essay

New com tech essay- Cyberspace

The idea of the internet as cyberspace has been a part of our contemporary culture for some time, particularly in the popular medium of film. But is the concept of cyberspace still relevant to our contemporary society? Discuss with reference to your own experience of contemporary media.


The term cyberspace itself can be difficult to define. For some people it can refer to all facets of computers. Most definitions define it as the complete virtual world of computing devices. Parts of cyberspace could be data on a computer or information that is sent across the internet.
The term cyberspace was used in a novel by William Gibson called "Necromancer". This was a science fiction novel about the future which described the idea of a cyberspace.

Cyberspace refers to the nonphysical environment created by joined computers interpenetrating on a network. In cyberspace, computer operators interact in ways similar to the real world, except cyberspace interaction does not require physical movement beyond typing. Information can be exchanged in real time or delayed time, and people can shop, share, explore, research, work or play.

The internet is the largest part of cyberspace that exists at present. It contains the world wide web which allows millions of people to exchange and find information on virtually any subject. All forms of media including music video and text can be viewed and shared in personal websites and forums.

The whole notion of virtual reality is a large facet of cyberspace that has been used in contemporary society. In Kevin Rogers article he argues the idea of cyberspace and virtual reality. He puts forward the idea that the world of the future will be a better place then the contemporary society that we live in. The writer talks about the notion of utopia and the world of the future. The argument states that cyberspace may be relevant in our society because it presents the idea of a virtual reality and for people to create new lives or to live there dreams and fantasy's.( Cyberspace and the World We Live In, Kevin Robins)

To create a virtual world a number of things need to be taken into account. Kouichi Matsuda puts forward a number of ideas and arguments in an intriguing article. It is argued that certain aspects of the world must be evaluated and used in a virtual world and it must contain a large population. It go on to talk about the possibility of this virtual world and the issues it may cause. These issues may be in the world itself or in real life. When these issues breach the barriers of the virtual world and flow into the real world the flaws in the idea and the system can be seen. Others may argue that this is the aim of a virtual world. To be so real that it can affect people’s ideals and emotions within the real world. (Culture formation and its issues in personal agent-oriented virtual society. By Kouichi Matsuda)


The Movie "The Matrix" uses this idea

Cyberspace can be seen as something made to give people an idea of normal world and hides the truth of how the world really is from all. Everyone must play by the rules because the people within the matrix believe that this cyberspace is real. If someone is brought outside the matrix they can realise that it is just a software creation or a virtual world. This allows users to bend the rules of the society and to do things that others perceive they cannot do. An example of this in the matrix is when one of the main characters neo learns to dodge bullets which is seen as impossible to others as they believe there cyber world is the same to a real world. The matrix does seem real to the people within the matrix due to many of them believing that it is real and not knowing the harsh truth of the real world that exists. As this notion has been portrayed in relatively new movies it can show that the idea of cyberspace is still relevant in society.

In contempory media there are other facets that relate to the idea of cyberspace. As cyberspace can refer both to any information sent through the internet or the idea of a virtual reality created by artificial intelligence or a computer network there are many instances that cyberspace can be seen in today’s media. Every time we use an email or purchase something online we are sending information over cyberspace. The popular game series the Sims presents the idea of a virtual world where users create characters that represent with the world around them. Newer versions of the game may be played on the internet against other users. This presents the idea of a cyberspace and a virtual world. There are now games out on the computer where real money is used to purchase virtual objects. This is an example where cyberspace could impact on a persons live dramatically. If they become involved in the game their real life may suffer.

It is clear through the study of cyberspace that it is still relevant in our world and in media as the majority of people use the internet everyday for a myriad of uses. The other notion of virtual realties and virtual games will continue into the future and will ensure that the term cyberspace keeps relevance in the future.



















Bibliography

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cyberspace.htm

http://www.cyberpsychology.eu/index.php

http://www.techterms.com/definition/cyberspace

http://services.exeter.ac.uk/cmit/modules/cyberspace/slides/ch07s05.html


all sourced via internet explorer



Global Communication and the Post-Statism of Cyberspace: A Spatial Constructivist View. By Philip E. Steinberg and Stephen D. McDowell.

(Global Communication and the Post-Statism of Cyberspace: A Spatial Constructivist View, by Philip E. Steinberg and Stephen D. McDowell Review of International Political Economy © 2003)

Cyberspace and the World We Live In by Kevin Robins.

http://bod.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/1/3-4/135

Culture formation and its issues in personal agent-oriented virtual society. By Kouichi Matsuda

http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/571878.571882

http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=UZ8CiWdyPWQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=cyberspace++modern+society&ots=4JGn-AM5_M&sig=b33T7pJiFI-3Y_xceaGWRi6fiIo#v=onepage&q=cyberspace%20%20modern%20society&f=false

AN OUTLOOK FOR URBAN PLANNING IN CYBERSPACE:
TOWARD THE CONSTRUCTION OF CYBER CITIES WITH THE APPLICATION OF UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF CYBERSPACE
A Paper By
Narushige Shiode
http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/planning/articles21/urban.htm

Freeware application

I downloaded the music production program audacity. It allows you to record, edit, and music music to create an original electronic musical composition or to record from instruments. I thought the program worked quite well considering it was free and had a number of different effects and recording tools. I used it to create a composition from recorded sounds around my house such as birds, guitar and the sound of a microwave. These were then cut and mixed. A number of effects such as reverb and delays were added to dd complexity and a difference to the sound. However it does not compare to professional digital audio workstations such as Reason or Pro tools.

Barak obama on today the 21st of september will visit CBS’ Late Show With David Letterman on as part of a media blitz to promote his health care message to Americans.

http://hometownhollywood.com/2009/09/16/president-barack-obama-late-show-with-david-letterman-september-21-guest-appearance/


The local member for thw tweed shire is State Member for Tweed - Geoff Provest MP


The state members for NSW are found at this web site
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/V3ListCurrentLAMembers

Members of federal parliament

http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/mi-elctr.asp


From the lectures and readings i found a number of interesting ideas based on the idea of democracy. Democracy can be hard to define. We live in a world of representative democracy which has both negatives and positives. We live in a world that now has stronger political parties and there is more ability for free speech then the past. Democracy and freedom on speech on the internet is an interesting concept. As anyone can make a website, it has an amazing ability to reach a number of people and to post using freedom of speech. There is however a conflict between free speech and copyright. This can be best illustrated in the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI).

I also found the idea of the cyberpunk quite interesting.Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre based in the possibilities inherent in computers, genetics, body modifications and corporate developments in the near future.

What do you think of the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called "Clean Feed")???

I think censoring the internet can violate a persons democracy. This can reduce the amount of sites people have access to. Their may be sites which are acceptable that could be blocked by the governments system. However there are a number of positives with this. By censoring the net sites that promote violence or pornographic material will be limited which may in turn reduce the cases of these issues in society.

What place does censorship have in a democracy?

Censorship may be used in democracy to reduce the amount of violent, racist and pornographic material that is seen by members of a democracy. Some may argue that censorship defeats the whole purpose of a democracy but i believe that censorship does have a place in society if it reduces negative aspects of society that do not need to be seen by the public.

I Report

This shows a drawing i did using the program sketchcast

My maps

heres another link

http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&source=embed&msa=0&msid=100585313520174088027.0004726573c8838c12648&ll=-28.288908,153.432083&spn=0.426875,0.514297&z=11&lci=com.panoramio.all,com.youtube.all,org.wikipedia.en,com.google.ugc.c752d13e87c4fbd7


View middle earth in a larger map

This is the jpeg from persona. It looks over the net to show characteristics about a persons name.


Creative and Social uses of the net.

In looking at a number of websites i found a number of interesting articles. I found that their were large number of social networking sites. Facebook had recently over taken myspace as the most popular social networking site. Twitter has also increased its share.

The generator blog was another that i found interesting. It has a number of software elements that have been made for the enjoyment of users.

http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/

The websites that included net art were also interesting because they contained a number of thought provoking articles.