A German author and philospher is coming to stay at the 567 during the week before the collaborative networks conference at UB. It should be exciting to have a foreign visitor, especially, one that speaks German.

We cleaned the entire house and finally even the refrigerator. Then we went grocery shopping and bought a billion groceries.

Here is a link to something written by him.

This is somehthing written by him that was sent to the mailing list for the conference.

---

"Grab the rules, play it hard. Basic rules for free cooperation" by Christoph Spehr

from:
"On Rules and Monsters. An introduction into free cooperation."
Video by Christoph Spehr and Jörg Windszus (to be shown at the conference)

WOMAN (off) -
So on one hand, cooperation doesn¹t seem to make us free. On the other hand,
living without cooperation doesn¹t make us free, either. How can we stay
free in cooperation? What is free cooperation?

To learn about free cooperation, we first must understand the three basic principles of forced cooperation.

The first principle of forced cooperation is: KEEP OFF THE BASIC RULES!

(The Time Machine) The big gate is slammed shut. GEORGE trys desperately to
open it again.

MAN (off) -
Forced cooperation is not tyranny ­ or, more precisely: it is not something
that looks like tyranny at first sight. But the basic rules will not give
way to anybody. They are not negotiated between the members of the
cooperation ­ be it the workers of a factory, the employees at an office,
the women and children in the patriarchal family, the people affected by the
decisions of a given institution. The basic rules are kept behind iron
gates. People and positions may be changed; some distribution of value may
be negotiated; smaller rules may be changed and altered or even accepted to
be refused. But the core of the cooperation, its basic rules, are not to be
tackled by the real members of the cooperation.

WOMAN (off) -
The second principle of forced cooperation is: NEVER STOP THE ENGINE!

(The Trollenberg Terror) The group is sitting in the gondola of the cable
lift and is taken up the mountain. They see the >cloud< floating into the
valley, closing in the houses. The >cloud< enters the downward station and
freezes the cables. The gondola stops, goes on, stops again.


MAN (off) -
Forced cooperation doesn&sup1;t turn people into robots &shy; or, more precisely: it
doesn&sup1;t turn people into something that looks like robots at first sight.
You may talk. You may quarrel while working. You may make proposals or even
hand small protest notes. Some forced cooperations even allow you to vote or
take part in participatory systems or in so-called >speech situations< where
you may argue that some rules are irrational and that you could work better
without them. But never, never must you use material power to push your
interests. Do not freeze the cables. Do not stop the gondola. Do not go on
strike, do not withdraw your workforce while talking. This is doomed and
criminalized as monstrous behavior. If you try, you will get bombed for.

WOMAN (off)

The third principle of forced cooperation is: SERVE OR PAY!

(The Day the Earth Stood Still)

KLAATU

I came here to give you these facts. It is no concern of ours how you run
your own planet. But if you threaten to extend your violence, this earth of
yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder.

Your choice is simple: join us, or pursue your present course and face
obliteration. We&sup1;ll be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you.

MAN (off) -
Not every forced cooperation uses
the w
hi
p
&shy; or, more precisely: not every
forced cooperation uses a whip that looks like a whip on first sight. In
many forced cooperations, we are not forced openly to do what we are told.
Only that it doesn&sup1;t really make sense to deny. Because if we don&sup1;t
cooperate, if the cooperation splits, or gets spoiled, we are the ones to
pay. If we disagree with our boss and split, he still keeps the enterprise,
while we leave with empty hands. It&sup1;s serve or pay: that makes choices so
simple in forced cooperation.

WOMAN (off) -
Having understood how forced cooperation works, we can now articulate the
three basic principles of free cooperation.

The first principle of free cooperation is: GRAB THE RULES!

(Attack of the crab monsters) A man is walking down the dunes to the beach.
Out of nowhere, a huge crab appears and grabs him. He cries.

MAN (off) -
In a free cooperation, all rules can be changed. Every member is free to
challenge any rule, and the members of the cooperation decide about their
rules. There are no >holy rules< that are barred behind iron gates and
cannot be changed by the members of the cooperation.

WOMAN (off)

The second principle of free cooperation is: PLAY IT HARD!

(The Time Machine) While GEORGE is fighting a Morlok and gets attacked by
more Morloks, one of the Eloi is considering his hand, deep in thought.
Suddenly he makes a fist and knocks down the Morlok.


MAN (off) -
In a free cooperation, all members have the same power to influence the
rules. This power is not given by any formal structures of decision-making:
talking or voting is not enough. Real power comes from the freedom and
ability to withdraw one&sup1;s cooperative activity, to hold back, to quit, to
give limits and conditions to one&sup1;s cooperative activity. To say or to
signal: >No, if not.<

(World Without End) The commander comes in from the negotiations. He is
angry.

OFFICER - How was it?

COMMANDER - They won&sup1;t cooperate!

WOMAN (off) -
The third principle of free cooperation is: STAY ONLY WHERE YOU CAN LEAVE,
AND WHERE YOUR LEAVING IS MEANINGFUL.

(The Time Machine) GEORGE notices the Eloi for the first time. Suddenly
there are cries: Weena is drowning in the river.

GEORGE - What are you sitting by?

As nobody moves, GEORGE leaps into the water and pulls her out.

GEORGE - You&sup1;re alright?

Without a word, Geena gets up and leaves him.

MAN (off) -
In a free cooperation, the >price< of the cooperation being split up, coming
to an end, somebody going away, the cooperation becoming looser or being not
fully working, is similar (and bearable) for all members of the cooperation.
Only under this condition, withdrawing one&sup1;s cooperative activity is not
blackmailing the others. Only under this condition, all members of the
cooperation have the same bargaining power. That means: each member can
actually leave the cooperation, without paying too high a price; and the
leaving of each member will have an actual effect on the others, will be
experienced by them as some price they are paying, so that this negative
prospect may trigger new negotiations. Because you do not only wish to be
allowed to do this or that; you also want to make others do this or that, or
do this or that not. For this, you need equal bargaining power. Without
bargaining power, they will just let you drown.

(The Time Machine) Weena and GEORGE are sitting on the stairs.


GEORGE - I did it to save your life. That doesn&sup1;t seem to mean much to you or anybody
else around here.

WEENA - It doesn&sup1;t.

GEORGE - Do you realize there were about 20 of your friends watching you drown, not
one of them so much as lifting a finger to save you? Ain&sup1;t tha
t a curio
us

attitu
de?

Very curious world. Aren&sup1;t you the least bit interested in who I am? Where
I&sup1;m from?

WEENA - Should I?

Getting bargaining power usually means getting organized, too. Without the
solidarity of others, you cannot level bargaining powers in many cases. In a
free cooperation, there has to be a constant re-arrangement of rules,
individual appropriation and solidarities to keep bargaining power equal
between the members of the cooperation. Making bargaining power equal &shy;
through changing rules, individual appropriation, solidarity &shy; is the core
business of any emancipatory politics, and the basic definition of what is
left politics. It is also the core definition of being someone, of being
amongst others who really recognize you.

(The Time Machine) GEORGE comes from the rotten books and addresses the
sitting Eloi.

GEORGE - You! All of you! I&sup1;m going back to my own time.

I won&sup1;t bother to tell anybody about the useless struggle, the hopeless
future.

But at least I can die among men! You ... ah!

He runs out.

WOMAN (off)

Doing free cooperation means no less than taking off the mask, and demanding
the others to bear that. Because most cooperations look okay as long as you
are wearing the mask that was designed for you; as long as you fit into what
others think is appropriate for you; as long as you do what others want you
to do. But you only see what a cooperation is worth when there is conflict,
when you demand change, when you take off the mask.

(Queen of Outer Space) A spacewoman with a mask on her face and an earth
woman are sitting on a couch.

SPACEWOMAN - You&sup1;ll have to suffer the consequences for your planned attack.

EARTHMAN - There is no plan of attack!

She goes to a monitor and turns it on.

SPACEWOMAN - Let me show you what happens to those who oppose.

Look, Captain! The disintegrator.

EARTHMAN - This is what destroyed the space station!

SPACEWOMAN - And it will destroy the Earth, too.

EARTHMAN - The people! The lives of those countless billions! I admit that men on earth
have been ... quarrelsome and foolish in the past. But we&sup1;re no harm to your
work! I swear!

He takes her at her shoulders.

I understand you better than you do yourself. You&sup1;re denying man&sup1;s love,
for that hatred and for that monstrous power you have.

SPACEWOMAN - Monstrous?

EARTHMAN - You&sup1;re not only a queen, you&sup1;re a woman, too. And a woman needs a man&sup1;s
love.

Let me see your face!

He takes off her mask.

EARTHMAN - I&sup1;m sorry. I didn&sup1;t understand!

SPACEWOMAN - Radiation burns. Men did that to me. Men with their wars. - You told me that women need love. Now that you know, would you give me that love?

She offers him a kiss. He turns away.

EARTHMAN - I &shy; I didn&sup1;t realize.

SPACEWOMAN - You didn&sup1;t realize!

- Guards!

The (female) guards enter and take the earthman with them.

We managed to plant 7 rose bushes in my mother's rose bed at Deleware Park. It's kind of sad they she has this giant rose bed and no helpers. My mother started working on it with my dad, my aunt, and my uncle. Unfortunately, the other three quit so my mom is left alone to work on it. Luckily, she was able to rope her sons in. So Mike, Terry, Matthew, and I arrived a little late but stuff got done.

Then we went back to the 309 to move some furniture and eat clams. They were $1.44/dozen at Tops on elmwood. WHat a freakin' deal. I would really like to shop there because it is so much cheaper than Wegman's and the coop, but the later are both local business, although differing degrees of local.)

I also decided to start the site newspaper by letting users click on news icons in their journal to add the story to the site newsletter. After a couple months issues, I assume the computer can "learn" enough to write it by itself. We will have to see.

Well, we (southern yankee, lisa, holly, terry, mike, and I) are off to the party at the Rachel 23. Hope to see some of you there. Maybe we will go to the 1940s party at the coop house too, although, I think I will be too alergic.

If I don't see you tonight emily, get well soon. You looked so sad/sick yesterday.

We went to see the installations last night. It was great. Soyeon had built this crazy maze in an all black, darkened room in order to demonstrate the maze and hurtles that she goes through as a foreigner in the states. She compared it to her experience with parking tickets at City Hall.

Robin had two tubes with video in the broom closet. If you looked down the top tube you would see a video of her being really upset about her friend dying. In the bottom tube at about children's height you could see danicng, singing vaginas - a reference to a particular godess. Check out her journal to see more info [inlink]robin,11[/inlink].

Julie married people in performance 70's retro style udner the churchofjulie. Here is a pic with emilybob and us during our ceremony.

I gave the stuednts time in class today in order to work on a project. I decided to use the time to work on a project for myself. I decided that an alien, cyborg, rabbit, television would be nice to have. here are some renders. Work time 45 minutes.

>>update new renders with more to come

So I spent a lot of time building the search box, as people were not sure how to find information. However, nobody has used it yet!! Any questions, email me.

We left our neighborhood in order to escape the exploitive high prices of the Pano's night tim emenu. We decided to head out to the Access Community neighborhood. I was astounded at how many young, preppy, suburbanites were there. I am glad I live in this neighborhood. It was like being at school on Long Island or on MTV.

The food was pretty tasty and very pricewrothy. However, the corwd was too much for my personal dining pleasure. Every two minutes some drunk person came in to try and pee. You would never see that at Pano's.

Now, I really don't believe Lauren when he says our neighborhood is pretentious and yuppified. But i prefer that to glamour style prep students any day. Call me a sellout.

I almost forgot to post this. I hope everything went well when she met Sara Diamond today. I know the computer was giving her a hard time.

This is Trebor's newest work - a database driven site about manhattan.



I realy like the concept. I have been working on similar code for the Elmwood site. You can expect something similar in the near future.

24dollarisland.com -

Today, I went to go see Sara Diamond, the director of the Banff New Media Institute speak at UB. She was pretty fantastic. I really wanted to scehdule a meeting with her but i felt like I had nothing to offer. I mean she is so pro globalization and I am so focused on localization.

During the speach she was talking about students texting during classes, and being able to think on multiple levels and multitask. I was actually recording the whole speach in little notes to post to the site. There was a lot of great information about merging scientists and artists in collaboration. Unfortunaelt, when I went to send the journal to the site, my phone lost service for some reaosn and it got deleted mid-way. That was the first time the technology really failed me. I mean I had an hours worth of great insite nd lost it all in a click.

Here are some sites that se mentioned.

Banff new media center - The art center she directs

Horizonzero -
Digital Art Culture Online Magazine. Some of the issues are insane.

Codezebra - Her perosnal site/program that organizes data visualization and communication between groups of people.

Sharemyworld - Site about the situation of the black male.

Note to self - please learn java immediately.

Last night we attended two Dingus Day celebrations thanks to emily's party tip. Matthew is Polish and so he was excited to see his people en masse. Who would have ever thought that Polish people were such serious partiers? Who would have ever thought that Matthew was allergic to pussy willow. I guess its appropriate.



There were so many people out at the Hearth Stone Manor. All three banquet rooms were connected together and it was more packed than any wedding I have ever seen. At first I figured it would be all old people but it wasn't.

Aftewards we went down to some Polish club on the east side. I think it may have been a Polish Falkon club or something. A man there had a giant Polish historical collection. It was neat to see. I guess there is a museum upstairs that is open on weekdays. Unfortunately, we missed the Polish music and traditional dancing. I ended up getting really drunk because the guy at the bar was not really a bar tender. I asked for Gin and he asked me what it was, and then asked if Vodka was ok. I said sure and he gave me a glass of vodka dn acted as if it was really normal. So I drank it. Whoa, thankfully there was food - Polish sausage to be exact.

To add the recent unconfortable social moments that make me never want to go out in Buffalo. I ended up seeing some people from high school who I did not expect made it very far in life, so to play it safe, I played down my life. Then it turned out they were sucessful and I just looked like an idiot.