A Gift from the Culture
"A Gift from the Culture", published in 1987, is a short work of space opera, by the Scottish science fiction author Iain M. Banks. The story is an early venture into the "complex and unusual and very distant" setting of the Culture, which Banks would further develop through various of full length novels, stories, and his essay "A Few Notes on the Culture".
The Thing (art project)
In 1991, The Thing began as a Bulletin Board System (BBS) focusing on contemporary art and cultural theory. In 1990, the writer and critic Blackhawk (having recently produced the film "Cyberpunk") taught Wolfgang Staehle many of the abilities he needed to start the original The Thing BBS. Blackhawk was the first person Staehle turned to after conceiving the idea for an electronic culture resource based on the model of Joseph Beuys's "Social sculpture". Blackhawk and Wolfgang jointly set up the editorial structure of the original BBS and planned for many of the then experimental activities that took place. Other people who helped develop and shape the content of the early BBS included Josefina Ayerza, Dike Blair, Donald Newman, the original programmer, Jordan Crandall, David Platzker, Josh Decter, Rainer Ganahl, Julia Scher, Barry Schwabsky, Morgan Garwood, Franz von Stauffenberg and Benjamin Weil.