Cyberjunk

Happy Birthday  

The Forums time is set to GMT but you can change the time to your local time by adjusting your Account parameters - Your Control Panel : Account Options : Time Zone (where you will discover that its an hour out. How did that happen! Pants.)

Thanks for the suggestion Wraith but Mrs CJ wouldn't like it nor Mr Bank manager!

 

The kind folks at Gen Con are supplying a Press Pass to me so I will have to write up some words about the event.

I have to agree with Monk on the tactic used - send them to 'Coventry' - just ignore everythjing they do - shut them out. Then they will find out how alone they are, bit like me and the replies as to who's coming to UK GenCon...  

 

Have good one. Its my sisters birthday today as well!

Quote (Blood @ Feb. 23 2003,13:41)

Quote dana is makeing comments that if the CP BBS was a cyberpunk bar   On that note, I would like to add, that this to me is the epitomy of a cyberpunk bar. No one causes too much trouble cos of the calibre everyone else is packing. Personally, I wouldn't start a metaphorical bar fight with "psycho" Phipps and bookwyrm "the logic sniper" in the room. And I'd hate to see what would happen if a stray shot hit Chrys or Boneshaker.. that would get painful.   "long time lurker..." What would you like to drink sir?

Since the Dana Guy episode over at the RTal forum we have had a lot more visitors - thus some may come with naughty intentions! Can you all just keep you eyes peeled in case anything goes off. I thank you.

No, the www.roleplayingonline.netfirms.com address is where he had the templates and he has either removed them or locked the directory. Site at www.roleplayingonline.com - though its avery thin on content, has no cyberpunk on it at all and seems to be aimed at PC RPGs.

Quote

I vaguely remember him getting a bit gobby and abusive (nothing on the level of Dan and Dana though), and then just disappearing.

Spudfairy got a bit depressed after he was flamed very badly - you see he was't actually being nasty but he just like to post things that stirred topics up a bit - some people (I daon't recall who and don't want to know) took it the wrong way and gave him a hard time and so he moved onto other things in his life. Perhaps he will come back one day - he's always welcome!

 

Hmmm... 3 events and one is in London - Olympia Two Convention Center April 18-21, 2003 for Gen Con Europe.

 

Perhaps we should have a meet up for a beer and a chat. Who is available and when?

 

 

 

(why a why do I have this sense of inevitable doom!!)

Slight side step here but I got my first abusive email for 2 years today from the feedback form about the character sheets:

Quote

Comments: Your Site Blows I want to see resources you Cock Nazi MotherFucker!!! I need full conversions!

 

I wonder why that's happened today -  are there any bored flamers around who's playground is shut at the moment?

 

(and no its not open season guys!  )

Sooo out of place in the General Forum - Moving to CP2020. Have a nice day y'all.

Sooo out of place in the General Forum - Moving to CP2020. Have a nice day y'all.

As the oldest coot around here all I can say is that it gets better and better. then again I did (might) mature late.

Quote

In honor of Guy(Dan) and Dana, the Cyberpunk BBS will be shut down for the next 48 hours. During this cooling off period, please think of them fondly whenever you have the urge to log on and can't. Mike Pondsmith

 

Well done Mike. It must be a hard decision to do something like that but it was the right decision. Of course the ones being penalised are not Guy(Dan) and Dana but the other users of the RTal BBS. Fingers crossed that we dont't ever come to the same situation.

Key concepts: war, depression, anguished and

jittery rich people,  Laurie Garrett

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  It's charming personal

gossip about the rich and powerful that the gossiper

didn't intend for us to hear.  So I feel kind of bad about

letting on to it to 1,800+ people.  On the other hand,

Viridians need to hear this, so that you can go buy

duct tape, survival weapons and bags of rice.

 

(((We just had the biggest political protests ever

seen in the history of the human race, but that's

not a Viridian story.  The real Viridian story this week

is that the capital of the USA was  buried in a huge

blizzard. I hope this makes you Australians in Canberra

feel happier, somehow.)))

 

Links:

 

http://www.turnto10.com/weather/1990588/detail.html

Baltimore-Washington International Airport got 28.2

inches, its highest on record, according to the National

Weather Service.

 

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/5209441.htm

Nation's capital digs out from historic snowstorm.

 

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/19884/story.htm

US East Coast blizzard leaves 225,000 in the dark.

 

Links:

Multiple Viridian Contest-winner Reid Harward remarks:

"Well, I've gone and made a killer app this time, and now

I think I need some  help building it into something."

http://www.well.com/user/reid/v2.html

 

Last chance to serenely ignore the rest of this very

disquieting Note and just check out that fabulous suit

that Santiago Calatrava is wearing.

http://www.metropolismag.com/html/urbanjournal_0203/calatrava.html

 

(((Now on to somebody who is being a lot more entertaining

and foreboding than I have time to be today.  Laurie

Garrett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who likes to

write about awful, terrible plagues destroying mankind

wholesale, went to Davos and hung out in the halls with

the Great and the Good.  And oh my goodness, it turns out

that those rich folks are not one bit happier than those

millions of No-Global protesters who just took to the

world's streets.)))

 

Links: Laurie Garrett

"Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer for Newsday.

Formerly science correspondent at National Public Radio.

Freelance reporter for NPR, BBC, and ABC and frequent

freelance contributor to numerous newspapers and

magazines. Author of 'The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging

Diseases in a World Out of Balance.'"

http://www.georgetown.edu/sfs/programs/stia/events/garrett

bio.htm

http://www.lauriegarrett.com/index_home.html

 

 

 

"Hi Guys."

 

(((As you can see by this cheery salutation, this is a

personal email that some treacherous pal of Ms Garrett's

leaked to the digital universe.  Once a leak hits

Metafilter, man, you are hosed.  I got my own copy of this

thing from a remote acquaintance in deepest darkest

Eastern Europe.  It has probably ringed the planet ten

thousand times over.)))

http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/23493#437751

 

(((As a journalist who has also been to Davos WEF, I would

be far from thrilled if such a leakage happened to me. But

this should be your moral decision, not mine.  Do you WANT

to know how badly freaked-out our planet's owners are

about the general calamity that beckons, or should Ms

Garrett's tattered confidentiality be preserved?  If the

former, read on.  If the latter, log off.)))

 

"OK, hard to believe, but true. Yours truly has been

hobnobbing with the ruling class.

 

"I spent a week in Davos, Switzerland at the World

Economic Forum. I was awarded a special pass which allowed

me full access to not only the entire official meeting,

but also private dinners with the likes the head of the

Saudi Secret Police, presidents of various  and sundry

countries, your Fortune 500 CEOS and the leaders of the

most important NGOs in the world. This was not typical

press access. It was full-on, unfettered, class A

hobnobbing."

 

(((Note that, in a gesture of sympathy, I am diligently

correcting Ms. Garrett's hasty spelling.)))

 

"Davos, I discovered, is a breathtakingly beautiful spot,

unlike anything I'd ever experienced. Nestled high in the

Swiss Alps, it's a three hours train ride from Zurich that

finds you climbing steadily through snow-laden mountains

that bring to mind Heidi and Audrey Hepburn (as in

the opening scenes of 'Charade'). The EXTREMELY powerful

arrive by helicopter. The moderately powerful take the

first class train. The NGOs and we mere mortals reach

heaven via coach train or a conference bus. Once in

Europe's bit of heaven conferees are scattered in hotels

that range from B&B to ultra luxury 5-stars, all of which

are located along one of only three streets that bisect

the idyllic village of some 13,000 permanent residents.

 

"Local Davos folks are fanatic about skiing, and the

slopes are literally a 5-15 minute bus ride away,

depending on which astounding downhill you care to try. I

don't know how, so rather than come home in a full body

cast I merely watched.

 

"This sweet little chalet village was during the WEF

packed with about 3000 delegates and press, some 1000

Swiss police, another 400 Swiss soldiers, numerous tanks

and armored personnel carriers, gigantic rolls

of coiled barbed wire that gracefully cascaded down snow-

covered hillsides, missile launchers and assorted other

tools of the national security trade.

 

((I kinda suspected this email was a fraud and forgery,

until I read the paragraph above.  Because, yep, that's

just how the rich have to live, these days.)))

 

"The security precautions did not, of course, stop there.

Every single person who planned to enter the conference

site had special electronic badges which, upon being

swiped across a reading pad, produced a computer screen

filled color portrait of the attendee, along with his/her

vital statistics."

 

(((Same in NYC a year ago.)))

 

"These were swiped and scrutinized by soldiers and police

every few minutes == any time one passed through a door,

basically. The whole system was connected to handheld

wireless communication devices made by HP, which were

issued to all VIPs. I got one. Very cool, except when they

crashed. Which, of course, they did frequently."

 

(((Astounding that Hewlett Packard had the brazen nerve to

try that again.)))

 

Link:

http://www.infinitematrix.net/columns/sterling/sterling15.html

 

 

 

"These devices supplied every imaginable piece of

information one could want about the conference, your

fellow delegates, Davos, the world news, etc. And they

were emailing devices == all emails being monitored, of

course, by Swiss cops."

 

(((Man, no wonder she won the Pulitzer.)))

 

"Antiglobalization folks didn't stand a chance. Nor did Al

Qaeda. After all, if someone managed to take out Davos

during WEF week the world would basically lose a fair

chunk of its ruling and governing class POOF, just like

that. So security was the name of the game. Metal

detectors, X-ray machines, shivering soldiers standing in

blizzards, etc."

 

(((I've always figured that the summiteers and the

protesting summit-hoppers would come to an understanding

eventually.  After all, the protesters are the only group

who take Davos, WTO, etc with total seriousness.   The

tipping-point is gonna come when these Seattle '99 street

canaille stop waving their anarchist black flags, and

start waving light-blue UN flags, because they are all

commercially underwritten by billionaire BINGOs (Big

International Non-Governmental Organizations).  And ladies

and gentlemen, we have never been closer to that

rapprochement.  After 2/15, you can smell it in the wind.  

People, the war hasn't even started yet.)))

 

"Overall, here is what I learned about the state of our

world:

 

"I was in a dinner with heads of Saudi and German FBI,

plus the foreign minister of Afghanistan. They all said

that at its peak Al Qaeda had 70,000 members. Only 10% of

them were trained in terrorism == the rest were military

recruits. Of that 7000, they say all but about 200 are

dead or in jail.

 

"But Al Qaeda, they say, is like a brand which has been

heavily franchised. And nobody knows how many unofficial

franchises have been spawned since 9/11.

 

"The global economy is in very very very very bad shape.

Last year when WEF met here in New York all I heard was,

'Yeah, it's bad, but recovery is right around the corner.'

This year 'recovery' was a word never uttered. Fear was

palpable == fear of enormous fiscal hysteria. The

watchwords were 'deflation,'  'long term stagnation' and

'collapse of the dollar.'  All of this is without war."

 

(((Kinda speaks for itself, doesn't it?   Send email if

you'd like to join a Viridian commune squatting in a

vacant Austin skyscraper, with a hydroponic Victory Garden

and big boiling communal vats of mulligatawny stew.)))

 

"If the U.S. unilaterally goes to war, and it is anything

short of a quick surgical strike (lasting less than 30

days), the economists were all predicting extreme economic

gloom: falling dollar value, rising spot market oil

prices, the Fed pushing interest rates down towards zero

with resulting increase in national debt, severe trouble

in all countries whose currency is guaranteed agains the

dollar (which is just about everybody except the EU), a

near cessation of all development and humanitarian

programs for poor countries. Very few economists or

ministers of finance predicted the world getting out of

that economic funk for minimally five-10 years, once the

downward spiral ensues."

 

(((Oddly reminiscent of the fate of the Soviet Union when

they succumbed to imperial overstretch after their Afghan

adventure.)))

 

"Not surprisingly, the business community was in no mood

to hear about a war in Iraq. Except for diehard American

Republicans, a few Brit Tories and some Middle East folks

the WEF was in a foul, angry anti-American mood. Last year

the WEF was a lovefest for America. This year the mood was

so ugly that it reminded me of what it felt like to be an

American overseas in the Reagan years. The rich == whether

they are French or Chinese or just about anybody == are

livid about the Iraq crisis primarily because they believe

it will sink their financial fortunes."

 

(((Gee, y'know, maybe the Bush tax cut will win 'em over.  

Oh wait, these are EUROPEAN rich people.)))

 

"Plenty are also infuriated because they disagree on

policy grounds. I learned a great deal. It goes FAR beyond

the sorts of questions one hears raised by demonstrators

and in UN debates."

 

(((Oh really? No!  You don't say!)))

 

" For example:

 

"If Al Qaeda is down to merely 200 terrorists cadres and a

handful of wannabe franchises, what's all the fuss?"

 

Link:

Viridian Vatican taken out by dirty bomb.

Hey, Homeland Security, what gives?

http://www.ready.gov/radiation_visual.html

 

"The Middle East situation has never been worse. All hope

for a settlement between Israel and Palestine seems to

have evaporated. The energy should be focused on placing

painful financial pressure on all sides in that fight,

forcing them to the negotiating table. Otherwise, the ME

may well explode. The war in Iraq is at best a distraction

from that core issue, at worst may aggravate it. Jordan's

Queen Rania spoke of the 'desperate search for hope.'

 

(((Viridian projected winners: Turkey, Cyprus, Iran.

Losers: everybody else. Best Bets for Regime Change:

Iraq, Britain.)))

 

"Serious Islamic leaders (e.g. the King of Jordan, the

Prime Minster of Malaysia, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia)

believe that the Islamic world must recapture the glory

days of 12-13th C Islam. That means finding tolerance and

building great education institutions and places of

learning. The King was passionate on the subject."

 

(((Okay, the glory days of 12th century America ==  that

would basically be a return to the Maya Empire and the

Anasazi Cliff Dwellers.)))

 

"It also means freedom of movement and speech within and

among the Islamic nations."

 

(((We don't even have that in the USA, Your Highness.)))

 

"And, most importantly to the WEF, it means flourishing

free trade and support for entrepeneurs with minimal state

regulation."  (((Ken Lay, Andy Fastow, you're wanted on

the white courtesy phone.)))

 

"(However, there were also several Middle East

respresentatives who argued precisely the opposite. They

believe bringing down Saddam Hussein and then pushing the

Israel/Palestine issue could actually result in a Golden

Age for Arab Islam.)"

 

(((You guys had better settle for a Recycled Aluminum

Age.)))

 

"US unilateralism is seen as arrogant, bullyish.  (((Gasp!

What's wrong with them?  Don't they watch Fox News?))) If

the U.S. cannot behave in partnership with its allies ==

especially the Europeans == it risks not only political

alliance but BUSINESS, as well."

 

(((One brick through the window of a French McDonald's ==

vandalism.  Ten thousand bricks through ten thousand

French McDonald's == more effective than napalm.  

McDonald's, Monsanto, Microsoft... and hey, that's just

the M's.)))

 

"Company leaders argued that they would rather not have to

deal with US government attitudes about all sorts of

multilateral treaties (climate change,  (((yahoo!)))

intellectual property, rights of children, etc.) == it's

easier to just do business in countries whose governments

agree with yours. And it's cheaper, in the long run,

because the regulatory environments match. War against

Iraq is seen as just another example of the unilateralism.

 

"For a minority of the participants there was another

layer of AntiAmericanism that focused on moralisms and

religion. I often heard delegates complain that the US

'opposes the rights of children,' because we block all

treaties and UN efforts that would support sex education

and condom access for children and teens. They spoke of

sex education as a 'right.' Similarly, there was a

decidedly mixed feeling about Ashcroft, who addressed the

conference.

 

"I attended a small lunch with Ashcroft, and observed

Ralph Reed and other prominent Christian fundamentalists

working the room and bowing their heads before eating.

The rest of the world's elite finds this American

Christian behavior at least as uncomfortable as it does

Moslem or Hindu fundamentalist behavior."

 

(((Yeah, sure, but when the Rapture comes, that'll show

the lot of 'em.)))

 

"They find it awkward every time a US representative

refers to 'faith-based' programs. It's different from how

it makes non-Christian Americans feel == these folks

experience it as downright embarrassing."

 

(((What's so "different" about that?  It's gotta be

embarrassing to have your government captured by weird,

blinkered mullahs, even if they're Korean and own the

Washington Times.)))

 

"When Colin Powell gave the speech of his life, trying to

win over the nonAmerican delegates, the sharpest attack on

his comments came not from Amnesty International or some

Islamic representative == it came from the head of the

largest bank in the Netherlands!"

 

(((Not only that, but the current chairman of the UN

Security Council is none other than long-time Viridian

darling Joschka Fischer, a street-fighting hippie

1968er.)))

http://www.tnr.com/082701/berman082701_partone.html

 

"I learned that the only economy about which there is much

enthusiasm is China, which was responsible for 77% of the

global GDP growth in 2002. But the honcho of the Bank of

China, Zhu Min, said that fantastic growth could slow to a

crawl if China cannot solve its rural/urban problem.

Currently 400 million Chinese are urbanites, and their

average income is 16 times that of the 900 million rural

residents. Zhu argued China must urbanize nearly a billion

people in ten years!"

 

((("But never mind that little problem now, for the

insidious Yankees are over a barrel and we Chinese wield a

Security Council veto!")))

 

"I learned that the US economy is the primary drag on the

global economy, and only a handful of nations have

sufficient internal growth to thrive when the US is

stagnating."

 

(((Yeah, but... just suppose the benighted US is under

economic embargo for invading another country without UN

permission.  Wouldn't your local economies SKYROCKET?  

Wow, just think about it!)))

 

"The WEF was overwhelmed by talk of security, with fears

of terrorism, computer and copyright theft, assassination

and global instability dominating almost every

discussion."

 

(((Y'know, folks, sometimes it's a little disquieting to

actually be *living* in a 1980s William Gibson novel.)))

 

"I learned from American security and military speakers

that, 'We need to attack Iraq not to punish it for what it

might have done, but preemptively, as part of a global

war. Iraq is just one piece of a campaign that will last

years, taking out states, cleansing the planet.'"

 

(((Starting by cleansing the planet of America's allies.  

"Step One:  conquer Afghanistan. Step Two: Destroy NATO,

the UN and the Coalition.")))

 

"The mood was very grim. Almost no parties, little fun."

 

(((Hey, we're having a Viridian Vatican party after SXSW

Interactive next month.  Free beer!)))

 

" If it hadn't been for the South Africans == party

animals every one of them == I'd never have danced.

Thankfully, the South Africans staged a helluva party,

with Jimmy Dludlu's band rocking until 3am and

Stellenbosch wines pouring freely, glass after glass after

glass...."

 

(((The author of "The Coming Plague" just has to party

down with those AIDS-bedevilled South Africans.)))

 

"These WEF folks are freaked out. They see very bad

economics ahead, war, and more terrorism. About 10% of the

sessions were about terrorism, and it's heavy stuff. One

session costed out what another 9/11-type attack would do

to global markets, predicting a far, far worse impact due

to the 'second hit' effect == a second hit that would

prove all the world's post-9/11 security efforts had

failed.

 

Link:

http://www.privacyinternational.org/activities/stupidsecurity/

The world's stupidest so-called security measures.

 

"Another costed out in detail what this, or that, war

scenario would do to spot oil prices. Russian speakers

argued that 'failed nations' were spawning terrorists ==

code for saying, 'we hate Chechnya.'

 

(((Argentina's state has failed, and they didn't

even have the excuse of major powers blowing them up.)))

 

"Entire sessions were devoted to arguing which poses the

greater asymmetric threat: nuclear, chemical or biological

weapons."

 

(((Or, if you're Argentinian, the International Monetary

Fund.)))

 

"Finally, who are these guys? I actually enjoyed a lot of

my conversations, and found many of the leaders and rich

quite charming and remarkably candid. Some dressed

elegantly, no matter how bitter cold and snowy it was, but

most seemed quite happy in ski clothes or casual attire.

Women wearing pants was perfectly acceptable, and the

elite is sufficiently multicultural that even the suit and

tie lacks a sense of dominance.

 

"Watching Bill Clinton address the conference while

sitting in the hotel room of the President of Mozambique

== we were viewing it on closed circuit TV == I got juicy

blow-by-blow analysis of US foreign policy from a

remarkably candid head of state. A day spent with Bill

Gates turned out to be fascinating and fun. I found the

CEO of Heineken hilarious, and George Soros proved quite

earnest about confronting AIDS. Vicente Fox == who I had

breakfast with == proved sexy and smart like a == well, a

fox. David Stern (Chair of the NBA) ran up and gave me a

hug."

 

(((You'll want to keep these touching human-interest

stories in mind if you see these gentle, accomplished

people dangling from street lanterns.)))

 

"The world isn't run by a clever cabal. (((Cabal yes,

clever no.)))

 

"It's run by about 5,000 bickering, sometimes charming,

usually arrogant, mostly male people who are accustomed to

living in either phenomenal wealth, or great personal

power. A few have both. Many of them turn out to be

remarkably naive == especially about science and

technology. All of them are financially wise, though their

ranks have thinned due to unwise tech-stock investing.

 

(((The ultra-rich: an endangered species.)))

 

"They pay close heed to politics, though most would be

happy if the global political system behaved far more

rationally == better for the bottom line. They work very

hard, attending sessions from dawn to nearly midnight, but

expect the standards of intelligence and analysis to be

the best available in the entire world. They are

impatient. They have a hard time reconciling long term

issues (global warming, AIDS pandemic, resource scarcity)

with their daily bottomline foci. They are comfortable

working across languages, cultures and gender, though

white caucasian males still outnumber all other

categories. They adore hi-tech gadgets and are glued to

their cell phones.

 

"Welcome to Earth: meet the leaders."

 

Ciao,

Laurie

 

O=c=O

CIAO

O=c=O

Quote (Thumper @ Feb. 20 2003,23:41)

I had a question?  Maybe I am overlooking somethign but why the heck do they hate me so much?  It's a hard one to figure out. Is it because I dont bow down to them and keep using facts to argue against them? Is it that I have my own website and competing products for free? or is it something else?

I wouldn't worry about it everyones entitled to an opinion - even if it is out of sync.

 

There is nothing wrong with your wbsite and there certainly is nothing wrong with producing your own products as long a no copyrights laws are transgressed.

 

But most of all maybee its because you argue back sometimes.

 

You only have one life (allegedly), forget them and enjoy yourself!    

Publish and be damned!

 

I think you should go on - but at your own pace - like Mike Pondsmith with CPv3 and me with this site!

Quote (Agamemnon @ Feb. 20 2003,22:21)

Well, unless you count me... Well, actually they were not flames, but self-absorbed whining.

Actually I was thinking back to the Spudfairy days in 2001! God bless him!

Now you can all see why we have a registration system and Moderators. Yes it does not stop people coming back under a new name but if they abuse the forum again they get banned again. As for the alegation of getting tons of spam e-mail after a registration it doesn't happen here. I don't send any mass mails out becasue I can't with this board system! I can on the new one and I might do a monthly round up, ah the elusive new forum!! Soon, soon.

 

And of course the e-mail addys are not sold or passed on to third parties. I will never do that on principle.

 

We have had a few flame wars in the past but those members haven't posted for a long time. This forum regulates itself exceptionally well - mainly because its our community and its what we make of it.

OK topic closed now.  Nuff said.

Bloody hell! This wasn't in the plans! Big congratulations from me and hope you will be as happy as me and Mrs CJ are together.

 

I am quite chuffed about this! Obviously not as much as you two!

Moved to the CP 2020 general Chat coz it's a CP 2020 topic!

Moved to the CP 2020 general Chat coz it's a CP 2020 topic!

We are well over 36,000 posts now and have 641 members so things are rocking along well. Who said cyberpunk was dead!

 

I still intend to move over to the new forum software I have sitting on my test server but I have been crazily busy over the past 6 months. Thanks for being patient this far!!!