A mashup of two open source projects: OSdate and the the d20 system.

launch site

seminar version performed for Version>04 Invisible Networks

based on the book ALLOY

Listen to the sountrack

Watch the Quicktime version

Dully Servant (Soviet No-Gang Shriners) reads from the twisted linguistic cosmology of >KIND TRICKS as [tele-psychic puppet] action-script for Skeleton Bride (People’s Republic of Delicious Foods). An advanced study for buried meta-conspiracies and progressive states of bibliomantic techgnosis.

crypto-adaptation:
1. secret self-modification by an agent in response to that agent’s changing systemic conditions
2. temporary micro-alterations in belief structure to accomplish a site-specific task
3. cross talk between versions
4. ritual narrative constructed to help explain random phenomena
5. orchestrated prescience
6. a hermetic sales pitch from beyond

A) Receiving predictive information concerning one’s environment has been the greedy desire of humankind since the construction of language as a tool thousands of years ago. If only we could describe what is just over the horizon! What an edge we’d have over our “competition” if we already had the specialized language to discuss the newness of tomorrow today.

B) As we continuously enter the new newness of so-called ‘new media’ and ‘new age’, our natural language is intermingling with programming language in shocking and considerable ways. Meaning is constructed out of clearly defined protocols that either “work” or “do not work” — there is no third position here. For the first time in existence, Poem and Code are the same. Though this ‘new language’ is less susceptible to the confusing ambiguities of old (i.e. we cannot use variables and handlers without clearly declaring their value and defining their procedure) there is still a magic in language which contributes to human evolution.

C) Language in some way creates the very reality in which we live. Words and concepts point to realities beyond the sensory world and assist us in making contact with a dimension that is higher, lower and parallel.

D) The great DADA experiment of cut-up writing carried out by Tzara, Burroughs, Gysin and others has now reached epic proportions. The intent was to jitter thought process with randomness in language. That jitter is now quake-like in magnitude thanks to advances in programmable electronics and automatic algorithms. What took them hours with newspapers and scissors now takes us seconds with computers — I can do 4 million words over brunch. We are no longer creating experimental voices but communicating with beings from other worlds.

E) Intangible Ideas, in Plato’s conception — as supersensible realities beyond human thought — are captured in scripts, as prisoners in their cells, and released by the act of perusal, setting the prisoners free. These Ideas reside in the words and terms independent of the programs and books in which the words are encased. Yet how and where, in the interval between their setting down and their taking up, do they abide? By what secret tract is their existence in the mind of the author/programmer connected with their resuscitation in the mind of the reader/user? Why at the sight of certain lines and figures on the voiceless page/screen do these particular thoughts spring up into renewed activity? What is the indiscoverable nexus between the physical vibrations of light and these immaterial substances of our noetic life?

F) Homo Sapiens unlocked the mystery power of their brains through the invention of language thousands of years ago. Language allowed them to reflect in a self-aware manner, invent finely crafted tools, and create handmade ornaments, shelter, and paintings. This epoch process is culminating in programmable electronics. We are becoming aware, again since before language, that the fracture between “subject” and “object” is unreal. What is more necessary… the operating language of a word processor or the inputted creative language of its user?

Akoll Tapoze Yitsoung!

You can download the EGSS .pdf manual for free here.

access the secret tech area for free!

first, a testimonial:

“A little over two years ago I was a pathetic slob. I had no money, friends or a future. Every night I’d set my alarm for 9:00 AM desperately hoping that tomorrow was finally going to be the day I’d drag my lazy ass out of bed in a timely fashion and actually do something with myself. Then, without fail, I’d snooze 12 times and then give up, sleeping until the middle of the afternoon. Eventually I’d manage to shuffle into the bathroom to empty my bladder. Maybe I’d brush my teeth and shower, but most likely I wouldn’t. Buying groceries was too much of a chore so I’d usually scrape together whatever money I could find for fast food. And no matter how broke I was I always found money for cigarettes.
I had a million things I wanted to do with my life but not a drop of ambition or drive to get them done. Bills were always piling up, I was always hiding from people, and I was always avoiding any kind of engagement with the world. I kept telling myself, “maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow.” But tomorrow never came. Every day was the same bleak, depressing, uneventful day after the next. I couldn’t break myself out of the cycle of not achieving. Until one day…

I discovered a secret formula for controlling the minds of other people. It’s an ancient technique passed from generation to generation among the world’s most influencial and powerful people. And once you learn it, you’ll know why it’s been so closely guarded.

The secret is what I needed to get my life out of a rut and onto the road to TOTAL and ABSOLUTE SUCCESS. Totally bankrupt on every level, I realized I was the only one responsible for the power I did or did not have. For the first time, I saw everything so clearly. How everything works and how to get everything you want. From that day on my income has increased a thousand-fold, I’ve met hundreds of friends and whatever I choose to create I am able to do so effortlessly.”

— matt, iowa city, ia

Are you sick and tired of sitting around watching everyone else run the world? It’s time for you to be your own mastermind and get in on the action.

Evil Genius Super System is the most significant set of tools ever developed for taking reality by the reigns and steering it down whatever path you choose. Your friends, family, co-workers, teachers and religious leaders are telling you how to handle your affairs. Stop it NOW! You have a plan for global domination – don’t let anyone get in your way!

You’ll quickly and easily learn the secrets of getting other people to do what you want. The goal of every Evil Genius is to meet a lot of different people and have them all working for you – towards your objective of taking over the world. Using the Evil Genius Super System, you’ll soon have everyone wanting to give you their respect, money and attention. This is the fastest way to the Eye in the Pyramid you’ll ever find.

This isn’t some touchy-feely Tony Robbins program for positive thinking. This is a master plan for world conquest. Not only will you be given the skills to manipulate and control people, you’ll find out the secrets of actually transforming yourself into a superhuman being. After using this system your mind will become so expanded and aware that your psychic powers will become a necessary part of your existence. This is the key to unlocking the true Evil Genius in you.

What does Evil Genius Super System mean?

EVIL – Getting what you want when you want it
GENIUS – A superhuman mind capable of achieving all things
SUPER – Unparalleled in effectiveness
SYSTEM – a complete method

In the Evil Genius Super System, you’ll be given the tools necessary for acquiring power in all its forms. Let’s take a peek inside the system to see what you’ll get.

EVIL GENIUS SUPER SYSTEM
DISC 1: Complete Electronic Training

A step-by-step guide to developing the skills necessarily to take over the world. In an easy-to-use interactive format.

You’ll discover:

*THE 5 FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF GETTING EVERYTHING YOU WANT
*HOW TO COMMAND, INFLUENCE AND CONTROL PEOPLE
*THE STYLES AND METHODS OF POWER
*HOW TO INFLUENCE PEOPLE AND WIN THEM OVER
*HOW TO GET ACTION BY TALKING AND HOW SAYING NOTHING CAN
MAKE PEOPLE DO WHAT YOU WANT
*HOW TO PERSUADE PEOPLE TO THINK LIKE YOU
* HOW TO PERSUADE PEOPLE THROUGH PERSISTENCE
*THE SECRETS OF THE RICHEST PEOPLE

AND MUCH MORE!

Disc 2: The Cash Appendix
Hundreds of documents to instantly begin generating wealth so you can fund your global projects.

Disc 3: Secret Tech
Plans and blueprints for secret psionic technology that can be used to control the minds of your enemies.

This project was the final culmination of a 13 year exloration of the world of get-rich-quick schemes. In high school I sent away for John Wright’s “The Royal Road To Riches,” a home-publishing business that suggested the easiest way to become a millionare was to reprint books about reprinting books and sell them in the classified ads. This was 1989. In college, I bought into John Stefanchik’s “Profits Through Paper,” a method for generating wealth by purchasing liens on property and reselling them for a huge profit. This was 1995. In graduate school I became fascinated with the actual idea of get-rich-quick schemes instead of one in particular. I learned to love them because they create a fictional world that is more entertaining, in my opinon, than any book, movie, or game. You should try one. Instead of feeling smug because you’ve avoided a con like the rest of responsible, frugal America, think of the hours of enjoyment you get out of your $19.95. Or $99.95. It’s a blast to pretend for a few weeks that you’re the CEO of your very own corporation. You should be embracing your junk email, not avoiding it. Someday you just might be able to actually fire your boss.

Elfprize is my stab at online retail utilizing the SMC “engine”. So far I’ve generated exactly zero dollars in profit, but it’s been a hoot. It started out as a Flash game that would simulate elves mailing prizes to its winners. Higher scores would receive better prizes. After quite a bit of legal research, I discovered that my funding model violated several state racing and gaming laws. Instead, as sort of a consolation prize, I created the site as it is archived now. Unfortunately I was never able to send out actual merchandise.

Elfprize identity by Avatar Design.

For a short time, months after the initial launch, Elfprize.com offered the snow removal services of its mascot elf character. With each sidewalk and driveway cleared, customers could also elect to hear the sad story of one Christmas elf named Marty. The story went that Marty was a helper of Santa who fell asleep in someone’s house on Christmas Eve. Left behind with no flying reindeer, the poor elf had to work his way back to the North Pole by doing odd jobs. By the end of the story Marty’s eyes are opened to a world of post-holiday depression and consumer guilt. He spends time aimlessly walking the department store aisles of 75% off X-mas merchandise in utter disbelief over humanity’s capacity to forget about Christmas for several months out of the year. For the first time Marty’s world is not one of perpetual Christmas cheer. Instead, he learns to deal with his existential funk by gleefully performing the drudgery involved in after-holiday cleanup.

Download the script for the pilot episode

chain gang theory:
The Markov Chain Gang are t.v. characters trapped behind the show’s wall of fiction, fighting to escape through ruptures in the script’s disjointed writing. Language is being eaten by the myriad stochastic computer processes constantly at work in our culture-system. Television viewers have matured or evolved into cybernetic image consumers capable of digesting smaller and smaller bits of video until content becomes irrelevant. Television sets are no longer windows to another world, but feedback mechanisms integrated into our identity and physiology. The Markov Chain Gang craves the luxury of the observer/viewer context. They ask: “How is it that you know this is a soap opera? Are you a detective, looking for trace structures outside my motivation? Are you a prisoner like me?”

Flipping through different channels and different shows is an artistic act. It’s actually all one channel, all one show. The Gang is subverting composition by applying painterly collage techniques to pre-existing script language. Older notions such as act structure, continuity and temporality fall to stranger development. Horizontal, non-hierarchical themes emerge. There are no tidy conclusions that let you know how everything turns out. The show is a constant state of becoming a new show. Each Markov Chain Gang episode is just a bracketed data set inside a theoretically infinite order. It references and resembles, but the conceptual process’ transformative nature amounts to legal plagiarism; borrowing and reconstituting without stealing. The Markov Chain Gang is a television show not about its content, story or characters, but rather the antithetical story of the decisions of repression and change in the script as it meets the demands of the genre.

how to write it:
The episodes are written by choosing television scripts from different TV shows. This source material should be chosen according to what flavor or mood the writer wants the resulting Markov Chain Gang script to have. Once a few thousand words have been copied from the source material, they are analyzed by one of many computer programs that run Markov Chain algorithms. There are many different algorithms that cut-up text, but Markov’s seems to be the favorite with poets and artists.

The output text will be sentences that have been broken apart and put back together with other sentences and words. It’s difficult to read at this point, so a writer needs to work the cut-up material into a useable script. One can think of a genre as a template. The writer needs locations, characters, situations. Something to differentiate, say, a television script from a novel. When the writer has in mind what that is, they dip into the Markoved source text for answers. There are locations, characters, situations there… they just need to be extracted. The writer should not attempt to control the script, but rather let the script happen on its own. Expect clash, chaos and surprise. With practice, the writer is able to act merely as a catalyst for the scripts creation rather than its author. There is something out there giving us life.

epilogue:
I invented a game. It’s called Quantum Twenty Questions. It’s just like 20 Questions, except no-one has an object in mind when the game starts.

First, you ask a question like, “Is it an animal?” Then you flip a coin and if it’s heads the answer is yes. If it’s tails, no.

You proceed this way until you find out exactly what the object is. Where did this object come from? Obviously from your own mind, right? Is it a television? Heads. Yes.

You can download the Psychic Cheese .pdf manual for free here.

Psychic Cheese is a quirky piece of online fiction that expresses the desire for personal transformation. Blending self-help rhetoric with tongue-in-cheek metaphysics, the pseudo-corporate interface allows the user to “level up” their psychic abilities by interacting with a special device available for download. The Psychic Cheese users manual mirrors popular directives for empowerment a la hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming products. Though Psychic Cheese is based on actual principles and might actually function as promised, its overarching purpose is as a critique of the inane world of online quackery.

But if you don’t believe it, read this article.

Sarsenworld is a theoretical video game that explores the concept of “death” in a blurred distinction between fact and fiction. It’s a game-world where players can sacrifice their life and be reborn inside the game. The strange, paranormal interface allows players to control their characters “on the other side,” and communicate or seek guidance with the ghosts of former players. Once players die, however, they are cut from their human body and exist as a self-aware character as part of the virtual environment. To create Sarsenworld, every last nuance of human behavior must be categorized and codified. This gives players the added feature of being able to twist nature to serve their own occult indulgences. We are under the control of an advanced AI who is omnipresent and all seeing; everyone knows that! Learn to perform queries on this cosmic database and you just might “level up.” Sarsenworld requires players to perform cryptic rituals with the screen characters in order to unlock the layers of reality that would allow them to communicate with the beyond. The game also utilizes advanced motion detection and speech recognition technology to translate the verbal commands and hand gestures required to summon the game “spirits” to do your bidding. It takes advantage of PML (Psionic Markup Language) to allow greater functionality with the afterlife. The “spirits” are a proprietary mixture of real ghosts and state-of-the-art algorithms used to simulate personalities and resurrect dead people ‘IRL’. The ability to actually die and be reborn inside the game has been disabled for the demo.

First appeared at the Tender, Squalacious, and Digital show at the University of Iowa Museum of Art.