"Stephen Kenson - Technobabel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kenson Stephen)

else entirely ...

The Matrix is a computer-generated, symbolic representation of the grid, the
world information network. Instead of dealing with messy manual commands and
procedures, the cyberdeck lets the user perform apparently real actions in
cyberspace and then translates them into system operations. A person in the
Matrix reaches out and touches the symbol representing a file. The deck's
software knows the user wants to open that file. The machine performs all of
the operations, freeing the user from the tedious task of having to enter
those commands manually. Matrix imagery is imposed on the user by the grid in
a "consensual hallucination," to use Dr. Hikita 's term. It's no more an
ultimate reality than an animated vid-chip. These are computer-generated,
graphic images. The systems and the functions those images represent are real,
but the images are just that. They have no reality.
-Dr. William Spheris, noted expert on Matrix design, from a tridcast interview
on People to People,
June 12, 2049.
Not real? Not real!? Looks to me like the doc's never done a run. I'm
tellin'you, when you're dartin' through the peaks of Mitsuhama's L.A.
mainframe shaggin' combat systems that are doin' their bangest to roast you
alive, plus you 're prayin' to Ghost your deck doesn't melt in your lap cause
you got stupid, and you looks up and there in front a you is Death himself
jacked in by the corp to rip your soul . . . babes, that's reality.
-Decker "Sandman" commenting on Spheris' statement in the People to People
interview

1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was
without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the
spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
-Genesis 1:1
Think back. What is the first thing you remember?
My life begins in an alley-a dark, hidden place in shadows of the city. I
awaken there like being born: weak, blind, and helpless, new to the world and
all of its strange sounds, smells, and experiences. And alone, but not for
very long. The first thing I become aware of is the darkness and the noise. I
cannot see, but I can feel and smell and hear.
I can feel the ground beneath me. It is hard and cool. The roughness of it is
not unpleasant-like someone scratching your back-and I lie there for I don't
know how long, just enjoying the sensation of being supported by the ground,
feeling its cool and strong embrace. I can feel the air stir around me, a
gentle breeze brushing across the bare skin of my face and hands and ruffling
my hair. The breeze brings smells and sounds to me as I lie there.
I smell the harsh smell of the city: a smell of burning. Burning fuel, burning
trash, burning wood, and people burning with hope, despair, misery, and joy
make up the smell, mixed in with the slow decaying scent of the city as metal,
mortar, and stone slowly crumble to rust and dust,

ground down beneath the force of the elements. I smell my own sweat, cooling