Early Signs: Cubix: Robots for Everyone

I used to watch this computer-animated cartoon show called CUBIX: Robots for Everyone.  I remember this show and I watched it when it started in the summer of 2001.  It has returned to air on Saturday mornings at 7:00am.

This cartoon is about a robot named CUBIX (he is made of cube-shaped pieces).  He is able to convey emotion through facial expressions. This is in a world where humans and robots coexist, robots of many different kinds.  It was a very colorful cartoon.  It's nice that it's coming back to TV again.

I'll try to catch an episode or two, if  I feel like getting out of bed at 7am on a Saturday morning, ha ha hah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubix

Google Image Search for CUBIX: Robots for Everyone

Update for Robot Anime I’ve been watching + Mega Man Megamix

Tuesday afternoon I had a chance to catch up on some robot anime. I watched episodes 15 and 16 of Casshern Sins.  There is no bad episode, this show is so great and powerful.

After watching Casshern Sins, I watched episode 8 of Android Kikaider the Animation. It was a compilation episode, but I didn’t mind. It was a good idea that episode 8 happened to be a compilation episode because it has been a while since I watched Android Kikaider the Animation anyway. If I wanted to watch robot anime, lately it was Casshern Sins. Episode 8 of Shotaro Ishinomori’s animated series touched up on some issues that were pretty important to the show; Mitsuko’s feelings for Jiro; Jiro’s loneliness; Jiro’s negative self-image as Kikaider; Kikaider’s strength, and other things important to the story.

Now there are only five more episodes of Android Kikaider TA that I have to watch.  I am almost sorry that the series is only thirteen episodes.  But that means I can watch the series again in Japanese audio.

Recently, I think on the night before watchin the anime, I read the first chapter of Mega Man: Megamix Volume 2. The author and artist is Hitoshi Ariga. This chapter features Skull Man. I can only say that the story for this chapter reminds me of the many reasons why I love robot literature so much, especially when it comes to robot characters that lack something (like love) and are misunderstood.  Even if you are not a Mega Man fan, but you like robots/ robot literature, read this manga.  Hitoshi Ariga’s stories for Mega Man are truly amazing.

Another Robot anime I am interested in: Time of Eve

I subscribe to Anime Reviewers Weekly and just today I got this newsletter about a six-episode anime called Time of Eve.  It is made into a movie, combining the six episodes into one feature length unit.  I saw the first picture/screenshot the review provided and thought, "Wait, is that a robot?  Wow, I gotta read what this is about!"  And it turns out that robots and androids are part of the focus for this anime.  I like how the reviewer mentions the fact that science fiction is a metaphor, and this is a big reason why I like science fiction related to robots, androids, cyborgs, all that. 

   Earlier in Cybernetic Dreams I wrote about how robots and androids, even cyborgs can be discriminated against, because they are different from humans; they are made of mostly metal and have computers for brains rather than the squishy, flesh and blood matter with which human beings are composed.  There are androids that look apparently more robotic than human, and there are androids that look and act so close to the human being that it would be hard to tell the difference at first.  In this anime, it seems that both types of androids are represented.  That is very good.  I am looking forward to the fact that this anime will be addressing some important questions, not  just for science fiction pertaining to robots, but for our future.  A future that is not only about humans' relationship with robots, but with other humans with different ethnic backgrounds and customs.  This is why robot literature (especially from Isaac Asimov) is so good, and in my opinion, the best type of sociological science fiction you can ever read.  This is what guides me to the reason that I must check out this anime Time of Eve.  I think it is something Asimov would be interested in seeing and discussing as well.

When there does come a time when  humans must co-exist with robots and androids , the humans must find a way to live with them-- and that means humans must acknowledge the robots' and androids' existence with respect.  This is how their co-existence will facilitate and begin.

So what if robots and androids don't have emotions?  Yet.  Sometime, they will.

Here's the review at the link below.

Link:
http://animereviewers.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/time-of-eve-review-movieona/

Cute!! TASSIMO Brewbot Commercial

Well, to tell you the truth, I DON'T think this coffee machine is going to actually turn into a robot, but I saw this and it made the girly geek in me squeal with delight!

http://www.youtube.com/user/tassimobrewbot

Just above, I've included the YouTube channel where this video can be found.  The channel also has an official website for the Tassimo Brewbot so you can look up the things it can do for you and the things it "can get for you."  The TV ad definitely appealed to me because I go crazy about robot-related visuals and literature.

Words that also mean robot or cyborg + derogatory words for robots

ROBOT

Machine

Humanoid robot

Humanoid

Android

Droid

Cybernetic person

Automatic computing system

Mechanical worker

Mechanical man

Metal Man

Artificial human

Artificial life

Drone


CYBORG

Cybernetic-organic system

Cybernetic organism

Robotic-organic system

Machine-organic interface/system

Computer brain

Cybernetic brain

Half human, half machine

I realize I might be referencing to the movie I, Robot often in this blog, but this film brings up a lot of issues to talk about in terms of what Daniel Dinello’s book Technophobia! introduces in its pages so far.  In the film I, Robot, Detective Spooner called Sonny a “canner,” and this reflects his prejudice against the robots. The Spooner character wouldn’t use that word if he didn’t feel hatred towards them.  And Sonny takes offense to the word “canner” and corrects Spooner by saying his name is Sonny.

In Asimov’s short story “Lost Little Robot,” the physicist Gerald Black had told a robot to “go lose [him]self,” and eventually spilled it out to Dr. Susan Calvin that he called it a number of derogatory names before telling it to go lose itself.  The order from this human being, in addition to the harmful names he had called him, resulted in the robot’s unusual behavior.

The soundtrack for the movie I, ROBOT

I found the soundtrack to the movie (I bought the CD several years ago) and wanted to listen to it again.  I wanted to put some tracks in my iPod Nano, so I listened to it in my ten-year-old portable CD player (with new ear buds, because the old headphones deteriorated) while I was looking at some old notes for one of my original sci-fi titles. The composer for the film is named Marco Beltrami.  I love the theme music for the film, I absolutely LOVE it!  It is beautiful and melancholy, especially later in the end credits when there is that lone violin, which makes me think of a kind of sadness, the sadness that robots can’t exactly be as human as human beings want them to be. Well, that is one kind of sadness.

Even the director of the film, Alex Proyas leaves a note within the small booklet that came with the soundtrack CD, suggesting to “put this CD in your stereo, crank up the volume, and turn on your imagination (preferably with a good Asimov book in front of you).” Of course, you don’t have to, but I tried it and it certainly was inspiring. The music doesn’t have to sound futuristic and sci-fi just to take you into the world of I, Robot.

Just wondering…

I wonder if I should instead re-read the Asimov collection I, Robot first instead of Robot Dreams. The latter title was the first Asimov short story collection I ever read, probably my very first taste of robot literature. Wait, is there such category of reading called “robot literature?” I’d like to think it should be made. Otherwise what would be known as robot literature is pooled in with general science fiction.

Adding more readings to my list…

The following books will be added to my list of books I will be reading during the course of my journey towards understanding robot science fiction. Incidentally they are short story collections from Isaac Asimov. :3

• Robot Visions, short story collection by Isaac Asimov

• The Rest of the Robots, another short short collection by Asimov

• "The Positronic Man" (well, it’s one short story, by...you guessed it...Isaac Asimov)

I already said that I wanted to start reading Robot Dreams again, though. Gosh, I am giving myself too much to read. I have other things I should be reading too, it’s just that I am so passionate about robots/androids/cyborgs in science-fiction that I want to read as much as possible about it, especially from Isaac Asimov himself.

A Brief Switch from reading Non-fiction to reading fiction

As much as I want to continue reading Technophobia!, I really want to start reading the Isaac Asimov collection of short stories Robot Dreams. The last time I read any of it was sometime in 2003, so I was a senior in high school. It’s been seven years and now I can read this book again with more maturity and curiosity than before.  I am hoping to writing about my thoughts about my favorite story or stories from this collection, whichever one(s) really make me feel like I need to share it.

The first story in the collection is “Little Lost Robot.”  I remember I liked that one, so soon I will read it and see if I can notice more things, since I've read more about robots in science fiction.

Reading Technophobia!: I understand the movie I, ROBOT, better now…

I was reading more of my self-appointed acquired reading for my research: the book by Daniel Dinello titled Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. I’m glad I got back to it. It is my own copy of the book, now, since I had to return the other copy at the CSUN library. This way I don’t have to rush through reading it, and I can underline the text and write in the book if I need to. I still take notes in my notebook for this self-assigned research project.

Last time, I left off at a part of chapter three, right before “Cybernetic Perfection: The Laws of Robotic Obedience.” I felt so giddy reading this section because I figured it would go into Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics.

“Asimov’s robots, as they developed in more than forty stories and

several novels, became more caring, more sensitive,

more human than humans.” (Dinello, 65)

I guess these robots don’t necessarily have to look human in order to be “more human than humans.” Even emotion gets the better of us humans sometimes, and with a controlled understanding of emotion, robots could prevent situations from getting worse (such as in a strong argument or trying to teach a human a new skill).

What I want to focus on now though is the section of chapter three that made me have to share what I learned from it. I’ve seen the movie I, Robot (2004) several times by now. I can’t believe I didn’t think about this next idea, but at least I am aware of it and will watch the film again with this deeper understanding. The new models of robots are supposed to keep their human masters safe, right? I didn’t think more about this around the part when the NS-5s are glowing red and telling the humans to return to their houses and obey the new curfew. It seems that the robots’ goal is to control the humans and keep them inside their homes so that the robots can live as they want as well as “serve” their human clients. This goal may also help the robots rule the city, and then the planet.

“Freedom permits humans to make mistakes, so the humanoids eliminate freedom.”

(Dinello, 70)

These humanoid robots are being too helpful in preventing crime and injury for the humans. It is too much control over the humans because they don’t have the freedom to exit their house, or cook their food or even go to work. In short, the NS-5s would be keeping the humans from themselves.

Humans make mistakes. For the new model servant humanoids to take the humans’ chances to make mistakes is like taking away their humanity.  I’d understand that the humanoid robots (I really want to call the NS-5s androids) would want to protect the humans so that they don’t get harmed, or harm each other.  But it would go too far.  In the film, I thought that the robots were being evil and just wanted to take over the city.  Now I understand that the NS-5s had been ordered to make the city a place where the robots do everything for the humans to the point where the humans can’t do anything.   I didn’t take into account that the Three Laws of Robotics used in these new robots were designed in them to be exaggerated and subtly turned into laws that would affect humans in a negative way, namely human freedom.

Watching I, Robot again will be very different next time, I can see...

I am also interested in the topic about humans’ racism towards robots and humanoids. Dinello mentions and discusses titles like Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) and the film Blade Runner, and even titles I don’t recognize such as the film Creation of the Humanoids and the novel Fairyland (1995). Even one of my other favorite robot films A.I. Artificial Intelligence has a racism issue towards robots that I didn’t identify in such a deep level, until reading what Dinello says about it in Technophobia!.  Now I want to read these unfamiliar titles and watch the unfamiliar films, because I am inspired to further investigate for myself what racism against robots means to the robots, in whatever degree they are affected by that racism.

A link about more robots (some I know, some I don't know)

Here is a website that I found when I was trying to find H.E.L.P.eR on Google Images.  I came across it and wanted to share the page with my readers.  In addition, the author's blog ZERO's Oasis will be in the list of Related Websites on the side bar.  The whole blog is worth checking out, besides the robots section.
http://www.freewebs.com/zzzero/robots.htm

H.E.L.P.eR, from the cartoon Venture Brothers

Are any of you guys familiar with the cartoon on Cartoon Network's [adult swim] block, Venture Brothers?

I love this cartoon servant robot.  He is a typical servant robot with wheels for feet, a jut mandible, button/light bulb eyes, of course with an expressionless face.  That doesn't mean he lacks feelings.

I haven’t watched enough of Venture Brothers to know exactly what H.E.L.P.eR’s role is in the Venture family, except that for the cartoon he can be a source of comic relief. He is such a lovable robot character. He speaks in beeps that have different inflections and tones, I’m guessing to make words and sentences. And what’s funny is, anyone can understand what he says, even if he doesn’t speak in actual words.

This past week was the part in the previous season when Brock Samson’s [bodyguard license?] expires and he’s being sought after by this other organization. Brock had to start leaving after fixing [some other machine, I forgot] and H.E.L.P.eR didn’t want Brock to leave, so he made believe he needed to be fixed to. Brock knew that H.E.L.P.eR was fine, and when the robot saw that, he went to Brock and gave him a hug. Aww, a robot hugs! He must feel that a separation of a friend is unpleasant. Does H.E.L.P.eR have an emotion chip or what?  It seems he certainly developed attachments to the humans he works with.

Later the Venture family and Brock were in an airplane and the plane had to land, but the landing gear was damaged. H.E.L.P.eR went on his own and climbed to the bottom of the plane and acted as landing gear, and he made this prolonged beep sound that suggested he was in pain. After all, his feet/wheels were being scraped off by the friction. He didn’t have to do that, but he believed his humans would have better chance of survival if he stepped in to help, even if it cost parts of him. Awww! :3

I hope he makes more appearances in the upcoming new episodes this season. He always seems to get maimed or destroyed, and then is rebuilt as if nothing happened to him. In one other Venture Brothers episode, in a space station of a sort, Venture brothers Hank and Dean thought that there was a ghost or boogey man walking around, and they thought that it killed their father. When they found this monster covered in a white sheet, they beat him up. It turned out to be a very lost and confused H.E.L.P.eR blinded by the sheet. Dean and Hank couldn’t even hear his beeps of distress and never realized it was him. He appeared okay later in the episode. I haven’t seen it in its entirety for a long time.

So H.E.L.P.eR is one of the robots I admire because of his apparently robotic form, his selfless acts, and his hilariously awkward situations. And his beeps.

New Robot Anime Found: Casshern Sins DVDs

I was curious about this anime DVD. I’ve never heard of or read about it, but I saw it on Amazon.com months ago, though at the time there was no info about what the anime was actually about.  Then all of a sudden I get an e-mail from Amazon alerting me about new anime DVD releases, and one of them was this one called Casshern Sins: Part 1.  I am so glad I know what it’s about now.  I really, really, REALLY want both Parts 1 and 2.  Wanna know why?  You might probably know.

The main character is called a “cybernetic assassin.”

I wanted to call one of my original sci-fi characters a cyber-assassin, and I still don’t know if I want to call him a cyborg or an android.  Casshern Sins apparently beat me to it.

I’m so excited about it! I feel bad about indulging in instant gratification, but I might just go ahead and buy Part 1 already!  Part 2 will have to wait.  I told myself I will have a break from ordering from Amazon.com for two months, but part of me says “Get it now and enjoy it because later this year you may not have enough time, let alone be financially comfortable, to feel good getting this thing.

Sigh. I want to get both DVDs now, but they are expensive.  Besides, I still have Ishinomori’s Android Kikaider the Animation to finish as well as 009-1 and the eight Cyborg 009 episodes to digest. Ack, too much good stuff.  I can’t have everything, I know, but fuck it, I don’t buy every single thing I see, so I’m still very good with my self control.

Casshern reminds me so much of Mega Man X with his white armor.   :3 

Link:  http://animereviewers.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/casshern-sins-review/

Watched Android Kikaider the Animation, Episodes 5 and 6

It's been a while since I watched Android Kikaider the Animation, so I wanted to watch episodes 5 and 6.  I really loved episode 4, and so far, episodes 4 and 5 are my favorite ones. 

I recentely found out when visiting the blog Black Sun that there is a link at the bottom of the page for the website called www.generationkikaida.com/ and the picture for it had what I thought was someone dressed up like Kikaider.  So I went to that website and I learned in the archives for 2002 that Kikaida was actually a live action TV show before Shotaro Ishinomori made the anime.  I forgot, was Android Kikader a Japanese manga series also?  I need to look that up.

Ha ha, I didn't know that it was live action before, so I learned something new.  But I 'm going to stick to the anime.

I would really like to write my reflections on the episodes of that anime that I watch, but they will have to come later.  I especially want to write one for episode 4, since it brings up a lot of interesting issues that the characters Jiro and Mitsuko are individually realizing.  In this episode, titled "Mirror,"  Jiro, the android, still doesn't know what he looks like when he transforms into Kikaider.  Near the end of the episode he does get a chance to look at his own reflection, and he doesn't like what he sees.  Okay, I should save this for another separate post.

Reading Robots Unlimited, Chapters 10 through 13

Sorry, I haven’t updated Cybernetic Dreams for a few weeks. I believe in time’s opportunity cost, and when I wasn’t reviewing and typing, I was still researching. Now that I am taking a short break from the research, I can update on my latest readings on my research on robots.  I focused especially on the chapters of Robots Unlimited that talk about robot consciousness and robot ethics and rights, chapters 12 and 13 respectively.

I am pleased that there is at least some discussion on cyborganization (specifically “brain augmentation”) in Robots Unlimited, when the author David Levy talks about Professor Kevin Warwik and his “leading the world’s attempts to create a cyborg,” and I wanted to take note of what Levy says about Warwik’s ideas about the cyborg.

“He uses the verb ‘upgrade’ to emphasize the superiority of cyborgs over humans. The upgrading process enhances human capabilities by adding whatever computing power and/or memory and/or AI resides in the electronics embedded in the human body. The cyborg brain, eventually, will be part human and part machine…” (Levy 410)

I was thinking about my cyborg story when I read this because I want to better understand what it means for my cyborg protagonist to have cybernetic enhancements, to live and to fight. My second cyborg story, which I might have to work on later because of a lack of plot, will benefit from this description of the cyborg, including this definition, which I think is its primary meaning:

“a human with one or more mechanical or electronic device implanted in his or her body to enhance the human’s capability.”     (Levy 409)

I find that word “enhance” very provoking. It comes up once in each of the quotations from the book that I included here. Cybernetics not only can preserve a person’s life for medical reasons, but cybernetic implants can improve the person’s ability, whether it’s sight or speed or thinking power. It makes me think of the video game coming up later, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, in which this game’s main protagonist Raiden is a cyborg, and a bad-ass looking one at that. Wait a minute, I think I did mention this video game in an earlier post, but it’s just still fascinating to me.  Did Raiden willingly become a cyborg or was he forced into the cybernetic enhancements in order to survive?  It sure gives him some sick cool abilities!

I loved the chapters on Robot Consciousness (Chapter 12) and Robot Ethics and Robot Rights (Chapter 13). I spent the most energy and note-taking on those two chapters. And I don’t often think about the rights of robots and their treatment, in terms of social treatment and medical (maintenance) treatment. I wanted to know more, and I had to look up the bibliography for the Ethics chapter and found a website with an article called “Humanoid Robotics: Ethical Considerations,” written by David Bruemmer. It’s found at this page: http://www.inel.gov/adaptiverobotics/humanoidrobotics/ethicalconsiderations.shtml .  I read the whole article and I was in awe.

A lot of what David Levy and David Bruemmer say in their writings inspire me to write short stories about humanoid robots— androids, I prefer to say—that deal with ethical issues surrounding themselves and their clients. I know I am reading these books and articles so I can have a better understanding of the subject of robots, androids and cyborgs when I write the novels that feature them. However, in terms of material for short stories, this information is the most I’ve ever had, and there will be more. Will I ever write a short story again where the main character is human?

Sometimes I wonder if I should ever get into the robotics field. Nah, I don’t need to. But it would be nice to meet people who are in that field, if I just wasn’t so damn shy to meet these robotics professionals.

Post Delay

I will have the next post up within a few days or less.  I am putting my research on a short hold, so maybe I can catch up on posting about my progress after some time.  There was a lot of good reading the past week from David Levy's Robots Unlimited: Living in a Virtual Age.  I read chapters ten to thirteen.

I want to finish the next post offline so that I can use spell-check.

And unfortuately I couldn't have a good reading of The Coming Robot Revolution.  It was a library book and I had to return both of them.  I spent too much time on David Levy's book, so I will have to wait to borrow it again from the library later.   I won't take the book out of my list of reading, though.  It will stay there, but  it will be switched from its place in the list.

I found my drawing of my toy robot!

I said I would try to find the drawing of my old toy robot I did in second grade.

Ugh, my writing was so crappy at that age.  I'll transcribe it letter for letter (you can guess which words I spelled wrong).

Here it is:

If I could go to a toy

store and choose any toy I

wanted, I would choos a toy

robot, Because it's my faivriot

toy.  I like it. My sister likes it

too.

I just also want to say that the toy robot did not have the words "Super Robot" on its chest.  I wrote that in there because I wanted to be creative and give it a name.  Heh.  ^,^ 

Technophobia…more reading July 6

I read more of Technophobia! and it’s still so fascinating. I think it is the most important book I ever chose for my research. It has just what I need: robots, androids and cyborgs and their history in science fiction. There were some explanations about machines and artificial humans in science fiction that were not limited to the following titles: The Golem, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Metropolis (1927), We (1924), H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau, and E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” (1909).

Important themes came up too, all and more of which I want to explore:

• Robots who want to be human, loved

• Master creates artificial slave------------slave dominates master

• Humans will be enslaved by technology

• Redefining what it means to be human

This is a quote from the book that I found to be a very important one:

“The gothic myth of artificial humans—the golem, the homunculus,

and the Frankenstein monster—will transform into robots, cyborgs,

androids, and clones of science fiction.” (Dinello, 46)

I read E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” in a Science Fiction class that I took at Cal State University Northridge. It was the only time in my college career at CSUN that I would be able to take the class. “The Machine Stops” was the first story we read. Of course not all the stories and novels we read were about machines or robots, but that class opened up my eyes to other topics that science fiction can explore and ask questions about, and introduce possible answers to them (therefore creating more questions). “The Machine Stops” was especially a good piece because it introduced the topic of all humans being completely dependent on machines to live, and all these machines were controlled by this one huge machine that everyone’s living quarters are a part of.

Personally I am a bit afraid of growing technology myself. The most hi-tech thing that I own is my purple iPod Nano. I don’t need an iPhone or an Android Phone, or whatever other multi-purpose phones people use for reasons other than for talking. I have a cell-phone for that. I found out from a an ad on TV that there is an iPhone App that can turn off the house lights, or close the garage door while you are away, in case you forgot to turn the switch earlier.  I mean, HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE???

Red Tornado from the cartoon Batman: The Brave and the Bold

The first time I watched Batman: The Brave and the Bold (and was INTERESTED in it at all), I saw a red-colored android character who seemed to be Batman’s ally. He was fighting another android who was evil, I guess (I don’t remember too many details since it was months ago since I saw this episode). But at the end of the episode, this android, known as Red Tornado, and Batman, had a conversation about the battle that went on earlier that day.  Red Tornado built that other android, but he had to destroy him because he turned evil (destructive), and it was the right thing to do. He realizes that, but somehow he also felt…sad.  Batman asks him if he will be alright. Then Red Tornado answers, “Why wouldn’t I be?” meaning that since he is a robot (I prefer to call him an android because he is a humanoid robot), he wouldn’t have emotions that would bother him. So Batman leaves him alone. Then as Red Tornado is left to himself, it would appear that he is shedding a tear. Even his facial expression shows a degree of sadness. I thought about those moments in the cartoon for a long time after I watched the end of that episode.

The title of that episode is “Hail the Tornado Tyrant.” I looked up the cartoon on YouTube earlier this week.  Red Tornado builds another humanoid robot, in a similar likeness of his own image. I haven’t seen the whole episode, and I don’t know how, or if, I’ll be able to. Sigh. I can’t do a full analysis of the episode now if I haven’t watched it in its entirety, but it is clear that the end of this episode, Red Tornado became a fast fan favorite of mine. I learned that the Batman comic book series is DC, not Marvel (I always confuse which character is which, except for X-Men and Iron Man). So if I had to have a favorite DC comic book character, it would have to be Red Tornado—simply because he is a humanoid robot.

Should Red Tornado be called an android or a humanoid robot? Well, in my opinion, he apparently sounds like a robot, but he has a mostly human form. I noticed I use “android” and “humanoid robot” interchangeably, and should I worry, does it matter?  In almost every sentence he speaks after someone talks to him, he says words like, “observation” and “declaration” to classify the statements he makes. That characteristic shouts “I’m a robot.” But gosh, in terms of behavior, he sure is human-like.  I don't think he realizes that he is already capable of having emotion, namely love.  He just doesn't recognize it.
     Sorry.  I get carried away...

Here is a link to a webpage about the voice actor for Red Tornado, Corey Burton.  You can also hear a sample of his voice:
Behind the Voice Actors.com--------Corey Burton

Technophobia----reading the book so far…

I feel bad because for a whole week I didn’t read any of the library books. I only felt like reading them when I knew I would be able to sit down for at least two hours at a time.  I finally got around to continue reading Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology by Daniel Dinello.

Right now I am done reading the first chapter "Technology is God."   I found it really fascinating and scary that technology and religion could eventually be combined to form some sort of principle for enhancing life: eventually everyone will replace their organic bodies with artificially created ones, and leave their biological selves behind. I read about the “Extropians”, who are people who believe in enhancing life through “technological expansion,” as Dinello explainds.  I guess being limited to living less than 100 years in the nature-given organic body is undesirable.

Why do people want to live forever?

This book is pretty heavy reading. I mean, it’s great, and eventually I might buy a copy for myself so I can re-read it if I need to. But it gets depressing because it makes me think about my own mortality. I am 25 and I still have so much to live for, but I know I’m not going to live forever. I’m even afraid of my life being cut short by a gun shot or a car crash. Will my parents still be alive in a time where hearts can rebuild themselves or an artificial brain can send signals to the body to stop the process of aging, or reverse it?

I am writing about these thoughts because I always believed that there is a life after death, an afterlife stage. But perhaps another form of afterlife is life after having a biological body. Afterlife could now mean becoming a robot, the human brain being put into a mechanical body. Is that “cyborganization”, or would this person still be a robot? Is humanity still there?

I will have to review my notes and read more of this book carefully, of course.

Progress so far on research

I’ve been reading Cyborg Citizen for the past week and a half, and it has a lot of great stuff. I was especially intrigued about how soldiers in the military are becoming cyborgs as "human-weapon systems". That section made me think about war in a different way, particularly modern war. It also made me think about some of the war-themed video games that have become so popular lately: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and the SOCOM series, to name a couple. I just found out from the E3 Expo news that there will be a Medal of Honor video game that will take place in modern times rather than in World War II, which was also a time of technological advances in war for its time.

What really captivated me was the section of the book in which Chris Hables Gray writes about a Cyborg Bill of Rights.  There are ten amendments, but the one that really shouts to me for the fiction I am writing is the fifth amendment, “the right to life”.  I must say this amendment struck a chord for the cyborg novel I am writing.  Here is a sentence of this amendment that I really liked:

 

“Individuals shall retain all rights to modify their bodies, at their own risk and expense, through pyschopharmological, medical, genetic, spiritual, and other practices, insofar as they do not threaten the fundament rights of other individuals and citizens.”         (Gray, 28)

So maybe Gray’s proposed Cyborg Bill of Rights may have been written, but would everyone who becomes an obvious cyborg follow these rules, let alone want to learn about them? Perhaps being a cyborg can make that person feel powerful when they become a tool, or worse, a weapon.

Which brings me to another subject. I watched the first two episodes of Cyborg 009, and in episode 2, the cyborg Albert, or 004, tells Joe (009) that they are supposed to be weapons. The cyborgs, against their will, became enhanced weapons; in other words, they became weapons but still have human feelings. The person behind this, Black Ghost, doesn’t care that this experimental transformation of these nine human beings makes them useful,  as long as he gets results. But if the cyborgs had to be weapons, they would fight for the greater good, rather than increase the power of war. They don’t want to oppress other people just because of their cybernetic enhancements. If they have to use their abilities, they will use them wisely, as a citizen helping other citizens, not as weapons made for war.

I want to talk more about Cyborg 009, but it will have to be later. I want to watch the next episodes, and maybe the first two episodes again if I must.

Another Early Robot Fascination

     My sister and I had this toy computer that spoke and taught words and math. Two games in particular featured a robot that had two antennae on his head.

     “Make the robot move. Press the robot keys. Then press Enter."

     “Follow the robot. Press the robot keys. Bend. Jump! Stretch. Stretch. Jump! Bend. Kick. Jump!  Stretch. Kick.  Bend. Jump!” (Then I’d have to remember the moves and press the corresponding keys. I guess it was a memory game.)

     Eventually I had a dream about that same computer robot that took place in my middle school, and I was very happy and I didn’t want to leave him. The robot was my friend.  I wished it was real.

A Childhood Toy

When I was six or seven years old, I preferred toys that moved or made sounds. One toy in particular was a toy robot. It was gold colored, held a gun, and it moved. There were black propellers on his head.

I will try to find a picture of it I drew in second grade, because I don’t know what name the toy was given, and I believe I don’t have it anymore. But at that age I knew it was a robot.

Android Kikaider collection complete!

It was much cheaper to get these DVDs separately than to buy the entire Android Kikaider the Animation Collection, which is too expensive for me at this time.  Volume 4 of the series arrived Friday.

Also, the box set of Ishinomori's 009-1 arrived too, so I will watch that later, but at least it's here.  I've been reading the book Cyborg Citizen lately, so I want to watch that series after I've read some more of the book.  I've only seen episode 1 of 009-1, and I know I really like it and would like to view the entire series.  The plus is that female cyborgs star in this show, particularly the main character Mylene Hoffman.  She's such a doll, figuratively speaking.   :)

The Japanese Anime DVDs Arrived...

Thursday the first three volumes of Android Kikaider the Animation arrived at my house.  I was so excited and I couldn't wait to watch it.  I ended up watching the first two episodes the following night.  Amazon.com is so cool...

I've known about Android Kikaider for some time, but I never watched it.  In the spring of 2002 I found out it was coming on the Cartoon Network, but I didn't watch it.  I didn't know what it was about, plus it aired at 11:30pm or midnight.  Over a year later I found out what it was about--an android with a human soul--but the show wasn't on Cartoon Network anymore.

However in summer 2003 I had started watching Cyborg 009, another Japanese animated show that was originally created by Shotaro Ishinomori.  This aired on the Cartoon Network also.   I was hooked on that show.  In another anime DVD I found out that Ishinomori also created Android Kikaider.  Little did I know that I was going to be a fan of his.

I am glad I will finally have a chance to enjoy this Android Kikaider series.

Welcome!

Welcome to Cybernetic Dreams, my new blog.


My favorite type of science fiction is stories about robots, androids and cyborgs, and I want to write novels that feature such characters. I haven’t done much research on these topics yet. I haven’t had the right motivation for looking up on artificial intelligence and cybernetic implants (and generally robotics), other than wanting to write science fiction.

I am extremely fascinated with these topics and would still like to research them to expand my knowledge on my favorite futuristic characters. So I decided to write a blog to capture and gather my thoughts on the research process. I will update this blog every one to two weeks. I will mainly be reading some non-fiction books I borrow from libraries, but I’ve also recently bought some Japanese anime DVDs featuring cyborg or android characters. There are also science fiction magazines that I read.

I have issues of two different science-fiction magazines: Science Fiction & Fantasy and Asimov’s Science Fiction. There are two really good stories in these magazines that I read and almost brought me to tears. They are such bittersweet, beautiful tales. I had to stop subscribing to Asimov’s Science Fiction because I meant to only sub to one, but I tried out both of them and liked the bi-monthly SF&F better. One day I’d really like to submit a novelette to one of these magazines.

I’ve read the original I, Robot, which is actually the short story, “Little Lost Robot” in the collection of Asimov’s stories titled I, Robot. I also read another of his collection called Robot Dreams. Maybe I should reread them, now that I am at least eight years older than when I read them the first time. I can read them with a shaper fascination, learning and pondering these stories and speculations, so that I can incorporate what I’ve learned into my own writing.


Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, I’m so excited……!!!!!!