The Snow Crash Presentation...

Clifford Hillburn: this obviously, is a new addition to the show
[10:17] Clifford Hillburn: this is the cover of the book
[10:17] Clifford Hillburn: ok so liu will start us off
[10:18] Liu Hillburn: hiro begins the story as a pizza deliverer
[10:18] Liu Hillburn: working for the mafia
[10:18] Liu Hillburn: he's the wrold's greatest swordfighter and the last of the freelance hackers
[10:18] Liu Hillburn: now, he meets Y.T. when he gets into an accident
[10:18] Liu Hillburn: that's when their relationship begins
[10:19] Liu Hillburn: they decide to work together in the information sharing business
[10:19] Liu Hillburn: they become partners
[10:19] Liu Hillburn: in that business, they discover the narcotic, snowcrash
[10:19] Clifford Hillburn: now, obviuosly
[10:19] Clifford Hillburn: snow crash is a drug
[10:20] Clifford Hillburn: the difference between it and conventional narcotics
[10:20] Clifford Hillburn: is that it is distributed using a computer
[10:20] Clifford Hillburn: ok next slide
[10:20] Snow Crash project: Touched.
[10:21] Clifford Hillburn: unless you have anything to say tenore
[10:21] Ivey Zeami: Nice work so far...very interesting
[10:21] Tenore Hillburn: they basically introduced the plot
[10:22] Tenore Hillburn: as the story continues, there are several "antagonists", such as Raven and L Bob Rife, who are involved in snowcrash
[10:22] Tenore Hillburn: Hiro's friend David is the first affected by this narcotic
[10:22] Tenore Hillburn: that we see in the book
[10:22] Tenore Hillburn: ok next slide
[10:22] Clifford Hillburn: ok
[10:22] Snow Crash project: Touched.
[10:23] Clifford Hillburn: ok, so the majority of snow crash takes place in the realm of reality
[10:23] Clifford Hillburn: however the world is broken up much different thn today
[10:24] Clifford Hillburn: the world is a consumerist liveing environment
[10:24] Clifford Hillburn: where there are no nations, only franchises
[10:24] Liu Hillburn: there is no more government
[10:24] Liu Hillburn: as clifford said, the majority of the book takes place in a realm of reality
[10:25] Liu Hillburn: but the virtual reality - this is called the metaverse
[10:25] Liu Hillburn: the metaverse is actually an alternate computer generated reality
[10:25] Clifford Hillburn: much like a videogame
[10:25] Liu Hillburn: it's a new way of communication, much like the internet is today
[10:25] Clifford Hillburn: and *second life*
[10:25] Tenore Hillburn: not unlike second life
[10:26] Tenore Hillburn: you read my mind clifford
[10:26] Ivey Zeami: interesting
[10:26] Clifford Hillburn: ok next slidde
[10:26] Snow Crash project: Touched.
[10:27] Tenore Hillburn: Neal Stephenson is an author who started most of his work in the mid-80's
[10:27] Tenore Hillburn: he's most remembered for his invention of the cyberpunk genre
[10:27] Tenore Hillburn: yesterday we mentioned what cyberpunk is, but just for recap
[10:28] Tenore Hillburn: it basically is a modern reality with much more advanced technology
[10:28] Tenore Hillburn: anything you want to add
[10:29] Ivey Zeami: Definitely sounds like a challenging but engaging read.
[10:29] Clifford Hillburn: well, stephenson also had many political undertones in his work
[10:29] Liu Hillburn: many dealing with religion
[10:29] Ivey Zeami: We should stop for questions
[10:29] Tenore Hillburn: yes he made many criticisms of religion
[10:29] Clifford Hillburn: he trys to poke at american consumerism
[10:29] Ivey Zeami: We need to move in (sorry!!!!)
[10:29] Tenore Hillburn: specifically protestant christianity
[10:29] Clifford Hillburn: ok so ill stop for a mnute and open for questions
[10:30] Clifford Hillburn: I would say the book, as a read, is definitely a ten!
[10:30] Liu Hillburn: i'd rate it as a 8-9
[10:30] Liu Hillburn: we're not done
[10:30] Liu Hillburn: nvm
[10:30] Clifford Hillburn: yes we are
[10:31] Clifford Hillburn: ok good
[10:31] Liu Hillburn: let's finish.
[10:32] Liu Hillburn: that is neal stephonson
[10:33] Clifford Hillburn: ok so this book
[10:33] Clifford Hillburn: created a high influence
[10:33] Clifford Hillburn: for many of my favorite game designers
[10:33] Liu Hillburn: "videogame
[10:33] Clifford Hillburn: for example, a man named will wright has cited it as his main influence in creation
[10:33] Clifford Hillburn: as, does philip rosedale
[10:34] Clifford Hillburn: the founder of second life
[10:34] Clifford Hillburn: ok so, who has any questions
[10:34] Liu Hillburn: questions?
[10:34] Shanahan Hillburn: wat did u thin of the book?
[10:34] Shanahan Hillburn: *think
[10:35] Liu Hillburn: anyone?
[10:35] Clifford Hillburn: well, as ive said it was definitely a fantastic read
[10:35] Shanahan Hillburn: ok
[10:35] Hertzman Hillburn: did u learn anything from the book
[10:35] Clifford Hillburn: tenore
[10:35] Hertzman Hillburn: (Y)
[10:35] Hertzman Hillburn: (-.-)
[10:36] Tenore Hillburn: um, well i found it interesting how he wrote this book so long ago and described the metaverse very closely to second life
[10:36] Hertzman Hillburn: c((-)(-)
[10:36] Liu Hillburn: i think it puts together a lot of the ideas and fears we have today of technology in thought
[10:36] Ramon Hillburn: c((")(")
[10:36] Clifford Hillburn: well, second life is built around it
[10:36] Tenore Hillburn: our technology is heading toward what he described
[10:36] Shanahan Hillburn: (-.-)
[10:36] Clifford Hillburn: like its made for that purpose
[10:36] Tenore Hillburn: exactly