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Darwin Among The Machines
"Darwin among the Machines" is an article published in ''The Press'' newspaper on 13 June 1863 in Christchurch, New Zealand, which references the work of Charles Darwin in the title. Written by Samuel Butler but signed '' Cellarius'' (q.v.), the article raised the possibility that machines were a kind of "mechanical life" undergoing constant evolution, and that eventually machines might supplant humans as the dominant species: The article ends by urging that, "War to the death should be instantly proclaimed against them. Every machine of every sort should be destroyed by the well-wisher of his species. Let there be no exceptions made, no quarter shown; let us at once go back to the primeval condition of the race." ''Book of the Machines'' Butler developed this and subsequent articles into ''The Book of the Machines'', three chapters of ''Erewhon'', published anonymously in 1872. The Erewhonian society Butler envisioned had long ago undergone a revolution that destroyed most mec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Press
''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One community newspaper—''Northern Outlook''- is also published by ''The Press'' and is free. The newspaper has won the title of New Zealand Newspaper of the Year (in its circulation category) three times: in 2006, 2007 and 2012. It has also won the overall Newspaper of the Year title twice: in 2006 and 2007. History James FitzGerald came to Lyttelton on the ''Charlotte Jane'' in December 1850, and was from January 1851 the first editor of the ''Lyttelton Times'', Canterbury's first newspaper. From 1853, he focussed on politics and withdrew from the ''Lyttelton Times''. After several years in England, he returned to Canterbury concerned about the proposed capital works programme of the provincial government, with his chief concern the pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech recognition, computer vision, translation between (natural) languages, as well as other mappings of inputs. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' of Oxford University Press defines artificial intelligence as: the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. AI applications include advanced web search engines (e.g., Google), recommendation systems (used by YouTube, Amazon and Netflix), understanding human speech (such as Siri and Alexa), self-driving cars (e.g., Tesla), automated decision-making and competing at the highest level in strategic game systems (such as chess and G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hampton Fancher
Hampton Lansden Fancher (born July 18, 1938) is an American actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker, best known for co-writing the 1982 neo-noir science fiction film ''Blade Runner'' and its 2017 sequel '' Blade Runner 2049,'' based on the novel ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' by Philip K. Dick. His 1999 directorial debut, '' The Minus Man,'' won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury at the Montreal World Film Festival. He lives in the Brooklyn Heights district of New York City. Early life Fancher was born to a Mexican-Danish mother and an English-American father, a physician, in East Los Angeles, California. At 15, he ran away to Spain to become a flamenco dancer and renamed himself "Mario Montejo". Following the breakup of his marriage to Joann McNabb, he was married to Sue Lyon from 1963 to 1965. Career In 1959, Fancher appeared in the episode "Misfits" of the ABC western television series '' The Rebel''. Fancher played Deputy Lon Gillis in seven episodes of the AB ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Deeley
Michael Deeley (born 6 August 1932) is an Academy Award-winning British film producer known for such motion pictures as ''The Italian Job'' (1969), ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), and ''Blade Runner'' (1982). He is also a founding member and Honorary President of British Screen Forum. Biography Deeley's father was a director at McCann Erickson advertising agency, and his mother was a PA to several film producers. He attended Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. After national service in Malaysia during the time of the Malayan Emergency, Deeley gained a job through his mother's connections as an assistant editor at a company run by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. While editing the TV show ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', with his editing partner Harry Booth, the two men decided to branch into a producing partnership. They raised funds to produce a 26-minute short starring Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, ''The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn'' (1956). This launched Deeley's producing care ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip K
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the name include kings of Macedonia and one of the apostles of early Christianity. ''Philip'' has many alternative spellings. One derivation often used as a surname is Phillips. It was also found during ancient Greek times with two Ps as Philippides and Philippos. It has many diminutive (or even hypocoristic) forms including Phil, Philly, Lip, Pip, Pep or Peps. There are also feminine forms such as Philippine and Philippa. Antiquity Kings of Macedon * Philip I of Macedon * Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great * Philip III of Macedon, half-brother of Alexander the Great * Philip IV of Macedon * Philip V of Macedon New Testament * Philip the Apostle * Philip the Evangelist Others * Philippus of Croton (c. 6th c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' (retroactively retitled ''Blade Runner: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' in some later printings) is a dystopian science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1968. The novel is set in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, where Earth's life has been greatly damaged by a nuclear global war, leaving most animal species endangered or extinct. The main plot follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who is tasked with "retiring" (i.e. killing) six escaped Nexus-6 model androids, while a secondary plot follows John Isidore, a man of sub-par IQ who aids the fugitive androids. The book served as the primary basis for the 1982 film ''Blade Runner'', even though some aspects of the novel were changed, and many elements and themes from it were used in the film's 2017 sequel ''Blade Runner 2049''. Synopsis Background and setting In 1992 (2021 in later editions) following a devastating global war called World War Terminu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Adolescence Of P-1
''The Adolescence of P-1'' is a 1977 science fiction novel by Thomas Joseph Ryan, published by Macmillan Publishing, and in 1984 adapted into a Canadian-made TV film entitled ''Hide and Seek''. It features a hacker who creates an artificial intelligence named P-1, which goes rogue and takes over computers in its desire to survive and seek out its creator. The book questions the value of human life, and what it means to be human. It is one of the first fictional depictions of the nature of a computer virus and how it can spread through a computer system, although predated by John Brunner's ''The Shockwave Rider''. Plot The story starts in 1974 with the protagonist, Gregory Burgess, enrolled at the University of Waterloo in Canada. At the time, Greg is aimless, taking various liberal arts courses and doing just well enough not to get kicked out of school. Everything changes one day when his friends introduce him to the IBM System/360 mainframe and he becomes "hooked", changi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace
"All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" is a poem by Richard Brautigan first published in his 1967 All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (poetry collection), collection of the same name, his Richard Brautigan bibliography, fifth book of poetry. It presents an enthusiastic description of a technological utopianism, technological utopia in which machines improve and protect the lives of humans. The poem has counterculture and hippie themes, influenced by Cold War-era technology. It has been interpreted both as utopian and as an irony, ironic critique of the utopia it describes. It is Brautigan's most frequently reprinted poem. Synopsis and analysis Brautigan wrote the poem and eponymous collection between January 17–26, 1967, while a poet-in-residence at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. The poem is 99 words in 3 stanzas, and describes a technological utopia in which humans and technology work together for the greater good. Brautigan wr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Invisible Boy
''The Invisible Boy'' (aka ''S.O.S Spaceship'') is a 1957 black and white American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, directed by Herman Hoffman, and starring Richard Eyer and Philip Abbott. It is the second film appearance of Robby the Robot, the science fiction character who "stole the show" in '' Forbidden Planet'' (1956), Primarily a review of ''Forbidden Planet'', Chaw has little use for ''The Invisible Boy''. also released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. According to an implied, subtle back story in ''The Invisible Boy'', the robot is the same character as that in ''Forbidden Planet,'' which is set in the 23rd century; Robby is brought back to the film's mid-20th century era by time travel. Plot In 1957, ten-year-old Timmie Merrinoe (Richard Eyer) only wants a playmate. After a peculiar encounter with a supercomputer operated by his father's research lab, he is mysteriously invested with superior intelligence, and reassembles a robot that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Evitable Conflict
"The Evitable Conflict" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the June 1950 issue of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' and subsequently appeared in the collections ''I, Robot'' (1950), ''The Complete Robot'' (1982), and '' Robot Visions'' (1990). It features the character Stephen Byerley from the earlier "Evidence". Plot summary Following on from the previous story 'Evidence,' in the year 2052, Stephen Byerley has been elected World Co-ordinator for a second term. Earth is divided into four geographical regions, each with a powerful supercomputer known as a Machine managing its economy. Byerley is concerned as the Machines have recently made some errors leading to economic inefficiency. Consulting with the four regional Vice Co-ordinators, he finds that several prominent individuals and companies associated with the anti-Machine "Society for Humanity" have been damaged by the Machines' apparent mistakes. Byerley believes that the Soc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creative Works
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, and composition. Legal definitions Creative works require a creative mindset and are not typically rendered in an arbitrary fashion although some works demonstrate ave in commona degree of arbitrariness, such that it is improbable that two people would independently create the same work. At its base, creative work involves two main steps – having an idea, and then turning that idea into a substantive form or process. The creative process can involve one or more individuals. Typically the creative process has some aesthetic value that is identified as a creative expression which itself generally invokes external stimuli which a person views as creative. The term is frequently used in the context of copyright. United Kingdom For the purpose of section 221(2)(c) of the Income Tax (Trading and Other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, extraterrestrial life, sentient artificial intelligence, cybernetics, certain forms of immortality (like mind uploading), and the singularity. Science fiction predicted several existing inventions, such as the atomic bomb, robots, and borazon, whose names entirely match their fictional predecessors. In addition, science fiction might serve as an outlet to facilitate future scientific and technological innovations. Science fiction can trace its roots to ancient mythology. It is also related to fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Science fiction, in literature, film, television, and other media, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
