DARREN JORGENSEN What and Why
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A Very Short History of Cyberpunk
A Very Short History of Cyberpunk Marcus Janni Pivato Many people seem to think that William Gibson invented The cyberpunk genre in 1984, but in fact the cyberpunk aesthetic was alive well before Neuromancer (1984). For example, in my opinion, Ridley Scott's 1982 movie, Blade Runner, captures the quintessence of the cyberpunk aesthetic: a juxtaposition of high technology with social decay as a troubling allegory of the relationship between humanity and machines ---in particular, artificially intelligent machines. I believe the aesthetic of the movie originates from Scott's own vision, because I didn't really find it in the Philip K. Dick's novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968), upon which the movie is (very loosely) based. Neuromancer made a big splash not because it was the "first" cyberpunk novel, but rather, because it perfectly captured the Zeitgeist of anxiety and wonder that prevailed at the dawning of the present era of globalized economics, digital telecommunications, and exponential technological progress --things which we now take for granted but which, in the early 1980s were still new and frightening. For example, Gibson's novels exhibit a fascination with the "Japanification" of Western culture --then a major concern, but now a forgotten and laughable anxiety. This is also visible in the futuristic Los Angeles of Scott’s Blade Runner. Another early cyberpunk author is K.W. Jeter, whose imaginative and disturbing novels Dr. Adder (1984) and The Glass Hammer (1985) exemplify the dark underside of the genre. Some people also identify Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling as progenitors of cyberpunk. -
SFRA Newsletter 259/260
University of South Florida Scholar Commons Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications 12-1-2002 SFRA ewN sletter 259/260 Science Fiction Research Association Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/scifistud_pub Part of the Fiction Commons Scholar Commons Citation Science Fiction Research Association, "SFRA eN wsletter 259/260 " (2002). Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications. Paper 76. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/scifistud_pub/76 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. #2Sfl60 SepUlec.JOOJ Coeditors: Chrlis.line "alins Shelley Rodrliao Nonfiction Reviews: Ed "eNnliah. fiction Reviews: PhliUp Snyder I .....HIS ISSUE: The SFRAReview (ISSN 1068- 395X) is published six times a year Notes from the Editors by the Science Fiction Research Christine Mains 2 Association (SFRA) and distributed to SFRA members. Individual issues are not for sale. For information about SFRA Business the SFRA and its benefits, see the New Officers 2 description at the back of this issue. President's Message 2 For a membership application, con tact SFRA Treasurer Dave Mead or Business Meeting 4 get one from the SFRA website: Secretary's Report 1 <www.sfraorg>. 2002 Award Speeches 8 SUBMISSIONS The SFRAReview editors encourage Inverviews submissions, including essays, review John Gregory Betancourt 21 essays that cover several related texts, Michael Stanton 24 and interviews. Please send submis 30 sions or queries to both coeditors. -
N38wr [Read Now] Oceanic (English Edition) Online
n38wr [Read now] Oceanic (English Edition) Online [n38wr.ebook] Oceanic (English Edition) Pdf Free Par Greg Egan audiobook | *ebooks | Download PDF | ePub | DOC Download Now Free Download Here Download eBook Détails sur le produit Rang parmi les ventes : #280493 dans eBooksPublié le: 2009-09-24Sorti le: 2009-09- 24Format: Ebook Kindle | File size: 50.Mb Par Greg Egan : Oceanic (English Edition) before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised Oceanic (English Edition): Commentaires clientsCommentaires clients les plus utiles0 internautes sur 0 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile. Sci-Fi genre to explore human psychologyPar jmbfrIt may not be usual for Mr. Egan, but this book is less about hard science- fiction than the exploration of the human psychology and emotions.I was surprised by Oceanic but it turned out to express much of my inner thoughts about religion and faith.0 internautes sur 0 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile. De la SF moderne!Par ALEXANDREDe la SF moderne, qui part de l'état connu de la science et qui extrapole.C'est puissant, riche, philosophique, très bien écrit...Un auteur à découvrir! Présentation de l'éditeurCollected together here for the first time are twelve stories by the incomparable Greg Egan, one of the most exciting writers of science fiction working today.In these dozen glimpses into the future Egan continues to explore the essence of what it is to be human, and the nature of what - and who - we are, in stories that range from parables of contemporary human conflict -
Modern Mythopoeia &The Construction of Fictional Futures In
Modern Mythopoeia & The Construction of Fictional Futures in Design Figure 1. Cassandra. Anthony Fredrick Augustus Sandys. 1904 2 Modern Mythopoeia & the Construction of Fictional Futures in Design Diana Simpson Hernandez MA Design Products Royal College of Art October 2012 Word Count: 10,459 3 INTRODUCTION: ON MYTH 10 SLEEPWALKERS 22 A PRECOG DREAM? 34 CONCLUSION: THE SLEEPER HAS AWAKEN 45 APPENDIX 77 BIBLIOGRAPHY 90 4 Figure 1. Cassandra. Anthony Fredrick Augustus Sandys. 1904. Available from: <http://culturepotion.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/witches- and-witchcraft-in-art-history.html> [accessed 30 July 2012] Figure 2. Evidence Dolls. Dunne and Raby. 2005. Available from: <http://www.dunneandraby.co.uk/content/projects/69/0> [accessed 30 July 2012] Figure 3. Slave City-cradle to cradle. Atelier Van Lieshout. 2009. Available from: <http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/7862/atelier-van- lieshout-slave-city-cradle-to-cradle.html> [accessed 30 July 2012] Figure 4. Der Jude. 1943. Hans Schweitzer. Available from: <http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/posters2.htm> [accessed 15 September 2012] Figure 5. Lascaux cave painting depicting the Seven Sisters constellation. Available from: <http://madamepickwickartblog.com/2011/05/lascaux- and-intimate-with-the-godsbackstage-pass-only/> [accessed 05 July 2012] Figure 6. Map Presbiteri Johannis, Sive, Abissinorum Imperii Descriptio by Ortelius. Antwerp, 1573. Available from: <http://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/9021?view=print > [accessed 30 May 2012] 5 Figure 7. Mercator projection of the world between 82°S and 82°N. Available from: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection> [accessed 05 July 2012] Figure 8. The Gall-Peters projection of the world map Available from: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gall–Peters_projection> [accessed 05 July 2012] Figure 9. -
Astrosociology and Science Fiction: a Synergy
Astrosociology and Science Fiction: a Synergy Simone Caroti Purdue University 500 Oval Drive West Lafayette, IN 765-426-4380; [email protected] Abstract. Both astrosociology and science fiction have claimed outer space as their preferred turf. Astrosociology did so in order to study the impact of space on human societies, and to develop a set of protocols that earthbound governments can utilize to prepare us for the next phase of humanity’s adventure outside our home planet. Science fiction, on the other hand, found in outer space a fitting environment for dramatizing in a work of fiction the potential outcomes attending the kind of decision astrosociology is trying to foster in actuality. This paper explores the relationship between the two fields, and examines ways in which science fiction can contribute to the creation of an astrosociological consciousness. Particular attention will be given to the most relevant commonality that the two fields share: both astrosociology and science fiction are earthbound disciplines, areas of inquiry created by those who never left earth for those who never left earth. They can potentially function as partners in the endeavor of educating the bulk of humanity on the subject of space flight and space colonization. Keywords: Astrosociology, Science Fiction, Astrosocial Phenomena, Astrosocial Triggers, Definitions. PACS: 87.23.Ge; 89.65.s; 89.65.Ef INTRODUCTION My purpose in this paper is twofold: on the one hand, I will attempt to give a functional working definition of both astrosociology (AS) and science fiction (SF), with a view to identifying their respective areas of competence. On the other hand, I will try to develop a series of protocols through whose agency science fiction can either become an astrosociological discipline or open itself up to an astrosociological perspective. -
Merging with AI Would Be Suicide for the Human Mind
Opinion Artificial intelligence Merging with AI would be suicide for the human mind There may come a moment when the brain is so diminished it is destroyed Your mind is not a back-up drive for AI, even if it has the same memories and exact behaviours © Getty Susan Schneider 54 MINUTES AGO The idea that human and artificial intelligence should merge is in the air these days. The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, for instance, suggests “having some sort of merger of biological intelligence and machine intelligence”. His company, Neuralink, aims to make implanting chips in the brain as commonplace as laser eye surgery. Underlying all this talk is a radical vision of the mind’s future. Ray Kurzweil, the futurist and director of engineering at Google, envisions a technotopia where human minds upload to the Cloud, becoming hyperconscious, immortal superintelligences. Mr Musk believes people should merge with AI to avoid losing control of superintelligent machines, and prevent technological unemployment. But are such ideas really possible? The philosophical obstacles are as pressing as the technological ones. Here is a new challenge, derived from a story by the Australian science fiction writer Greg Egan. Imagine that an AI device called “a jewel” is inserted into your brain at birth. The jewel monitors your brain’s activity in order to learn how to mimic your thoughts and behaviours. By the time you are an adult, it perfectly simulates your biological brain. At some point, like other members of society, you grow confident that your brain is just redundant meatware. -
William Gibson Fonds
William Gibson fonds Compiled by Christopher Hives (1993) University of British Columbia Archives Table of Contents Fonds Description o Title / Dates of Creation / Physical Description o Biographical Sketch o Scope and Content o Notes File List Catalogue entry (UBC Library catalogue) Fonds Description William Gibson fonds. - 1983-1993. 65 cm of textual materials Biographical Sketch William Gibson is generally recognized as the most important science fiction writer to emerge in the 1980s. His first novel, Neuromancer, is the first novel ever to win the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick awards. Neuromancer, which has been considered to be one of the influential science fiction novels written in the last twenty-five years, inspired a whole new genre in science fiction writing referred to as "cyberpunk". Gibson was born in 1948 in Conway, South Carolina. He moved to Toronto in the late 1960s and then to Vancouver in the early 1970s. Gibson studied English at the University of British Columbia. He began writing science fiction short stories while at UBC. In 1979 Gibson wrote "Johnny Mnemonic" which was published in Omni magazine. An editor at Ace books encouraged him to try writing a novel. This novel would become Neuromancer which was published in 1984. After Neuromancer, Gibson wrote Count Zero (1986), Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988), and Virtual Light (1993). He collaborated with Bruce Sterling in writing The Difference Engine (1990). Gibson has also published numerous short stories, many of which appeared in a collection of his work, Burning Chrome (1986). Scope and Content Fonds consists of typescript manuscripts and copy-edited, galley or page proof versions of all five of Gibson's novels (to 1993) as well as several short stories. -
5Th International Conference on the Short Story in English
5TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE SHORT STORY IN ENGLISH The Global Short Story New Or eans, June 27-30, 1998 Fifth International Conference on the Short Story in English "THE GLOBAL SHORT STORY" New Orleans, June 27-30, 1998 Hotellnter-Continental- All Sessions Saturday, June 27 8:30 a.m. REGISTRATION [THIRD F LOOR LOBBY] 9:00 a.m. WELCOMING REMARKS [LA SALL E BALLROOM B/C] Mary Roh rberge r, Executive Director Ma urice A Lee, Director Please note that, throughout the conference, books on related subjects or by attending authors will be on sale in the ACADI AN ROOM 9:30 a.m. PANEL A: WRITERS' AND CRITICS' ROUND TABLE: ECHOES FROM A DISTANT BATTLEFIELD SHORT FICTION FROM VIETNAMESE NATIONALS AND VIETNAMESE AMERICANS [PELI CAN ROOM 1] Randy Fertel, moderator, Tulane University Mary McCay, Loyola University Wayne Karlin, short fiction writer An dy Lam, short fiction writer and commentator on Asian Affairs for NPR Eric Scroeder, University of California at Davis PANEL B: WRITERS' ROUND TABLE: THE TICKING CLOCK-COMMITTING AND SOLVING MURDER IN UNDER 15 PAGES [PELICAN ROOM 2] Robert Skinner, fiction writer, moderator, Xavier University Bill Cri der, fiction writer O' Neil DeNoux, fiction writer Skye Moody, fiction writer PANEL C: WRITERS' ROUND TABLE: ROMANCE FICTION [FULTON R OOM] Rexanne Becnel, moderator, fiction writer Karen Young, fiction writer Kathleen Nance, fiction writer Anne Logan , fiction wn"ter PANEL D: WRITERS' ROUND TABLE: GENDER IDENTITY AND THE SHORT STORY [POYDRAS ROOM] Ellen Douglas, fiction writer, moderator Anthony Bukowski, fiction writer Natalie Petesch, fiction writer Mary Robison , fiction writer ~ --r:; t\1 W~ Ieh 11 :00 a.m. -
Science Fiction, Steampunk, Cyberpunk
SCIENCE FICTION: speculative but scientific plausability, write rationally, realistically about alternative possible worlds/futures, no hesitation, suspension of disbelief estrangement+cognition: seek rational understanding of NOVUM (D. Suvin—cognitive estrangement) continuum bw real-world empiricism & supernatural transcendentalism make the incredible plausible BUT alienation/defamiliarization effect (giant bug) Literature of human being encountering CHANGE (techn innovat, sci.disc, nat. events, soc shifts) origins: speculative wonder stories, antiquity’s fabulous voyages, utopia, medieval ISLAND story, scientifiction & Campbell: Hero with a 1000 Faces & Jules Verne, HG Wells (Time Machine, War of the Worlds, The Island of Dr Moreau), Mary Shelley (Frankenstein), Swift Gulliver’s Travels Imaginative, Speculative content: • TIME: futurism, alternative timeline, diff hist. past, time travel (Wells, 2001. A Space Odyssey) • SPACE: outer space, extra-terrestrial adventures, subterranean regions, deep oceans, terra incognita, parallel universe, lost world stories • CHARACTERS: alien life forms, UFO, AI, GMO, transhuman (Invisible Man), mad scientist • THEMES: *new scientific principles, *futuristic technology, (ray guns, teleportation, humanoid computers), *new political systems (post-apocalyptic dystopia), *PARANORMAL abilities (mindcontrol, telekinesis, telepathy) Parallel universe: alternative reality: speculative fiction –scientific methods to explore world Philosophical ideas question limits & prerequisites of humanity (AI) challenge -
Mirrorshade Women: Feminism and Cyberpunk
Mirrorshade Women: Feminism and Cyberpunk at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century Carlen Lavigne McGill University, Montréal Department of Art History and Communication Studies February 2008 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Studies © Carlen Lavigne 2008 2 Abstract This study analyzes works of cyberpunk literature written between 1981 and 2005, and positions women’s cyberpunk as part of a larger cultural discussion of feminist issues. It traces the origins of the genre, reviews critical reactions, and subsequently outlines the ways in which women’s cyberpunk altered genre conventions in order to advance specifically feminist points of view. Novels are examined within their historical contexts; their content is compared to broader trends and controversies within contemporary feminism, and their themes are revealed to be visible reflections of feminist discourse at the end of the twentieth century. The study will ultimately make a case for the treatment of feminist cyberpunk as a unique vehicle for the examination of contemporary women’s issues, and for the analysis of feminist science fiction as a complex source of political ideas. Cette étude fait l’analyse d’ouvrages de littérature cyberpunk écrits entre 1981 et 2005, et situe la littérature féminine cyberpunk dans le contexte d’une discussion culturelle plus vaste des questions féministes. Elle établit les origines du genre, analyse les réactions culturelles et, par la suite, donne un aperçu des différentes manières dont la littérature féminine cyberpunk a transformé les usages du genre afin de promouvoir en particulier le point de vue féministe. -
The Virtual Worlds of Japanese Cyberpunk
arts Article New Spaces for Old Motifs? The Virtual Worlds of Japanese Cyberpunk Denis Taillandier College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto 603-8577, Japan; aelfi[email protected] Received: 3 July 2018; Accepted: 2 October 2018; Published: 5 October 2018 Abstract: North-American cyberpunk’s recurrent use of high-tech Japan as “the default setting for the future,” has generated a Japonism reframed in technological terms. While the renewed representations of techno-Orientalism have received scholarly attention, little has been said about literary Japanese science fiction. This paper attempts to discuss the transnational construction of Japanese cyberpunk through Masaki Goro’s¯ Venus City (V¯ınasu Shiti, 1992) and Tobi Hirotaka’s Angels of the Forsaken Garden series (Haien no tenshi, 2002–). Elaborating on Tatsumi’s concept of synchronicity, it focuses on the intertextual dynamics that underlie the shaping of those texts to shed light on Japanese cyberpunk’s (dis)connections to techno-Orientalism as well as on the relationships between literary works, virtual worlds and reality. Keywords: Japanese science fiction; cyberpunk; techno-Orientalism; Masaki Goro;¯ Tobi Hirotaka; virtual worlds; intertextuality 1. Introduction: Cyberpunk and Techno-Orientalism While the inversion is not a very original one, looking into Japanese cyberpunk in a transnational context first calls for a brief dive into cyberpunk Japan. Anglo-American pioneers of the genre, quite evidently William Gibson, but also Pat Cadigan or Bruce Sterling, have extensively used high-tech, hyper-consumerist Japan as a motif or a setting for their works, so that Japan became in the mid 1980s the very exemplification of the future, or to borrow Gibson’s (2001, p. -
The Zork Chronicles
THE ZORK CHRONICLES Delve into the challenge and adventure of the world of ZORK with the fantastic imagination of GEORGE ALEC EFFINGER "We (science fiction writers) stand in awe of a writer so young, so strong, so good…." Harlan Ellison "Wry, inventive, nearly hallucinatory…" Publishers Weekly "Great entertainment…" Fantasy Review Other Avon Books in the INFOCOMTM Series ENCHANTER® by Robin W. Bailey PLANETFALL® by Arthur Byron Cover WISHBRINGER® by Craig Shaw Gardner STATIONFALLTM by Arthur Byron Cover Avon Books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, fund raising or educational use. Special books, or book excerpts, can also be created to fit specific needs. For details write or telephone the office of the Director of Special Markets, Avon Books, Dept. FP, 105 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016, 212-481-5653. George Alec Effinger THE ZORK® CHRONICLES A Byron Preiss Book AN INFOCOMTM BOOK AVON BOOKS NEW YORK Zork: The novel is an original publication of Avon Books. This work has never before appeared in book form. This work is a novel. Any similarity to actual persons or events is purely coincidental. Special thanks to Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Richard Curtis, Rob Sears, John Douglas, David Keller, and Alice Alfonsi. AVON BOOKS A division of The Hearst Corporation 105 Madison Avenue New York, New York 10016 Copyright © 1990 by Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc. Cover painting copyright © 1990 by Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc. Published by arrangement with Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc. ZORK software copyright © 1980 by Infocom, Inc. ZORK and the INFOCOM logo are trademarks of Infocom, Inc.