Date sent: Sun, 28 Apr 96 03:39 MDT
To: nettime-l@desk.nl
From: Pit Schultz
Subject: nettime: tech: man pshift
Send reply to: nettime-t@mail.thing.at

from: boris@well.com
>>Date: Wed, 17 Jan 96 16:52 PST
>>From: Randy Bush

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.