Science Fiction

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Two 'Hard Sci-fi' Writers

Arthur C. Clark

To film buffs, Arthur C. Clarke is best known as the author who collaborated with Stanley Kubrick to produce 2001: A Space Odyssey. The scientific community remembers him as the man who first conceptualized geosynchronous communication-satellite relays, in a 1945 paper that became the foundation for modern communications technology. But science-fiction fans have any number of touchstones for the British author: He's one of very few to be designated a Science Fiction Grand Master, he's the author of the classic novels Childhood's End and Rendezvous With Rama, and he first created the popular axiom "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Now in his late 80s, Clarke has written or collaborated on more than 70 books, including three 2001 sequels, three Rendezvous With Rama sequels (co-authored with Gentry Lee), two autobiographies, and a wide variety of essays and short stories. His non-fiction includes collections of his correspondence with C.S. Lewis and Lord Dunsany, as well as many books on physics, science, and space travel, from 1950's guidebook Interplanetary Flight to 1994's The Snows Of Olympus, a graphic look at a terraformed Mars. His latest, Time's Eye, is a new collaboration with Stephen Baxter, the first in a series of novels involving a cataclysm that slices Earth into segments from across history, leading cosmonauts and prehistoric humans to mix in an epic struggle. From his home in Sri Lanka, Clarke recently (2004-02) spoke with The Onion A.V. Club about religion, transcendence, the possibility of life on Mars, and the dinosaur that was named after him.

Odyssey Series

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
  The monolith is introduced to humanity (a small one 6 million years ago, a small one on the moon, a larger one in orbit around Jupiter)
   
  
• 2010: Odyssey Two (1982)
  American and Russian scientists cooperate while visiting the monolith orbiting Jupiter while their governments behave badly on Earth.
   
• 2061: Odyssey Three (1988)
  Heywood Floyd visits Halley's Comet
   
• 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997)
  Frank Poole's body is recovered; Dave Bowman returns to Sol

A Sinister Retelling of the Odyssey Story

• Time's Eye - A Time Odyssey: 1 (2004) 1
  • "2001: A Space Odyssey" began with "Moon-Watcher" in Africa; "Time's Eye" begins with "Seeker" in the North-West Frontier (Pakistan - Afghanistan border); Earth has been observed for eons by the "Firstborn"
  • This books spends way-too-much time in the past and yet you need to read it in order to read the next book
     
• Sunstorm - A Time Odyssey: 2 (2005) 1
  • This book is much better than Timer's Eye (which spends far too long in the past)
  • "Time's Eye" seems to be 30% Clarke and 70% Baxter
  • "Sunstorm" seems to be 70% Clarke and 30% Baxter
     
• Firstborn - A Time Odyssey: 3 (2008) 1
  • This book is not as good as book 2 (Sunstorm).
  • This books spends too-much time in the past

Rama Series

• Rendezvous with Rama (1973)
  A huge cylindrical object enters our solar system and is headed towards Earth.
   
  
• Rama II (1989) 2
  A second cylindrical object enters our solar system (but the Ramans always do things in threes)
   
• The Garden of Rama (1991) 2
   
• Rama Revealed (1993) 2

Odyssey-Rama Superscript Notes:

1. Coauthored with Stephen Baxter
2. Coauthored with Gentry Lee
3. Click www.bookfinder.com or www.alibris.com to purchase rare and out-of-print books

Rendezvous With Rama (the PC-based Game)

Based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke By now, the year 2130, all of the largest asteroids in the solar system have long since been discovered. Smaller ones are being downed at the rate of a dozen a day. So when a huge new asteroid appears the only surprise is that is was overlooked for so long. It is duly assigned the next available name, Rama, and is promptly forgotten about - but not for long. As Rama approaches the Earth, every question about it seems to have an answer that raises more questions. And as observations continue, the most impossible explanation becomes the only one: Rama is actually a spaceship. The next step is obvious: mankind must attempt a rendezvous. But only one of our spaceships is close enough. As fate has it, that ship is Endeavor - the ship that you command. Without even reading them, you know what your orders will be: to rendezvous with the giant ship, to explore it, to meet with its inhabitants, and to return home before it speeds on its orbit away from the solar system. Yet even in your excitement, you realize it is not an easy mission. You will have to make difficult decisions - many of them. And you will have to work very fast - because if you stay on Rama too long, returning home will be impossible. From the first moment it has been clear: this is the mission of your lifetime. Thousands would gladly sacrifice anything for the chance. Only you can explore Rama. Rendezvous with Rama is the first computer adventure to be produced in collaboration with Arthur C. Clarke. The program allows you to talk with three other crew members. Multiple disks offer extended play - and the game may be played with or without graphics. Arthur C. Clarke, world-famous author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, continues to be a major force in science fiction; over twenty-million copies of his books have been printed World-Wide. The novel Rendezvous with Rama has won three highest science fiction awards: the Hugo, the Nebula and the John W. Campbell Awards. The adventure game Rendezvous with Rama was developed and produced by Byron Preiss Video Productions, Inc., leading designers of entertainment and educational software. Their technical director is Lee Jackson.

One other highly note-worthy book (not sci-fi)

• From The Dust Jacket:
  Arthur C. Clarke, visionary author of both science fact and science fiction, first conceived of satellite communications in 1945--and twenty-five years later his dream became reality. Now, in this new personal and colorful nonfiction work, Clarke examines the rapid transformation of our society by technology and communication. As the infant field of communications began growing in the early part of this century, so did the boy named Arthur C. Clarke--who watched, wide-eyed, as his small English village was transformed overnight. In his job as the village switchboard operator he once overloaded the circuits, excitedly eavesdropping on his first transatlantic call. From there his involvement grew more and more technical, culminating in his now-famous paper "Extra-Terrestrial Relays," which anticipated many of the developments of the next fifty years. For five thousand years communication never advanced beyond the speed of horse and wind-driven ship--but in the explosive span of thirty years, it changed forever. Newer, faster communication toppled tyranny, won wars, and changed history all the way from the second Russian Revolution to the Gulf war. Here is the story of the stranger-than-fiction mishaps, oversights, capricious acts of fate, and incredible human energy that eventually transformed the earth into our modern global village. Clarke brings unique expertise and a lifetime of experience to How the World Was One. Beginning with submarine cables, through the development of fiber optics and communications satellites, and then projecting far into a future of neutrino, gravitational, and tachyon (faster than light) communications, Arthur C. Clarke shows how these remarkable innovations shaped and changed the earth--and made the world one.
• Excerpt from Preface, Page 1, Paragraph 3
  Nevertheless, Toynbee was essentially correct. Except for a few dwindling tribes in (alas) equally dwindling forests, the human race has now become almost a single entity, divided by time zones rather rather than by natural frontiers of geography. The same TV news networks cover the globe; the world's markets are linked by the most complex machine ever devised by mankind -- the international telephone/telex/fax/data transfer system.
• Excerpt from Preface, Page 2, Paragraph 2
  Despite the linguistic, religious, and cultural barriers that still sunder nations, the unification of the world [by telecommunications] has passed the point of return...
• Excerpt from Chapter 1, Page 1, Paragraph 3
  This state of affairs has existed for the greater part of human history. When Queen Victoria came to power in 1837, she had no swifter means of sending messages to the far parts of her empire than had Julius Caesar -- or, for that matter, Moses.
• Excerpt from Chapter 27, Page 200, Paragraphs 3-4
  Telstar (and its successor Telstar 2, launched May 7, 1963) showed that active satellites could do everything that had been claimed for them, and with very modest powers -- as long as they were backed up by massive ground equipment. The Bell System had built an even larger horn-antenna for the Telstar than for Echo; the giant ear at Andover, Maine, weighed 370 tons yet was able to track the speeding satellite to an accuracy of better than a twentieth of a degree.
  And that was the big problem. Because of its relatively low altitude (between 950 and 5,600 kilometres) Telstar 1 circled the Earth several times per day; its orbital period was only a fraction of the magic twenty-four hours.
• Excerpt from Chapter 27, Page 201, Paragraphs 3
  ... paradoxically, it takes rather more energy to park [a satellite] twenty two thousand miles up than to land on the ten-times-more-distant moon.
• Contents:
  1. WIRING THE ABYSS
     1. Introduction (to electrical / electronic communications)
     2. The Coming of the Telegraph
     3. Channel Crossing
     4. A Great American (Cyrus West Field)
     5. Lord of Science (William Thomson a.k.a. Lord Kelvin)
     6. False Start (to laying an Atlantic telegraph cable)
     7. Triumph of Disaster
     8. Post-mortem
     9. The Brink of Success
     10. Heart's Content (the first successful cable is laid)
     11. Battle on the Seabed (they try to grapple for a dropped cable)
     12. Girdle Round the Earth
     13. The Deserts of the Deep
     14. The Cable's Core
  2. VOICE ACROSS THE SEA
     15. The Wires Begin to Speak (Alexander Graham Bell)
     16. The Man Before Einstein (Oliver Heaviside)
     17. Mirror in the Sky (the ionosphere is discovered)
     18. Transatlantic Telephone
     19. "Wireless" (Clarke's boyhood recollections of crystal and valve (vacuum tube) radios
     20. Exploring the Spectrum
  3. A BRIEF PREHISTORY OF COMSATS
     21. Beyond the Ionosphere
     22. "You're on the glide path... I think..."
     23. How I Lost a Billion Dollars in My Spare Time
     24. "If you've got a message..."
     25. The Making of a Moon (a reprinted short story)
     26. "I Remember Babylon" (a reprinted short story)
  4. STARRY MESSENGERS
     27. Echo and Telstar
     28. Syncon
     29. Early Bird
     30. The United States of Earth
     31. Satellites and Saris
     32. At the UN
     33. Coop's Troop
     34. Appointment in the Vatican
     35. Happy Birthday, Comsat!
     36. The Clarke Awards
     37. CNN Live
     38. Peacesat
  5. LET THERE BE LIGHT!
     39. Cable Comeback
     40. Talking with Light
     41. As Far As Eye Can See (like this book's title, Clarke appears to have a sense of humor :-)
         Epilogue: Fin de siecle -- or Dawn of a New Millennium
         Postscript: The Second Russian Revolution
         Appendix A
         Appendix B
• NSR Comments: I was surprised to learn that many telegraph cable projects were doomed to failure because overly optimistic participants refused to learn Ohm's Law. Just playing with technology resulted in the loss of many billions of dollars which is reminiscent of the losses associated with the Dot-Com (dot-con?) meltdown of 2000-2002.

Some Useful Links:

• Clarke's introduction to the Millennial Project (a project that will last 1000 years)
• Arthur C. Clarke @ Wikipedia
• Arthur C. Clarke Quotes - The Quotations Page

Cool quote:

A hundred years ago, the electric telegraph made possible - indeed, inevitable - the United States of America. The communications satellite will make equally inevitable a United Nations of Earth; let us hope that the transition period will not be equally bloody.

Arthur C. Clarke, "First on the Moon", 1970

Dr. Isaac Asimov (not an honorary degree)

From the rear dust jacket of "The Caves of Steel"
Doubleday 1954 hardcover edition

For a long time the author has led a double life: one as one of the masters of the fast, terse, often humorous galactic melodramas, and as a biochemist and teacher at the Boston University School of Medicine, where he is engaged in cancer research. Mr. Asimov says: "Science Fiction invades most of the facets of my life, even my serious research. At my final examination for a doctorate in biochemistry (with seven professors asking profound and embarrassing questions) the last question concerned one of the incidents in one of my science-fiction stories. I got my degree." Mr. Asimov also says he is better known for such stories as Pebble in the Sky, The Stars, Like Dust and The Currents of Space in the science fiction world (which takes science fiction very seriously) than he is ever likely to be for his cancer research.

TODAY'S (1954) FICTION - TOMORROW'S FACTS

LIFE Magazine says there are more than TWO MILLION science fiction fans in this country. From all corners of the nation comes the resounding proof that science fiction has established itself as an exciting and imaginative NEW FORM OF LITERATURE that is attracting literally tens of thousands of new readers every year! Why? Because no other form of fiction can provide you with such thrilling and unprecedented adventures! No other form of fiction can take you on an eerie trip to Mars ... amaze you with a journey into the year 3000 A.D. ... or sweep you into the fabulous realms of unexplored Space! Yes, it's no wonder that this exciting new form of imaginative literature has captivated the largest group of fascinated new readers in the United States today!

• Isaac Asimov
• Foundation Trilogy
• Robot Series
• Empire Series
• BTW, it is my belief that www.wikipedia.org is humanity's first real attempt at an Encyclopedia Galactica (although not implemented as Asimov envisioned in his Foundation Trilogy)

See what Asimov had to say about Protein Folding

Skip to my last "Isaac Asimov" paragraph below to learn about Isaac Asimov's strange and tragic death in 1992.

My "Isaac Asimov" Book Reviews and Observations (2004)

Most of the information comes from dust jackets or things I noticed while re-reading the books in 2004.

Click www.bookfinder.com or www.alibris.com to purchase out-of-print books

Robot Series

• A repackaging of nine previously published short stories presented as the memoirs of robot psychologist Dr. Susan Calvin
• Everyone living in the modern world should read chapters 8 and 9 ("Evidence" and "The Evitable Conflict"). If I had any control over the matter, these two chapters would be required reading in secondary school since they are slightly more important to modern human culture as anything written by William Shakespeare (and I highly value his creative efforts as well). Why would I say this?
  • Lessons found in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" teaches humanity to despise anti-Semitism (which is morphs into teaching modern people learning to be tolerant of everything).
  • Although written under the guise of anti-robot bias, various Asimov biographies indicate that "Evidence" was inspired by the author's exposure to anti-Semitism during the second world war. The idea of a lawyer wishing to avoid death penalties shows us what humans can aspire to when they think a little more while emoting a little less. To me this is "icing on the cake".
  • The very brief history lesson found in Asimov's "The Evitable Conflict" teaches us that wars are a complete waste of time. It also teaches us to repress our emotions where politics and religion are concerned.  

Chapters etc.

• Introduction (1950)
  • The year is 2057 and Dr. Susan Calvin, chief robopsychologist (programmer?) of "U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men Corporation" is about to retire so a reporter is about to spend three days interviewing her for a "Pop Ed" article. These stories are her memoirs.
• Chapter 1 - Robbie (1940)
  • The story centers around the technophobia that surrounds robots, and how it is misplaced. Almost all previously published science fiction stories featuring robots followed the theme 'robot turns against creator'; Asimov has consistently held the belief that the Frankenstein complex was a misplaced fear, and the majority of his works attempted to provide examples of the help that robots could provide humanity.
• Chapter 2 - Runaround (1942)
  • problems pop up with mining robots deployed on the planet Mercury. US Robot field engineers, Gregory Powel and Mike Donavan, are on site to solve the problem.
  • this is the very first story where we learn about Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics
• Chapter 3 - Reason (1942)
  • Another story involving US Robot field engineers, Gregory Powel and Mike Donavan
  • QT (a.k.a. Cutie) doesn't believe he was assembled by the humans currently in charge of "Solar Station 5" (robots are not allowed on inhabited worlds so are manufactured in pieces on Earth then assembled elsewhere)
  • in order to come to grips with this dilemma, QT reasons that there must be a supreme creator for both men and machines
• Chapter 4 - Catch That Rabbit (1941)
  • Another story involving US Robot field engineers, Gregory Powel and Mike Donavan
  • problems pop up with DV-5 (Dave) mining robots deployed in the asteroid belt.
  • DV-5s have a personal initiative circuit which allow them to manage other worker robots but computational overload causes a conflict with the "3 laws of robotics"
• Chapter 5 - Liar! (1941)
  • Through a fault in manufacturing, a robot, RB-34 (Herbie), is created that has the ability to read minds. While the roboticists at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men are trying to analyze what happened and why, the robot tells them what other people are thinking. But the First Law still applies to this robot, and so it deliberately lies when necessary to avoid hurting their feelings and to make people happy, especially in terms of romance. However, by lying, it is hurting them anyway. When it is confronted with this fact by Susan Calvin (to whom it told a lie that was particularly painful to her when it was shown to be false), the robot experiences an irresolvable logical conflict and becomes catatonic.
• Chapter 6 - Little Lost Robot (1947)
  • At Hyper Base, a military research station on an asteroid, scientists are working to develop the hyperspace drive - a theme that is explored and developed in several of Asimov's stories and mentioned in the Empire and Foundation books. One of the researchers, Gerald Black, loses his temper, swears at an NS-2 (Nestor) robot and tells the robot to "....go lose yourself." Obeying the order literally, it hides itself. It is then up to US Robots' Chief Robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin, and Mathematical Director Peter Bogert, to find it. They even know exactly where it is: in a room with 62 other physically identical robots.
• Chapter 7 - Escape! (also known as "Paradoxical Escape", 1947)
  • "Consolidated Robots" (a competitor of US Robots and Mechanical Men) burn out their master computer while trying to solve a problem during the design of an inter-stellar engine (a.k.a. "warp drive"). So they approach "U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men Corporation" with an offer of collaboration.
  • Should "U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men Corporation" risk the mental health of their own computer?
  • Question: If one and one half chickens lays one and one half eggs in one and one half days, then how many eggs will 9 chickens lay in 9 days? The Brain answered "fifty four"
  • US Robot field engineers, Gregory Powel and Mike Donavan are coerced into taking the new ship for a test ride.
  • Note: it would appear that the development of warp travel in this chapter is the basis for the expansion of humanity described in Asimov's "Foundation and Empire" series
• Chapter 8 - Evidence (1946)
  • Stephen Byerley is a lawyer, a successful, middle-aged prosecutor, a humanitarian who never presses for the death penalty. He runs for Mayor of New York City, but Francis Quinn's political machine smears him, claiming that he is a humanoid robot (a machine built to look like a human being). If this is true, the "Frankenstein complex" hysteria will ruin his campaign, as of course, only human beings are allowed to run for office. Quinn approaches U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men corporation, the world's only supplier of positronic robot brains, and attempts to persuade them that Byerley must be a robot. No one has ever seen Byerley eat or sleep, Quinn reports.
  • When confronted, Byerley responds with "I...I...a robot?" (hence the name of the book)
• Chapter 9 - The Evitable Conflict (1950)
  • Consider relatively modern times. There were the series of dynastic wars in the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries , when the most important question in Europe was whether the houses of Hapsburg or Valois-Bourborn were to rule the continent. It was one of those 'inevitable conflicts', since Europe could obviously not exist half of one and half of the other. Except that it did, and no war ever wiped out the one and established the other, until the rise of a new social atmosphere in France in 1789 tumbled first the Bourbons and, eventually, the Hapsburgs down the dusty chute to history's incinerator.
  • And in those same centuries there were the more barbarous religious wars, which revolved about the important question of whether Europe was to be Catholic or Protestant. Half and half she could not be. It was 'inevitable' that the sword decide -- except that it didn't. In England, a new industrialism was growing, and on the continent, a new nationalism. Half and half Europe remains to this day and no one cares much.
  • In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there was a cycle of nationalist-imperialist wars, when the most important question in the world was which portion of Europe would control the economic resources and consuming capacity of which portions of non-Europe. All non-Europe obviously could not exist part English and part French and part German and so on -- until the forces of nationalism spread sufficiently, so that non-Europe ended what all the wars could not, and decided it could exist quite comfortably all non-European.
  • And so we have a pattern.
  • In the twentieth century we started a new cycle of wars -- what shall I call them? Ideological wars? The emotions of religion applied to economic systems , rather than to extra-natural ones? Again the wars were 'inevitable' and this time there were atomic weapons, so that mankind could no longer live through its torment to the inevitable wasting away of 'inevitability'. 
  • After the arrival of positronic robots and interplanetary travel, it no longer seemed important whether the world was Adam Smith or Karl Marx. So a world wide robot-coordinated economy was developed which meant that countries would be dissolved and replaced with informal economic regions:

    Name	Area (million square miles)	Population (billions)	Capital	Notes
    The Eastern Region	7.5	1.7	Shanghai	China, India, Burma, Indo-China, Indonesia.
    The Tropic Region	22	0.5	Capital City Nigeria	South America north of Argentina, Africa south of the Atlas Mountains, North America South of the Rio Grande, Arabia, Iran.
    The European Region	4	0.3	Geneva Switzerland	Europe (including Scandinavia & Iceland but not Britain), Mediterranean Africa and Argentina, Chile, Uruguay.
    The Northern Region	18	0.8	Ottawa Canada	North America North of the Rio Grande through to Russia (but minus Europe), Britain, European Russia, Russia, Australia, New Zealand.
    Earth (& Antarctica)	54	3.3 total	New York	a kind of UN of "Economic Regions"

  • Each economic region is being managed by a Brain (a large positronic brain without a robot body; e.g. a "thinking" mainframe computer) which is governed by the 3 Laws of Robotics.
  • This is the humanity's most peaceful and economically productive period in history but some people resent being told what to do by computers so have joined organizations like "Society for Humanity" (an anti-technology group)
  • Recently, the Brains have made mistakes and some people are beginning to suspect that the robots (and Brains) are evolving. This means that the "First Law of Robotics" may have changed! (or the robots may be interpreting it differently). Click here for more details.
  • Comments:
    • It seems that Asimov predicted the formation of economic associations ("free trade zones") which should help tamp down nationalistic pride. It is too bad that he missed the prediction of the European Economic Community.
    • Is a population of 3.3 Billion an underestimate or did Asimov assume that humans would be limiting their numbers?
    • In 1950 it must have made sense that Britain would be part of the Northern Region. Obviously joint projects like the Concorde and Chunnel improved relations between Britain and France so today Brits would probably prefer to be associated with Europe.
    • Asimov's idea to use computers to optimize human economies sound somewhat close to this real-world example
• Click here for information about the 2004 movie I, Robot which was not based upon any of Asimov's stories but was based upon his characters

Robot Trilogy (a.k.a. Elijah Baley Detective Series)

• Planet: EARTH
  Crisis: Dr. Roj Nemennuh Sarton, the preeminent roboticist, is murdered in Spacetown
  Problem: The fragile relationship between Earth and Space depends upon Lije (Elijah) Baley's speedy solving of the case. But that's not the worst of it. Lije is paired with investigator R. (for Robot) Daneel Olivaw. And Lije dislikes robots deeply, almost pathologically.
• In this novel, Isaac Asimov first introduced Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw, who would later become his favorite protagonists. They live roughly three millennia in Earth's future, a time when hyperspace travel has been discovered, and a few worlds relatively close to Earth have been colonized — fifty planets known as the "Spacer worlds". The Spacer worlds are rich, have low population density (average population of one hundred million each), and use robot labor very heavily. Meanwhile, Earth is overpopulated (with a total population of eight billion), and strict rules against robots have been passed. The eponymous "caves of steel" are vast city complexes covered by huge metal domes, capable of supporting tens of millions each. The New York City of that era, for example, encompasses present-day New York City, as well as large tracts of New Jersey.
• The book's central crime is a murder, which takes place before the novel opens. (This is an Asimovian trademark, which he attributed to his own squeamishness and John Campbell's advice of beginning as late in the story as possible.) Roj Nemmenuh Sarton, a Spacer Ambassador, lives in Spacetown, the Spacer outpost just outside New York City. For some time, he has tried to convince the Earth government to loosen its anti-robot restrictions. One morning, he is discovered outside his home, his chest imploded by an energy blaster. The New York police commissioner charges Elijah with finding the murderer. Elijah must work with a Spacer partner, a highly advanced robot who is visually identical to a human, named R. Daneel Olivaw, even though Elijah, like many Earth residents, has a low opinion of robots. Together, they search for the murderer and try to avert an interstellar diplomatic incident.
• Population of Earth:
  • Humans: 8,000,000,000 (almost all live underground)
  • Robots: a minimal number to run the farms; almost all live on the surface
• Excerpt from page 28: Efficiency had been forced on Earth with increasing population. Two billion people, three billion, even five billion could be supported by the planet by progressive lowering of the standard of living. When the population reaches eight billion, however, semi starvation becomes too much like a real thing. A radical change had to take place in man's culture, particularly when it turned out that the Outer Worlds (which had merely been Earth's colonies a thousand years before) were tremendously serious in their immigration restrictions.
• So Earthers created Cities (the capital "C" means we are talking about a machine version of a "city") and robots. While most people accepted Cities, a small group of people known as "the Medievalists" were opposed to them.
• Baley had read somewhere once that Spacers had no religion, but substituted, instead, a cold and phlegmatic intellectualism raised to the heights of a philosophy.
• Excerpt from page 110: Earthmen are all so coddled, so enwombed in their imprisoning caves of steel (under ground apartments), that they are caught [on Earth] forever.
• Malthusian: of or pertaining to the theories of Thomas. R. Malthus, which state that population tends to increase faster, at a geometrical rate, than the means of subsistence, which increases at an arithmetical rate, and that this will result in an inadequate supply of the goods supporting life unless war, famine, or disease reduces the population or the increase of population is checked. Comment: The publications of Malthus had a profound influence upon Charles Darwin.
• The character Dr. Gerrigel uses the term "Asenion" to describe robots programmed with the Three Laws. The robots in Asimov's stories, being Asenion robots, are incapable of knowingly violating the Three Laws but, in principle, a robot in science fiction or in the real world could be non-Asenion. "Asenion" is a misspelling of the name Asimov which was made by an editor of the magazine Planet Stories. Asimov used this obscure variation to insert himself into The Caves of Steel in much the same way that Vladimir Nabokov appeared in Lolita anagrammatically disguised as "Vivian Darkbloom".
• Speculation about names: Asimov tells us that Lije is short for Elijah while Jessie is short for Jezebel, and that the names are derived from Old Testament stories. I have always wondered why the humaniform "Spacer" robot was named Daneel. The only thing that comes to mind is the Old Testament story of Daniel. QUOTE: According to the biblical book, at a young age Daniel was carried off to Babylon where he became famous for interpreting dreams and rose to become one of the most important figures in the court. COMMENT: In this light, Daniel was a bridge between backward Judea and modern Babylon
• Asimov mentions that Terries (humans living on Earth) are engaged in a C/Fe (pronounced "see-fee") culture clash. "C" represents carbon while "Fe" represents iron (see periodical table of chemical elements). I guess today we would use the phrase C/Si.

• Planet: SOLARIA
  Crisis: Rikaine Delmarre, husband of the beautiful Gladia, is found brutally murdered while, apparently, attended by only his robots.
  Problem: On Solaria, the few inhabitants have isolated themselves from one another for so long that they find direct physical contact with fellow human beings intensely uncomfortable. By virtue of their programming, robots are incapable of harming a human being, and cannot permit harm to come to a human. Yet, no evidence of a murder weapon was found. Who could have done it? How? And why?
• Like its predecessor, The Caves of Steel, it is a whodunit story, in addition to being science fiction. The book was first published in 1957 after being serialized in Astounding Science Fiction between October and December 1956. The story arises from the murder of Rikaine Delmarre, a prominent "fetologist" (fetal scientist, responsible for the operation of the planetary birthing center reminiscent of those described in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World) of Solaria, a planet politically hostile to Earth. Elijah Baley is called in to investigate, at the request of the Solarian government. He is again partnered with the humaniform robot R. Daneel Olivaw. Before leaving Earth, he is asked by Earth's government to assess the Solarian society for weaknesses.
• Population of Solaria:
  • Humans: 20,000 maximum (reproduction is enforced by the local government and immigration is not allowed)
  • Robots: 200,000,000 (10,000 robots for every human; robots are used to exploit this planet's natural resources and manufacture products for export)
• Asimov tells us that each Solarian robot has a unique shoulder patch consisting of six-by-six gold-and-silver checkerboard, and "that the number of possible arrangements would be 2³⁶ then, or 70 billion". I found it strange that he didn't use the phrase "a little less than 70 billion" since the actual number is closer to 68.7 billion :-)

• Click here for a few pre-reading suggestions from me
• Planet: AURORA
  Crisis: Roboticide: Jander Panell, one of the two most advanced robots yet assembled - a twin to R. Daneel Olivaw - is murdered
  Problem: Only the gifted roboticist Han Fastolfe had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to commit the crime - and Baley must prove him innocent if the overcrowded Earth is ever to have access to space and the resources it needs.
• The book opens with detective Elijah Baley on Earth, training with his son and others to tolerate the outside, in spite of their socially ingrained agoraphobia. He is ordered to go to the police headquarters where he is told that the Spacer world of Aurora has requested his presence to solve a crime. He is told that the mind of R. Jander Panell, a humaniform robot identical to R. Daneel Olivaw, has been destroyed via a mental block—"roboticide", as Baley later terms it. The robot's inventor, Han Fastolfe, has been implicated. Fastolfe, who was last seen in The Caves of Steel, is the best roboticist on Aurora. He has admitted that he is the only person with the skill to have done it, although he denies doing it. Fastolfe is also a prominent member of the Auroran political faction that favors Earth. Implication in the crime threatens his political career; therefore, it is politically expedient that he be exonerated.
• Population of Aurora:
  • Humans: 200 million maximum (reproduction is enforced by the local government and immigration is restricted)
  • Robots: 10 billion (50 robots for every human; every human possesses at least one robot as a personal servant; most robots are used in the areas of: farms, mines, factories, space)
• Aurora was initially named New Earth but since this was the first extra Spacer world represented "the dawn of a new age" they changed the name to Aurora (which is the roman god of Dawn). So the title really means "The Robots of Aurora"
• Notable changes in Asimov's writing:
  • Asimov is now using the metric system (but metric time is only used in the 50 off-world colonies; 10 metric hours a day; 100 metric minutes per hour; 100 metric seconds per minute = 100,000 metric seconds per day compared to our 86,400 seconds per day)
  • Asimov now speaks about robot programming (earlier works only spoke of robot psychologists)
  • Asimov now mentions that smoking tobacco is banned in all off-world colonies but still allowed on Earth (this might be "one" reason why Earthers have such a short lifetime compared to Spacers
• Notable connections to other books:
  • Dr. Han Fastolfe:
    • mentions that of all the 50 "spacer worlds", only Aurora had come closest to implementing the Three Laws of Robotics as the Three Laws of Humanics.
    • speaks of his intention to possibly create a new science called Psychohistory (Foundation Trilogy)
    • mentions the legends of:
      • Susan Calvin and a not-so-truthful "mind reading" robot (Story of "Liar!" found in "I, Robot")
      • Andrew Martin (Bicentennial Man)
• General comments
  • Robots on Earth only have a single name (R. Sammy, R. Geronimo) while Spacer robots have two (R. Daneel Olivaw, R. Giskard Reventlov, R. Jander Panell, R. Ernett Second (introduced in Robots and Empire))
  • There are only two humaniform robots in existence at this time: Daneel Olivaw and Jander Panell.
  • Dr. Fastolf tells us that humaniform robot bodies were developed in order to improve positronic brains
  • Click here for a few pre-reading suggestions from me
• Asimov said to next read Robots and Empire - Link: Asimov Suggested Reading Order

Fourth book of the Robot Trilogy :-) (not part of the Elijah Baley Detective Series)

• Asimov says to read this one after Robots of Dawn
• From the 1985 hard cover dust jacket: [snip] For it not only presents the thrilling sequel to the best-selling "The Robots of Dawn", but also ingeniously interweaves al three of Asimov's classic series: "Robot", "Foundation", and "Empire". [snip] Two hundred years have passed since "The Robots of Dawn" and Elijah Baley, the beloved hero of the Earth-people, is dead. The future of the Universe is at a crossroads. Though the forces of the sinister Spacers are weakened, Dr. Keldon Amadiro has never forgotten - or forgiven - his humiliating defeat at the hands of Elijah. Now, with vengeance burning in his heart, he is more determined than ever to bring about the total annihilation of planet Earth. But Amadiro has not counted on the equally determined Lady Gladia. Devoted to (the memory of) Elijah Baley, the Auroran beauty has taken up the legacy of her fallen lover, vowing to stop the Spacers at any cost. With her two robot companions, Daneel and Giskard, she prepares to set into motion a daring and dangerous plan... a plan whose success - or failure - will forever seal the fate of Earth and all who live there. [snip]
• excerpt from page 66: Daneel said, "The picture you draw is attractive. It would make Partner Elijah proud of us if, as you say, we have accomplished that. 'Robots and Empire' Elijah would say and perhaps he would clap me on the shoulder. -- And yet, as I said, I am uneasy friend Giskard.
• excerpt from page 186: If emotions are few and reasons are many, the behavior of a crowd can be more easily predicted than the behavior of one person can. And that, in turn, means that if the laws are to be developed that enable the current of history the be predicted, then one must deal with the large populations, the larger the better. That might itself be the First Law of Psychohistory, the key to the study of Humanics.
• Notable connections to other books:
  • Under Secretary of Energy, Sophia Quintana, mentions the legend of robot-politician Stephen Byerley (I, Robot)
• Asimov said to next read Prelude to Foundation - Link: Asimov Suggested Reading Order

More Robot Stories

• 8 more short stories

• developed into the 1999 movie Bicentennial Man

• 21 more short stories

Galactic Empire Series

• due to an experimental accident at a university across town, a tailor steps hundreds of years into the future

• a university student on Earth becomes embroiled in an intergalactic conflict
• From page 37: a poem recited after the first jump into hyper-space
  The stars, like dust, encircle me
  In living mists of light;
  And all of space I seem to see
  In one vast burst of sight.

• a nearly naked man with no memory is found laying in a field

Foundation Series 1

Foundation Prequels

• Chapter 1: 32-year-old Hari Seldon presents a paper outlining the possibility of psychohistory; the emperor hears about this and wants Hari to say "that psychohistory predicted a peaceful and prosperous future for the galactic empire".
• Chapters 91-94: This book ends with a double plot twist in these final chapters; obviously readers have different opinions when it comes entertainment, but it is my opinion that this might be one of Asimov's best books (provided you previously read the first five books of the Robot Series")
• This book spans approximately one year of time

Second Foundation Trilogy (commissioned by the Asimov estate after Isaac's death)

In the 'Second Foundation' trilogy, a series of books authorized by the estate of Asimov, a race of Aliens within the Foundation Universe is mentioned who appear to be in circumstances similar to the Cepheids. Although they are not mentioned by name, a major character in this story is. A subplot in Foundation's Triumph investigates the problem raised in this story.

• Foundation's Fear (1997) by Gregory Benford
   
• Foundation and Chaos (1998) by Greg Bear
   
• Foundation's Triumph (1999) by David Brinn

• This book is a continuation of Prelude to Foundation and is Asimov's last publication before his death in 1992.
• Part 1 (Eto Demerzel) - Chapter 1: Eight years have passed since the end of Prelude to Foundation. Hari Seldon has just turned 40. Hari and Dors are married and living with their adopted son Raych. The Emperor finds it impossible to believe that psychohistory is not ready after 8 years of research
• Part 2 (Cleon I) - Chapter 1: Ten years have passed since he end of the previous chapter. Hari is ~50 years old. Part 2 spans ~10 years.
• Part 3 (Dors Venabili) - Chapter 1: Hari is ~60 years old
• Part 4 (Wanda Seldon) - Chapter 1: Hari is ~70 years old
• Part 5 (Epilogue) - The only chapter: Hari is 81 years old and is in the middle of preparing a final holo-recording for posterity. The crisis-holograms were finished one month earlier. This is followed by Hari's obituary in the Encyclopedia Galactica.
• From the rear dust jacket:
  "I could not have written this book forty or thirty, twenty, or even ten years ago. That is because, piece by piece, over the years I have been working back to Foundation's source: Hari Seldon. Today I enjoy the gift of been given time: Experience (some might call it wisdom, but I will refrain from such self-aggrandizement). For it is only now that I am able to give my readers Hari Seldon during the most crucial, creative years of his life.. You see, over time, Hari Seldon has evolved into my alter ego... In my earlier books Hari Seldon was the stuff of legend - with Forward the Foundation I have made him real.
  

  -- Isaac Asimov, June 1991
• In many ways this book is sad because you can sense that the author knows he is dying while he devises an end-of-life story for Hari Seldon. Also, Hari Seldon (a.k.a. Asimov) points out symptoms of a dying empire which are visible everywhere today in 2004 and I'm afraid the world is descending into a Blade Runner kind of future. Let's hope it doesn't descend further into something like Soylent Green

The Foundation Trilogy

Hari Seldon's holographic image, pictured on a paperback edition of Foundation, appears at various times in the First Foundation's history, to guide it through the social and economic crises that befall it.

• Part 1 - The Psychohistorians
  
  Excerpt from the Encyclopedia Galactica: Hari Seldon, born in the 11,988th year of the Galactic Era, perfects a branch of social mathematics called "psychohistory" which can predict the future actions of humanity 3. He sees that the Galactic empire is about to collapse which could result in a 30,000 year age of darkness, so develops a plan to reduce this dark age to only 1,000 years.
• Part 2 - The Encyclopedists
• Part 3 - The Mayors
• Part 4 - The Traders
• Part 5 - The Merchant Princes

• Part 1 - The General
• Part 2 - The Mule

• Part 1 - Search by the Mule
• Part 2 - Search by the Foundation

Foundation Sequels

• Chapter 1: It has been ~500 years since the death of Hari Seldon and the planet Terminus (home of the first Foundation) is preparing for his next hologram-appearance

• This book is a continuation of Foundation's Edge but seems better written.
• It will be most enjoyable if you've already read the Robot Trilogy and Robots and Empire.

Superscript Notes:

1. Initially written as a series of short stories based on Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
2. Rereading this book in early 2004 was somewhat refreshing. Except for occasional references to "smoking tobacco" or "non-metric measurements", the material does not appear to be dated in any way.
3. I wonder if this idea is an extrapolation of the investment science of "technical analysis" which attempts to predict the future actions of the stock market?
4. "Astounding Science Fiction" was renamed "Analog Science Fiction" in 1960

Other

Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics (From the 1942 short story "Runaround")

1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

• Click here for a possible fourth law of robotics
• Click here for the official zeroth law of robotics (hinted at in many stories but formalized in Robots and Empire)

Note: In Isaac Asimov's book "It's Been A Good Life", Isaac states that Astounding Magazine publisher John W. Campbell deserves joint credit in the creation of the Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics

Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Humanity (From the 1946 short story "Evidence")

Because, if you stop to think of it, the three Rules of Robotics are the essential guiding principles of a good many of the world's ethical systems.

3. Of course, every human being is supposed the have the extinct of self-preservation. That's Rule Three to a robot.
2. Also every 'good' human being, with a social conscience and a sense of responsibility, is supposed to defer to proper authority; to listen to his doctor, his boss, his government, his psychiatrist,  his fellow man; to obey laws, to follow rules, to conform to custom -- even when they interfere with his comfort or his safety. That's Rule Two to a robot.
1. Also, every 'good' human being is supposed to love others as himself, protect his fellow man, risk his life to save another. That's Rule One to a Robot 1

To put it simply -- if Byerley follows all the Rules of Robotics, he may be a robot, OR 2 may simply be a very good man.

Superscript Notes:

1. I wonder how many humans would support the zeroth law? Stephen Byerley is elected mayor at the end of "Evidence" but reappears as World Coordinator in "The Evitable Conflict" and I suspect he rises to that position for just that reason.
2. Asimov wrote "AND" but anyone familiar with Boolean logic knows he meant "OR" (providing he was using Boolean logic :-)
3. According to a quote by Dr. Fastolfe in Robots of Dawn, the planet Aurora is the Spacer world that has come closest to implementing the Three Laws of Robotics as the Laws of Humanics.

It's Been a Good Life (2002)

• A biography of Isaac Asimov edited by his second wife, Janet Jeppson Asimov
• Chapter Titles:
  Russia", "The United States", "City Child", "Religion", "Prodigy", "Becoming a Writer", "Science-Fiction Fan", "Starting to Write Science Fiction", "Writing Progress", "Famous Fiction", "During the War", "Postwar, and the Army", "Becoming a Ph.D.", "Postdoc", "Teaching, Writing, Speaking", "Beyond Limitations", "Limitations Came", "Going On", "Major Nonfiction", "Writing and Thinking About Writing", "On Prolificacy", "On Writers' Problems", "Miscellaneous Opinions and Quirks", "Sexism and Love", "Life While Famous", "The Bible", "Changes", "Shakespeare", "New Experiments in Writing", "More Working With Words", "Isaac, Himself", "More on Writing", "Heart Attack", "Extending Two Series", "Triple Bypass", "Humanists", "Senior Citizen and Honors", "Working on in Gathering Shadows"
  Epilogue
  Appendix A. "Essay 400" - A Way of Thinking
  Appendix B. Isaac's Personal Favorite: "The Last Question"
  Appendix C. Bibliography of Works by Isaac Asimov
  Index

Some Useful Web Links:

• Click www.bookfinder.com or www.alibris.com to purchase rare and out-of-print books
• Isaac Asimov @ Wikipedia
• Foundation Trilogy @ Wikipedia
• Robot Series @ Wikipedia
• Galactic Empire Series @ Wikipedia
• members.tripod.com/templetongate/asimov.htm
• www.asimovonline.com
• www.androidworld.com/prod22.htm
• homepage.mac.com/jhjenkins/Asimov/Asimov.html
• www.rogerclarke.com/SOS/Asimov.html
• Encyclopedia Galactica - Timeline - Contents
• www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.07/machines.html <<<--- Wired Article about the movie "I, Robot"

Some Useful Multimedia Links:

• Isaac Asimov Audio Interview with Don Swaim (Audio only - 25 minutes)
• Isaac Asimov on Bill Moyers World of Ideas pt 0 (Audio only)
  • www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/media_players/asimovwoi_audio.html
• Isaac Asimov on Bill Moyers World of Ideas pt 1 (2008-03-19)
  • www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CwUuU6C4pk&feature=related
  • www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2008/03/bill_moyers_rewind_isaac_asimo_1.html
    In 1988, Bill Moyers interviewed author Isaac Asimov for WORLD OF IDEAS. Incredibly prolific in various genres beyond the science fiction for which he was best known, Asimov wrote well over 400 books on topics ranging from sci-fi to the Bible before his death in 1992. In one thread of his wide-ranging interview, Asimov shared his thoughts on overpopulation:

    "Right now most of the world is living under appalling conditions. We can't possibly improve the conditions of everyone. We can't raise the entire world to the average standard of living in the United States because we don't have the resources and the ability to distribute well enough for that. So right now as it is, we have condemned most of the world to a miserable, starvation level of existence. And it will just get worse as the population continues to go up... Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people onto the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies. The more people there are, the less one individual matters."

• Isaac Asimov on Bill Moyers World of Ideas pt 2
  • www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJAIERgWhZQ&feature=related
• Isaac Asimov on Bill Moyers World of Ideas pt 3
  • www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEHtt5sGbTw&feature=related
• Isaac Asimov - Threats to Humanity Part 1
  • www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO0sCs8jI4k

Sad Information About Isaac Asimov's Death

Undiscovered Gems

The following examples are not "ratings busters" but you should check them out whenever your sci-fi hunger pangs are forcing you to settling for a rerun of "Lost in Space"

TV Programs

• Total Recall 2070
  • Philip K. Dick inspired TV series which is a merger of "Blade Runner" and "Total Recall".
    22 Episodes Total.
  • Atlas / Timeline
    • 2070 AD = 50 NIO (New Interplanetary Order)
      which assumes a major revolution concluded in 2020 AD
  • Geopolitical structures of the Consortium which include:
    • CorNet (the largest communications company on Earth)
    • Minacon (pronounced Mine-a-con; largest mining company of the solar system)
    • Uber Braun (the most successful android manufacturer on Earth)
      Note: click here for a theory on why Germans are involved in replicant (a.k.a. cyborg) manufacturing
    • VariDyne (Variable Dynamics; the largest developer of genetic engineering and medical products)
    • Rekall (leading manufacturer of virtual reality technology)
    • IPC (Inter Planetary Council) which is the governing body on Earth, Mars, and the Moon
      • CPB (Citizens Protection Bureau)
      • RSB (Reproduction Selection Bureau)
      • C&I (Customs and Immigration)
      • CIB (Citizens Information Bureau)
      • The Assessors Division
  • Philip Dick
    Note: for more info about this author and some of his spin-offs, visit my Blade Runner page
• TekWar
  • by William Shatner of Star Trek fame
  • better than average stories
  • just enough good f/x to support the stories (e.g. they don't over do it)

TRON (actually Science-Fantasy, but still cool)

TRON (1982 movie)

TRON uses the I/O tower to
communicate with his user,
"Alan1" (Here is my disc)

Computer Trivia:

1. In the early days of computing many video terminals had a TRON key which meant "TRace ON". There was also a TROF key which meant "TRace OFf"
    
   
2. In the early days of BASIC interpreter programming, the developer could issue TRON and TROFF commands at the command prompt prior to using a RUN command. Later, some BASIC dialects allowed tracing to be enabled/disabled by inserting TRON control statements within the source program.
    
3. In the 1970s and 1980s, DEC PDP-11 minicomputers running the RSX-11M operating system signaled readiness to the operator with an MCR> prompt. MCR is an acronym for Monitor Console Routine. In the movie TRON, the computer's operating system is the MCP which stands for Master Control Program. Coincidence? I doubt it.
   
   • p.s. in the movie, the MCP was always seen rotating (even when it appeared to stop and stare at TRON). In a single CPU system only one process can run at any time. So the OS runs a scheduler process which allocates a small slice of time (10 to 100 mS) to each waiting user process. A programmable RTC (real time clock) interrupted the active thread (putting the just-running-process back to sleep) then handing control back to the scheduler. The scheduler would then rotate to the next waiting process. 

Memorable Lines (and more trivia):

• Who does he calculate he is?
  • rather than "who does he think he is?"
     
• Can I merge with this memory? Bit?
  • CLU "polling" the bit; only assembly-language programmers will know what this means
     
• Oh my User.
  • rather than "Oh my god"
     
• Video game warriors leaving the game grid...This is an illegal exit!
  • in modular programming one needs to leave a program, routine, subroutine, or function, through a planned exit point. If you just jump out in the middle (spaghetti code), or crash out (stack dump), or fault out (illegal instruction), or bounce out (noise on the address bus lines), then you have experienced an illegal exit.
    (well to be honest, spaghetti code isn't illegal as much as bad form)
     
• We had better! Null Unit...
  • on some systems null units were device drivers with no attached device. They were an aid to learning how to program; they were also a convenient way to delete data by copying to null. On PDP and VMS systems this device had the name "NL:"
     
• Targets leaving protected field.
  • a protected field can either refer to a protected memory location (you are only able to access it if you have the necessary privileges) or a protected field in a database or an on-screen form.

More Thoughts (comparing the real world to the computer paradigm)

• The earliest developers of any OS (operating system) write the device-driver software. So it makes sense that Walter Gibbs would appear as the I/O tower guardian since that I/O Device driver would probably have been written by him.
   
  
• Disease
  • Real-world biological viruses come in two major flavors.
    1. An DNA virus is a virus that has DNA as its genetic material and replicates using a DNA-dependent DNA polymerase.
    2. An RNA virus is a virus that has RNA as its genetic material
       • most RNA viruses employ RNA to stop a cell dead in its tracks then hijack cell organelles (like the ribosome) to make more copies of the virus. One example is influenza.
       • A retrovirus is an RNA virus that is replicated in a host cell via the enzyme reverse transcriptase to produce DNA from its RNA genome. The DNA is then incorporated into the host's genome by an integrase enzyme. The virus thereafter replicates as part of the host cell's DNA. Retroviruses are enveloped viruses that belong to the viral family Retroviridae (e.g. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS).
  • Real-world computer viruses comes in multiple forms mimicking biological viruses
    • one type of virus will highjack your whole machine
    • one type of virus will highjack an individual program (like a browser)
    • one type of virus will copy itself into other software (like a retrovirus) so normal program operation will also quietly propagate viral copies which may express itself later or elsewhere (think Stuxnet)
  • Medical researchers tell us that 20% of all cancers are caused by viruses (HPV is one example).
    • Cancer is best described as individual cells starting doing their own thing rather than being part of a cooperative whole (perhaps cells "forget their current function" or "are incapable of communicating with neighboring cells which is necessary to be part of a cooperative whole").
    • So if cancer is best defined as a move from "being part of a cooperative" to "cells doing their own thing", then isn't this a real-world example of deresolution (derezing)?  

Links:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron_(franchise)
2. The TRON Home Page
3. TRON @ SciFlicks

TRON: Legacy (2010 movie)

It seems me that several corners were cut in the TRON: Legacy story line. What is up with movie producers? Don't they realize that without a perfect story there will be no market to fleece for the next 10-20 years? (e.g. Star Wars Prequel, Blade Runner, etc.) I watched TRON: Legacy in 3d and, although the graphics were superb, I doubt I would ever buy it in 2d or 3d because the story was no where near as good as the original TRON movie.

TRON: Evolution (2010 game)

• this is the 2010 game version of TRON: Legacy (2010 movie)
• http://www.mahalo.com/tron-evolution-walkthrough
• http://www.mahalo.com/tronwt
• http://buenavistagames.go.com/support/images/common/tdmedia/documents/tron_ps3.pdf - manual

Hints:

1. ETC = Energy Transfer Conduit
    
2. Some internet walk-through texts refer to GRAPPLE. This is the magnetic grapple which occurs when you see a hovering ORANGE star. Hold R1 while hitting CIRCLE
    
3. TRON PS3 Porting Bug? At one point an onscreen hint will appear (chapter 5 - ID Friend or Foe) suggesting you do a RIGHT PERCUSSION ATTACK on a vertical pillar. You will not find this key sequence in the help screens.
   Solution: On the D-pad (four disc power selector under your left thumb) click the right-most button to select the BOMB DISC then attack with this (triangle button; top of the right-hand button cluster)
    
4. TRON PS3 Run-time Bugs?
    
   
   • A couple of times (rarely) I have lost use of HEAVY DISCs and BOMB DISCs on the game grid. When I pushed either button on the 6-AXIS controller, the TRON software reacted by updating the display but the items were now transparent (and the active DISC remained either CORRUPTION or STASIS). I left the game grid then returned to STORY MODE but the devices were still not there, and I couldn't get past the current scenario. I exited then reentered the game story mode and my transparent devices had returned. (I didn't need to reboot the PS3)
      
   • A couple of times (rarely) I have seen ANON stuck in some sort of pre-jump gesture. You can move him around but can't fire any discs, run up a wall or jump. Sometimes pushing him over a small edge (one where he won't derez) will fix ANON. Otherwise, you've got to exit whatever mode you are in (STORY or GAME GRID) then restart the mode.
      
5. Fighting
   
   
   • In some scenarios you need to defeat all combatants before other things are enabled (magnetic grapple; removal of viral infection blocking a path; door opening)
      
   • In some scenarios it is impossible to beat all the warriors. While fighting them, observe your surroundings and consider exiting the scenario early. However...
      
   • Never exit scenarios too early. You'll need points to buy software upgrades (capacitors to hold more energy, extended health, more powerful bombs, etc.) Without these upgrades it will be very difficult to make your way past Chapter 5 ("ID Friend or Foe") in STORY MODE. If you already find yourself stuck in one of the later scenarios with insufficient upgrades or points, you will need to exit STORY MODE for a while then build up additional points on the GAME GRID.
      
   • You will win more points by using a combination of power disks and light disc rather than using light disc alone. Under normal circumstances you will only have 4 power disks before you need to hop (while pressing R1) over a while cylinder or console. Picking up power pieces after your opponent drezes will also restore power disc count.
      
     
6. You will not get through some scenarios unless you pay minimal attention to virus infected opponents
   
   
   • Chapter 3 - Aijia Part 2
     
     
     • The Hub
       • when you see the black guard (variation LIGHT STAFF) a hint will appear telling you this warrior is vulnerable to BOMB DISC. You will need to use three but if you run out try forcing him over the edge.
          
     • Aijia Theatre
       • divide your attention 90/10 between attacking opponents (10%) and switching two ETCs from orange to blue (90%). You now have very little time to leave Aijia Theatre before it will derez.
          
   • Chapter 3 - Aijia Part 3
     
     • in the room with 4 symbols, divide your time between attacking opponents (10%) and switching the four orange symbols (90%).
        
   • Chapter 5 - ID Friend or Foe
      
     • divide your attention between attacking infected opponents (20%) and smashing five ETCs after they shift from green to white (80%).

Prometheus (2012 Movie)

Okay so I'm getting a lot of heat from people after I said "Prometheus is the best sci-fi movie this side of Y2k". Everyone is welcome to their own opinion but here is a short list of the things that I saw in the movie:

SPOILER ALERT ***  SPOILER ALERT ***  SPOILER ALERT ***  SPOILER ALERT ***  SPOILER ALERT *** 

Well everyone is welcome to their opinion. Over the years, I have found myself agreeing with every sci-fi review by Roger Ebert and he just gave Prometheus a 10 out of ten. Now please remember that patrons and critics hated "2001: A Space Odyssey" for almost a year (people walked out; some demanded a refund; many complained the movie plot is weak which was true) but eventually the public at large declared it to be the best sci-fi of all time. Likewise, many people hated "Blade Runner" which I consider to be the best sci-fi, but over time the public came around. Nope, Prometheus was a great movie (especially in IMAX 3D) and I can hardly wait for part two.

I'm "not" saying I am always right. But I have been reading/watching sci-fi all my life and immediately loved movies like "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Blade Runner" while the non-sci-fi people required months-to-years to change their minds. I am convinced that many people are "cultural sheep" and only follow the crowd. So they only admit like a movie like the two I just mentioned after their friends or some popular critic indicates otherwise (It is a form of cognitive dissonance). So, you guys didn't like "Prometheus" but I did so let's just leave it at that and see how everyone feels a year from now.

SPOILER ALERT: Okay, so let's look at some of the things seen in the movie:
In the Greek myth, Prometheus steals fire from the gods and gives it to man. Zeus is pissed and so Prometheus is condemned to have his liver ripped out every morning by an Eagle; the liver regrows every night and the torture continues forever

In this movie we learn that a rich man is trying to steal the secret of immortality from the gods. In return, an awful lot more that one's liver will be ripped out. To make matters worse, all humanity might pay the price.

SPOILER ALERT: In the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" an alien artifact is discovered buried on the moon which was deliberately buried by some previous visitor. When sunlight first falls on the artifact (monolith) a radio beacon is sent to Jupiter to awaken the star gate. Mankind follows.

In this movie, buried cave paintings are discovered which appear to be pointing to a star system 3.27 x 10^¹⁴ km away (LV-223). Since this matches other cave paintings, mankind follows. BTW, the planet they visit in "Aliens" is LV-426. Perhaps a neighboring star system.

SPOILER ALERT: Almost all sci-fi stories done by anyone other than Isaac Asimov contain a variation of the Frankenstein Complex where humanity's technology is turned against itself. So in the movie "2001", HAL, an autonomous goal-seeking system develops a neurosis/psychosis because humans are constantly lying to him. Things go bad for near-by humans.

In this movie, the robot is a little more like the replicants of Blade Runner than HAL. This robot seems to exhibit human emotions (like curiosity) which result in smiling whenever no humans can see him do so. He thinks he is smarter than everyone else around him while he executes the wishes of Weyland; Near the end of the film he realizes that Dr. Elizabeth Shaw is different than the others. Will he take her to the alien home-world (as she wants) or will he take her back to Earth (as he may want)? We will need to wait for part #2 to find out.

SPOILER ALERT: In Asimov's Foundation Trilogy series (written ~ 1950, BTW), some situations are described where Hari Seldon takes out a small device (I believe it was a cube), touches the top to reveal a 3-d holographic display of humanity's future history as computed by the science of "psycho history" where statistics, history and sociology are combined in computer models to predict humanity's future history.

In this movie, a similar cube with-a-3d-display seems to me an homage to the Asimovian stories. This also makes me think the robot will turn out to be good after all. (now go read or watch: Bicentennial Man)

SPOILER ALERT: Arthur C. Clarke once wrote a book called "Rendezvous with Rama" where astronauts explore a visiting alien space ship. This story was developed into a 4-book series. I believe it was book #2 where some astronauts are trapped on the ship and so ride it back to the alien home-world near the star "Sirius". Book #3 follows the story of some astronauts who follow the journey of the previous crew. Like 2001, these stories share the common thread of "meeting your maker" (something that Roy Batty says to Eldon Tyrell in Blade Runner)

I'm not sure where the second Prometheus movie will go, but when Dr. Elizabeth Shaw told David (the robot) she wanted to visit the alien home-world rather than return to Earth, I immediately recalled Clarke's "RAMA series" and just assumed that if anyone could pull this off, then it would be Ridley Scott.

Now I might be totally wrong; David might take Shaw back to Earth to pick up the other "Alien movie" threads. Or, perhaps, there will be two story lines. Perhaps the threads will be picked up by whom-ever inherits Weyland Corporation. Is Meredith Vickers (Weyland's daughter) dead or will it be someone else. Who knows; Will need to wait for the next movie.

Better check out these links for more info:

A few more facts:

• the ship shown above the first engineer is disc-shaped (the others buried on LV223 are C-shaped)
• the human portion of the movie begins on Earth in 2089
• when the Prometheus is first seen, it is 3.27 x 10^¹⁴ km from Earth. Since one light year is 9.4607×10¹² km then Prometheus must be 34.5 light years from Earth.
• The movie shows Prometheus approaching LV-223 but Ridley Scott said the destination was a moon, or planet, in orbit around Zeta II Reticuli
  • according to Wikipedia, Zeta Reticuli is a binary system 39 LY from Earth
• the space ship lands on LV_223 on Christmas Day, 2092 (is there any religious significance to using this day?)
• the movie ends on New Year's Day, 2093 (a new chapter begins?)
• David (a robot) is seen:
  • eating food
  • drinking liquids
  • watching movies
  • dyeing his hair yellow to match the color of an actor in the movie
  • smiling (when no human can see)
  • always seems to have an expression of surprise whenever Dr. Shaw speaks (he finds other humans predictable but not her)

Speculations:

"We are now 3 months into the year of our lord 2023. At this moment now we can create cybernetic individuals, who in just a few short years will become completely indistinguishable from us."

• David (Weyland's pseudo son) is an android who appears to be more inquisitive that the humans on the ship
• Meredith Vickers is a Weyland Corporation employee sent to monitor the expedition. In the film she calls Peter Weyland "father", but she may be no more a biological daughter than David is a biological son. She seems quite cold and standoffish until the Captain, while flirting, asks her if she is an android. She responds with "meet me in my quarters in 10 minutes" which makes me think she is trying to hind her non-human secret.

Merging story lines occurs all the time. For example, the actor "Lance Henriksen" plays the part of the android Bishop (created by "the company") in James Cameron's movie Aliens (2006) as well as Charles Bishop Weyland in Alien vs. Predator (2004). I think it was the Alien/Predator comic books which first tell us that the android's appearance was an homage to the Weyland corporation's founder.

In the immortal words of Alfred Bester, "you can't argue with mundanes because they do not appear to be fully aware"

p.s. Sometimes "Comic-Con people" use the word "mundanes" to describe people who "just don't get sci-fi"

Games

7th-Generation Consoles

With the advent of seventh generation gaming consoles (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) coupled with big-screen HDTV, technophiles have seen huge increases in video game quality which have enabled sci-fi games.

(some) Decent Sci-Fi Games

Mass Effect 3

Comments:

• I was more than surprised by Mass Effect 3 with its sci-fi story lines and stunning graphics while half the price (and double the length) of Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
• The opening text mentions humanity discovering the mass relays and other races in 2157 then some sort of war breaking out 30 years later in 2187
• First Time Recommendations:
  • Enter your redemption code to enable then download additional missions.
    Note: this one-time "redemption code" thing is done by most game manufacturers to entice people to buy new games rather than used (a.k.a. pseudo rental) games. On occasion, the odd used game might include an unused redemption code because many people don't know about this stuff.
• Starting:
  • Every time you start a new game you will be prompted for one of three major modes:
    1. Action Mode - for those who want to emphasize action and combat and minimize story management. Action mode will set automatic replies in conversation and a normal difficulty
    2. RPG Mode - for those who want to explore both realms of story and combat. Role Playing Game mode will set manually-selectable replies in conversation and a normal combat difficulty
    3. Story Mode - for those who want to emphasize story immersion and minimize combat pressure. Story mode will set manually-selectable replies in conversation and a minimal combat difficulty
  • If you want a neat sci-fi experience, select Story Mode, then enable sub-titles so you can read all dialog including "the whispers". First time through might require 20 hours. Once you know the story, you can skip-through character dialogs by punching the SQUARE button on a PS3.
• Playing:
  • Ashley Williams will become injured then hospitalized early in the game. Visit her as often as possible and be friendly. Don't let her die in the confrontation with Ambassador Udina. Don't take her with you on the mission to London
• Ending:
  • Before you play the last segment of the London Scenario, make sure you down load and install "The Extended Cut" ending. This module is free.
  • The game supports two different endings on PS3 (walk left to blue; walk right to red) so you might want to check the internet before you choose -OR- replay all endings.
  • Some web sites report a third ending (walk middle to white) but I have not been able to determine it this is XBOX, Windows-PC, or both.

Observations: parts of Mass Effect 3 and Killzone 2 are reminiscent of popular TV shows like: Babylon 5, X-Files and Firefly.

Links:

• http://masseffect.bioware.com/
• http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_3
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect_3
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW-LzKHXRHc Mass Effect 3 Demo - Reaper Attack (Vancouver, B.C. - 2187)

Voices:

Final Dialog (after the credits):

• Child: Did that all really happen?
• Stargazer: Yes, but some of the details have been lost in time. It all happened so very long ago.
  note: "very" is heard but not displayed in the on-screen text
• Child: When can I go to the stars?
• Stargazer: One day, my sweet.
• Child: What will be there?
• Stargazer: Anything you can imagine. Our galaxy has billions of stars.
• Stargazer: Each of those stars could have many worlds.
• Stargazer: Every world could be home to a different form of life.
• Stargazer: And every life is a special story of its own.
• Child: Tell me another story about the Shepard
• Stargazer: It’s getting late but, okay… one more story.

Opening Text (needs to be changed):

• Game Introduction:
  In 2157, humanity discovered it was not alone in the universe. Thirty years later, they found a peaceful among dozens of galactic species. But this idyllic future us overshadowed by a dark past: Reapers, a sentient race of machines responsible for cleansing the galaxy of all organic life every 50,000 years, are about to return. The leaders of the galaxy are paralyzed by indecision; unable to accept the legend of the Reapers as fact. But one soldier gas seen the legend come to life. And now, the fate of the galaxy depends on him.
  • problem:
    • if all organic life was cleansed every 50,000 then there would not be enough time for evolution to take hold
  • facts:
    • all large animals were exterminated on Earth 65 million years ago when a large (6-10 km) asteroid struck Chicxulub, Mexico
    • evidence for complex organic life can be found dating back more than 500 million years ago
• Suggestion: change the red words above to read "cleansing the galaxy of all technologically advanced organic life every 50,000 years"

8th-Generation Consoles / Next Generation Consoles

Graphic Novels (Comic Books)

A few Comic Books (of many) responsible for warping my brain.

Oops! The phrase "comic book" is no longer cool. We now use the phrase Graphic Novel

Magnus, Robot Fighter 4000 AD

• a 1963 comic book set in the year 4000. People sat around getting fat while robot servants tended to their every need
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus,_Robot_Fighter
  • www.toonopedia.com/magnus.htm
• So you are recalling your sci-fi youth and wouldn't mind rereading Magnus, Robot Fighter 4000 A.D. but don't want to buy expensive plastic-wrapped originals so what do you do? It turns out that a really cool company called Dark Horse Comics has republished the first 21 Magnus issues in three hard-cover books on high quality paper:
  • Magnus, Robot Fighter Vol. 1 HC
  • Magnus, Robot Fighter Vol. 2 HC
  • Magnus, Robot Fighter Vol. 3 HC
  • Alternatively, check out this on-line retailer with good prices: Things From Another World ( www.tfaw.com )
  • Volume-1 contains Magnus, Robot Fighter comic book issues 01-07 (1963-02-xx to 1964-08-xx) 205 pages
  • Also contains a Russ Manning biography
  • click this preview and you'll see Asimov's First Law of Robotics in the lower left
  • many of these stories seem to be the basis for many other sci-fi products, like:
    • The Matrix
      • Story #1 tells how one robot kidnapped 1,000 people then connected them electronically to form a giant computer. In the Matrix, all of humanity is connected to a computer to keep us dreaming while our bodily fluids are drained off to run a power plant.
    • Star Trek: TOS (The Original Series)
      • Magnus is replaced with a robot equivalent then other people don't know which one is human as is seen in the episode What Are Little Girls Made Of?
      • Magnus is beamed 60,000 light years (through sub-space) to the robot planet called Malev-6 and then is taken captive by installing a remote-controlled metal ring around his neck as is seen in the episode The Gamesters of Triskelion
      • The robot planet of MALEV-6 was created 1,500 galactic years ago when a robot ship crash landed. Over the eons, hard radiation from Malev corrupted/modified the ship's self repair system. This is a variation of the story present in the episode The Changeling
      • humans are too dependent on robots as is seen in the episode I, Mudd
      • although the evil genius-scientist Xyrkol is human with a beard, he does have a prominent set of pointed ears which look just like those on Mr. Spock.
    • Babylon 5
      • the last story tells us how the 1,000 people from the first story are telepathic (were they selected as computer processors because they were telepaths, or did they become telepathic as a result of the experience?) and how they all held hands to increase their psychokinetic powers so they can assist Magnus on Malev-6. This sounds just like something that happened in Babylon-5 episode "A Race Through Dark Places"
  • Volume-2 contains Magnus, Robot Fighter comic book issues 08-14 (1964-11-xx to 1966-05-xx) 197 pages
  • Volume-3 contains Magnus, Robot Fighter comic book issues 15-21 (1966-08-xx to 1968-02-xx) 176 pages
    • Even though I read this stuff 40 years ago, I remember some of the artwork including one scene where robots are feeding morbidly obese humans
    • Story #21 ("Space Specter" which was published 1968-02-xx) is about an attack on North Am which affects everyone except descendants of Blackfoot Indians. Magnus uses their help to defeat the alien presence affect two robot geniuses. This story caused me to recall the Star Trek episode titled The Paradise Syndrome which aired 1968-08-1
      

Space Family Robinson

• this 1962 Gold Key Comics publication was based upon the, then recent, Disney movie "Swiss Family Robinson". This comic was later turned into the disappointing TV program "Lost in Space" (which was developed into a movie). The comic was serious sci-fi but the TV program was some sort of bad joke and the movie appears to run out of something (money?) half way through.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Family_Robinson
  • http://www.toonopedia.com/spacefam.htm

Miscellaneous - Links

Firefly / Serenity

• Firefly (television series) and Serenity (film) are examples of high quality science-fiction written for an adult audience.
• Unlike Star Trek and Star Wars:
  • there isn't any reliance on techno-babble
  • there are not any precocious children possessing engineering skills superior to idiot adults
  • there are not any aliens (and therefore no need for prosthetics)
• Overview:
  • Takes place 500 years in the future after a civil war between members of the Alliance
  • The Alliance is based upon a cultural blend of American English and Chinese
    • the actors speak English 99% of the time but we can only guess what they are saying when they speak Chinese
    • enabling English subtitles only reveals the phrase "Speaking Chinese"
    • some of the Wikipedia links below connect to web sites with Chinese to English translations for the series
  • "Serenity" is the name of a "Firefly class" space ship. It was named "Serenity" by the ship's captain, Malcolm Reynolds, who survived the "battle of Serenity Valley"
  • Links:
    • Firefly (television series) @ Wikipedia
    • Serenity (film) @ Wikipedia
    • Firefly @ Wikicities
    • revive firefly @ Petition Spot
• Firefly is probably the best sci-fi TV series since Babylon 5.
  • NBC interfered with, then cancelled, the original incarnation of Star Trek (1966-1969) then déjà-vu ...
  • FOX interfered with, then cancelled, Firefly (2002)
    • FOX executives (f'cking geniuses) refused to begin the season with the 2-part series opener was called Serenity. Too bad because this episode developed the main characters so viewers would know what is going on in subsequent episodes.
    • FOX executives aired other episodes out of sequence
    • sports programs were allowed to preempt the beginning of some Firefly episodes. "We now resume our regularly scheduled programming". Since networks have paid for programs, then preempt them for other reasons, their actions can only be described as schizophrenic. (what is wrong with delaying all programming because of the overrun of a sports program?)
    • Sorry Mr. Whedon but, despite our interference with airing it, your program "Firefly" program has low ratings so we're going to cancel it.
    • I purchased the 4-disk DVD box set (which contains 3 episodes never aired on FOX) and it is worth every penny because you can now watch the episodes in the intended order.
    • Unaired episodes:
      11. Trash
      12. The Message
      13. Heart of Gold
    • I just purchased the 3-disk Blue-ray DVD box set and the shows are fantastic.
• Serenity is probably the second best sci-fi movie of 2005 (after "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith")
  • I purchased the DVD and it is worth every penny (note that it is a different telling of the Firefly story)

Babylon 5 / Crusade / Legend of the Rangers (high quality science-fiction written for an adult audience)

• Babylon 5 @ Wikipedia
  • Babylon-5 Hi-Def (or higher-def DVD) Petition
• www.babylon5.com
• www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html
  • B5 universe
  • B5 episode chronology
  • B5 creators
  • B5 resources
  • B5 episode synopsis
• J. Michael Straczynski @ Wikipedia
• www.jmsnews.com
• www.babylon5scripts.com
• Harlan Ellison @ Wikipedia or harlanellison.com
• Douglas Netter @ Wikipedia
• www.scifi.com/b5rangers/intro/ B5: Legend of the Rangers
• Babylon 5: The Lost Tales (to be released in 2007) finished their principal shooting in Vancouver on December 1, 2006. They were located on the same sound stage as "Battlestar Galactica"
  • www.babylon5scripts.com/TLT-JMS-Photos.html (on-set photos)
  • wikipedia.org/wiki/Voices_in_the_Dark
• 2006-10: I purchased "Babylon 5: The Complete Seasons 1-5" purple + silver boxed set from a Toronto website but I think it might be counterfeit because the video quality is average and the shipping invoice shows it came from China. It required 6 weeks to get through the 110 episodes spread across 30 discs but the journey was well worth the effort.
• 2006-11: I purchased "Babylon 5: The Movie Collection". What a treat to watch these without commercial breaks.
• 2006-12: I have just finished watching "Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers". Very cool.
• 2006-12: I have just finished watching the "Babylon 5: Crusade" 4-disk set and I only have two negative things to say:
  • it was only available in 4:3 full screen
  • I hated episode 12 (even though I love the X-Files)
• 2009-09-xx: I purchased "Babylon 5: The Complete Seasons 1-5 (repackaged)" from Amazon.com and this product is much better than the counterfeit set I purchased in 2006.
  • Babylon-5 Hi-def (or higher-def DVD) Petition

Interocitor Info

• Interocitor @ wikipedia
• Interocitor Home Page
  • Interocitor Info
• www.interocitor.net
• Click here to see the Interocitor I built in 2002.

Other Stuff

1. Visit my Blade Runner page
   
   
2. Klaatu's Speech: I am leaving soon and you'll forgive me if I speak bluntly. The universe grows smaller every day and the threat of aggression by any group anywhere can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all or no one is secure. Now this does not mean giving up any freedom, except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Your ancestors knew this when they made laws to govern themselves and hired policemen to enforce them. We, of the other planets, have long accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets and for the complete elimination of aggression. The test of any such higher authority is, of course, the police force that supports it. For our policemen we created a race of robots. Their function is to patrol the planets in spaceships like this one and preserve the peace. In matters of aggression we have given them absolute power over us. This power cannot be revoked. At the first signs of violence they act automatically against the aggressor. The penalty for provoking their action is too terrible to risk. The result is we live in peace without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free from aggression and war, free to pursue more profitable enterprises. Now, we do not pretend to have achieved perfection, but we do have a system, and it works. I came here to give you these facts. It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet, but if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you.
    
3. As George Winston, the beleaguered hero of George Orwell's "1984", leafed through Emmanuel Goldstein's subversive tract "The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism" he learns the rationale that underlies the mobilization for perpetual war. According to the principles of doublethink (synonym for American Neo-Con Newspeak?), Winston reads, it does not matter if the war is not real or real, victory is not possible – what matters is that the masses are kept are kept in a relative state of deprivation. Thus the purpose of war is to destroy surplus wealth (+US$400 Billion in Iraq?) in order to maintain the hierarchical structure of society – the status quo. As George Orwell baldly puts it, "A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation - the war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or east Asia but to keep the very structure of society in tact"
   1. 1984 by George Orwell: A searchable online version at The Literature Network
   2. The Complete Newspeak Dictionary
       
4. Art imitates Life:
   Sonny: I just might get to like this place. Let's see if the Braves are on. How do you turn on this here teevee?
   Riker: Teevee?
   Sonny: Yeah, boob-tube... you know. I'd like to find out how the Braves are doin' after all this time. Probably still finding ways to lose.
   Data to Riker: Oh -- I think he means television, sir.
   Sonny: Or maybe catch up on the soaps.
   Data to Sonny: That particular form of entertainment did not last much beyond the year Two Thousand Forty.
   Reference: STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Episode 126 - Titled: "The Neutral Zone"
   Reality: Television died in 2004; not 2040
   Reason: in order to maximize their profits, the networks decided to replace programs based upon "professional writing and acting" with "so-called Reality TV"
   
   
5. Cool quote from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones:
   00:12:24   I'd much rather dream about Padmé.
   00:12:27   Just being around her again is... intoxicating.
   00:12:31   Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin. They betray you.
   00:12:34   You've made a commitment to the Jedi order, a commitment not easily broken.
   00:12:38   And don't forget, she's a politician, and they're not to be trusted.
   00:12:41   [ Anakin ] She's not like the others in the senate, Master.
   00:12:44   [ Obi-Wan ] It is my experience that senators...
   00:12:46   focus only on pleasing those who fund their campaigns...
   00:12:50   and they're in no means scared of forgetting the niceties of democracy...
   00:12:53   -in order to get those funds. - Not another lecture.
   00:12:55   At least not on the economics of politics.
   
   Wikipedia Link: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
   Movie Quotes Link: www.subzin.com

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Neil Rieck
Kitchener - Waterloo - Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.