Site Manifesto
Since taking over the administration of this site all I’ve concentrated on has been making sure that there has been a semi-consistent stream of PKD news. This is not all that I intended for the site but I decided to start and build it gradually like Seth Goden Advises in Poke the Box
My intention has always been to create an online resource just like the first version of philipkdick.com was before 2003. I remember frequently going to that site and spending time looking through it. There isn’t a resource like that for Philip K. Dick right now so I decided. I would provide a permanent site that a new fan or a long time fan can check back in with regularly and see something new.
In addition to that goal, I would like to create a repository of digital content about Philip K Dick including online articles, journals and web sites. What I have attempted to create on my home computer is a folder where I save all the PKD related content, articles, web pages, journals, etc so that I had that resource but I have had trouble with organizing the content and being able to find and save everything and been unsure of the format. Without talking to the webmaster, I was unable to save an entire site in the correct format and it would be extremely time consuming. Especially large sites like the old philipkdick.com site.
Maintaining this repository or mirror site if you will brings up several issues that I have thought through and made a decision on (at least for the time being):
- When do you pull or grab the content?: I decided that I would only pull completed content that is published at a certain time and will never change. Online articles/journalism, journals, fanzines or completed web sites just before being sunset (2010 Philip K Dick Festival site when the next festival planning begins, for example) Blogs won’t be archived because the content is rotating and the wiki pages won’t be archived because they are constantly changing.
- How long to store the content?: My plan right now is to permanently store the content in the philipdick.com site. A structure has been created to house the content on the web server. I have concerns about size but I decided to see how it goes and adjust later if needed.
- How to store it?: Web sites will need to be copied over in their entirety through ftp or other means, articles will be made into pdf files, and journals hopefully are already in pdf format and will only need to be copied to the site.
- Copyright concerns?: If the copyright owner contacts philipkdickfans[at]gmail[dot]com requesting the content removed, it will be. The goal with the repository is not to violate copyright or make money off of another’s work but to provide ubiquitous access central reliable consistent content so that scholarship especially is not lost.
I heard the social media discussions about finding the old philipkdick.com site in the archive.org site and I would like to avoid having to use measures such as that to preserve content and scholarship. Recently, blogs have been an attempt to keep content long term on the Internet but there have been some of the same issues cropping up like rotting sites and a difficulty moving the content from a serial format to a static format or structure.
Update: I’ve decided that I would not focus on collecting the news items that seem to be coming out daily now in favor of scholarly or criticism work because, frankly, of time constraints and I have been beginning to rethink my initial stance on the news category.
If you have any questions, comments or complaints you don’t want seen in a comment on the site, please email philipkdickfans[at]gmail[dot]com.
MR Fisher 😉 Been wanting to say, THANK YOU!! The fan site is linked to my web site, and it’s so great to see it back in business. Probably best to use Fbook for our posting place, right? Most everyone that wants to post does it over there. And Cal’s mail list can continue on, in the fine tradition that it is.
Thank you, Michael!! you are waaaaaay to modest. I don’t see even one mention of your name here. Really, bless you for keeping this alive!! *** jami
I happen to see a question about contacting Greg Lee in the Facebook social plugin. jami, those wretched things are the only contact *many* people have with Facebook and consider it excessive interaction. Fans of Facebook really seem to lose sight of how greatly it is disliked or shunned by a sizeable chunk of the population who aren’t using it. You don’t read us posting about this on Facebook for the obvious reason.
Concerning Radio Free PKD, I was involved with that from before the first issue was published and I asked Greg about taking over a couple years ago which he agreed to. Not that I’ve actually done anything with it since then either in making paper back issues available or creating new ones. Posting back issues on the internet is not possible for copyright reasons but contributers hold the copyright to their individual contributions and can give you permission to use those if you can track them down and they agree. It’s hard to say how much of the material will stand alone. I believe I have a current email address for Greg and a number of other people. You (Michael Fisher?) can contact me at the email address I used in the Mail field for submitting this comment.
David K- Thanks for the offer but someone else has already taken care of that for me.
This might be of interest to PKD fans, although I’m not sure whether people outside the UK can actually access the program.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017wyyc
A podcast of the programme is also available for download, although again I’m not sure about non-UK access to this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/greatlives
Interesting stuff, although some of the information given is slightly inaccurate.
You are doing a great job. What is your take on the Exegesis?
I’m not 100% sure what you mean in your question. I’m glad they published it but I haven’t had a chance to dig into it yet. I’ve been spending a lot of my time getting the site up and adding the old site’s content to it along with new content. Does that answer your question?
I would say, so far so good, Michael. You deserve kudos and accolades. And I wouldn’t worry at all about the daily spewing out of scholarly or criticism work. It’s pretty much one sides anyways, written in dense layers of obfuscatory fog, and has little to actually do with Philip K. Dick. Much more about promoting themselves for publish-or-perish points and/or tenure tokens!!!
Has someone come up with a list of the PKD books and stories he refers to throughout The Exegesis. I’ve read all of his books, pretty much as they appeared, even the recent mainstream overdue fine novels, but far less of the short stories. I am asking because I would like to tell my less avid readers which are the “must reads first” before taking on The Exegesis. Some are obvious, some less so.
Rev Allen, if you turn to page 943 of the recently published Exegesis you’ll find a Works Index of the PKD novels and stories you seek. Names of People are in a seperate index.
This animation is made of 3285 aquarelle paintings and form the very beginning of my paraphrase on the motion picture Blade Runner (1982) by Ridley Scott.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiPNMTKgn0Q
A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR US TEMPUNAUTS:
I was wondering if you could help me, it is about this short story. I am doing my MA dissertation about Philip K Dick, and this story is a little problem. Namely, can you tell me, in your opinion (whoever you are, I am sure you know it better than me :)) what should I write about the landscape of moral choices in this story? On the surface, it is very clear, but I think there something more to it, about their morality and the choices the tempunauts made.. Any help is welcome.. Thank You very much, I will look forward to your answer
Milica Kocovic
How come there is no mention of Philip’s part time job earlier in his life with Trader Joe’s? I think it adds an interesting spectrum to his life.
The father thing is the first pkd I ever read and it was in an English lit book I was assigned or acquired – my family could never resist a good used school book sale – when I was about 10….that story was so vivid and scary I would hide the book after I read the story before I went to bed…I loved it and it terrified me…any way I’m trying to figure out the name of the lit book because it had some other great short stories and poems that I doubt they’d ever assign a 12 year old these days – sorry I love Harry potter but the father thing is a whole different level of darkness…any help would be so appreciated…thanks..
Can I follow this site on my G+. Also to donate I have no credit cards will you accept money orders. Finally are you connected with http://www.philipkdick.com. Excellent sites both of these
Mr. Koornick I know how this may sound, but i believe that i may have some connection to, or possibly have the spirit of Mr. Dick. There are too many similarities to list but i was born in 1982 and I’ve had unexplained visions. There aren’t a lot of people i can tell because they will question my sanity, but if you believe me i would really appreciate the help. Thanks
We have also created a new PKD community called “PKD’s Eisegesis” at lithive.com and are seeking volunteers to help with administration.
http://lithive.com/hives/24
Hello!
Not new to PKD but far from an expert. I noticed that occasionally Andrew Wiley is credited as a co author on Dr Futurity, but he isn’t on the original copies I’ve seen. Is there two versions of this novel?
Hi, Anyone out there a writer? Looking for a collaborator on a movie idea I have about melding new gnostic literature with VALIS. I have strong Hollywood production connections : )
Hi! I’m a university student and I need to buy or download a copy of the book Do the Androids sleep with electric sheep? and I need a good edition, Could you please say me what is the best one? I was thinking about Penguin editions but I’m not sure… if there is one better, I’d like to acquire it. It is for an important work that I have to do
dear hive mind,
does anyone know the title of a Philip K. Dick story in which the character thinks he is playing a game like a crossword puzzle, but is actually fighting a war with aliens?
Brilllant work, Michael. ESP should fund you. Can I plug my PKD/BR post here? Fans, like me, of Sheep and Blade Runner, may wonder what Dick knew about the film-in-progress, and what he thought of it. My new blogpost (https://soothfairy.com/2022/09/16/what-did-philip-k-dick-think-of-blade-runner) covers Dick’s views on an early screenplay, the screenplay rewrite, and the pre-release shots he saw. I know this is addressed elsewhere, but my post is… best.
How about a search function?