A link to my Final.

Cyberpunk through Fashion

Near Future Predictions

Unfortunately, I do not think that the near future will be as technologically advanced as I hope it will be. I think that my ideal job will be a highly aesthetically pleasing and also advanced form of interface design, but whether or not that is what I will actually go on to do remains to be seen.
I feel that corporations and government are inseperable with one another today and that new laws need to be introduced to protect human rights against their influence. Hopefully as the relationships between the two become more publically visible (governments being sponsored by Starbucks, etc), laws will be enacted to help protect citizens from being taken advantage of (any more than we already are).
I think that larger percentages of the population will become disillusioned with religion, and the smaller population of people who are enthusiastically religious will become even more radical and righteous in response to this.
I can truly only hope that fashion and style in the United States will improve. Flip flops are not appropriate footwear beyond a spa or bathroom, and pajamas should never be worn in public. I hope one day to have a nice shade of gray skin and fiberoptic hair. I think it would also really help if a variety of unusual looking alien races were discovered, and people could broaden their horizon of what they find to be truly “unusual” looking. The concept of race will be close to obsolete, and gender identity will become recognize by a majority as something different than biological sex.
Biomedical engineering has been making major breakthroughs for disabled people to perform various tasks with the help of technology, including transmitting images directly to the visual cortex of people’s brains and bypassing eyes entirely. This will allow for browsing of the net without actually using our eyeballs! Hooray!
3-d Printers will become extremely common, and handmade items will become considered luxury items. Computers will replicate and spritz various aromas when playing video games and doing other simulation activities in order to add another layer of realism. Cybercrime will soon become a Big Deal. I think if cars get any smaller, they may just become a hard plastic body shaped shell that one straps themelves into and is propelled by a motor down the street. Universal currency and RFID chipped identification cards issued by the federal government are likely, no matter how depressing.
As far as fun stuff goes, I hope that there are real life LARP games like SPOOKS mentioning in Halting State. I think simulation will become more intense, realistic, and play a much bigger role in society than was ever expected. It will be used for education as well as recreation. Perhaps the beginnings of quantum transportation, which we are seeing today with quantum computer, can be used to transmit more than data through space.
If I could pick one invention which I think would play one of the largest roles in future society, I would pick the Holosuite. With a perfectly realistic 3d simulation that one can be trained to do a large variety of things with, I think it would improve the quality of most everything in our society, from healthcare to mechanics. People would be able to be taught almost any skill from software.

Government Watch Lists

1. Contains people nominated by a member of the FBI or NSA
2. These people are nominated due to a background of terrorist activity or membership in extremist group
3. The list is not publicly available
4. Oftentimes people with similar names are detained
5. Most common form of detainment is air travel checks

Technology, Security and The Government

It didn’t take reading Little Brother for me to have a pretty serious distrust in our government and the steps that they take to ensure “security.” I’m already required to give my drivers license number up to be able to buy a box of sudafed. I spend insane amounts of money ordering medication from Canada in order to get a medication that has been used as the treatment standard for a health condition that I suffer from, but the FDA won’t approve for semantic reasons, despite it having been used in Canada, Mexico, and most of Europe for over 30 years. I can’t find soda with normal sugar in it, only super-saturated diabetes inducing high fructose corn syrup, because the government’s in the business of subsidising the corn industry. BG&E violates me with a steel pipe on a monthly basis, despite utilities being “regulated” by the government. Insurance companies are allowed to take lots of your money for when you “need it most” and then do everything they possibly can not to give any of it back to you, and the government lets them do that too. The government’s been in the business of lining its own pockets for years, and it’s come to be all that I expect from them.
There’s lots of monitoring going on in present day society and I don’t think it’s anything new. Maybe due to the ubiquity of technology, it is affecting more people, but I think there are lots of instances where people are being and have been monitored without it. Spies can come in all forms. Projects such as ECHELON or Room 641A have brought to public attention the very real possibility that the government is able to monitor most Internet communication. Congress has been unable to affect the actions of the NSA, which I found to be most aptly expressed in this headline from fark.com “Congress: Let's investigate the NSA's spying program. NSA: Die in a fire. Congress: Okay, that's fine then, nothing to see here”
The inability of Congress to affect the actions of the NSA is pretty disturbing. Google has also been emerging as a possible future metaverse superpower, and its new Medical Records feature has me wondering how soon we will be chanting the mantra “I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords!”
I was able to speak with someone who was a Network Administrator at the NSA for a number of years in the 1990s. He told me that the greatest accomplishment that his “team” was known for was the ability to intercept (via satellite) all telecommunication traffic from the middle east during Desert Storm, decrypt and copy it to a local drive, and then send the traffic back to its destination in a mere 17 seconds. While this was clearly in the interest of security at the time, it does make one wonder exactly what the NSA is doing to monitor our networks today, especially with the inclusion of the Patriot Act.
The lack of oversight and potential for abuse makes me nervous. Even though the NSA is accountable to various military figures, I’d like a civilian there to decide what is and isn’t acceptable forms of treatment for “suspects.” I’m sure that a large variety of military actions are taken on a regular basis to ensure the safety of this country, utilizing highly secretive teams like Delta Force, that probably violate handfuls of international treaties, the Bill of Rights, and possibly even the Geneva Convention – and all for good cause. I don’t think anyone would deny that it’s okay to save millions of lives by doing something slightly illegal. However, it’s such a slippery slope that it’s one I am even afraid to approach. Where does it end? How far is too far? To what extent is surveillance okay? I honestly don’t have an answer.

Halting State

Halting State showcases a variety of very plausible near-future technologies. Metaverses, “specs,” and alternate reality games in particular are based on technology intrinsic to today’s society such as social networking tools, head-up displays and massively multiplayer online games.
“CopSpace” is a metaverse, which interacts with reality in a similar way to Google Earth. Google Earth is a software program that allows the user to view satellite imagery of the majority of earth, composited onto a zoomable globe, navigable by latitude, longitude, address, and landmark. Keyhole Markup Language can be used to create interactive visual location-specific information. Markers can be placed over points of interest that expand to display a customizable amount of information when the user clicks on them. Transparent overlays can be applied to current map imagery to compare social and historical trends based on geography. There is even an overlay available which shows a historical photograph of the 99th Street School and the community surrounding it, which was build over Love Canal – a site used as a dumping ground for 21,000 tons of toxic waste. The area since then has been declared unfit for humans to live in.
CopSpace also provides location specific information similar to Google Earth. Markers can be added to places that can be expanded to display additional information. Additionally, it also records any interactions that an officer may have throughout the day – not only with superiors but also with potential witnesses and suspects, eliminating the need for videotapes or cassette recording technology, or even written records. Information that would normally require database access can be shown in an officer’s visual field, via head up displays, so that one is able to access information with as little effort as possible. Unfortunately, in highly populated areas, this can get confusing: “You blink back red overlays - the airport is a kaleidoscopic blur of too much information in CopSpace...”
The extension of cell phone usage in Halting State is also worth noting. Cell phones now record interactions, as well as track its users locations. Spooks is an ARG that is played via anonymous cell phone conversations, in a manner somewhat similar to Live Action Role Playing, but on a 24/7 real time global scale. The contrast between the new forms of entertainment and infringement of one’s privacy rights via cell phone usage is somewhat ironic, and very realistic as we are able to recall news stories about missing people being discovered via triangulation of their cell phone signal.

Social Aspects of YoHoHo! Puzzle Pirates

YoHoHo! Puzzle Pirates (often referred to as YPP for short) has a particularly different sort of gaming dynamic than that described by Mark Stephen Meadows in Second Life. Some of the main differences are the lack of corporate presence, almost no social interaction based upon sex, and the lack of in game player status based on experience or levels.
Second Life is a game known for its corporate presence. W Hotels and American Apparel are two major companies which have created an in game presence. W Hotels tests out architectural prototypes in the virtual world. American Apparel sells virtual versions of their real-life clothing for people to use and outfit their avatars with. YPP is completely devoid of any major corporate entities (with the exception of Three Rings Design, its parent company). One possibility for this is due to the in game setting – pirates tend not to partake of much consumerist culture, and their role in society is that of an anarchist. Pirating is a form of theft and therefore pirates are fairly impervious to a majority of material desires influenced by corporations.
The various forms of player sexual interaction, domination, and submission which Meadows describes in I, Avatar are notably absent in YPP as well. The avatars which players are provided with are unable to be nude (even if a player has no clothing, “rags” are issued to them to prevent any form of exposure). The control of an avatar’s actions is fairly limited as well (most actions are indicated by a representative symbol appearing above the avatar’s head, such as a sword for players who may be swordfighting), and used mostly for transportation from place to place than visual cues to one’s actions.
One of the most notable features of YPP is the range of player abilities and experience. Player “levels” are not used in game, and a brand new player has the ability to perform just as well on any given puzzle or task as a player who has been around for years. There are very few items in game which can’t be bought with a very accessible amount of PoE (with the exception of familiars, which are rare), and a fair number of PoE “sinks” (all clothing and weapons eventually wear out and turn to dust, those who are ship captains earn a higher percentage of booty but also have to keep a ship stocked with Rum and cannonballs, etc) which keep even very wealthy players from having an unfair advantage over those with little money. While dubloons can be purchased with money, PoE that a player has earned can also be converted into dubloons, allowing it to be a free gaming experience if a player chooses. However, there is virtually no exchange of PoE or dubloons for “real life” money due to its relative availability.
Most puzzles being played can be stopped at any time without penalty, which helps add to the immersive “feel” of the game – you can stop and start playing at any time you like. Also, the relative familiarity with pirate culture and customs helps players pick up lingo quickly. The line between the real and virtual is likely to blur less, I think, because the interaction is very much limited to casual puzzle games for enjoyment.
I can only hope that some day virtual worlds will become an all encompassing thing. Since 1999 I have been a part of the usenet group Alt.Gothic – it has become very much a “real life” experience to me now because of a variety of events (such as Convergence, a weekend con that revolves around clubbing) and connections with people in real life that have lasted regardless of where I’m living.

The Problems of Interactivity

In Puzzle Pirates, there is an array of different virtual worlds to choose from. These are referred to as “oceans” and come in a variety of types. The first main distinction is the type of player oceans – there are subscription oceans and doubloon oceans. In order to participate in a subscription ocean, a player must pay a monthly rate, where as doubloon oceans are free to all users but certain game features require badges, which are purchasable by using doubloons, which may be purchased using USD or exchanging in game PoE (pieces of eight, the standard currency) for doubloons. Since I went to New York City last weekend I will be using this as a source of comparison (and excuse for why I’m on a doubloon ocean instead of paying for a subscriber ocean).
The environment in Puzzle Pirates is somewhat responsive than one finds in NYC. There is a surprising number of similarities – people gathered in public places just waiting to Brawl or Swordfight based on the slightest provocation, sketchy goods for sale at low prices on the main thoroughfares by individuals. There is as much of a variety of pirates as is seemingly possible (with the exception of corporate pirates and software pirates), from shipwrecked deckhands to aristocratic buccaneers. While I have the option to start various forms of combat (sword fighting, brawling, drinking games) with other users, I can also speak with them, view their items, and add them as my “hearty” (or friend). There are a variety of NPCs around to offer help or guidance or even to engage in a friendly game of sword fighting with, to up my ranking. Every avatar having a name label causes a dissonance with reality, as well as helpful tips that pop up during games or when performing various duties on a ship. Also, when a skill ranking is increased, I am notified of this status change as well.
The avatars used in puzzle pirates are somewhat oversimplified. They are more cartoon character versions of pirates than realistic graphical depictions. While clothing can be bought in an endless variety of color combinations, the clothing items themselves are not particularly numerous. My avatar can be, at best, a vague approximation of my actual physical appearance.
The forms of reaction available to me are mostly interaction with other players or NPCs, puzzles, and textual conversation. Like the interactive video, this depends on the architectural strategy of the program (Hershman 645). The most common areas for interaction to take place are taverns, where open interaction between members occurs, and the Bulletin Board, which contains a variety of tabs that list missions, puzzles, and jobs available to each user, as well as ships run by the NPC island’s “Navy,” in addition to user created and manned ships which are seeking ‘jobbers’ for a journey.
One of the main ways that the puzzle pirates world might “fall apart” would be when a player gains enough ranks to captain a ship. While a player may be highly skilled in the navigation puzzle, without a crew (or a crew of only NPCs) they are likely to be no match for actual human players.
Despite any obvious flaws in this virtual world, it's still extremely likely to be the closest I'll ever get to being a swashbuckling rumrunner myself.

Notes on The Diamond Age

I hope that 3d printers will soon be as ubiquitous in our society as Matter Compilers are in The Diamond Age.


The Drummers underground is very similar to the function of the human neural system, which is an interesting contrast: it functions in a similar dynamic with similar structures but on a larger scale, yet most of the rest of the technology in the novel is on a nanotechnological scale.

Nell's ascent into into her position in high society is the reverse parallel of Hackworth's loss of societal status throughout the story.

The scene where Nell visits Harv who is living in government run treatment center for ill people was poignant because it seems very true to the current status of technological development for ill people.

The last scene where Nell saves Miranda, her “virtual” mother, is a stark contrast between the behavior of her real mother.

Much of the nanotechnology in this novel could be realized as soon as 50 years from now.

The concept of phyles reminds me of the ancient Greek nation-state.

The "independent" and unsigned Nanomites inhabiting the blood streams of people are like a material version of "spam"

It seems like nanotechnology has been used more for cultural reasons than humanitarian reasons in many situations.

Virtual World: Puzzle Pirates

For my virtual world experience, I chose Three Rings: YoHoHo! Puzzle Pirates. To begin, I was directed to the following interface:



From here, I was prompted to choose a name, gender, and various physical attributes for my pirate. I chose a black haired female sea wench, dressed in a well worn bodice and skirt who is named ieatbugs.



Once my pirate was created, I was placed on a ship whose captain was a non-player character. He directed me to a station to begin my first on board duty, the game of Bilge. While being instructed in this game, the goal of which is to align 3 pieces of the same type together in order to lower the "bilge" water which builds up on the bottom of the ship, my "mission" was listed as: Learn Bilge.



During the sea journey, there are various "checkpoints" which are labeled on the map. When ships reach the location of a checkpoint, the status of all crew members, their stations and performance (which can range from "Good" to "Poor") are displayed to all members aboard a ship. Throughout the day there are a variety of "Navy" ships, which are run by NPCs, for any character without a crew to join for a pillage. During a pillage, the ship Captain will be on the lookout for other ships to engage in a sea battle.



During a sea battle, the Captain must manoeuvre the vessel among rocks and winds to a position where they can fire their cannon upon the opposing vessel. This may sound like a fairly simple task, but given a time limit and being required to plan out each move without knowing the move the opposing ship will take first presents quite a challenge.

Once a vessel has been attacked and successfully grappled by an opposing ship, they may then be boarded. A swordfighting puzzle ensues, where each member of the ship plays a game with an objective somewhat similar to tetris.



If the opposing vessel is defeated, partial contents of the ship's cargo hold will be transferred to the victors. This may take the form of PoE (Pieces of Eight, the game's currency), commodities such as hemp oil, rum, or madder root, or the elusive Kraken's blood, which is required for all black dye but can only be pillaged from high level brigands, granting it a very high worth in game. When the destination is reached, the pillage is complete and PoE is split amongst the players. Commodities are generally sold to restock the ship with necessary supplies (a ship is not able to pillage if it lacks enough Rum for each pirate to consume).




Upon disembarking from a ship, the user is greeted with the scene of a sea-side town which meets them at the dock. This presents them with an entire world of opportunities to explore, a mission board to help find crews looking for jobbers, shops seeking laborers, as well as more NPC training demos for all of the other in game puzzles.




Images from http://www.mmmorpg.com and YPPedia.



(note: I was unable to play SecondLife on my computer due to hardware constraints.)

1985; 1988

1985


- DNA is first used in a criminal case
- ATI Technologies is founded.
- NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after resigning from Apple Computer.
- Solarquest, space age real estate game, first published by Golden.
- Buckyballs discovered by Harold Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley. One of the first nanomaterial discoveries.
- GNU Manifesto first written by Richard Stallman.


February 19 - William J. Schroeder becomes the first artificial heart patient to leave the hospital.
March 25 - The 57th Academy Awards are held at in Los Angeles, California with Amadeus winning Best Picture.
June 24 - STS-51-G Space Shuttle Discovery completed its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist.
June - Tetris released
July 13 - Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and London raise over £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
July 19 - U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush announces that New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe will become the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
July 24 - Commodore launches the Amiga personal computer at the Lincoln Center in New York.
August 7 - Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
September 22 - Plaza Accord was signed by five nations.
October 4 - The Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts, USA.
October 18 - The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in US stores.
November - QuantumLink, predecessor to AOL, launches
November 20 - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
December - Movie "Brazil" released - in an Orwellian vision of the future, the populace are completely controlled by the state, but technology remains almost as it was in the 1970's.


1988

TAT-8, the first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fibers, is completed.
In England, Max Dowhham's "Cyberpunk: the Final Solution" published in Vague
Bruce Sterling's Islands in the Net published
Mississippi Review entire issue published devoted to cyberpunk; academic colonization of the Movement begins in earnest
Shatter graphic novel published
Saibapanku Amerika [Cyberpunk America] by Tatsumi Takayuki published in Japan
Going GaGa begins publication
bOING bOING begins publication
Wetware published (Apr)
May 16 - California v. Greenwood: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that police officers do not need a search warrant to search through discarded garbage.
June 11 - The name of the General Public License (GPL) is mentioned for the first time.
July 6 - The first reported medical waste on beaches in the Greater New York area (including hypodermic needles and syringes possibly infected with the AIDS virus) washes ashore on Long Island. Subsequent medical waste discoveries on beaches in Coney Island and in Monmouth County, New Jersey force the closure of numerous New York-area beaches in the middle of one of the hottest summers in the American Northeast on record.
September 29 - STS-26: NASA resumes space shuttle flights, grounded after the Challenger disaster, with Space Shuttle Discovery.
The Internet worm strikes (Nov)
Interplay releases the Neuromancer Game; a computer role-playing game for the Apple II, Commodore C64, and Amiga
William Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive published (Nov)

1989

Mondo 2000 begins publication
"Fiction 2000" conference held in Leeds (June)
Wetware wins the Philip K. Dick Award
Neuromancer: The Graphic Novel published
The Cuckoo's Egg published
Semiotext(e):SF published
Cherry comix special cyberpunk issue published
Crystal Express published
Tetsuo:The Iron Man released
Shadowrun computer game released
Mattel introduces the PowerGlove, a Virtual Reality input device
Timothy Leary interviews William Gibson
Satellite television service Sky Television plc is launched in Europe.

Blade Runner vs. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Blade Runner is a film based on one of the foremost plot lines in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? However, despite the fact that several significant aspects of the original story are omitted in the cinematic interpretation, meaning is not lost. Instead, there is an additional dimension of meaning as the viewer begins to empathize with Rick Deckard, who is to be revealed as a replicant himself before the end of the film.

In Philip K. Dick’s text, androids play the role of a plot device. They are the motivation for fear and apprehension, symbolic of technology created by humans that has come to tire of its role as a slave to its creators. The need for Blade Runners arises from situations in which rogue androids kill their masters and take their place. However, in the film Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, these inhuman creations are orchestrated in such a manner that we begin to respond to them with sympathy and compassion (Galagher 70). Our inability to differentiate between biological humans and androids does not interfere with our yearning to empathize with them (Galagher 70).

One of the ways in which the director elicits sympathy from viewers for robots by juxtapositioning their behavior against the behavior of “humans.” Roy Batty, in one scene, expresses concern and dismay that his android lover may be nearing the end of her lifespan. “Pris hasn’t got long to live,” he says, expressing the sense that replicants are truly self-conscious beings (Armstrong 120). This type of behavior strongly contrasts against the scene in which Deckard retires the android Zhora, where he appears to be chasing after a seemingly innocent woman and shooting in the back in public.

Assigning behavior considered to be human may have farther-reaching consequences than to question the true identity of the characters. Varun Begley, in his paper “Blade Runner and the Postmodern,” suggests that this may be evidence for the interpretation of the film as postmodern cinema. “The film frustrates our attempts to formulate correspondences or construct interpretations (190).” Further evidence to support this interpretation of the film is one of Deckard’s own statements about Rachael, who is revealed to be a replicant as well. “How can it not know what it is?” he asks Tyrell, of Rachael’s lack of awareness of herself being a replicant (Slade 13). Clearly Rachael’s belief that she is, in fact, a human contradicts the self-awareness of Pris and Roy Batty, who identify themselves as replicants.

Other visual metaphors are more clearly expressed in the film instead of in print. During one of the final scenes when Deckard is hunting for Pris, she hides by posing herself among a group of animated toy figures, which are owned by Sebastian, who he considers to be his “friends.” This illustration of android among dolls brings to light the ways in which Pris is similar and dissimilar from the other animated creatures, as well as humans (Lev 34). Although she may appear visually similar to humans, she also fills the role of mechanically functional to that of the dolls she surrounds. Yet some of her behavior is considered human as well. The replicants are suggested to be surreptitiously human and non human.


This dimension of humanity that Ridley Scott applies to the androids in Blade Runner seems contradictory and somewhat paradoxical. This contributes to the viewing and interpretation of Blade Runner as a postmodern work of film. However, the same aspects that suggest it to be a postmodern film also insert a new depth of meaning to the story, which was begot by Do Androids Dream of Elecctric Sheep?

Works Cited

Armstrong, Richard. "SIGNS OF LIFE: SOUL AND CINEPHILIA IN 'BLADE RUNNER'." Screen Education (June 2006): 117-122. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. 1 Oct. 2008.

Begley, Varun. "Blade Runner and the Postmodern: A Reconsideration." Literature Film Quarterly 32.3 (July 2004): 186-192. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. 1 Oct. 2008.

Galagher, Nola. "BLEAK VISIONS: RIDLEY SCOTT'S BLADE RUNNER, DIRECTOR'S CUT." Australian Screen Education (Winter2002 2002): 169. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. 1 Oct. 2008.

Lev, Peter. "Whose Future? "Star Wars," " Alien," and "Blade Runner."." Literature Film Quarterly 26.1 (Jan. 1998): 30. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. 1 Oct. 2008.

Slade, Joseph W. "Romanticizing cybernetics in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner." Literature Film Quarterly 18.1 (Jan. 1990): 11. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. 1 Oct. 2008.
Vancouver/ICMJE

The Scope of Cyberpunk in "Red Star, Winter Orbit"

Bruce Sterling, in his introduction to Mirrorshades, illustrates multidimensional literary, cultural and technological concepts assigned to the word “cyberpunk.” He terms the genre “a new kind of integration,” “the realm of high tech, and the modern pop underground” (Sterling xi). Unique in their perspective, the cyberpunks are the first generation of science fiction writers to grow up with the reality of a “truly science-fictional world,” where technological literacy is described as being an aid to daily life. Common themes of the body and mind being invaded by technology illustrate how, to cyberpunks, “technology is visceral” (Sterling xiii). Presented in a visage inspired by Eighties counter-culture, the movement “is considered by some to be fashion conscious to a fault.” The aesthetic, however, is truly reflective of the integration and hybridized influences that were so common in the 1980's (Sterling xiv). Having noted these concepts, one can begin to explore the Cyberpunk themes delivered in “Red Star, Winter Orbit” by William Gibson.

"Red Star, Winter Orbit" takes place in a Soviet space station named Kosmograd. It is implied that the Soviets have won the “space race” and the cold war, when during a newscast an American disarmament group is mentioned. While currently this would be considered an alternate history, when it was written in the early 1980's it was a work of very near science fiction. According to Tatiani G. Rapatzikou, “The writers make use of solid factual information in order to reinforce the literal concept behind the story and the plausibility of the real-life experiences described.” (65) To reinforce the idea of the relative unimportance of America, Gibson includes a short anecdote where American entertainment is smuggled onto Kosmograd for viewing by the cosmonauts. This suggests that the identity of America, as a country, is mainly a source of entertainment to the world, rather than a super power or threat to be taken seriously.

As the story begins, Colonel Korolev's damaged physical condition is explained in great detail. His body has been irreparably damaged from an accident, in addition to extreme bone loss from an environment without gravity. The Soviet Government has decided to abandon the Kosmograd station, their last presence in outer space. The physical dilapidation of the Colonel, as well as the abandonment of the space program can be viewed as an example of the influence of the outside world being exerted on individual reality (Rapatzikou 66). In contrast to the original vision of the development of outer space being an optimistic enterprise, its reality is a bleak and damaged piece of technology run by a traumatized and disabled man.

After a failed attempt at a coup, Korolev submits himself to the entropy of Kosmograd. Shortly after he has accepted death to be his ultimate fate, the station is found by a group of hopeful and idealistic Americans. Despite the fact that he has come in contact with other human life forms, the Colonel is not comforted. Instead, he finds their sunny dispositions and optimism to be be disconcerting. He is left feeling more alone and segregated in the company of others (Rapatzikou 69), despite once being a celebrated Military hero. His experience is a juxtaposition to that of the American squatters, who have come from hopelessness (“They said we'd never make it, living in balloons.”) to find even a decaying Kosmograd to be a beacon of hope, while the Colonel is crippled, unable to return to earth, and is given up on by the Soviets along with the space station.

The possibility of the Americans losing the cold war is certainly considered dystopian to an audience of Americans. However, Gibson shows us in "Red Star, Winter Orbit" that the success that comes with the advent of technology is truly what one (or one's government) chooses to make of it. From the perspective of a disenfranchised squatter, Kosmograd appears to be a wasted opportunity. Through the eyes of an impotent Soviet Colonel, the space station is representative of an inescapable entropy which is only exacerbated by the implementation of advanced technology.

Works Cited

Rapatzikou, Tatiani G. Gothic Motifs in the Fiction of William Gibson. Postmodern studies, 36. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004.

Sterling, Bruce. Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology. New York: Arbor House, 1986.

What is a Cyborg?

The word “Cyborg” lends itself to a rather straightforward definition: it is a melding of the terms cybernetic and organism. The idea of melding man with machine is an ancient one. Norbert Weiner, in his book Cybernetics (1948), cites the source of the word as “kybernetes,” a Greek term which means helmsman or pilot. One of the earliest examples of man and machine coming together is the myth of Icarus. The myth of Icarus is a very fitting metaphor for the plight of cyborgs, because it illustrates not only man’s desire to take control and “steer” his own destiny, but also the hamartia which we as humans encounter in doing so – the belief that we are infallible.
Icarus was the son of a great inventor named Daedalus, who was imprisoned in a tower in Crete. In order to escape, he fabricated a set of wings for himself and his son out of feathers and wax. Despite the warning he had given his son not to fly too close to the sun, lest his wings melt, his son was so invigorated with the experience of flying that he chose to soar higher and higher. Icarus then fell to his demise, plunging into the sea.
Daedalus’ invention of wings to save himself from the fate of imprisonment is a more noble example of cyborgian innovation than the androids in Philip K. Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? In Dick’s future dystopia, one of the main functions of androids are to serve humans. This selfish motivation for the creation of cyborgs is perhaps the reason why this novel has such a bleak outlook for the future of society, where earth is contaminated to a nearly unlivable degree by nuclear fallout and a much of the population suffers from genetic damage. It is, in a way, telling us not to use technology to enable ourselves to be continually lazy, lest our wings melt and we, too, fall to the depths of the ocean.
While the pursuit of technology is surely the answer to many of the problems that plague humanity, man must not let his hubris lead to his ultimate demise. The perspective that one can “do no wrong” can be a very damning and lead to a variety of mistakes and problems being overlooked out of simple arrogance. This is an especially unacceptable mistake for humans to make, because as the saying goes “To err is human.” Although this concept has been fetishized in much of the cyberpunk genre, an early illustration of similar thought is found in the Bible. In the book of Genesis, while Sodom and Gomorrah are being destroyed, the wife of Lot is told not to look back at the burning cities or else she will be turned into a pillar of salt. She ultimately looks, as did Orpheus for Eurydice, and thusly becomes a pillar of salt. This example illustrates human emotion and the feeling of nostalgia overwhelming the ability to use logic and reason. The wife of Lot chooses to gaze upon the city to which she feels a strong connection rather than continue existing, being unable to experience the pain of seeing her home destroyed. Even though pain is a negative emotion, it is more desirable to her than none at all.
Ultimately, fusing human entities with computers will lead to the end of suffering for many who have biological dysfunction or illness. To upload one’s consciousness may be a way to eliminate the suffering of many. I personally look forward to being liberated from my corporeal body and fusing my consciousness with a machine linked to the Internet. When I log on it, let it be forever.


Works Cited
http://www.asc-cybernetics.org/foundations/definitions.htm