First Published in Cyber
Noodle Soup
Created by Patrick Clark
Okay, so what is this? Well, it started as a lark,
got swiftly out of hand, and now is way more ambitious than simple
filler for the zine Interference on the Brain Screen. And
way more than any one person can keep in motion. So true to communal
ideology upon which the Net is supposed to rest, we put this up
on the Web for comments, arguments, additions, deletions, and
corrections.
"Cyberpunk" -- dread term -- is defined very loosely here. The
timeline is meant to be as inclusive as possible so there are
items on "punk", on "cyber", on "cyberpunk" (literary), on computers,
hacking, viruses, flicks, zines, VR, cyborgs and killer robots.
What we'd like is, first, corrections. We can't be sure we have
the right dates for everything here, though we tried. If we screwed
up, let us know. If you have a more precise date for any item
please let us know. However, we would like proper citations for
any nitpicking. "It seems to me..." and "As I remember it..."
are not good enough: quote the source. (Unless, of course, YOU,
personally, are responsible for whatever it is/was; we'll always
defer to the actual author /publisher /participant /instigator.)
Second, additions. If you think something deserves inclusion
by all means let us know. It would be nice if you have a date
(this thing's a "timeline" after all) but we're not going to be
strict about it. Right now this lacks entire galaxies of information.
In particular there is not nearly enough non-USA materials. Hey,
it's a planetary culture, right? But except for geekgirl
there is nothing from the entire southern hemisphere. And precious
little from Asia, Japan, Europe and Canada. This is a reflection
of our sources, not our wishes. Suggestions for additions can
be of any sort so long as they fit into the general scheme of
the timeline. So there has to be some connection to the cyberpunk
Zeitgeist. But, again, we're pretty broad-minded as to what that
entails. Notice that some items have editorial comments - usually
snide - attached to them. Feel free to include those sorts of
remarks, too.
Deletions? Sure, so long as you have a strong case. But understand
that this is NOT intended to be a scholarly work. It's suppose
to be fun. Consequently there are a number of more or less "bogus"
entries which, while they have a tenuous connection, are not meant
to be taken entirely seriously. (The Cherry Poptart Cyberspace
comic might be a case in point.) Some entries are here in order
to build momentum toward a future entry. (The first Generation
X album is listed essentially to draw attention to, and perhaps
make an unstated comment on, Billy Idol's Cyberpunk album,
for example.)
Contributions to this timeline are from P.Clark, J.A. Heriot,
E.Johnson, R.Rucker. Thanks to the good folks at Kaspahr@ster
for getting the page up on the Web.
Email to pclark@jjhill.org
or snail mail to Clark/PO Box 2761/St. Paul, MN 55102, USA
