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Archive-name: cyberpunk-faq
Last-modified: 9/8/1994
Frequently Asked Questions on alt.cyberpunk
Assembled by Erich Schneider (erich@bush.cs.tamu.edu)
Posted every two weeks
This is a FAQ list for alt.cyberpunk. It is inspired by, but is not a
direct descendant of, the previous unofficial FAQ, originally compiled
by Andy Hawks (who has left FAQ-building behind), and later edited by
Tim Oerting (who has graduated from UW and can no longer be editor).
I have been an alt.cyberpunk reader since 1988, and have
seen many a FAQ get asked in my time. I am dedicated to answering your
questions and keeping this document up to date and available. If you
have comments, criticisms, additions, questions, or just general invective,
send to erich@bush.cs.tamu.edu. Send to that address as well if you
would like the latest version of this document, which is also available via
anonymous ftp as "bush.cs.tamu.edu:/pub/misc/erich/alt.cp.faq". The latest
archived version is available as "rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/
cyberpunk-faq". There is also a version that has been marked up with the
HTML markup language, and is suitable for view with World Wide Web browsers
like NCSA Mosaic; the URL is "http://tamsun.tamu.edu/~ers0925/
alt.cp.faq.html".
A vast number of the "answers" here should be prefixed with an "in my
opinion". It would be ridiculous for me to claim to be an ultimate
cyberpunk authority.
(A note on filenames: files or directories listed as being available
by anonymous FTP are in the format "hostname:filename". Thus, the
filename above (for this FAQ list itself) indicates the host is
"bush.cs.tamu.edu" and the filename is "/pub/misc/erich/alt.cp.faq".
Filenames of this type will always be given in quotes, to avoid
problems with trailing periods.)
---
1. What is cyberpunk, the literary movement?
2. What is cyberpunk, the subculture?
3. What is cyberspace?
How does it relate to today's "net" and "virtual reality"?
4. Cyberpunk books
5. Magazines about cyberpunk and related topics
6. Cyberpunk in visual media (movies and TV)
What about movies based on Gibson's stories?
Gibson's _Alien 3_ script?
7. _Blade Runner_
8. Cyberpunk music. What about Billy Idol's album?
9. What is [famous person]'s email address?
10. What is this "PGP" everyone is talking about?
11. Agrippa: what, and where, is it?
12. More, more, I must have more!
---
1. What is cyberpunk, the literary movement?
The first use of "cyberpunk" to designate a body of literature is
generally credited to Gardner Dozois, who, at the time (the early
'80s), was editor of _Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine_. He is
thought to have cribbed it from the title of a short story by Bruce
Bethke, "Cyberpunk". (Bethke has since proclaimed himself to be an
"anti-cyberpunk".)
Before its christening, the "cyberpunk movement", known to its members
as "The Movement", had existed for quite some time, centered around
Bruce Sterling's samizdat, _Cheap Truth_. Authors like Sterling,
Rucker, and Shirley submitted articles pseudonymously to this
newsletter, hyping the works of people in the group and vigorously
attacking the "SF mainstream". This helped form the core "movement
consciousness". (The run of _Cheap Truth_ is available by anonymous
FTP in the directory "etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/Zines/CheapTruth".)
Cyberpunk literature, in general, deals with marginalized people in
technologically-enhanced cultural "systems". In cyberpunk stories'
settings, there is usually a "system" which dominates the lives of
most "ordinary" people, be it an oppresive government, a group of
large, paternalistic corporations, or a fundamentalist religion. These
systems are enhanced by certain technologies (today advancing at a
rate that is bewildering to most people), particularly "information
technology" (computers, the mass media), making the system better at
keeping those within it inside it. Often this technological system
extends into its human "components" as well, via brain implants,
prosthetic limbs, cloned or genetically engineered organs, etc. Humans
themselves become part of "the Machine". This is the "cyber" aspect of
cyberpunk.
However, in any cultural system, there are always those who live on
its margins, on "the Edge": criminals, outcasts, visionaries, or those
who simply want freedom for its own sake. Cyberpunk literature focuses
on these people, and often on how they turn the system's technological
tools to their own ends. This is the "punk" aspect of cyberpunk.
The best cyberpunk works are distinguished from previous work with
similar themes by a certain style. The setting is urban, the mood is
dark and pessimistic. Concepts are thrown at the reader without
explanation, much like new developments are thrown at us in our
everyday lives. There is often a sense of moral ambiguity; simply
fighting "the system" (to topple it, or just to stay alive) does not
make the main characters "heroes" or "good" in the traditional sense.
---
2. What is cyberpunk, the subculture?
Spurred on by cyberpunk literature, in the mid-1980's certain groups
of people started referring to themselves as cyberpunk, because they
correctly noticed the seeds of the fictional "techno-system" in
Western society today, and because they identified with the
marginalized characters in cyberpunk stories. Within the last few
years, the mass media has caught on to this, spontaneously dubbing
certain people and groups "cyberpunk". Specific subgroups which are
identified with cyberpunk are:
Hackers, Crackers, and Phreaks: "Hackers" are the "wizards" of the
computer community; people with a deep understanding of how their
computers work, and can do things with them that seem
"magical". "Crackers" are the real-world analogues of the "console
cowboys" of cyberpunk fiction; they break in to other people's
computer systems, without their permission, for illicit gain or simply
for the pleasure of exercising their skill. "Phreaks" are those who do
a similar thing with the telephone system, coming up with ways to
circumvent phone companies' calling charges and doing clever things
with the phone network. All three groups are using emerging computer
and telecommunications technology to satisfy their individualist
goals.
Cypherpunks: These people think a good way to bollix "The System" is
through cryptography and cryptosystems. They believe widespread use of
extremely hard-to-break coding schemes will create "regions of privacy"
that "The System" cannot invade.
Ravers: These are the folks who use synthesized and sampled music,
computer-generated psychedelic ("cyberdelic") art, and designer drugs
to create massive all-night dance parties and love-fests in empty
warehouses.
However, one person's "cyberpunk" is another's everyday obnoxious
teenager with some technical skill thrown in, or just someone looking
for the latest trend to identify with. This has led many people
to look at self-designated "cyberpunks" in a negative light. Also,
there are those who claim that "cyberpunk" is undefinable (which
in some sense it is, being concerned with outsiders and rebels), and
resent the mass media's use of the label, seeing it as a cynical
marketing ploy.
---
3. What is cyberspace?
How does it relate to today's "net" and "virtual reality"?
To my knowledge, the term "cyberspace" was first used by William
Gibson in his story "Burning Chrome". That work first describes users
using devices called "cyberdecks" to override their normal sensory
organs, presenting them with a full-sensory interface to the world
computer network; when doing so, said users are "in cyberspace". (The
concept had appeared prior to Gibson, most notably in Vernor Vinge's
story "True Names".) "Cyberspace" is thus the metaphorical "place"
where one "is" when accessing the world computer net.
Even though Gibson's vision of how cyberspace operates is in some
senses absurd, it has stimulated many in the computing community. The
word "cyberspace" is beginning to filter into common use, referring to
the emergent world-wide computer network (especially the
Internet). Also, some researchers in the "virtual reality" area of
computer science are trying to implement something like Gibson's
information space. However, "cyberspace" is also used to refer to any
computer-generated VR environment, even if its purpose is not
"accessing the net".
---
4. Cyberpunk books
The following is intended to be a short list of the best in-print
cyberpunk works. Note that quite a few works written before 1980 have
been retroactively labelled "cyberpunk", because of stylistic
similarities (like Pynchon's _Gravity's Rainbow_), or similar themes
(Brunner's _The Shockwave Rider_, Delany's _Nova_).
William Gibson's _Neuromancer_, about a cracker operating in
cyberspace, a cybernetically-enhanced bodyguard/mercenary, and a pair
of mysterious AIs, got the ball rolling as far as cyberpunk is
concerned. It won the Hugo, Nebula, P. K. Dick, and Ditmar awards,
something no other SF work has done. Gibson wrote two sequels in the
same setting, _Count Zero_ and _Mona Lisa Overdrive_.
Gibson also has a collection of short stories, _Burning Chrome_, which
contains three stories in _Neuromancer_'s setting, as well as several
others, such as the excellent "The Winter Market" and "Dogfight".
Gibson recently published _Virtual Light_, set nearer in the future
and with somewhat more toned-down technology, but dealing with the
same thematic concerns as other cyberpunk works.
Bruce Sterling's _Crystal Express_ contains his "Shaper/Mechanist"
short stories about the future of humanity and "post-humanity", as
well as "Green Days in Brunei", a story sharing the global setting of
his _Islands in the Net_. Both are near-future extrapolations in
worlds very similar to our own. (_Schismatrix_, a novel-length story
in the "Shaper/Mechanist" future, is out of print.)
Sterling edited _Mirrorshades: A Cyberpunk Anthology_, which contains
stories by many authors; some are questionably cyberpunk, but it has
some real gems ("Mozart in Mirrorshades" being one).
Gibson and Sterling collaboratively wrote _The Difference Engine_, a
novel called "steampunk" by some; it deals with many cyberpunk themes
by using an alternate 19th-century Britain where Babbage's mechanical
computer technology has been fully developed.
_Snow Crash_, by Neal Stephenson, carries cyberpunk to a humorous
extreme; what else can one say about a work where the Mafia delivers
pizza and the main character's name is "Hiro Protagonist"?
Larry McCaffrey editied an anthology, _Storming the Reality Studio_,
which has snippets of many cyberpunk works, as well as critical
articles about cyberpunk, and a fairly good bibliography.
Some other good cyberpunk works include:
Walter Jon Williams, _Hardwired_: a smuggler who pilots a hovertank
decides to take on the Orbital Corporations that control his world.
Walter Jon Williams, _Voice of the Whirlwind_: a corporate soldier's
clone tries to discover what happened to his "original copy".
Greg Bear, _Blood Music_: a genetic engineer "uplifts" some of his own
blood cells to human-level intelligence, with radical consequences.
Pat Cadigan, _Synners_: hackers and other misfits pursue a deadly new
"virus" when direct brain interfaces first appear in near-future LA.
(Some good out-of-print works to look for are Sterling's _Schismatrix_,
Pat Cadigan's _Mindplayers, and Michael Swanwick's _Vacuum Flowers_.)
---
5. Magazines about cyberpunk and related topics
Some magazines which are popular among cyberpunk fans are:
_Mondo 2000_
P O Box 10171
Berkeley, CA 94709-0171
Voice (510)845-9018, Fax (510)649-9630
Editorials: editor@mondo2000.com
Subscriptions: subscriptions@mondo2000.com
Advertising: advertising@mondo2000.com
_Mondo_'s reputation has been declining among cyberpunk fans lately, as
the articles have become less and less technically-oriented.
_bOING-bOING_
544 Second St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
Voice (415)974-1172, Fax (415)974-1216
carla@well.com
HTTP site at "http://www.zeitgeist.net/public/Boing-boing/
bbw3/boing.boing.html".
A less "slick" magazine than _Mondo_ or _Wired_, but with plenty of
attitude and plenty of good writers.
_Wired_
P.O. Box 191826
San Francisco, CA 94119
Voice (415)904-0660, Fax (415)904-0669
Credcard subscriptions: 1-800-SO-WIRED (1-800-769-4733)
Information: info@wired.com
Subscriptions: subscriptions@wired.com
Gopher site at "wired.com", port 70; HTTP site at "www.wired.com"
A magazine that is very popular right now. It's aimed more at
technically-oriented professionals with disposable income, but many
cyberpunk fans like the articles on network- and future-related
topics.
_Phrack_
603 W. 13th #1A-278
Austin, TX 78701
phrack@well.com
_2600 Magazine_
Subscription correspondence: 2600 Subscription Dept.
P.O. Box 752, Middle Island, NY, 11953-0752
Letters/Article submissions: 2600 Editorial Dept.
P.O. Box 99, Middle Island, NY, 11953-0099
2600@well.com
Two mainstays of the computer underground. _Phrack_ deals more with people
and goings-on in the community, while _2600_ focuses on technical
information.
---
6. Cyberpunk in visual media (movies and TV)
What about movies based on Gibson's stories?
Gibson's _Alien 3_ script?
TV gave us the late, lamented _Max Headroom_, which featured oodles of
cyberpunk concepts. The Bravo cable network is rerunning the
few episodes that were made. TV also gave us the somewhat bloated
_Wild Palms_, with a "cyberspace", evil corporations, and a cameo by
William Gibson.
Recently, TV-movies based on William Shatner's "Tek" novels have been
released. While possessing some tranditionally cyberpunk elements and
extended "cyberspace runs", they tend to boil down to good guys
vs. bad guys cop stories. So far, _TekWar_, _TekLords_, and _TekLab_
have been made. (_TekLords_ features a central plot element that those
who have read _Snow Crash_ will recognize.)
_Blade Runner_ is considered the archetypical cyberpunk movie. (Gibson
has said that the visuals in _Blade Runner_ match his vision of the
urban future in _Neuromancer_.) Few other movies have matched it; some
that are considered cyberpunk or marginally so are _Alien_ and its
sequels, _Freejack_, _The Lawnmower Man_, _Until the End of the
World_, the "Terminator" movies, _Total Recall_, the somewhat goofy
_Circuitry Man_, and _Brainstorm_.
There is an hourlong documentary called "Cyberpunk" available on video
from Mystic Fire Video. It features some interview-style conversation
with Gibson, is generally low-budget, and the consensus opinion on the
net is that it isn't really worth anyone's time. Gibson is apparently
embarrassed by it.
Regarding films based on Gibson stories: At one point a fly-by-night
operation called "Cabana Boys Productions" had the rights to
_Neuromancer_; this is why the front of the _Neuromancer_ computer
game's box claims it is "soon to be a motion picture from Cabana
Boys". The rights have since reverted to Gibson, who is sitting on
them at the moment.
A film version of Gibson's short story "Johnny Mnemonic" is being
produced at this time, scheduled for release in early 1995; Gibson
wrote the screenplay, and is a close consultant to the director,
Robert Longo. Keanu Reeves has the title role, Dolph Lundgren and
Takeshi Kitano are his enemies, and Dina Meyer is playing the
"Molly-equivalent" character (since the character of Molly cannot
appear due to her possible use in a _Neuromancer_ production). Ice-T
and Henry Rollins also have roles. There are rumors that "New Rose
Hotel" will soon be made into a film, and Gibson recently claimed that
a short (15 minute) film was made in Britain based on his short story
"The Gernsback Continuum".
William Gibson wrote one of the many scripts for _Alien 3_. According
to him, only one detail from his script made its way to the actual
film: the bar codes visible on the backs of the prisoners' shaved
heads. A synopsis of Gibson's script, including instructions on how
to get the whole thing, can be found in part 3 of the _Alien_ Movies
FAQ list, available as "rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/movies/
alien-faq/part3".
---
7. _Blade Runner_
There is a _Blade Runner_ FAQ which is available via anonymous FTP as
"rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/movies/bladerunner-faq". It
answers many of the more common questions. Here are short answers to
the most common.
a. There are several alternate versions. The original theatrical
release in the US omitted the Batty-Tyrell eye-gouging sequence and a
few other bits; these were added back in Europe and the video
release. In 1992, a "director's cut" was released, now available on
video, which omits the Deckard voiceover and the "happy" ending, and
reinserts the "unicorn scene". Before that, however, a different
cut was shown at two theaters, one in LA, the other in San Francisco,
for a brief period; this has a different title sequence and
soundtrack, some different dialogue, no voiceover and no happy ending,
but no unicorn sequence. (In my opinion, it was the best version.)
b. The 5/6 replicants problem: This is widely accepted as an editing
glitch which slipped through to the release. The film originally
featured a fifth "live" replicant, "Mary", who was later deleted. In
the limited-release cut, the line "one got fried ..." is changed to
"two got fried ...". Bryant does not include Rachel in the original
six escaped replicants. However ...
c. Internal clues, such as lack of emotion, the photographs, and the
reflective eyes, do suggest that Deckard is a replicant. However, this
is not _explicitly_ stated in any cut. The "unicorn scene" gives this
theory more weight.
---
8. Cyberpunk music. What about Billy Idol's album?
There is a bit of confusion as to what "cyberpunk music" really is. Is
it "music that deals with cyberpunk themes", or "music that people in
a cyberpunk future would listen to"?
Those who claim there _is_ cyberpunk music usually say the fast,
synthesized, and sample-oriented forms such as techno, rave, and
industrial music are "cyberpunk".
In late 1993 Billy Idol released an album called "Cyberpunk", which
garnered some media attention. The album seems to have been a
commercial and critical flop, but based on his statements (two of
them) on the net, Billy seems sincere about learning about the
"cyberpunk scene". However, scorn and charges of commercialization
have been heaped upon him in this and other forums.
---
9. What is [famous person]'s email address?
William Gibson has no public e-mail address. In fact, he doesn't
really care about computers all that much; he didn't use one until he
wrote _Mona Lisa Overdrive_, and was thinking of kids playing
videogames when he developed his "cyberspace".
Other authors _are_ on the net, however. Tom Maddox (author of _Halo_,
"Snake Eyes", and many critical articles) is good buddies with Gibson,
and occasionally posts to alt.cyberpunk from his address at
"tmaddox@halcyon.com". Bruce Sterling maintains an e-mail address at
"bruces@well.com". Rudy Rucker, author of _Software_, _Wetware_,
the story collection _Transreal!_, and many others, is
"rucker@sjsumcs.sjsu.edu". Vernor Vinge, author of "True Names", is
"vinge@aztec.sdsu.edu". Pat Cadigan is "cadigan@aol.com".
Billy Idol can be reached at "idol@well.com".
For courtesy's sake, please don't abuse these addresses; most people
have better things to do with their time than answer floods of fan mail.
---
10. What is this "PGP" everyone is talking about?
"PGP" is short for "Pretty Good Privacy", a public-key cryptosystem
that is the mainstay of the cypherpunk movement. "OK, so what's a
public-key cryptosystem?", you now ask.
A public-key cryptosystem allows one to send secret messages with the
assurance that the receiver will know who the sender was. (This is
important if, say, you are sending your credit-card number to buy an
expensive item; ordinary e-mail is somewhat easy to fake.) The message
is said to be "signed" by a "digital signature". Consider two people,
Alice and Bob. Each has two mathematical functions, constructed via two
"keys", A and B. A message encrypted with key A can be decrypted only
by key B, and a message encrypted with key B can be decrypted only by
key A. Key A is kept secret, known only to its owner, and is called
the "private" key; key B is given to anyone who wants it, and is
called the "public" key.
Suppose Alice is sending a message to Bob. She first encrypts it with
her private key, and then encrypts the result with Bob's public
key. This is then sent to Bob. Bob decrypts the message using his
private key, and decrypts the result with Alice's public key. The fact
that he was able to decrypt using his private key means Alice inteded
the message for him, and that only he can read it; the fact that
Alice's public key decrypted the result means that Alice was the true
author of the message (since only Alice has the required private key
to encrypt).
Thus, when you see a "PGP public key block" at the end of someone's
Usenet posts, that's the "public key" that you can use to encrypt
secret messages to them.
---
11. What is "Agrippa" and where can I get it?
"Agrippa: A Book of the Dead", the textual component of an art
project, was written by William Gibson in 1992. Gibson wrote a
semi-autobiographical poem, which was placed onto a computer disk.
This disk was part of a limited release of special "reader" screens;
the reader units themselves had etchings by Dennis Ashbaugh which were
light-sensitive, and slowly changed from one form to another, final,
form, when exposed to light. Also, the "text" of the poem, when read,
was erased from the disk - it could only be read once.
On the net, opinion on the Agrippa project ranged from "what an
interesting concept; it challenges what we think 'art' should be" to
"Gibson has sold out to the artsy-fartsy crowd" to "Gibson is right to
make a quick buck off these art people".
Naturally (some would say according to Gibson's plan), someone got
hold of the text of "Agrippa" and uploaded it to the Usenet. The
compiler of this FAQ has a copy which is available to all who ask for
it; a public copy can be found in the file
"english-server.hss.cmu.edu:/English Server/Fiction/Gibson-Agrippa".
The author of this FAQ has a copy at "bush.cs.tamu.edu:/pub/misc/erich/
agrippa", as well as a copy of a parody, "agr1ppa", in the
same directory.
---
12. More, more, I must have more!
A larger list, with more resource listings (of books, music, etc.)
is the Cyberpoet's Guide to Virtual Culture, located at
"etext.archive.umich.edu:/pub/Zines/CyberPoet". Its immediate ancestor,
the Future Culture FAQ, is available in various versions which are stored
on many sites. (An old version can be found in "etext.archive.umich.edu:
/pub/Zines/Future.Culture/".)
The Rutgers SF archive, at "gandalf.rutgers.edu:/pub/sfl/", contains
many general SF-related items, including a directory of John Wenn's
"author lists", which are very good bibligraphies for many popular
authors.
The Network 23 server at URL "http://net23.com" contains a great deal
of information about _Max Headroom_.
The UWP Music Archives, at "ftp.uwp.edu:/pub/music/", has subdirectories
of musical interest, such as discographies and lyrics of many bands,
some of them "cyberpunk".
"rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/music/industrial-faq/" contains
the two-part industrial music FAQ list from "rec.music.industrial".
"hyperreal.com:/" has items of interest to ravers and about the rave
scene in general.
"soda.berkeley.edu:/pub/cypherpunks/" has many cryptography items,
including a directory containing the latest version of PGP for several
platforms. RSA Data Security's ftp site at "rsa.com" also contains
cryptography materials. FAQ lists covering cryptographic topics can be
found in the directory "rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/sci.crypt/".
An HTML page with pointers to these and many other references is
Fran Litterio's "Cryptography, PGP, and Your Privacy" at
"http://draco.centerline.com:8080/~franl/crypto.html".
The WELL's gopher site (at "gopher.well.com", port 70) has a
subdirectory on "Cyberpunk and Postmodern Culture", which contains,
among other things, some stuff by Bruce Sterling, including Bruce's
recommended cyberpunk reading list and the complete text of his book
_The Hacker Crackdown_, a nonfiction account of the attempts in 1990
to bloody the nose of the "computer underground". _The Hacker Crackdown_
is also available by anonymous FTP in the directory
"oak.zilker.net:/bruces/hackcrack/". The WELL gopher also has a copy of
"Agrippa".
_Wired_ magazine's gopher site (at "wired.com", port 70) has, among
other things, complete contents of many back issues available online.
The also have an HTTP site at "www.wired.com".
Many files of relevance to the real-life "computer undergrond" and the
hacking/phreaking communities can be found in one of the "Computer
Underground Digest" sites. One of these is at
"aql.gatech.edu:/pub/eff/Publications/CuD", and includes a complete
set of issues of _Phrack_ magazine.
Happy exploring!
---
End of alt.cyberpunk FAQ.