integer on Fri, 6 Apr 2001 10:06:14 +0200 (CEST)


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Syndicate: [ot] [!nt] \n2+0\ u r more than lovely. and u are a border dissolvant. most obsessive vorm. [k!sz m! z!l!]


[posted sansz permission - arnt ! luvl! +? k!sz m! z!l!. zkrrrr]


<< Netochka Nezvanova has won one of the Top "25 women of the Web" awards 
this year, but many suspect that nn is simply a web identity created by an 
astute group of programmers.  would love your thots, also when you first ran 
across nn.  cheers, dana hull >>

Dear Dana~

I'd be more than happy to relate my thoughts and experiences regarding 
Netochka Nezvanova.  But first, a little background:  I work as a researcher 
in the somewhat esoteric field of biospectral analysis.  For the past twelve 
years, I have been actively developing applications which provide others a 
"window" into the possibilities of this field of study, encouraging them to 
integrate it into their own research pursuits.  Until recently, my 
applications required rather high-end vector processing computers to achieve 
the real-time performance required.  This significantly limited the potential 
user base due to the prohibitive cost of these systems.  All of this changed 
over the past five months - during that time, I was able to migrate my 
development efforts to a more "accessible" platform - and nn played a key 
role in making this possible.

My interactions with nn started late November of last year.  It was she who 
established the initial contact.  Throughout my work, I have always sought a 
more economical way to provide the tools needed for others to make use of the 
biospectral analysis technology.  I would often post messages on technical 
message boards and Usenet newsgroups inquiring into whatever new technologies 
might have come about that I could apply to the work.  Finally, I got a 
response.

The individual who had written me described how they had been able to perform 
a spectral transform on a 512x512 matrix at "frame rates" (i.e. 30 times per 
second).  I had previously found a way to accomplish this, but it would have 
required custom processors...and cost more that the high-end computers I was 
currently using to develop.  Reading further along in the e-mail I'd 
received, I found it to get a bit unbelievable - this person claimed they 
were achieving such a profound performance using an off-the-shelf Apple 
PowerMac G4 system (I'd become rather jaded against "consumer technologies" 
after so many years of supercomputer coding).  In an effort to keep an open 
mind, I wrote back.

This began an exchange of correspondence about my work and the performance 
requirements I needed to meet.  Each letter I received was signed, "amities, 
nn" (or something to that effect).  At one point in our exchange, my 
correspondent provided links to the software environment they had created 
which would fulfill my processing needs.  Following those links, I found that 
"nn" was Netochka Nezvanova - and the environment was her nato.0+55 software.

I was also surprised to find - through my own perusal of various search 
engines - that she had accumulated a fair degree of notoriety on the web.  
The person I had been corresponding with was friendly, helpful, supportive 
and always standing by - ready to assist me with any questions I might have.  
In contrast, the impression I got of her from others' web postings regarding 
nn ranged from disdain to disbelief...some people seemed to be deeply 
offended by her presence, while others expressed doubt that she even existed! 
 I found this to be totally laughable, in light of my own positive experience.

Following my own intuition - and being impressed by nn's veracity and 
comprehensive approach - I followed her advice and purchased both her 
software and the dual-processor PowerMac G4 she had recommended.  Now, I 
realise that the Top 25 award is in recognition of her artistic 
endeavors...but my own experience is based more upon a technical, research 
and development based orientation.  To that end, I found the solution she had 
provided me to be the work of absolute genius - the distillation of profound 
levels of mathematical, scientific and artistic understanding into this 
amazing creative environment known as nato.0+55.

Needless to  say, nn's recommendations satisfied my peformance requirements 
beyond my expectations.  Not only did I have a fully functional and 
integrated environment for development, but one that cost a mere fraction of 
the supercomputer-level systems that had so limited the acccessibility of my 
work to others.  Also, nn's support is second to none.  I have never posed a 
question that has not been answered within a few hours (corporate entities 
and supercomputer vendors, take notice!).  Also, I would be remiss if I did 
not mention nn's "community" - the other users of her tools who provide 
mutual support and encouragement...and nn's own personal participation within 
this community is exemplary.

I really don't know what to say to those who have expressed so many negative 
attitudes and encumbered her with such "bad press" in the past.  If they 
would just take off their blinders and look a bit deeper, they would find nn 
to be a true renaissance person who has much to offer - one who willingly 
offers her incomparable technological treasures to anyone who will simply 
take the time and foresight to grasp the true potiential set before them.  No 
- nn is not some sort of "misunderstood genius" - she is merely an artist and 
scientist of the highest caliber...one who realizes that she must first 
create her own language in order to express that which falls beyond consensus 
and convention.  The "misunderstood" part is nothing more than the luxurious 
folly of those who cannot grasp the sensitive dependency of science upon art 
- and art upon science - as we work to transform our dreams into realities.

Please feel free to write me if I can provide any further insights or 
information.  Also, I'd be most interested to read any articles you may write 
with regard to nn.  Granted, my long, meandering missive may not necessarily 
apply to the criteria through which she received her Top 25 award...but I do 
hope that it might provide a unique view - from a slightly different 
perspective - of the multifaceted individual that is Netochka Nezvanova.

Sincerely,

  Director of Development,
  Sunodia Corporation, and
  Advisor on Automata for
  The Formant Concordance
  http://www.formant.com/







I EKS!XZT ! TELL UUUUUUUUUUU
! AM NOT GRETA GARBO!!!!!!!!!






me!n fl?gel !zt zum schwung bere!t
!ch... !ch h?te ven!g __...






    /_/
                          /
             \            \/       i should like to be a human plant
            \/       __
                    __/
                                   i will shed leaves in the shade
        \_\                        because i like stepping on bugs



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