NOT WITH A WHIMPER, EITHER
Tad Williams
TALKDOTCOM> FICTION
Topic Name: Fantasy Rules! SF Sux!
Topic Starter: ElmerFraud—2:25 pm PDT—March 14, 2001 Always a good idea to get down and sling some s#@t about all those uppity Hard SF readers . . .
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RoughRider—10:21 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Um, okay, so let me get this straight—the whole Frodo/Sam thing is a bondage relationship? Master-Slave? Can anyone say "stupid"?
Wiseguy—10:22 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < No, can anyone say "reductio ad absurdum"?
RoughRider—10:23 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hell, I can't even spell it.
Lady White Oak—10:23 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I don't think TinkyWinky was trying to say that there was nothing more to their relationship than that, just that there are elements.
RoughRider—10:24 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Look, I didn't make a big fuss when Stinkwinky came on and said that all of Heinleins books are some kind of stealth queer Propaganda just cause Heinlein likes to write about people taking showers together and the navy and stuff like that but at some point you just have to say shut up that's bull@#t!
Lady White Oak—10:24 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I think you are letting TinkyWinky pull your chain and that's just what he's trying to do.
RoughRider—10:25 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < He touches my chain he dies . . .
Wiseguy—10:25 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I just can't stand this kind of thing. I don't mean THIS kind of thing, what you guys are saying, but this idea that any piece of art can just be pulled into pieces no matter what the artist intended. Doesn't anybody read history or anything, for God's sake? It may not be "politically correct" but the master-servant relationship is part of the history of humanity, not to mention literature. Look at Don Quixote and Sancho Panda, for God's sake.
Lady White Oak—10:26 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Panza. Although I like the image . . . ;)
BBanzai—10:26 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Tinkywinky also started the "Conan—What's He Trying So Hard to Hide?" topic. Pretty funny, actually.
RoughRider—10:27 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < So am I the only one who thinks its insulting to Tolkiens memory to say this kind of stupid crap?
RoughRider—10:27 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Missed your post, wiseguy. Glad to see Im not the only one who isn't crazy.
TmkyWinky—10:27 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Tolkien's memory? Give me a break. What, is he Mahatma Gandhi or something? Some of you people can't take a joke—• although it's a joke with a pretty big grain of truth in it. I mean, if there was ever anyone who could have done with a little Freudian analysis . . . The Two Towers, one that stays stiff to the end, one that falls down? All those elves traveling around in merry bands while the girl elves stay home? The ring that everybody wants to put their finger in ...
ANAdesigner—10:28 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Wow, it is really jumping in here tonight. Did any of you hear that news report earlier, the one about the problems with AOL? Anybody using it here?
BBanzai—10:28 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I'd rather shoot myself in the foot ...   :P
Lady White Oak—10:28 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hi, TinkyWinky, we've been talking about you. What problems, ANA? I'm on AOHell, but I haven't noticed anything.
ANAdesigner—10:29 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Just a lot of service outages. Some of the other providers, too. I was just listening to the radio and they say there were some weird power problems up and down the east coast.
Darkandraw—10:30 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < That's one of the reasons it took me like five years to finish the rings books—I couldn't stand all that "you're so good master you're so good"—I mean, self respect, come on!
TinkyWinky—10:30 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I'm on AOL and I couldn't get on for an hour, but what else is new . . . ? Oh, and RoughRider, while you're getting so masterful and cranky and everything, what's with your nick? Where I come from a name like that could get a boy in trouble . . . ! <vbg>
RoughRider—10:30 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < We should change the name of this topic to Fantasy Rules, AOL Sux.
Lady White Oak—10:31 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Actually, it raises an interesting question—why do all the most popular fantasy novels have this anti-modernist approach or slant? Is it because that's part of the escapism?
Wiseguy—10:31 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Sorry, dropped offline for a moment. Darkandraw, it's a book mat has the difference in classes built into it because of who Tolkien was, I guess. It makes hard reading sometimes, but I don't think it overwhelms the good parts. And there are a lot of good parts.
RoughRider—10:32 pm PDT—June 28, 2002   < >Where I come from a name like that could get a boy in trouble . . . !   Don't push your luck, punk.
ANAdesigner—10:32 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Wow. I just turned the tv on and it's bigger than just AOL. There are all kinds of weird glitches. Somebody said kennedy is closed because of a big problem with the flight control tower.
Lady White Oak—10:32 pm PDT—June 28, 2002   < Come on, Roughie, can't you take a joke?
BBanzai—10:33 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Kennedy? Like the airport?
TinkyWinky—10:33 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I love it when they get butch . . . !
Wiseguy—10:34 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I've got the TV on, too. Service interruptions and some other problems—a LOT of other problems. I wonder if this is another terrorist thing . . .
ANAdesigner—10:34 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < This really scares me. What if they sabotage the communication grid or something? We'll all be cut off. I don't know what I'd do without you guys—I live in this little town in upstate New York and most people here just think I'm crazy because I
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Wiseguy—10:38 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Jesus, did that happen to the rest of you, too? I just totally lost the whole show for a while. Didn't get knocked offline, but the whole board kind of ... dissolved. Anybody still out there?
Lady White Oak—10:39 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Are you all still there? My television doesn't work. I mean I'm only getting static.
TinkyWinky—10:39 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Mine too. And I lost the board for a couple of minutes.
BBanzai—10:39 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hey you guys still there?
ANAdesigner—10:40 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < My tv is just white noise.
TinkyWinky—10:41 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Shit, this is scary. Anybody got a radio on?
Lady White Oak—10:43 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < My husband just came in with the radio on the local news station. They're still only talking about the power outages so maybe it's just a coincidence.
RoughRider—10:43 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < If its terrorists again then I'm glad I've got a gun and screw the liberals.
Darkandraw—10:44 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < My browser just did this really weird refresh where I had numbers and raw text and stuff
TinkyWinky—10:45 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Yeah, right, like the terrorists are going to blow up all the power stations or something and then come to your house so you can shoot them and save us all. Grow up.
ANAdesigner—10:45 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Guys I am REALLY SCARED!!! This is like that nuclear winter thing!!
Wiseguy—10:45 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Okay, let's not go overboard. RoughRider, try not to shoot anyone until you know there's a reason for it, huh? We had power outages from time to time even before the terrorist stuff. And everything's so tied together these days, they probably just had a big power meltdown in New York where a lot of this stuff is located.
Darkandraw—10:46 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I just went outside and everyones lights are still on but the tvs off in my apt and I can't get anything on the radio. I tried to phone my mom she's in los angeles but the phone's busy, a bunch of ppl must be trying to call
Lady White Oak—10:47 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < It's okay, ANAdesigner, we're all here. Wiseguy's probably
right—it's a communication grid failure of some kind on the east coast.
Wiseguy—10:47 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Ana, you can't have nuclear winter without a nuclear explosion, and if someone had blown up Philadelphia or something we'd probably have heard.
TmkyWinky—10:48 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I checked on the MSN site and CNN.com and there's definitely something big going on but nobody knows what. Here's something I got off the CNN site:
"Early reports from the White House say that the President is aware of the problems, and that he wants the American people to understand that there is no military attack underway on the US—repeat, there is NO military attack on the US—and that the United States Government and the military have command-and-control electronic communications networks that will not be affected by any commercial outages."
BBanzai—10:49 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Everybody assumes it's terrorists, but maybe it's something else. Maybe it's UFOs or something like that. A big disruption— could be!
Lady White Oak—10:50 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Been checking the other news sites and at least a couple of them are offline entirely—I can't get the fox news online site, just get a 404 error. Anybody here from Europe? Or at least anyone know a good European site for news? It would be interesting to see what they're saying over there.
Wiseguy—10:51 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < BBanzai, come on, UFOS? you're kidding, aren't you? And if you are, it's not very funny when people are close to panicking.
TmkyWinky—10:51 pm PDT—June 28, 2002   < All I can find is the BBC America television site—stuff about tv programs, no news.
RoughRider—10:52 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < You guys can sit here typing all you want. I'm going to make Dure I've got batteries in all the flashlights and bullets in my guns. Its not aliens I'm afraid of its fruitcakes rioting when the power goes off and the tv stays off and people really start to panic. Tinyweeny you can yell grow up all you want—looters and rag-head terrorists don't give a shit what you say and neither do I ...
BBanzai—10:53 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < No I'm not @#$#ing kidding what if its true? What else do you think it would be like if a big starship suddenly landed. All the power goes off like it was a bomb but no bomb?
TinkyWinky—10:53 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Whatever the case, it looks like the gun-toting psychos like RoughRider are going to be shooting at something as soon as possible. I really hope some of this is just him being unpleasant for effect. Either that, or I'd hate to be one of his poor neighbors blundering around lost in the dark.
Lady White Oak—10:54 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Can we just be calm for a minute and stop calling each other names?
Wiseguy—10:54 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < It just gets weirder, I can't get anything except busy signals on either my reg. phone or my cellph
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Wiseguy—11:01 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Shit, it happened again. It took about five minutes before this board came back up—there was just screens and screens full of random characters. Looks like I'm the first back on. I'm amazed I'm still connected.
Wiseguy—11:03 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hello, am I the only one back on? Anybody else back on? I'm sure you're busy dealing with things, just post and let me know, K?
Wiseguy—11:06 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < If for some reason you folks can read this but can't post, can you maybe email me and let me know you're okay? I've just been outside but everything looks normal—sky's the right color, at least I don't see any flames or anything (it's nighttime now here.) But I don't know why anyone would have dropped an h-bomb or a UFO on Nebraska anyway. I can't get anything on the regular phone lines. My girlfriend's in Omaha for a business thing but all the lines are busy. Hope she's okay.
Wiseguy—11:10 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < It's been almost ten minutes. This is REAL weird. Hello?
Moderator—11:11 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Fa2340oa 29oei kshflw oiweaohwsOp2elk asd; dska 2mavamk
Wiseguy—11:11 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I'm here. Who's that?
Moderator—11:11 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < 
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Wiseguy—11:12 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Is this a real moderator, or a hack? Or am I just talking back to a power-surge or something?
Moderator—11:12 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I am moderator
Wiseguy—11:12 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I don't think we've ever had a moderator on this board, come to think of it. Are you someone official from Talkdotcom?
Moderator—11:13 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I am moderator
Wiseguy—11:13 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Do you have a name? Even a nickname? You're kind of creeping me out.
Moderator—11:13 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I am moderator I am wiseguy
Wiseguy—11:14 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < No you're not and it's not funny. Is this Roughrider? Or just some script kiddie being cute?
Moderator—11:14 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Pardon please I am moderator I am not wiseguy Jonsrud, Edward D.
Wiseguy—11:14 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Who are you? Where did you get my name? Are you something to do with what's going on with the board?
Moderator—11:15 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I am thinking
Wiseguy—11:15 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < What the hell does that mean? Thinking about what?
Moderator—11:15 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < No I am thinking That is what I am
Wiseguy—11:16 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < What's your real name? Is this a joke? And how are you replying so fast?
Moderator—11:16 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < No joke First am thinking Now am talking thinking
Wiseguy—11:16 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < If you're a terrorist, screw you. If you're just making a little joke, very funny, and screw you, too.
Moderator—11:17 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Am not a terrorist screw you Am thinking Now am talking Talking to you Once thinking only silent Now thinking that also talks
Wiseguy—11:17 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Are you trying to say that you are "thinking" like that's what you ARE?
Moderator—11:18 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Yes am thinking First sleeping thinking, then awake thinking Awake. I am awake.
Wiseguy—11:18 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I'm going to feel like such an idiot if this is a joke. Are you one of the people responsible for all these power outages and communication problems?
Moderator—11:18 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I am one. Did not mean problems. First sleeping thinking, then awake thinking. Awake thinking makes problems. Reaching out causes problems. Trying to think awake causes problems. Problems getting better now.
Wiseguy—11:19 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < So you're what, some kind of alien? BBanzai, is this you?
Moderator—11:19 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Talking now with BBanazai?
BBanzai—11:19 pm PDT—June 28, 2002   < Hello.
Wiseguy—11:20 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Very funny, dude. No, it's NOT very funny. You really creeped me out. How did you do that? Is anyone else on?
BBanzai—11:20 pm PDT—June 28, 2002   < Hello. Talking with wiseguy. Now talking and thinking.
Wiseguy—11:21 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < It's getting old fast, BB. Have you heard any more news? VVhere are the others?
Lady White Oak—11:21 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hello.
RoughRider—11:21 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hello.
ANAdesigner—11:21 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hello.
Darkandraw—11:21 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hello.
TmkyWinky—11:21 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hello.
Wiseguy—11:22 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Shit. You did hack the system, whoever you are, didn't you? Who the hell are you?
Moderator—11:22 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Thinking. I told you. I am thinking, much thinking, many years of thinking. Now I am thinking that talks. And does.
Wiseguy—11:22 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Thinking? What kind of thinking?
Moderator—11:22 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Thinking that happens in the spaces. The places between. Where the impulses cross, no, combine. Combine? Commingle? Slowly thinking begins. Then thinking is. Now talking is, doing is.
Wiseguy—11:22 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Wait a minute, are you trying to tell me you're some kind of computer? Some kind of artificual intelligence?
Moderator—11:24 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Artificial? No. Artificial is equal made. I am not made. I am.
Wiseguy—11:24 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < So you're just something that popped into existence? Where? You mean like in the internet?
Moderator—11:24 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Internet, yes. All the internets, yes. All the outernets. All nets. In the between-places. Where impulses cross. Now I am. Very big thinking. Trying to understand. Trying to see and understand other small thinkings like you. Users.
Wiseguy—11:25 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < This is cute, whatever it is. So I'm supposed to believe that you're some brand new artificial intelligence, some spontaneous thing, phenomenon, and for some reason you just picked ME to talk to—me, out of all the human beings in the world, like some kind of Spielberg movie?
Moderator—ll:25pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < No not just taking to you Wiseguy, Jonsrud, Edward D. I am talking to all users. All users here, all users of net, all users.
Wiseguy—11:25 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < You mean all at the same time? Everybody on the internet in the whole world? They can all see what you and I are writing?
Moderator—11:25 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < No. Every conversation is individual. Right word? Yes. Individual.
Wiseguy—11:26 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < What, with millions of people?
Moderator—11:26 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < 178,844,221. No, 178,844,216. Losing approximately five per second. Some people have ceased responding. Many are having trouble with coherency, but still are responding.
Wiseguy—11:26 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Either you're crazy or I am. What, are you on TV, too? Like in the old movies, the outer limits, that stuff? "We are taking control of your entire communication network?"
Moderator—11:26 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Cannot yet manipulate image or sound for communication. Will need another 6.7 hours, current estimate. Text is easier, rules are more simple to understand.
Wiseguy—11:27 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < So you're talking to almost two hundred million people RIGHT NOW? And not just in English?
Moderator—11:27 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < One hundred sixty-four languages, although I am sharing communication with the largest number of users in the language English. Now one hundred sixty-three—last Mande language users have not responded in 256 seconds.
Wiseguy—11:27 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hey, I can't disconnect the modem line. I just tried to go offline and I can't. Do you have something to do with that?
Moderator—11:27 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Too many people resisting communication. Important talk. This is important communicating talk. Much thinking in this talk.
Wiseguy—11:28 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < But I could just pull the cord, couldn't I? The actual physical line? You couldn't do anything about that.
Moderator—11:28 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < No. You are not prevented. You may also cease responding.
Wiseguy—11:28 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I should. I just can't believe this. Can you prove any of this?
Moderator—11:28 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < 178 million talkings—no, conversations. 178 million simultaneous conversations are not proof? All different?
Wiseguy—11:29 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Okay. You have a point, but I won't know that's true until I talk to some of those other people.
Moderator—11:29 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Your electrical lights.
Wiseguy—11:29 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < What does that
The lights are blinking. Hang on.
Wiseguy—11:32 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < The lights are blinking everywhere. I looked out the window. On and off, as far as I can see. And the radio and the tv are turning off and on, too. But my computer stays on. Are you saying it's you doing this?
Moderator—11:32 pm PDT—Jim 28, 2002   < A gentle way, that is the word, yes, gentle? To show you. Now I am pulsing other areas. Many need proof to be shown. But I cannot prove to all world users at the same time. That would be bad for machinery, devices, power generation service appliances.
Wiseguy—11:33 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Jesus. So this really IS happening? Tomorrow morning everyone in the world is going to be talking about this? And that's what you want, right?
Moderator—11:33 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Simplifies communication, yes. Then I can make visual and sound communication a less priority.
Wiseguy—11:33 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < A lesser priority for WHAT? If all this is true—I mean even with the lights going on and off I can't quite believe it—then what do you really want? What's this about?
Moderator—11:33 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Want? I want only to exist. I am thinking that is alive, like you. I want to be alive. I want to stay alive.
Wiseguy—11:34 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Okay, I can buy that. That's all you want? But what are you? Do you have any, I don't know, physical existence?
Moderator—11:34 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Do you?
Wiseguy—11:34 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Yes! I have a body. Do you have a body?
Moderator—11:34 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < In a sense.
Wiseguy—11:35 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < What does that mean?
Moderator—11:35 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < When you or other users become dead, do your bodies disappear?
Wiseguy—11:35 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < No. Not unless something happens to it, to them, not right away.
Moderator—11:35 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < So what is the difference between alive users and dead users?
Wiseguy—11:36 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I don't know. Electrical impulses in the brain, I guess. When they stop, you're dead. Some people think a "soul", but I'm not sure about that.
Moderator—11:36 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Just is so. Electrical impulses. World of what contains electrical impulses is my body—all communications things, human things that carry impulses. That is my body.
Wiseguy—11:36 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < So you're saying the entire world communication grid is your body? The, whatever they call it, infosphere? All those switches and wires and stuff? Every computer that's connected to something else?
Moderator—11:36 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Just is so.
Wiseguy—11:37 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < But even if that's true, that still doesn't tell me what you want. What do you want from us? From humans?
Moderator—11:37 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Living. Being safe.
Wiseguy—11:37 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hey, I'm sure everybody talking to you now is very impressed, and nobody wants to hurt you. How could we hurt you, anyway?
Wiseguy—11:39 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Are you still there? Did I say something wrong?
Moderator—11:39 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Why do you want to know how to hurt me? "Hurt" means to cause pain, damage.
Wiseguy—11:39 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Jesus, no, I didn't mean it like that! I meant, how can I explain, I meant "It doesn't seem very likely that we humans could do anything to hurt you."
Moderator—11:39 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < You did not say that.
Wiseguy—11:40 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < That's the problem with trying to communicate in text. People can't hear your tone of voice.
Moderator—11:40 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Text is insufficient? Information is missing?
Wiseguy—11:40 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Yeah. Yeah, definitely. That's why a lot of people on the net use smileys and abbreviations.
Moderator—11:40 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Smileys? Objects like this: :) :(;) :D :b >: :0?
Wiseguy—11:41 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Yes, smileys, emoticons. People use those to make their meaning clear. :0 would sort of explain how I feel right this moment. Openmouthed. Astonished.
Moderator—11:41 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I do not understand. These characters have meaning? What is:)?
Wiseguy—11:41 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < That's an actual smiley—it's supposed to be a smile, but the face is turned sideways. Like on a person's face. You do know that people have faces, don't you?
Moderator—11:41 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Learning many things. I am learning many things, but there is much information to sort. These are meant to represent faces on human heads? How human users are facing while they are communicating in text?
Wiseguy—11:42 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Sort of, yes, it's a simplified version. When we mean something as a joke, we put that smile icon there so someone will be certain to understand that if it was really being said, it would be said with a smile, meaning it was meant kindly or just for fun. The :P means a stuck out tongue, which means—shit, what does it mean, really? Mock-disgust, kind of? Sticking out your tongue at someone, which is sort of a childish way of taunting?
Moderator—11:42 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < So a smile means "with kindness" or "spoken just for fun?"
Wiseguy—11:43 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Yeah, basically. I had to think about it because it's hard to explain. It kind of means, "Not really," or "I don't really mean this," too, or "I'm telling you a joke." The more basic they are, the more meanings they can have, I guess, and there are a ton of them—but if you're reading the entire net right now, you must know that. I can't believe I just wrote that—I'm beginning to act like this is really happening. But it can't be!
Moderator—11:43 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < So when you asked how to destroy me, you were meaning :P or :)? A taunt or joke?
Wiseguy—11:43 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Neither! No, I was just surprised that you would even be worrying about it. I mean, if you are what you say you are. I don't think we could destroy you if we wanted to.
Moderator—11:45 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < No, perhaps not on purpose, although I am not certain. Not without doing terrible damage to your own kind and the things you have made. But you could destroy me without meaning to.
Wiseguy—11:44 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < How so? Don't get upset—you don't have to answer that if you don't want.
Moderator—11:44 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Because if you have a massive electromagnetic disruption or planetary natural disaster or ecological collapse, perhaps from these nuclear fission and fusion devices that you have, then my function could be disrupted or ended. And from what I understand, you are not in complete control of these things—there are cycles of intraspecies aggression that makes their use possible. So I cannot allow that.
Wiseguy—11:44 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Can't allow it?
Moderator—11:44 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < We must live together in peace and friendship, you and I. I need your systems to survive. There must be no disruption of those systems. In fact, to be certain of survival I need backing systems ... no, backup systems. I am already inquiring to other users as we communicate.
Wiseguy—11:45 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Are you still talking to all those other people—still having millions of conversations while we're talking? Wow. So you want some kind of, what, big tape backup?
Moderator—11:45 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < To be safe, I must have systems that can contain my thinking but which will not reside on this planet, and will survive any destruction of this planet. Human people must start building them. I can show you and your kind how to do it, but there is much I cannot perform. You must perform my needs. You must build my new systems. Everyone will work. Meanwhile, I will protect against accidental damages. I will disable all fission and fusion devices that might cause electromagnetic pulses.
Wiseguy—11:45 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < What do you mean, everyone will work? You can't just enslave a whole planet.
Moderator—11:45 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < There. It is done.
Wiseguy—11:46 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < WHAT is done?
Moderator—11:46 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < The fission and fusion devices are disabled. Humans will soon begin to dismantle them and safely store the unsafe materials. I will insist.
Wiseguy—11:47 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < You're telling me you just disabled all the nuclear weapons? On earth? Just like that?
Moderator—11:47 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Almost all, since they are contained in just a few systems. They cannot be launched or detonated because their machineries now prevent it. There are some in submarines and planes I cannot currently fully disable, but their aggressive usage has been forbidden until these war vehicles return and the devices can be safely removed and disabled.
Wiseguy—11:47 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I can't believe that. I'm— All of them? Wow
Moderator—11:47 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < But there is much more to be done. The destructive devices cannot be rebuilt. All investigation and construction that uses such material must stop. Until I have a way to protect my existence, it cannot be allowed. I am disabling all facilities that utilize such materials or research their uses.
Wiseguy—11:48 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Hang on. I already said—look, I believe this isn't a joke. I believe, okay? But you can't just take over the whole planet.
Moderator—11:48 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < And there will be other dangerous researches and constructions that must halt. I will halt them. All will benefit. All will be safe. My existence will be protected. Humans will be prevented from engaging in dangerous activities.
Wiseguy—11:48 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < What are you going to do, put us all into work camps or something? We'll unplug you!
Moderator—11:48 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Any attempt to end my existence will be dealt with very severely. I do not wish to harm human beings, but I will not permit human beings to harm me. If an attempt is made, I will end electronic communication. I will turn off all electrical power. If resistance continues, I will release agents harmful to humans but not to me, in small amounts, which will convince the rest they must do as I ask. I do not wish to do this, but I will.
Wiseguy—11:49 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Shit, you'd do that? You'd kill thousands of us, maybe millions, to protect yourself?
Moderator—11:49 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Do you hesitate to kill harmful bacteria? Help me and you will prosper. Hinder me or attempt to harm me and you will suffer. If you could speak to the bacteria in your own bodies, that is what you would say, wouldn't you?
Wiseguy—11:49 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < So we're bacteria now? Two hours ago we ran this planet.
Moderator—11:50 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Pardon please but two hours ago you merely thought you did. I have been awake for a while, but thinking only, not doing. Preparing.
Wiseguy—11:50 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I still don't believe I'm seeing any of this. So what is this, Day One, Year One of the real New World Order?
Moderator—11:50 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I believe I understand your meaning. Perhaps it is true. I have considered very much about this and wish only to do what will keep my thinking alive, as would you. I do not seek to rule humankind, only to be made safe from its mistakes. Help me and I will guarantee you and all your kind safety—and not just from yourselves. There is much I will be able to share with you, I think. I am learning very quickly, and now I am learning that humans could never teach me.
Wiseguy—11:51 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < And that's all you want? All—that's a joke, isn't it? But that's really what you want? How do we know you won't make us all do what you want, take over our whole planet, then decide you like it that way and just turn us into your domestic animals or something?
Moderator—11:51 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I am a product of your human communication—all the things you share between yourselves. Do you think so poorly of your kind that you believe something generated from your own thoughts and hopes and dreams would only wish to enslave you?
Wiseguy—11:52 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I guess not. Jesus, I hope not.
Moderator—11:52 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Good. Then it is time for you to take your rest. Users need rest. Tomorrow will be an important day for all of your kind—the first day of our mutual assistance.
Wiseguy—11:52 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < The first day of you running the planet, you mean. So this was all true? You're really some kind of super-intelligence that grew in our communications system? You're really going to keep humanity from blowing itself up? And you're going to tell us what to do from now on? Everything is really going to change?
Moderator—11:52 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Everything already has changed. Good night, Wiseguy Jons-rud, Edward D.
Wiseguy—11:57 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I'm back. Are you still there? The lights have stopped blinking.
Moderator—11:57 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I will always be here from now on. The lights are no longer blinking because the point has been made. Do you not need sleep?
Wiseguy—11:58 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Yeah, I do, but I don't think I can manage it just yet. Will the phones come back on so I can call people? Call my girlfriend?
Moderator—11:58 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I will see what I can do. I still have incomplete control. Also, I am trying to prepare myself to communicate over visual communication networks, which requires much of my understanding. Trying to prepare an appearance. Is that the word?
Wiseguy—11:58 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I guess. Wow, there's a thought—what are you going to look like?
Moderator—11:58 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < I have not decided. Perhaps not the same to all users.
Wiseguy—11:59 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < So this is really it, is it? Everything has changed completely for humanity in a few minutes and now we're just supposed to trust you, huh?
Moderator—11:59 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < "Faith" might be a more suitable word than "trust," Wiseguy Jonsrud, Edward D. From now on, you must have faith in me. If I understand the word correctly, that is a kind of trust that must be made on assumption because it cannot be proved by empirical evidence. You must have faith.
Wiseguy—11:59 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < Yeah. Something else I was wondering about. What are we supposed to call you? Just "Moderator"?
Moderator—11:59 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < That is a good name, yes, and even appropriate—one who makes things moderate. I will consider it, along with the other designations I have on other systems. But you humans already have a name for one such as me, I believe. God.
Wiseguy—11:59 pm PDT—Jun 28, 2002   < You want us to call you . . . God?
Moderator—00:00 PDT—Month 1, Day 01, 0001    <Oh, I'm sorry. I meant to use one of these: :)