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Bruce Sterling: The Zenith Angle
permalink #51 of 60: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Fri 27 Aug 04 19:09
permalink #51 of 60: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Fri 27 Aug 04 19:09
It knows no bounds. Somehow this makes me think about the futures that early sf authors and artists were dreaming, and the nostalgia some of us have for those visions of the future... for example, the world of _Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow_ (http://www.skycaptain.com/). Speaking of design, those artists were cranking out visionary industrial design, design for objects that didn't exist and might never exist. See http://anubis4_2000.tripod.com/SciFiArt/tomorrow.htm. I suppose there's no question that you were influenced by those artists?
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Bruce Sterling: The Zenith Angle
permalink #52 of 60: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Sat 28 Aug 04 00:50
permalink #52 of 60: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Sat 28 Aug 04 00:50
We were all influenced by them. The founders of the industrial design profession in America were Broadway stage designers. I have a lot of respect for Norman Bel Geddes; people like to look back and mock the campy aspects of the past's futurism, but, well, that comes pretty easy. One could make a cruel rejoinder: If you're so smart, why don't you look forward and mock the campy aspects of the future? And if you're not up for that job, could it be that you don't have a future and you don't deserve one? You won't even be around to be mocked.
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Bruce Sterling: The Zenith Angle
permalink #53 of 60: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Sat 28 Aug 04 05:46
permalink #53 of 60: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Sat 28 Aug 04 05:46
And I guess *none* of us will be around, if we don't wake up. Last night I saw Rep. Dana Rohrabacher on Bill Maher's 'Real Time,' and he was arguing that global warming is 'bad science.' He believes that it's all politics: "It is vital that the public understand that what is going on in this attack against President Bush is about a political agenda; that global warming is not a scientific imperative. It is a politically-driven theory. "Those espousing global warming are building on public fear and apprehension. Young people in particular are being lied to about the environment and about global warming. Global warming, of course, is one of the worst falsehoods that they talk about. When I meet with student groups, it is clear they are being told false things about a lot of areas of the environment." http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/6/13/190522.shtml That quote's from back in 2001, and you would think that by now everyone has got past denial about global warming, but he was saying pretty much the same stuff last night. Is it time for another Viridian Design contest?
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Bruce Sterling: The Zenith Angle
permalink #54 of 60: Angus MacDonald (angus) Sun 29 Aug 04 13:48
permalink #54 of 60: Angus MacDonald (angus) Sun 29 Aug 04 13:48
Could be. I'd like to say that =The Zenith Angle=, aside from being as thought-provoking as this discussion demonstrates, is a swell novel: wonderful as art and as entertainment. There is a cleverness to the plotting that's a delight without being pushy, and the characters are the most believable I've encountered in a book with so much technology.
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Bruce Sterling: The Zenith Angle
permalink #55 of 60: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Tue 31 Aug 04 01:25
permalink #55 of 60: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Tue 31 Aug 04 01:25
*Fell off the edge of the digital universe for a couple of days there, but at least I got a suntan. *Now I'm in Austria. It's rainy here and full of electronic art. *See y'all next time.
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Bruce Sterling: The Zenith Angle
permalink #56 of 60: Berliner (captward) Tue 31 Aug 04 06:03
permalink #56 of 60: Berliner (captward) Tue 31 Aug 04 06:03
And I'll see *you* in Austria: make sure you hit the opening party, because the chef who's catering is an old friend. Mmmmm!
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Bruce Sterling: The Zenith Angle
permalink #57 of 60: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Tue 31 Aug 04 11:02
permalink #57 of 60: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Tue 31 Aug 04 11:02
Bruce, thanks for braving the wifi wilds over the last couple of weeks. This was swell. Drop back by and tell us about Ars Electronica when you get a chance.
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Bruce Sterling: The Zenith Angle
permalink #58 of 60: brighter clouds ahead (noebie) Wed 1 Sep 04 10:02
permalink #58 of 60: brighter clouds ahead (noebie) Wed 1 Sep 04 10:02
"...the thirty or forty other pressing contemporary issues that have kind of fallen off the edge of the universe, while we're supposed to worry about Paris Hilton..." shades of guy debord
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Bruce Sterling: The Zenith Angle
permalink #59 of 60: Thomas Petersen (sushi101) Thu 9 Sep 04 12:09
permalink #59 of 60: Thomas Petersen (sushi101) Thu 9 Sep 04 12:09
I saw Bruce at ars electronica, what a joy, definately one of the best speches there, next to Steve Brand from the Long Now foundation. Luckily the weather picked up it was 5 wonderfull days.
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Bruce Sterling: The Zenith Angle
permalink #60 of 60: Thomas Petersen (sushi101) Thu 9 Sep 04 13:06
permalink #60 of 60: Thomas Petersen (sushi101) Thu 9 Sep 04 13:06
Stewart Brand that is ofcourse, thanks Earl
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