprise. Just seven captain's chairs, and nothing else. And that would suck. One Captain Kirk, given Shatner's overacting, annoying enough. Seven of them would just plain suck.
"Computadora, te, gris del earl, caliente."
Trolling is a art,
Just for a grin, I searched google.
Looking there, you can find beer.
Looking there, you can find Stafford
eg It's in the UK The United Kingdom is well known for its relationship to beer.
Oddly enough, searching for both Stafford and beer returns no links about the proliferation of fermented ales in a certain part of the United Kingdom.
Visit CryptoGnome in his home.
So much for the "extra something" we lefties can bring...
Be careful what you say, or we'll have to come coup your head off too.
I can't say why but I kept reading that as SEELE.
/massive, ultra-nerdy reference
Only state secrecy and state funding could produce something like that (or an evil mastermind).
Beer is the most freedom-loving person you could hope to imagine.
Ah, this must be where the phrase "free as in Beer" I keep seeing on Slashdot comes from.
The bold print giveth, and the fine print taketh away
"Sir! Employment dip approaching 132 mark 7!"
"On...screen! What...could it...Sensors?"
"Sir, it appears to be a second-class hiring anomaly. They are pointing fingers, I suggest evasive action. Our treasury is not capable of withstanding a direct attack."
"Understood. It appears that...we can...not win this...one. Change our course to...braised shrimp and roast duck. Maximum warp!"
...
So, Al Gore worked for Chile's revolutionary government in the early 70s?