WHO is William Gibson?, history assignment help

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1. WHO is William Gibson? Why is he an important science fiction writer, and why is he significant to issues of modern digital media? 2. Who was “Agrippa” in history (Herod Agrippa). What did he do? What’s his place in ancient history? 3. What is Gibson’s poem “about”? What does it say? 4. Why did Gibson choose “Agrippa” as the title? What is the connection between the subject of his poem and the historical figure of Agrippa? 5. How did Gibson present this poem? (It was a digital presentation that was designed to only last for a short time) 6. Why did he choose to present the poem in this manner? How did the presentation (in a temporary, digital form) relate to the subject matter of the poem and to the historical figure of Agrippa? 7. Was he successful in his intention to present the poem this way? If the poem was written/presented in 1992 and planned to be temporary and then disappear, how/why are we examining it now, a quarter century later? 8. Did Gibson really intend for the poem and its digital presentation to disappear, or was he creating a challenge for others to try to find a way to make sure that it did NOT disappear? 9. What does the existence of this poem and its digital presentation then and now say about our current digital culture?

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William Gibson
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William Gibson a natural fiction author and essay writer from America and Canada who
is appreciated for his skills in science fiction called cyberpunk. William Gibson is an
important science fiction writer because of his excellent work and future- oriented stories on
the impacts of technology, cybernetics and computer network to the people. Gibson is
considered significant to the issues of modern digital media because he is well he uses
technology as a platform that can allow him to release information to only designed audience
(William.G, 1992).
Herod Agrippa was a King of Judaea between 41 AD and 44 AD. Agrippa was the last
ruler in Judea with the royal title. Agrippa was sent to the imperial court found in Rome by
Herod the Great where Tiberius felt attraction to him hence he organized for a program for
him to be alongside Drusus who was his son. His place in the ancient history is that he was
someone who could not trust anybody even himself (William.G, 1992).
William Gibson poem Agrippa also known as “A book of the dead” is about the
relationship he had with his dead father. It has plenty of childhood memories and flashback
when he looks at his father album “Agrippa”. The poem speaks more of the favorable bits of
Gibson as he grew and talks of how life events have taken place in his life. This poem is like
a life history to Gibson.
The title of the poem “Agrippa” is described as the book of dead was chosen by Gibson
as a one way of bring back the memories of his father that were precious in his life. The
connection between the subject and the historical view of Agrippa comes in where the
intention of the book is to retain the information of the book for personal use in future since it
contained crucial good memories of his life (William.G, 1992).

Gibson presents the information using a floppy disk that was programmed using
encryption techniques to display the data about the book content only once. Since he had to
present two copies of the book for approval, Gibson decided to print the details of the book in
light sensitive material so that the information can be destroyed immediately after being
exposed to light.
Gibson decides to present the poem in this manner because it talked more on precious
memories of his life. So as to keep his the information of the poem safe and to himself he had
to use of digital techniques to destroy the information released to the public using technology
manipulations. The subject matter of the presentation was to keep the information safe for as
many years as possible. The computer techniques of cryptography helped Gibson to encrypt
the information in the floppy disk so that it can turn into cipher text upon reading it
(Kirschenbaum, June 4, 2005).
Yes, the intention to present the poem was a success. Gibson was able to hide the
information for almost 20 years. The information is being re-examined now because it one
way of showing how technology can help one to secure certain information using encryption
techniques. Also we are examining this information to show changes that have taken place in
technology and the community in general (Kirschenbaum, June 4, 2005).
Gibson had the intentions to make the poem disappear after presentation. This is because
he wanted to keep the poem from being viewed all over the world due to cases of increase in
computer use and internet emergence.
The digital culture then was not well informed of information encryption techniques on
information that being the reason Gibson was able to prevent details of his poem being

noticed. On the other hand, the generation now is well informed on cryptographic techniques
used to encrypt information hence they can easily by pass cipher texts and be able to crack it
(Goodin, July 11, 2012).

Works Cited
Goodin, D. (July 11, 2012). "Solve 20 year old mystery in William Gibson's "Agrippa".
Hodge, J. J. (n.d.). "Bibliographic Description-of-Agrippa." The Agrippa Files. California: Santa
Barbara University.
Kirschenbaum, M. G. (June 4, 2005). Ashbaugh and Gibson's AGRIPPA. A Description of the
Book Based-Upon My-Examination of the NYPL-Copy.
Steven.P. (2003). "Profile: William Gibson". guardian.co.uk.
William.G. (1992). "Introduction to Agrippa: A Book of the Dead". WilliamGibsonBooks.com.

Attached.

William Gibson a prominent fiction author and essay writer from America and Canada who
is appreciated for his skills in science fiction called cyberpunk. William Gibson is a prominent
science fiction writer because of his excellent work and future- oriented stories on the impacts of
technology, cybernetics and computer network to the people. Gibson is considered significant to
the issues of modern digital media because he uses technology as a platfo...


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