/lounge/ - Lounge

http://infinityplus.co.uk/stories/cpunk.htm

This is "Cyberpunk!" - a short story written by Bruce Bethke in 1983. William Gibson actively rejected using the term in early interviews about the Sprawl trilogy. I believe there are interesting parallels to be drawn between Gibson's and Bethke's work.

One of the most important is the approach to and interest in language, specifically technological language. Bethke was fascinated at the realization that some seedy-looking kids on mopeds were able to commit cybervandalism beyond his comprehension at the RadioShack he was working at. Bethke is humble but was no slouch–later in life he went on to program on Cray supercomputers, not something that every RadioShack hackerman of his generation could say. Bethke's stroke of innovation was at the idea of the linguistic aptitude of youth (and the linguistic inventiveness of youth, such as teen slang) merging with the advancing material importance of human-unreadable programming languages. A cyberpunk, as such, was a punk kid who grew up speaking a modem phreaker's argot as his native slang, and who put it to the same uses as contemporary motorcycle punks put their hard acceleration or contemporary phone phreakers put their own skills - to commit crimes of various magnitudes and vandalism with varying degrees of purposefulness. We often lose sight of this when we talk about cyberpunk in the more restrictive and proscriptive terms of grand epics like Neuromancer or The Matrix. Bethke's cyberpunks were not concerned with whether or not the system is in any way damaged by their crimes, or even with whether or not the system is in the wrong at all. They care little for whether or not something is right, in the system or in themselves. Their primary concern is more regarding whether or not it is possible, whether or not they can use the language of technology to craft the spell that will bend the system in ways that will leave Cray maintainers scratching their heads and wondering how the hell they did that and whether or not it can be undone for long hours into the night.

Gibson has spoken at length about the limits of his technological knowledge at the time he wrote Neuromancer. The long and short of it is that he immersed himself in the poetics of technical language without connecting it to any practical knowledge of the specific funPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>316065
Having argued the intersection between language and technology as an important but overlooked aspect of what gives cyberpunk its particular flavor, I think we may have lost some important quality of cyberpunk. I will even go so far as to say that loss does reflect on an important loss in our current society. But if so I do not think that quality is "rebellious struggle against authority" and it is certainly not a matter of righteousness within that struggle. I very strongly doubt it is a matter of modern cyberpunk carrying insufficient vaguely left anarchist sentiments regarding capital and the state.

No, I think it's far worse than that. There are two very important things that I think we've lost.

Firstly, I believe we have lost the linguistic cyberneticization of the phreaker epoch. This is because technology and the way we interact with it has changed course. Legal and social restrictions turned out to matter more than most cyberpunk authors thought they would. The most eerily accurate cyberpunk dystopian vision of the future is "The Right to Read" by Dr. Richard Stallman. Younger generations no longer outpace older ones in terms of adaptation of or aptitude with communications technologies, or the weaponization thereof. All important, technically innovative cybercriminals from 2012 or so onwards are state actors and presumably late-20s through middle aged, like Jia Tan. Exceptions may go to crypto scammers, but those are just financial criminals who happen to have e-mail addresses. Even in adoption of user end technology we do not see the incline or separation of userbase that would suggest a thriving punk scene. TikTok is full of Millennials as their primary demographic base and the millennial generation is now 40 fucking years old. Growing up immersed in next generation technology has not created a lingua technica amongst the next generation, nor granted them the digital agility to outmaneuver a stodgy rigid system. Nick Land may be right, the system may be more flexible, agile, adaptable than its human substrate.

Secondly, and more importantly. What I think we have lost as a society is the concept of a separate and specific cultural and more importantly linguistic boundary reserved for teenagers. Some of you will probably argue this point, but guys. Gen Z doesn't use that stultifying tiktok slang any moPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>316066
>>316065
so if I get it all, cyberpunk without the punk is not cyberpunk? punk associate with youth, right? also knowing some technical words and knowledge about technology is required, right?
is akira the most iconic juvenile punk in a cyberpunk dystopia?
also blade runner was like a noir movie or hardboiled hero (I think its the right term: hardboiled , I forgot).
what do you think of cyberpunk 2077?
your posts are very good, you serm to know a lot about cuberpunk and a good analyzing

>>316064
thank you I added it in my folders
>>316058
you're right, before cp2077, when you were searching for cyberpunk musics, you got a lot of stuff from different genre. now all you have is cp2077-like music (synthwave)

>>316044
Cyberpunk music was described in Neuromancer. It's Jamaican dubtrap with heavy bass.
https://www.thestranger.com/music/2014/11/12/20991030/neuromancer-rastas-and-the-end-of-the-world
>>316071
Akira's a very solid choice. Like all possible choices it is flawed in some ways. Akira doesn't show its suits or how suits engage with punks often enough to show them as having completely different ways of looking at and engaging with the world, and the punks are only brought into the process of merging with technology through the distant schemes of uninterested suits instead of because it is the sort of thing that exists in their environment. There are similar problems with every other possible candidate for first place, like Alex DeLarge and his crew in A Clockwork Orange (proto-cyberpunk rather than cyberpunk, but referenced by Bethke, Stephenson and Gibson as influences).

>>316095
so…the most cyberpunk music to exist is skrillex featuring damian marley https://youtu.be/BGpzGu9Yp6Y?si=NxRi5vyax_95-hu3 ? haha didn't know electro reggea was the music of the future haha

>>315857
what a coincidence? I also happen to have old HP monitor

>>315857
but I got it from my grandpa for free

I found a github for a linux Distribution called Exodia OS and downloaded their Wallpaper Repo and made this my default. Quite nice if I do say so myself. But thanks for the heads up anyway.

https://zwz.cz/
I've discovered this one some time ago. It has literally hundreds of early 2000 era anime wallpapers. I really like them, they are tacky in a cute way

Keep in mind though that owner is a massive coomer, but thankfully you can disable porn if you don't wish to see it

httP;//konachan.com/
http://konachan.net/

>>316053
I often watch the webms I like on my folder. this one for exemple

Yes I watch MST3k episodes many times over.

>>315607
that was their plan

>>315607
the reason overwatch is popular is exclusively because of the porn. It is really ridiculous

i'm suddenly interested in catholicism, where do i start?

>>315539
Precious Moments soul vs Vatican AI generated soulless slop

>>315521
god will be killing us all very soon

>>315879
No, it's for building reflexes and motor skills, not muscles.

I think I might like massage stick more than foam roller.
Never thought I would find something I liked more than foam roller for dealing with DOMS.

Got one of those bowflex quick adjust dumbbells because it was on DEEP discount of 60% off and a massage gun that was 75% off.
The only bad thing is it was just one dumbbell, so now I have to hunt around for the walmart brand to make a even pair at similar price, since I ain't paying full retail for another bowflex one, even if the build quality is decent.
Still, I can make one dumbbell work for quality upper body workouts. It's the lower body where I need more weight and even distribution of a proper pair. But I got my old fashion dumbbells for those, or my kettlebell.

I know this sounds like cheating, but I recently got gastric bypass surgery and so far I've already dropped about 53lbs. Went from 430 when I started to 377 just a week or so ago. Feels amazing not feeling like total and utter shit.

>>315931
Had a neighbor that got that.
Lost like 200 pounds in the first year, then had a death in the family that they didn't cope well with and ended up gaining all the weight back, plus 100 pounds, and had gained a benzo addiction.

I guess my main point in telling this story is that you should get mental support to go along with physical support. That way your physical and mental health can reinforce your positive changes even when you face life challenges.

Regardless I wish you luck with it and hope you don't face too bad of complications.

this is my favorite powerbank btw: XTAR PB2S

i use it as a powerbank to charge usb devices at low and medium speeds (i don't think it does these modern remarkable powercharging speeds). some people also use it just as a charger for 18650 cells and other similar cells. so when these cells fail for me, i can just replace them with fresh cells and keep using the powerbank.

also it has a little display that shows which shows remaining percentage and the outgoing volts and ampere, which is nice to see at a glance which speed the device has negotiated with the usb. mostly i keep it in the car to power a little usb fan that helps my truck from getting too moist inside.

if i ever need more usb power, i have this little 10€ adapter which i can put on the tool batteries i already own to use them as powerbanks, i think the maximum they can deliver is 2,1a at 5v, so 10,5w. this also isn't modern high speed, but i am hoping the low speeds keep the devices alive longer. i think the fast charging speeds make the batteries in the usb devices die quicker.

>>315259
>50+ years old

if you have rust on them, i use this liquid that removes the rust by chemically changing the rust into this black metal-like substance. i apply it with a tiny brush and then i wait for up to 48 hours so the chemicals can react and then rub it off with a wet towel. i've not been using it long enough to know if it works that good, i mostly put it on cut steel rods because i noticed when i cut it, that's where the rust starts because the cut surface (unlike the rest of the steel) is not coated in zinc and steel likes to rust so that's always were it starts to rust and i hope the liquid can prevent it.

not sure if there are better ways. where i live a few of these rust treatments are sold, i never looked into it too deep, there might be better products to use.

>>315266
Yes, somewhat recently, but it was more of a hobbyist project, where I built a miniature hangar for a couple of aircraft model kits that I bought. Right nnow, I am working on a radio-controlled aircraft, which so far I have used my 30 year-old X-Acto knife and my 50 year-old pliers on.

When I am done with Uni, I will probably be moving out and once I do that, I hope to build my own furniture from scrap wood and stuff like old doors. The thing is, the only power tool that I have is a Dremel, which is 30 years old (I would not call my 30 year old soldering iron a power tool in the same sense).

I restored a pair of hemostats that I found in a park. God knows why they were there (maybe drug paraphernalia, as I have seen some drug dealing happen in that park, which I reported the the authorities). They work well now, but I still need to work on getting them unstuck.
>>315289
Most of them have been well kept and are fairly high quality brands, like King Dick, Sears Craftsman, Peterson-Dewitt and Heart Brand (Wynn, Timmins & Co. Ltd.). The aforementioned hemostats might be worth treating with this stuff.

>>315809
Same
It's basically the dream home I know I'll never get

>>315810
Me neither, but it's nice to see.
The only thing I have near my house is a small forest, but it never gets covered with snow. It's better than nothing.

>>315811
>Me neither, but it's nice to see.
Yeah. I've learned to take comfort in daydreams instead of worrying about things that will never happen.

living in a big house during winter with snow around sounds and seems very comfy

>>315810
A swiss mountain chalet like in your last pic costs around 20 million euros.

If it soothes you, there are only about 50 thousand people alive who even have a shot at buying that.

>>315805
anyway if you post pic of you can get banned

>>315807
Ah, It's true, I read the rules that I must be anonymous.

>>315718
Where are the zoomers now? Telegram? Discords?

>>315779
I have no idea. I think on their phones doing low cognition activities like tiktok, that's what they seem to be using.

>>303420
Funniest image in this thread, my long-distance friends loved semen-essence and find it hysterical

>>307729
Categorizing like that might incur a performance and complexity cost. How about just a set of rules or well-defined heuristics that differ between boards?

>>315217
>James May was a wizard
Back this up with proof.

>>315220
He was 37 before marriage and there was an episode of Top Gear where he said he had lived alone for most of his life. I forget the season and episode number but it was from 2005-2009, not one of the Dacia episodes, though.

>>315221
>He was 37 before marriage
>there was an episode of Top Gear where he said he had lived alone for most of his life

Not an entirely unreasonable conjecture based weak evidence. Any other proof?

>>315233
That is the most I have but there is some weaker evidence like some passing mentions that he was the black sheep of the family (I forget where this came from) and that he was quieter/much less sociable than his siblings (this was brought up several times, but I recall a story about his brother cutting off the head of a doll his sister had gotten).

This one is also somewhat weak, but May is an avid fan of railway modelling, having hosted and been on several television shows on the subject. I read somewhere that this hobby was unattractive, but I am not sure how trustworthy this is, but knowing that over 99% of people in the hobby are men (it is pretty obvious when going to the train show), it might not be all that unlikely.

>>315178
I'll complain that I don't make enough money or various mental health things that have been done to me (victim)