Dissertation (Chapter 5)

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5       Functions in electronic language

 

     Symbolic activity based on the activities of a machine could be passed off as a text building device rather than considering it as site that sponsors a fully functional language. It is this notion that causes new computer users to miss the cues that the computer gives as to what should be done next, and misunderstands what it is that is going on between human and computer. Electronic language, the means computer and human have contact with each other, is a fully functional language that functions as a mechanism to:

·        provide interpersonal contact between computer and user and between human users and other human users when computers are connected across networks;

·        convey information about reality;

·        structure these into a coherent textual form (cf. Halliday, 1978:132; O’Toole, 1994:5).

Functional linguists, working in the schools identified in the previous chapter, label these respectively as the Interpersonal Function, the Experiential Function and the Textual Function. These functions, linguists submit, “govern the way we choose our words and construct our sentences in spoken and written language ” (O’Toole , 1994:5). While different labels might be appropriate for other semiotic  codes, the labels still stand for similar functions or types of meaning relations.

     In the context of electronic language, it has been considered appropriate to adopt similar labels as O’Toole ’s (1994) picticly oriented labels used in the context of painting for the express reason that electronic language has a major orientation towards picturing on a screen. Conveying information  on a screen in a pictured format is representational, structuring a coherent text is best labelled as compositional. However, in the context of computing the term modal to handle interpersonal issues does not provide that strong accent towards people communicating with each other through the computing environment that is needed. Therefore, in this context it is suggested that the term interpersonal is used to label the attention getting and interaction activity  of electronic language.

 

Rank	Function >>	Representational	Interpersonal		Textual
System		Messaging Theme Time View		Addressing Response Privacy	Localisation Hyper-linking
	File	Sequence Space	Freedom		Scrolling Windowing Pagination
Program	Object	Things Relations	Interaction		Rotation Bordering Marginalisation
	Active unit	Actions Events	Cursor		Lineation Gridding Randomisation
Instruction		Time Responsiveness			Digitisation

  Table 11: Functions and systems in synthesis . 

 

     At each rank of synthesis , there are particular choices that are available to a computer  user to make sense of what is happening on the computer and what can be done on the computer to further make meaning. Available systems are listed in Table 11.

     The function of language of primary interest in this dissertation is the interpersonal function. The major focus will be on this for two reasons:

1.      electronic language is about communicating with a computer and communicating with other people;

2.      it is often because people do not pick-up on the interpersonal codes of electronic language that they have difficulty in working with a computer.

This chapter only outlines the way a fuller functional theory might be developed. The objective of this chapter is to focus on one of the metafunctions ¾ the interpersonal. The way language functions interpersonally brings out the changing human practices of making meaning with consequences for the nature of work, problem solving and consciousness.

Interpersonal systems

     When seated at a stand-alone computer  the user is aware of no other person involved in the activity  of making meaning on the computer. It is as though the computer has some life and intelligence  and it interacts with the user. In reality hardware  manufacturers, programmers , composers of electronic texts  and many others are involved in constructing this thinking  machine. It is like working with another person because many human attributes of thinking and acting are imbued in the system. People who work with computers can treat a computer, within the scope of activity that a computer is programmed, as though it is another person. Interpersonal relationships are constructed between the computer and the user. But Interpersonal meaning making, when a computer is connected via a network to other computers, becomes more than talking to a machine. Interpersonal relationships between human beings are mediated via computer systems. This means that the very systems that relate human to computer are extended to relate human to human via computers connected to one another. Our investigation of the Interpersonal function of electronic language  will consider example systems that illustrate both the human-computer and the human-computer-computer-human relationships.

Human-computer  relations

     How does a computer  engage your attention, and how do you engage the computer through electronic language ? Firstly, it is impossible to engage a computer, or for a computer to engage the attention of a human through the rank of Instructions. Instructions can only be run for a computer, that is, to put into a computer a complex web  of instructions that allow a computer to operate in an “intelligent” manner. It is only as the computer makes use of these instructions at the next rank is it possible for a computer and a human to interact.

 

Diagram 32: Dialog box - presented with the "you" in electronic language .

     When a computer  uses a set of instructions it can address a human in much the same way as humans address each other. Similar to spoken and written language , where someone can directly address another with “you”, and interpersonal contact is established, a computer is programmed to gain the user’s attention by presenting a dialogue box on top of the current program  and in the middle of the screen. In it the programmer can have embedded some words, a graphic and any other object  to indicate what you should know. Sometimes a dialogue box is presented on the screen along with a sound , such as the “ding” of a bell ¾ it is this “ding” that is the most like the “you” in spoken language.

     Dialog boxes are one part of the Interaction system, allowing human and computer  to interact. An important program  on any computer, the operating  system, is the major resource for the Interaction system providing resources and a context within which these resources can be used. While we must concede that the operating system is a program, and therefore has a programmer, we need to consider it in the light of it as an intelligence , albeit a composed intelligence. One  of the specific tasks of the operating system is to provide the user with constant feedback regarding the availability of the computing system for human input. Each program that is added to a computer takes on the task of providing this feedback as well. One of the ways a computer handles this feedback is through the Cursor system. The Cursor system is by no means the only method of providing feedback to the human user, but it is a primary system. One cannot underestimate the role of the strobing cursor  in its traditional “I - beam” or straight line format, causing the human to be goaded by the computer into acting. Cursors in graphical program s, however, are far more informative than just to strobe.

The Cursor Interpersonal System

     The Cursor system, is controlled by the operating  system of the computer , making and maintaining contact with the computer user. The computer indicates when it is and is not “listening” for any action that the human may take. The computer indicates to the human user the action a human can effect on the computer through use of different cursors (see Diagram 33):

Diagram 33: The Cursor System

1.      When one of the pointers is showing, the user can obtain help information  from the computer  (arrow plus question mark), make a selection (the arrow), type text  (the beam) or draw (crosshair).

2.      When the computer  is doing something and it cannot “listen” to the user then, the user must wait (hourglass), the user can do something else but the computer will be a little slower because it is still busy (pointer and hourglass), the computer cannot do anything with the last selection but the user may continue (pointer with “no” sign);

3.      the user can size the border under the current cursor  in the direction as showing on the cursor at this time.

     In between reading the state of the computer  through the cursor  system, a human can respond to engage the computer in activity. Users can engage the computer, through moving and depressing keys on the mouse, depressing keys on the keyboard, and/or moving the joystick in a fluid  manner. These tools are the primary human-computer interface tools underlying the Interaction system.

The Interaction Interpersonal System

     The Interaction system enables the user to maintain contact with the computer  and for the computer to provide information  to the user about his/her current activity . The Interaction system is far more extensive than the Cursor system; the Cursor system at the rank of active unit provides a constant comment on the status of any activity. The Interaction system, while just as constant in many respects, involves far more complex units at the rank of Object and involves nearly every aspect of a program ’s operation .

     Just after starting a computer, the user is presented with a list of programmes available on that computer. This could be in a program  like Program Manager in Windows  NT 3.51, Windows 3.11, and Windows 3.1. Or it could be available from the “Start” button in Windows 95. In some way the user is presented with a range of programmes identified by a name in a list or an icon plus a name signalling that this is the item from which a program can be started. By moving the mouse pointer (or cursor ) over the icon and depressing once, or twice, depending on the system, the program is started. The user has gained the attention of the computer by pointing the cursor and clicking the mouse. The attention of the computer is not given simply by moving the mouse to point the cursor at something. A user can move the cursor anywhere across the screen even when the computer is busy, that is, when the hour glass is showing. It is  clicking one of the mouse keys that arrests the attention of the computer and causes it to reply. Moving the cursor is a little like beginning to speak without addressing the person and then when in mid-sentence using a direct address to gain that person’s attention to the matter.

     In Widows 95 and in some programmes in other Windows  systems, when the cursor  is placed over a button, a small description appears indicating for what the button is used. Labelling of this type has been found necessary partly because of the proliferation of icons and buttons in programmes for which people do not have an immediate connection, but also from the perspective that different programmes use the same icon to mean quite a different thing. It is therefore necessary to have a system to provide a label, or worded explanation as to what the button is connected. Making the label appear by placing a cursor over the button, is like engaging in a simple conversation as one would with a child without any direct interpersonal references simply because the people involved are known and understood:

 

What’s this (pointing at a button)?

That’s the Bold button.

What this (pointing at another button)?

That the Spelling tool button.

But there are some other things going on to which we need to attend. Sometimes the label that the computer  gives in response to the pointing does not appear for some time. If the computer is busy completing another task, for instance, the label does not appear until it is ready. There is no direct address to the computer, clicking of the mouse button, and so it is not obligated to complete any task; if it is able to do so, it will respond by making a label appear to indicate the use of the button at which the user is pointing. By holding the cursor  over the button for a little time, though, the computer will eventually respond when it is free from other tasks, or when it can slot the task of making the label appear into its round of other duties.

     In grammar , the “WH-“ element is a distinct element in the interpersonal structure of the clause, using words that begin with “wh”. Its function is to specify the entity that the questioner wishes to have supplied. So we have questions like:

 

What is this?

What can this do?

What is this used for?

These are the types of questions the computer  user is asking of the computer by placing the cursor  over each of the buttons. What the user is doing is seeking the computer’s definition of each button’s use. This is all done without committing the computer to do anything else than supply a little information  ¾ it is not being asked to do anything else, and it is not being directly addressed.

     When one clicks a mouse button, though, the computer  is directly addressed and responds accordingly. The user places the cursor  over a button, let’s say the “Bold” button, and depresses the left-hand mouse key. The user has just directly addressed the computer: “Computer, do this.” The only problem the computer has with such a proposal is that it knows you have pointed at the “Bold” button, but it doesn’t know what to bold. The user has simply asked it to “bold”, so the computer simply responds by turning “bold” on. In synthesis  it is not immediately possible to see a scale of Modulation; the scale of obligation and inclination, such as “allowed to”, “required to”, “willing to”. The computer doesn’t reply in some way to a request for it to “Bold” something with, “OK, I’m willing to do that at the moment” or “I’m not required to do this”. The computer user says “do it” and the computer responds. However, if the computer cannot complete the action for some reason, the computer does respond with a sound , such as a bell sound “Ding”, a direct address to the user: “You, I can’t do that.”

     However, the more specific the user is over what to do, the computer  responds with a more specific response. Should the computer user mark a word, by depressing the left-hand key and dragging the mouse from one end of the word to the other, then pointing the cursor  at the “Bold” button and clicking the left-hand mouse button, the computer responds by “bolding ” the selected word instead of just turning bolding on. This is like saying in conversation terms: “Computer, bold this word.”

     There are a number of ways to directly address the computer :

·        pointing and clicking on buttons;

·        pointing at a menu and selecting one of the items on the menu list, then clicking the mouse pointer;

·        depressing several keys together such as ALT+SHIFT+N ¾ this is considered to be a shortcut method of accomplishing the same thing as pressing a button or selecting an item from a menu list; similar to shortening a verbal command to something like “Do this”.

The expert computer  user, particularly for often repeated actions , uses keystrokes, or shortcuts. However, when even an expert comes to using an unfamiliar action, she or he will explore the menu, try a few things, undo these actions, until he or she is happy with this. Sometimes when a computer has been required to take an action using a very large amount of text , or has been required to do a number of concurrent tasks, there is some lack of certainty as to whether the action will be completed. Both the exploring and undoing of the user and the slowness of response of the computer is part of a structure like “modality ” in grammar . Modality in grammar is where the Experiential content of a conversation is coloured by the selection of a word, or intonation pattern that indicates a “slant” on reality; the interpersonal content of such an utterance indicates the speaker’s lack of certainty about an event. By the computer user moving to one menu, then another, trying an action, then undoing that action by selecting a menu item called “undo”, then trying another is akin to saying in verbal terms: “Possibly, do this computer; no, not that one, but possibly this one.” The computer in responding to a task slowly, or coming to an almost unbearable halt in its processing is understood by the computer user to be indicating: “Possibly, this action may not be completed.”

The Freedom Interpersonal System

     How electronic functions interpersonally cannot be generalised across all programmes as we have been doing. Predominantly the systems under discussion have centred on one type of program  ¾ the graphical program  that provides an extended range of possible ways a human can interact with the computer . We must also consider the way other types of program engages a human’s attention and thoughts. The system to which we should attend, here, is the Freedom system at the rank of file. This system is about the freedom a user is allowed to have in making choices when using the computer; it is about the limitation of human freedom in order to direct the course of program operation.

     As indicated in the previous chapter there are four types of program : cybernetic, command, graphical and controlled. Programmes can be classified into one or other of these groups by investigating the range of choices made available to the human user in comparison to the overall range of choices available in the operation  of the program, and by the operational style of the program ¾ the degree to which it works on its own without recourse to human intervention.

     Cybernetic programmes are largely self-controlling. While they may require some input from human activity, they may not directly seek that information  ¾ they may collect information while a human is using another program  and therefore be unobtrusive in collecting data . Basically, all the human can do with a program such as this is to benefit from the results of running the program, and starting and stopping the program. The more automatic a cybernetic program  is, and the more routine the tasks, it may provide the user with a huge degree of freedom ¾ that is, for the user to have the computer  automatically do something without direct request. This is like have a servant complete tasks without being asked to do so, and getting those tasks done and out of the way so other larger tasks can be the centre of focus for the human. Such programmes, under an operating  system like Windows  NT are known as “Services”. An example of a program like this is “Dialler” which maintains a dial-up connection with the Internet; if it drops out, then “Dialler” automatically detects this and re-dials.

     While services may provide freedom for the user in one respect, if the program  cannot be guided sufficiently to work in the style that the user desires, the user may not obtain much freedom. Work may have to be repeatedly re-done, for example. Therefore, the more options the user has to control the way the cybernetic program  may work may increase the degree of freedom a user has when operating  a computer .

     The interpersonal power relations are governed by the balancing of:

·        how much a program  can be automated to accomplish tasks for the human;

·        to what degree the human can select options for the automated program  to operate ¾ how many choices are available for human intervention;

·        to what degree the program  satisfies human requirements for task completion without having to make complicated option selections;

·        the opportunities a human has in making changes to the human operable selections while the task is being completed.

Using the above criteria, one can asses the power relations a program  may have in the computer -human relationship. A cybernetic program , for example, may completely automate a task ¾ such as replicating a database on a remote computer, and the human does not have to intervene at all in its operation . The program may allow the human to identify the source and destination files, choose a network, and identify what records from the database should be replicated ¾ the human may be considered therefore have quite some degree of control over the operation of the program. As the options are not highly complex and easily identified and selected, the program may satisfy the human requirement of getting it going quite substantially. However, once in operation, the program may not allow human intervention at all, unless of course the program is stopped. Such a program may be considered to share the power relations between human and computer quite equally and therefore the human may be considered as being afforded substantial freedom in that relationship.

     Not all programmes, or program  types share the power relations so equally. Command type programmes mostly fall into this category. They are often started from a command line, operate using their first given range of variables and continue to do so until stopped. Most viruses introduced into a computer  are of this type. Once started, or triggered from a command, mostly a command the human has little knowledge  of issuing, the program cannot be stopped. The program may take absolute control deleting an entire hard drive, for example, or changing every “and” in all texts on the computer to a “not”.

     Graphical programmes, such as Word  for Windows  tend to offer a huge range of options with which the human can work, but often, little of this huge range can be automated thus taking from the human many of the laborious tasks. A number of graphical program s, however, do have a way of automating tasks through the construction of macros. The easier it is for a human to automate tasks using macros, the greater the control offered to the human.

     Most controlled program s are legacy type programmes that have their roots in large mainframe systems. When the program  starts there are no more than three to five possible choices available for selection. When information  is required to be input a field  is opened, and only valid information can be input into that field, that is, valid in terms of the programme’s definition. For example, a date may be required to be input by the program in one way only, such as “mm/dd/yy”. As the human places information in the field, the computer  tests the input and interjects, causing the human frustration if he/she does not understand what is causing the problem. Nothing else can be done in the program until this problem is sorted out. The program has complete control and nothing will move it until the correct data  format has been used. Part of the problem in such programmes is the control issue ¾ it is quite satisfactory for a computer to take control over the conversation, but if the computer requires a format such as that it either should provide explanation as to what is required, or to take other data than what is required and convert it to what is required by the program automatically.

     However, automatic conversions can be frustrating, particularly if the user requires to have data  in another format than what the program  forces on the user. Automated spelling and case checkers are totally frustrating in this regard. Input the term “PCs” when an automated spelling and case check is in use ¾ the computer  changes it to “PCs”. However, an automated spelling and case checker can be turned off, or modified to recognise that “PCs” is allowable. The power is placed in the hands of the user. This has not always been the case with programmes, particularly those from the “control” era when computers centrally controlled human-computer activities from a central mainframe source.

Human-computer -human relations

     Electronic language  functions to not only mediate human-computer  relations but also to mediate in human-to-human relationships through the electronic medium. While these types of relations have been mediated through computer networks  for some time, it has only been since the popularising of the Internet  that issues to do with human-computer-human relations has been of such focal interest. Electronic language functions interpersonally at the rank of System  in Synthesis. It is only as a computer is connected with another computer across a network, and possible across the Internet that electronic language functions in this way.

     There are three main issues, for which choice systems are available for electronic language  to function interpersonally at the rank of System :

·        how does one obtain the attention of another across the network ¾ does one address another network, another computer , or can one address a person?

·        how do people and computers respond across a network or system ¾ is it always a programmed response?

·        are all messages across a system or network open, or can they be focussed, framed, or encrypted for total privacy?

The Addressing Interpersonal System

     How one gains the attention of another across a network depends largely upon the computer  system that is invoked for communication  across the network or Internet . There are at least seven different systems operating  across the Internet all of which are available for operation  across private and other networks. There are other systems than those listed in Table 12 but those listed below are the most common that are used world  wide on the Internet.

 

System	Addressing	Who?
E-mail	person@domain	person
File transfer	ftp://machine/file	machine/directory/file
Web	http://domain/file	domain/file
Point cast	source	machine
Banker	IP address	machine
MUD	source	machine.people
Gopher	IP address	topic listings

Table 12: Addressing Systems

     The most common way of engaging another person’s attention across a large network is via a computer  system that carries electronic mail. For a person to receive electronic mail, he/she must have an e-mail address. An e-mail address has a very specific form as indicated in the e-mail addressing system outlined in Diagram 34.

Diagram 34: e-mail addressing system

Using the addressing system as shown in the above diagram, the following four, out of a possible six, addresses would be valid addresses:

·        jon@203.12.138.21

·        jon.maloney@mail.warrior.com

·        jon.maloney@warrior.com

·        jon@warrior.com

There is quite a difference addressing an e-mail using an IP Address (Internet  Protocol Address) than using a Domain Name (such as warrior.com). An IP Address is a name for a specific machine; a Domain Name is a name that nominates a network connected to the Internet and within which there may be a number of machines. It is equivalent to use an IP Address and a form such as “mail.warrior.com” ¾ the machine “203.12.138.21” may be the “mail” machine and may be given a name in that domain of “mail”. A person if often registered on the Internet mail system as having aliases; therefore it is possible to address mail messages to a human with more than one reference: “jon” if you know the person well, “jon.maloney” if you do not. One  must always address mail without spaces, otherwise the Internet system will not be able to process your message.

     While it may seem unnecessary to suggest this, it must be stated that the actual person-to-person engagement is mediated by the electronic language  system in use. That is, once a computer  user has composed and addressed a mail message, forwarded it through the system, the human recipient receives the message via his/her computer. This may seem trivial to suggest; however, there is a complex set of interactions here that needs to be unpacked.

     For receipt of the addressed message a human user must be connected to the network on which the message was sent. For example, the human user must be connected to the Internet  to receive Internet mail messages. Most people have dial-up connection to the Internet. Mail messages are therefore sent to a local machine and are stored on that machine until the named person calls in to that permanently Internet connected computer . When that person connects to the local Internet machine, he/she must also have their mail messaging  program  operating . Automatically, when the user has connected his/her machine to the Internet, the mail program will check the e-mail box. When the e-mail message is detected, it is then copied onto the person’s computer. Most e-mail programmes, upon receiving a new message, addresses the user with a dialogue box and a “you” signal of a bell or some other sound  device. While using the person’s private e-mail address seem to be a method of direct address, like saying that person’s name in spoken language , being mediated in this way must be understood as much less than direct addressing.

     Because of the uncertainty in addressing e-mail to a person, the receipting response has been established. The receipting response is an automated return e-mail that the recipient knows little or anything about. If a sender nominated that a receipt is required, when the receiver opens the e-mail message an automatic e-mail message is labelled with the date, time, and location for the opening of the original mail message. Through the use of the receipting response the sender is given some assurance that the human receiver has read the message, or at least seen the message. 

     Direct addressing specific computers on a network, such as the Internet , is a much more direct form of addressing than sending e-mail across a network. Direct addressing a machine, such as “ftp://adelaide.edu.au” is doing two things: nominating a network protocol (ftp: file  transfer protocol) and naming a machine on the Internet to which you wish your machine to be connected to complete that file transfer. When surfing the World Wide Web , each location call or URL (Universal Resource Locator) identifies the protocol in use, and directly names a machine to which you wish to be connected: “http://adelaide.edu.au/firstpage.html”. But directly addressing a machine in this way requires that the machine is connected to the network at all times, or at least, during times when it is most likely that most people will be serviced.

 

Diagram 35: Multi User Domain connection being established

     In effect, when using computer  systems, one can never assume that direct addressing will in actual fact enable human-computer-human contact, not even in a system where apparently there are numbers of people talking together, such as a MUD (Multi User Domain).

     As is shown in Diagram 35, connecting to a MUD is accomplished by naming an IP Address ¾ addressing a specific machine to which there are multiple numbers of users connected. Connecting to a specific channel, then, locates a specific software  location to which a number of other people are connected. Typing messages into the line at the bottom of the window broadcasts messages to each person connected to that channel. As an experienced MUD user will know, some listings on a channel are not people, but robots emulating the conversation of a person. Direct addressing a robot with verbal text  provides much the same response as if a person typed a return message.

Textual systems

     Text, in electronic language , is best characterised as an unfolding text . There is never a moment when a whole computer  text is available in its entirety to the human user. Because of the active and interactional nature of electronic language, there is always a part of the text that has already occurred and there is always a part of the text that is yet to occur. The problem most novices have to master is to work out how the text that has passed is related to the text that is now, and how it will be related to the text that is yet to occur.

     Characterising electronic text  as unfolding text does not suggest that there is never a complete text in any location, or at any time; complete texts are stored on a computer  disk. In that state, texts are not accessible to the human; they are closed, in their digital format, to the human eye. A human can work with these complete digital texts naming, storing, deleting, even manipulating their format and re-working the way they can be used for greater efficiency  when used as unfolding text. When working with the unfolding text, though, a human must be aware of the fact that there are different types of unfolding text: one type is a computer text that is primarily allowing a human to prepare paper -based printed text, and another type of text is a computer-based text that is primarily displayed and used on a computer. Our investigation of the Textual function of electronic language  will consider how electronic text functions to structure the following coherent textual forms: pre-print -oriented electronic text, and computer-oriented electronic text.

     All electronic texts  are composed of two sets of textual elements, one set of textual elements from each of the two rank scale s:

1.      program -centric elements from the program rank scale ;

2.      subsumed semiotic -centric elements from the file rank scale .

While there is a temptation to think that these elements are easily distinguishable, as being those that form the main window or recognisable frame of the program , and those elements that are placed on the white centre or page  of the program, matters of division are not that simple. The subsumed semiotic, such as “print ”, may provide a metaphor upon which a program is centred, but it must be recognised that it is a “programmed” version of “print” and may have additional or fewer (as the case may be) options for “print” textualisation.

     What has been suggested here is that electronic text  functions as a “programmed-print ” text, or a “programmed-photograph ” text. Electronic text is itself both a program  and a subsumed semiotic , the textualisation of which is controlled by the program, yet borrows its central meaning making metaphor from the semiotic in use. To elaborate the textual function of electronic language , it would then require both an exposition of the textual function of the subsumed semiotic as well as the textual function of the programmed environment. The intention, here, though is to elaborate the “programmed” aspects of electronic text environment; where a semiotic is significantly altered to allow for additional meaning potential  because of the programmed environment, this will be mentioned. Otherwise, the central topic of the following text centres on the “programmed” handling of a semiotically-centred text.

Unfolding pre-print

     How is electronic text  structured as a coherent “pre-print ” textual form? A part of the structuring is borrowed from “print”; that is, there are textual elements that “look-like” print. There are, however, many new elements that a novice to computing would find difficult to know how these elements have anything much to do with print, or its preparation. A computer  user must pay attention to the function (that is, the meaning) of these elements otherwise it may be difficult for the computer user to know how to drive the unfolding of the text. When working with pre-print computer texts, it is the task of the computer user to unfold the text using the textual elements provided in the program .

Why pre-print ?

     “Pre-print ” is a simulation  of print. It is not actually print in that it does not exist on a page  and does not have some of the essential permanent characteristics of “printed” text. Working with text in electronic language  provides the opportunity for us to work with multiple simulations for the purposes of decision making and meaning making. It allows the composer to go through the following dialogue with the computer :

 

Composer: What if I made this change to the document ? Would it look better as print ? Is it more consistent with other printed documents?

Computer: This is what it would look like in print  (displaying the text  in “Page Layout Mode).

Composer: What if I added this idea? Would the information  flow through the document  well?

Computer: This is what the flow of ideas is like (displaying the text  in “Outline Mode”)^[1].

     “Print” in a Word Processor is “pre-print” text ; it is most unlike “print” for the following reasons. Print subsumed in electronic language :

1.      is highly modifiable - any part of the text  can be expunged, modified or moved. Different views of the text can be obtained to allow for inspection of the text as outline, as pages, as individual elements.

2.      can be activated - for example, in Word for Windows  double-click on the contents listing and automatically the screen will change to the page  on which this heading is to be found.

3.      can be stored indefinitely in a fluid  format for easy inclusion in other texts.

     On the other hand, “print ” in electronic language  is like “print” in that:

1.      set out on a page  like print

2.      it is alphabetic text  set out like a book, magazine etc.,

3.      it is grammatical text  that has all the potential  of written language

4.      it uses similar features, such as headings , sentences, paragraphs, diagrams , illustrations, and so on., that print  uses.

     “Print” subsumed in electronic language  is something other than “print ” ¾ it has the potential  of print-in-a-book, plus the potential of print-in-a-computer . In the following sections, some of the topics may seem to have little significance in terms of “print-as-a-book”, but in terms of electronic language, the significance of the ideas of print subsumed in this way into electronic language may take on special significance simply because of the added potential using the features of electronic language in combination with “print”.

The lineation textual system

     After starting a program  that allows for the unfolding of a “pre-print ” text , such as a word processor, the probing cursor  identifies the spot where the text will unfold from next. Focussing on the cursor on a “white” area of the programmed environment, the concept of lineation equates with the print notion of placing alphabetic text on lines that work from left to right, then dropping down to another line just below, and continuing this in a series. Word  for Windows , an example pre-print program, has a  complex system of lineation even though not as obvious at first. There are at least four sub-systems that directly and indirectly construct lineation on an electronic page :

·        page layout ¾ this has to do with the construction of three and sometimes four areas where lineation operates independently in each section: the header  area, main body  of the page, footer area, and a space where footnotes are placed^[2]; the length of lines is determined by the width of each of these areas; the positioning of these lines (distance apart) is determined by the line space (above and below) the font size, and the space constructed above and below an entire paragraph;

·        line placement within an area ¾ how much space is allocated above and below a line of text ; where the line begins within the area, whether it is to be indented, how far it is to be indented, whether the beginning of the line is to be marked with a bullet or not;

·        paragraphing ¾ how much space is placed above and below a particular paragraph; whether the first line is to be placed at a different starting position than the rest of the lines of the paragraph;

·        handling paragraph lines across pages ¾  whether or not a first line of a paragraph is to be placed at the bottom of one page  and the balance of the lines are to be placed on the next page (handling orphans); whether or not a paragraph is to start a new page; whether or not a paragraph should be kept with the next paragraph.

The marginalisation system

     One  of the parameters within which a composer works to unfold “pre-print ” text  is that of working between and within margins. The notion of margin is a carry over from print where margins were required for limiting the text on a page  where binding is required and where the cut of the guillotine is kept at adequate distance from the printed text. In electronic language , margins are provided, at a minimum, to allow for non-printing  areas of the page ¾ essentially the areas of a page that the print head does not cover. However, their textualisation and use have become far more complex in the computing environment than when working on a simple sheet of paper . This complexity has been imported from concepts of book preparation in the printing trade, the preparation of business  documents, and the expansion of those “print-based” options in an electronic context where greater fluidity is possible than when working directly on paper. 

     The concept of marginalisation is much more elaborate than just defining a position where no alphabetic text  is to be placed. In an electronic setting the margins  are defined using a drawn lines, marking the point of delineation between the “text” and “non-text” area. Additionally, there is a complex system of choices to construct or “textualise” margins:

·        Margins are identified by their placement on a “virtual” page ; “top”, “bottom”, “left” and “right” are the generic positions.

·        Margins are also defined by their positioning on a “left-hand” or “right-hand page ”.

·        When margins  are similar on the left-hand and right-hand pages  they are “non-mirrored”, when they reflect the positioning of each other they are “mirrored”.

·        “Top” and “bottom” margins  are further textualised by the inclusion of “header ” and “footer” options within the area of the “top” and “bottom” margins respectively. Adding a “header” reduces the area of the “top” margin, as does adding a “footer” to the bottom margin. Header and footer text  fall within the margin area; there are choices as to how much the additional header and footer text takes away from the space of the margins. A figure stated in terms of a measurement away from the edge of the “page” identifies how much of the margin space a header or footer can take. When a header or footer enlarge, then space is taken away from the body  text and does not move beyond the absolute “edge of page” measurement.

·        Alphabetic or pictic text  can breach the margin space; however, there is an absolute space that cannot be breached defined as a “non-printable” area ¾ the space beyond which text cannot be printed on a page . 

     Marginalisation of text  in electronic language  has a similar meaning to the notion of marginalisation of text in print . Text that is marginalised is taken out of the main arena of text, and is given a secondary importance to the main text of the page. “Footers”, “headers”, “footnotes” and so on are all marginalised text ¾ outside the main text. In electronic language, the notion of marginalisation is even stronger ¾ it can also mean “non-printable” which is a very strong notion of marginalisation. It is only text that is to be used in the electronic arena and is not to be placed on the “real ” page. 

 

Diagram 36: Electronic text  - the challenge of non-marginalisation.

The concept of marginalisation in the context of electronic language  is challenged in electronic texts  not destined to be used in a hard copy print  environment. As is shown in Diagram 36 even in text that has a paper  inheritance, such as the idea of “web  pages ”, marginalisation is minimised, and in fact the margin that is presented on the left-hand side is used as a major textual area to link this electronic document  with other electronic documents.

The pagination  system

     The pagination  textual system enables the user to work with a flow of multiple print -pages in a single screen-view.

 

Diagram 37: Word  showing two part pages  within the viewing window.

     A document  that covers more than one page  can be viewed as a single stream of text , or as a series of pages  as shown in the figure above. The most important aspect of pagination  is that pages that belong to a single text can be composed to look like each other and that textual elements in the header  and footers of each page can be serialised. Through setting options in a template, each page of a text can be made to look the same ¾ have similar margins , similar text in the header and footer. Page numbers, chapter numbers, diagrams  numbers from page to page can be serialised so that the program  can automatically number each diagram, heading and so forth.

     Unfolding the paginated text  is a matter of scrolling the pages  from the bottom of the window to the top, so that each page  floats by as if pushed by a conveyor belt, or flipping through the pages as one would flip through paper  pages in a book. The electronic textual elements of a program  that function to allow the user to scroll through or flip through pages are the scroll bar and associated page buttons, marked with the red circle in Diagram 37.

Unfolding screen text

     There are a number of topics we could have chosen to discuss at the rank of Program in relation to computer -oriented texts, such as “Unfolding Sound Text”, or “Unfolding Audio Visual Text”. Depending on the selected program  the focus of text  under construction may not actually be on the screen. However, the most common computer-oriented texts are screen texts, and inevitably anyone working on a computer in a business  or educational setting is most likely going to require using the screen as a major focus for any text composing  activities.

Gridding

     When positioning textual elements on a screen, print -like lines are not as important as they are in preparation of print. For some semiotics  lineation is not an appropriate method of organising active units, although lineation may be one of the methods used within a mix of other methods. Corel Xara, a drawing  program , provides a gridding method of organising active units.

 

Diagram 38: Corel Xara displaying grid markers across the drawing  space.

There are two types of grid that can be selected: rectangular and perspective. Distance between grid markers, number of subdivisions between grid markers, and origin point selection are the major choices that are available in the gridding system. Diagram 39 displays the option box provided in Corel Xara used by a composer to set up the grid options. A composer by selecting the grid options organises reference points for constructing active units.

 

Diagram 39: Grid choices in Corel Xara.

     Different to lineation, where placement of active units is automated so that when an active units is selected it is automatically placed next to the previous active unit, gridding provides reference points for beginning and ending the construction of an active unit. The automated process in gridding is called “snap”; “snap” may be turned off allowing the composer to manually begin and end the construction of active units, or it may be turned on to allow the computer  to accurately begin an active unit at the nearest grid point. This is particularly useful if one active unit must be placed at a specific point where another active units also begins, such as when drawing  boxes and the two sides of the box must meet at the corner.

Randomisation

     There are contexts where placement of active units both in grids or in lines is not appropriate; in these cases a system of random placement can be invoked. Many computer  games are centred on the fact that a system of random placement of active units is available. Active units are placed in different positions on a screen one after another or in some other synchronised manner which has an effect of surprising the computer user. Random placement of active units is also used in programmes called “screen savers” where the screen is painted with particular active units that are placed on the screen at random location to allow for an even use of the screen over time so as not to burn a particular picture into the display elements of the screen.

     Choices in randomisation are most commonly available in programming  languages as a choice set rather than in everyday programmes. Everyday programmes display randomised positioning but there are few choices available to the user. A screen saver commonly has available a few randomised positioning choices, such as a “pure” randomised positioning, compared to a “controlled” randomised positioning where an object  might be displayed see-sawing across the screen in semi-random manner. The idea with randomisation is that the choices available here are in the control of programmers  to surprise the user. Thus, in games, the user is surprised where the object might appear, and as part of the objective of the game, the user is to quickly identify the positioning of the randomly appearing or moving object to destroy it, or to do some other task in interacting with it.

     Randomisation is not only a screen display concept. It is based on a computational concept in programming  that allows for not only screen displays to be random but also for a choice of numeral to be selected at random for other purposes. Encryption processes are based on the concept of selecting a random seed numeral that is the basis of a calculation  for selecting a large numeral to act as a “key” in “locking” or encrypting data . For encryption to be entirely successful, that is, for security of data so that another person cannot guess the “key” through computer  “guessing”, the “key” must be selected entirely randomly. A personal computer random numeral generation is not entirely random. Should two computers be set up with exactly the same operating  system and programmes, and a random numeral selected through the kernel random number generator in the operating system, the two computers would select exactly the same numerals in the first two or three instances, and select the same numeral 20% of the time thereafter. This is so as the two computers use a “seed” for the random number generator that is exactly the same  ¾ the seed is “programmed” into the operating system. To ensure better security for encrypting data, such as when completing banking transactions, programmers  must modify the “seed” generation process. Complex schemes have been constructed to ensure “random-ness” of numeral generation.

     Computer games based on random number generation as a presentation method can be learnt by the user, particularly if the programmer has not altered the random number generator mechanism from the offered in the operating  system. As the “random-ness” of object  presentation is similar from one computer  to another, and from one session of the program  to another, the user can learn the possible sequence of presentation through completing enough trials.

Bordering

     Bordering is a notion attached to pictures rather than to alphabetic text . A border is a cohesive construction that binds several elements together to indicate that these elements belong to one another. Diagram 40 displays a figure that has at least eleven elements, each of which is combined into the whole “Encarta” display by the fact that a border surrounds all elements to show that they all belong to the one display. Further, however, there are sub-borders in this figure that indicate different classes of element ¾ there are direction finding elements, heading elements, text, and so on. Each of these classes is given its own area ¾ similar things are grouped together into an area marked by a border.

     Rarely is space used as a border. Print uses space in the construction of margins , but in the construction of borders in electronic language, borders are usually drawn as a different colour, or textualised in some other way. Space is rarely used due perhaps to the tight presentation area of most screens. However, on the other hand, there is also no requirement for a physical space as there is in print . Print requires this marginal space to allow for printing  and cutting errors in the production process; there is no need of such in an electronic setting.

 

Diagram 40: Encarta bordered text .

     There is however a specific textual requirement for bordering on a screen. Within each program  there are numbers of elements, each of a different class or type. Bordering is a way of grouping these together and isolating these from the other units that may function differently. Text uses space to separate units from one another. Programmes use borders in the form of lines, boxes, buttons, and raised areas to separate units. It is more of a pictic approach to the problem of separating and showing connection between units than the approach used in alphabetic text .

 

Diagram 41: Borders show separation and connection of units.

In the Performance Monitor shown in Diagram 41, there are three main areas within which there are related units: the heading bar where the words “Performance Monitor” is located, the menu bar (File, Edit, View, etc.) and the main program  area. While each of these areas is marked through a different background colour, each are also bordered by a thin black line. In the main program area (where thin black lines are not used for borders) there are a further three areas within which are found similar classes or types of active units: the button area, the graph area, and the information  bar at the base. These areas are bordered by a lighter bordering method ¾ raised and lowered areas rather than the heavier method of bordering. Thin black lines perform a separating function more than they perform a grouping function; raised and lowered areas perform a grouping function more than a separating function. The lowered graph area is separated from the numerals indicating values on the axes of the graph. However, the fact that it is lowered is an indicator of its connected-ness to the numerals along the axes. There is however a thin black line and a raised section between the button area and the graph area. This displays the connected-ness of the buttons to the graph ¾ that is, the buttons provide controls over the graph ¾ but at the same time it also indicates that we are not to interpret the buttons as having some linear or area relationship with the information displayed in the graph.

Windowing

     The most common paradigm  of program  presentation now is the Windows  paradigm. Whether it is on the Macintosh , Motif on a Unix platform, or Microsoft  Windows, the way of separating one program from another on a common screen is via the display of a program within a window. Windows can be tiled across a screen with a separate program operating  in each. Windows can also be layered behind each other so that each operating program can be viewed by cycling from one layer to the next. Windows can be altered in size by the user as required.

     Depending on the program , each window is logically extended beyond the boundary of the window. An indicator to show that further “text ” is above or below, or to the left or right of the limits of the window is the presence or absence of the “scroll bars”. A scroll bar allows the “text” not viewable in the window to be seen. When a window is reduced to a size below the size of the full “text” automatically these scroll bars appear. If the full “text” is within the boundary of the window, the scroll bars disappear.

 

Diagram 42: A split window in Word .

     Programmes are not limited to one window. A program  may extend across a number of windows. For example, a program can have a “text ” window and several “monitoring” windows. Programmers who work with a programming  language  require to have multiple views of their work; each window has a different view or data  set attached to the work underway. Additionally, however, several instances of a program can be started and operating  together. It is possible to have Word  open with one document , another instance of Word open with another document.

     Just as windows can be stacked one on top of another, or tiled across the screen, within a window numbers of documents can be displayed either in a tiled or layered manner. Windows  can be divided, or split, so that each half of a window has a different view of the same document . This allows a composer to compare different sections of the same document. Alternatively two or three documents can be viewed each in a sub-window, or they can be layered one behind the other and called up one document at a time.

     There are cohesion devices that function to draw program  texts together and allow them to be considered as one program rather than several programmes. One  device is the “dependency” device; in a program some windows are dependent on a “main” window being open before it can be displayed ¾ the smaller or non-main window is dependent on the other. Within a window smaller sub-windows that display a document  are called child windows ¾ child windows cannot exist outside of a parent window. A single parent window can have multiple child windows. Two parent windows remain unconnected ¾ there is no dependency of one on the other. Two parent windows are two totally separate instances of the one program.

Unfolding world -wide text

     More than 30 million computers the world  over are now connected to the Internet . Across the Internet, common protocols of interchanging information  and texts create an “inter-text ”. Some protocols allow for interchange of digital material from one computer  to another, such as the file transfer protocol (ftp) which allows files to be moved from one computer to another. One  protocol, however, provides potential  for building and maintaining a continuous world-wide like no other protocol; this is the world-wide web protocol hyper-text transfer protocol (http). Links in a viewed page  can lead to the connection of that text to another page located in any computer, anywhere in the world provided it is linked to the Internet.

     The complexity of this evolving world -wide linked text  is increasing hourly. An increasingly multi-functional inter-woven text is developing allowing for hyper-text to become a multi-media experience. As part of the hyper-text protocols are linking mechanisms that allow video , animated graphics, databased tables of information , and many other forms of text some of which have not yet been constructed to be linked into the world-wide text.

     How is electronic text  structured as a coherent “world -wide” textual form? The major options of linking text world-wide are available in the hypertext  textual system. However, there are a growing number of other systems that provide options of textualisation that function as:

·        security mechanisms to allow for an exchange of more private information ;

·        combined media mechanisms to allow for mixing of voice and web  pages  to create phone messaging  systems;

·        active programmed textual links that provide moving graphical options.

Due to the complexity of these systems and the evolving nature of these systems, only one of these systems will be dealt with here to illustrate how a coherent text  is structured.

The hyper-linking system

     The hyper-linking system provides options for electronically linking active units and objects in a web  page  to a file  located on any computer  connected to the Internet  anywhere in the world . The http protocol has a range of well defined options that:

·        display a link as a highlighted textual element;

·        allow for a link to be programmed and hidden from view;

·        define addressing protocols to locate a file , in a directory, on a computer, anywhere in the Internet  network;

·        define communication  standards to allow programmes on each computer  to interact with programmes on any other computer;

·        identify options for displaying multi-media text  in remote computers;

·        identify options for transferring program  information  from one machine to the next to allow for active text  to be displayed in web  pages .

A detailed overview of the complete http protocol is not possible in the space available in this dissertation . However, it must be recognised that the hyper-linking system options available in the world-wide web  is perhaps the most significant development of electronic text  this decade. It combines features of spoken, written and electronic language  in the one almost seamless programmed environment. It has created a form that subsumes all human language. Web pages  may seem geared towards written text in that the basic protocols are “written-like”. The protocols would not work to link text from one computer  to another, however, without their programmed elements that make calls across the Internet  to move files from one computer to another. Spoken text is not as integrally involved in the construction of the world text, as yet, due mostly to the fact that the Internet does not have the capacity to move “spoken” files as adequately as “written” and “programmed” files. However, with new compression techniques speaking , using telephone like metaphors, is becoming more popular across the Internet.

     The world -wide web  is perhaps the first computer -based text  that has developed as a text that is designed never to be printed. Some may argue that multi-media text available on CD-ROMs is in fact the first fully computer oriented textual form ¾ text not designed to be printed out. This may be true, although it is argued by many of the world-wide web users that multi-media CD-ROM text is the same form just another channel through which the hyper-text form is conducted. What the world-wide web has enabled, however, is to create a linkage of texts the world over that is truly electronic making the world of meaning making a new environment within which human activities can be transplanted. The world is under re-textualisation ¾ shopping, trading, marketing, informing, playing, entertaining and many other human endeavours are being re-textualised in the highly modifiable and active environment of a global microworld . 

Representational systems

     Language functions to convey some information  about reality. In narrowing our focus to the language  involved in computer  activity , we find that electronic language conveys three types of information about reality:

1.      information  about the reality of the computer , its functioning and its state of readiness for activity;

2.      information  about the semiotic  that is loaded into the computing space;

3.      information  encompassing any topic from anything anywhere.

Primarily electronic language  centres its focus on representing information  about the operation  of the computer , to inform the human operating  the computer concerning its current state, and/or current activity . However, electronic language carries alongside this computer related information, a representation  of its involvement in the human environment within which it is situated.

     While we identify that language  functions in three ways, different labels are appropriate for the specific semiotic  codes in use; here, the “informational” function is labelled as “representational”^[3]. This is because electronic language does not directly present information  via an obvious mechanism, like worded language, rather, it represents information in an indirect way. This is partly due to the fact that the origins of computing focussed on the matter at hand ¾ data  being processed ¾ rather than information relating to the processing when there were no graphic user interfaces , and it is partly due to the fact that working with a computer  is highly codified. Because people who construct computer programmes are inculcated into a culture , and because people who use computer programmes over time have come to understand the codes and practices of computing, much of the way information is represented about what is going on is buried beneath ten years of increasingly codified activity . Some people who have worked with computers for a long period of time intuitively know what is represented on the screen in electronic language, but to overtly talk about it would be inherently quite difficult because it has become so natural to them.

Representing computer  states

     There is no automatic representational scheme that identifies the state of the computing mechanism on the screen or in any other peripheral device of the computer ; it is always a decision left to programmers  and hardware  manufacturers as to what the user is to be informed concerning the action of the computing device. Some programming  philosophies, such as that adopted by Microsoft , generally give little evidence to the user relating to the automated functioning of the computing device. The thinking  behind this philosophy suggests that what the computing device does is of little concern to the user as long as it is completed and the results presented to the user. Netscape, on the other hand, have quite a different philosophy, providing the user with a wide range of information  devices that indicate what the computing device is doing and how long it will take to complete. The difference between these two approaches historically stems from the environments assumed by each and the reliability of those environments. Netscape arose as an Internet  development company extending browsing and other Internet tools; the less predictable and reliable setting of the Internet caused Netscape to provide user information about computing device activity. Microsoft, on the other hand, assumed only local activity in the first instance, which is more reliable than Internet passage.

     Outside of intentionally built systems for giving users information  relating to the state of a computing device, users have over the years of using personal computers developed a sense of computing device states. This developed in the years of using Microsoft  and other products prior to Internet  tools, where the user had to guess the activity  and whether that activity was to be productive or whether in fact that computing device had frozen. Particularly in the earlier years where the operating  system of DOS  gave little or no information about computing activity, learning  to decipher when the computing device had frozen, or had ceased action that was productive depended on having a feel for “proper” activity and “improper” activity. Even now that more information is provided to the user concerning computing device activity, particular in graphical user interface s , and particularly in the more informative Netscape setting, the expert computer user still determines “productive” computing device activity by two systems ¾ time to complete a task, and responsiveness of the computing device to the user.

Response time

     When the user has set the computer  to a task, the experienced user has a sense of the time required for such a task to be completed:

Diagram 43: Time representational system

·        If the action of the computing device is too long in comparison with other instances of when the computing device was required to complete such a task, and is not consistent with the task then this indicates that there is possibly something wrong and the computing device is not working, or not working properly;

·        If the action of the computing device is too long but is consistent with the task, that is, the task is complex and possibly would be a long time, it is possible that the computing device is actually completing the task, but it is possible that the computer might be short on resources, such as memory space, to complete the task;

·        If the action is taking a long time or a short time and is taking the expected time then the computing device is OK and is completing the task as required;

·        If the action is taking a long time or a short time and was not expected to be that long or that short, then it is possible that the computing device is not OK, and/or the task was not completed as required;

·        If the action of the computing device is too short in comparison with other instances, and is not consistent with the task, this possibly indicates that the user did not have the correct parameters or instructions for the machine to do its work;

·        If the action of the computing device is too short and is consistent with the task, the computing device is OK, but the task may have been an incorrect task to have set the computer.

While the timings in this system are all subjective, that is, they are not measured by a clock of any sort but are measured by the user’s internal sense of time, experienced users become very accurate in determining the state of the computing device and the possibility that the computing device has malfunctioned^[4]. Time and expectation, for the experienced user, represents that state of the computing device. The various combinations of time and expectation indicates the possibility that the computing device is OK and that it is completing or has completed the task, or whether indeed the computing device is OK but the task was incorrectly set out for the device to complete.

Responsiveness

     The responsiveness of the computer  is also representational, for the experienced user, as to whether the computing device is functioning well, or whether the software  has caused the computing device to become only partly functional or whether it is functioning within the parameters of the way the machine is set up.

     Responsiveness, as a tool of monitoring and working with a computing device, is composed of the time delay between effecting a simple action, such as pressing a key on the keyboard (not the mouse as the mouse is isolated from many of the processing problems of the keyboard often still operant when the keyboard is non-functional) and obtaining the result of that action on the screen or other device. This tool of responsiveness is different to the longer and more complex response time considered in the previous section; response time is about predicting events  that have a relatively long duration, timed in minutes or even large parts of an hour. Responsiveness is about the millisecond interactional time that can be noticed between striking a key on the keyboard and the appearance of the character related to that key appearing on the screen. It can also be an action triggered by the program  for which there should be an obvious short reaction observable on the screen or other peripheral ¾ for example, sounding of a bell when a task has been completed; how responsive the machine is can be determined by the appearing of a dialogue box indicating the end of the action and the sounding of the bell. These two occurrences should occur almost together, however, when a machine is not highly responsive then the two may occur at quite separated times.

     Responsiveness represents to the experienced computer  user an indication of the state of the random access memory  (RAM) and/or other events  occurring on the platform. There may be more than one program  active while typing on the keyboard. A slow down of responsiveness on the keyboard may in fact be another program starting up. However, the length of time of such non-responsiveness is usually governed by the other activity  and if there is an observable link between the activity of the other program and the slow down, then the user can be assured that the computer is working quite acceptably.

     When a general slow down of responsiveness occurs an experienced computer  user begins to suspect that RAM is being used up and that new activities are not being given any space within which to work. Most computer users would have at some time experienced a total memory seizure, where the computer simply stops responding to all keyboard or other device actions . This was especially the case in the early days of Windows  3.0 and 3.1. Lack of responsiveness is always a feature that an experienced computer user monitors partly in that early signs of this occurring may indicate that the user should save the current file  being worked on so as not to lose anything should the computer seize.

     Responsiveness not only represents the likelihood of the computer  seizing, but also the state of RAM and how it is being allocated or used. After a while of using a computer, RAM becomes fragmented; that is, portions of RAM that are being used for a task may be small pieces dotted throughout the memory space. This happens in that portions of RAM are de-allocated from use that divide available RAM. When a new activity  is started it uses what is available even though it may not be contiguous. When RAM becomes too fragmented, then the machine slows down in responsiveness. This does not mean the machine will cease to operate, only that it is not operating  efficiently. The experienced user identifies what is being represented and takes action ¾ the best action would be to save everything and re-initialised the computer to refresh memory allocation.

Representing the semiotic  at hand

     Any semiotic  subsumed in electronic language  is a programmed version of a semiotic context. This is to say that there are choices in the programmed, digital version of a semiotic that are not available in that same semiotic in its natural context. For example, a photograph  in a computing environment becomes a digital rendition of an analogue paper  printed representation ^[5]. In its digital version, a photograph can be edited in ways that were not available through composing  pictures in the darkroom using lighting technologies . Backgrounds can be shaded, objects added, and the editing of people’s heads onto other people’s bodies is possible, for example.

     The following two sub-sections provide an overview of how within a digitised and programmed environment, semiotic  representation  is transformed into a new activity . This section takes a drawing  program , Corel Xara, as its main focus and explains the program from three focal points: how things and relationships are represented in electronic language . The core understanding developed in each of these sections suggests that Corel Xara makes the activity of drawing a new activity quite unlike drawing by hand, or drawing with drawing tools on a drawing board.

Things

     Should a composer, using a sheet of paper, pair of compasses and an eraser wish to represent a circle or ellipse, that representation  would be a simple circular line something as follows:

Diagram 44: A simple thing - hand drawn representation .

This is a simple object  with an inside and outside constructed from a line that represents a circle or ellipse (repeating its description in words, as has been done, is a way of emphasising its simplicity and drawing  attention to this object or thing that is represented on the page ). Turning now to CorelXara , as our drawing tool, the representation  of a circle or ellipse changes substantially:

 

Diagram 45: Representation of a circle in CorelXara  - the thing made complex.

A circle or ellipse is represented as something much more than the simple inside and outside linear construction. The representation  of the thing has become a linear construction with an additional 13 markers; through an investigation of those markers we find that a circle or ellipse is now represented as a far more complex thing ¾ a thing that has properties beyond that of the simple hand drawn representation. Represented in electronic language , the circle or ellipse has now been given modifiable and active properties far beyond the properties the thing would have as a drawn object .

 

Diagram 46: The circle made elliptical.

It is represented as an object  that can be manipulated in quite specific ways, such as dragging one of the “lugs” with the mouse makes the circle fully elliptical, then double-clicking on that same lug automatically returns the shape to its circular form.

     The things or objects in this “world  of drawing” are represented as something much more than the simple things in the “world of hand drawing”. Each of these things are given far more potential  for manipulation and control ¾ far more potential because there are so many more choices available of what can be done with the thing.

 

Diagram 47: The elliptical shape returned to its circular shape.

     What we now represent a thing to be in this “world  of drawing ” is a complex object  that can be selected with a mouse, it has lugs which can be clicked upon or dragged, and the simple circle can be changed by selecting other menu items. The simple circle is represented to be a thing that is the sum total of its simple appearance as an object with an inside and an outside, plus each of the options that can be selected to modify the object. Focus on the problem: the representation  of the circle in Diagram 47 with its additional lugs does not leap out and have all the potential  for modification made self evident. What can be seen on the drawing page is an object made new ¾ it is a circle with lugs. It can be explored and through that exploration it can be found that the representation of the circle is now an active representation and that it is possible to do this or that with the circle.

 

Diagram 48: A curve represented in CorelXara .

     The circle or ellipse is a simple thing represented in CorelXara ; there are far more complex things, such as the curve that needs to be investigated. A curve is represented to be, once more, a modifiable object ; what is not simple to master is exactly what this representation  encompasses ¾ how can a curve be modified? what are the new dimension of this thing? how can this thing be combined with other things to draw more complex objects?

     Rarely is representation  of things in a particular semiotic , when subsumed in electronic language , the same as representation of those things in the same semiotic outside of electronic language. In the early days of computing a number of drawing  packages represented things as being little different to a hand drawn thing ¾ the programmes never survived as they did not inherit the electronic potential  of modification; it was simpler to draw an object  by hand. Regardless of the semiotic subsumed in electronic language, making things new, representing them as something more than their simple former selves is what makes the potential of computing so attractive in so many spheres of human endeavour.

     Representation of even the human as a thing made new is practiced substantially. In the context of MUDs (multi-user domains), where people can chat with each other across the Internet , people represent themselves as things made new. Or perhaps we should suggest, people ca explore the composition of themselves as things exploring the possibilities or potential  of what it is that they can be. One  of the people who regularly communicates on a MUD put it this way:

You can be whoever you want to be. You can completely redefine yourself if you want. You can be the opposite sex. You can be more talkative. You can be less talkative. Whatever. You can be whoever you want, really, whoever you have the capacity to be. You don’t have to worry about the slots other people may put you in. They don’t look at your body  and make assumptions. They don’t hear your accent and make assumptions. All they see is your words. (from Turkle , 1995:184).

Turkle  (1995:185) suggests, in considering the way people can become things made new:

MUDs can be places where people blossom or places where they get stuck, caught in self-contained worlds where things are simpler than in real  life, and where, if all else fails, you can retire your character and simply start a new life with another.

     Here is another matter that must be brought to the fore. The representation  of a thing within its “world ” in electronic language  may not be more complex than the “real  thing”. While objects such as circles can be made more complex in electronic language, the making of a new thing such as a human being can actually be a reduction of the complexities the “real thing” may have in reality. Alternatively, the thing may be represented as more complex in certain dimensions and less complex in others.  Electronic language is a life-like representational medium often happening in real-time allowing representation to be modified like-­life allowing people to become what it is they desire to become.

Relationships

     Just as things are things made new in the domain of electronic language , relationships are also relationships made new. In a complex drawing  in CorelXara , many hundreds of these redfined things can be used, in relationships with one another, to construct new things or representations of reality. For example, the drawing in Diagram 49 is composed of the relationship of many new circles, new curves and so on, to bring about a new drawing or representation  of a car. It is a new drawing in that it is a modifiable, alterable, active complex composed through relating many hundreds of new things with one another.

 

Diagram 49: A thing composed of the relationships between many hundreds of things.

     The relationships between each of these objects is a new sort of relationship not possible in hand drawing . Things can be placed under one another, made transparent, or hidden in one way or another. Different to the problem I have in hand drawing, where I cannot erase one thing without affecting another, I can erase a thing such as a circle and have no effect on the other things surrounding. But additionally, if the relationship between things is particularly effective and it is required to be repeated again, as in the relationship of objects that make up the left-hand headlight on the car in Diagram 49, the things can be grouped so as to make a new object . This new object can then be copied, moved and place as a second object in the picture, allowing the congruency of the headlights to be particularly remarkable.

     This is to say that the represented relationship between one object  and another, between one complex object and another may in fact be a copied or replicated relationship. In the electronic environment it is often far more efficient to construct the new from existing objects ¾ therefore it is far more efficient for a new object to be a copy of a previously composed object. What is more, a copy of a object can be linked to its original and when the original is modified it can also update the copy ¾ the copy is thus represented as a thing that has a special relationship with another thing; or it could be put another way, the relationship is represented as being linked so that a change in one object alters the other. This is what is called DDE linking in Word for Windows . A linked relationship can be represented in Word so that an Excel spreadsheet copied in Word can be updated automatically when the spreadsheet is updated.

     Relationships between one object  and another can also exist without there being a representation  embodied in electronicity . For example, in business  settings documents are often constructed as a version or update of an older document . No electronic link is created between the old and the new; rather a copy is taken of the old and named a new file  name, modified and reprinted. There is a copied relationship that is not represented in electronicity, but is apparent when using a tool like the compare tool where two documents can be compared for similarities. A study of documents in a business office using the compare tool suggests that no document is newly constructed; the references in other documents are such that there is at the least the intertextuality of the context repeated over again in other documents, but in reality, most documents in this electronic arena use copies of constructs in previous documents.

Representing realities

     The representational potential  of electronic language  is enormous. The capacity of a computing device to work with comprehensive calculating and manipulation capacity, coupled with huge digital storage capabilities and a wide range of digital presentation peripherals makes the computer  one of the most useful meaning making tools in the history of humanity. Currently representation  of music, musical instruments, photographs, architectural drawings, books, business  processes, aircraft design, video  recordings, voice, and many others is possible using computing power.

     There are, however, some more general representational matters that often cut across the boundaries of a number of semiotics . For example, all semiotics subsumed in electronic language  represent time in some way. And within all of this, because the computer  is a construct of human beings, and because electronic language provides a range of views or “windows” on reality of some type, each representation  is an interpretation of the world  in one way or another.  

Time

     There are at least nine different time representations in electronic text  as indicated in the following table.

    

Representation	Explanation	Evidence
Time in “written” text	where the clause indicates a specific or relational time	at 4:00 am after the car stopped
Textual time	the worded composition takes time to be revealed when it is written, read, or worked upon in some way ¾ the sort of time disparities that Stern played with in text  in concert with playing with “reality”	identified by the length of a text  the number and complexity of words ¾ a text’s logocentrism
Presentational time	the time that it takes to unfold electronic text  from disk to page , from page to page, and from active link to text	passing of time required to scroll through a text , wait for a graphic to load, waiting for a Java Applet to begin working
Interaction time	the start, duration and completion of interaction via a computing mechanism, between the user and the computer , the user and another user across a network, or the user and another computer across a network	indicators  show when the time two computers are connected in an indicator; “chat” program  places a time against each interaction, a program indicates a time a file  is saved; an e-mail indicates the time it was sent
Programmed time	the time of program  operation  and control of the textual elements, calculating the positioning of elements, the strobing of the cursor  and screen refreshing	the time it takes for a program  to complete it tasks; sometimes a programmer will place a “wait” in the program to allow for reading a message, or to synchronise with another machine
User expected time	an internalisation of all operations with a computer  and the time that is expected for particular events  to occur	the duration a user is willing to wait before moving the mouse, trying to recall functions, etc.,
Computed time	while the computer  is operating  it measures time using a cyclic-time clock, based on computer cycles, which is reasonably close to earth time, but which can differ from earth time due to electrical disturbances in power supply, interruptions in computer activity  through over processing	the computer  time clock time; can be programmatically accessed and read as a 14 digit numeral; the result of making this request is indicative of the computed time in comparison with earth time
Cultural time	the representation  of cultural artefacts that indicate a time of inception, a particular status of cultural potential  for meaning making, thus providing a snapshot of cultural time	the time indicated by the Operating System  or Program; Windows  3.1 indicates a 1980s OS, Windows NT 4.0 is a 1990’s OS, a data  file  saved in the format of  Word  5.1
Semo-historical time	texts stored on the computer  system that were constructed in the past but which can be recalled complete with its snapshot of the other four types of time representation  coupled with the current status of time representation	data  in files kept since beginning to use a computer ; this time is indicated in the historical compilation of various time representations in that data and available for re-insertion into any current document  or text .

Table 13: Representation of time in electronic language .

To some degree all of these representations has some independence from each other, although there are some important dependencies that must be considered. It is important to recognise that an expert user of a computer  is aware of each of these time representations and through the interplay of each of these is able to more efficiently accomplish tasks at hand.         

     Let us explore an example of these representations of time through interpreting an e-mail received from “c|net digital dispatch”, a weekly newsletter e-mail to over 400,000 customers of c|net a large computer  web  site that provides up-to-date computing information .

 

 

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From: The CNET newsletter <dispatch@CNET.com>;

Subject:      CNET Digital Dispatch  Vol. 2 No. 34

To: Multiple recipients of list DISPATCH <DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM>;

Status:  

 

Digital Dispatch

The newsletter of CNET: The Computer Network

Vol. 2, No. 34

August 22, 1996

more than 498,000 subscribers

http://www.cnet.com/

http://www.shareware.com/

http://www.search.com/

 

CONTENTS:

1. Reviews and tips: Pentium-200s, buy a better modem

2. Fun and games: ten greatest computer  games of all time

3. CNET TV: clever domain names, Porno for Pyros

4. SHAREWARE.COM: software  to keep you on top

 

***********************

 

1. REVIEWS AND TIPS: PENTIUM-200s, BUY A MODERN MODEM

 

Are you surfing today's Web sites with yesterday's modem? Connectivity

lingo (DSVD, kbps, V.32) got you flummoxed? Fear not! Find out how to

choose the best modem, how to set it up, and how to use little tricks (like

compression) to squeeze extra speed out of the thing. By the time you're

done, you'll even know where the word "baud" came from:

 

     http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Modem/?dd

 

The latest Pentium PCs sport 200-MHz processors. That's fast. But how

fast? We test the latest Pentiums PCs from the big PC companies, including

IBM , Dell, HP, Compaq, and Gateway. Find out which PCs offer the best

combination of high-end performance  and value:

 

     http://www.cnet.com/Content/Reviews/Compare/Pc7/

 

OnLive Traveler lets you conduct real -time *voice* chat in a virtual 3D

world . You have to see it (and hear it) to believe it. Or star in your own live

comic strip with Microsoft 's Comic Chat (it's an animated IRC client). Read

all about these programs in our "just in" reviews. Plus: Adobe's Photoshop

for dummies (otherwise known as PhotoDeluxe); and Starfish Internet

Utilities, which can help you keep your bookmarks current as you switch

allegiances in the battle of the browsers:

 

     http://www.cnet.com/Content/Reviews/Hands/

 

When Christopher Barr expressed his fears that Microsoft  would eat up-and-

coming Net companies like PointCast for breakfast, CNET members turned

him into toast with their flames. This week, he explains further and tells how

the Net adage "content is king" could save PointCast and its brethren:

 

     http://www.cnet.com/Content/Voices/Barr/081996/

 

***********************

 

2. FUN AND GAMES: TEN GREATEST COMPUTER GAMES OF ALL

TIME

 

Some conversations are destined to turn into fistfights. This week the

"gamecenter" editors give you their totally biased, completely subjective list

of the ten best computer  games ever. Are we setting ourselves up for a flame

war or what? Satisfy your curiosity here:

 

     http://www.cnet.com/Gamecenter/Exclusives/Topten/

 

First there was Doom. Then came Duke Nukem 3D and Quake. Now, first-

person shooting games leap to the next level with Prey, from 3D Realms

(the company behind Duke). Find out more in our special sneak preview,

posting this Friday:

 

**NOTE: THIS URL WILL NOT WORK UNTIL LATE ON FRIDAY,

AUGUST 23!**

     http://www.cnet.com/Gamecenter/Peeks/Prey/

 

Count on "gamecenter" to keep your gaming minutes maximally

antiproductive. This week's reviews include a high-speed driving adventure

(IndyCar Racing II) and a sports sim that will make you feel like Bruce

Jenner (Decathlon). Read all game reviews starting here:

 

     http://www.cnet.com/Gamecenter/Reviews/

 

***********************

 

3. CNET TV: CLEVER DOMAIN NAMES, PORNO FOR PYROS

 

www.who#can#remember/confusing~domain_names.com.

Is that what your company's URL looks like? It doesn't have to be that way.

This week, Gina and Richard take you behind the scenes in the war for

domain names, and tell you what it takes to get one of your own. Then, "The

Web" cohost Justin Gunn makes his first appearance on "CNET Central"--

he's answering viewer questions about the Web. Think you can stump him?

Plus: multiplayer gaming; an update on the battle of the browsers; and a

report on why the number of people on the Net has soared recently.

 

More information  on "CNET Central" can be found at this URL:

 

     http://www.cnet.com/Content/Tv/CNETCentral/

 

Sci-Fi Channel viewers should stay tuned for "The Web," an hour-long

program about the most colorful part of the Internet . This week's highlights

include Porno for Pyros--no, it's not a smut site, it's Perry Farrell's latest

band, and its members are some of the most Web-savvy musicians we've

met. You'll also get the real  scoop on Microsoft 's Internet  Explorer 3.0 and

how its ActiveX technology could eventually destroy Netscape. Plus: trade

stocks and bonds over the Net; a place on America Online where *anybody*

can be a wise guy; and Web phone software  that lets you call any telephone

(not just another computer ) in the world .

 

Details about "The Web," including direct links to the sites and downloads

mentioned on the show, can be found here:

 

     http://www.cnet.com/Content/Tv/Web/index.html

 

Ever wonder what happens to aluminum and plastic *after* you put it in the

recycling bin? Do you know that firefighters now have special cameras to

see victims through the smoke and confusion of a blaze? Are you aware that

brain scanners can actually read your mind --or at least tell when you're

thinking  about that vacation in paradise rather than concentrating on your

spreadsheet? Watch "The New Edge" on the Sci-Fi Channel and be amazed.

 

More info about "The New Edge" is always available here:

 

     http://www.cnet.com/Content/Tv/Newedge/

 

Air times for all CNET programs, including our 90-second "tech briefs," can

be found here:

 

     http://www.cnet.com/Content/Tv/Airtimes/airtimes.html

 

***********************

 

4. SHAREWARE.COM: SOFTWARE TO KEEP YOU ON TOP

 

Oil Change can keep you up-to-date on the latest releases for Windows  95

and prevent your coworkers from sneering at last year's programs as they

walk by your machine. Download it and give it a shot:

 

     http://www.shareware.com/

 

Mac users--avoid getting drenched! MacWeather delivers the latest weather

updates from the Internet  directly to your desktop . You'll find it at the same

place:

 

     http://www.shareware.com/

 

Then, enter the year 2132 and assume the role of a one-person army to save

the planet Tarnok IV from pirate raids. Experience Shattered Steel 4.0 for

DOS :

 

     http://www.shareware.com/

 

 

***********************

 

 

Thanks for tuning in and logging on!

 

     This e-mail was written 22 August 1996 as indicated in the main text  heading area against the word “Date”. This and a number of other “written” text instances provide us with specific times at which we can expect certain occurrences, or at which time some event has happened. The worded composition of this e-mail begins with extreme density; a technical density which is exacerbated because of the naming of various computers through which the e-mail was sent. This initial text  indicating the route through which this e-mail was sent ¾ it was sent through at least six different computers. Overall the logo-centricity (or textual time) of this e-mail is substantial being lengthened by the detail of computer  links to locate additional information  on each of these topics.

     The time it takes to display this text  on the screen is dependent on the availability of the text on the local computer. When displayed on my computer, the text was stored on the remote computer at which I receive e-mail ¾ Sprynet in the USA. Presentation time was at about the same length of time it took me to read the text; it was coming into the computer and displayed line by line as it entered the computer.           There are six different interaction times indicated at the beginning of this e-mail. The e-mail was sent by c|net at 18:03:11 (Greenwich Mean Time -7:00) which means it was sent from a USA c|net site. It took 1 hour and 15 minutes approximately to arrive at Sprynet which is also in the USA. Interaction of all six computers in handling this and other e-mail took that length of time.

     In displaying this e-mail, I have selected an e-mail package that displays the text  as it is being received. Programmed display time is similar to program operation  time. Some programmes hold the entire text until it is all received and then it displays the text. Thus, programmed time to complete a receive text must be endured before the text can be read.

     Because I have read these e-mails each week, I know that it takes about five minutes to receive and read this text. I expect to be able to skim the text at about the same time as it takes to load. When this does not happen it is usually because the Internet  is a bit slow. If I find that I am beating the operation  of the computer , then I stop receiving the text and read it in the early morning when the Internet is a bit faster.          In one instance, the time a computer  received the e-mail from another computer does not make sense. It received the e-mail according to its time clock before it was sent. This disparity is due to the computed time of that particular machine in comparison with the computed time of the other machines. Because the computer time is not set to the same time as the other machines, it does not make sense in comparison to the other machine’s computer time.

     Indicators of cultural time in this e-mail suggest that it is a very recent letter. Certain web  sites will not be operating  before Friday August 23. It discusses the Pentium 200 a new machine that is yet to be released but which has been in planning for some months now. The letter itself is displayed in plain text  but records that it was dispatched using protocol that are reasonably new. Additionally, we can detect cultural time as even though this e-mail is a plain text e-mail, it does not have return marks at the end of each line; most of the old (two years ago) e-mail forwarding machines placed returns at the end of each line. This letter has the marks of being a current letter.

     When stored with all my other e-mail newsletters from c|net, this will form part of my semo-history. Text has been building on my machine for some eleven years. I still have data  that was constructed in 1985 on my computer . All of this text  is searchable, including this e-mail from c|net. Should there be references or text of any type that I require to compose another text, it is available simply by searching for a text string, or other feature through which this can be retrieved.

     Deciphering each of these time representations requires experience in:

·        using a computer ,

·        knowing the timing of particular action,

·        deducing the reason for discrepancies in reported time,

·        working with and understanding what it means when a computer  program  is working slower than normal,

·        calculating world  time, GMT, in comparison to computed time,

·        computer  use, and what is currently being used,

·        using textual forms and minor differences in the way texts are composed, or automatically handled,

·        using a databank of text  that provides the user with a sense of semo-history from which quotations can be culled for use in building new texts.

View on reality

     The totality of each text  on a computer  represents a “view of the world ” as interpreted by a group of computer oriented people. This reality view is built up through the development of a programmes, or suite of programmes, is further developed through the installation and configuration of that program  on a user’s computer, and developed in the context of specific data. It is considered to be a view of reality in that it:

·        involves a number of people’s representations,

·        across a number of semiotics  ¾ programming  language (s), written text , diagrams , etc.,

·        with a central semiotic  tendency ¾ written text, pre-print, etc.,

·        using and developing one or more text  templates,

·        identifiable as part of a total semo-history, a part of academic or business  textual history if not a part of an individual’s computer  based database of documents.

In other words, a computer  text  in its totality is a “slice of the culture ” as textualised, and digitised through the interaction of a number of people.

     In specific terms, the following outline provides an indication of the types of information  that is represented in the text  about “reality” or a “view of the world ”:

·        The operating  system is identifiable through looking at how the file  name is stored ¾ a short file name suggests Windows  3.1, 3.11, a long filename suggests Windows 95. However, some long filenames were possible on Windows 3.11 using a special upgrade pack.

·        The program  used to construct the text  is known. Each program saves text in a particular format. Word  6 and Word 7 have different file  specifications and when trying to save or import one of these files, the program would ask which format is required. In the header of the document, that is read only by the program, there is an indicator as to what program was used.

·        Templates in Word  2 and Word 6 are noticeably different from templates in Word 7. Headers and footers are formatted quite differently, as are bulleted paragraphs.

·        Business culture  when Word  2 was used emphasised the use of memos and other internal communications on paper . There are templates in Word 2 that are not available in Word 7 emphasising the emphasis on electronic texts  such as e-mail, away from paper text .

·        Graphic formats included in documents tended to be picked from a very small range of available products when Word  2 was used. Now links to a much wider range of support products leads to the use of a wider range of embedded texts. Version of popular diagram products, such as Flow Charter, Visio Draw, and Word Drawing can be identified to particular release dates.

·        OLE 2 (a methods of embedding text  from other programmes in the current text) can be detected when double clicking on embedded text. It is far superior and provides a much cleaner service in working with embedded texts.

·        Particular fonts  were not available until 1992. Fonts before this time did not have quite the quality as fonts that are now available.

·        References to people, places, events  and so forth in written language  can be used as indicators  of context. 

By examining the electronic files of a particular text  it is possible to build a view of the world , both within the field  of the computer  contexts and outside of the computer context. The business  conditions, methods of communicating, dates, times, events  are all verifiable, not only through the written text but also via the re-construction of the computing context.

     It is possible that many of these details could be modified or changed in that electronic language  is highly modifiable. However, electronic texts  are also very complex texts that involve so many programmes, connections, links, devices, and data  inputs that it is not easy to entirely revise the complete history of a text . This dissertation  document  is a case in point. It started its life in Word  2 in 1989, progressed to Word 6 and now in Word 7. It has drawings that were originally drawn in Paintbrush but updated in Corel Draw. Some bitmaps were constructed in Paintbrush in Windows  3.11 and now have been updated in Corel Xara. By looking at the headers of some of the sub-documents there are indications that one or two of the documents were first constructed in Word 2. By looking at the hidden field  codes it is possible to tell that the documents have been worked in both Word 2 and Word 6 as well as the newer Word 7 codes. There are some hundreds of “index” field codes that have the original Word 2 format that are nearly impossible to locate and modify. In theory it is possible to modify electronic text but when it is so easy to build a text with thousands of variables, it is not easy to modify all those variables. This suggest that the composing  history of a document is easier to detect in electronic language than many may consider due to the thousands of variables that go into the construction of a text that leave traces of textualisation in hidden and other variables. 

     The electronic environment allows for a further study of the textulisation of this document . Each draft of the document has been kept in a series of files since the beginnings of the document in 1991. The current document can be electronically compared with each of the draft using the menu tool “Tools / Revisions / Compare Versions”. Through a careful version compare it is possible to identify sentences and paragraphs that were drafted in 1991. Because each draft sub-directory is dated, it is possible to put a date on when particular ideas that are now in this completed document arose. Linking these compare results with notes taken in lectures, conferences and private supervisor meetings, ideas and their sources can be traced. The summarised table, below, provides a dated history of when the majority of particular chapters were constructed.

 

Chapter	Majority of text  dated	Minority of text  dated
One	1991, 1993	1996
Two	1992, 1993, 1994	1996
Three	1993, 1994, 1995	1996
Four	1996	1995
Five	1996	1994
Six	1996	1994, 1995

Table 14: a summarised semo-history of this dissertation . 

     A study of the words and phrases used in each of the drafts is also possible. This provides an interesting comment on the choices made in each of the years according to the predominant metaphors. The earlier years were driven by metaphors outside of linguistic endeavours, whereas the later two years 1995 and 1996 are predominantly years within which the vocabulary of linguistic explication becomes the predominant selection.

 

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^[1] There are at least four different modes, only two of which are illustrated here: Normal which is an electronic version of text  that does not follow paged conventions, Outline where text is displayed as a series of headings , Page Layout which is text as defined in borders like pages , Master Document where text is displayed as a series of inter-linked files. This illustration  is simply taking two of these apart to make a point but could apply equally to all four of these methods of displaying text.

^[2] This is the space allocated for footnotes on this page . If there was a footer area, within which page numbers or some other detail was entered at the bottom of the page, it would be placed below this foot note area.

^[3]     O’Toole  (1994:5) suggests that the term “Representational” as being appropriate for the information  function when discussing paintings. In much the same way as O’Toole suggests paintings represent information about our world , electronic language  represents information about its computer  world.

^[4]  In one study of 25 professionals, each of these people using computers for more than 3 hours per day rightly identified the problem with their computer  simply through judging time in 9 out of 10 cases.

^[5]  This is not entirely accurate now, in that in 1996 digital cameras have been released by the major camera manufacturers that can be plugged into a computer . The digitisation  process is completed within the camera instead of being a digitisation of an analogue version.

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