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| '''Jorn Barger''' (born ] in ]) is a ] ], best known today as editor of ''Robot Wisdom'', an influential early ]. Barger ] ''weblog'' to describe the process of "logging the ]" as he surfed. | |||
| == Biography == | |||
| Barger's first computer in 1964 was one of the first programmable digital computers available, a ] designed by ] and advertised in '']''. | |||
| In high school Barger specialized in math and science, but also read ] and ]. Before graduating (a year early, as ]), he decided his life's goal would be to solve the riddles of the human psyche. He spent the first half of the ] rejecting traditional approaches to psychology, one by one, with ] providing the ultimate rationale for a pathless approach. | |||
| In the late 1970s, he developed a new methodology that demanded hypotheses be expressed as computer simulations, and that the simulations be refined by analyzing literary descriptions of human behavior. He called this method ], or "Robot Wisdom." Around ] he lived for a time at ], ]'s ] in ]. | |||
| In ] he discovered a set of ] that could be combined to describe hundreds of nuances in human behavior. He called this system "Anti-Math." In the early ] he compiled a database of behavioral nuances in the form of a long poem called "Brainfeathers," and then discovered that the basic structure of the poem was identical with Joyce's '']''. | |||
| During the first half of the ] he programmed games and educational software for the ], the ], and the ]. | |||
| Barger is an expert on ] and ] (AI). His resources on James Joyce are extensive and are referenced in academic websites. He has referred to Joyce as an early pioneer of artificial intelligence and as the master of descriptive psychology. At one time Barger worked at ]'s Institute for the Learning Sciences under the leading AI researcher ], eventually departing over philosophical differences. | |||
| An active participant in ] during the ], he wrote early ] on ], ], ], and ]. In ] he formulated an "Inverse Law of ] Bandwidth": "The more interesting your life becomes, the less you post... and vice versa." | |||
| == Weblog == | |||
| On ], ], Barger began posting short comments and links on his own ''Robot Wisdom'' website, thus pioneering the "weblog" as it is known today. His site soon included interlinked weblog sections titled "Fun," "Art," "Issues," "Net," "Tech," "Science," "History," "Search," and "Shop." | |||
| One of the first weblog controversies revolved around his political comments and the wording of his weblog's headlines linking to articles concerning the history of ], policies of ], and the ]. Some participants in a 1997 Web forum discussion Barger moderated on these issues accused him of ] and ]. | |||
| By ] he felt he had exhausted the formal possibilities of weblogs, and began instead to explore the ] format, annotating each timeline entry with a link to a relevant resource. Meanwhile ''Robot Wisdom'' was evolving to include information and essays on James Joyce, AI, history, Internet culture, hypertext design, and technology trends, among the topics Barger covered. Announcements of plans for a future "hardcopy edition" of ''Robot Wisdom'' for purchase began appearing at the foot of some of the site's pages. | |||
| He occasionally posted comments about trying to find types of employment that did not conflict with his philosophical ideals. The maxim "You can't serve God ''and'' Mammon" appeared at the top of his "issues.literate" weblog section. By December 2001, he was experiencing financial difficulties that he announced would cause an interruption in keeping ''Robot Wisdom'' online. Before taking the weblog offline a couple of months, he posted comments mentioning an interest in employment by telecommute but noting his philosophical concerns: "I have a gigantic psychological block against Mammon-in-general, and no longterm ideas how to overcome it. Alternative currency? Retreat to a cave?" | |||
| Previously a longtime resident of the ] neighborhood in ], Barger was living in ] as of late ]. Several bloggers initiated an outpouring of concern and speculation in December 2003 when Barger had not been seen online for some months. However, Barger had been known to take unexplained absences from the Internet before, and his departure turned out again to be temporary; ''Robot Wisdom'' returned in February ]. | |||
| In a July 2005 ] item, writer ] reported encountering a "homeless and broke" Barger walking with a mutual friend in ]. The article said that Barger, "living on less than a dollar a day," had allowed his weblog's domain registration to lapse, but that Boutin found ''Robot Wisdom'' back online a few weeks later. Boutin claimed in the story that upon subsequently meeting him at a pub, Barger told him that the previous time they had met he had been carrying a ] sign he had not shown him. Barger reportedly told him the sign had read, "Coined the term 'weblog', never made a dime." Barger has since said that the Boutin article was mostly "fiction." For his part, Boutin published a clarification in his own weblog, saying the headline ''Wired'' had chosen might have misled readers into thinking Barger was "living on the street," rather than staying with friends. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| * Barger, Jorn (], ]). ''Robotwisdom.com''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Barger, Jorn (March 2002). ''Robotwisdom.com''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Barger, Jorn (March 2005). ''Robotwisdom.com''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Barger, Jorn (]–], ]). ''Robotwisdom.com''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Barger, Jorn. ''Robotwisdom.com''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Barger, Jorn (May 2001). ''Robotwisdom.com''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Barger, Jorn, ed. (], ]–], ]). ''Robot Wisdom forum discussion at Greenspun.com''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Barger, Jorn. (December 2000). ''Robotwisdom.com''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Barger, Jorn. (], ]). ''Robotwisdom.com''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Battey, Jim (], ]). ''InfoWorld''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * ''] discussion'' (], ]). Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Boutin, Paul (], ]). ''Paul Boutin blog''. Retrieved Jul. 14, 2005. | |||
| * Boutin, Paul (July 2005). ''Wired magazine issue 13.07''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Bunn, Austin (]–], ]). ''The Village Voice''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Carnell, Brian (], ]). ''Brian.Carnell.Com weblog''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Carnell, Brian (], ]. ''Brian.Carnell.Com weblog''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Dibbell, Julian (], ]). ''Feed magazine''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * ''MetaFilter discussion'' (], ]). Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Kahney, Leander (], ]). ''Wired News''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Orlowski, Andrew (], ]). ''The Register''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Power, Max (] ]). ''The Sound and Fury blog''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Rhodes, John S. (], ]). ''Webword.com''. Article temporarily offline Jul. 12, 2005; author states will return online within two weeks. | |||
| * Rosenberg, Scott (], ]). ''Salon.com''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
| * Safire, William (], ]). . ''The New York Times Magazine''. Retrieved Jul. 12, 2005. | |||
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