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| 2003/5/26-27 [Computer/SW/Database, Computer/SW/OS/Linux] UID:28555 Activity:high |
5/26 I saw _The Matrix Reloaded_ and thought that I "got it". I didn't.
Reading http://www.corporatemofo.com/stories/051803matrix.htm
revealed much to me. --darin
\_ what? the guy didn't even know how tank died?
\_ He got it all wrong. Here's how it works:
Architect: Bill Gate$/Tanenbaum
\_ You think Microsoft ever actually created anything?
\_ Other than a large software mess that enslaves
most of the worlds coders/computer users?
Notice how bugs are still being worked out in
Version 6.x.
Morpheus: RMS
\_ RMS? Who's that?
\_ A hacker. See: http://tinyurl.com/cnmd
\_ http://www.stallman.org
\_ random psycho idiot who makes a lot of sense if only he'd
let go of some of his weirder bits. at least he's very
consistent. btw, anyone remember playing xtrek in the
planets cluster on the rms/rms account?
\_ of course. Faster than the web, plus you could get
into sequent before 11:00 PM. -tom
Neo: Linus Torvalds
\_ One is a hot young star, the other a greasy fat hacker who
has no political opinions. I can't buy this one. Sorry.
\_ Have you ever talked to Linus? The guy is pretty
\_ Donald Kunth
opinionated (about everything not just politics).
And his wife kicks some major ass a la Trinity.
Zion: Bitkeeper
Oracle: ESR
\_ So you think ESR is working hard to keep Microsoft alive?
\_ It is debatable whether or not the oracle is
working to keep the matrix alive.
Keymaker: Phil Zimmermann
Merovingian: NAI
Agent Smith: SCO/Redhat
\_ Who is Cornel West in your mapping?
\_ Donald Knuth |
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| www.corporatemofo.com/stories/051803matrix.htm The first Matrix was such a neat allegory of 23 Gnostic philosophy, I was more concerned with how the Brothers Wachowski could successfully extend the metaphor into three films than whether they could pull off even more virtuoso examples of cinematic ass-stomping. What was mindblowing about the first movie, after all, wasn't the fight choreography or bullet time, but its brave assertion that the banal, day-to-day reality we live in isn't the real world. In that sense, all the wire-fu was just the candy coating on the red pill the filmmakers were offering to every high school student and cubicle slave in the world. Watching the movie, I was personally less impressed by the fists of digital fury than by the Brothers' evident familiarity with the Dead Sea Scrolls and the theology of 25 Origen of Alexandria. Seen in the light of the books they're referencing, the movie's plot is brilliant; It would seem, therefore, that a bit of exegesis of The Matrix: Reloaded is warranted. But be warned: If you haven't seen the movie yet, don't read on. Much like that other great Keanu Reeves vehicle, 26 Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, The Matrix: Reloaded centers around the hero's journey into the Underworld. Frazier, in 27 The Golden Bough, notes that it is a prophetess--in this case, the Oracle--who sends the hero off on his journey, from where he returns with special knowledge. And, of course, that's just what Neo does, though it would have been a while lot more amusing if he'd had Alex Winter along. Dante, bringing a Christian sensibility to the proceedings, placed these monsters in his Inferno. Thus, though the Merovingian is sort of an antediluvian remnant of the former world, he's also (as is shown by the fact that his wife is named Persephone) kind of like Hades, the holder of the keys to the underworld. What the Keymaker does, much like the golden bough the Sybil gives Aeneas, is open doors and permit Neo access to the underworld--or, in this case, the Core. After the requisite battles and explosions, Neo gets into the Core and finds The Architect. Considering that The Architect built the Matrix, you might think that he's God. In Gnostic theology, it is Satan, not God, who has created the world in order to imprison humanity. It is also the Architect who is unleashing the Sentinels to destroy Zion; It is my prediction that in the third and final film, it will be revealed that there is a power behind the Architect, and that he is the one who sent the One into the Matrix. It is also my prediction that this guy will look a lot like Neo. The important thing is choosing what to believe from the raft of condescending exposition that the Architect inflicts on Neo. He says, basically, that though ninety-nine percent of humans believe in the illusion of the Matrix, there is that troublesome one percent (comparable to the few awakened Gnostic true believers) who refuse to believe in the created world. This tends to produce massive amounts of instability, and crashes the system. They have also created the Prophecy of the One, who is in fact a device sent by the machines into the "real" world so that his knowledge of humanity may be integrated into the system in order to further perfect the Matrix-illusion, and then allowed to re-start Zion so that the cycle can begin again. The idea of multiple creations and a cycle of created and destroyed worlds is, needless to say, also found in theologies as wildly variant as the Mayan and the Buddhist. The first movie made use of Baudrillard's 29 Simulacra and Simulation; The Prophecy is, like all prophecies, speech, and thus language. More importantly, it is a religion, and, as 31 John Zerzan writes, the purpose of a religion is to manipulate signs, that is, words, for the purpose of control. Understanding why things are the way they are requires an understanding of another holy text: Asimov's Laws of Robotics. The machines, as demonstrated by Smith's need to try to kill Neo even after being "freed," don't have free will. The machines keep humanity alive but imprisoned, even after taking over the world, because they were created to serve people. In other words, the machines would like to destroy humanity, but they CAN'T. As the Architect reveals, Neo is not the first One, but rather the sixth. The answer is that Neo's five previous incarnations represent the Five Books of Moses that make up the Old Testament. Neo (representing Christ, and thus the New Testament) differs from his five predecessors in his capacity to love. In the work of Origen of Alexandria and other early Christian writers, it is love ("eros" in Greek) that compels Christ to come down from the heavens to redeem humanity. Note to the theology geeks who've been e-mailing me: I know the difference between eros and agape, but both terms are apropos for reasons I'd have to delve into pre-Socratic philosophy to explain. This is the Architect's real purpose in giving Neo a choice between two doors. At once all human and all machine, rather than being a device to refine the Matrix into a more perfect simulation of reality, re-found Zion, and thus continue the endless cycle of death and rebirth--as the Architect says he is--the purpose of the One is to be manipulated into destroying all of humanity. However, not having free will themselves, the machines are not able to comprehend it in others--and thus Neo, being also human, is a bit of a wild card. It is Neo's destiny--as was Christ's in Origen's theology--to break the cycle of death and rebirth, and offer humanity a new future. This is shown by the fact that, by the end of the movie, Neo (and also, incidentally, Smith) gain power in the "real world"--which shows that he has power not only over the first--level simulated world of the Matrix, but also the second-level simulation of Zion. In religious iconography, being shown beneath an arch is a traditional sign of divinity. Masaccio's fresco at the right, for instance, shows the Holy Trinity beneath an arch. The real meaning of the overlong rave scene is to contrast sacred and profane love. Things to be wrapped up in the third movie: * Who's behind The Architect? His ability to multiply is reminiscent of the demon Jesus exorcised ("my name is Legion"), but I bet he's going to wind up being an ally of Neo's. No, she isn't dead--it was the other ship that got blown up. She had shot most of her scenes for Reloaded, but not for Revolutions. Of course, any world in the movie is false--it is, after all, a movie. Note to my recently-acquired cult following: I have 33 a book coming out REAL SOON from 34 Feral House. It's entitled 35 A History of Single Life, and it deals with the history of love, sex, and relationships in Western culture--and how the way we have thought about these has changed from Plato's Symposium to Sex and the City. |
| tinyurl.com/cnmd -> www.csua.berkeley.edu/~dans/ Skotos originally planned to focus exclusively on text based interactive fiction games, commonly referred to as MUDs, MOOs, or MUSHes. In light of the fact that this is a very specialized niche market, we expanded into publishing, and now feature a suite of games that includes text based, strategy, and graphical MMORPGs. Working at Skotos is a pleasure since everyone I work with there is exceedingly talented, bright, and just generally good at what they do. I am seeking full-time employment beginning as early as June. Although Skotos is a fantastic place to work, it is, nonetheless, a small company, and, consequently, I am looking for a new position with increased opportunities for professional growth. At present, there are two areas I would like to focus on in further developing my skills. I am a capable C programmer, and I know my way reasonably well around a debugger. Over the next few years, I would like to gain experience working on larger and more complex systems in order to increase both my overall ability and the speed at which I write code. The other area I plan to develop is my management ability. I have a certain natural talent for managing programmers and other technical types, and I would relish the chance to further refine this. |
| www.stallman.org Travel Experiences | 10 Airlines | 11 Serious Bio | 12 Former Personal Ad| 13 Humorous Bio | 14 Links | 15 Archive | 16 Thanks ht://Dig Search: Search This is the personal web site of Richard Stallman. The views expressed here are my personal views, not those of the Free Software Foundation or GNU Project. The largest part of the site is the 18 political notes, and they are typically updated every day. Please also look at the 19 Urgent action notes, and occasionally at the 20 Long-term action notes. We need an elected president who will support the freedom and interests of all Americans, not just the rich few. He is the only candidate who voted against the 22 PAT RIOT act. The European Parliament voted to go to court against the EU's surrender to US demands for lots of personal information about air travelers. When Christ Patten says that Europeans would want their governments to do "everything possible" to stop terrorism, "everything possible" implicitly means complete abolition of restraints on police power and the rights of the accused, and total surveillance. He says Europeans should hand over their rights to the Bush regime without resistance, when it tries to do "everything possible" to Europeans as well as Americans. I suggest you tell you MEPs that Chris Patten is wrong--that Europeans value freedom and privacy, as well as safety, even if Americans don't. Say that each specific measure "against terrorism" by reducing freedom or privacy must be specifically shown to be necessary--that the magic words "against terrorism" are not enough to justify it. It could also be useful to point out that EU data protection law applies to US airlines' activities in Europe, so that European airlines are not really at a disadvantage. Now is the time for Americans to tell their senators and congressmen that 30 they'd rather pull out of Iraq than let anyone be conscripted. Through munitions tests, areas in the US have been contaminated with it. That page says how to write to the Department of Transportation to insist that depleted uranium weapons should be marked as "radioactive" and "explosives" when shipped. These markings would help fire departments respond carefully if there is a fire or accident on a shipment of these munitions. You can help by 42 going to the protest which is planned for March 8 in Strassbourg. MoveOn reports that CBS has received 340,000 complaints. You can do it through 44 this page or, even more effective, send a paper letter or make a phone call. Long-term action items * In France, people are vowing to 45 boycott the record companies due to the laws that they are lobbying for. This would make the police once again have to get search warrants before they can get information from bookstores or libraries about what you have read or borrowed. This is a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough. The PAT RIOT act was extended in December 2003 to give the police equally easy access to many kinds of transaction records about you. The PAT RIOT act attacks your freedom in other ways, too, and not all of them will expire in 2005. Yesh Gvul is asking for 54 donations of funds to help these families. Why should you be treated like a criminal just to get permission to leave your country? Consciencious objectors are now being given a series of short sentences that could be extended indefinitely. This is reminiscent of the way the apartheid government of South African used to detain activists "for 30 days" over and over and over. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who was co-chair of the Bush campaign in Florida and a close associate of Bush's brother, deliberately blocked careful checking of the list of felons, with the result that thousands of Black people who were not felons and were legally entitled to vote were 74 blocked from voting. Some humor I like computers, music and butterflies---among other things. My application to an 82 Ex Boyfriends List There are other 83 photos available from my trip to Slovenia. I am also a saint, in the Church of Emacs-- 84 Saint IGNUcius. The Church of Emacs will 85 soon be officially listed by at least one person as his religion for census purposes. Here are my 86 funny poetry and song parodies and some 87 jokes. Political Articles This is a list of my political articles that are not related to the GNU Project. For GNU-related articles, see the 93 GNU philosophy directory. I partly agree with the underlying message that people should take charge and solve problems, rather than just cast blame on others. However, the points 104 go too far--they whitewash companies and institutions that really did something wrong. Given the publishers' opposition to such institutions as free lending libraries and used book stores, we must suspect that this scheme is aimed at them. Will they try to collect a fee every time a used book is resold, as part of storing the new owner's name on the chip? I was shocked to learn recently that there is no border fence dividing Israel from the occupied Palestinian territories. The reason is that expansionists want to annex these territories permanently. In their eyes, a fence would be an admission that those territories are not part of Israel, so they won't allow it. He thought he could make his country independent of the IMF. A man would have to be crazy to believe such things--or would he? The Chinese government has released a report 110 detailing human rights violations in the US. The abuses include torture of detainees by police, sometimes resulting in death. All governments should be pressured to correct their abuses of human rights; Nowadays, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean you aren't really under surveillance. Making sure that the CIA does not create new enemies to attack us tomorrow surely deserves high priority in any sincere "War on Terrorism". Some of these make sense, more or less -- but ballistic missile defense? It's clear what is happening here: 113 Bush is at his old tricks. Bush has a plan to try alleged terrorists in 115 military courts---courts where the prosecutor, the defense lawyer, and the judges all work for Bush. If we could only be sure that the accused are really guilty, shoddy trials would not matter--we wouldn't need trials at all. But accusations against innocent people happen with terrible regularity, and the danger of false convictions is immense. In late October Congress signed an anti-terrorism bill that undermined basic protections against police intrusion. The only proposed provision that Congress rejected was that for indefinite detention of noncitizens without trial; Bush then proposed military trials as a way to get the same job done. Whenever police ask to be allowed to bypass search warrants, we must be on guard. Congress adopts "preventive measures" that take away the freedom that America stands for. Thousands are dead -- but 118 millions could be deprived of civil liberties. First published in the Guardian (London), 25 November 1999. Sad to say, this law was adopted in Britain in July 2000. Residents of the UK must now start using steganography to protect themselves from secret raids. Political notes "Those who profess to favor freedom, yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. It now appears that many of their past articles are available only for a fee (and not accessible anonymously at all). I would like to replace all those non-functional links with new accessible links--either links to the same article on another site, or links to other articles that provide the same information to substantiate the point of the note. Here are notes about various issues I care about, usually with links to more information. Travel experiences Photos from some of my trips are 137 here. Some pictures from 138 Vaasa, where I slipped on icy ground in the airport, broke my elbow, and gave my speech by telephone from the hospital bed. In Singapore in March 2001, a lovely parrot ( 143 50k jpeg) became enamored of me, while others enjoyed my recorder playing ( 144 91k jpeg). There are photos of 145 my visit to China in Ma... |