162 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
162 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
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Underground eXperts United
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Presents...
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[ The Internet Hysteria ] [ By The GNN ]
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____________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________
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THE INTERNET HYSTERIA
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by THE GNN/DualCrew-Shining/uXu
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(Note: This text is about a phenomena that is mainly concentrated to
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Sweden. However, non-swedes might find it interesting as a bizarre
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anthropological study.)
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Internet is not a new invention, as we all know. It was not constructed
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yesterday. But during nineteen ninety-four, more people connected
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themselves to the net than ever before. Prima facie, this is certainly a
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pretty nice development in the digital culture.
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I say 'prima facie', because when one looks a bit further into the
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phenomena one discovers several tragic details. Some new members of the
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net have not connected themselves for the purpose of using it as it should
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be used. Some besserwisser people need only around three seconds online
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(some people does not even need that), before they immediately start to
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make up new rules about how the net ought to work (socially, not
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technically of course).
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Then there are the other newbies, those who listen to the above people.
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Suddenly, a huge amount of people scream for censorship and state
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intervention. Internet cannot be stopped, they say, but it must be
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controlled. And these people have not been online for more than a few
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moments - but still they burst out in such radical claims.
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Why is it so? Let me offer you a few suggestions.
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I recently laid my hands on a monthly swedish magazine called
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"Z.mag@zine", and there was no question about the fact that the magazine
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was yet another desperate, and embarrassing, attempt to imitate Wired.
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However, the magazine failed on several accounts with its little charade.
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Who wants to read ten pages about some trendy celebrity that uses the
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internet for sending email to his hip dudes in some other part of the
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world? Such news might well work out in a magazine about gossip, but not
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in one that indirectly claims to own the truth of the complete internet. A
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magazine that openly has dedicated its contents to information about the
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internet ought at least to have a staff that know what they are talking
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about. Z Magazine does not fulfil that important criterion. Sometimes,
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one wonders if they even have access to the net.
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Internet is a massive construction, and it is easy to become overwhelmed
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when you encounter it for the first time. Unfortunately, some overwhelmed
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individuals (like the editor of Z Magazine) believe that they immediately
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understand the importance of the net. In their eyes, the main part of the
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internet is some World Wide Web site where you are able to throw snow
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balls, or chat with a sleeping cat.
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It is a shame that the newbies, when it comes to internet, should regard
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these low-class magazines as the bible and the truth of the nets. They are
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no sources of information, they are sources of misinformation.
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Why? Is it something wrong with that? Could not people begin with
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studying Z Magazine, and then move on to the real problems?
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They could. But will they ever get so far if they are constantly fed
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with worthless information about the net? One does not have to spend
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several years on the net to realize that internet is more than snowballs.
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It is a net of positive anarchy and freedom. A freedom that must be
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protected. If it is not protected, Newspeech and Big Brother will gain
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control. Z is not a healthy magazine for the internet. It takes the net
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down to a low level; a level where the net is just a fun hobby for people
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with a modem - nothing more.
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The whole society suffers from a disease that could be called 'the
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internet hysteria'. Some people wants to know everything about something,
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but fails since they know nothing about it - but they try to give everyone
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else the expression that they know everything. The ones who suffers from
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this hysteria can only describe the net in certain words, like 'cyberspace
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for cyberpunks'. It is only words, with no connection to what it is really
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about. The whole net-culture is declined to a cool movement for cool
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people, and that is for sure a sad sight.
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But on the other hand there are also a few journalists and writers that
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try to analyze and debate the internet in a more 'serious' fashion.
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Tragically, even these people fail completely due to the fact that they are
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more interested in exposing their pseudo-intellectual mind than trying to
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understand what they have actually gone into. To this date, there must
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have been over a dozen of articles in the daily press about the internet
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culture from various writers, and not one of them have succeeded. Instead,
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the articles have only made some people cry over the stupid contents and
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puzzled others.
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And in television talk-shows one can enjoy the latest misinformation
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about the internet, presented by poets/police men/singers/stand-up
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comedians and other celebrities with three-second experiences of the net.
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Their 'debates' and 'views' on the subject are, to say the least,
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horrifying. But even if they are only able to produce bullshit, they are
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invited to speak; they are 'trendy enough' to talk about this 'new trendy
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movement' called 'cyberpunk on the trendy infobahn' or equal.
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The circus reminds one of the golden days of '83, when the government
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decided that the whole swedish population should be educated in computer
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technology. Then, however, the magic word was 'Vic-20', now it is
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'Information Technology' and 'cyberspace'. The mutual thing with these
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movements is the tragic fact that the ones in charge for this 'global
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education' have no clue about what they are really talking about.
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Back in 1983, the government decided that everyone should know how to
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code Basic. Now, they want the population to know how to throw snow balls
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on WWW. Is that really 'good' education? Of course not. It is just a
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show made by, and presented to, amateurs.
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Everything becomes even more embarrassing when some low-level
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politicians connect themselves to the net. Used to their Big Brother
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position in the non-electronic society, they immediately think that they
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got the same power on the internet. 'Too much garbage','We need censorship'
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and 'Someone ought to CONTROL the net' are unfortunately very usual
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comments from these quasi-surfers on the net.
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However, one may laugh at these clowns, but they may very well turn out
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to become a threat against the net. Ordinary people whom yet have no
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connection to the internet will listen to these misinformed individuals and
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trust their opinions as the holy truth. With the mob on their side, the
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electronic politicians may do whatever they feel to. They cannot control
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the internet, but they can call for 'moral cleaning' (i.e 'spread certain
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information that appeals to the party') - and that is for sure censorship,
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but in a more delicate way.
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"How many fingers am I showing, Winston?"
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"Four."
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"And if the party says that it is not four
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fingers, but five - how many are there then?"
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(Nineteen Eighty-Four)
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///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
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I know you really loved me, but my hands were tied.
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I have nothing to do. ETEXT.ARCHIVE.UMICH.EDU /pub/Zines/UXU
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Personality goes a long way.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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uXu #238 Underground eXperts United 1995 uXu #238
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Call CLU 'PUTERNET -> +1-515-232-7631
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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