"True Names," chat with Vinge, and Cypherpunks

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

Some random comments that may interest some of you.

Someone asked me for some novels he could read that might cover some
cypherpunkish topics. These are some titles I gave him:

* Brunner, The Shockwave Rider
* Vinge, True Names
* Card, Ender's Game
* Gibson, Neuromancer

(He's currently reading Orwell's "1984," which is of Required Reading
to remain on our list! I read '1984" when I was in the 7th grade, in
1966, probably before many of you were born.)

Vernor Vinge's "True Names" comes up in another context: I spent all
of Sunday talking to Vernor and several other bright folks in the
aftermath of a great party in the hills of Marin County, right next to
Skywalker Ranch.

My mad scientist/entrepreneur friends Bob Fleming and Cherie Kushner,
in whose startup company I've invested some money, had a party to
celebrate something or other. As it turned out, noted author--and
winner of the Hugo Award fpr Best Novel last summer for "A Fire Upon
the Deep"--Vernor Vinger was giving a talk on cyberspace and whatnot
at Interval Research on Friday, so they invited him to stay at their
place. (Interval is doing futuristic work in a lot of areas, and is
funded by billionaire Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft.)

I don't plan to recap the party; that's just a party.

But the discussions on Sunday (some of stayed over, due to the long
distances back to our homes, or as with Vernor, in lieu of a night in
a hotel) touched on point of interest to our list.

Also there were Eric Hughes, who you all know, and Alan Huang, who
built one of the world's first optical computers for Bell Labs.
(Alan's project, which included work on optical switchers, terabit per
second Sagnac fibers, optical cellular automata, and even crypto, was
cancelled by AT&T because they decided to concentrate on other
things....Alan chose to leave AT&T and is now planning a move to the
Bay Area to set up something here.)

In my years of being able to worm my way into high-power discussions,
at universities, at Intel, and at too many conferences to remember, I
can't recall being in such a conversation as this, with everyone of
the highest possible caliber. (I'm just calling it as I see it.)

Wormholes, reversible computation, the 7,000-Cray NSA computer, the
problems with nanotech, the problems with AI, the Tines and the
Powers, the Extropians group (Vernor was curious), the Singularity,
and the implications of the OJ Simpson case were a few of the
topics. (Yes, several of us had "wasted" our time watching this
case. Me, I think it's drama of truly Shakespearean proportions, and
should not be "dissed" just becuase it's getting more attention than
the Rhwandans and Haitians are getting...not to mention the boring
Bosnians.)

I'd met Vinge a few times before, notably at the 1989 Hackers
Conference, but this time I got to spend enough time to really get
some information exchanged. We all left Bob and Cherie's place at 7
p.m., as they took Vernor down to the SF airport, and as the rest of
us scattered.

With all the telecommunications we have, nothing beats an intensive
face-to-face session. Which is why I still live within driving
distance of the Silicon Valley and the Bay Area in general.

Sorry if this message seems too personal, but I felt the urge to
"share."

And at least it's not a forward.

--Tim May


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."