Geographies of the tropical Internet: An overview

The literature on the geography of cyberspace has focused heavily on the economically developed countries in the mid-latitude regions of the world. This paper addresses the spatiality of the Internet among countries located in the tropics. It charts the network of optical fibre lines that make access possible and the critical role played by telecommunications deregulation. It also accounts for the rapidly changing pools and explosive growth of Internet users between 2000 and 2005 in relation to the socioeconomic variables closely associated with access: costs, wealth, literacy and telephone penetration rates. Finally, the paper also looks at government censorship in various regional contexts and summarizes the status of e-commerce and e-government in different regions within the tropics.     

Placing cyberspace: processes of Americanization in British children's use of the Internet

This paper counters the notion that cyberspace is a placeless electronic sphere through an analysis of British children's use of the Internet. It demonstrates that rather than being accessible from everywhere but existing nowhere, cyberspace is shaped through place-routed cultures, and in particular through processes of Americanization.     

COUNTERHEGEMONIC DISCOURSES AND THE INTERNET

ABSTRACT. Contrary to much of the hype that posits cyberspace as the uncontested domain of rugged individualists, computer networks and traffic exhibit deeply social and political roots. The Internet is neither inherently oppressive nor automatically emancipatory; it is a terrain of contested philosophies and politics. After a brief review of the politics of electronic knowledge, we discuss the ways in which the Internet can be harnessed for counterhegemonic (antiestablishment) political ends. We focus on progressive uses, including the confrontation of nomadic power and rhizomic power structures, in which the local becomes the global. We also offer an encapsulation of right-wing uses. Throughout, we see cyberactivism as a necessary, but not sufficient, complement to real-world struggles on behalf of the disempowered.     

基于文化关联的旅游与贸易互动路径及机理研究——以宁夏与阿拉伯国家为例

以宁夏与阿拉伯国家为例,提出了入境旅游与贸易互动机理与路径假设,采用结构方程方法,对宁夏与阿拉伯国家的入境旅游与贸易的微观互动机理与路径关系进行了实证研究。结果发现：① 旅游与贸易互动路径假设均在1%或5%的置信水平上得到了验证,即关系链接对知识关联有正向路径影响,商贸关联对知识关联和广告效应有正向路径影响,信息传播对广告效应有正向路径影响。商贸关联、广告效应以及知识关联对商贸行为有正向路径影响。② 主要存在商贸关联引发商贸行为的直接路径和两条间接路径关系：关系链接→知识关联→商贸行为和信息传播→广告效应→商贸行为。③ 旅游与贸易的互动机理来看,文化关联拉近了心理感知距离,通过旅游构建了良好的人际关系和商贸关系,增加了贸易便利性、削减交易成本、消除商务距离、培育合作商机、构建商业纽带,开启了宁夏与阿拉伯国家之间的贸易规模的提升,尤其是出口贸易的迅猛增长。贸易的增长提高了旅游的便利化程度,进一步拉近了感知距离,消除了旅游成本,构建了中介关联,增加了更多旅游需求。     

THE SACRED,THE REGIONAL,AND THE DIGITAL*

ABSTRACT. As an information economy and a cultural hallmark, cyberspace belies traditional boundaries yet involves a distinctive territory, citizenry, literature, technology, capital and finance, ritual, weapons and belligerencies, a recognizable past, and variegated if unspecified futures. Not easily quantified is the geography of so elusive and placeless an entity, and its technology has been variously portrayed as utopian, liberating, elitist, or enslaving; in it are brought to life strains of technological determinism. Maps of cyberspace can be forged only with utmost difficulty, and it is best beloved and imagined in dense cyberpunk fiction. Part sacred space, part ethereal region, part digital fact, cyberspace involves a regional geography perhaps best captured in a koan: What is the place where everyone is but nobody lives?     

Internet与我国旅游业

旅游业在Ｉｎｔｅｒｎｅｔ上开展商务活动,将引起传统运作模式的重大变革。我国地域辽阔,旅游资源丰富,利用这些独特的资源在Ｉｎｔｅｒｎｅｔ上建立优质的面向世界的旅游业网站,并走联合经营之路,将为我在的发展和我国经济的腾飞做出重大贡献。     

Coastal Change in Ras Al Khaimah (United Arab Emirates): a Cartographic Analysis

The coastline of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, has three main constructional complexes: Jazirat al Hamra, Julfah, and Jazirat Hulaylah. Archival information, air photographs and maps dating back to 1819, enable the history of coastal change to be reconstructed. Jazirat al Hamra has been much affected by recent reclamation and harbour works, but appears to have been relatively stable. Jazirat Hulaylah also appears to have changed relatively little. However, the Julfah complex, which includes the harbour mouth for Ras Al Khaimah city, has shown very considerable change as a result of coastal breaching and spit growth and decay.     

Network Topology and City Accessibility of the Commercial Internet

The rapid growth in this decade of World Wide Web access through the Internet is supported by a complex matrix of telecommunications infrastructure. This paper presents an overview of the history of the Internet and recent efforts to measure its structure and performance, and examines the spatial organization of the commercial Internet backbone. The research presented in this paper differs from previous Internet measurement work in that we apply network analysis methods to evaluate Internet connectivity. Transportation network analysis techniques are applied to measure 1) connectivity of individual service provider networks and 2) accessibility of cities to Internet service. The results reveal many different strategies implemented by service providers in network design as well as large differences in levels of accessibility of cities and regions in the United States. There is also an apparent disparity between population and city accessibility to the Internet.     

Network Topology and City Accessibility of the Commercial Internet

The rapid growth in this decade of World Wide Web access through the Internet is supported by a complex matrix of telecommunications infrastructure. This paper presents an overview of the history of the Internet and recent efforts to measure its structure and performance, and examines the spatial organization of the commercial Internet backbone. The research presented in this paper differs from previous Internet measurement work in that we apply network analysis methods to evaluate Internet connectivity. Transportation network analysis techniques are applied to measure 1) connectivity of individual service provider networks and 2) accessibility of cities to Internet service. The results reveal many different strategies implemented by service providers in network design as well as large differences in levels of accessibility of cities and regions in the United States. There is also an apparent disparity between population and city accessibility to the Internet.     

Financial appraisal of date-frond mat fence systems for wind erosion control and sand dune stabilization in the arid region of the United Arab Emirates

A discounted cash flow model was employed to assess the viability of four wind barrier systems. The systems were utilized for wind erosion control and sand dune stabilization in the Al-Ain region of the United Arab Emirates. These systems consisted of four densities of date-frond mat fences erected in the form of checker board grids between rows of two local tree species:Prosopis spicigeraandAcacia tortilis. Analysis of cost estimated was based on the annual equivalent value of costs for each system. The economic life of the systems varied as a function of the time needed for the different trees in the different systems to reach the self-support stage. Results indicated that the systems’ ranking according to the minimal costs varied among the different tree types and the number of fences; but there was a general decrease in cost with increased fence density using the same tree, and this was due mainly to the effect of the fence on reducing the cost of tree development and maintenance as a result of reducing accumulated eroded sand. The minimal cost was recorded in D-10 treatment (seven fences) usingProsopis spicigera.     

论我国互联网的发展及其潜在空间影响

互联网是信息化的主要载体。 2 0世纪 90年代以来 ,互联网的发展速度十分惊人 ;用户从少数研究机构及其研究人员迅速扩大到全社会。互联网的普及正在引起日常生活和整个社会经济系统的根本性改变 ,对社会经济空间组织具有深远的意义与影响。本文讨论了互联网时代地理学的意义 ,回顾了我国互联网发展的空间特征 ,并阐述互联网对社会经济空间组织的潜在影响 ;强调互联网对社会经济空间组织影响的两个主要要素 ,即对市场的快速反应与配送的快捷性 ;提出互联网时代地理学在社会经济空间组织上的三个基本研究方向。     

Using Points of Presence to Measure Accessibility to the Commercial Internet

As the Internet continues to grow, questions of accessibility and infrastructure equity persist. In the increasingly competitive telecommunications industry, profit-seeking firms continue to upgrade infrastructure in select market areas creating an uneven spatial distribution of access opportunities. This article utilizes a longitudinal database of Internet infrastructure development, highlighting fiber-optic backbone points of presence (POP) established by commercial Internet service providers to examine city accessibility to the commercial Internet. Results indicate that many larger metropolitan areas maintain dominant shares of telecom infrastructure, but several midsized metros are emerging as important centers for telecommunication interconnection.     

Using Points of Presence to Measure Accessibility to the Commercial Internet

As the Internet continues to grow, questions of accessibility and infrastructure equity persist. In the increasingly competitive telecommunications industry, profit-seeking firms continue to upgrade infrastructure in select market areas creating an uneven spatial distribution of access opportunities. This article utilizes a longitudinal database of Internet infrastructure development, highlighting fiber-optic backbone points of presence (POP) established by commercial Internet service providers to examine city accessibility to the commercial Internet. Results indicate that many larger metropolitan areas maintain dominant shares of telecom infrastructure, but several midsized metros are emerging as important centers for telecommunication interconnection.     

中国互联网发展的区域差异分析

互联网发展的区域差异及其与区域发展的相互影响研究已成为地理学研究中一个新的问题。从网络普及率、网络信息资源丰度及互联网商业应用三个角度初步探讨了中国互联网发展存在的区域差异,并设计了互联网发展指数(IDI)、从人均的角度反映互联网发展的综合水平。表明:东部地区的发展水平明显高于中部和西部地区,但与传统意义上的经济发展梯度不同的是,西部地区的互联网发展水平稍高于中部地区;中国大陆31个省、直辖市、自治区的互联网发展综合水平的差异同样显著,按照IDI值大小被划分为6个等级。互联网发展区域差异的影响因素是多方面的,应用多元回归分析方法研究发现,区域人口素质水平、区域信息和知识生产能力对我国互联网发展区域差异的解释能力最强,区域对外开放程度和区域城市化水平的影响也较显著。     

Textural attributes, mineralogy and provenance of sand dune fields in the greater Al Ain area, United Arab Emirates

Sand dunes and interdune sediments around Al Ain city have markedly high carbonate contents which increase towards Jabal Hafit mountain and the Arabian Gulf coast. The dunes are composed predominantly of well-sorted fine sands, consisting of unstrained quartz and carbonate grains together with minor proportions of chert and feldspars. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) examination reveals that quartz grains display various mechanically- and chemically-formed surface textures. The heavy minerals are dominated by opaques and pyroxenes with minor tourmaline, garnet, rutile, epidote, monazite, zircon, hornblende and staurolite.Interdune sediments consist of fine and very fine, poorly- to extremely poorly-sorted sands together with small concentrations of gravel, silt and clay. The light sand fractions compositionally resemble those of dunes but contain, in addition, gypsum, anhydrite, halite and celestite. Percentages of pyroxenes are higher whereas those of zircon, tourmaline and rutile are lower than in dunes. X-ray diffractometry reveals that the clay fractions consist solely of palygorskite. Generally, interdune sediments are much less mature texturally and mineralogically than dune sands; the maturity of both types of sediments decreases toward the NE of the study area.Sand dunes in the various districts of the greater Al Ain area are genetically related. Also, there is a partial genetic relationship between the dunes and interdune sediments; both are mainly multicyclic. Their major parts were brought mainly by the dominant north-west (El Shamal) winds from older dune fields in other localities in U.A.E., Qatar and El-Rub El-Khali. Local contributions to the dune fields from Jabal Hafit mountain, the Oman Mountains and the calcareous coast of the Arabian Gulf were, in cases, significant. Also, authigenesis by groundwater under highly evaporitic conditions played a major role in the formation of interdune sediments through the genesis of the clay and some nonclay minerals.     

互联网与中国信息网络城市的崛起

从互联网骨干网络拓扑结构入手,对中国互联网进行了初步的地理学分析,着重考察了基于这种新的信息基础设施架构之上的中国城市体系格局。结果表明：一个由信息网络城市组成的城市网络已在中国浮现,北京、上海和广州之间的互联网骨干连接构成了我国长距离电子通信的核心层次。互联网基础设施建设正在重构城市的竞争优势,而地理区位因素仍在其中起着重要的作用。     

On-line with e-mums: exploring the Internet as a medium for research

This paper contributes to the emerging debate about the value of on-line research. Drawing on the experience of an Internet-based Cyberparents project, it explores the possibilities and limitations of web-based questionnaire surveys and on-line synchronous interviews. It discusses some of the implications of conducting research in the virtual arena, with particular emphasis on sampling, on-line interactions and computer-mediated conversations. Although on-line research holds promise, its potential should not be exaggerated: many of the issues and problems of conventional research still apply in the virtual venue.     

物联网时代信息地理研究的思考

近年来物联网在全球掀起巨大热潮。作为新一代信息技术,物联网不仅将给生产运行、经济和社会管理乃至个人生活带来极大影响,同时将会给地理学带来深刻变化,成为信息地理研究的重要对象。深入分析物联网对于地理学核心概念以及信息地理研究方法带来的影响,构建物联网时代信息地理研究的理论框架,主要包括:物联网构造了新的地理空间--现实地理空间与虚拟空间的统一体,推动人地关系的改善;物联网时代的信息实时收集与处理特征,使得空间结构、产品空间、行为空间发生重要变化,信息作为区位的影响因素将得到增强,城市交通、居住、工作和休憩功能空间受到影响,物联网从规范产业链和改变消费行为两个方面影响商业模式,人的环境感应能力增强,影响人们的空间感知和空间行为;基于物理世界的海量实时数据,信息地理研究方法发生变化,实证、时间维度、微观尺度等方面的研究将会增强。进而,系统性提出物联网时代信息地理的主要研究内容。     

Multimedia and Internet Business Clusters in Central Tokyo

This paper discusses the concentration of multimedia and Internet businesses in Central Tokyo. The multimedia businesses producing various digitized materials and the other businesses related to the Internet can be identified as a business domain referred to as "the multimedia and Internet industry." Tokyo is the location of the largest concentration of multimedia and Internet businesses in Japan. Several industrial clusters of such businesses can be identified in Central Tokyo through the locational analysis of the firms utilizing GIS techniques. Among these clusters, Kanda, the largest one with its tradition of IT related technical and publishing/printing businesses, contains a number of software design and application service firms. In contrast, Shibuya, the second largest cluster without any pre-existing industrial tradition, specializes in multimedia and Web content business. Shibuya, which is popularly called "Bit Valley," has grown rapidly correspondence with the expansion of the demand for multimedia and Web content products on the bases of its denser industrial relations compared to those in the other clusters and of few disadvantages in the competition for human resources for creative workers employment due to a distinct local labor market.