A short annoucnement: About NaNoWriMo 2015

I want to take an opportunity to say something that goes with both my love of robots and my love of writing.

Last November I participated in National Novel Writing Month. The last two years I’ve thought about it but never started. Since 2015 was the year I got fully into a writing career, I celebrated my decision by allowing myself to be a part of the NaNoWriMo event.

Can you guess why I’d be sharing this piece of information here?

I am not really a person that likes to brag about my accomplishments. I don’t like getting much attention, but I still like to share some things such as what I thought about this or that. But this experience about NaNoWriMo was very special to me. Particularly because of the subject matter I was dealing with during the writing process. I am proud of myself for having an outline (if not following it for the last third of the time), for being consistent with my daily word count, and not giving up.

When I was approaching 40,000 words as soon as I was, I increased my word count goal to 80,000.

I wrote 80,300+ words toward the first draft of the project.

Now, back to why I am sharing that I participated in NaNoWriMo.

If you guessed I wrote the first draft of a novel, you are right so far. (Easy guess!)

If you guessed that my novel has to do with robots, you are also right. (I guess I gave that bit away earlier.)

If you guessed that the robots are humanoid robots, you are even righter (ah ha hah, I know there isn‘t such a word, but I felt giddy that moment, so humor me J)!

During the NaNoWriMo draft I focused on some character development and scenes. I hardly did anything for setting and descriptions, except that it takes place in the future where having a humanoid robot house companion is affordable for a lot of people.

I want to say more about it, but I prohibit myself from sharing any more concrete details until a draft is ready for beta readers. That may not be until the end of summer or fall 2016. I’ll see.

NOTE: This post is rather late in being released. But I still wanted to share it.

A Sister Blog is Coming!

I have wanted to start a Tumblr for a while now.  I’d like to share pictures or blog posts relating to robots on Cybernetic Dreams, but I didn’t know what and how, exactly.  It may be a bit more time-consuming, but I decided to start a Tumblr that also focuses on robots.  It will have reblogs and posts that pertain to what I already have discussed in this blog.

Once I have the new Tumblr ready, I will announce it and include a link to it in Cybernetic Dreams.  I think it would be nice to share my interest in robots, androids and cyborgs in ways other than writing.  The visual aspect of Tumblr will be fun, and it will supplement the topics of the blog  And also, I don’t have to worry too much about what pictures I am allowed to post on the Tumblr because they would be reblogs of posts/images, which is allowed there anyway.

I am hoping to get it started by the time autumn is over.

Almost Human: The Sci-Fi Show We Need Now, Part 1

So I’ve been watching Almost Human for the last several weeks and I have to say (needlessly) that it’s become my favorite live-action TV show.  I love Dorian; he is very funny and great and he looks like he can be my cousin (I am mixed and my hair is a short afro as well).  But generally, the show has a good mix of action, suspense, humor and soft moments.  It can get really intense, to the point where I don’t realize I am holding my breath for the entire segment of the show until commercial time.  The episode “Arrhythmia” was hard for me to watch without feeling a little angry, maybe even my blood pressure raised a little bit.  But I love this show.

Even more important to me about Almost Human besides great characters are the powerful issues it touches on:

• Civil rights, equality (MX’s priority to energy charging stations in an emergency, Dorian excluded)
• Ethics (especially robot ethics…)
• Derogatory words for robot (“synthetic” is neutral, but still offends Dorian in the beginning of the show because he is seen as fake).
• Fear (human fear and even Dorian’s fear)
• Crimes in the future (watch the show and see how scary crime is in this future!)
• Jobs in the future (such as the Recollectionist who helps people recall forgotten memories with the help of a machine)
• Money in the future (i.e. bit-coins)

I really enjoy Dorian and Detective Kennex’s car conversations.  They get to know each other, understand each other better during the drive and we as viewers get to learn about them both too…

When I think back about how they first worked together, Detective John Kennex has changed a lot.  In the beginning he called Dorian a “synthetic,” and Dorian responds “I am not a huge fan of that term.”  I can understand why: he feels human enough that being called a synthetic offends him, implies that he is not real and therefore his feelings and opinions don’t matter.

But they do matter because Dorian is not just an android cop, he’s a valuable friend.  Dorian saved John from quite a few tight traps so far.  Even volunteering to risk his functionality, his life, to save a human victim trapped in the middle of a crime.  He may be too altruistic for his own good.  It seems that in each episode that he gets into a fight, his injuries become more serious. 

I want to write a really good essay on Almost Human and the important issues and themes it brings up. It will have to wait a little longer. For now I want to say that that my guesses about the show (before I started watching it on its November 17, 2013 premiere) were fun to make and now I can enjoy the show as it is.  Of course I was wrong about the “experiment” thing…so far, I could be wrong and something might come up, right?  It repeats on Saturdays at 8:00pm if you can’t catch the regular airing on 8:00pm Mondays.

Please, I want to start a discussion!  If any of my readers want to say something about the show, your thoughts/feelings about it, share it in the comments or email me through Blogger.  Who else enjoys Almost Human?  Or who dislikes it?  I will be respectful of your opinions—just respect mine as well!   ;)

My Thoughts, Speculation on the TV Show “Almost Human”

I have not read any reviews of this show yet.  I want to just document some thoughts and personal speculations about Fox’s Almost Human before I watch it.  It’s like a fun guessing game to see how close my guesses are, if I‘m close or way off—because I’ve seen the promos for the show enough times to do it.

I decided to give this show a try.  I am curious as to how the main human cop character will interact with his new synthetic partner Dorian. 

The concept of synthetic humans is as possible as the existence of a synthetic hand or arm.   The popular idea a lot of people have about robots and androids is that they don’t have emotions, or don’t have the ability to understand them.  Simulating human emotions is not the same as understanding them or why they happen.  So I am also curious as to what the Dorian character will be like.  According to the promos on TV, he seems to have a sense of humor as well as a grasp of sarcasm.  Often for a new drama series, Fox shows some of the funny bits of the show, usually something one character says to the other.

Often this type of show makes me think of the relationship dynamic of Detective Spooner and the android non-partner Sonny in the film I, Robot.  Of course, Sonny was different from all the other NS-5s and displayed those differences clearly, from expressing anger to understanding trust (using the wink signal he learned from Detective Spooner.)

The character Dorian strikes me as more “synthetic human” than “android.”  His skin tone is human and his voice doesn’t sound mechanical or tinny like many robots do.  It sounds just like he’s flesh and blood.  He is able to smile and appear warm and friendly, reaching out to shake hands with Detective Kennex.

Part of one promo shows an android cop on the ground and out of commission.  Even before reading any reviews or synopses of this show this is my guess as to what this show is about, based on seeing the downed android cop:  Android partners for cops and detectives are less likely to survive dangerous encounters because they don’t have the emotions necessary for self-preservation (fear, for one) and the emotional connection to effectively protect his human partner when he is in danger (brotherhood, friendship, even love).  So, Dorian is an experimental version of the android cops, made to be more of a synthetic human, instead of a robotic and cold humanoid machine.  He may even be a prototype, and be observed by the authorities?  The synergy between the partners needs to be as close to fully human as possible.  So Detective Kennex is the guy with which they are going to try out this experiment.  Maybe this cop gets into a lot of trouble and gets his android partners killed often, and it costs the police facility loads of money.  Dorian may be an answer for saving money and creating more effective android or synthetic partners for the police.

I am curious to find out about Dorian’s origin.  I’ll have to watch Almost Human to find out, won’t I?  And along the way, I want to see how wrong or how right I am about my guesses as to what this show is actually about.  I’m excited about it!

Does anyone else have thoughts or feeling about this new show?  You may share them in the comments or email me through Blogger.

Another Robot Drawing, February 18th 2012

I want to draw more robots.  I have a couple more robot-drawing projects on the way.  Meanwhile, I have a line art piece of a robot—an android really—that I wanted to design for a story I’ve been working on.  While I’m not working on the story currently, I still like to draw ideas for it.  This android is supposed to look more “robot-like” than the other androids in the story because it is an older model.

Drawing by AmethystAnne
February 18, 2012

He looks like he’s smiling but that is because of the way that his mandible is designed.  Maybe I didn’t need to give him a nose.  He even looks to me a bit scary, something that I’d get a nightmare from if I was five years old, but he means no harm.

I should have given him more details on his body, but I guess I can say the drawing is still a work in progress.

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/

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