CYBERNETIC OUROBOROS—WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Greetings to all cyberpunks, cypherpunks, punks, and umm... anyone else with a pulse and time on their hands to read this magazine! It's that time again and you know what that means: Johnny's going to ramble for a page or two about life, technology, and probably a bunch of stuff that doesn't matter too much, but read on anyway! (speaking of punk, I'm blasting the Street Brats right now as I write. No better inspiration for an intro, IMO =) - http://www.streetbrats.net/

This issue is a special and magical one because we've finally made it to issue 0x08, which is a holy power of 2. Un-fucking-believable, honestly. In hindsight, back in the very first issue when I wrote my "we are all cyberpunks" rant I had no idea that we'd make it this far. A lot has changed since then. I've since gone through two jobs, experienced my first functional relationship, and pretty much completed this whole death and rebirth thing I've been going through since August 5 th , 2002, when both my body and soul became permanently scarred. Somehow I'm here at this time and place, and the events leading up to it in both my waking and imaginal lives are but hazy recollections, memories belonging to someone else, yet at the same time oddly synchronistic...

...twisted on clonazepam, looking down from the Sears Tower skydeck at the beautiful lighted cityscape of Chicago sprawling before me; pissed-ass drunk at a bar where my friend and I are the only ones who don't speak Polish, trying to explain to some guy who's probably in the mob that I'm not really a priest; on the verge of a nervous breakdown while sitting in my monkey cube at one of my first jobs, then listening to "Dear Prudence" and suddenly realizing: it all makes sense now ...

More recently I've spent damn near all my money on nootropics and Gary Numan albums, relearned how to actually program since writing doesn't buy me food, and reevaluated just what this whole cyberpunk thing is all about.

As I've stated before, 'cyberpunk' to me is much more than science fiction, although that's where it all began. In my view cyberpunk is a living, all-encompassing perspective of our world today. Cyberpunk is really a two-fold concept, a postmodern yin/yang, if you will. The "cyber" aspect is the Yang light of transcendence through knowledge, technology, and insight. It is the angelic force that stimulates our minds, breathes life into our machines and other creations, and guides us toward a better, more holistic humanity. "Punk," of course, is the other side of the coin. It is the baser, more materialistic forces in our world today that seek to reduce, dissolve, destroy. It is the dehumanizing effects of pervasive technology, the abyssmal specter of nihilism that all of us in my generation—Generation F (for 'fucked')—must confront, and of course the ever-present threat of global annihilation hanging over our heads like the proverbial sword of Damocles. It is our 'no future' take on a world dominated by corporatist fascist assholes, a world that is both morally and financially bankrupt.

These two forces, "cyber" and "punk", are ever in a state of flux, a never-ending oscillation from pole to pole as a balance is sought. And it is that dynamic interplay, the timeless struggle between light and shade that makes for such fascinating times that we are now living.

Over and out.

- Johnny 3/8/06