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Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts... A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding.
-- William Gibson, Neuromancer (page 51)
Present incarnation : the Internet. Also known as : the Net, the Web, the Matrix.
Word "cyberspace" was first used by William Gibson in his book Burning Chrome in 1982.
According to the Hacker's Jargon :
The space of interactivity between communication media. For example, the point of personal contact between two telephones. The mutual connective fabric of the conceptual universe. An encounter halfway between here and not-here. Can be visual, acoustic, or conceptual. A community linked through electronic media, experimenting with new forms of social organization. Soon to be a major virtual reality near you. The universe next door.
-- Henry W.Targowski in Mark/Space, 1994.
A new universe, a parallel universe created and sustained by the world's computers and communication lines. A world in which the global traffic of knowledge, secrets, measurements, indicators, entertainments, and alter-human agency takes on form : sights, sounds, presences never seen on the surface of the earth blossoming in a vast electronic night.
-- Michael Benedikt in Cyberspace: First Steps.
The Matrix
The matrix is a black void, in which lies a fluorescent green plane termed the Orientation Grid. This forms the basis of the coordinate system within the Matrix - grid references or "Intersects" are used to pinpoint systems or places.
Above, upon and beneath the Orientation Grid there stand structures known as DOS Towers. These tend to be smooth polyhedral blocks with little definition other than a company logo or name. DOS Towers huddle together in groups that roughly correspond to major cities and conurbations. As a result, the distribution of systems in the Matrix is uneven, with bright clusters of DOS Towers amongst the featureless plains of the Orientation Grid.
Famous landmarks in the matrix are the Beanstalk Tower, which appears to be a distortion of the Orientation Grid soaring to the distant star of the Gateway Matrix ; The L5 Orbital ; and the far away spirals of the military systems.
Inside A DOS Tower
The DOS Tower is the physical presence of a mainframe or group of mainframes in the Matrix. Also called Constructs, DOS Towers may take on any form. Usually they consist of a large but hollow structure containing many chambers or "Nodes" connected by corridors or "Channels".
Nodes
Nodes are effectively computers in their own right. They may be assigned to particular real world devices, for example the stutterwarp drive of a starship or the security system of a corporate building. Nodes should be considered to be vast, immobile cyberdecks.
Channels
Channels are merely the access routes between nodes. They do not possess any special features, but they may be concealed and / or closed.
Concealed channels are used to hide access paths to sensitive areas of a DOS Tower and to safeguard escape routes.
Ports
The DOS Tower is connected to the outside world using special nodes called "Ports". These ports are dedicated to the task of dealing with external communications and are normally the front line of defence against intrusion.
