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5+ teosta 732 jäsentä 14 arvostelua

Tietoja tekijästä

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Tekijän teokset

True Names and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier (2001) — Toimittaja — 556 kappaletta
The Omega Project (2008) — Toimittaja — 88 kappaletta
Bangs and Whimpers: Stories about the End of the World (1999) — Toimittaja — 83 kappaletta
TechnoHorror: Tales of Terror, Suspense, and Intrigue (1999) — Toimittaja — 2 kappaletta

Associated Works

Linnunradan ääret. 1. kirja (1992) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset6,315 kappaletta
Marrow (2000) — Toimittaja — 697 kappaletta
An Autumn War (2008) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset550 kappaletta
The Other End of Time (Eschaton) (1996) — Kansikuvataiteilija, eräät painokset545 kappaletta
The Siege of Eternity (1997) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset353 kappaletta
The Voices of Heaven (1994) — Toimittaja — 336 kappaletta
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Tenth Annual Collection (1997) — Avustaja — 286 kappaletta
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Ninth Annual Collection (1996) — Avustaja — 240 kappaletta
Off the Wall at Callahan's (1994) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset225 kappaletta
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Second Annual Collection (1987) — Avustaja — 199 kappaletta
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Third Annual Collection (1988) — Avustaja — 184 kappaletta
Riding the Torch (1974) — Jälkisanat, eräät painokset98 kappaletta
The Arrival (1999) — Toimittaja — 97 kappaletta
Gordon R. Dickson's SF Best (1978) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset96 kappaletta
The First Protector (2000) — Toimittaja — 79 kappaletta
Alive!: A Valentino Mystery (Valentino Mysteries) (2013) — Toimittaja — 49 kappaletta

Merkitty avainsanalla

Yleistieto

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

My first Vinge, even if [b:A Fire Upon the Deep|77711|A Fire Upon the Deep (Zones of Thought, #1)|Vernor Vinge|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333915005s/77711.jpg|1253374] is still waiting to be read as well. 'True Names and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier' is a re-release of Vinge's same-titled novella, caught between introductions, essays, and an afterword.

The introduction of this edition is by Hari Kunzru, whom I've never heard of, to be honest. He gives a bit of background on the novella and the period in which is was written. Editor James Frenkel reminisces about his time as Vinge's editor at Tor Books and of course about the novella, obviously. Then comes Vinge's own introduction. He tells about how the novella came to be, what influenced him, what it's about, and so on. The afterword is by Marvin Minsky, another unknown name to me. Neatly put after the novella itself, he uses the events as basis for his view on the matter, on how the future might (have) look(ed).

The essays are by various experts in the field of information technology. The themes range from cryptography, encryption, big data (sort of), artificial intelligence, security software, ... In other words, lots of programming, to use one general term. Not every essay is as accessible as the other, of course. One must, in my opinion, have some knowledge on (or be interested in) the matter (or computers in general) to follow along. Yes, the explanations and visions may be dated, but you have to keep in mind that these essays were written in the early to mid 1990s. A lot has happened, a lot has changed since then. Especially with regards to the internet and how we utilise it. That said, it is interesting to read these guys experiences and insights of that period.

The novella itself then. It's a good 80 pages long and is about a hacking community, with mainly one guy (Mr Slippery aka Roger Pollack) having been tracked down. Gone privacy, indeed. The Feds want a huge favour from him: Considering his skills, he's the perfect man for the job, i.e. tracking down a certain Mailman, who seems to take control over the various networks. The Feds apparently don't have the means or people to catch him, hence appealing to "the dark side". Both Roger and the Feds (lead by one Virginia) are in a luxury position: Roger is the only one capable enough, but Virginia can keep his ass out of prison, since he's broken several laws so far as a hacker.

And so, they reach an agreement (under strict conditions) and Roger sets to work. His computer equipment is first quality, allows him to go farther than any regular computer user. He meets up with his friends, a sort of coven, in a virtual world. Based on the descriptions, it reminded me of Second Life, in a way. Each having his/her avatar, codes to access locations (with different rooms), and so on. If I'm not mistaken, hackers used some kind of electrodes to go into the world and "live" there.

As Mr Slippery (Roger) executes his task, which is for the sake of all humanity, else the world will go down, Mr Vinge describes what's going on. The story is fairly accessible, but of course you get your obligatory technical vocabulary. I have to admit that some elements went over my head, but not in a way that I couldn't follow the story. As you can imagine, all's well that ends well, but Roger still isn't a free man afterwards. And the Mailman? A programma invented by the Feds back in the day, set up to run its own course, to develop on its own. Goal: Secure the system, no matter what. Someone had let a copy of the programme loose. It was actually doing it job, but was destroyed by Roger and co., because the Feds couldn't (or didn't know how to) clean up their own mess.

As the end (of the story) came near, you start to realise (or you don't) how important computers have become in our lives, in society, everywhere. Airports, railway-stations, radio, traffic, hospitals, schools, power supply (throughout the country), communication, companies, space, ... And how you don't have any privacy any more.

Long story short: An interesting and entertaining story about computers, about networks, about encryption and trying to stay under the radar (privacy, not revealing your real name, ...). The essays were a nice bonus, offering background on the elements used in the novella.
… (lisätietoja)
 
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TechThing | 8 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jan 22, 2021 |
Sits alongside Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (but with adults instead of children). I loved the futuristic electrode connection on the human head to the Other World inside the technology. Writing very similar to Philip K Dick and Ray Bradbury. Short story.
 
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AChild | 8 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jan 22, 2021 |
Very interesting ideas collected here. The characters are fine, but not nearly as interesting as the world Vinge conceives and contemplates.
½
 
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bobbybslax | 8 muuta kirja-arvostelua | May 16, 2020 |
5 stars...only for the vinge short story and its historical significance! Rest of the book is sporadic essays that seemed to be cobbled together so some publisher can sell a novel-length book.
 
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chris_varen | 8 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jan 6, 2020 |

Palkinnot

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Associated Authors

Frederik Pohl Contributor
Alan Wexelblat Contributor
Pattie Maes Contributor
John M. Ford Contributor
Marvin Minsky Afterword
Timothy C. May Contributor
Danny Hillis Contributor
Leonard N. Foner Contributor
Chip Morningstar Contributor
F. Randall Farmer Contributor
Mark Pesce Contributor
C. C. Shackleton Contributor
James Tiptree Jr. Contributor
Neil Gaiman Contributor
Richard Kadrey Contributor
Isaac Asimov Contributor
Robert Reed Contributor
Howard Fast Contributor
Robert Sheckley Contributor
James Thurber Contributor
John Varley Contributor
J. G. Ballard Contributor
Connie Willis Contributor
Robert Silverberg Contributor
Arthur C. Clarke Contributor
Philip K. Dick Contributor
Robert A. Heinlein Contributor
Frank L. Pollack Contributor
Shelley Eshkar Cover artist

Tilastot

Teokset
5
Also by
28
Jäseniä
732
Suosituimmuussija
#34,695
Arvio (tähdet)
4.0
Kirja-arvosteluja
14
ISBN:t
25
Kielet
1

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