Well, now that Sir Gibson has gone back to writing pages instead of posts, it has been repeatedly asked, what are we to do with ourselves? We've all come to this board because of a book we've all commented on; all of the real posting action in happening in Random Thoughts now. Now we're sort of like a cocktail party, with an interesting mix of people, although we do tend towards the overly literate (of course, as a long-tme lurker, short time poster, this may be completely wrong, and if so, please, regulars, correct me).
The way I see it, we're mutating. We've developed past our original purpose. Or perhaps I'm just grandstanding. But I do think that a message-board for a writer who doesn't stand to produce anything new for a year, at the very least, is an interesting enviroment, because most of the posts we have now are debates on other authors or philosophy. Or breasts. God, let's not forget those.
So, let's all mutate. If we can continue our discussions and not just drift away, i think we could develop into something very interesting. And if Gibson lifts the rock in a few months and looks beneath it, I think it'll be a very surprising little system he will gaze upon.

live something, die whatever.

Let's talk about white walls and nothing else!

I think it is reasonably likely that WG is still checking in on these forums from time to time. He's just not going to let us look inside his head again until we buy his next novel.

I don't think we need to consciously mutate; it will happen by itself. And I'll keep posting and reading here as long as there are interesting people and interesting things to talk about.

Well, breasts and food will do in a pinch.

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You have to give up.

We are certainly way beyond a book discussion board. We seem to be linked across age, gender race and creed by an intellectual curiosity. We also bother to try and write clear English!

The most embracing image I can come up with is that of an ancient Greek market place. Here a group discussing the politics of the day, there philosophers chewing on eternity and beyond some ribald horseplay.

I wonder if when that rock is lifted whether the board will have developed a supra-personality, essentially human, but composed of us in a social/intellectual neural network.

Mutating seems to occur mostly within the threads.

For example, the thread about breasts developed a poetry limb, then turned into a discussion of unarmed combat techniques, then reverted to breasts and advertising.

There are also new topics, which either survive (like the "raw and the cooked") or sink to the bottom of the meme pool. Some topics float for a little while ("2kewl 4 u") than run out of room to mutate.

I'm sure there are possibilites for experiments here. Someone's probably already running one or two.

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There is no sig.

Paranoid koala could start a white walls thread, and maybe I'll start a 'watching paint dry' thread. Either it would sink without a trace, or some crazy person would start writing an epic poem about paint drying.

And not all the action is in Random Thoughts. I'm still waiting for the Dr. Seuss version of Count Zero.

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You have to give up.

I like reading this forum very much. I have learned a good deal here, and I feel that I am surrounded by literate and interesting people.

I am eagerly waiting to see what happens with the Relevant Experiment.

I am also waiting for the day when I wake up and everything has turned "cyberpunk." Heh.

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I win again!!

People connect for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes these connections last. Sometimes they don't. That's just life. It's best not to think about it too much.

I find that it is easier for me to post and just be myself with william gone. (dawntreader raw and uncut)

The population and frequency of posters is evolving. I see less people participating frequently, and more importantly, less new threads per day. We are doomed, but that does not mean we cannot enjoy ourselves on the way downhill.

Raw and uncut Dawntreader? Well, I would try anything once, but I would prefer to wait until someone else did it first. Or should we recover the cannibal thread, that marked the beginning of the end?

José

quote:

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Originally posted by JRE:
I see less people participating frequently, and more importantly, less new threads per day.

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i'm trying!

It's going to dwindle & die, I think.

s/n:r

Uh, unless this board gets totally shut down, there will be a big resurgence in interest when WG is about to get his next book in stores

So, if there are a few nutters keeping up the conversation between now and then, no harm done.

The rest of you, don't forget your passwords!

Meanwhile, keep up the philosophy and/or silliness.

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There is no sig.

You rang?

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"When the fight gets too big, they don't bother with coffins." -- the coffin-maker, YOJIMBO

indeed, this too is transitory .....

Ketchup contains natural mellowing agents.

pissin' in the meme pool

Much as I enjoy reading other people's thoughts on WG's books, the real joy of the site is the ephemera you come across in this bit.

I joined after reading a fascinating tangent on the alphabets used in Serbo-Croatian (was it?) school. Today's delights include that confluence site.

Keep it up, people. Another crucial factor in me joining was the lack of grammatical or spelling errors. Call me snobbish, but I'm so bored of net-English and it's lack of expression.

We all got to talk proper, like...



"Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps"

I've got a bit of a guilty confession to make, that I think relates to this thread. I really haven't read that much William Gibson.

I studied Burning Chrome as part of a Sci Fi module at Uni but that's it. I'm only admitting this because I think it's part of the reason why this forum will keep going (or part of the reason why it's falling apart, depending on whether you're a glass half-empty or half-full kind of person).

I was introduced to this site by a friend during the whole Relevant Experiment episode, but never quite got up the confidence to post on it. I guess I'm one of the 10% of people who thought 'cool' rather than 'so?'. I got caught up with the excitement of it all and now I'm hooked, and need my daily fix of oddness.

I think it's true that the board is mutating - it's become interesting enough to attract people independently from WG's work. That's a good thing, right?

Definitely a good thing. Welcome, mouse.

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"When the fight gets too big, they don't bother with coffins." -- the coffin-maker, YOJIMBO

well i read the interview in suicide girls and gibson speaks about internet discussion boards and how people will come together to discuss old guitars and then end up going off on different subjects and how the boards tend to mutate and he thought that was a good thing. Also in his original blog he said something to the effect that he hoped we would get to be friends. Oh yeah mouse now that your little secret is out you have to read at least one more gibson book in order to gain our trust. I want a 2 page report due before nov 1.