# xsy as a research spaces for big scientists
an experimental garme space sim / research play-state / virtual concept of "xsy" in / for use in experimental postmodern (alien) fiction (v1.1): an attempt to update the model of "literary freeware" as envisioned by bruce sterling while also fusing in the "condensed novels" of j.g. ballard
one idea behind the simple practice of renaming .txt files '.xsy' - for example when coding neuropink - is envisioning the equivalent of a imaginary / theoretical digital currency or 'units of (neo) cultural exchange' for an imaginary overground literature scene that deals with a 'visionary present' (rather than 'futuristic futures')
unlike the standard concept of currency however there's no sense of greasy 'exchange' - even andor especially symbolic exchange (though perhaps exchange of any kind is always symbolic)
rather these 'dataspaces' andor social processes (rather than strictly files) - circulate themselves; ir 'exchange' seems more like that of free ions over a synaptic cleft - a form of internal auto-cognitive packet switching
consider xsy as abstract zero point language / 'reality code' quanta - autonomous node based neural research settings scenes / scenarios / simulations
these synthetic set-ups form the basis of free (libre) improvisational performances involving heuristic strategy tests against uncertain (near-future now) developments in which researchers / players of big science analyze impossible primordial irrealities / events by considering (event-b) alternative extremely im.probable outcomes"
list of conceptual ingredients for xsy
**+** the live / 'always-on' experience of online (artificial) life / of being 'in-scene'
**+** smallest semantically meaningful chunks
**+** flatland / holographic principle
**+** literary freeware: 'humalien' language as open pseudocode
**+** quantum biology / digital physics - "it from bit"
**+** describing world volume fields / manifolds of branes
**+** the exploration of folderworld
.xsy example style guide
consider .xsy as plain text neural freeze frames with the serial numbers filed off
**+** each .xsy arbitrarily small in size (kb)
**+** all lowercase text - replaces the idea of a 'clear' "start middle and end" with 'being in media rez'; the idea is to engage with questions of professionalism authorship and authenticity
**+** short paragraphs reduce chatty verbiage fewer metaphors or similes; more like code / machine poetry
**+** remove full stops and commas - use en dashes (-)
**+** remove single or double quote marks - speech not treated differently
**+** use an extended version of e-prime called "magic e": in which all subjects - "i" "me" "we" "they" "them" "ir" "us" "our" etc. are replaced with lowercase "e": the idea being to 'flatten out' the text space even further as well as re-disassociate away from standard embedded cultural concepts of identity
**+** avoid the word the or like
**+** avoid this or that - use 'x'
**+** prefer present tense and gender neural 'hir'
**+** avoid articles 'a' 'an' 'the' and replace 'it' 'its' with lowercase 'n' - processes rather than things
**+** more about attention and ambience
**+** read / play .xsy in nonlinear fashion
**+** remove most forms of "to be" "-ing" " -ly" and passive voice
**+** say something concrete; hyper-specificity
**+** evoke plain language style
**+** make more strange / slightly less boring
**+** rewrite what sounds like writing
online responses to .xsy
from random fragments found online regarding 'xsy'
**+** "a virtually unknown format in any case very baroque - distrust max!"
**+** "is a file format for software x"
**+** "the symbols are intended to be inserted into a pattern.."
**+** "a text document with electrical schematics and piping"
ted striphas john sundman: some have suggested that the age of the long form novel is nearing an end and that shorter strung-together narrative chunks represent the future. how would you respond to this claim?
> i'd suggest trying to imagine somebody in the year 2062 sitting down to read "the best tweets of 2012." does that prospect sound at all plausible to you? i'm a blogger and i'm very keen on randomly-assembled narrative chunks but i've always known that blog content has a short shelf-life. it's like doing stand-up comedy
> ~ bruce sterling
**update patch** 1
consider the idea of "#bitlit"
// republic of bob