(Part 3) Top products from r/Cyberpunk

I saw it when it first came out a long time ago. I remember reading about Mitnick from this book http://www.amazon.com/CYBERPUNK-Outlaws-Hackers-Computer-Frontier/dp/0684818620 so, I was really excited to see the movie, but It felt very 'made for TV' quality. Not nessecarily inaccurate, just treated more like a cop drama.


The book was very good, as was Bruce Sterling's http://www.amazon.com/The-Hacker-Crackdown-Disorder-Electronic/dp/055356370X


I emailed Mr. Sterling about hacking when I was in highschool, and he was one of the first people to suggest that I not take it too far, and instead work towards building things. I still follow that advice today.


Also, if you haven't read it yet, The Cuckoos Egg was a fun read http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083DJXCM?btkr=1


It was that book that inspired me to work as a programmer for a university.


Good movies about hacking are few and far between, I'm afraid. It's all too easy to use Hacking as 'magic', and just make it rediculous.

Thanks! I'm a huge fan of the subtle sometimes. There is another book that was written by Mark Fabi titled Wyrm.

I highly recommend it, though its older and centers around a MUD.

http://www.amazon.com/Wyrm-Mark-Fabi/dp/0553578081

It's not the straight up cyberpunk style but its a great cyber/hack style that was great back in the late 80's early 90's wand has a lot of fun technical stuff.

Most of these are very early cyberpunk, the progenitors of the genre if you will. As such I'm not sure if they can be described as necessarily obscure but I don't see many of them mentioned that often (admittedly I'm somewhat new to /r/cyberpunk so you guys might talk about them all the time, in which case please disregard). As a final note not all of these are available on the Kindle market. Nevertheless here's a few that leap to mind -

1. When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger which has two sequels if you enjoy it, the third being better than the second imo.
   
   
2. The Ware Tetrology by Rudy Rucker
   
   
3. Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling. He also edited the early cyberpunk anthology Mirrorshades which is worth checking out along with a several of his other works.
   
   
4. Mindplayers by Pat Cadigan who also wrote a few others worth looking at.
   
   
5. Frontera by Lewis Shiner.
   
   
6. I hesitate to mention this one as it's hardly obscure but if all you have seen is the film which is based off it, it is definitely worth getting Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick.
   
   
7. Vurt by Jeff Noon.
   
   
8. Farewell Horizontal by K W Jeter along with his other novels Glass Hammer and Dr. Adder.
   
   
9. Someone else mentioned Walter Jon Williams novels which I would also highly recommend.
   
   
   
   
   
   

My guess is that there is more intentionally sexual art of women, and while that fact alone wouldn't make the case for it being sexist stick, there can definitely be too much of it and it could be the result of an underlying issue.

There are 77 pictures in this photoset, and pretty much all of them reinforce that "young and attractive" type that men of nearly every age idealize. Here's the women for comparison. At the very least, there's what appears to be an imbalance. Source of data

Most of the users on the subreddit are consumers, though. I think this being a conversation amonst content creators would be a pretty good idea.

Edit: parent comment added additional research, neat.

OMG okay this I actually own this (somewhere) as well as the second book, Black Light. James Swallow is an awesome game author and both are excellent cyberpunk tales that focus on human augmentation. I have not finished Black Light yet but Icarus Effect was fantastic! I read it before Human Revolution came out and it was such a good build up to the game.

I'm late to this party, but as someone who wrote his college thesis on Transhumanism, you might want to look at a book called How We Became Posthuman by N. Katherine Hales. Her discussion of reality in Phillip K Dick's novels is really excellent, and the book overall is a good read if you're into the the history and philosophical implications of technology.

If you like this particular flavor, I highly recommend Ian McDonald's excellent novel Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone. One of my all-time faves.

You can find a ton of japanese styled watches for pretty cheap on Amazon that can pull off the Cyberpunk Aesthetic. Do a search for Binary Watch

Matrix Blue LED

Lava Red

TVG

Goasa

Avaner

You might consider reading this book. It's actually very good, and discusses a few deployments of the PPCLI in detail. They're utter badasses.

A central concept in cyberpunk and hacker culture is the idea of planned obsolescence: Corporations can make more money if they get you to buy their products multiple times instead of just once. This leads to a world where everything is discarded and the wealth gap is very clear between the people who have the new and the people who have the old.

The fact of the matter is that DNA is not our friend. Humans were built to spread our seed and be destroyed. We are a tool that DNA uses to extend it's own life. The human body is amazing in many ways, but it's amazing like a disposable razor is amazing. There's no mechanism to prevent cancer, no mechanism to prevent the development of back problems, and no mechanism to prevent it from withering away like a rotten fruit when it's purpose of reproduction has been served.

The implementation of transhumanism might be flawed, but so are all human endeavors. That's what cyberpunk is about: Figuring out how to deal with a world ruled by technology. Sometimes it doesn't go as smoothly as we imagine. The message of transhumanism is still clear, though: DNA doesn't own this planet any more, we do, and the name of the game is going to stop being reproduction and start being the enjoyment of existence.

Since you seem to be basing your understanding almost entirely on fiction, let me recommend some reading

• The Hidden Pattern by Ben Goertzel (pdf) - on the "patternist" theory of identity, whether a clone of you would really be you or not
  
  
• Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom (pdf) - on the singularity, AI, and the ultimate fate of humanity

It actually is on amazon. I won't get as much from it as I would if you were to order it from Lulu, but I still wanted to provide that option. Store page is here.

I recently stumbled upon this and this at a used bookstore. I will give the group my reviews when I have finished them.

https://www.amazon.com/Noir-K-W-Jeter/dp/0553762869

Read some Baudrillard --
http://www.amazon.com/Simulacra-Simulation-The-Body-Theory/dp/0472065211

Maybe something off the non-fiction shelves? Alone Together

FairyLand by PAUL J. McAULEY should strike the right balance for you.

> Looking at China's history, specifically it's occupation by the British Empire, and subsequently Hong Kong, I see their culture as fairly pliable.

By the time the British started doing British things in Asia, China was well on the way to becoming the failed state that lead to the conditions which made it easy for Imperial Japan to setup colonial operations. The more Chinese history I study and by this I mean reading their own and outside perspectives, the less pliable I see them in the long term.

>Now that's not fair, because I didn't say that ;)

Wasnt trying to put words in your mouth, just running with the idea and stating what I think is an important point. We cant be tricked into viewing all of humanity as a mirror of ourselves.

>If China can move through this stage, they'll come out ahead.

Since there has never in history been any movement in that culture away from what amounts to central governance by an all powerful state, and since historically this limits innovation, my money is not on them "moving through" but rather extending empire without cultural change. Their real challenge is a fight against internal collapse.

>If they can find or generate an issue to unify their citizenry under, they'll at least catch up to the western world, if not overtaking it.

So far all they got is jingoistic rhetoric & whipping up anger over past perceived injustice.

>The more history I take in, the more "full" the world feels. I get a sense of where things are coming from, and understand a context to events and places that I used to take for granted.

Thats the whole thing about people who dont understand the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.

>If you don't mind my asking

American living here for almost 17 years. I have permanent resident status here but I wont ever go for citizenship. Came here on what was supposed to be a 3 month work assignment fully expecting to go back to NYC at the end. There's an old Yiddish saying: "Man plans and God laughs". Story of my life.

Just about all what you see in the Western media regarding Japan is exaggerated and at least a little if not a lot disingenuous. Life is hard for foreigners here because the local culture just never developed a real model of integrating immigrants. The entire social system is so different that if you didnt grow up in it you can never be fully part of it in many ways. It is so different that many Westerners just cant adjust themselves or their mental model of life vs the realities of life just cant align. I can explain how its hard for many to live here or tell you that things are different but honestly its not something you can understand without personal experience.

I guess politics here is like anywhere, especially anywhere with a parliamentary system, that is to say, a mess. When God was handing out stupid to the nations of Man, He certainly was equally generous to all and extra generous to the politicians. If you are curious or just want to read some true history that will surprise you, check Embracing Defeat about post war Japanese history.

Reminds me of Ship Breaker. Young kids scavenging old shipping vessels and tankers in a hot and ugly future.