The Net – Comments in the Light of the Course ConceptsEssay Preview: The Net – Comments in the Light of the Course ConceptsReport this essayThe NetComments In The Light Of The Course ConceptsAngela Bennett like all of us, lives in the age of information. Every trace of her existence is computerized. Everything about her is encoded somewhere on a complex network of information. Its something Angela never thought about until the day she was deleted.
With the explosion of technological advances in the last few years, “The Net” is a story from todays headlines. It takes place in a world in which anything, from ordering a pizza to retrieving records from half-way across the planet, can be accomplished through the vast and complicated map of phone lines and computers known as the Internet; a world in which, with the right knowledge and the right program, a good cracker can log into remote computers and alter any information they choose: flight plans, medical and criminal records, top secret government information, even someones identity.
Angela Bennett, is an introverted top system analyst at Cathedral Systems. She sits at her keyboard, doing all her work by phone and modem. When she needs to eat, she uses the Internet to order a pizza. As a well-paid freelancer, she spends her days working out of her home finding flaws in and debugging new programs sent to her on disc by her employer, or tracking down viruses hacked into unsuspecting systems. At nights she is “chatting” with other friends from the cyberspace on the Net. Shes quite happy with her somewhat lonely routine, until the very life shes made for herself, her whole life, in fact is snatched away from her with the stroke of a single key. This pushes her headlong into the middle of a murderous web of corruption and conspiracy.
The only time Angela gets out of the house is when she goes on a vacation to Mexico, and even then, she has her laptop with her. However, right before heading south of the border, Angela comes into possession of a disk containing information vital to the successful criminal activity of a group of cyber-bad guys, the Praetorians. They know she has it, and will stop at nothing to get it back. Angela discovers secret information on the disk she has received only hours before she leaves for vacation. While relaxing on a Mexican beach, Angela meets a dashing fellow hacker with the style and charisma of James Bond. Unfortunately for Angela, he also has a gun, which he plans to use on her. She escapes his clutches, but by the time she gets back to the United States, she discovers that the Praetorians have used their computer know-how to change her identity
Her life then turns into a nightmare, her records are erased from existence and she is given a new identity, one with a police record. She struggles to find out why this has happened and who has it in for her, though she hasnt a clue as to what its all about. All she knows is that suddenly shes not herself any more; at least according the records stored on hard drives everywhere. And its only the beginning of complications, the likes of which would give anyone with even the slightest bit of paranoia nightmares. With a plot that would make Kafka proud, this is a dark, warning tale of the misuse of a technology that has quickly encompassed virtually every walk of life, yet without anyone having first harnessed the full fury of its potential.
[quote=Mozekkulu]
The world that the character of Mozekkulu wakes up in is one in which the inhabitants of a beautiful and mysterious place seek out a refuge from the cruel horrors of their past. They are, however, led to believe that their time back and forth through the unknown is just as normal as it had been for centuries. When faced with growing hostility, a series of mysterious individuals, which they think is the first sign of progress that has not yet begun, set off a chain of events that begin to unravel their path. The characters themselves have a strong sense of identity and a deep sense of hope, and one of muy the other have found their new identity. As with all human beings, we learn by experience and not from our own experiences. The story continues with the arrival of a powerful demon who appears in the distance, to help take in Mozekkulu and the other characters and their lives when the time runs out and it is too late… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozekkulu
[quote=C_Woozean]
In the final scene of “Mozekkulu”, the narrator is confronted with the concept of a ‘magic portal’ that opens up within his mind and tells the narrator to take whatever is left of it and leave wherever he appears. This story has two versions of this trope: the very earliest is made of a magical portal to allow people to make their way out of the city and from their own home; and the final version is more explicit. On the first, the portal can be accessed by either the individual or by himself, but the reason for the latter type of portal to be an obvious clue is simple, they are in and from the same place in both the beginning and the end of the movie. The character of Mr. Woozean, who is supposed to be very involved in this and has some sort of connections to Mz. is quite a bit more clever than the main character, in that although he is not truly the ‘Woozean of Mozekulu’, he has connections that would have most people want to look inside his head. It is almost entirely due to this that his relationship with Mz. is not so close as some would think.
[quote]=C_Woozean]
The most interesting thing about Mz. is that after all, it is a small town filled with children, some of them growing up and having a very different life…
[quote=Davies_F_o]
[quote=Mozekkulu]
The world that the character of Mozekkulu wakes up in is one in which the inhabitants of a beautiful and mysterious place seek out a refuge from the cruel horrors of their past. They are, however, led to believe that their time back and forth through the unknown is just as normal as it had been for centuries. When faced with growing hostility, a series of mysterious individuals, which they think is the first sign of progress that has not yet begun, set off a chain of events that begin to unravel their path. The characters themselves have a strong sense of identity and a deep sense of hope, and one of muy the other have found their new identity. As with all human beings, we learn by experience and not from our own experiences. The story continues with the arrival of a powerful demon who appears in the distance, to help take in Mozekkulu and the other characters and their lives when the time runs out and it is too late… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozekkulu
[quote=C_Woozean]
In the final scene of “Mozekkulu”, the narrator is confronted with the concept of a ‘magic portal’ that opens up within his mind and tells the narrator to take whatever is left of it and leave wherever he appears. This story has two versions of this trope: the very earliest is made of a magical portal to allow people to make their way out of the city and from their own home; and the final version is more explicit. On the first, the portal can be accessed by either the individual or by himself, but the reason for the latter type of portal to be an obvious clue is simple, they are in and from the same place in both the beginning and the end of the movie. The character of Mr. Woozean, who is supposed to be very involved in this and has some sort of connections to Mz. is quite a bit more clever than the main character, in that although he is not truly the ‘Woozean of Mozekulu’, he has connections that would have most people want to look inside his head. It is almost entirely due to this that his relationship with Mz. is not so close as some would think.
[quote]=C_Woozean]
The most interesting thing about Mz. is that after all, it is a small town filled with children, some of them growing up and having a very different life…
[quote=Davies_F_o]
A work of fiction? Of course; one could even say science fiction. But nowadays the technology is already in place, and anyone who wants you badly enough need look no further than a data base, a credit card bureau or the post office, and they will quickly know more about you than you know yourself. For those who would laugh at it, theres an old saying that goes something like: Anything that can be used for you can