Video Games in East Germany: The Stasi Played Along(zeit.de)
zeit.de
Video Games in East Germany: The Stasi Played Along
https://www.zeit.de/digital/games/2018-11/computer-games-gdr-stasi-surveillance-gamer-crowd/komplettansicht
9 comments
It's funny how close Brazil was to an eastern bloc country then.
-Foreign computer designs could be copied, beacause their IP did not apply (Unitron Mac was a notable example - actually better than the original);
-Copies of foreign software were sold in stores;
-There wasn't much variety in terms os cars (4 brands and few models) or home appliances;
-Buying foreign currency legally was restricted.
-Foreign computer designs could be copied, beacause their IP did not apply (Unitron Mac was a notable example - actually better than the original);
-Copies of foreign software were sold in stores;
-There wasn't much variety in terms os cars (4 brands and few models) or home appliances;
-Buying foreign currency legally was restricted.
> It's funny how close Brazil was to an eastern bloc country then.
> -Foreign computer designs could be copied, beacause their IP did not apply (Unitron Mac was a notable example - actually better than the original);
Where can I find more information about such Brazilian computer clone designs? (if necessary, I can also read such texts in Portuguese, even though English or German texts are much easier for me)
> -Foreign computer designs could be copied, beacause their IP did not apply (Unitron Mac was a notable example - actually better than the original);
Where can I find more information about such Brazilian computer clone designs? (if necessary, I can also read such texts in Portuguese, even though English or German texts are much easier for me)
here are some stories about these period
http://www.schwartzman.org.br/simon/comput.htm
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/29/business/brazil-s-prickly...
This video about the game scene that developed because of the politics is also interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU29Wqg_BVo
In the beginning of the 90's our economy opened and our then President cited our slow computers as one the main reasons for doing so (just PR talk, but it is interesting to note this)
http://www.schwartzman.org.br/simon/comput.htm
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/29/business/brazil-s-prickly...
This video about the game scene that developed because of the politics is also interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU29Wqg_BVo
In the beginning of the 90's our economy opened and our then President cited our slow computers as one the main reasons for doing so (just PR talk, but it is interesting to note this)
The reason the IT policy failed in Brazil, IMHO, is because they did not do enough to spread knowledge and make the machines cheaper.
The UK had a marvelous project that put micros in every school (BBC Computer Literacy Project). You could see people use 8 bit micros in all sorts of applications (I remember a Master Compact kit being sold to handle magazine and newspaper subscriptions).
The Brazilian Sharp MSX (Hotbit) came out in 1985. It cost something like US$400. That same year, the Amiga 1000 came out. It was vastly superior, but it also cost 3 times as much. So I think the real failure was not putting to good use the technology Brazil had.
The UK had a marvelous project that put micros in every school (BBC Computer Literacy Project). You could see people use 8 bit micros in all sorts of applications (I remember a Master Compact kit being sold to handle magazine and newspaper subscriptions).
The Brazilian Sharp MSX (Hotbit) came out in 1985. It cost something like US$400. That same year, the Amiga 1000 came out. It was vastly superior, but it also cost 3 times as much. So I think the real failure was not putting to good use the technology Brazil had.
This site has all or most of them: http://www.old-computers.com/
It seems to be in trouble at the moment.
Unitron made Apple clones (I think the Apple II clones were licenced, but they ran into trouble when they tried to setup a joint venture for the Mac clone and decided to just copy it).
Gradiente and Sharp made MSX clones (they were licenced).
Microdigital made Spectrum clones (and also a very nice Apple II clone called TK3000): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TK90X
It seems to be in trouble at the moment.
Unitron made Apple clones (I think the Apple II clones were licenced, but they ran into trouble when they tried to setup a joint venture for the Mac clone and decided to just copy it).
Gradiente and Sharp made MSX clones (they were licenced).
Microdigital made Spectrum clones (and also a very nice Apple II clone called TK3000): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TK90X
Destroying a market economy keeps leading to the same disastrous results.
That's the part statists keep ignoring.
That's the part statists keep ignoring.
Perhaps, then, we should be paying attention to recent theoretical research on post-capitalist market societies, or even post-capitalist non-market societies. We should learn from our mistakes.
Links?
Disclaimer: I'm not well versed in this topic's finer points, but I have some idea of the current and historical trends within it.
I'm mostly talking about exploitation theory, and two main contenders are UE and CECP; by aiming to eliminate a certain kind of exploitation in society, that will form the basis for a future society. Both of these have their origins in classical Marxian exploitation theory and mathematical Marxism. For instance, John Roemer suggests a market economy but one which is heavily redistributionist in terms of the material assets people can have. Along more traditional Marxist lines, Veneziani and Yoshihara are proponents of UE exploitation theory.
There's a good, recent overview of exploitation theory here[0] and some information about this area of research (including but not limited to exploitation theory) published by Veneziani in a book review on the state of Analytical Marxism.[1]
To understand the context of exploitation, labour and value and how these suggest a critique of capitalism (and thus the formation post-capitalist society) I'd look at my comment here[2] and the likes of Peter Hudis and Thomas T. Sekine. Most of the authors are socialists (in the Marxist tradition) but there are a few in anarchism, market anarchism and Communalism, though I'm not aware of their research.
[0] https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=h...
[1] https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/30864/1/MPRA_paper_30864.pdf
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18490388
I'm mostly talking about exploitation theory, and two main contenders are UE and CECP; by aiming to eliminate a certain kind of exploitation in society, that will form the basis for a future society. Both of these have their origins in classical Marxian exploitation theory and mathematical Marxism. For instance, John Roemer suggests a market economy but one which is heavily redistributionist in terms of the material assets people can have. Along more traditional Marxist lines, Veneziani and Yoshihara are proponents of UE exploitation theory.
There's a good, recent overview of exploitation theory here[0] and some information about this area of research (including but not limited to exploitation theory) published by Veneziani in a book review on the state of Analytical Marxism.[1]
To understand the context of exploitation, labour and value and how these suggest a critique of capitalism (and thus the formation post-capitalist society) I'd look at my comment here[2] and the likes of Peter Hudis and Thomas T. Sekine. Most of the authors are socialists (in the Marxist tradition) but there are a few in anarchism, market anarchism and Communalism, though I'm not aware of their research.
[0] https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=h...
[1] https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/30864/1/MPRA_paper_30864.pdf
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18490388
Fun fact: "Raid over Moscow" was banned in West Germany in 1985. The ban was lifted in 2010.
Unrelated to Germany, East or West: back when I was a kid with a C64 and every game was pirated -- note: we didn't even know there was another way of getting games; we bought pirated tapes from stores with clerks! -- "Raid over Moscow" was a puzzling game to me because it looked cool and intriguing enough but I couldn't take off with the damn plane! I didn't have a manual or any sort of instructions, and I thought I was supposed to fly through what looked like a narrow horizontal gap in the hangar door, and obviously crashed time and time again because that's not what you're supposed to do -- there is no gap and you're supposed to open the hangar doors!
I still remember how thrilled I felt when I finally figured this out. It turned out the rest of the game wasn't as good as its opening scene and setting promised. In a way, taking off the with plane in Raid over Moscow was like figuring how to exit from vi.
I still remember how thrilled I felt when I finally figured this out. It turned out the rest of the game wasn't as good as its opening scene and setting promised. In a way, taking off the with plane in Raid over Moscow was like figuring how to exit from vi.
That was one thing which was positive: no software copyrights.
The justification is a bit of a bummer though for someone who creates software, even if just for fun and not profit ;)
Sadly Germany went full 180 on this, with hallmark decision preventing resale of used, digitally distributed games in EU :( https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/02/10/german-court-rul...
One doesn't really create anything, programming is nothing but snake oil sales: in the end the only creation is magnetized media. So: "fog selling", or: "selling testicles as if they were kidneys". It took me a long time to realize this, but better late than never.
this is a pretty good prediction for 1988
Humm... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18403145 :)
Humm... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18403145 :)
Dang, true, I didn't make the connection between sending code through modem, and over radio :)
Many home computers of the time were equipped to decode data from audio cassettes. It's not implausible that the same audio could be beamed over the radio.
'One game that the Stasi did actively seek to keep out of circulation was the strategy game "Kremlin," which had been developed by the small Swiss publisher Fata Morgana Games. In "Kremlin," the player takes over the role of a Soviet politician who then fights others to become the head of the party. One Stasi file notes that the game "contradicts the interests of the GDR due to its anti-Soviet statements."'
totally off topic: unrelated to reading this on HN, 5 mins ago I was googling "why are some clouds darker than others" (it's a cloudy day and I was looking out of my window at work, waiting for some data query to run) which led me to an article about the way light scatters off of water droplets in the clouds. This article mentioned Fata Morgana as another example of atmospheric phenomena related to light scattering. Not having heard about Fata Morgana before, I dutifully proceeded to read the wikipedia article about it. When I finished, my query still hadn't finished running, so what do you do, check HN front page of course. And I open this post and there it is...
>"strategy game "Kremlin," which had been developed by the small Swiss publisher Fata Morgana Games"
talk about coincidences...
>"strategy game "Kremlin," which had been developed by the small Swiss publisher Fata Morgana Games"
talk about coincidences...
Sorry, the procgen algorithm for names has a tendency to repeat freshly generated ones with higher frequency for a while. We caught it in early tests but didn't have the time to correct it properly, so we attempt to hide it by trying to ensure it only reappears in unrelated contexts. In the end this may have just made it more obvious, but what can you do. There are several million higher priority issues on the docket so I wouldn't expect a fix any time soon.
This is great. XD
Of course this is even more off-topic, but I wanted you to know that there is a name for that.
It is the Baader Meinhof Phenomenon[0] or frequency illusion[1].
[0]:https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Baader-Meinhof_phenomenon
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases#Frequ...
It is the Baader Meinhof Phenomenon[0] or frequency illusion[1].
[0]:https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Baader-Meinhof_phenomenon
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases#Frequ...
I don't think they're describing Baader-Meinhof illusion, instead it sound like the phenomenon I know as "Feynman's grandmother" whereby we credit a coincidence with a degree of magic because we fail to notice the frequency compared to non-coincidences.
The phenomenon plays out something like this: If you recall all the times you read something, and the subsequent article has no unexpected relationship in key concepts then you'll see it's just a normal statistical occurrence rather than something spooky and notable.
The phenomenon plays out something like this: If you recall all the times you read something, and the subsequent article has no unexpected relationship in key concepts then you'll see it's just a normal statistical occurrence rather than something spooky and notable.
I think he's actually describing a much deeper phenomenon called a "coincidence" in which two things occur which are related in some way other than by causality. This strange phenomena is usually attributed to a concept known by the phrase "chance" which is deeply rooted in probability theory, but top scienticians and psychological probability computationists are still studying this mysterious phenomenon.
^_^
I wonder how "Papers, please" would have been received.
There's a game called 'Papers, please' where you play a bureaucratic border guard: http://papersplea.se/
It's free and actually pretty good!
It's free and actually pretty good!
I hope that readers will realise more things than just how ridiculous every day life was in a red country.
When state security dominated everything, everything that it didn't like became a security issue, and everything it liked too! Think of a brand of children candy being labelled "counterrevolutionary," a design of apartment called "communistic," and there was even a "state security conscious way to drive a car."
For few Western people that ventured into bloc countries, the experience was just mind breaking. I remember from some memoirs, one guy lauded why in the world a state security officer has to review and issue "state security licenses" for owning a toy air plane, buying a typewriter, or reasons for his child to go through "state security exam" to attend a club.
Think just how petty the state security dominated state was, and then think if the currently forming political establishment in the West went by further.
- Terrorism tax https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/02/ukgov_moots_tax_for...
- "national security tax" - well, that one was shot down
- Rapescan scanners on public transit
- Three letter agencies having nothing better to do than snoop on facebooks of teenage girls
- Being jailed for owning nitric acid
- Being detained for making a clockwork, or, well being effectively jailed for life for owning a "terrorist wristwatch"
- Being denied boarding a flights for owning a "terrorist radio"
- Havala being called "terrorism banking"
- the very term of "cyberterrorism"
- "Chador tax" in Europe
- TSA and DHS tearing down laptops, and stealing "not-state-security-approved" purchases from Chinese dollar stores. Not to mention, any radio gear from abroad.
- All kinds of "terrorism experts," and three letter agency bureaucrats having the best time ever gaining promotions in Western countries
When state security dominated everything, everything that it didn't like became a security issue, and everything it liked too! Think of a brand of children candy being labelled "counterrevolutionary," a design of apartment called "communistic," and there was even a "state security conscious way to drive a car."
For few Western people that ventured into bloc countries, the experience was just mind breaking. I remember from some memoirs, one guy lauded why in the world a state security officer has to review and issue "state security licenses" for owning a toy air plane, buying a typewriter, or reasons for his child to go through "state security exam" to attend a club.
Think just how petty the state security dominated state was, and then think if the currently forming political establishment in the West went by further.
- Terrorism tax https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/02/ukgov_moots_tax_for...
- "national security tax" - well, that one was shot down
- Rapescan scanners on public transit
- Three letter agencies having nothing better to do than snoop on facebooks of teenage girls
- Being jailed for owning nitric acid
- Being detained for making a clockwork, or, well being effectively jailed for life for owning a "terrorist wristwatch"
- Being denied boarding a flights for owning a "terrorist radio"
- Havala being called "terrorism banking"
- the very term of "cyberterrorism"
- "Chador tax" in Europe
- TSA and DHS tearing down laptops, and stealing "not-state-security-approved" purchases from Chinese dollar stores. Not to mention, any radio gear from abroad.
- All kinds of "terrorism experts," and three letter agency bureaucrats having the best time ever gaining promotions in Western countries
The focus on type writers was quite common for a long time in dictatorships. Not as bad as a spirit duplicator but still a possible tool for agitation.
Well the whole idea of samizdat was based on the access to a typewriter. Not necessarily at home, my mom was a librarian and she would use the typewriter in her office to type books.
And the reason for typewriter control is that typewriters are somewhat unique; all the typewriters used to be registered (i.e. the security services have their writing samples together with the owner/location of the device) so that if a particularly unwanted type of samizdat (e.g. actual political agitation) was detected then they could and would determine that this was typed on the typewriter in your mom's office and go in and determine who participated in making these copies.
You can also do forensics on a typewriter and typewritten documents, finding the machine that produces a document.
Also, If you didn't switch the ribbon everything you typed could be reconstructed well for a while.
Also, If you didn't switch the ribbon everything you typed could be reconstructed well for a while.
[deleted]
Acid in the UK is being used in disfiguring attacks and as a replacement for settling scores with knives.
I've only heard of acid attacks in the context of Muslim "honour" reprisals. So I did a little research.
This BBC article from 2011 details some statistics on "honour" attacks: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16014368. Including that London's Metropolitan Police ("MET") reported about 500 Islamic honour related acid attacks for 2010.
Now this search: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22honour+attack%22+acid+Mus... returns as the first hit an article in which the MET claims [1] that Islamic honour attacks are basically a myth.
I wonder how the MET managed to report up to 500 per year to 2010 (first link above), then only one for the subsequent 15 years [1]?
It's curious that there are charities set up to aid acid attack victims[2] which report that in relative terms a lot of "honour attacks" happen in Pakistan; and that with a large UK Pakistani population there's only one attack in London in 15 years.
So, what's going on there.
Obviously it's fantastic if somehow such "honour attacks" were reduced by nearly 100% in one year yet highly disturbing if the police report that and it's not true.
Aside from that question, what I did find is a huge increase in use by gangs and a much wider use than I imagined for "revenge attacks" (spurned lovers, stalkers, etc.).
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/5d38c003-c54a-4513-a3...
[2] Eg http://asfpakistan.org/, https://asti.org.uk.
This BBC article from 2011 details some statistics on "honour" attacks: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16014368. Including that London's Metropolitan Police ("MET") reported about 500 Islamic honour related acid attacks for 2010.
Now this search: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22honour+attack%22+acid+Mus... returns as the first hit an article in which the MET claims [1] that Islamic honour attacks are basically a myth.
I wonder how the MET managed to report up to 500 per year to 2010 (first link above), then only one for the subsequent 15 years [1]?
It's curious that there are charities set up to aid acid attack victims[2] which report that in relative terms a lot of "honour attacks" happen in Pakistan; and that with a large UK Pakistani population there's only one attack in London in 15 years.
So, what's going on there.
Obviously it's fantastic if somehow such "honour attacks" were reduced by nearly 100% in one year yet highly disturbing if the police report that and it's not true.
Aside from that question, what I did find is a huge increase in use by gangs and a much wider use than I imagined for "revenge attacks" (spurned lovers, stalkers, etc.).
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/5d38c003-c54a-4513-a3...
[2] Eg http://asfpakistan.org/, https://asti.org.uk.
> This BBC article from 2011 details some statistics on "honour" attacks: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16014368. Including that London's Metropolitan Police ("MET") reported about 500 Islamic honour related acid attacks for 2010.
The article does not say Islamic, nor acid-attacks in relation to the 495 attacks.
The article says "so-called honour attacks" and goes on to say:
> Honour attacks are punishments on people, usually women, for acts deemed to have brought shame on their family.
> Such attacks can include acid attacks, abduction, mutilations, beatings and in some cases, murder.
In other words, it says nothing about how many acid-attacks were included among those 495, and does not tie it to specific religions. Honour attacks are more strongly correlated to specific cultural ties than religion. It is likely a substantial majority of those have muslim perpetrators (because the South Asian communities that are over-represented in "honour" related crime are majority muslim), but certainly not all.
> I wonder how the MET managed to report up to 500 per year to 2010 (first link above), then only one for the subsequent 15 years [1]?
Because you're comparing all honour attacks of any type to honour-related acid-attacks.
The article does not say Islamic, nor acid-attacks in relation to the 495 attacks.
The article says "so-called honour attacks" and goes on to say:
> Honour attacks are punishments on people, usually women, for acts deemed to have brought shame on their family.
> Such attacks can include acid attacks, abduction, mutilations, beatings and in some cases, murder.
In other words, it says nothing about how many acid-attacks were included among those 495, and does not tie it to specific religions. Honour attacks are more strongly correlated to specific cultural ties than religion. It is likely a substantial majority of those have muslim perpetrators (because the South Asian communities that are over-represented in "honour" related crime are majority muslim), but certainly not all.
> I wonder how the MET managed to report up to 500 per year to 2010 (first link above), then only one for the subsequent 15 years [1]?
Because you're comparing all honour attacks of any type to honour-related acid-attacks.
You're right, in the video interviewee says "the majority of the victims are from the Muslim community" and the interview goes on to question whether the problem of policing it is exacerbated by political correctness in not wanting to confront Muslim communities.
So I did pretty poor analysis.
Do other UK communities have a concept of "honour killings"?
>Honour attacks are more strongly correlated to specific cultural ties //
Any support for this? For example in Pakistan are "honour" attacks equally prevalent across all religious beliefs?
So I did pretty poor analysis.
Do other UK communities have a concept of "honour killings"?
>Honour attacks are more strongly correlated to specific cultural ties //
Any support for this? For example in Pakistan are "honour" attacks equally prevalent across all religious beliefs?
> Do other UK communities have a concept of "honour killings"?
Honour killings are far rarer - only about a dozen a year are reported in the UK. Most "honour" attacks are violent but not deadly. But both Hindu and Sikh communities at least have had issues with both "honour" violence and specifically "honour killings". E.g. here's a case of a Sikh man being convicted for a "honour killing" [1].
> Any support for this? For example in Pakistan are "honour" attacks equally prevalent across all religious beliefs?
I did not suggest they were equally prevalent, but that location/culture is a stronger predictor that religion.
This plays out both in what you yourself have pointed to, namely that countries like Pakistan have substantially larger problems with it than many other predominantly muslim countries, but even within Pakistan you'll find large regional differences, and the same in India where honour violence has been on the rise in recent years but is predominantly correlated to caste, not religion, though it certainly is a problem among both Hindus and Sikhs too. South Asia as a whole have had a significant problem with it, but with large regional variation. E.g in Pakistan it is a problem of tribal culture that remains far stronger in rural areas.
As an indicator that this is about culture rather than religion, here is a case of a Pakistani Christian carrying out a "honour killing" [2]. While the article also point out that Christian "honour" killings are extremely rare in Pakistan, it goes on to say:
> "Unfortunately, I do hear about cases of where Christian daughters are beaten for marrying individuals not approved by the family," Stark wrote. "Again, I have not heard of a Christian family performing an honor killing because their daughter had married someone that was not approved by the family. That is really rare."
But remember that Christian parts of Europe too have had problems with "honour" based violence. Until 1981, "honour" was a mitigating circumstance to murder in the Italian penal code, for example.
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-12431942 [2] https://www.christianpost.com/news/pakistani-man-beats-siste...
Honour killings are far rarer - only about a dozen a year are reported in the UK. Most "honour" attacks are violent but not deadly. But both Hindu and Sikh communities at least have had issues with both "honour" violence and specifically "honour killings". E.g. here's a case of a Sikh man being convicted for a "honour killing" [1].
> Any support for this? For example in Pakistan are "honour" attacks equally prevalent across all religious beliefs?
I did not suggest they were equally prevalent, but that location/culture is a stronger predictor that religion.
This plays out both in what you yourself have pointed to, namely that countries like Pakistan have substantially larger problems with it than many other predominantly muslim countries, but even within Pakistan you'll find large regional differences, and the same in India where honour violence has been on the rise in recent years but is predominantly correlated to caste, not religion, though it certainly is a problem among both Hindus and Sikhs too. South Asia as a whole have had a significant problem with it, but with large regional variation. E.g in Pakistan it is a problem of tribal culture that remains far stronger in rural areas.
As an indicator that this is about culture rather than religion, here is a case of a Pakistani Christian carrying out a "honour killing" [2]. While the article also point out that Christian "honour" killings are extremely rare in Pakistan, it goes on to say:
> "Unfortunately, I do hear about cases of where Christian daughters are beaten for marrying individuals not approved by the family," Stark wrote. "Again, I have not heard of a Christian family performing an honor killing because their daughter had married someone that was not approved by the family. That is really rare."
But remember that Christian parts of Europe too have had problems with "honour" based violence. Until 1981, "honour" was a mitigating circumstance to murder in the Italian penal code, for example.
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-12431942 [2] https://www.christianpost.com/news/pakistani-man-beats-siste...
>"Honour killings are far rarer - only about a dozen a year are reported in the UK." //
Part of the issue that lead to this sub-thread was the report that:
"police recorded at least 2,823 so-called honour attacks last year [2010], figures from 39 out of 52 forces show." (~500 were in London)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16014368
Were they wrong?
Part of the issue that lead to this sub-thread was the report that:
"police recorded at least 2,823 so-called honour attacks last year [2010], figures from 39 out of 52 forces show." (~500 were in London)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16014368
Were they wrong?
I followed your search link and just clicked the second article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/5d38c003-c54a-4513-a3...
No where does it say that there were only 1 attack in 15 years.
No where does it say that there were only 1 attack in 15 years.
In the article:
>"Only one so-called ‘honour’ attack [using acid] was recorded in 15 years"
But my analysis was flawed in two places (at least).
One, the other page says only (in the video) that the majority of "honour" attacks are Muslim.
Two, it also is counting abductions, mutilations, killings as well when they're classed as "honour attacks".
>"Only one so-called ‘honour’ attack [using acid] was recorded in 15 years"
But my analysis was flawed in two places (at least).
One, the other page says only (in the video) that the majority of "honour" attacks are Muslim.
Two, it also is counting abductions, mutilations, killings as well when they're classed as "honour attacks".
Its interesting that these sort of offences can lead to life sentences - in the past I believe it was a capital offence ie hanging.
White people do throw actual vitriol from time to time, and not just in Sherlock Holmes stories too.
> Think just how petty the state security dominated state was, and then think if the currently forming political establishment in the West went by further.
https://opendatacity.github.io/stasi-vs-nsa/
https://opendatacity.github.io/stasi-vs-nsa/
Most items from your list sound a whole lot like the path the US is on. I don't believe these things are related to communism or capitalism, but more so to a few people who want to stay powerful and in control.
(edit: spelling)
(edit: spelling)
This touches on a major point of Nineteen Eighty-Four that many people seem to forget, despite the presence of a very striking monologue about it. I mean, it doesn't get much more explicit than:
> Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.
> Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.
You are giving too much credit to the elites. The State in itself is a ridiculous creation with full of incompetence at the top. Hence the laws.
The film Das Leben Der Anderen (The Lives of Others) [1] is an incredible view into this world. I highly recommend it.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTSdhmTJDyY
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTSdhmTJDyY
The whole GDR computing scene is fascinating: not just the software, but also the hardware. Because of the economic blockades, there weren't many 'western' computers or even computer parts available. They reversed engineered a ZX spectrum, stole plans, bribed businesspeople to 'lose' their computer, etcetera.
For a state that prided itself on their technological marvels they failed miserably, trailing behind western countries by years (they first developed a megabit chip in 1988, 2 years behind IBM).
https://www.deutsches-museum.de/fileadmin/Content/040_BN/PDF...
For a state that prided itself on their technological marvels they failed miserably, trailing behind western countries by years (they first developed a megabit chip in 1988, 2 years behind IBM).
https://www.deutsches-museum.de/fileadmin/Content/040_BN/PDF...
From today's point of view, it wasn't such an obvious failure though. It took about 3..4 years to 'copy' the Z80 (it wasn't a straight copy, but a reengineered version with bug fixes), but only 2 years for the "megabit chip"), so the process was (arguably) speeding up.
And at least the 8-bit computers (KC85/2../4, Z9001, Z1013) weren't simple clones of the ZX Spectrum even though some ideas were definitely "borrowed" (later on there was a CPC clone called KC Compact though).
The video capabilities of the 85/2 were quite a bit more advanced than the Spectrum (unfortunately the CPU speed was half of the ZX), and the operating system (CAOS) even had some very interesting ideas not found anywhere else.
The 100% cloning mainly happened for office hardware where software compatibility with standard CP/M software was required, and also for the software itself where usually only the original copyright messages were replaced with some other strings.
You'll also have to consider that the tricky/expensive part wasn't the design, but the factories and clean room production lines to manufacture the chips (AFAIK the first of those were also brought in under 'suspicious circumstances' from the West via proxy companies that had been founded in Western Germany just for that reason, and which conveniently went bankrupt shortly after acquiring modern production lines, and those 'vanished' somehow only to show up in Eastern Germany a few months later).
Back then I'd thought the GDR is at least 15 years behind in computer technology, but in reality it wasn't quite that bad, at least for the few areas that were picked (of course the West had much broader spectrum of different hardware and software popping up everywhere).
And at least the 8-bit computers (KC85/2../4, Z9001, Z1013) weren't simple clones of the ZX Spectrum even though some ideas were definitely "borrowed" (later on there was a CPC clone called KC Compact though).
The video capabilities of the 85/2 were quite a bit more advanced than the Spectrum (unfortunately the CPU speed was half of the ZX), and the operating system (CAOS) even had some very interesting ideas not found anywhere else.
The 100% cloning mainly happened for office hardware where software compatibility with standard CP/M software was required, and also for the software itself where usually only the original copyright messages were replaced with some other strings.
You'll also have to consider that the tricky/expensive part wasn't the design, but the factories and clean room production lines to manufacture the chips (AFAIK the first of those were also brought in under 'suspicious circumstances' from the West via proxy companies that had been founded in Western Germany just for that reason, and which conveniently went bankrupt shortly after acquiring modern production lines, and those 'vanished' somehow only to show up in Eastern Germany a few months later).
Back then I'd thought the GDR is at least 15 years behind in computer technology, but in reality it wasn't quite that bad, at least for the few areas that were picked (of course the West had much broader spectrum of different hardware and software popping up everywhere).
Notice how everything is a clone or stealing western tech, and nothing you said was pure innovation?
What would their computing have looked like without the west?
What would their computing have looked like without the west?
I think the whole point of the effort was catching up quickly through cloning (much the same strategy as Japan after WW2, or more recently China), and not creating incompatible technology which would ultimately be a dead-end. For instance, a home-grown, incompatible CPU that's only used in one country didn't make sense back then just as today. That's also the reason why the Z80 was chosen over the 6502, it was all about enabling compatibility with CP/M software.
But although the basic chips were cloned, at least some of the actual computers that were build with those chips were not clones of existing Western computer designs, partly because many Western home computers had highly integrated custom chips to make mass production cheaper, which was out-of-question for Eastern computer designs.
But although the basic chips were cloned, at least some of the actual computers that were build with those chips were not clones of existing Western computer designs, partly because many Western home computers had highly integrated custom chips to make mass production cheaper, which was out-of-question for Eastern computer designs.
Lkjhmnbv(2)
In terms of the modern surveillance state, East Germany and the Stasi have probably been the best studied example.
Fortunately, that surveillance didn't scale well, despite the stereotypical German attempts moving towards industrial efficiency.
In fact a number of articles were produced around how the Orwellian surveillance state didn't scale well using the East Germany/Stasi example. It required far too many full-time and part-time humans at too high frictional cost.
So I wonder how we will look back in a generation at North Korea(if it falls/opens and can be studied) or more scalable Chinese social scoring and surveillance systems(as well as western systems).
I've seen enough exponential abundance charts to last a lifetime.
But I have not seen a chart with an anticipated date for when price/performance makes total surveillance viable.
Fortunately, that surveillance didn't scale well, despite the stereotypical German attempts moving towards industrial efficiency.
In fact a number of articles were produced around how the Orwellian surveillance state didn't scale well using the East Germany/Stasi example. It required far too many full-time and part-time humans at too high frictional cost.
So I wonder how we will look back in a generation at North Korea(if it falls/opens and can be studied) or more scalable Chinese social scoring and surveillance systems(as well as western systems).
I've seen enough exponential abundance charts to last a lifetime.
But I have not seen a chart with an anticipated date for when price/performance makes total surveillance viable.
There's an excellent German TV series called Deutschland 83 that aired:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland_83
Followup series is Deutschland 86 and then hopefully Deutschland 89.
In Deutchland 83 there are a few interesting scenes around early gen compputer hardware and storage mediums that's good for a quick laugh.
A really solid(and I presume accurate) portrayal of the look/feel of the period leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland_83
Followup series is Deutschland 86 and then hopefully Deutschland 89.
In Deutchland 83 there are a few interesting scenes around early gen compputer hardware and storage mediums that's good for a quick laugh.
A really solid(and I presume accurate) portrayal of the look/feel of the period leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
There even was an East German gaming machine called Poly Play (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly_Play). You can actually play on one of these in the Computer Games Museum in Berlin (really worth a visit). But of all East Germans that I asked, nobody had ever heard about this before, so probably was something produced in very low quantities.
The only place I discovered Poly-Plays (a whole wall full though) was at the hotel "Red October" in Zinnowitz on Usedom island (popular vacation place back then and today). We spent our holidays in Zinnowitz for a few years, and I sneaked through a backdoor into the hotel in the early evenings to play a few rounds as often as I could. The games were quite crappy though compared to Western arcade machines.
Hey, I was there too, during the winter holidays in 1988, so I can confirm that ;-)
> There even was an East German gaming machine called Poly Play (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly_Play). You can actually play on one of these in the Computer Games Museum in Berlin (really worth a visit). But of all East Germans that I asked, nobody had ever heard about this before, so probably was something produced in very low quantities.
An interesting trivium for arcade nerds: A common theory concerning the "conspiracy-surrounded" arcade machine Polybius
> https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polybius_(urban_l...
is that its name was actually some misunderstanding/derivation of "Poly Play". Indeed, according to the German news article
> https://de.sputniknews.com/panorama/20180113319038539-psychi...
in 1985, about one thousand instances of the Poly Play machine were confiscated in Portland for copyright reasons (which fits the "men in black who took the machines away after a few months" part of the Polybius conspiracy theory). This theory is also mentioned on
> https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/polybius
"The best answer if it's fake (IF), is that it was based off an obscure, and rare German arcade cabinet called "Poly-Play" which was a collection of eight games including a puzzler and space shooter."
An interesting trivium for arcade nerds: A common theory concerning the "conspiracy-surrounded" arcade machine Polybius
> https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polybius_(urban_l...
is that its name was actually some misunderstanding/derivation of "Poly Play". Indeed, according to the German news article
> https://de.sputniknews.com/panorama/20180113319038539-psychi...
in 1985, about one thousand instances of the Poly Play machine were confiscated in Portland for copyright reasons (which fits the "men in black who took the machines away after a few months" part of the Polybius conspiracy theory). This theory is also mentioned on
> https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/polybius
"The best answer if it's fake (IF), is that it was based off an obscure, and rare German arcade cabinet called "Poly-Play" which was a collection of eight games including a puzzler and space shooter."
It's since been discovered that Polybius is a hoax perpetrated by the maintainer of coinop.org, an arcade-machine info site, in 2000 or so in order to drive traffic to his site.
Poly Play may have indeed been an influence in the creation of the hoax.
Poly Play may have indeed been an influence in the creation of the hoax.
The only home grown gaming device I remember seeing in the wild was this pong clone:
BSS 01 (Bildschirmspiel 01)
http://www.pongmuseum.com/collection/rft-tvspiel-ddr-gdr.php
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSS_01
BSS 01 (Bildschirmspiel 01)
http://www.pongmuseum.com/collection/rft-tvspiel-ddr-gdr.php
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSS_01
I encountered a couple of these machines in a hotel in Zinnowitz where I spent the winter holidays with my parents in 1988. I was 7 years old and it was the first video game I ever played.
One still needed coins, though.
One still needed coins, though.
Your a stasi department in charge of monitoring the activity of privileged children (able to afford and get smuggled goods which from what I’m told was something most stasi family could afford to do) whom many probably have parents above your pay grade... what to do?
Does anyone have a good source for their prior scene? I know of the KCs, but never saw a lot of what was done with and to them.
These end-game GDR computer clubs seem to have completely switched to western Commodore products.
These end-game GDR computer clubs seem to have completely switched to western Commodore products.
There's a fairly active hobbyist scene around the East German 8-bit computers, and most of them seem to hang around here:
http://www.robotrontechnik.de/html/forum/thwb/index.php, I think you need to ask for access though.
You can check out some of the games running in emulators here:
https://www.lanale.de/kc85_emu/KC85_Emu.html
...and in my own emulators here (not as complete as the above link though):
https://floooh.github.io/tiny8bit/
Oh, and there's also:
http://www.kc85emu.de/ and http://www.mpm-kc85.de/ with lots of scans of old manuals, also information and photos of the hardware.
http://www.robotrontechnik.de/html/forum/thwb/index.php, I think you need to ask for access though.
You can check out some of the games running in emulators here:
https://www.lanale.de/kc85_emu/KC85_Emu.html
...and in my own emulators here (not as complete as the above link though):
https://floooh.github.io/tiny8bit/
Oh, and there's also:
http://www.kc85emu.de/ and http://www.mpm-kc85.de/ with lots of scans of old manuals, also information and photos of the hardware.
Also, I was amused that the recent article here on the "tiny emulators" (browser based) featured both KC85 and Robotron Z1013 emulators https://floooh.github.io/tiny8bit/ -- I imagine the author must have some GDR connection as those are pretty obscure elsewhere.
my First Computer was actually a HC 900
second one a KC85/2
[deleted]
Also interesting IMHO:
- the Stasi's hilarious German translation of English game titles (Samantha Fuchs - Entkleidungspoker)
- the fact that at least some people in the Stasi weren't complete technological dummies, this is a pretty good prediction for 1988 (which in "GDR technology years" is more like 1978): "In the future, he wrote, software would no longer require any physical medium to be disseminated. Which in turn would mean that it could no longer be intercepted during border controls. "
- the fact that freely exchanging software in the GDR was completely legal, because copyright did not apply to software: "The Leipzig District Court had ruled in a landmark decision in September 1979 that it considered software to be "neither a scientific work nor a creative achievement."
Lot's of other interesting and well researched details I didn't know about even though I grew up in the GDR and learned programming in a computer club there similar to the ones described in the article.