| Subject: Chat with Clark Robinson |
| From: Clark Robinson <robinsonchicago@gmail.com> |
5:34 PM me: we'll see if this works
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bycW_Y1DR8c
5:36 PM Clark: watching it on T/S as we speak
5:39 PM what does a subscription to NR cost?
i had one in 1962
me: don't know, it was a requested birthday present
5:40 PM but I bet you save plenty off the cover price!
5:42 PM Clark: can you predict who they will assign to review HFC?
5:43 PM me: NR?
probably nobody
5:44 PM but hopefully Stanley Kurtz, lol
they gain nothing by addressing me
Clark: i have not seen a copy of NR since some time in the 60s, but i think they had book reviews back then
me: I've already sent two messages to Lopez, they know about the piece
plus they read Sullivan
they still do book reviews
some are pretty good
5:45 PM Clark: matt taibbi states everybody self-googles, so rich lowry probably does
5:46 PM me: yeah, it's necessary in order to keep up on who's going after you
5:47 PM Clark: it must be tough be a brown when you go Googling
me: it's tough being Barrett Brown
due to Elizabeth Barrett Browning
but I just use quotes
5:48 PM Clark: i know it is to be a robinson, there is a well known clark robinson, who is math professor at northwestern, specializing in game theory if I remember it correctly
so Project PM might get some bump up if i remove any description of myself
me: e-mail him, tell him you're him from the future and you need him to join PM
5:50 PM Clark: yeah i should give it a shot
5:52 PM only thing i have disliked in HFC thus far was the gag about athletes foot, it icked me
me: I am merely a slave to the truth
6:06 PM me: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I2uQkGxIykM/SyOF9xMJPBI/AAAAAAAAIEk/tZws9NocPSI/s400/god+julia.jpg
this is an example of a meme
6:13 PM me: loss for words, eh?
Clark: word seems to be used a lot of different ways, people used to send me lists of questions and call them a meme, but in most other contexts it seems to be more like what i would have called a theme or motif in the past
6:14 PM me: the term now applies largely to quick-changing elements transmitted via internet culture
except when Richard Dawkins uses it
6:18 PM Clark: i just quick skimmed the wikipedia on dawkins on memes
6:20 PM me: fucking true/slant
6:21 PM goes down at least once a day
usually right when I submit a piece to reddit
6:22 PM Clark: i have a lot of trouble with it, even when nothing else on my internet connection is acting up, so i think they are neglecting their server
it = true slant
me: yep, and then no one can get the latest scoop on Perez Hilton on the front page
6:24 PM Clark: i have a dim idea of who he (if its a he) is, but i do not believe i have read anything by him, i do not exist, as far as pop culture goes
6:25 PM me: he's a pop culture blogger
T/S really promoted their nonsense bloggers quite a lot
6:28 PM Clark: i probably would have been quite happy as communist and lived under a ministry of culture that dictated that only serious shit should be published, and learned to appreciate ballet
its why i cant watch tv, its all marketing and fluff
6:29 PM me: yeah, I gave up TV due to nomadism a while back
and mass games are always very well-done
or else
6:30 PM however
remember that it wasn't all Shostakovich and chess over there
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ2mftZpfGE
this, too, is a now a meme
6:31 PM oops, that one's out of synch
6:32 PM Clark: coming thru here OK
me: well, doesn't really matter anyway
6:33 PM Clark: is this lawrence welk in russian?
6:34 PM what is useful about the concept of a meme?
me: well
that will take some explaining
6:35 PM for one thing, they evolve quickly
for instance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ78IlJs5JQ&fmt=18
6:37 PM at any rate
you are probably familiar with the fact that
6:38 PM Freemasons had various code phrases and symbols by which to identify each other
my grandfather was a freemason, incidentally
likewise, certain elements of the internet use memes in the same way
6:40 PM for instance, if I go into a certain IRC chat and mention terms such as "mudkips" or "longcat" or some such thing, I will be instantly recognized as being privy to a certain culture
and, depending on the specificity of the term I use, to a certain entity within that culture
6:41 PM Clark: the former was the name of Carasov's that got killed, yes? mudkips?
carasovs cat
me: yes, he has a tattoo of a mudkip on his arm as well
6:42 PM many of these derive from Japanese culture, particularly video games
and come to prominence within certain internet enclaves or cultures, such as the chans
6:43 PM Clark: yeah i think i looked at 4chan and had no clue what i supposed to appreciate there
6:44 PM me: 4chan is dead
and so are most other chans
I was active with 7chan years ago when they were going after Hal Turner
a white supremacist who also happened to be, it turned out, an FBI informant
6:45 PM during this time, 7chan and others within the culture launched a DDOS attack against Turner's website
discovered a number of telling details about him and dropped his docs
which is to say, published them online
6:46 PM convinced his colleagues that he was an informant - and it's not clear if this was discovered by someone or if this was just a false flag
6:47 PM the thing is, one prominent member of the culture is a former FBI employee
others have equally surprising backgrounds
6:48 PM collectively, these people are able to do things that would have been impossible ten years ago
for instance, Chanology
the first instance of this dynamic
was sort of Dadaist
and launched by /b/, a subsection of various chans
6:49 PM it was a goofy little operation against an online realm called Habbo Hotel
in which hundreds or thousands of participants would log on with a distinctive look
block access to the virtual pools
and proclaim that the pools were closed to AIDS
6:50 PM obviously, this did not have much positive effect on the world at large
but it was the first notable instance of a sort of dynamic that will, for better or worse, become very common soon
6:51 PM Operation Chanology
is the most heartening of these operations
it's described on Wikipedia
6:52 PM at any rate, many involved in Chanology suffered retribution from Church of Scientology
such as Carasov
CoS has a formidable intelligence agency
read up on Operation Snow White, for instance
Clark: actually , in trying to figure out who sean was, i read some about anonymous and the actions of masked persons at various Scientology locations
6:53 PM me: yes, that was Chanology
or a part of it
it was launched by a fellow
who represents the white hat faction of the chans
which is to say, the do-gooder faction
and he is a member of Project PM
6:54 PM I don't know his name but have verified it's him as he controls the YouTube account from which the first video was presented
as well as the website Why We Protest
Only Hastings and yourself and some of my real-world colleagues are aware of this connection between us and some of these people
6:55 PM as we don't want Scientology after us
yet
6:56 PM that's why Hastings, Carasov, and I will be switching to hushmail for some of these things
as CoS has infiltrated the IRS, various police departments (particularly in Clearwater, Flordia), and God knows what else in the past
6:58 PM Clark: if we are an organization without secrets, how would scientology gain leverage over us?
6:59 PM me: by making shit up
they have a history of this
7:00 PM it is the most amoral organization other than the FSB of which I am aware
7:01 PM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian's_Office
7:02 PM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Game_(Scientology)
7:07 PM Clark: does CoS go after persons or organizations who have no interest in CoS?
me: not usually
but I've criticized CoS
and have received messages from a CoS member in response
7:08 PM this doesn't mean anyone important knows who I am or cares
but it does mean that we must keep our anti-CoS members compartmentalized for now
7:09 PM particularly Captain Mudkip
of whom they are quite aware
Clark: his names on the workshop blog, for all to see
7:10 PM me: oops
well, perhaps it's for the best
Scientology has a tendency to overreach
and once a mistake is made, it's best to capitalize on it
7:11 PM so if they pull anything, we launch a press release
and reach out to the various Free Zones
7:12 PM one sec, got a call from new recruit,
Matt something
7:18 PM Clark: http://www.blogger.com/profile/14984328754932898846 <--couldn't figure out how to insert a link
oh it did it when i hit send
7:32 PM me: well, Matt Palmer is certainly enthusiastic
7:33 PM Clark: did he ever get a google account?
7:34 PM me: not yet, says he will
7:35 PM Clark: he seemed like a really nice modest intelligent guy in my interactions with him
7:40 PM i did not get a sense of what his interests are, other than he claimed to be kind of internet-averse, but seemed nevertheless familiar with everything i mentioned
7:41 PM me: he's autistic
which is perfect for our purposes
7:43 PM Clark: seems to me neal rauhauser was saying in one of his kos diaries that he is autistic and has aspergers, also--i am never sure what to make of disorders with behavioral manifestations
other than to wonder if i have them also
7:44 PM me: there are certain attributes common to high-function autistics which are invaluable
7:46 PM Clark: attention to detail?
7:49 PM me: basically, yes
7:53 PM Clark: to write out what the programmers need, we need to prepare an exhaustive spreadsheet with sets forth every function action by action and follows each branching action from every menu item to its end, so that every possible user action is identified and provided for, so if we have detail guys, that is a good thing for them to be working on
me: yeah, I was thinking he'd be good with that sort of thing
7:54 PM am going to send him that list of projects
sent it to Stephen White earlier
Clark: i think the spreadsheet in google docs is adequate for task, but you sort of have to learn how to manipulate the spreadsheet tools
7:56 PM it may be necessary to have two spreadsheets, one to describe the process with out regard to screen displays and key/mouse actions and then a second exhaustive one for the on-screen stuff
that's the way Booz Allen Hamilton did it for me
7:57 PM me: that sounds right to me, though that sort of organization is not my forte
luckily we have a couple people now who are organization-prone
8:00 PM Clark: if you want to send Barry E a Project PM reading list, I prepared a shorter one than the one in the blog, its in google docs
me: good, I'll do that
am about to respond to him anyway
thanks
8:05 PM Clark: as to the CoS attention, it will be no great loss to kill the workshop blog, nothing of significance is going on there, and switch to a mailing list approach, just discipline ourselves to send out an e-mail to all identified members each week, would be more actual activity and no web presence
me: might be a good idea
the lack of activity at the blog might look bad
Clark: i think it already does
me: and we do need to switch over to something and stick with it anyway
8:08 PM Clark: OK , i will write up a we-are-switching-to-a-mailing-list-to-be-more-proactive (won't use that word) message and we can massage it before sending it
me: great, perfect
8:09 PM mailing list should work perfectly for now
8:10 PM Clark: i am stuck going to a wedding in Indianapolis friday/saturday, so look for it sunday at the earliest, i hate going to weddings, but sometimes i have to
8:13 PM me: I feel for you
8:15 PM Clark: One bride told me: "I know this costs a lot, but its my first one, so I wanted it to be really nice."
2 years later, divorce
me: good ol' Dallas-style wedding
my dad's been married four times
my mom, only twice
8:18 PM Clark: is that (CoS) what Jeremy Sapienza was referencing when he said the workshop blog should stay private?
8:22 PM me: probably
8:23 PM Clark: ok, i had assumed it was charles johnson's enemies
8:26 PM me: heh
I wish
those people do our fucking work for us
8:32 PM Clark: ok, i will start thinking about how to build content for a weekly mailing, and if you can pick out some members with writing talent, that would be useful, to put them on an internal communications group