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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 50 responses total. |
other
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response 25 of 50:
| 
Jul 5 18:18 UTC 2003 |
My geek factor must be incredibly low... I thought he was reading from a
handbook for Michigan Convicts...
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pvn
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response 26 of 50:
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Jul 6 04:50 UTC 2003 |
Heh, me too.
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gull
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response 27 of 50:
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Jul 7 15:19 UTC 2003 |
Ngh. This sort of thing is why I always resist friends' suggestions
that I attend any sort of sci-fi con.
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tod
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response 28 of 50:
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Jul 7 17:12 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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gull
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response 29 of 50:
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Jul 7 18:19 UTC 2003 |
Hell no. Cons are the only places a lot of geeks can get laid.
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tod
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response 30 of 50:
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Jul 7 18:31 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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jmsaul
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response 31 of 50:
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Jul 7 22:09 UTC 2003 |
Re #27: Don't take crap like that as an indication of what most attendees
are like.
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tod
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response 32 of 50:
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Jul 7 23:19 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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jmsaul
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response 33 of 50:
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Jul 7 23:35 UTC 2003 |
Like with any group, there are dipshits and good people.
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tod
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response 34 of 50:
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Jul 7 23:45 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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jmsaul
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response 35 of 50:
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Jul 8 00:49 UTC 2003 |
Damn right. And Todd, for that matter.
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pvn
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response 36 of 50:
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Jul 8 07:21 UTC 2003 |
I just finished _Snowcrash_. Its pretty interesting considering it was
written like in the dark ages (1989?), like BI (Before Internet) - I
know, not really BI but pretty much. I got the sense that about a third
of the way through the story the author was told to wrap it up, kill off
all the interesting characters except for the good guys and put it to
bed. His second novel was better, longer, and only ended about half way
through. (Cryptonomicon or something like that). It'll be interesting
to see what comes next. If the publishers are smart they will encourage
the author to write the prequels to the first and the sequels to both.
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polytarp
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response 37 of 50:
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Jul 8 11:17 UTC 2003 |
Those books suck. I hate that guy who wrote them.
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jazz
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response 38 of 50:
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Jul 8 14:44 UTC 2003 |
Snowcrash was written at the height of "the Movement", known popularly
as Cyberpunk, and was released in 1992, when the Internet existed, just wasn't
commercial.
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janc
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response 39 of 50:
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Jul 8 16:44 UTC 2003 |
Yeah, but at the time I thought of it as the first cyberpunk novel written
by anyone who actually knew anything about computers (I didn't discover
Vernor Vinge's "True Names" until later). Gibson's vision of cyberspace never
seemed to connect to anything I knew about computers or the net. It sounded
more like something invented by someone who had be running a lot of sound
boards at rock concerts. Gibson's vision of cyberspace, while far from the
real net, seemed to me to have much more nearly the right feel.
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jazz
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response 40 of 50:
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Jul 8 17:42 UTC 2003 |
Gibson's early works were written on a typewriter, and he had little
or no actual knowledge of the internet. He later moved on to a Mac, and it
somewhat dulled his far-reaching fancies.
Bruce Sterling was pretty literate at that time, though, and Rudy
Rucker was a comp sci professor.
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scott
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response 41 of 50:
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Jul 8 17:51 UTC 2003 |
I like Stephenson's work best, though. He seems to do a really good job of
imagining a future greatly changed by technology, but with still-interesting
characters and social groups to populate that future. "The Diamond Age" is
just brilliant that way.
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jazz
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response 42 of 50:
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Jul 8 18:47 UTC 2003 |
I concur. Sterling has an incredible grasp of politics and sociology,
but it leaves his writing dry and lifeless at times. Gibson is a sublimely
visual writer, but in his longer works, that tendency leaves me with a better
picture of his characters than an understanding of them. Stephenson's got
the most well-rounded talent, and if you take the time to research any of the
ideas he presents casually in his works, you'll find there's a wealth of
background which really exists.
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russ
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response 43 of 50:
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Jul 8 21:38 UTC 2003 |
Re #32: Anyone who sees you there... is there too.
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tod
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response 44 of 50:
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Jul 8 21:43 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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polygon
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response 45 of 50:
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Jul 9 00:39 UTC 2003 |
"Snow Crash" is cyberpunk with a sense of humor.
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pvn
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response 46 of 50:
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Jul 9 05:52 UTC 2003 |
It is that.
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russ
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response 47 of 50:
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Jul 9 22:48 UTC 2003 |
Re #45: Indeed. I knew I was going to love it when I found out
that the lead character's name was "Hiro Protagonist". It was a
fun read, and especially welcome given that I was waiting for
car repairs that weekend.
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jazz
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response 48 of 50:
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Jul 10 00:43 UTC 2003 |
Trivia fact: the first chapter(s) of Snow Crash were originally
written as a comic book, but Neal made a later decision to write everything
as a novel.
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flem
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response 49 of 50:
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Jul 10 17:28 UTC 2003 |
Ah, that explains it. Both times I've read Snow Crash, I've noticed that I
like the style of the first chapter far more than that of the rest of the
book.
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