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FW: pshift - paradigm shift utility (fwd)
Bosley_J (BosleyJ@ORE.PSB.BLS.GOV)
Tue, 14 Nov 1995 11:15:00 EST
Dear colleagues;
I have collected quite a variety of friends while following a totally
non-linear
career path of over 30 years, but few as bright and funny as Dave Staudt of
NSF. I think that this piece is one of the funniest parodies of *both* pop
sociology/philosphy and of computer science (UNIX, specifically) that I've
ever read. The only "fault" I could find was that the Options didn't include
a variable named [wweltanschaaung] ;-)
John Bosley
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From: dstaudt
To: BosleyJ
Subject: pshift - paradigm shift utility (fwd)
Date: Monday, October 16, 1995 12:03PM
John - thought you might get something out of this. Dave
>From pchu@auspex.Com Wed Oct 11 12:37:59 1995
Subject: pshift - paradigm shift utility (fwd)
Forwarded message:
>
> PSHIFT(1) USER COMMANDS PSHIFT(1)
>
> NAME
> pshift - paradigm shift utility
>
> SYNOPSIS
> pshift [-zzeitgeist] [-rragelev] [-v] [-c] [-wn] [+|-n]
>
> DESCRIPTION
> The pshift operator performs a paradigm shift on its input stream
> within the context of the current or specified zeitgeist.
>
> OPTIONS
> -z Specify the zeitgeist context. May be specified here or
from
> the environment variable $ZEITGEIST.
>
> Supported values of zeitgeist are judeo_christian (default),
> postcommunist, new_age, and when_god_was_a_woman.
>
> -r Specify rage level. Acceptable values of ragelev are
> ennui (default), deep_seated, and consuming.
>
> -v Set to verbose mode. Normally pshift operates silently; in
> verbose mode it publishes a 500+ page bestseller entitled
> "Rethinking [input stream] in the [zeitgeist] Age", and then
> begins soliciting honoraria until the operator types ctrl-c.
> On some systems it runs for Congress.
>
> -c Set to collective IO. Normally pshift takes its input from
> stdin and outputs to stdout; in collective mode it takes
its
> input from the Collective Unconscious and writes to the Body
> Politic.
>
> -wn Specify first, second, third or fourth wave. Acceptable
> values for n are 0,1,2 or 3, with 2 (third wave) being the
> default.
>
> [On Sun systems, the logical waves are 0,3,2,1, which map to
> physical waves 0,1,2,3; see Sun Technical Manual for
details.]
>
> +|-n Specifies the number of times to prepend 'post' to the
> zeitgeist context, if positive, or 'pre' if negative.
> The default is 11.
>
> EXAMPLES
>
> source $DEITY | pshift -zpostcommunist -rdeep_seated -v +1
>
> On most systems, the above command will output a hardcover volume
> called "Rethinking God in the Post-Postcommunist Era", in which
> the irrelevence of erstwhile religious concepts is seen to have
> triggered a global, deep-seated rage vis-a-vis traditional
> sociopolitical norms leading to a premature breakdown of emerging
> postsoviet infrastructure.
>
> pshift -znew_age -rennui
>
> The above command produces no output, but privately processes a
> vague discontent which it will share if its space is honored.
> May be redirected to /dev/null.
>
> pshift -c -w3 -1
>
> Taking its input from the collective unconscious, the above
> command rejects the failed socioeconomic policies of the last
> thirty years and replaces them with a futurist, fourth wave
> polemic of traditional values, the two-parent family, and the
> supremacy of the private sector that was the foundation of the
> American utopia of the 1950s. Use a prepend value of -2 to
> restore the American utopia of the early Industrial Age, a value
> of -3 to restore the European utopia of the Enlightenment, -4 for
> catholic hegemony, etc. (note: Requires grass root permission.
> In verbose mode, it may also require a $4 million advance.)
>
> SEE ALSO
> backlash(1)
>
> BUGS
> You must have root permission to use consuming rage.
>
> AUTHOR
> Robert Drucker (robert@ocean.washington.edu)
> copyright 1995 Robert Drucker.
> Robert Drucker is a trademark of Robert Drucker.
>
>
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