HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jcarroll@ferris.cray.com (Jeff Carroll)
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Originator: jcarroll@ferris
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Date: 3 Oct 92 17:29:00 CDT


In article <1aii0pINNndi@agate.berkeley.edu>, marc@eris.berkeley.edu (Marc DeGroot) writes:
> In article <1992Oct1.042137.14053@walter.cray.com> jcarroll@ferris.cray.com (Jeff Carroll) writes:
> >What I'm curious about is whether anyone would be lining up to volunteer
> >for the kind of invasive neurosurgery Gibson talks about. We may not be
> >too far away from the technology for some of that stuff.
> 
> Dave Warner, a medical student at Loma Linda University (and a researcher
> in the neurology department) tells me that electrodes in the brain
> will have to be read-only.  He says that pumping electricity into the brain
> causes the expression of oncogenes -- genes that code for cancer.  The
> electricity changes the shape of a molecule that regulates gene expression
> and destroys its ability to do its job, thus increasing the risk of
> cancer.

Fascinating. Have any of these people been talking to the
60 Hz-EM-fields-cause-leukemia crowd?

Jeff Carroll
carroll@lemon.cray.com
"The dice of God are always loaded." - Emerson
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: mimir@stein.u.washington.edu (Al Billings)
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Organization: The Friends of Loki Society
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 16:17:41 GMT

In article <4emWii200WBLA7jnw6@andrew.cmu.edu> Eric Andrew Morgan <em31+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>Sounds like a great idea and as far as wearable computers go, the
>Engineering Design Research Center here already has designed a head
>mounted computer with a small screen that hangs in front of one eye.  It
>is called Vu-man and has the equivalent power of a PC.  They are working
>on a successor called the Navigator that works by projecting the images
>on a HUD so that they are superimposed over the environment.

 The "Private Eye" HUD seems to be the most popular. It can do CGA
graphics and is red on a deep black background. I am told it is quite
readable. Has anyone else noticed that one of the new credit card sized PC
motherboards (8086 at 16 mhz) has built in CGA graphics? Sounds like the
two were meant for each other.

Wassail,
Al

                           mimir@u.washington.edu
    /\  /\       +----------------------------------------+
   /__\/__\      | "I know that I hung on the windy tree  |          |
  /\  /\  /\     |  all of nights nine, wounded by Gar,   |          |
 /__\/__\/__\    |   given to Odhinn, myself to myself,   |          |
    /\  /\       | upon that tree of which none can tell  |          |
   /__\/__\      |      from what root it rises."         |    ______|______
                 +----------------------------------------+

Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: watpod72@alfred.carleton.ca (George Bragg)
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Organization: Carleton University
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 15:49:54 GMT

In <1992Oct1.201939.11171@waikato.ac.nz> rmarsh@waikato.ac.nz writes:

>Having never used one I'm probably wrong, but I can't help thinking that a
>HUD overlaid on normal visual signals would be hard to read. Does anyone
>have any pertinent experiences they could share?

Depends on the HUD and what you put on it.  HUDs in fighter aircraft
are very cluttered at first, until the pilot gets used to them, then
he hardly notices they're there until he needs to use some information
from it, and then there it is!  The only thing is that a HUD set very
close to the face could be very difficult to read for someone like
myself, who is very slightly far-sighted.
From: rmarsh@waikato.ac.nz
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Date: 30 Sep 92 17:16:35 +1200
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

In article <pvanheus.717771870@frodo>, pvanheus@frodo.cs.uct.ac.za (P A van Heusden) writes:
> Considering the advances in Virtual Reality, and miniturisation, I came
> to be thinking about how I would like to live. This is a blueprint, and
> I'd like to discuss the issues of tech involved with others - as well as
> the philosophy.
> 
> Constituents: 
>  Head up display: Projected on glasses, or a small unit hanging in front of
>   an eye. Not necessarily high res, but if it is, great! Liked to backpack
>   computer, and possible environmental monitors.
[etc.]

I have a similar dream, but not on such a miniaturised scale. Mine is
actually realisable easily now... given a moderate sum of cash which I
don't have at the moment.

Still a nomadlike lifestyle, but with a few more of the creature comforts 
and no face hugging HUD or backpack to lug around. I like the idea of 
living in a mobile home with all the nifty tech that we have come to love. 
Still needs the cellular modem, but that (and the rest of the tech) is 
readily available off the shelf now. 

The advantages include speed of travel, availability of shelter and the 
ability to carry around more stuff. 

-- 
Robert 'Stumpy' Marsh | 95 Fairfield Rd | I can't reply to E-Mail, but 
rmarsh@waikato.ac.nz  | Hamilton        | don't let that stop you sending.
+64 7 855 4406        | New Zealand     |
From: homer@korova.uucp (Homer The Brave)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
Subject: Re: Is the Television a cyberspace?
Date: Sun, 04 Oct 92 14:13:45 CDT
Organization: VHF void tube of the mind (713) 492-2783

mdm@stegosaur.cis.ohio-state.edu (Michael Moore) writes:

> In article <1992Oct3.181445.12662@walter.cray.com> jcarroll@ferris.cray.com (
> >
> >
> >You probably already have access to multiple cyberspaces in your home. The t
> >(usenet, fidonet, prodigy...). Your TV set is another interface to another 
> >cyberspace (whether broadcast or cable). A ham radio rig is yet another.
> >
> 
> 	Does not cyberspace imply a form of interaction between the
> user and the environment represented?  The only form of interaction
> available on the TV set is changing channels.  You cannot exchange
> information with the tv, you can only recieve information from a
> finite set of sources.  On the telephone, you can both send and
> recieve information, as well as on the internet and on a ham radio.
> Does this, then, exclude the television from being termed a 
> cyberspace?  
> 
> 	-Michael
> 


TV *seems* real, and it acheives that end through technology.

I see the question of 'Is it cyberspace or is it not cyberspace?' as a 
sort of external Turing test. If it behaves like 'reality' but its not, 
(and if it comes from technology..), then its cyberspace.

--
              VHF void tube of the mind (713) 492-2783
        "where you can find the Zeta Greys SAFEWAYING themselves
                into the WONDERBREAD *heart* of America!"
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: pvanheus@frodo.cs.uct.ac.za (P A van Heusden)
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Organization: Computer Science Department, University of Cape Town
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 06:51:45 GMT

In <1992Oct1.161741.25558@u.washington.edu> mimir@stein.u.washington.edu (Al Billings) writes:

>In article <4emWii200WBLA7jnw6@andrew.cmu.edu> Eric Andrew Morgan <em31+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>>Sounds like a great idea and as far as wearable computers go, the
>>Engineering Design Research Center here already has designed a head
>>mounted computer with a small screen that hangs in front of one eye.  It
>>is called Vu-man and has the equivalent power of a PC.  They are working
>>on a successor called the Navigator that works by projecting the images
>>on a HUD so that they are superimposed over the environment.

> The "Private Eye" HUD seems to be the most popular. It can do CGA
>graphics and is red on a deep black background. I am told it is quite
>readable. Has anyone else noticed that one of the new credit card sized PC
>motherboards (8086 at 16 mhz) has built in CGA graphics? Sounds like the
>two were meant for each other.

My problem with the Private Eye is size: It is a fairly large thing to have
in front of your face all day. And CGA res is quite low. Otherwise, a nice 
system. 

>Wassail,
>Al

>                           mimir@u.washington.edu
>    /\  /\       +----------------------------------------+
>   /__\/__\      | "I know that I hung on the windy tree  |          |
>  /\  /\  /\     |  all of nights nine, wounded by Gar,   |          |
> /__\/__\/__\    |   given to Odhinn, myself to myself,   |          |
>    /\  /\       | upon that tree of which none can tell  |          |
>   /__\/__\      |      from what root it rises."         |    ______|______
>                 +----------------------------------------+

Great .sig. Which saga is this from?

Peter
--
*******************************************************************************
Peter van Heusden              "Through the cruelty of strangers
CS2 lab, UCT, Cape Town           To the Neon dream"
pvanheus@frodo.cs.uct.ac.za             Sisters of Mercy
From: pvanheus@frodo.cs.uct.ac.za (P A van Heusden)
Subject: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Summary: vision of tech nomads - living in Dataspace
Organization: Computer Science Department, University of Cape Town
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 13:04:30 GMT

Considering the advances in Virtual Reality, and miniturisation, I came
to be thinking about how I would like to live. This is a blueprint, and
I'd like to discuss the issues of tech involved with others - as well as
the philosophy.

Constituents: 
 Head up display: Projected on glasses, or a small unit hanging in front of
  an eye. Not necessarily high res, but if it is, great! Liked to backpack
  computer, and possible environmental monitors.
 Binary keyboard or, more probably, glove input: I'll consider the glove. The
  keyboard is straightforward. Basically, a glove, fingerless, to take the
  place of a mouse. Then, the glove can also be used as a virtual keyboard,
  creating input through finger patterns. Modes operate simultaneously.
 Backpack computer: Contains: Read/Write Optical disk, processor, possibly
  multiprocessor, link to cellular modem. This is one of the big tech problems,
  having a disk drive running, and still having reasonable battery life. I
  have no solution as yet. Possibly cover various parts of the clothes with
  solar cells? On the computer is communications software, and a map.

Abilities:
 Net access: Through a cellular phone, constant link up into something like the
  Internet.
 Accounts management: All accounts are accessed via computer. A fairly trivial
  detail. This is used for payment of bills, and all payments go direct to
  account.
 Work: Your job, be it publishing, programming, whatever, is run via Net using
  the computer. No need to sit behind a desk.
 Socialising: As you are constantly jacked in, a simulataneous Dataspace and
  Realspace lifestyle is possible. This is a key aim.

Problems:
 The HUD: So far HUD's are fairly big and low res.
 The computer: Most be small enough, but thats easy. Must have adaquate battery   life, the tough part.
 The job: You need someone prepared to give you a job on these terms. I can't 
  see why not, but then, I'm not in business.

I'm setting the date for a system like this at 1995. I would like to 
correspond with others who like this dream. (I hear there is a Nomad mailing
list out there)

Technology as liberation, that's what its meant to be!

Peter

--
*******************************************************************************
Peter van Heusden              "Through the cruelty of strangers
CS2 lab, UCT, Cape Town           To the Neon dream"
pvanheus@frodo.cs.uct.ac.za             Sisters of Mercy   
Xref: sparky alt.cyberspace:648 comp.org.eff.talk:6301
From: sbarber@panix.com (Steve Barber)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace,comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Information Economics (Was: Bruce Sterling & Cyberhemian Rhapsodies)
Date: 6 Oct 92 13:22:53 GMT
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC


In <1992Oct3.052948.14547@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu writes:

>Certain information can not be used as commodity,
>for, as I believe Bruce Sterling has himself stated before, if I give you
>information, I am not really losing anything, but you are gaining.  In
>monetary terms, it's like giving someone a $20 bill and somehow keeping
>the bill for yourself.  Thus, information is infinite and would quickly
>devalue in a world where it is abundant.

That was a nice piece of writing, but I've got to quibble with your use
of the word "devalue."  Free information does not "devalue," in fact its
value grows with its dissemination as more and more people take advantage
of it.  What does decrease is the price the creator/developer/investor
can charge for its divulgence, sometimes to the point of removing the
incentive for the creation of new information.

This makes a difference in terms of regulation of information markets.



-- 
Steve Barber                                             sbarber@panix.com
"The direct deed is the most meaningful reflection." - Bill Evans
Nothing I say is legal advice.  It can't be.  I don't know anything.
From: jy0x+@andrew.cmu.edu (Joseph Yen)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Date: 1 Oct 92 14:59:55 GMT
Organization: Junior, Social & Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA


   I read a while ago (about 1 year) that Toshiba (I'm pretty sure) has
developed a line of computers called "Body-Pcs".  They are PCs that you
would wear.  The one designed for Emergency Medical Technicians consists
of a cpu hung over the chest (off the the shoulders) and a keyboard that
flips down at stomach level.  The helmet has stereo headphones, voice
link, and a HUD built in.  The right glove has a trackball postioned in
the hand; you just have to curve your wrist to get your fingers around
it.  They battery time is supposed to be pretty good.  
   On the .Cyberpunk bboard, a guy was posting that he has developed a
system rather inexpensively that offers much of these features.  I
believe he said that he uses a Mirror Technologies "Private Eye" and a
chord keyboard.
    In regards to the hard drive problem, why bother using a hard drive
at all?  I use a Powerbook with 8 megs of ram and just use RAMCache.  I
get 12 hours with the screen on full brightness.  Just use a RamCache
for storage until you want to download into a buffer.
From: marc@eris.berkeley.edu (Marc DeGroot)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Date: 2 Oct 1992 22:21:13 GMT
Organization: eukaryotic
NNTP-Posting-Host: eris.berkeley.edu

In article <1992Oct1.042137.14053@walter.cray.com> jcarroll@ferris.cray.com (Jeff Carroll) writes:
>What I'm curious about is whether anyone would be lining up to volunteer
>for the kind of invasive neurosurgery Gibson talks about. We may not be
>too far away from the technology for some of that stuff.

Dave Warner, a medical student at Loma Linda University (and a researcher
in the neurology department) tells me that electrodes in the brain
will have to be read-only.  He says that pumping electricity into the brain
causes the expression of oncogenes -- genes that code for cancer.  The
electricity changes the shape of a molecule that regulates gene expression
and destroys its ability to do its job, thus increasing the risk of
cancer.

Too bad; I'd love to get a memory prosthesis.



-- 
Marc de Groot (KG6KF) San Francisco | 
Internet: marc@kg6kf.ampr.org       |          "Dare to dream..."
UUCP: ..!uunet!hoptoad!noe!marc     |
Packet radio: KG6KF @ K3MC          |
From: rhino@r2d2.eeap.cwru.edu (Rhino Project)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
Subject: Could someone point me towards the FAQ
Date: 30 Sep 1992 21:36:09 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve Univ. Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: marvin.eeap.cwru.edu

Could someone point me towards the FAQ and in the meantime explain to
me what goes on around here...
CW 

-- 
Carlin E. Wiegner              | rhino@eeap.cwru.edu
Triumvirate Industries, Inc.   | aj681@cleveland.freenet.edu
From: A6014BB@HASARA11.BITNET ([--- ikke!)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
Subject: Re: Is the Television a cyberspace?
Date: 6 Oct 92 15:12:07 GMT
Organization: SARA - Stichting Academisch Rekencentrum Amsterdam

In article <1992Oct5.004217.14861@cis.ohio-state.edu>,
mdm@stegosaur.cis.ohio-state.edu (Michael Moore) says:
>telephone itself is a cyberspace port, and you can use it to access others
>>(usenet, fidonet, prodigy...). Your TV set is another interface to another
>>cyberspace (whether broadcast or cable). A ham radio rig is yet another.
>
>        Does not cyberspace imply a form of interaction between the
>user and the environment represented?  The only form of interaction
>available on the TV set is changing channels.  You cannot exchange
>information with the tv, you can only recieve information from a
>finite set of sources.  On the telephone, you can both send and
>recieve information, as well as on the internet and on a ham radio.
>Does this, then, exclude the television from being termed a
>cyberspace?
>
>        -Michael
>
 
   Cyberspace itself does not imply any form of interaction between
anything/anyone. Cyberspace is everything that goes on between one
connection and another. Let's say between the satelite and your
satelite-dish. Or between the televisioncable-company and your
wall-plug. THAT'S cyberspace. Actually you can see any transport
device (lack of a better word) that transports data as cyberspace,
wether it's a 3 feet long cable or the sky.
 
Hope this helps...
 
Bjorn (bjorn@sara.nl)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: mcclure@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Gaeron McClure)
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 23:03:05 GMT

pvanheus@frodo.cs.uct.ac.za (P A van Heusden) writes:

[general specs deleted]

Seems like a very interesting idea.  I approve.

>Problems:
> The HUD: So far HUD's are fairly big and low res.
> The computer: Most be small enough, but thats easy. Must have adaquate battery   life, the tough part.
> The job: You need someone prepared to give you a job on these terms. I can't 
>  see why not, but then, I'm not in business.

I don't know enough about HUD's to comment, but regarding the battery:
notebook computers can run for around three hours with drives running on a
small battery.  I suspect that your HUD would consume less power than a
notebook monitor, even passive matrix LCD, and if you were going to haul
around a backpack, you could load quite a bit of battery mass in there (I
believe current notebook batteries weigh in at around a pound, with the total
machine weight at about 7 lbs.  My backpack that I carry for classes weighs
nearly 20 lbs, so you could put a _lot_ of battery in there.

As for the job, I suspect that computer firms would be fairly receptive to
the idea.  Where it seems to me that it would really catch on, however, is in
areas where high mobility is required for the job, e.g. police and other
emergency services, sales, and repair services.  The LAPD already has an online
system to facilitate data transfer between mobile units, and even our little
police department here in Urbana, Illinois now goes around with radio headsets
-- hardly VR, certainly, but a step in the right direction.

>Peter


-- 
GRiM	(Gaeron	R. McClure)	(mcclure@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu)
-- 
GRiM	(Gaeron	R. McClure)	(mcclure@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: ratner@owlnet.rice.edu (Logan Joshua Ratner)
Subject: Re: Bruce Sterling & Cyberhemian Rhapsodies
Organization: Rice University
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 23:29:28 GMT

In article <1992Oct3.181445.12662@walter.cray.com> jcarroll@ferris.cray.com (Jeff Carroll) writes:

>...
>This is what bothers me about Gibson's vision of cyberspace: there is no
>practical reason whatsoever to make financial databases accessible on a
>public network as a three-dimensional virtual object that can be attacked
>at will by a Nintendo jockey.
>
>I think it's more practical to talk about "cyberspaces" in the plural;
>We will have cyberspaces in which we work, and in which we play. For
>people like me, the "work" and "play" cyberspaces may coincide. For
>people who work in the financial industry, or people who work with
>classified information, or people whose business needs to be confidential,
>they will not.
>(etc.)

well, i know some profs and students who are working on massively-parallel
processing, and one of the ideals that is bandied around involves tying
all processing power together in something like a cybernet.

imagine never lacking for processing time when a really big job comes along.
(the numbers i've seen say 10 ibm rt 1000's + 1 good programmer > 1 cray xmp)

now, the downside of all this is that to "share in the wealth," you have to
keep your machine on-line, accessible on a public network, as it were.

further, i gather that in gibson's world public archives exist in cyberspace.
not to mention password-restricted archives.  company a's machine needs a credit
history report on citizen b from company b's machine.  rather than waste time
asking a humen to call another human to arrange the transfer, machine a just
calls machine b, gets authorization, and downloads the data. quick and neat.
except, of course, that both a and b have to be linked to the net (or at least
to the more realistic auto-dial auto-answer modem.)

tada, pubic acess network. all you need is a phone, and either an (elicit) password
or a decent code-guesser (i.e. icebreaker.)

there is only one cyberspace.  the questions are:
1) can you afford to have your machine on the net?
2) can you afford to not have your machine on the net?

think about it.

ratner

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This program posts news to thousands of machines throughout the entire
civilized world.  Your message will cost the net hundreds if not thousands of
dollars to send everywhere.  Please be sure you know what you are doing.

Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this? [ny]

"Isn't that what the net is for?"
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: mimir@stein.u.washington.edu (Al Billings)
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Organization: The Friends of Loki Society
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 17:09:46 GMT

In article <pvanheus.718008705@frodo> pvanheus@frodo.cs.uct.ac.za (P A van Heusden) writes:
>
>>                           mimir@u.washington.edu
>>    /\  /\       +----------------------------------------+
>>   /__\/__\      | "I know that I hung on the windy tree  |          |
>>  /\  /\  /\     |  all of nights nine, wounded by Gar,   |          |
>> /__\/__\/__\    |   given to Odhinn, myself to myself,   |          |
>>    /\  /\       | upon that tree of which none can tell  |          |
>>   /__\/__\      |      from what root it rises."         |    ______|______
>>                 +----------------------------------------+
>
>Great .sig. Which saga is this from?

 The Sayings of the High One in the Poetic edda.

Wassail,
Al

Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: scarrobi@shearson.com (Steve Carrobis)
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Reply-To: scarrobi@shearson.com
Organization: Lehman Brothers, Inc.
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 19:18:56 GMT

well i am glad u would like to be a wire head ... 
i dont know if i would .. having to worry about someone magnetizing me and destroying 
everything i am linked to.

 think about it ... its cool to want to have the stuff.. but what happens if someone
doesnt want u to have it or keep it...

 well just a thought...


  Steve C.
From: watpod72@alfred.carleton.ca (George Bragg)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
Subject: Re: Liberating Tech: Cybernomads
Date: 30 Sep 92 17:34:13 GMT
Organization: Carleton University

Reference: wearable PCs.

I think it's Hewlett Packard that's releasing a wearable (belt-type?)
PC real soon now.  Like, I think the release date was supposed to be
October or something...