(26.08.95) New! To make things livelier, most entries now have their keywords enhanced with boldface. Eeek! Is this the first step towards the eventual Wiredization of my pages? Stey tuuned.
(04.06.98) After nearly 3 years, my first re-appearance here.
(interesting alternative: a "comment channel"; after reading an article, each user can give a codified rating (something small, to be encoded in a few bytes), and the ratings for each message can then be used by newsreaders...)
(13.08.95) At last, recognition! The CFP of the First International Virtual Conference on Mad Science (IVCMS'96), something we (the more or less mad scientists of the world) have been awaiting for years.
(26.08.95) Its now up to five articles, of which four are good.
(09.10.95) After being removed from its original server, a new site has been found.
(20.01.96) After being removed from the other server, yet another site has been found (this time a commercial one, in the hope of more stability).
To get an idea of the price range involved: A Scanner Darkly (``Two complete manuscripts. The original ribbon copy typescript, with pages numbered 1-128 and 3 pages that appeared in the book as the "Author's Note." The text has been extensively reworked in ink by the author, with revisions on a majority of pages and at least two scenes that do not appear in the final book. Together with a second copy, this a complete re-typing consisting of 300 ribbon copy pages, with a few small ink notes and changes by the author, and a number of pencil copy editor's marks.'') sells for $16,500.
(If you can't afford a whole book, you can lay hands on `` 13. Autograph Note Unsigned. Circa 1972. A single sheet on which Dick has written two drafts of a statement in German, designed to help Powers speak to a girl he was dating. Folded four times.'' for a mere $300.)
And ``16. (POWERS, Tim and DICK, Philip K.). Manuscript. One page, ribbon copy, from the Powers novel The Anubis Gate, on which the first 14 lines are Powers' own text (page 241 of the published book) and the last 13 lines were typed by Dick in a parodying continuation of the story. Across the top, in Powers' hand, is a note explaining that Dick typed while Powers was out getting beer. A humorous invention, and an indication of the closeness between the two writers. $750'' sounds really interesting.
(Reading this catalogue left me in a cynical mood: Dick is an author who was so poor at times that he had to live off dog food (or is this an UL?), and his writing career was probably saved one time by RAH who gifted him a typewriter. Not to speak of his various psychological and drug problems.)
(Der Report sieht eingescannt aus, er enthält einige OCR-typische Typos (I/l) ;-)
``Eine Übergangszeit von fünf Jahren ist vorgesehen; die verbindliche Einführung sollte bis zum Jahre 2001 abgeschlossen sein.''
Their collection of net.related stories (one per week) contains, amongst many other topics, articles on the alt.religion.scientology conflict, the useless WWW page phenomenon, and Cancelmoose[TM]. (If you are the kind of person interested in this kind of thing, these are the news you might be more interested in.)
(17.06.95) Still there, with the Snake leading.
(17.06.95) Most recent entry is from December 27.
Locally available: Vaughan R. Pratt's Pentium error chain reaction experiment.
There were some follow-up analyses that relativized his findings, but the approach is still a very nice example of "experimental" computer science.
Now that the contest winner has been choosen, the winner and some runners-up are displayed on that location.
"Mysteries" as in "detective stories", not as in "bermuda triangle". Quite readable.
Heresy TrialThree theologians who are not members of the Society of the Holy Heretics have been charged with High Heresy. It is their contention that the Universe is not the play-test version of an original role-playing game, but rather, a thinly disguised reworking of an earlier role-playing game called Verisimilitude.
The theologians will be defending their thesis at the next annual V. M. Smith Memorial Barbeque.