Go back to: General discussion
[5:30pm] <Dorene>Darn it!
[5:31pm] <Laurian>food talk
[5:31pm] <zombieToast>so far, whale is tasty & I hate AI :)
[5:31pm] <Dorene>AI is 2 hours & 25 minutes long
[5:31pm] <Dorene>haven't watched it yet :-(
[5:31pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: would say never watch it :)
[5:31pm] <Dorene>I need to just decide to do it in 2 or 3 sittings
[5:31pm] <sundance_kiddo>zombieToast laughed myself dead at the parody movie you posted
[5:31pm] <Laurian>it is a cyberpunk Pinnochio
[5:32pm] <sundance_kiddo>hi Dorene :)
[5:32pm] <zombieToast>I thought it was funny what Brian Aldiss said
[5:32pm] <Laurian>and a bit too sweet (blame Spielberg) and with a happy end (not that cyberpunk)
[5:32pm] <sundance_kiddo>Dorene Sjef has posted an "AI in a nutshell"
[5:32pm] <Dorene>Kind of the Cliff Notes version? ;-)
[5:32pm] <zombieToast>haha yeah kind of
[5:33pm] <Dorene>I did enjoy the Wired article someone linked earlier this week about little boy
[5:34pm] <Dorene>and I've started reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
[5:34pm] <Laurian>I love Philip K. Dick
[5:34pm] <Dorene>but I keep getting derailed from watching AI by the availability of Farscape on Netflix Instant Play :-D
[5:34pm] <zombieToast>I havn't read much of his stuff tbh, definately on the list
[5:34pm] <sundance_kiddo>started reading that too, pretty cool
[5:35pm] <Laurian>I will lookup some short stories of Philip K Dick, lovely things with crazy end twists
[5:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>do that, I'm also curious for some more
[5:35pm] <Dorene>I haven't run across much of his stuff...in fact, the copy I am reading is the only one that was available at the library
[5:36pm] <Dorene>they had to dig it out of the basement and it's a Large Print novel
[5:36pm] <zombieToast>abebooks.com
[5:36pm] <Laurian>btw, on top of my memory, movies after Philip K Dick: Blade Runner, Total Recall, Impostor, Screamers, Paycheck, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly
[5:36pm] <Dorene>that's almost as hard to read as super small print!
[5:36pm] <sundance_kiddo>I think I'll have to order the books, my eyes become fuzzy when reading off the screen
[5:36pm] <sundance_kiddo>yuhuu
[5:36pm] <sundance_kiddo>havent seen impostor and screamer
[5:37pm] <zombieToast>screamers was ok, haven't seen impostor either
[5:37pm] <Laurian>I rented Screamers by mistake a century ago (on VHS), and seen it 7 times in one night...
[5:37pm] <Dorene>I love how this class is opening up new directions for my reading...I have Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson just taunting me on my table...
[5:37pm] » Laurian is mad.
[5:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>mad professor? :D
[5:38pm] <Laurian>yeah, mad scientist
[5:38pm] <Laurian>mad doctor even
[5:38pm] <zombieToast>by the way, there is quite a bit piled up here now: http://groups.diigo.com/group/p2pu-cyberpunk
[5:39pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: remind me to broadcast that link
[5:40pm] <zombieToast>k.
[5:40pm] <Dorene>So is it only the four of us in this time slot?
[5:40pm] <sundance_kiddo>:) just like last time
[5:40pm] <zombieToast>last week 2 guys showed up in here on thursday
[5:40pm] <sundance_kiddo>feels like private classes
[5:40pm] <zombieToast>forget who..
[5:41pm] <Laurian>apparently yes, I'll try to message now everyone directly to work out time slots
[5:41pm] <Laurian>eventually see if they prefer weekends
[5:41pm] » Laurian is always online
[5:42pm] <Dorene>If I weren't careful, I would always be online too...sometimes I just have to say to myself, "Step away fromt the computer and go outside already!"
[5:42pm] <zombieToast>same, if I'm awake there's like 80% chance I'm stuck behind a sceen
[5:42pm] <Laurian>and the iPad will be glued to my pillow
[5:43pm] <sundance_kiddo>I had almost forgotten our meeting today if it weren't for twitter
[5:43pm] <Laurian>I already woke up in the middle of the night to check on twitter
[5:43pm] <sundance_kiddo>it's holidays starting tomorrow! Yay!
[5:43pm] <Dorene>are we tweeting?
[5:43pm] <Laurian>I tweeted sundance_kiddo to join the chat
[5:43pm] <Dorene>I need to start following people
[5:43pm] <sundance_kiddo>laur is and i am
[5:43pm] <sundance_kiddo>dunno about sjef
[5:43pm] <zombieToast>only use it to broadcast stuff for our studio
[5:44pm] <zombieToast>@largetosti
[5:44pm] <zombieToast>got a personal account but I only use that for submitting to thaumatrope
[5:45pm] <Laurian>ok, I;m folowing you now
[5:45pm] » Laurian is @gridinoc on twitter
[5:45pm] <zombieToast>cool, we'll start using it more extensively in the near future
[5:45pm] <sundance_kiddo>me too
[5:45pm] <Laurian>so, how did everyone feel about the current assignment
[5:45pm] <sundance_kiddo>the essay? :)
[5:46pm] <Dorene>I approached it differently than I think maybe it was intended
[5:46pm] <zombieToast>mine came out different to what I had in mind
[5:47pm] <Dorene>I wrote it from what I felt my perspective is before reading Gernsback and watching AI...kind of considered it a launching pad for my perceptions of what cyberpunk is
[5:47pm] <sundance_kiddo>loved both your essays
[5:47pm] <sundance_kiddo>i also read the essays from the course back in september
[5:47pm] <sundance_kiddo>and i felt like i hadn't enough info to create my own essay yet
[5:47pm] <Dorene>I chose not to read the essays from september before I wrote mine
[5:48pm] <sundance_kiddo>this is a good one: http://blogs.p2pu.org/cyberpunk/2009/09/14/the-contrast-between-science-fiction-and-cyberpunk/
[5:48pm] <Dorene>and wrote my from an intuitive frame of mind
[5:48pm] <sundance_kiddo>best i've read actually
[5:48pm] <zombieToast>yeah I started reading them, then skimmed a bit & stopped
[5:48pm] <Laurian>by Alexa, yup, she's awesome
[5:48pm] <Dorene>I was a little distressed when I did skim a few and found all the bibliographical information and cross referencing
[5:49pm] <Dorene>worried I interpreted the assignment wrong
[5:49pm] <Dorene>after thinking about it, though, I wouldn't go back and do it differently...we're at the start, not the end
[5:50pm] <zombieToast>its kind of the nature of this course as well though isn't it? there isnt really right/wrong of doing it
[5:50pm] <zombieToast>just learning
[5:50pm] <Laurian>btw, part of overall peer 2 peer thing is that you all should comment on the essays of the others, on the site.
[5:51pm] <sundance_kiddo>yeah, Alexa's
[5:51pm] <zombieToast>was waiting for other submissions before starting to comment
[5:51pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: I think of this course as a reading club, and we have some peer pressure to actually read and discuss things
[5:52pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: I extended the deadline, last year some of us were 1-2 weeks late
[5:52pm] <Laurian>and for the final assignment we got like 4 weeks late
[5:52pm] <zombieToast>haha k
[5:52pm] <Dorene>I like the reading club idea, but for myself I would like to treat more as a practice for potential further formal education
[5:53pm] <sundance_kiddo>there isn't any right or wrong, but I fear that I might miss smth out
[5:53pm] <Dorene>I want you guys to push me a little! :-)
[5:53pm] <sundance_kiddo>although I did jot some ideas down
[5:53pm] <sundance_kiddo>told you I'm concerned with the whole utopia/dystopia thing
[5:53pm] <Laurian>Dorene, I see, hmmm, additional assignments?
[5:53pm] <sundance_kiddo>and I will make my interpretation in that light
[5:53pm] <Dorene>Laurian how do you do that?
[5:53pm] <sundance_kiddo>methinks...
[5:53pm] <Dorene>send me those messages with your name in red?
[5:54pm] <Laurian>Dorene: yup :)
[5:54pm] <Laurian>all those cyberpunk books are full of ideas
[5:55pm] <sundance_kiddo>thats why I loved scifi
[5:55pm] <Dorene>sundance, I know what you mean...but I almost feel like the first reading and movie are kind of sources that perch us on the precipace of cyberpunk
[5:55pm] <Laurian>we could do a status report thing online, with progress bars on assignments, and you could see that sundance_kiddo is 20% completion on first one while you finished it
[5:55pm] <sundance_kiddo>it's sort of philosophical
[5:55pm] <sundance_kiddo>Laurian: pfblaaaaaaaaaa
[5:56pm] <zombieToast>haha
[5:56pm] <Laurian>sundance_kiddo & Dorene and having a discussion thread on what page on the current book are you today :)
[5:56pm] <Laurian>and a quiz to test that you actually read it :P
[5:56pm] » Laurian is kidding
[5:56pm] <Dorene>LOL
[5:57pm] <Dorene>I am reading it! It's the movies that seem to be harder for me...
[5:58pm] <Laurian>it the reverse with me
[5:58pm] <sundance_kiddo>hahaha :))
[5:58pm] <Dorene>I like that both are there, though...
[5:58pm] <Laurian>I love to read but it is so hard to finish a book without checking my computer 200 times
[5:59pm] <Laurian>the movie is more immersive in this aspect
[5:59pm] <Dorene>That's funny...I find books more immersive for me. I get distracted by shiny things while watching movies
[6:00pm] <Laurian>so, everyone is on the Do Androids Dream ....?
[6:00pm] <zombieToast>yeah, read it
[6:00pm] <Dorene>Reading it...still in the intro phase of it
[6:00pm] <sundance_kiddo>yeah, on it
[6:00pm] <sundance_kiddo>online unfortunately
[6:01pm] <Laurian>what would you expect that the assignment regarding this book and Blade Runner would be? what would you like it to be?
[6:01pm] <sundance_kiddo>hate reading books online, pdf, whatever
[6:01pm] <zombieToast>I had it on pdf as well
[6:01pm] <Laurian>sundance_kiddo: kill a tree
[6:01pm] <Dorene>Library book for me
[6:01pm] <sundance_kiddo>I'll order :D
[6:01pm] <Dorene>I am cheap
[6:02pm] <Dorene>do I remember correctly that Androids Dream is the inspiration for Blade Runner?
[6:02pm] <sundance_kiddo>Dorene: I'd do the same thing, but they have it in Norwegian I think and I'm not that advanced :))
[6:02pm] <sundance_kiddo>yup, it is
[6:02pm] <sundance_kiddo>partially
[6:02pm] <zombieToast>not a fan of reading onscreen either, but I have kind of taken to reading on my phone
[6:02pm] <zombieToast>autoscrolling ftw
[6:03pm] <sundance_kiddo>oh? iphone, like?
[6:03pm] <sundance_kiddo>you give me ideas
[6:03pm] <zombieToast>blackberry in my case
[6:03pm] <Laurian>I have on my desk: Do Androids..., Future Noir - The Making of Blade Runner, and Retrofitting Blade Runner... and I wonder what should I ask for the assignment
[6:03pm] <sundance_kiddo>saving pdf to dropbox and reading from there
[6:04pm] » Laurian loves how the discussion drifts into tech things, that's so cyberpunk of you :P
[6:04pm] <sundance_kiddo>hihi
[6:05pm] <Dorene>I like to call myself "retro"...my phone is 3 years old and not data plan connected
[6:05pm] <sundance_kiddo>you cling to the real world ei?
[6:05pm] <Dorene>once again, I'm cheap ;-)...no, wait, "retro"
[6:06pm] <sundance_kiddo>well, Laurian, to answer your question
[6:06pm] <Laurian>retro, how about some steampunk optional readings
[6:06pm] <sundance_kiddo>I'd go for several threads
[6:06pm] <Dorene>I just reada brand new steampunk
[6:06pm] <Dorene>"Boneshaker" by Cherie Priest
[6:06pm] <Dorene>Loved it!
[6:06pm] <Dorene>combination steampunk and zombies!
[6:07pm] <zombieToast>difference engine was ok
[6:07pm] <zombieToast>never really went past that
[6:07pm] <Dorene>I had to tough out difference engine
[6:07pm] <Laurian>hmmm, I'll make one assignment in which everyone would have to talk about their favourite books, movies and recommend them, but without spoilers
[6:08pm] <sundance_kiddo>brb phone call
[6:08pm] » Laurian ... boneshaker added to amazon wishlist
[6:08pm] <Laurian>in the previous course
[6:08pm] <Dorene>good call on your wishlist, Laurian
[6:09pm] <zombieToast>I'm looking out for an android specific assignment as well, I'm interested in figuring out where the line is they have to pass to be cyberpunk
[6:09pm] <Laurian>electric sheep and blade runner were the material for the assignment which you already had
[6:09pm] <Dorene>wait?
[6:09pm] <Dorene>They were?
[6:09pm] <Laurian>yup
[6:09pm] <zombieToast>??
[6:09pm] <Dorene>I thought the assignment was before the material
[6:09pm] <Dorene>and the next one will be based on those items
[6:10pm] <Laurian>yes
[6:10pm] <Laurian>in the previous course, last year
[6:10pm] <Laurian>these were used for the essay what is cyberpunk
[6:10pm] <Laurian>and I thought it is too easy
[6:10pm] <Dorene>Oh, I see
[6:10pm] <Laurian>that's why I went for ambigous ones, like Gernsback and AI
[6:11pm] <Dorene>in round one they were the material for what the assignment we just did was
[6:11pm] <Laurian>so, now, for these materials, I think that I;ll ask on the cyberpunk settings
[6:11pm] <Laurian>like http://blogs.p2pu.org/cyberpunk/coursework/week-3-23rd-30th-september/
[6:11pm] <Laurian>but focused on blade runner style, as it is timeless
[6:12pm] <Laurian>and with hints towards society if anyone wants to explore that direction
[6:12pm] <Laurian>what do you think?
[6:14pm] <Dorene>I think it will be interesting to try and ferret that out for myself...interesting and hard.
[6:14pm] <Laurian>both AI and blade runner can question on what makes us human
[6:15pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: any input?
[6:15pm] <zombieToast>srry, sidetracked
[6:16pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: given electric sheep and blade runner what would you like to write about them?
[6:16pm] <zombieToast>just a sec
[6:17pm] <Dorene>Who are we as humans to create life, even cybernetic life, and what are our responsibilities to our creations?
[6:17pm] <Laurian>ok, lost zombieToast and sundance_kiddo to other tech toys
[6:18pm] <zombieToast>still in the studio, had to sort something out :)
[6:18pm] <Laurian>Dorene: are them lifeforms?
[6:18pm] <sundance_kiddo>still here
[6:18pm] <Dorene>How do you do that???
[6:18pm] <sundance_kiddo>just a parallel skype conversation with sis :D
[6:18pm] <Dorene>But yes, at what point do we call them life forms?
[6:19pm] <sundance_kiddo>I'd write about the human condition
[6:19pm] <Dorene>Banging head
[6:19pm] <sundance_kiddo>or about what is real and what not
[6:20pm] <zombieToast>so ueah, I'm interested in both the marriage of flesh&steel, and the consequences of man creating artificial life, and when/where those tropes were introduced in order to relate them to the cyberpunk genre. Both have been around much longer & I want to figure out if there are any specific qualifiers
[6:20pm] <Laurian>the issue I believe is not about life definition, but about consciousness which can presumably exist independent of lifeform status
[6:20pm] <zombieToast>yeah, like in a virtual realm
[6:21pm] <Laurian>there is a nice short discussion on this in Ghost in the Shell (the first one)
[6:21pm] <zombieToast>there's several throughout the series :)
[6:22pm] <Laurian>the whole series is madness, I would propose it as a separate course :)
[6:23pm] <zombieToast>haha ok, i'm not suggesting everyone has to watch it
[6:23pm] <zombieToast>I just happened to get stuck in recently
[6:23pm] <Dorene>I can watch a lot of those on Instant play...maybe put them on in the background while grading papers
[6:24pm] <Laurian>Ghost in the Shell (philosophical scenes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHfs7OQ_Cwk from minute 3:25
[6:24pm] <zombieToast>marked for later
[6:25pm] <sundance_kiddo>also here, haven't seen GiS either
[6:25pm] <zombieToast>must see material.
[6:25pm] <Laurian>the whole series is strange, but we have on GiTS 2 Innocence
[6:25pm] <Laurian>on the course
[6:25pm] <Laurian>which is kinda different
[6:25pm] <sundance_kiddo>have seen excerpts
[6:25pm] <sundance_kiddo>by the way
[6:26pm] <sundance_kiddo>can anyone explain what the deal is with the asian signalistics all around blade runner?
[6:26pm] <sundance_kiddo>noodles and asian persons and dragons and and and
[6:26pm] <sundance_kiddo>?
[6:26pm] <Dorene>what do you mean?
[6:26pm] <Dorene>i wonder
[6:26pm] <sundance_kiddo>the city is full of neon
[6:27pm] <Dorene>if it is similar to Firefly...
[6:27pm] <Laurian>sundance_kiddo: in the book the street talk is a mixture of japanese, german, arabic and english as far as I remember
[6:27pm] <sundance_kiddo>:) seen Firefly Dorene?
[6:27pm] <Dorene>with the asian population percentage of the world, the culture just permeates
[6:27pm] <Laurian>Dorene: correct
[6:27pm] <sundance_kiddo>funny to see the degree to which
[6:27pm] <sundance_kiddo>it does
[6:27pm] <zombieToast>thats what I thought
[6:27pm] <Dorene>Firefly, Serenity...I love the Joss Whedon
[6:27pm] <zombieToast>just look at who makes all your stuff
[6:28pm] <Dorene>I mean hell, we are going to watch an anime for the course
[6:28pm] <Dorene>hello kitty
[6:28pm] <sundance_kiddo>hear hear!
[6:28pm] <Dorene>lots of cultural leakage
[6:28pm] <Laurian>yeah, speaking of hello kitty, one sec
[6:29pm] <Laurian>http://www.kittyhell.com/2010/02/01/hello-kitty-chainsaw/
[6:29pm] <zombieToast>you do realize anime has a somewhat broader scope than western cartoons right?
[6:29pm] <Dorene>me?
[6:29pm] <zombieToast>anyone comparing gits to hello kitty
[6:30pm] <Dorene>Oh yeah...
[6:30pm] <zombieToast>(nice chainsaw btw)
[6:30pm] <Dorene>I was using Hello Kitty as an example of asian cultural icons leaking into mainstream...
[6:31pm] <zombieToast>ah, my bad
[6:31pm] <Dorene>Oh, Hello Kitty Hell...I like it
[6:32pm] <Dorene>Okay, folks, I have got to shut down, leave this coffee shop and go to work
[6:32pm] <Laurian>ok, Dorene I'll broadcast the new assignment tomorrow
[6:32pm] <Dorene>@WaywardScutrGrl on twitter for me
[6:32pm] <Dorene>Same time next week?
[6:33pm] <Laurian>yup
[6:33pm] <Dorene>Excellent!
[6:33pm] <Dorene>Bye all!
[6:33pm] <Laurian>bye
[6:33pm] <zombieToast>bye
[6:33pm]Dorene left the chat room. (Quit: Page closed)
[6:33pm] <sundance_kiddo>Laurian dunno if i make it
[6:33pm] » zombieToast wants some whale sausages now
[6:33pm] <sundance_kiddo>next week
[6:34pm] <sundance_kiddo>I'll be in Ro
[6:34pm] <sundance_kiddo>but Ill see what I can do
[6:34pm] <Laurian>yeah, no internet there
[6:34pm] <Laurian>:P
[6:34pm] <Laurian>kidding
[6:34pm] <Laurian>do your homework please
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>yes sir
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>you mean the essay right?
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>and reading?
[6:35pm] <Laurian>everything!
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>yeah there is internet, but I'll be mostly out
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>though Ihave to chek
[6:35pm] <Laurian>and do vote for Cluj's thing
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>check
[6:36pm] <sundance_kiddo>maybe irc works on iphone
[6:36pm] <Laurian>sundance_kiddo: http://brainwash.ro/petitie/
[6:36pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: sorry we got sidetracked
[6:36pm] <zombieToast>np, happens
[6:36pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: are you OK with writing on the cyberpunk atmosphere on blade runner/electric sheep?
[6:37pm] <Laurian>I'll add some extra optional directions in the assignment
[6:37pm] <zombieToast>oh yeah dude I'll write whatever the assignment is
[6:37pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: lovely
[6:37pm] <Laurian>I'll run now (to Oxford)
[6:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>yeah, so enjoy your foods guys
[6:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>seeya next week :)
[6:38pm] <Laurian>sundance_kiddo: yup, have fun back home
[6:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>Laurian you will post the log to the course right?
[6:38pm] <Laurian>yup
[6:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>yeah thanks
[6:38pm] <zombieToast>remeber to post up teh diigo group ;)
[6:38pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: sure.
[6:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>seeya
[6:38pm] <Laurian>I'll link it in the assignment broadcast
[6:38pm] <zombieToast>k well see you later guys
[6:39pm] <Laurian>bye
[6:39pm]sundance_kiddo left the chat room. (Quit: Page closed)
[6:39pm]
zombieToast left the chat room. (Quit: zombieToast)
31 March IRC Log
[5:30pm] <Dorene>Darn it!
[5:31pm] <Laurian>food talk
[5:31pm] <zombieToast>so far, whale is tasty & I hate AI :)
[5:31pm] <Dorene>AI is 2 hours & 25 minutes long
[5:31pm] <Dorene>haven't watched it yet :-(
[5:31pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: would say never watch it :)
[5:31pm] <Dorene>I need to just decide to do it in 2 or 3 sittings
[5:31pm] <sundance_kiddo>zombieToast laughed myself dead at the parody movie you posted
[5:31pm] <Laurian>it is a cyberpunk Pinnochio
[5:32pm] <sundance_kiddo>hi Dorene :)
[5:32pm] <zombieToast>I thought it was funny what Brian Aldiss said
[5:32pm] <Laurian>and a bit too sweet (blame Spielberg) and with a happy end (not that cyberpunk)
[5:32pm] <sundance_kiddo>Dorene Sjef has posted an "AI in a nutshell"
[5:32pm] <Dorene>Kind of the Cliff Notes version? ;-)
[5:32pm] <zombieToast>haha yeah kind of
[5:33pm] <Dorene>I did enjoy the Wired article someone linked earlier this week about little boy
[5:34pm] <Dorene>and I've started reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
[5:34pm] <Laurian>I love Philip K. Dick
[5:34pm] <Dorene>but I keep getting derailed from watching AI by the availability of Farscape on Netflix Instant Play :-D
[5:34pm] <zombieToast>I havn't read much of his stuff tbh, definately on the list
[5:34pm] <sundance_kiddo>started reading that too, pretty cool
[5:35pm] <Laurian>I will lookup some short stories of Philip K Dick, lovely things with crazy end twists
[5:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>do that, I'm also curious for some more
[5:35pm] <Dorene>I haven't run across much of his stuff...in fact, the copy I am reading is the only one that was available at the library
[5:36pm] <Dorene>they had to dig it out of the basement and it's a Large Print novel
[5:36pm] <zombieToast>abebooks.com
[5:36pm] <Laurian>btw, on top of my memory, movies after Philip K Dick: Blade Runner, Total Recall, Impostor, Screamers, Paycheck, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly
[5:36pm] <Dorene>that's almost as hard to read as super small print!
[5:36pm] <sundance_kiddo>I think I'll have to order the books, my eyes become fuzzy when reading off the screen
[5:36pm] <sundance_kiddo>yuhuu
[5:36pm] <sundance_kiddo>havent seen impostor and screamer
[5:37pm] <zombieToast>screamers was ok, haven't seen impostor either
[5:37pm] <Laurian>I rented Screamers by mistake a century ago (on VHS), and seen it 7 times in one night...
[5:37pm] <Dorene>I love how this class is opening up new directions for my reading...I have Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson just taunting me on my table...
[5:37pm] » Laurian is mad.
[5:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>mad professor? :D
[5:38pm] <Laurian>yeah, mad scientist
[5:38pm] <Laurian>mad doctor even
[5:38pm] <zombieToast>by the way, there is quite a bit piled up here now: http://groups.diigo.com/group/p2pu-cyberpunk
[5:39pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: remind me to broadcast that link
[5:40pm] <zombieToast>k.
[5:40pm] <Dorene>So is it only the four of us in this time slot?
[5:40pm] <sundance_kiddo>:) just like last time
[5:40pm] <zombieToast>last week 2 guys showed up in here on thursday
[5:40pm] <sundance_kiddo>feels like private classes
[5:40pm] <zombieToast>forget who..
[5:41pm] <Laurian>apparently yes, I'll try to message now everyone directly to work out time slots
[5:41pm] <Laurian>eventually see if they prefer weekends
[5:41pm] » Laurian is always online
[5:42pm] <Dorene>If I weren't careful, I would always be online too...sometimes I just have to say to myself, "Step away fromt the computer and go outside already!"
[5:42pm] <zombieToast>same, if I'm awake there's like 80% chance I'm stuck behind a sceen
[5:42pm] <Laurian>and the iPad will be glued to my pillow
[5:43pm] <sundance_kiddo>I had almost forgotten our meeting today if it weren't for twitter
[5:43pm] <Laurian>I already woke up in the middle of the night to check on twitter
[5:43pm] <sundance_kiddo>it's holidays starting tomorrow! Yay!
[5:43pm] <Dorene>are we tweeting?
[5:43pm] <Laurian>I tweeted sundance_kiddo to join the chat
[5:43pm] <Dorene>I need to start following people
[5:43pm] <sundance_kiddo>laur is and i am
[5:43pm] <sundance_kiddo>dunno about sjef
[5:43pm] <zombieToast>only use it to broadcast stuff for our studio
[5:44pm] <zombieToast>@largetosti
[5:44pm] <zombieToast>got a personal account but I only use that for submitting to thaumatrope
[5:45pm] <Laurian>ok, I;m folowing you now
[5:45pm] » Laurian is @gridinoc on twitter
[5:45pm] <zombieToast>cool, we'll start using it more extensively in the near future
[5:45pm] <sundance_kiddo>me too
[5:45pm] <Laurian>so, how did everyone feel about the current assignment
[5:45pm] <sundance_kiddo>the essay? :)
[5:46pm] <Dorene>I approached it differently than I think maybe it was intended
[5:46pm] <zombieToast>mine came out different to what I had in mind
[5:47pm] <Dorene>I wrote it from what I felt my perspective is before reading Gernsback and watching AI...kind of considered it a launching pad for my perceptions of what cyberpunk is
[5:47pm] <sundance_kiddo>loved both your essays
[5:47pm] <sundance_kiddo>i also read the essays from the course back in september
[5:47pm] <sundance_kiddo>and i felt like i hadn't enough info to create my own essay yet
[5:47pm] <Dorene>I chose not to read the essays from september before I wrote mine
[5:48pm] <sundance_kiddo>this is a good one: http://blogs.p2pu.org/cyberpunk/2009/09/14/the-contrast-between-science-fiction-and-cyberpunk/
[5:48pm] <Dorene>and wrote my from an intuitive frame of mind
[5:48pm] <sundance_kiddo>best i've read actually
[5:48pm] <zombieToast>yeah I started reading them, then skimmed a bit & stopped
[5:48pm] <Laurian>by Alexa, yup, she's awesome
[5:48pm] <Dorene>I was a little distressed when I did skim a few and found all the bibliographical information and cross referencing
[5:49pm] <Dorene>worried I interpreted the assignment wrong
[5:49pm] <Dorene>after thinking about it, though, I wouldn't go back and do it differently...we're at the start, not the end
[5:50pm] <zombieToast>its kind of the nature of this course as well though isn't it? there isnt really right/wrong of doing it
[5:50pm] <zombieToast>just learning
[5:50pm] <Laurian>btw, part of overall peer 2 peer thing is that you all should comment on the essays of the others, on the site.
[5:51pm] <sundance_kiddo>yeah, Alexa's
[5:51pm] <zombieToast>was waiting for other submissions before starting to comment
[5:51pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: I think of this course as a reading club, and we have some peer pressure to actually read and discuss things
[5:52pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: I extended the deadline, last year some of us were 1-2 weeks late
[5:52pm] <Laurian>and for the final assignment we got like 4 weeks late
[5:52pm] <zombieToast>haha k
[5:52pm] <Dorene>I like the reading club idea, but for myself I would like to treat more as a practice for potential further formal education
[5:53pm] <sundance_kiddo>there isn't any right or wrong, but I fear that I might miss smth out
[5:53pm] <Dorene>I want you guys to push me a little! :-)
[5:53pm] <sundance_kiddo>although I did jot some ideas down
[5:53pm] <sundance_kiddo>told you I'm concerned with the whole utopia/dystopia thing
[5:53pm] <Laurian>Dorene, I see, hmmm, additional assignments?
[5:53pm] <sundance_kiddo>and I will make my interpretation in that light
[5:53pm] <Dorene>Laurian how do you do that?
[5:53pm] <sundance_kiddo>methinks...
[5:53pm] <Dorene>send me those messages with your name in red?
[5:54pm] <Laurian>Dorene: yup :)
[5:54pm] <Laurian>all those cyberpunk books are full of ideas
[5:55pm] <sundance_kiddo>thats why I loved scifi
[5:55pm] <Dorene>sundance, I know what you mean...but I almost feel like the first reading and movie are kind of sources that perch us on the precipace of cyberpunk
[5:55pm] <Laurian>we could do a status report thing online, with progress bars on assignments, and you could see that sundance_kiddo is 20% completion on first one while you finished it
[5:55pm] <sundance_kiddo>it's sort of philosophical
[5:55pm] <sundance_kiddo>Laurian: pfblaaaaaaaaaa
[5:56pm] <zombieToast>haha
[5:56pm] <Laurian>sundance_kiddo & Dorene and having a discussion thread on what page on the current book are you today :)
[5:56pm] <Laurian>and a quiz to test that you actually read it :P
[5:56pm] » Laurian is kidding
[5:56pm] <Dorene>LOL
[5:57pm] <Dorene>I am reading it! It's the movies that seem to be harder for me...
[5:58pm] <Laurian>it the reverse with me
[5:58pm] <sundance_kiddo>hahaha :))
[5:58pm] <Dorene>I like that both are there, though...
[5:58pm] <Laurian>I love to read but it is so hard to finish a book without checking my computer 200 times
[5:59pm] <Laurian>the movie is more immersive in this aspect
[5:59pm] <Dorene>That's funny...I find books more immersive for me. I get distracted by shiny things while watching movies
[6:00pm] <Laurian>so, everyone is on the Do Androids Dream ....?
[6:00pm] <zombieToast>yeah, read it
[6:00pm] <Dorene>Reading it...still in the intro phase of it
[6:00pm] <sundance_kiddo>yeah, on it
[6:00pm] <sundance_kiddo>online unfortunately
[6:01pm] <Laurian>what would you expect that the assignment regarding this book and Blade Runner would be? what would you like it to be?
[6:01pm] <sundance_kiddo>hate reading books online, pdf, whatever
[6:01pm] <zombieToast>I had it on pdf as well
[6:01pm] <Laurian>sundance_kiddo: kill a tree
[6:01pm] <Dorene>Library book for me
[6:01pm] <sundance_kiddo>I'll order :D
[6:01pm] <Dorene>I am cheap
[6:02pm] <Dorene>do I remember correctly that Androids Dream is the inspiration for Blade Runner?
[6:02pm] <sundance_kiddo>Dorene: I'd do the same thing, but they have it in Norwegian I think and I'm not that advanced :))
[6:02pm] <sundance_kiddo>yup, it is
[6:02pm] <sundance_kiddo>partially
[6:02pm] <zombieToast>not a fan of reading onscreen either, but I have kind of taken to reading on my phone
[6:02pm] <zombieToast>autoscrolling ftw
[6:03pm] <sundance_kiddo>oh? iphone, like?
[6:03pm] <sundance_kiddo>you give me ideas
[6:03pm] <zombieToast>blackberry in my case
[6:03pm] <Laurian>I have on my desk: Do Androids..., Future Noir - The Making of Blade Runner, and Retrofitting Blade Runner... and I wonder what should I ask for the assignment
[6:03pm] <sundance_kiddo>saving pdf to dropbox and reading from there
[6:04pm] » Laurian loves how the discussion drifts into tech things, that's so cyberpunk of you :P
[6:04pm] <sundance_kiddo>hihi
[6:05pm] <Dorene>I like to call myself "retro"...my phone is 3 years old and not data plan connected
[6:05pm] <sundance_kiddo>you cling to the real world ei?
[6:05pm] <Dorene>once again, I'm cheap ;-)...no, wait, "retro"
[6:06pm] <sundance_kiddo>well, Laurian, to answer your question
[6:06pm] <Laurian>retro, how about some steampunk optional readings
[6:06pm] <sundance_kiddo>I'd go for several threads
[6:06pm] <Dorene>I just reada brand new steampunk
[6:06pm] <Dorene>"Boneshaker" by Cherie Priest
[6:06pm] <Dorene>Loved it!
[6:06pm] <Dorene>combination steampunk and zombies!
[6:07pm] <zombieToast>difference engine was ok
[6:07pm] <zombieToast>never really went past that
[6:07pm] <Dorene>I had to tough out difference engine
[6:07pm] <Laurian>hmmm, I'll make one assignment in which everyone would have to talk about their favourite books, movies and recommend them, but without spoilers
[6:08pm] <sundance_kiddo>brb phone call
[6:08pm] » Laurian ... boneshaker added to amazon wishlist
[6:08pm] <Laurian>in the previous course
[6:08pm] <Dorene>good call on your wishlist, Laurian
[6:09pm] <zombieToast>I'm looking out for an android specific assignment as well, I'm interested in figuring out where the line is they have to pass to be cyberpunk
[6:09pm] <Laurian>electric sheep and blade runner were the material for the assignment which you already had
[6:09pm] <Dorene>wait?
[6:09pm] <Dorene>They were?
[6:09pm] <Laurian>yup
[6:09pm] <zombieToast>??
[6:09pm] <Dorene>I thought the assignment was before the material
[6:09pm] <Dorene>and the next one will be based on those items
[6:10pm] <Laurian>yes
[6:10pm] <Laurian>in the previous course, last year
[6:10pm] <Laurian>these were used for the essay what is cyberpunk
[6:10pm] <Laurian>and I thought it is too easy
[6:10pm] <Dorene>Oh, I see
[6:10pm] <Laurian>that's why I went for ambigous ones, like Gernsback and AI
[6:11pm] <Dorene>in round one they were the material for what the assignment we just did was
[6:11pm] <Laurian>so, now, for these materials, I think that I;ll ask on the cyberpunk settings
[6:11pm] <Laurian>like http://blogs.p2pu.org/cyberpunk/coursework/week-3-23rd-30th-september/
[6:11pm] <Laurian>but focused on blade runner style, as it is timeless
[6:12pm] <Laurian>and with hints towards society if anyone wants to explore that direction
[6:12pm] <Laurian>what do you think?
[6:14pm] <Dorene>I think it will be interesting to try and ferret that out for myself...interesting and hard.
[6:14pm] <Laurian>both AI and blade runner can question on what makes us human
[6:15pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: any input?
[6:15pm] <zombieToast>srry, sidetracked
[6:16pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: given electric sheep and blade runner what would you like to write about them?
[6:16pm] <zombieToast>just a sec
[6:17pm] <Dorene>Who are we as humans to create life, even cybernetic life, and what are our responsibilities to our creations?
[6:17pm] <Laurian>ok, lost zombieToast and sundance_kiddo to other tech toys
[6:18pm] <zombieToast>still in the studio, had to sort something out :)
[6:18pm] <Laurian>Dorene: are them lifeforms?
[6:18pm] <sundance_kiddo>still here
[6:18pm] <Dorene>How do you do that???
[6:18pm] <sundance_kiddo>just a parallel skype conversation with sis :D
[6:18pm] <Dorene>But yes, at what point do we call them life forms?
[6:19pm] <sundance_kiddo>I'd write about the human condition
[6:19pm] <Dorene>Banging head
[6:19pm] <sundance_kiddo>or about what is real and what not
[6:20pm] <zombieToast>so ueah, I'm interested in both the marriage of flesh&steel, and the consequences of man creating artificial life, and when/where those tropes were introduced in order to relate them to the cyberpunk genre. Both have been around much longer & I want to figure out if there are any specific qualifiers
[6:20pm] <Laurian>the issue I believe is not about life definition, but about consciousness which can presumably exist independent of lifeform status
[6:20pm] <zombieToast>yeah, like in a virtual realm
[6:21pm] <Laurian>there is a nice short discussion on this in Ghost in the Shell (the first one)
[6:21pm] <zombieToast>there's several throughout the series :)
[6:22pm] <Laurian>the whole series is madness, I would propose it as a separate course :)
[6:23pm] <zombieToast>haha ok, i'm not suggesting everyone has to watch it
[6:23pm] <zombieToast>I just happened to get stuck in recently
[6:23pm] <Dorene>I can watch a lot of those on Instant play...maybe put them on in the background while grading papers
[6:24pm] <Laurian>Ghost in the Shell (philosophical scenes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHfs7OQ_Cwk from minute 3:25
[6:24pm] <zombieToast>marked for later
[6:25pm] <sundance_kiddo>also here, haven't seen GiS either
[6:25pm] <zombieToast>must see material.
[6:25pm] <Laurian>the whole series is strange, but we have on GiTS 2 Innocence
[6:25pm] <Laurian>on the course
[6:25pm] <Laurian>which is kinda different
[6:25pm] <sundance_kiddo>have seen excerpts
[6:25pm] <sundance_kiddo>by the way
[6:26pm] <sundance_kiddo>can anyone explain what the deal is with the asian signalistics all around blade runner?
[6:26pm] <sundance_kiddo>noodles and asian persons and dragons and and and
[6:26pm] <sundance_kiddo>?
[6:26pm] <Dorene>what do you mean?
[6:26pm] <Dorene>i wonder
[6:26pm] <sundance_kiddo>the city is full of neon
[6:27pm] <Dorene>if it is similar to Firefly...
[6:27pm] <Laurian>sundance_kiddo: in the book the street talk is a mixture of japanese, german, arabic and english as far as I remember
[6:27pm] <sundance_kiddo>:) seen Firefly Dorene?
[6:27pm] <Dorene>with the asian population percentage of the world, the culture just permeates
[6:27pm] <Laurian>Dorene: correct
[6:27pm] <sundance_kiddo>funny to see the degree to which
[6:27pm] <sundance_kiddo>it does
[6:27pm] <zombieToast>thats what I thought
[6:27pm] <Dorene>Firefly, Serenity...I love the Joss Whedon
[6:27pm] <zombieToast>just look at who makes all your stuff
[6:28pm] <Dorene>I mean hell, we are going to watch an anime for the course
[6:28pm] <Dorene>hello kitty
[6:28pm] <sundance_kiddo>hear hear!
[6:28pm] <Dorene>lots of cultural leakage
[6:28pm] <Laurian>yeah, speaking of hello kitty, one sec
[6:29pm] <Laurian>http://www.kittyhell.com/2010/02/01/hello-kitty-chainsaw/
[6:29pm] <zombieToast>you do realize anime has a somewhat broader scope than western cartoons right?
[6:29pm] <Dorene>me?
[6:29pm] <zombieToast>anyone comparing gits to hello kitty
[6:30pm] <Dorene>Oh yeah...
[6:30pm] <zombieToast>(nice chainsaw btw)
[6:30pm] <Dorene>I was using Hello Kitty as an example of asian cultural icons leaking into mainstream...
[6:31pm] <zombieToast>ah, my bad
[6:31pm] <Dorene>Oh, Hello Kitty Hell...I like it
[6:32pm] <Dorene>Okay, folks, I have got to shut down, leave this coffee shop and go to work
[6:32pm] <Laurian>ok, Dorene I'll broadcast the new assignment tomorrow
[6:32pm] <Dorene>@WaywardScutrGrl on twitter for me
[6:32pm] <Dorene>Same time next week?
[6:33pm] <Laurian>yup
[6:33pm] <Dorene>Excellent!
[6:33pm] <Dorene>Bye all!
[6:33pm] <Laurian>bye
[6:33pm] <zombieToast>bye
[6:33pm]Dorene left the chat room. (Quit: Page closed)
[6:33pm] <sundance_kiddo>Laurian dunno if i make it
[6:33pm] » zombieToast wants some whale sausages now
[6:33pm] <sundance_kiddo>next week
[6:34pm] <sundance_kiddo>I'll be in Ro
[6:34pm] <sundance_kiddo>but Ill see what I can do
[6:34pm] <Laurian>yeah, no internet there
[6:34pm] <Laurian>:P
[6:34pm] <Laurian>kidding
[6:34pm] <Laurian>do your homework please
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>yes sir
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>you mean the essay right?
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>and reading?
[6:35pm] <Laurian>everything!
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>yeah there is internet, but I'll be mostly out
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>though Ihave to chek
[6:35pm] <Laurian>and do vote for Cluj's thing
[6:35pm] <sundance_kiddo>check
[6:36pm] <sundance_kiddo>maybe irc works on iphone
[6:36pm] <Laurian>sundance_kiddo: http://brainwash.ro/petitie/
[6:36pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: sorry we got sidetracked
[6:36pm] <zombieToast>np, happens
[6:36pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: are you OK with writing on the cyberpunk atmosphere on blade runner/electric sheep?
[6:37pm] <Laurian>I'll add some extra optional directions in the assignment
[6:37pm] <zombieToast>oh yeah dude I'll write whatever the assignment is
[6:37pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: lovely
[6:37pm] <Laurian>I'll run now (to Oxford)
[6:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>yeah, so enjoy your foods guys
[6:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>seeya next week :)
[6:38pm] <Laurian>sundance_kiddo: yup, have fun back home
[6:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>Laurian you will post the log to the course right?
[6:38pm] <Laurian>yup
[6:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>yeah thanks
[6:38pm] <zombieToast>remeber to post up teh diigo group ;)
[6:38pm] <Laurian>zombieToast: sure.
[6:38pm] <sundance_kiddo>seeya
[6:38pm] <Laurian>I'll link it in the assignment broadcast
[6:38pm] <zombieToast>k well see you later guys
[6:39pm] <Laurian>bye
[6:39pm]sundance_kiddo left the chat room. (Quit: Page closed)
[6:39pm]
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