Introduction to Cyberpunk Literature - Mar 2010

5:24pmChanServ[#cyberpunk] http://newark.pardey.org

5:24pmLauriantime

5:24pmW1NT3RMUT3Laurian: the time is now Wed May 26 16:19:46 UTC 2010

5:31pmLaurianhello

5:32pmDoreneGood morning...err, whatever

5:32pmDoreneMorning for me

5:32pmLaurianDana emailed me "Chiulesc azi, sunt in avion la Ora faptei. Ålesund spre Oslo. Vorbim mai încolo. " which means, I'll (willingly) miss school today, I'm on the plane at the time of the "deed" :) Talk to you later

5:33pmLauriantrying to find the proper verb for missing classes willingly

5:34pmLaurianbtw, got this from Rebecca (p2pu) today: Some of the organisers have spoken to have reported quite dramatic drop-out rates, and are upset by this. I should point out that high drop-out rates are not unusual, especially for e-learning projects, so if this did happen in your course, please don't let it make you feel bad in any way. It happens all the time, to everybody.

5:34pmDoreneDoes that make you feel better?

5:34pmLaurian... I'm also glad to hear that the Cyberpunk course is still going strong.

5:35pmLaurianI don't feel, I wasn't programmed for that :)

5:35pmDoreneI am still here!

5:35pmLaurianI wonder if they will go towards my suggestion last year

5:36pmLaurian:)

5:36pmLaurianthanks Dorene

5:36pmDoreneEven if I've been a bit lame about my assignments in the last few weeks

5:36pmDoreneMy work situation has me a bit drained emotionally and creatively

5:36pmLaurianwhen I told them that the blog format for a course is OK, and we should build an online magazine over each subject

5:37pmLaurianfeaturing articles and materials, and sometime essays from student

5:37pmLaurianto have a course engaged with more than its students

5:37pmLaurianinstead they went for a Drupal VLE ...

5:37pmLaurianI'll try to push the blog one again now

5:38pmDoreneA blog format would work really well for me, though I do enjoy the weekly chats too

5:39pmLaurianI would go for a magazine format

5:39pmzombieToastanything that a ui designer has spent more than 20 minutes on would be nice

5:39pmLaurianLOL

5:39pmLaurianyeah

5:40pmDoreneHehe

5:40pmLauriancouple weeks ago I was thinking not to reiterate this course

5:40pmLaurianbut now I'm thinking to have it as an experiment outside the "VLE"

5:41pmzombieToasta well designed custom vle could work well

5:42pmzombieToastunfortunately I've never seen one of those...

5:42pmLauriana multi user blog as backend, with featured articles, links, materials pushed on the front page would feel better in my opinion

5:43pmzombieToastoh yeah well anything would feel better at the moment

5:43pmzombieToasthaha

5:43pmLaurianwiki

5:43pmLauriana wiki will do

5:43pmzombieToastwhatever it is I hope they can get a ui guy on board that actually gives it some thought

5:44pmzombieToastnot a fan of wikis personally

5:44pmzombieToastI like things to look good

5:44pmzombieToastas well as function

5:44pmLaurianneither do I, but they are easy to mould into anything

5:45pmLaurianand providing templates and typed pages (via tags) you can do things while keeping the thing flexible

5:46pmzombieToastsomething bloggy is probably easier to roll out though

5:46pmLaurianso, on the course, I won't push for deadlines, but It would be nice if we can finish it by the end of June

5:46pmzombieToasthmm

5:46pmzombieToastshould be doable I guess

5:46pmDoreneEnd of June should be okay

5:47pmLaurianok, I just have to post the last assignment, still compiling a long nice list of writing tips and inspiration sources

5:47pmzombieToasthaha seeing as it was going to be end of april...

5:47pmLaurianwell

5:47pmLaurianthe previous one drifted too

5:49pmLaurianwould you like to be involved in the next one? as observer, contributor, critique?

5:51pmzombieToastyeah could be interesting

5:51pmDoreneI would almost like to try again...

5:51pmzombieToastI'll probably write up a crit of this round at the end anyway, had said I'd post my experiences with the course elsewhere

5:52pmLaurianDorene, I would like to come with different materials, will overlap a bit but not very much (or I'll get very bored ;) )

5:52pmLaurianthat would be great, p2pu needs a lot of feedback

5:53pmzombieToastI'll make sure to do it then

5:53pmLaurianI'll make sure I'll stress you with theb :)

5:53pmLaurianthen

5:54pmLaurianon grading, the idea was to grade on assignments but also on actual involvement, discussion, interaction

5:54pmDoreneSo how are we going to do it for this round?

5:54pmLaurianin the previous course the comments everyone left on others' assignments were regarded as important

5:55pmLaurianI feel uneasy to grade by myself those things, we should do it democratically, I love to would make an assignment on grading others' assignments ;)

5:55pmDoreneI felt like I received zero responses/feedback to the assignment's I've completed...which was a problem I was having with discussion forums in another online clas as well

5:55pmLauriantouche

5:56pmLaurianI will discuss with Rebecca how to approach grading, she run the previous course

5:57pmzombieToastyeah there was zero response

5:57pmLaurianhides in shame

5:57pmDoreneOh, no

5:57pmDorenedon't do that

5:57pmLaurian:)

5:57pmzombieToastbut tbh after spending a few weeks researching/writing I didn't feel much like reading another x amount of papers about the same thing

5:57pmzombieToastno idea how teachers do it

5:58pmDoreneWe scan for key words ;-)

5:58pmzombieToasthaha

5:58pmLaurianlol

5:59pmLaurianreally, how do you grade essays? they are cohesive units of work, grade what? style? I doubt, point of view?

5:59pmLaurianinsight? arguments?

5:59pmLaurianit is tricky

5:59pmDorenePart of it really is key words...I'm looking for my students to touch on specific ideas

6:00pmDoreneand often writing isn't their best skill...we work on it, but I try to check for content before grammar and structure

6:01pmLauriankeywords, yeah, I remember a dreadful course on "Philosophical Anthropology" I had to do in univ., managed to pass the exam by writing pages with nonsense but visible keywords

6:01pmDoreneLOL

6:01pmDoreneIt's hard...

6:02pmzombieToastshit works for google...

6:02pmLauriangoogle?

6:02pmzombieToastdumping keywords in your text to get results :p

6:03pmLaurianyeah, we should grade our essays by the rank order in google

6:03pmLaurianthat would be cyberish

6:03pmzombieToasthaha

6:03pmLaurianlearn SEO for a good grade in [insert discipline]

6:04pmLaurianso, end of June is feasible?

6:04pmzombieToastwill try anyway

6:05pmzombieToastJune is a busy month

6:05pmLaurianI'll post this weekend the materials and the final assignment (with an essay alternative to own fiction)

6:05pmLaurianand discuss grading with Rebecca, and on how to approach next course

6:06pmLaurianoops, bot died? ssh-ing to Canada to rescue it

6:06pmDoreneW1NT3RMUT3 quit?

6:06pmzombieToasttimed out

6:06pmDoreneHow does a bot quit?

6:06pmLauriannetwork issues, hmmm

6:07pmLauriangood

6:07pmLauriantime

6:07pmW1NT3RMUT3Laurian: the time is now Wed May 26 17:02:19 UTC 2010

6:07pmLaurian"It is alive" (evil laugh)

6:07pmzombieToastSo how about that Marc Gasson guy, I'm just seeing him come by in my feeds for like the millionth time today

6:07pmLaurianI must also clean the code of the bot and open source it

6:08pmzombieToasthe is so *not* 'infected with a computer virus'

6:08pmLaurianwell, nice story in the end

6:08pmLaurianhis implant

6:08pmzombieToasthe cut himself open & dumped in a chip

6:09pmzombieToastpeople do that in their bathrooms

6:09pmLaurianin Chiba city, yes, they do :)

6:09pmzombieToastno actual

6:09pmzombieToastdiy transhuman enthusiasts

6:09pmzombieToastthey're around

6:10pmLaurianyup

6:10pmzombieToastthis guy is from the same university as that other one, kevin something i think?

6:10pmzombieToasthe was claiming to be 'the worlds first human cyborg' a few years ago

6:10pmLaurianI believe so

6:10pmDorenewas it just an exercise to see if he could do it?

6:10pmLaurianReading

6:11pmzombieToastyeah reading

6:11pmzombieToastfirst cyborg? in 2002? with just a chip in his arm?

6:11pmLaurianis 2 hours drive from me

6:11pmzombieToastwhat about everyone with a pacemaker or on an iron lung

6:11pmLaurianpacemakers are hackable

6:11pmLaurianyeah, they are cyborgs

6:12pmLaurianbut not aknowledged so

6:12pmDorenedoesn't that come back to the basic question? Where is the limit for what defines a "cyborg"

6:12pmLaurianeven an insulin pump is cyborg for me

6:12pmzombieToastanyway, reading uni has somewhat sensationalist headline tendencies, that annoyed me

6:12pmLauriannow wintermute is playing tricks

6:13pmDoreneMaybe he doesn't like the subject matter?

6:13pmDorene:-)

6:13pmLaurianyeah, feels threatened

6:13pmzombieToastD: yeah it does come down to how you define a cyborg

6:13pmzombieToasthaha stupid emotes

6:13pmzombieToastD :

6:13pmLaurian"A cyborg is a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organism (i.e. an organism that has both artificial and natural systems)" wikipedia

6:13pmzombieToastbut you'd have to have a pretty convoluted definaition for that guy to have been the first

6:14pmLaurianI wouldn't say that an implant makes you cyborg unless it

6:14pmDoreneWow, that is pretty broad

6:14pmLaurianit intervenes with your systems

6:14pmzombieToastif it has some kind of nervous control system that you'll die wthout

6:14pmLaurianlike endocryne, nervous

6:14pmzombieToastyeah

6:15pmLaurianan insulin pump, a pacemaker, they both make you cyborg

6:15pmzombieToasthip implant = maybe not, pacemaker yes

6:15pmLauriana rfid tag to open the door is unlikely to be cyborg

6:15pmLaurianbrain pacemakers? double yes

6:15pmDoreneso merely a cyber feature

6:16pmLaurianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_brain_stimulation

6:16pmLaurianlovely area

6:16pmLauriana brain pacemaker is an invasive for now, Penfield mood organ ;)

6:17pmLauriandial 545 for ...

6:17pmDoreneso circuitry that does the same for mood altering as certain drugs might

6:17pmLaurianyup

6:17pmLaurianwe're getting close to Tek

6:18pmzombieToastlol wasn't tek a william shatner novel?

6:18pmLaurianyup, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tek_wars

6:18pmzombieToasthahaha

6:18pmLaurianI have the DVDs too, lovely series

6:18pmLaurianancient too

6:18pmDoreneFunny

6:19pmLaurianbtw

6:19pmLaurian'Thirst for knowledge' may be opium craving

6:19pmLaurianThe brain's reward for getting a concept is a shot of natural opiates

6:19pmLaurianhttp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-06/uosc-fk062006.php

6:19pmLaurian2006!

6:20pmLaurianand we get this with external stimulation

6:20pmLauriannow getting into the brain comm system would be lovely

6:20pmzombieToastyeah you gys can beta test all that stuff thanks

6:20pmzombieToastlet me know when you hit 3.1

6:21pmLaurianhmmm, one of my univ. colleagues is a neurosurgeon, I'll ask him if I can get any electrodes fit ;)

6:22pmDoreneKind of cool...no lingering side effects as the opiate wears off

6:22pmLaurianthen I'll write drivers for myself, LOL

6:22pmDoreneone would hope anyway

6:23pmLaurianDorene: when we'll get to the point of stimulating without electrodes, it would be lovely

6:23pmzombieToastcomplications include "short battery life, abrupt symptom worsening upon cessation of stimulation, hypomanic or manic conversion, and the significant time and effort involved in optimizing stimulation parameters"

6:23pmLauriannow you just cannot stick a needle anywhere without risking a lobotomy

6:24pmLaurianzombieToast: yeah, you need to "tune" the device for each brain

6:24pmzombieToast"possibility of apathy, hallucinations, compulsive gambling, hypersexuality, cognitive dysfunction, and depression."

6:24pmDoreneOkay, seriously, do you guys think the world will actually get to the places we speculate?

6:24pmLaurianyup

6:24pmzombieToastparts of it

6:24pmzombieToasteventually most probably

6:25pmzombieToastsome will become extreme human urist techno luddite types

6:25pmzombieToastwe'll keep them on reserves

6:25pmzombieToast*purist

6:25pmDoreneon reserves for what?

6:25pmzombieToasthuman 1.0

6:25pmLaurianunspoiled gene pool

6:26pmLaurianlol

6:26pmLaurianmuseums (evil)

6:26pmDorenepreserved specimens for baseline comparison?

6:26pmLaurian"native humans"

6:26pmzombieToastwell unspoiled...

6:27pmDorenein case we need to return to square one and start over

6:27pmLaurianand when they won't accept the reality anymore, will wire them into that consensual hallucination, you know, the Matrix

6:27pmDoreneI think I'm becoming slightly creeped out

6:27pmLaurianlol

6:27pmLaurianI'm crazy I know :)

6:28pmzombieToastwell if you look at what people predicted for 2010 and whats actually going on now there's no way anyone could have made this shit up

6:28pmLaurianzombieToast, but we're still far away from Blade Runner (2019)

6:29pmLaurianboth the androids and the space colonies

6:29pmzombieToastreally, what's far away? (besides replicants & off world colonies)

6:29pmLaurianas for environmental damage we're getting there

6:29pmLauriankipple is already here

6:30pmDorenewe're certainly going down the environmental road depicted in Blade Runner

6:30pmzombieToastwe're there & past imo

6:30pmLaurianand we'll get "specials" faster than we'll get androids, unfortunatelly

6:30pmzombieToastlol we have specials

6:31pmDoreneI think in our case, the toxic concern is just less accepted...it's there, but unacknowledged broadly

6:31pmDoreneor at least accepted as a the price we pay for progress

6:31pmLaurianbtw, Dorene, you're in US, how is the perception on the oil spill thing?

6:31pmzombieToastyeah

6:31pmzombieToastwhy are there no mobs with torches & pitchforks outside bp?

6:32pmLaurianbtw, Unsettling. How big is the Gulf oil spill compared to your city? http://bit.ly/cq29fO

6:32pmzombieToasthah just saw that come past too

6:32pmDorenePeople around here, and remember I am way up in the NW corner of the country, are appalled at the lack of accountability by BP

6:32pmDorenebut we have a tendency to criticize anything remote to our little pristine corner of the world

6:32pmLaurianscrew BP, I was expecting NASA to take over and solve it

6:33pmLaurianI see no leadership

6:33pmDoreneshoot our city councils are condemning and boycotting the state of Arizona for god's sake

6:33pmLaurianArizona, on the immigrant thing?

6:33pmzombieToastshould have just nuked it from orbit

6:33pmzombieToastonly way to be sure

6:33pmDorenewhich has nothing to do with BP...but still remote enough not to be our issue. While still appalling...

6:34pmDoreneYes the immigrant thing

6:34pmLaurianright wing is growing strong in Europe too

6:34pmzombieToastyeah some right crazies out atm

6:34pmDoreneatm?

6:34pmLaurianwith this economic downturn everybody turns on the jobs immigrants "steal"

6:34pmLaurianat the moment

6:35pmzombieToastatm = at the moment

6:35pmDoreneah

6:35pmDoreneThe thing is

6:35pmDoreneno one wants the jobs they accuse the immagrants of "stealing"

6:35pmLaurianyup, but they still scream over them

6:36pmDoreneand as far as the oil spill, everyone is vocal about it, but no one is in a position to do anything

6:36pmDoreneand as far as NASA is concerned, they've just had their budget cut drastically

6:36pmLaurianannoying

6:37pmLauriancut the flagship, dream of what? this is not good for kids

6:37pmzombieToastyeah bp could be sucking that oil up with other tankers

6:37pmDoreneOh, dang

6:37pmDoreneit's after 10:30

6:37pmDoreneI need to head out

6:38pmLaurianok, see you next week

6:38pmDoreneYes!

6:38pmzombieToastlater

6:38pmDoreneBye

6:38pmLaurianbye

6:38pmzombieToastk later

6:38pmLauriansame here

6:38pmLaurianbye

Introduction to Cyberpunk Literature - Mar 2010

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