Wisdom, Volume 11 Issue 1, Oct. 1994

Index of all Wisdom issues.

Since Canadian author William Gibson first referred to the term "cyberpunk" in his 1984 sci fi novel Neuromancer, a new group of computer techies has adopted the name to describe its cult like devotion to computers.

Are You A Cyberpunk? -- Figure It Out

by Ursula Bagnell

Question: What do you get when you cross an 80's computer geek with a 60's acid-head whose anarchic tendencies are as fresh as his last trip? - Mondo 2000

A 90's cyberpunk, that's what! And calling them "geeks" unless you are part of that elite group of hackers which is battling this age of information overflow, on their own terms. Surrender to your computer, but not to authority, so I've heard one say. Gone is the stereotypical nerd who played Spaced Invaders for hours upon hour in his parents basement: this cross breed developed the game. the new wave is deep and the rest of you computer illiterates had better catch the wave.

I've seen many of you down there on the telnet for hours upon hours "mooing" or "mushing" :) For those of you who have heard of the term "mooing" using the telnet feature on the x-terminals but are not quite sure as to what it is I will explain.

Cyberpunk is about being able to artistically interact with anyone anywhere in the world. When 2 people in different geographical contexts are networking through telnet or other by modem, you've got cyberspace.

Mooing actually works like this: One night in december I ventured down to the computer centre to check my email before studying for finals . Some of my friends were down there. They seemed to be having a great time laughing and talking to themselves, oh I mean the computer. I thought they were crazy! So being very inquisitive, I asked then what exactly they were doing. Oh no! that did it I was hooked. I was fascinated at the fact that I could talk to weird and strange people in far off places (eg: Alaska, Boston..etc). The characters were 'different'. I finally noticed that the people used their characters as their escape from reality. Everybody on the system had their own alias name. I got on as a "guest". I acquired limited powers to do anything. It was very different then anything I have ever experienced before. It is addictive like drugs. I figure people use drugs to 'escape' from reality, and drugs are additive, this could be dangerous to some. So don't go on it unless you can handle it!

Definition: 'si-ber' pungkn 1. a late 20th century techno- revolutionary or someone who poses as such 2. a hard boiled hacker with anarchist inclinations 3. a computer geek who likes Ministry 4. as seen in TIME magazine, a member of a counter- cultural "movement" of the same name, characterized by a combination of technological savvy with a rebellious lifestyle 5. Billy Idole's comeback album 6. someone who has delusions about living in the future 7. someone who maintains that mirrorshade sunglasses (last seen on CHIPS) never went out of fashion. This definition has been brought to you by the cyber-sci-fi magazine Mondo 2000.

They are sometimes called the 'boys with toys' but simply cyberpunks view technology as empowering. "Lady Night Mare", one of the few females in the predominantly male environment of computers, expands on the cyberpunk vision in her column in the media newspaper TransForum. "Cyberpunks recognized that several different planes of reality exist - and it is their mandate to constantly search for new doorways to the further reaches of psyche... it is the evolution of said rituals that prevent them from being sucked into a homogeneous vortex of conformity.

To Gibson, technology means 'much more than computers, modems and virtual reality. "Technology is what you do with it. It is not stuff that we can just take in and out of cardboard boxes. Technology is your dental work and all the adjustments done to your antibodies since birth", says Gibson. "It's the sum total of everything; it's not just a bunch of gadgets from Japan."

Cyberpunk followers say the computer revolution celebrates the individual, not a slavish devotion to a machine. Denizens of the new technology, ie Gibson, also argue that the philosophical connection to the '60's does not necessarily extend to drug use. Although the image of hip youth stoked on technology has been perpetuated type,the use of hallucinogens is not needed to create the pure software high of a Virtual Reality experience [VR is an artificially created world achieved by wearing a head-set equipped with small image-bearing screens. It is the ultimate extension of cyberspace]. As Timothy Leary, a computer techie says, VR is the socially acceptable LSD of the 90's.

To call every artist who embraces this techno-culture a cyberpunk is a mistake. Even if the new wave of computer "geeks" dispels the image of a pre-pubescent slug who indulges his every sexual fantasy on a computer many want to distance themselves from this media- created image.

Now I'm not trying to say that everybody that 'moo's or mushs' in the computer centre is a computer geek. Don't get me wrong, I was down there. I'm talking about those people who get so involved in this cyber space 'trip', those that can't distinguish between reality and absurdity the pre-pubescent slug. Anyhow from personal experience the cyber features available on the internet are additive, and in some cases dangerous. As long is you can still distinguish between reality and absurdity then you are doing o.k.

"Bobbit's Doom"

Beta-Tester's Joystick Sliced Off While Sleeping at Computer!

At a news conference today, a beta tester of software said that he had fallen asleep while testing a game for id Software, developers of the best-seliing game Wolfenstein 3D. Awaking in the middle of the night, he looked down and to his horror discovered that three-fourths of his joystick had been sliced cleanly off. When questioned, id Software admitted to doing the deed and charged that the beta tester was a two-timer. Id spokesman Shawn Green stated-- "What was done had to be done. Id was definitely not satisfied by this guy's performance. All he cared about was taking software and sticking it into other people's hard drives!".

The severed joystick was later found by police on a street corner. Apparently id had fled the scene with the sliced piece still in hand and tossed it out a car window. Surgeons have since sewn the stick back on, but it seems to malfunction whenever playing id's beta software. Doctors predict that the joystick should perform normally again by December 10th.

You know you have been playing DOOM too much when...

by Ron McKenzie

DOOM is a great game! But don't let it take over your life! :)

You know you have been playing DOOM too long...