What is “Cyberpunk”? Well before yesterday I had no idea what this word meant. Actually to be really true to myself as well as to you I’ve never heard of it before! So assignments couldn’t be that bad after all!

To start with cyberpunk is defined as “The near future, typically involving advanced computer systems and cybernetically enhanced people in a world filled with gangs.” In other words It is expressing (often dark) ideas about human nature, technology and their respective combination in the near future.


The word 'cyberpunk' first appeared as the title of a short science fiction story "Cyberpunk" by Bruce Bethke, in November 1983. Therefore William Gibson didn't invent the word 'cyberpunk'. But he invented the cyberspace and the cyberpunk science fiction. This concept was first introduced to the world in his novel “Neuromancer. Which talks about a washed up computer hacker hired by a mysterious employees to work on the ultimate hack!


Cyberpunk takes place in all things in life. It is found in Science Fiction Style, in Literature, in Movies, on Television, in Games and even in Arts. If you feel that you want to know more about each one fo them feel free to access this site: - http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/scifi.html

IT often blurs of what it means to be human. This technology raises creates machines that think like humans and humans that think like machines. This is a technology designed to keep people within the 'system' that dominates the lives of most 'ordinary' people. It has a powerful control that directs society. It's simply about expressing negative ideas of humans and technology and their combination in the near futuer.

As it has already showed cyberpunk it is made up of two words; “Cyber” comes from 'cybernetics', which refers to machines that imitate human behavior. While on the other hand “Punk” means originally 'junk'. So, words 'cyber' and 'punk' emphasize the two basic aspects of cyberpunk: technology and individualism.

At the end I would like to add that I do believe that technology will over come us “humans” with time in many ways. I think that some people will lose their jobs, some will go bankrupt and some will live in despair but on the other hand some people will be living happily watching their work growing bigger and bigger. We are talking about the science that will replace human functions with computerized ones.

What makes it even worse is the place we are living in. Since life is getting more complicated that man barley have time to do anything else bedside their work and duties that they are losing social life and turning into machines themselves. What if this truly happens? I think that it is actually already happening, and some cyber alternatives to social life are starting to exist (check ALICE article in this blog) where people starts to socialize with the machine itself. What will the future hold for us? Who knows what’s written in the book? And who knows how the book ends?!

If you want to know more about cyberpunk feel free to click on this site:- http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/history.html

Dana

How 2 Make UR Blog Popular!

Well, it’s actually not a hard thing to do – just think about it for a minute or two…

The easiest step would be to tell all your friends about your blog; send them mails on a daily bases. Encourage them to comment on it. And tell them to tell their friends about it – in this way people you know and people you don’t can access it and read what is written in it.

The second thing you have to do is to update it regularly so that people won’t get bored. So that they will find something new every time they open it…

I would advice you also that if someone commented on your blog read it. They have used their time to actually read what’s in UR blog and also commented on it– it would be rude of you if you just neglected it, don’t you think? So just take a second or two and reply to the post in this way the second time they open and they find a reply they will feel that their voice is heard!

Most importantly be true and be yourself! Enjoy it!

Dana :)

New technologies(Alicebot)

A.L.I.C.E B.O.T. was a way cool chatbot,and is very intelegent.It knows about a lot of things. For example,we talked religion,movies,books,music,work,sports,and school.I fooled around long enough with the chatbot,and it evantually became obvious that i was talking to a real human. What they have been able to do is very impressive but we are a long way away from having anything remotely similar to a true artificial intelegence. However, it's projects like this contribute towards taking us just a little bit closer. I also checked up the whole Alicebot.org site that had links to articles on AI issues and ethics. My advise to all the readers of this post is to check this site because it contains very interesting issues. In the end i think it would be nice to have a second version of "A.L.I.C.E.B.O.T." with slightly different functionality.

Done by Marwan Faissal

Readin some of the articles about 2nd life I cannot wait until the university opens to us the software so we can download it here in the dorms and start working on it!

I guess i should visit them once again in the Networking place and talk to them once again -- the guy told me he'll open it before today but guess wht he didn't!

Some Pictures of Exoskeleton!

Exoskeleton!

Have you ever thought that there might be an extension to your body and mind?! Have you even thought about what these extensions might be? Well, I did my part of thinking and the results I got were pretty impressive for me.

What is the extension of our body? What could it be? I thought about it for a while and couldn’t get any better answer than “the car” that Doc. Auge mentioned in the class. The car is really an extension that nobody nowadays can even think about giving it up. If every person on this earth had a car I’m sure that no one will walk for even a mile even if the supermarket or the place they’re going to is just two blocks away. You can even hear people nag about it if the bus didn’t come on time. They don’t even think about using their legs which were made in the first place for the same exact reason the car was. This invention was so big and powerful that no one can just erase it form their lives and just continue living as it doesn’t exist, because without it we will be like living in a total confusion and chaos.

What about the extension of the mind? What is the mind exoskeleton? As I was thinking about it I was rubbing my eyes and eating my nails and it just hit me. In that exact moment I figured it is the nerves in our brain. It is the billion things we do because of these nerves. When we move our hand to catch something or to touch the spoon or when we just eat. The list goes on and on and it doesn’t end and that’s the beauty of it! Without them we would not be living and because of them we are capable of doing everything we do. Even the things we do without thinking like yelling or lifting up a paper who thinks and says “yeah now I’m gonna life this paper from here and put it there” we just do it. These nerves work like magic and unfortunately no body appreciate what they have until they lose it!

Talking with Alice

The idea of talking and actually chatting with a computer; to be more specific with Alice was a very strange one at first. But later on I consider that talking with Alice was an actually a damn experience that every person should try.

The advantages of it were like talking to a real person it felt at times. It was like wasting time when you don’t have anything to do. Or it might even be enjoying your time. And this is very good and powerful for people who feel lonely and want someone to talk with during their day. Alice answers every question you ask, it even ask question herself.

However, on the other hand it has a lot of disadvantages. It doesn’t answer each question correctly. A person can feel that she is dump at some points. But on the long run and with the development of it people may become more attached to it. And they will no longer socialize with the real world.

I believe it is a great invention made by a human being. It shows that one day a computer will actually take the place of a human. May even response better than one and certainly will have more information.


Dana Kakish.