Month: September 2005

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BCP! Revisited

The release of Stephen Young’s port of Beyond Cyberpunk! has created a spike of traffic to Street Tech, numerous blog items, and many emails from fans of the stack. It’s been quite exciting. As my multimedia guru, and BCP! programming mastermind, Peter Sugarman put it: “We’re famous again.”

In doing a search on what cyberspace was currently saying about BCP!, I unearthed a couple of reviews from when the stack was first released:

Hypertext and Science Fiction This piece, by Brooks Landon in the academic journal Science Fiction Studies, was the most in-depth look at BCP! and its larger import.

Tidbits Review Pioneering tech journalist Adam Engst reviewed BCP! in his early Mac-oriented e-list Tidbits.

The Mondo 2000 review Our pal Jon Lebkowsky reviewed the stack for Mondo 2000. This reprint is courtesy of The Well Gopher. Jezuz, who the f*** remembers Gopherspace!?

Hypermedia scholar Stuart Moulthrop’s “Personal Chronology of Cybertext and Electronic Text Art.” Shows BCP! in the context of hypermedia history. Note that the release date is incorrect (it was actually 11/17/91) and Peter Sugarman should get full credit as a creator. Email sent. Would love to know the month-dates of the other hypermedia milestones for ’91, to see where we fit in.

We’re hoping to put up the remaining pieces of the BCP! archive, including Darick Chamberlin’s amazing “BlipVert Zone,” Mark Frauenfelder’s and my BCP! comic book, Jim Leftwich, John Bergin, and Mark Frauenfelder’s BCP! ads, and other material ASAP.

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Nano Destructo!

One of the most frequent concerns we’ve heard from would-be buyers of the iPod nano is: “I wonder how easily it would break if you dropped it.” This expensive little plastic and silicon wafer does appear to be fragile. So, the always-curious gadget weenies at Ars Techica put a nano to the test. They were amazed at its durability. It still played music even after being run over by a car. Twice! In the end, it only succumbed after being tossed about 40′ in the air, onto concrete, something you’re not likely to do with yours.

After the carnage was complete, they did an autopsy and detail their findings in the last installment of the piece.

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Horrifically Geeky (But Maybe Functional) “ScooterDesk”

This thing may look goofy as all get out, but in the privacy of your own home, who’s gonna know? I’ve been looking for a decent solution to writing and Web surfing while watching TV and computing on my patio that doesn’t leave me hunched over a TV table or my lap. This could be it.

In the article on GizMag, it’s promoted as a great desk for workgroups in open plan offices. Okay, now THAT would be beyond ludicrous looking. If I get one, I’m going to shove it in the closet when people come over to visit.

At 250 Euros (about US$300), this kind of silly seating doesn’t come cheap, either.

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Sucks MORE Gadgetry

We’ve been enjoying Brendan I. Koerner’s “Low End Theory” columns on Gizmodo. His most recent one is on the ridiculous techno-crap sold in the Sharper Image catalogs.

Street Tech had its own run-in with the makers of one of the all-surface, no-depth gizmos in which the “Image” traffics. It was the flat-panel, wall-mounted CD stereo system they used to sell. I called the manufacturer and asked for an evaluation unit for ST. The PR guy said: “For a review? A critical review?” Yes. “It’s an inexpensive system you know?” Yes. We’ll keep that in mind. “Is this going to be a comparative review” (They *always* ask that). No. Stand alone. “It really is a nice looking system.” I see that. That’s one of the reasons we’d like to take a look at it. [Pause] “Okay. We’ll get one out to you.” It never arrived. A follow-up email went unanswered. But I’m sure it would have looked very nice on the wall. Sharp, even.

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Handbook for Net Dissidents

A wise cyber-philosopher once said: “The Internet treats censorship as damage and routes around it.” The latest rerouting is aimed at China, Iran, and other countries (is YOUR homeland next?) where Internet censorship is common and serious business. “The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents” is a free online guide created by free speech advocates Reporters without Borders. Quoth the piece on CNet News:

…The booklet offers technical information for dodging government censors, including tips for thwarting filtering technology that can block access to select Web pages. The book also covers e-mail encryption, online pseudonyms and anonymous proxies, discussing ethics and how to attract an audience.

Available here in English, French, Chinese, Arabic and Farsi.

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Game Boy Micro Review

Again with the noodles. This image, taken from the iLounge review of the Game Boy Micro, shows one of the custom faceplates that are being touted as a key feature of the diminutive sibling to the Game Boy Advance SP. Honestly, we don’t get it. It’s like the GBA SP, only smaller, with a scratchier screen, and less software support. As it says in the review: If only this thing sold for US$50, instead of $100, THEN you’d really have something.

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Ramen Noodles from Outer Space!

Everybody knows about the geek’s love/hate relationship with ramen noodles, hell, we’ve even started to worship our noodly overlords. So, it’s somehow appropriate that the first ad from the International Space Station will be for the instant Asian pasta.

An ad agency representing Nissin Foods is sending a hi-def camera to the station so that cosmonauts can be filmed cavorting with the company’s product. The camera will be left on the station to shoot future ads. C’mon Dominos, get some “Code Pie” up there and make every troglodyte and LAN partier proud.

[Via we-make-money-not-art]