Ode to Cyberspace-a reaching out to a definition

Ode to Cyberspace

I need more twitter. Your cyberspace is boring me.

I think it isn't possible. Cyberspace is always changing growing. It might even disappear completely.

Thanks to cyberspace, I've met many wonderful people. Many of whom are friends and mentors to me and I to them..

Just signed up for TweetDeck - wondering exactly how that might alter my life, and experience of cyberspace? Hints and clues, anyone?
Welcome Brian, good to see you here in cyberspace, and I look forward to talking with you next week!resending - thanks for reaching out over twitter - can't believe my mail got lost in cyberspace!"We will create a civilization of the mind, in cyberspace." - John Perry BarlowHas anyone taken a peek or test drive of that newest thing 2 hit cyberspace? Google Wave. Looks & sounds interesting... makes me curious,Nah, not really. The bad part is that you used the last of your battery to tell everyone in cyberspace.HAH! yes, if we share info in cyberspace we don't need a time machine, each accesses it in their own time/space.
So what is this cyeberspace to which we all refer?Please tweet me with your answer and I'll write about it in my next blog.
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Although this poem does not give an exact answer as to what cyberspace is, it is interesting to see what facts can be ascertained about and what characteristics can be attributed to it in just a handful of tweets put together from a search on Twitter.
1) It has the capacity to produce boredom.
2) It is in a process of constant metamorphosis, and the question is raised that it may disappear altogether, one day.
3) It is the means by which friendships can be made and mentoring can take place.
4) Applications used to access cyberspace (in this instance, TweetDeck) may be anticipated longingly by the new user as beings a means of engendering life transformation, a sea change, a conversion, a moment of enlightenment!
5) Cyberspace, like real space, is a vast domain in which it is possible for definitive objects (?) like email to become lost! Thank goodness it is possible to resend items (Line 7) unlike with the Royal Mail where once an item is lost it's final!
6) Is it possible that the human mind can become civilized by a visit to cyberspace, or will it become lost like the poor aforementioned email?
7) Cyberspace stimulates the enquiring mind, and produces the desire to find more novel forms of travel, such as surfing on a Google Wave!
8) Batteries are required to power communication with others who are already out in cyberspace, and it is possible to communicate with everyone in cyberspace, perhaps our beloved politicians could be sent there!
9) The sharing of information in cyberspace becomes a form of time travel.
10) The opening line of the second stanza shows how easy it is to switch to mundane and down-to-earth topics even when dealing with such advanced philosophical conceps as cyberspace. The words 'Welcome Brian' bring in such a feeling of inclusiveness and autheticity!
I never cease to be amazed at the fact that Twitter can be used not only to write poetry, but also to learn about emerging technology and advanced philosophical concepts!
In fact, I think I learned more through my above research and involvement in the poetic process than I ascertained in looking up the Wikipedia exploration of cyberspace, which is detailed below.
Wikipedia article about Cyberspace (Introduction only, thank goodness)
Cyberspace (from Greek Κυβερνήτης [kybernētēs] meaning "steersman", "governor", "pilot", or "rudder") is the global domain of electromagnetics as accessed and exploited through electronic technology and the modulation of electromagnetic energy to achieve a wide range of communication and control system capabilities. The term is rooted in the science of cybernetics and Norbert Wiener’s pioneering work in electronic communication and control science, a forerunner to current information theory and computer science. Through its electromagnetic nature, cyberspace integrates a number of capabilities (sensors, signals, connections, transmissions, processors, controllers) and generates a virtual interactive experience accessed for the purpose of communication and control regardless of a geographic location. In pragmatic terms, cyberspace allows the interdependent network of information technology infrastructures (ITI), telecommunications networks—such as the internet, computer systems, integrated sensors, system control networks and embedded processors and controllers common to global control and communications. As a social experience, individuals can interact, exchange ideas, share information, provide social support, conduct business, direct actions, create artistic media, play games, engage in political discussion, and so on. The term was coined by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson. Now ubiquitous, the term has become a conventional means to describe anything associated with computers, information technology, the internet and the diverse internet culture. Cyberspace is recognized as part of the US National Critical Infrastructure.________________
You may like to have an attempt at your own piece of poetry before you read my next article, I suggest something simple for your first exercise, like 'Critical Infrastructure'.

'The' (a tribute to chaos theory and Twitter)

Michael Jackson Memorial site, maybe Elvis or the Beatles,

I wonder what the odds are of my grocery store selling an 8 inch springform pan?

Today, every time I feel the urge to complain, I'm going try to instead praise God. Ain't He good?

Okay. You can be the guinea pig, I mean the first lucky person to try it,

Sorry I couldn't help you guys out and buy anything... my sister's 18th is tomorrow I'm broke!

This was the perfect morning to start my walk\jog!

At the dentist, ready for the torture,

108 days until the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. If I don't get it in gear I'll never be ready. Must RUN more!!!

Isn't that stating the obvious for most cases?

CREOpoint will be an essential part of the DNA of whatever the global CRE industry will be,

Christmas- and in the night we'll wish this never ends, we'll wish this never ends. I miss you.

Jace sounds pretty cool, Simon reminds me of Simon off Alvin and the chipmunks,

Starting the day early Bow,Teresa, both are travelling today,

Demi, congrats on the album well done! even though I'm in London I'm gonna find a way to get it.

Big up's to for performing at Teddys tonight in Hollywood.The night was epic!!!

I have mooned at the postman. I think he was quite scared.

The Law of Consistency by Perry Belcher (Search Engine ...)Morrissey + Doll & The Kicks @ Brixton tonight. Cannot wait.

In bed listening to vintage Stones right now, honky tonk.

The 165 on and off ramps on 94SB have REOPENED.

Which helps since they just closed the 94SB "C" off and on ramps Monday.

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Is there any discernable poetry in Twitter? When he wrote 'The Wasteland', T.S. Eliot used many allusions to famous writers, philosophers and poets of the past and there is often unusual juxtaposition of the quotes as he follows his train of thought and develops his ideas. The 'poem' above draws on a similar principle in that it draws together various profound expressions of our current 'Twitterers'. The method used for constucting this poem draws on my experience of producing class poems in one of my teaching posts, where individual children would in turn suggest what the next line of the poem should be. The difference here is that there may be no discernable theme to the poem, which is where chaos theory comes into the equation. In some ways, though, the unusual juxtaposition of the individual tweets is similar to the way in which children in a class vie with one another to construct the next line. The way in which these lines were put together is similar in that they appear in real-time sequence, in the order they appeared on my Twitter home page. Could this form of expression reflect the contemporary culture of our 21st. century. Like childrens voices in a class, the Tweets often come at us as voices shouting louder and louder to give expression to their feelings, thoughts and world-view in the hope that someone will here.

Like it or loathe it, it looks as though Twitter is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Does anyone see its potential as a source of poetry or a historical slice of our contemporary culture. I may try some further experiments, some quotable quotes as are evident in The Wasteland may emerge; Eliot saw the insertion of these as a way of keeping history and culture alive, is it worth doing this with our 'Tweets' or are they better read and quickly forgotten? By the way, the common thread in these Tweets is the word 'the', as you may have ascertained from the title.

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A tribute to and celebration of Chicken Fricassee

Preheat the oven

to Gas Four. Put the onions

or shallots in a bowl,

Add just enough boiling water to cover them-

And leave to soak, soak, soak.

Meanwhile, rinse the chicken pieces well in cold, cold water,

And pat them dry with crisp, crepitating kitchen paper.

Melt-half, yes just half the butter with olive oil, that Oh so great healing balm,

In a large frying pan, yes that big!

Add the chicken pieces and cook on a high and elevated warmth, if not very heat itself,

Turning them occasionally, until a light, light brown suntan is produced all over,

Then, using a slotted spoon, yes one with holes in its surface,

Otherwise you may use tongs, transfer the chicken pieces to a large casserole dish,

Leaving the juices behind with a fond farewell for the moment.

Steps four to eight form an interlude where various things are done with flour, pan juices,

wine, which is blended in, A pot is covered, mixtures are boiled and bouquet garni and lemon juice are added,

The pot is left to boil for an interminable hour!

Using our friendly device, the slotted spoon, or failing that the ever reliable tongs,

remove chicken and vegetables to a welcoming warm dish,

Add the cream and 30 millilitres of parsley, oh, the comforting parsley, to the sauce.

Then you must whisk, whisk, whisk to conjoin the two lovers, parsley and sauce,

The seasoning should then be inspected, checked, adjusted, and set back on a rightful path,

But only if this is really necessary.

It is now time for the anointing of the chicken and vegetables, those unwilling victims, after which

The fricassee is christened with the remaining, lonely, yearning parsley who has been ignored until now.

The now whole, complete and satiated fricassee is to be joined in an offering with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

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Can the daily preparation and cooking of food be a form of poetry in its own right. In this poem I develop the plot in such a way that the characters appear unexpectedly, because we are not told beforehand the cast of charcters involved in the drama. Note the homage which is paid to the various ingredients and the correction and change which takes place in their lives, culminating in the final baptism of fire and offering of the transformed, completed, interwoven coagulation to the humble recipient who may accept the offering and find it pleasing or may reject it as something unpalatable.

If you are interested in the development of Twitter/chaos/computer poetry or the elevation of the mundane, do send me any comments or observations about this article.

o