Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Ran across this lovely thread about <loris> and Cyberselfish.
<https://mastodon.social/@gilduran.com@bsky.brid.gy/115260719030423735>
  

    
"Computers are so much more rule-based, controllable, fixable, and​
comprehensible than any human will ever be. As many political​
schools of thought do, these technolibertarians make a philosophy​
out of a personality defect."

!!!
  

    
the reputational renaissance of cyberselfish has gotten me​
gobsmacked. there are no longer any copies for sale anywhere in the​
world and am working hard to make a reprint happen.

gil duran has become my new bff. and it's been strange to have​
people quote back at me things i wrote in the book --- i said that?
  

    
Cool to get a reprint - are you going to update it?

"Cyberselfish" was just mentioned in a conversation... the context​
being a discussion of Steven Levy's Wired article about the shift to​
the (far) right in Silicon Valley:​
<https://www.wired.com/story/silicon-valley-politics-shift/>​
(paywalled, drat).
  

    
not going to 'update' the original text --- but new material will be​
added: a new intro/chapter by me; an intro by some as yet to be​
determined Famous Person (have been told i need to find such a​
person. but who are what is Famous these days?); and some other​
material by other people. a 25th anniversary edition with a new​
isbn.

clock is ticking; if i dont hear back from agent or from that london​
publisher who pinged me by midweek, i'll just go with the ebook​
edition.

no farping around

jon, is that the steven levy essay? or something else?
  

    
Yes, that's Steven's. 
  

    
the features editor of wired in his weekly newsletter mentioned​
steven and me, a sort of gratifying compare and contrast. so NOW you​
think i am great and was the only person to have gotten it right?​
harrumph!

i emailed the editor to thank him for his kind words and said there​
was a lot more i could talk about --- but dont know if that would​
help him in his life as a magazine editor.
  

    
I wonder if Timnit Gebru would want to do the new intro.
  

    
timnit is fine --- but is she Famous enough outside certain circles?​
not at all clear to me.
  

    
Is there a tech billionaire who's definitely not libertarian and​
would be willing to write the intro? Maybe Reid Hoffman?
  

    
now THAT is an amusing thot. but arent they now all cowed by trump​
and so afraid to say anything?  i was thinking something similar​
about a VC like= John Doerr --- but again, -we- know about them but​
are they Famous in the larger sense?
  

    
Some are cowed. I don't think Reid is one of them.

It sounds like you want to ask somebody like George Clooney, and​
that might work. Maybe track down his manager or publicist.
  

    
jon, you are -full- of amusing thots today --- george clooney!
  

    
I was just trying to think of somebody who is 'famous in a larger​
sense,' as you were saying? A politician might be good?

I don't think it would be impossible to get Clooney, though probably​
unlikely. 
  

    
Cory <doctorow>?

It's hard for me to gauge how famous people are outside the tech bubble.
  

    
yeah lots of ppl have suggested doctorow and not a bad idea. just,​
he is another one of Us (in the tech sphere of influence) and one​
friend i very much trust suggested he might be the wrong kind of​
snarkmeister for this book and didnt like the idea.

it's still early days; am talking with a UK publisher on friday and​
maybe he has ideas