Paco Nathan

Paco Nathan (born 1962) is a computer scientist, author, and performance art show producer from San Luis Obispo, California, who established much of his career in Austin, Texas.

He studied mathematics and computer science at Stanford University, specializing in UI design and AI, with Doug Lenat as graduate advisor.He received a teaching fellowship during 1984-1986, under the direction of Stuart Reges, to create a course called "CS1E", as a peer-teaching introduction to using the Internet, informally called "PCs for Poets". It has since grown to become the popular [http://rescomp.stanford.edu Residential Computing] program on campus.Stanford University. [http://rescomp.stanford.edu/about/history/#1984 "History of Residential Computing"] ."stanford.edu"]

Nathan collaborated with Robby Garner on one of the first web chatterbots, named "Barry DeFacto", in 1995.L. Caputo, R. Garner, P. Nathan. [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=304915 "FRED, Milton and Barry: the evolution of intelligent agents for the Web"] , Advances in intelligent systems, 1997."portal.acm.org"] The two have worked together on several related projects, including the JFRED
open source project for developing Java-based chat bots. They used "JFRED" in BBC Television's "Tomorrow's World MegaLab Experiment" and attained a 17% Turing percentage during what was the largest online Turing test at the time.Roger Highfield. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1998/03/21/nmega21.html "Megalab 98: Thousands are taken in by robotic patter"] ,Telegraph UK, 1998-03-21."telegraph.co.uk"]

He was a co-founder (with Jon Lebkowsky) and president of FringeWare, Inc., and the editor of FringeWare Review. FringeWare, founded in 1992, was one of the early commercial sites on the Internet.Scot Casey. [http://www.laughingbone.com/fringewareephemera "FringeWare Chronology"] , Laughing Bone, 2007. "laughingbone.com"] It experimented with mixing subcultural analysis and ecommerce, hence the name "fringe" + "ware".Robert H. Reid. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0471171875&id=tG2iBKGZejoC&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=fringeware&sig=vV1kGD7iq3zp5T50CsiYJk2Yz3k Architects of the Web: 1000 Days That Built the Futures of Business] , 1997, p.175. "books.google.com"] Through work at FringeWare in support of small press publishers and fringe subcultures, Nathan also helped produce a series of performance art shows during 1997-1999, including events for Robert Anton Wilson,Ivan Stang. [http://www.subgenius.com/bigfist/fun/devivals/RaW-Austin/RAW-AustinTN/RaW-AustinTN.html "'BOB' and POPE BOB (aka Robert Anton Wilson) IN AUSTIN"] , 1998-12-06."subgenius.com"] P. Nathan. [http://www.subgenius.com/updates/X0002_EVENT_-_Robert_Anton.html Robert Anton Wilson / Conspiracy Tour of Texas 1998] , 1998-11-13."subgenius.com"]
Survival Research Laboratories,Ivan Stang. [http://www.ibiblio.org/subgenius/hellsgate/RIOT_AT_SRL_SHOW.html "RIOT AT SRL SHOW!!"] , 1998-03-28."ibiblio.org"] P. Nathan. [http://www.ibiblio.org/subgenius/hellsgate/SRLshow2_.html "SRL show follow-up"] , 1998-03-31."ibiblio.org"]
Church of the Subgenius,
RTMark, and Negativland. FringeWare was later used as a pattern for part of the organization of the Viridian design movement.

Nathan has written for several other publications including O'Reilly Net,P. Nathan, [http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/1927 "What Countermeasures Really Means"] ,O'Reilly Net, 2004-09-03. "oreillynet.com"]
Wired magazine, Whole Earth Review, Mondo 2000, and was a contributing editor for Boing Boing during the early 1990s.His first article for Mondo 2000 about the [http://www.ibva.com IBVA] brainwave interface system was credited as inspiration for the song "Hi-Tech Hippies" by Yellow Magic Orchestra. [http://www.ibva.com/html/core.htm The IBVA Core System] "ibva.com"] P. Nathan."Be-It-Yourself Tech: IBVA" Mondo 2000, No.7, pp.24-26, 1992.] YMO. "Hi-Tech Hippies", Technodon, track 5 (see liner notes), 1993.] Other popular writings have included a parody ("nEurorAncid") of the cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, [http://www.locusmag.com/index/s547.html "nEurorAncid"] , FringeWare Review, No.7, 1995."locusmag.com"] and court-room reporting on behalf of a newly-launched Wired magazine during the federal trial of
Steve Jackson Games v. US Secret Service.P. Nathan. [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.02/eword.html "Jackson Wins, Feds Lose"] , Wired magazine, No.1.02, 1993-05-01."wired.com"] P. Nathan. [http://www.2600.com/covers/sp931.gif"Secret Service on Trial"] , , Vol.10, No.1, p.18, 1993-05-01."2600.com"]

More recent work has focused on applying aspects of Systems Theory for computer network applications. Nathan led an engineering team at [http://symbiot.com Symbiot] to develop software for monitoring and visualizing risk metrics of complex network security systems.P. Nathan. [http://www.symbiot.com/pdf/SIMS_Evolution.pdf A Trajectory for the Evolution of SIMS Architecture] , 2003-12-19. "symbiot.com"] P. Nathan, M. Erwin. [http://www.symbiot.com/pdf/iwROE.pdf On the Rules of Engagement for Information Warfare] , 2004-03-04. "symbiot.com"] P. Nathan, W. Hurley. [http://www.symbiot.com/pdf/nerm.pdf Non-Equilibrium Risk Models in Enterprise Network Security] , 2004-11-28. "symbiot.com"] TTI Vanguard conference. [http://www.ttivanguard.com/miamireconn/ "Evolving Systems" papers] ,2005-07-12."ttivanguard.com"] That work received an Apple Design Award in 2004, was cited as a source for the United Nations "UNCTAD Information Economy Report" in 2005,United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. [http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/sdteecb20051ch5_en.pdf UNCTAD Information Economy Report] , ch.5, p.204, 2005."unctad.org"] and spun off as an open source project called [http://opensims.org OpenSIMS] . During his period at Symbiot, Nathan helped pioneer a controversial "hands on" college program in network security at Austin Community College, for which he received a NISOD Award for Teaching Excellence in 2003.Austin Community College bulletin, [http://www.austincc.edu/marketng/bulletin_board/eBBmay30.htm NISOD Award for Teaching Excellence 2003] , 2003-05-30. "austincc.edu"]

Some of the technology at Symbiot emerged from an earlier project created by Nathan, called "The Ceteri Institute", which used complex systems modeling to analyze aspects of transnational corporations.That effort followed from several years of writing, speaking, and political organizing on behalf of anti-corporate activism.National Labor Relations Board. [http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/Board%20Decisions/305/VOL305-069.pdf Motorola, Inc. and Citizens Advocating the Protection of Privacy and Paco Nathan] , Cases 16-CA-14661-1 and 16-CA-14661-2, 1991-11-12."nlrb.gov"] US Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. [http://www.vlex.us/caselaw/U-S-Court-Of-Appeals-Fifth-Circuit/N-L-R-B-v-Motorola-Inc/2100-18392426,01.html?z=07,recm_19970586 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner, v. MOTOROLA, INC., Respondent] , No. 92-4317, 1993-05-26."vlex.us"] Judy Malloy. [http://www.nyfa.org/current_archive/1998/cur111798.html "'BAG DAY' WILL PROTEST BARNES & NOBLE ON NOVEMBER 23"] , "Arts Wire", 1998-11-17. "nyfa.org"] RTMark. [http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9811/msg00036.html Nationwide Protest Against Barnes & Noble] , 1998-11-10."nettime.org"] During the period of 1999-2002, he summarized that material in a series of papers and lectures about Corporate Metabolism.P. Nathan. [http://www.tripzine.com/listing.php?id=corporate_metabolism "Corporate Metabolism"] , Tripzine, No.6; excerpted from Parallax View conference, 2000-10-22."tripzine.com"] P. Nathan. [http://www.scarletwoman.org/scarletletter/v6n1/v6n1_egregors.html "Chasing Egregors"] , The Scarlet Letter, Vol.6, No.1, 2001-03-18."scarletwoman.org"] P. Nathan. [http://www.incunabula.org/signum/Issue11/marrow/corporations/corporations1.html "The Corporate Body: Liber 118 U.S. 394"] ,Signum, No.11, 2001-08-01."incunabula.org"] P. Nathan. [http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0109/msg00162.html "Tracking top firms, WTC analysis"] , 2001-09-17.Results of that work were forwarded by author Bruce Sterling as a post-9/11 analysis."nettime.org"]

Paco Nathan currently works as the technical director for [http://headcaselabs.com HeadCase Humanufacturing] , combining previous experience in chat bots and ecommerce.P. Nathan. [http://blog.ceteri.org/2006/12/three-laws-of-avatarics.html Three Laws of Avatarics] , 2006-12-20."ceteri.org"] He sometimes writes online using the pseudonym "Hugo Junot".

Notes and references

ee also

* FringeWare Review
* Boing Boing
* Robby Garner
* Tiffany Lee Brown
* Wiley Wiggins
* Egregore
* FRED
* Cyberculture

External links

* [http://ceteri.org Paco Nathan blog ("Hugo Junot" alias)] "ceteri.org"
* [http://www.spock.com/Paco-Nathan Spock profile] "spock.com"
* [http://www.laughingbone.com/fringewareephemera FringeWare Chronology] "laughingbone.com"
* [http://homepage.mac.com/rgarner1/JFRED/ JFRED open source project] "mac.com"
* [http://www.srl.org/shows/austin/ Austin SRL 1997 show archive] "srl.org"
* [http://web.archive.org/web/*/fringeware.com FringeWare content archives] "web.archive.org"
* [http://opensims.org OpenSIMS open source project] "sourceforge.net"
* [http://headcaselabs.com HeadCase Humanufacturing home page] "headcaselabs.com"
* [http://claimid.com/ceteri ClaimID verified web pages] "claimid.com"