eff.546: Cylex: The New Cyber-Lexicon
eff.546.0: Mike Godwin (mnemonic) Thu 23 Dec 93 10:28
Antoinette LaFarge, a student in my class this fall at the School of
Visual Arts, developed as her term paper this lexicon from the year
2030.
Comments and additions solicited.
eff.546.2: Mike Godwin (mnemonic) Thu 23 Dec 93 10:31
DDB2030.12.17.20:20:21GMT
Homebase: ~U.S. Government Publishing Office.
Download to: Mike Godwin, Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Status: digsig not verifiedÑno-interrupt.
Checklist: autolott yesÑupdate yesÑimages noÑdtp format
noÑsearch yes (art, pub, law)Ñupdate editor: Antoinette
LaFarge.
Filename: *Cylex*
File begin:
Note on usage: *boldface* type indicates word being defined;
_italic_ type indicates word defined elsewhere in Cylex or used
as an example.
*Antilex*: (n) a variant on _Cylex_Ê published by a shifting
coalition of _e-pubs_Ê who feel that Cylex is often both
inaccurate (because slanted toward the government viewpoint)
and out of date.
*autolott*: (n) short for *auto*mated *lott*ery, this is the
standard form of lottery now run by most major companies, the
federal government, and all state governments except Utah.
Most digital transfers now automatically cause the
destination/recipient to be encoded and dropped into a lottery
pool, from which prize drawings are then made. This form of
lottery, in which one does not have to actively play to win, is an
outgrowth of the credit-card pools of the 1990s. Autolotts were
devised in part as a corporate marketing method to get around
the highly successful _doorman_ programs.
*black bank*: (n) an underground institution for generating and
distributing digital signatures outside the government-approved
three-bank scheme. Black banks tend to be small and to go in
and out of business quickly as they are usually unable to sustain
the integrity of their security schemes and thus can lose all their
business literally overnight. Although not technically illegal,
they cater to an amorphous and shifting population of criminals
and _clans_ who for one reason or another don't trust the
integrity of the national digital-signature scheme. The Russian,
South African, Korean, and Caribbean mafias are all known to
run their own black banks.
*bureaucrat*: (n) obsolete; see _hulk_.
*bodyguard*: (n) general term covering localized software that
searches out and destroys viruses, worms, trojan horses,
scavengers, and other net wildlife. The U.S. government has
imposed severe restrictions on bodyguards to ensure that they
don't run loose in the net. (See also: _cannibal, hulk._)
*borden*: (n) any nondigital object that figures as evidence in
a legal proceeding, especially under criminal law. Since most
legal proceedings are now carried out entirely in cyberspace,
lawyers have largely lost the ability to sway juries by showing
them physical evidence of crimes. In cases where such evidence
is important, prosecutors (rarely defense lawyers) often pursue
strategies to get the case transferred from cyberspace to real-
space courtrooms. Hence (v) _to borden_ means to obtain or
try to obtain such a change of venue. The word derives
indirectly from the bloodstained ax that played such a
prominent role in the conviction of Lizzie Borden for the
murder of her parents. See also the phrase: _borden of proof_.
*cannibal*: (n) a special form of _bodyguard_ that will wipe
out everything on its home computer net, including itself, once
activated. Popular among criminals for destroying digital
evidence beyond the possibility of recovery, they can be set to
react to time delays, improper logons, remotes, and other
tripwires. There are a number of different types of cannibal,
only a few of which are dangerous to humans. Those
incorporating explosives are known as _challengers_ (in
reference to an early space shuttle that blew up, taking out
seven astronauts in the process), while those causing
electrocution of the person trying to access the data are known
as _headhunters_.
*cat-tag*: (n) a digital signature for corporations and other
businesses; legally required for all business e-mail and data
transfers over the net. The word is a short form of "catalog tag"
and also probably a back-formation from _dogtag._ Cat-tags
came into use after the first flood of digital junk mail; the
ensuing consumer protests brought about the adoption of cat-
tags that could be screened by _doorman_ programs. The
government used the controversy to institute compulsory
registration of digital signatures in so-called _name banks_.
Cat-tags are handled by one of the three major signature banks,
the First National Name Bank (a subsidiary of Citicorp).
*clan*: (n) a type of on-line voluntary organization formed
among private individuals to exchange information and pursue
group activities in a limited forum. The word is an acronym
whose expansion is disputed; according to most authorities it
stands for *c*ompound *l*ocal *a*rea *n*etwork, but popular
etymology usually gives it as short for *c*ol*la*borative *n*et.
Clans sprang up in the wake of the Clinton administration's
disastrous health care reform and the information deluge
released in cyberspace by the gradual dismantling of the
copyright laws. In order to reassert control over the quality of
information, advice, and services given and received, people
spontaneously started forming small, tightly knit groups on the
net, usually in the form of _lockout_ forums. Typically, a clan
is started by a few close friends, and over time they gradually
lock in new members of complementary professions. For
example, a group that had no doctor member would recruit
someone compatible from the on-line and/or off-line
community. However, there are also highly specialized clans,
such as the craft clans and the _Tertians_. Some clans have
membership fees, but most work primarily on a barter system,
such that members work a certain numbers of hours a year for
each other. It is considered a mark of status to be recruited by a
prestigious clan.
*Cylex*: (n) the on-line lexicon of slang continuously
published and updated by the U.S. government in accordance
with a 2003 mandate of Congress. In a series of landmark
discrimination cases, it was argued that since slang is such a
vital aspect of cyberspace life, anyone who couldn't master it is
effectively excluded from large parts of the net. Moreover, the
speed with which net slang evolves serves to bar anyone who
isn't a net regular. Hence, Cylex was set up as a _tilde_
resource to equalize access to the net. It can be downloaded by
anyone, at any time. In theory, it is kept up to date; however,
the true lag time is considered to be between six and eight
weeks. In addition, there are always pockets of long-term ex-
Cylex slang on the net; these tend to be formed by people who
intentionally use slang (rather than encryption) as an
exclusionary method and actively resist having their terms
become transparent to Cylex. Since Cylex depends greatly on
volunteers (its paid staff is small and the project is permanently
underfunded), it is not difficult for determined groups to keep
personal slang Cylex-opaque for relatively long periods.
*DD*: (n, a) acronym for *d*ownload *d*ate, usually given in
numerals in the form
DDyear.month.day.hour:minute:secondGMT. The standard
international dating procedure on the net, it is sometimes
extended to include fractions of a second. DDs are normally
the first term in any downloaded data and may be further
subdivided into _DDB_ (*d*ownload *d*ate *b_egin, at the
start of transmission) and _DDE_ (*download *d*ate *e*nd, at
the end of transmission). "Created on" dates are still sometimes
seen, especially attached to certain fixed forms of artwork, but
are considered obsolete because unverifiable. (See also:
_genealogy, sourcing_).
*digsig*: (n) semi-official slang for *dig*ital *sig*nature; the
U.S. government in particular avoids the use of the otherwise
universal _dogtag_.
*diy forgery*: (n) 1. a plan, diagram, or other type of
instruction for making and/or performing artworks issued by
artists themselves, usually through the _Municipal Dump_. 2.
an object or process created using such instructions.
Most artists do not actually make objects anymore but simply
register the plans and/or instructions with the MD, which holds
them in a database and distributes them at a nominal charge.
One popular activity is to combine several different sets of diy
forgery, either simultaneously or sequentially. (See also:
_kunstmorph_.) Diy forgeries (short for *d*o-*i*t-*y*ourself
*forgeries*) are sometimes referred to as authorized forgeries.
*dogtag*: (n) slang for digital signature generally, derived
from the military slang for tags recording one's identification
number. Usually used to refer to digital signatures of
individuals, while _cat-tag is reserved for business-related
digital signatures. Dogtags are handled by two of the three
major signature banks, the _Federal Name Repository_ (under
the Federal Reserve Bank) and 21st Century Names (a
subsidiary of Time Warner).
*doorman*: (n) a computer program used to screen incoming
data, especially e-mail and junk mail, for unwanted items.
Doormen became popular after the federal government began to
deliver subpoenas electronically and disputes arose over the
point at which an e-subpoena could be said to have been
accepted. Any item that passes a doorman is now considered to
have been received by the gateway computer and hence also by
its registered owner. Most doormen also incorporate
_bodyguards_.
*doormat*: (n) an ineffective _doorman_.
*download from/to*: (v) _download from_ means to copy data
off a data source such as a net; _download to_ means to copy
data to such a data source. Download to has completely
replaced the now-obsolete _upload to_, which fell out of use as
the hierarchical (and psychological) distinctions between large
(central, multiuser) and small (personal) computers vanished in
the late 1990s.
*dwarfing*: (n) a common method for including _source_
information in digital files by reducing the information packet
greatly in size and embedding it in some other part of the data.
As dwarfing often involves actual data compression as well, it
is one of the more difficult forms of hidden sourcing to recover.
*e-* : prefix for electronic; used generally as a synonym for on-
line and specifically to differentiate something from its off-line
counterpart; e.g., an _e-zine_ would normally refer to a zine
that has no real-world counterpart.
*e-cash*: (n) digital money. Coins and bills are ordinarily used
only for very small purchases and also on the black market.
*e-pub_: (n) an electronic publisher, as distinct from a _p&t
publisher_.
*Federal Name Repository*: (n) federal name bank for
generating and storing the digital signatures (encryption keys)
that replaced social security numbers as of 2009. The
government now generates a pair of keys for every child as
soon as its birth is registered; the public key serves the same
functions as the old social-security number and in addition is
used to encode certain data throughout an individual's life that
will be accessible to that person only. The child's private key is
kept under wraps at the FNR until his or her 18th birthday, at
which point it is turned over to that individual alone.
*fortune hunt*: (n, v) a search for hidden information in data
files (such as e-catalogs, e-zines, and e-books) that entitles the
finder to a prize. These are in vogue among puzzle enthusiasts
generally but nowhere near as popular or lucrative as the
_autolotts_.
*genealogy*: (n) a new specialty within the field of art history
and criticism, genealogy consists of interpreting artistic trends
and developments by tracing the ramifications of _source_ lists
through different generations of image transfer, duplication,
alteration, etc. Genealogists tend to be looked down on by
traditional art historians because most of their data are
inherently unreliable.
*Generics*: (n) an e-zine published by the _Municipal Dump_
and featuring the theory and practice of generic art. In the
1990s, the activities of the Museum of Forgery and others
brought about a shift in focus from brand-name art (e.g.,
Leonardo's Mona Lisa) to generic categories of art (e.g., "mona-
lisas"; that is, works related to the Mona Lisa). Each issue of
_Generics_ normally has a person, style, period, or individual
work as its theme, and generic works created by artists on that
theme are published. Making appropriate attributions (rather
than listing works under the names of their actual creators) is a
central activity of _Generics_. As a rule, issues are updated
annually; the two most popular issues, on baldessaris and
posthumous duchamps, run over 1000 pages of hardcopy
apiece.
*hibachi*: (n) a photograph known or presumed to have been
altered; much in use by the legal profession. The term came
into use in the late 1990s, often sarcastically, when a series of
court cases hinging on disputed photographic evidence led to
severe restrictions on the use of photographs (and later videos)
as evidence. The phrase traces back to a remark by a Vietnam
War general, William Westmoreland, who dismissed a famous
photograph of napalmed Vietnamese children running down a
road as a "hibachi accident."
*homebase*: (n) the original source of data or other
information, usually presumed to be a guarantee that it is
unaltered and/or of high quality. Early concerns about the need
to protect against data piracy through more stringent copyright
laws vanished when it became clear that people were willing to
pay for homebase material in order to protect themselves
against corrupt or infected files. (It was actually possible to
market homebase material for some time before the advent of
_dogtags_ and _e-cash_ made it really practical to do so.)
*hulk*: (n) also: Hulk. An ineffective _bodyguard_. The term
comes from the name of Hulk Hogan, a one-time professional
wrestler; the implication is that a hulk looks like it's doing its
job but does not do any real damage to its opponent. Hulk
replaces the formerly popular _bureaucrat.
*hypgnostic*: (n) variant spelling of _hypnostic_.
*hypnostic*: (n) a computer program that can induce varying
levels of hypnosis or trance states in the user under controlled
conditions. Usually in the form of rapidly metamorphosing,
often geometric images combined with a sound track,
hypnostics are an outgrowth of research into the long-term
neurological effects of screen-saver programs. Although they
have become popular adjuncts to meditation, therapy, and
recreational drug use, there is continuing controversy over
parallel military research that has led to the development of
programs that can induced severe disorientation, hallucination,
phobia, catatonia, schizophrenia, and other forms of mental
breakdown. Hypnostics are also implicated in the premature
development of cataracts, and most regular hypnostics users
suffer from semi-permanent facial tics in the region of the eyes.
*interrupt*: (n, a) used to signal that a data transmission will
not go through as requested or will be terminated before
completion; normally followed by reason for the interrupt.
*kunstmorph*: (n, v) an activity in which one chooses two
artworks and creates a metamorphic sequence between them.
Most popular as a digital process, it is also a common off-line
activity among the craft _clans._
*lockin*: (n, a) a part of cyberspace to which one has a
password. Similarly, to _lock in_ (v) means to give someone a
cyberpass.
*lockout*: (n) any part of cyberspace to which one does not
have the password. Similarly, to _lock out_ (v).
*MD Pound*: (n) a recycling center run by the _Municipal
Dump_ in most major cities to which anyone can bring
artworks for destruction, exchange, or recycling. MD Pounds
work on an exchange principle; for every pound of materials
one donates, one is entitled to take away an equivalent
poundage. They grew out of the environmental aesthetic, which
recognized that artists who created much more than they
destroyed were guilty of a form of littering. The MD Pound
logo features the mustaches of Salvador Dali, a notably prolific
20th century surrealist.
*Municipal Dump*: (n) an institution formed by the
Macarthur Foundation in 2117 to act as a clearinghouse for
nonobject artists. The name comes from the common slang
used to denote museums generally and New York's
Metropolitan Museum in particular ("municipal dump" replaced
the formerly popular "mausoleum"). The MD's main functions
include maintaining a digital database of artworks, publishing
_Generics_, and distributing _diy forgeries_. The MD also
maintains MD Pounds_ in major cities. The MD logo features
the mustache-and-goatee from Marcel Duchamp's famous
_L.H.O.O.Q. _ One occasionally sees MD referred to as
M2_D2_ because of a prevailing belief that the institution's
"secret" name is Marcel Duchamp's Municipal Dump.
*name bank*: (n) 1. a repository for generating, distributing,
and storing public and private keys for data encryption 2. a
registry for digital signatures. As money became fully
electronic at the turn of the century, banks took over the
business of security for their customers' digital signatures.
Eventually, due in part to the proliferation of competing public-
key encryption schemes, Congress moved to restrict name
banks to three: one for government transactions, one for
business transactions, and one for personal transactions. Most
people have keys in at least two of the three banks. (See also:
_Federal Name Repository._)
*no-interrupt*: (n, a) used to signal that a data transmission
will go through as requested; compare _interrupt_.
*picon*: (n) short for *p*ersonal *icon*, a picon is a graphical
or other data-generated stand-in for an individual, much used in
place of names, signatures, and/or photos on vidphones, nets,
and elsewhere. Picons can be protected under trademark law
only if they are registered in the National Picon Database, in
order to avoid multiple instances of the same picon. However,
they are not accepted by the government or for legal purposes in
lieu of dogtags. (The corporate equivalent of a picon is a logo.)
*p&t*: (a) also: pnt. short for *p*oint *&_ *t*ouch, p&t
refers to things that are tangible or real-world as opposed to
intangible (hyperspatial, cyberspatial, mental). Generally used
as a shorthand for object-oriented; e.g., a _p&t publisher_ as
opposed to an _e-pub_. Often used to imply that something is
old-fashioned, as in _his artwork is real p&t stuff_.
*source*: (v) to source means to give credit to one's sources of
materials, especially those being substantially altered. Sourcing
became a widespread norm even before the death of copyright
meant that one could source one's materials without fear of
being sued for copyright infringement. Some people advocate
making sourcing a legal requirement, but because that would
obviously be unenforceable and because source data are often
unverifiable, this movement has never really gotten off the
ground. Accurate sourcing is a point of pride for most artists,
and since source lists (or genealogies) can become quite long
and complex, a number of ingenious ways of either hiding them
or displaying them have been developed. (See: genealogy,
transparency._)
*source hunt*: (n, v) an attempt to recover hidden source
information in a data file. Source hunting became popular
among puzzle enthusiasts and was a precursor of the now more
generally popular _fortune hunt._ Many filemakers, especially
artists, offer prizes to source hunters to spur general interest in
their work.
*Tertian*: (n, a) originally: Orbis Tertian. Tertians are
members of Orbis Tertius, an unusual _clan_ linked by the
common project of realizing a special edition of the
_Encyclopedia Britannica_ mentioned in Jorge Luis Borges's
short story "Tlšn, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius." In Borges's story, a
certain edition of the Britannica contains extra entries that refer
to another world, intriguing details of which are given in the
story. Orbis Tertius was founded by a group of writers
specifically to alter the _Britannica_ in conformity with
Borges's story, and the Tertians subsequently continued to
extend the fiction at great length. It was a court case arising out
of the activities of the Tertians that led to the final extinction of
copyright law when the _Britannica's_ publishers lost their
attempt to bar the Tertians from altering the encyclopedia
without permission. _Homebase_ editions of the Tertian
Encyclopedia are consistent bestsellers (subscribers are entitled
to get it updated on request).
*tilde* (*~*): printer's mark, adopted for use to signify that
material is free of all restrictions on alteration, copying,
publication, etc., including the normal convention of _sourcing.
*transparency*: (n) a common form for source information to
be included in digital files, especially object-oriented image
files. Transparencies are a layer of information included in a
file and assigned an object color of transparent (or background,
paper, etc.). To recover them, one must know how to search for
invisible objects in such files, a procedure that varies from
application to application. (See also: _dwarfing_, _source
hunt._)
*wormfare*: (n) electronically based warfare, especially
attacks directed at the computer command and control
structures of other nations, as by net wildlife.
*wormfood*: (n) any computer software or hardware that is
poorly protected against intrusion from worms, viruses, and
other net wildlife.
:File end
DDE2030.12.17.20:21:53GMT
eff.546.4: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Thu 23 Dec 93 14:32
Gosh, how very Stanislaw Lem of her.
eff.546.5: Trying to get in touch with my inner grownup... (sforslev) Thu 23 Dec 93 18:50
*Cybercrap*: (n) Term common at Evanston High School in the early
1990's.
It refers to technical jargon that is like the love of God -
It passeth all understanding.
eff.546.6: Mike Godwin (mnemonic) Thu 23 Dec 93 22:48
I actually rather like her name--Antoinette LaFarge--which I assume is
either a fake or an adopted name.
She told me she took my class because she's interested in issues relating
to forgeries.
I like "dogtags" and "cattags" myself.
Also, "wormfood."
eff.546.7: Information Superhighwayman (gjk) Fri 24 Dec 93 06:02
Her name and interests suggest she has a very dark side. Introduce us?
eff.546.8: Mike Godwin (mnemonic) Fri 24 Dec 93 07:57
I'm not sure you're up to meeting her, Jack.
