… the dead will walk the earth Do you know this experience when, after a certain period of wallowing in escapism by swallowing heaps of fiction and movies, let’s say e.g. cyberpunk material …, the consciousness-contents induced by digesting fiction suddenly backlash into what you take for granted reality, real life—however you’d prefer to call that illusion? You do not know this kind of experience? Ok. Anyway. Some nights ago I left my office at half past midnight. Head full of story-snippets [Bryant: I need you, Deck—I need the old Blade Runner—I need your magic … a goddamn … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: March 2006
This one’s exclusively for you, ↑endo—yep, it’s mine. … Continue reading
The word cyberia, oftentimes used synonymously to cyberspace, might have been coined by writer ↑Douglas Rushkoff, see his book “Cyberia: Life in the trenches of hyperspace” (↵Rushkoff 1994). Alas, the term popped up at least three times more in the very same year: On 12 January 1994 Interplay released Xatric Entertainment Inc.’s action-adventure ↑computergame Cyberia for the DOS-platform. Additionally, according to Jonathan Duffy’s BBC-News article ↑Will internet cafés survive 10 more years? on 02 September 1994 “what is widely believed to be the UK’s first internet café, Cyberia, opened in a back street in London’s West End.” And just … Continue reading
The slight apparition of a smile is irritating. Deckard whips out his lightsaber from its holster concealed beyond the left shoulder. In the very fraction of a moment when the thumb strives for the blade’s ignition switch, when the fingers loose their opponent, when the primate’s hand’s unique ability to form a circle and grasp the things in their entirety is nullified, the other one strikes his wrist. Despite of black mirrorshades their eyes are locked, never unlock, not even when their hands briefly connect. Connect incredibly fast. Vagaries of perception. Had their indeed been a shadow … Continue reading
“Look, Turner, here’s your leading lady.” The man smiled up at Jane Hamilton, who smiled back, her wide blue eyes clear and perfect, each iris ringed with the minute gold lettering of the Zeiss Ikon logo. Turner froze, caught in a split-second lock of indecision. The star was close, too close, and the pale man was rising. Turner looked at her. She was twenty, four years his junior, and earned roughly nine times his annual salary in a given week. She was blonde, her hair cropped short for the series role, deeply tanned, and looked as if she was … Continue reading
During the last nights, in the hours when I couldn’t find sleep—and believe me, I can’t find sleep—I read Do androids dream of electric sheep? (↑Dick 2005[1968]) in order to really get into the cyberpunk-mood. And I succeeded. When I got up this morning I was in the mood and went out to buy the Blade Runner DVD. Headed straight for the biggest store in town. No luck, hardly could believe it. I mean, it’s a classic. Anyway, went on hunting and haunted several joints, till I found an expert clerk who told me that the DVD was no … Continue reading
On 16 March 2006 episode 10 of ↑Pure Pwnage, called ↑teh best day ever [.avi | 203.7MB] has been released on the Internet—’nough said. … Continue reading
And the things are intertwined. All things. Just one or two weeks ago I bought a DVD-set containing the three Matrix-movies (see according ↑essay at ↑cyberpunkreview.com), The Animatrix, and a heap of so-called bonus-material. I carried the whole box to a friend—who happens to work for Oracle [sic!]—and during the last days, or nights, I found time to finally watch Reloaded and Revolutions in full, and five of the nine Animatrix-short-movies. Before I only had had a look upon the modding-relevant scenes of the sequels … have a look at theHunted’s fabulous rendition of ↵The Chateau. In respect to … Continue reading
↑According to SFAM, besides the dirty, hyper-realistic “lived-in” looks and dark motifs contrasted by schocking neon color schemes, there’s yet another element defining cyberpunk visuals—a sense of slick style. Additionally, in the ↑comments to the Blade Runner review, DannyV_El_Acme and SFAM agreed on the movie’s famous pane featuring the huge billboard with the cute geisha being one of the most recognizable topoi/icons of the cyberpunk genre, as a lot of cyberpunk’s essence is captured within that one shot: asian influence, technology, alluring chicks, mega-corporations, dystopic futures, etc. Now, when dealing with any aspect of cyberculture, the history of technology … Continue reading
Incredibly creepy—the ACM-R5 prototype ia a lithium-ion-battery powered “radio-controlled amphibious robot designed to move like its real world counterpart. It can slither or swim underwater for 30 minutes on a full charge. Inside, you’ll find an intricate sensor system (attitude/torque), small-sized camera, and a 32bit micro controller.” There’s an embedded ↑video of the ACM-R5 at techeblog. via entry at william gibson‘s blog … Continue reading