Pagina principaleGruppiConversazioniAltroStatistiche
Cerca nel Sito
Questo sito utilizza i cookies per fornire i nostri servizi, per migliorare le prestazioni, per analisi, e (per gli utenti che accedono senza fare login) per la pubblicità. Usando LibraryThing confermi di aver letto e capito le nostre condizioni di servizio e la politica sulla privacy. Il tuo uso del sito e dei servizi è soggetto a tali politiche e condizioni.

Risultati da Google Ricerca Libri

Fai clic su di un'immagine per andare a Google Ricerca Libri.

True Names: And the Opening of the…
Sto caricando le informazioni...

True Names: And the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier (edizione 2001)

di Vernor Vinge, James Frankel (A cura di)

UtentiRecensioniPopolaritàMedia votiCitazioni
561943,323 (3.99)5
Penguin reissues a seminal work of cyberpunk fiction from the Hugo Award-winning author of A Fire Upon the Deep - with a new introduction by Hari Kunzru Mr Slippery is an illegal computer hacker - a Warlock - and an expert in a new virtual reality technology called the Other Plane. Arrested by US the government and forced to work for them, he finds himself pitted against a new and frightening international cybercriminal- the Mailman. The Mailman is building a network of Warlocks, promising them wealth and power, causing chaos around the globe - but noone has ever met him in person. As Mr Slippery and his sidekick Erythrina drain the world's computational power to track down their formidable adversary, they begin to wonder if they are chasing a ghost. Is the Mailman a man at all? Is he even human? True Names is part of the Penguin Worlds classic science fiction series… (altro)
Utente:slhermitguild
Titolo:True Names: And the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier
Autori:Vernor Vinge
Altri autori:James Frankel (A cura di)
Info:Tor Books (2001), Paperback, 384 pages
Collezioni:La tua biblioteca
Voto:
Etichette:Nessuno

Informazioni sull'opera

True Names and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier di Vernor Vinge (Author)

Nessuno
Sto caricando le informazioni...

Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro.

Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro.

» Vedi le 5 citazioni

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. ( )
  TechThing | 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. ( )
  AChild | Jan 22, 2021 |
Very interesting ideas collected here. The characters are fine, but not nearly as interesting as the world Vinge conceives and contemplates. ( )
  bobbybslax | 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. ( )
  chris_varen | Jan 6, 2020 |
This update includes the original True names, and commentary by everyone from Timothy May to Marvin Minsky. ( )
  Lyndatrue | Nov 26, 2013 |
nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione

» Aggiungi altri autori

Nome dell'autoreRuoloTipo di autoreOpera?Stato
Vinge, VernorAutoreautore primariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Frenkel, JamesA cura diautore principaletutte le edizioniconfermato
Farmer, F. RandallCollaboratoreautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Foner, Leonard N.Collaboratoreautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Ford, John M.Collaboratoreautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Hillis, DannyCollaboratoreautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Maes, PattieCollaboratoreautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
May, Timothy C.Collaboratoreautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Minsky, MarvinPostfazioneautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Morningstar, ChipCollaboratoreautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Pesce, MarkCollaboratoreautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Stallman, Richard M.Collaboratoreautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Wexelblat, AlanCollaboratoreautore secondariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Eshkar, ShelleyImmagine di copertinaautore secondarioalcune edizioniconfermato

Appartiene alle Collane Editoriali

Devi effettuare l'accesso per contribuire alle Informazioni generali.
Per maggiori spiegazioni, vedi la pagina di aiuto delle informazioni generali.
Titolo canonico
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
Titolo originale
Titoli alternativi
Data della prima edizione
Personaggi
Luoghi significativi
Eventi significativi
Film correlati
Epigrafe
Dedica
Incipit
Citazioni
Ultime parole
Nota di disambiguazione
Redattore editoriale
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
Elogi
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
Lingua originale
DDC/MDS Canonico
LCC canonico

Risorse esterne che parlano di questo libro

Wikipedia in inglese (1)

Penguin reissues a seminal work of cyberpunk fiction from the Hugo Award-winning author of A Fire Upon the Deep - with a new introduction by Hari Kunzru Mr Slippery is an illegal computer hacker - a Warlock - and an expert in a new virtual reality technology called the Other Plane. Arrested by US the government and forced to work for them, he finds himself pitted against a new and frightening international cybercriminal- the Mailman. The Mailman is building a network of Warlocks, promising them wealth and power, causing chaos around the globe - but noone has ever met him in person. As Mr Slippery and his sidekick Erythrina drain the world's computational power to track down their formidable adversary, they begin to wonder if they are chasing a ghost. Is the Mailman a man at all? Is he even human? True Names is part of the Penguin Worlds classic science fiction series

Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche

Descrizione del libro
Riassunto haiku

Discussioni correnti

Nessuno

Copertine popolari

Link rapidi

Voto

Media: (3.99)
0.5
1
1.5
2 2
2.5 2
3 14
3.5 8
4 38
4.5 1
5 24

Sei tu?

Diventa un autore di LibraryThing.

 

A proposito di | Contatto | LibraryThing.com | Privacy/Condizioni d'uso | Guida/FAQ | Blog | Negozio | APIs | TinyCat | Biblioteche di personaggi celebri | Recensori in anteprima | Informazioni generali | 207,093,373 libri! | Barra superiore: Sempre visibile