{"id":3139,"date":"2020-06-10T15:24:14","date_gmt":"2020-06-10T22:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/callmebog\/?p=3139"},"modified":"2020-06-10T21:15:13","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T04:15:13","slug":"shall-we-play-a-game-or-fictional-computers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/callmebog\/2020\/06\/10\/shall-we-play-a-game-or-fictional-computers\/","title":{"rendered":"Shall We Play a Game . . . or Fictional Computers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shall We Play a Game<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>or<\/span>
\nFictional Computers<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

None of these computers actually exist except in the imaginations of the authors! <\/span>SPOILER ALERT – hard to distinguish between fictional computers and Artificial Intelligence – so …. no critics and besides …. my blog!<\/b><\/p>\n

Full Disclosure<\/span><\/b>: I have collected and read science fiction for most of my life and consider The Matrix<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to be a documentary, not a movie! LOL!\"\"<\/p>\n

DOUBLE Full Disclosure<\/span><\/b>: As far as these OAC Bog Blog posts go …. ‘I’ll be back’!<\/p>\n

So I WILL mix media here, including movies, television and literature! <\/p>\n

\"\"One of my favourite movie computers is WOPR (pronounced ‘WHOPPER’ in WarGames<\/a><\/strong><\/span> from 1983! Think about it – a movie BEFORE <\/span><\/strong><\/em>Apple invented … THE MACINTOSH<\/a><\/span><\/strong>!<\/p>\n

A teenage hacker finds the backdoor password to a Top \"\"Secret computer designed to run scenarios of ‘games’ including ‘Global Thermonuclear Warfare’, except … they aren’t GAMES! His hardware – a modem and smarts to figure out what the backdoor password is! There are SO many memes about this movie and it is a hoot to watch. And the ending is actually very good! I highly recommend it!<\/p>\n

Even ‘The Avengers’ has made a sly reference to it from Black Widow and Captain America!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shall we play a game?<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the scene where the Black Widow boots up SHIELD\u2019s supercomputer from a bygone era, she asks Captain America, \u201cShall we play a game?\u201d, with Captain America replying, \u201cLove to. How about Global Thermonuclear War?\u201d This is a reference to a line from WarGames, a 1983 Cold War sci-fi film<\/em><\/p>\n

So as to destroy ANY sense of mystery or surprises, my favourite science fiction computer is named ‘Obie’ from Jack L. Chalker’s<\/a><\/span><\/strong> ‘Well World<\/a><\/strong><\/span>‘ series.<\/p>\n

Obie is one of the rare fictional computers that actually are at times, more human than humans. Obie is kind, smart, confused and self-aware. SPOILER – he was ‘killed’, then came back and then …. one of the best parts of this series! Check it out! <\/p>\n

Yeah, not many of you have probably heard of these books, but they are \"\"absolutely amazing! Simply put, Obie is designed by an ancient race called Markovians … to manipulate the basic fabric of the universe. Imagine the monthly updates with Obie!<\/p>\n

Chalker was a PROLIFIC author, but the first book in the series, ‘Midnight at the Well of Souls<\/a><\/strong><\/span>‘ then you will be hooked for life on ALL of his books! AND THERE ARE MANY!<\/p>\n

\"\"Another helpful computer is HOLMES IV  (Mike), in Robert A. Heinlein’s ‘The Moon is a Harsh Mistress<\/a><\/strong><\/span>‘.<\/p>\n

Okay sure, he helped a lunar revolution but he has a wicked sense of humour and becomes friends with Mannie! And for why HOLMES IV is referred to as ‘Mike’, well let’s just say it was part of Heinlein’s wicked sense of humour!<\/p>\n

The most well known computers in film include HAL-9000 (2001), ‘The Matrix’, the Holodeck and Data (Star Trek), Cerebro (X-Men), Skynet (Terminator), Arnim Zola (Captain America), Jarvis\/Ultron\/Vision (Iron Man(s)+), Mother (Alien) and Deep Thought (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and there are so many more in the popular genre, both recently and for many years. Here is a List of Fictional Computers<\/a><\/strong><\/span> , that is also at the bottom of this post.<\/p>\n

But I want to point out a few obscure computers, such as:\"\"<\/p>\n

KITT<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (Knight Rider) in Knight Rider – Elon Musk has NOTHING on this vehicle! Snarky, sarcastic AND can catch criminals too! Basically the Love Child of a Cylon and a TESLA!  I will buy the first vehicle from TESLA that can do this! (Batmobile aside…..)<\/p>\n

\"\"Colossus<\/a><\/strong><\/span> in Colossus! This computer was Skynet before Skynet! It ws the first of a trilogy and was one of the first science fiction books I read AND collected as a kid! It was even turned into a movie, Colossus: The Forbin Project<\/a><\/strong><\/span>! One of those ‘so bad it is good!’ kind of movies – if only for the technology!<\/p>\n

\"\"And perhaps one of the most obscure computers comes from the first ever release by, of all people, George Lucas!<\/p>\n

Yes, THAT<\/strong> George Lucas famous for that Star thing series! OMM<\/a><\/strong><\/span> in THX1138<\/a><\/strong><\/span> by George Lucas! It was basically his thesis from USC and I remember GOING to this movie in 1971 and coming out thinking this was the weirdest movie I had ever seen! But, he ended up making a few more lesser know movies too! LOL!  <\/p>\n

\"\"THX 1138 OMM<\/a><\/strong><\/span> – On the other hand, maybe too much benevolence is a bad thing, too. Before “Star Wars,” even before “American Graffiti,” George Lucas created this highly experimental and hallucinatory filmed dystopia, all the more striking for being done on a small budget (exactly $777,777.77) with mostly found locations. His sterile and drug-controlled future world has one spiritual dimension, a sort of cybernetic father-confessor figure named OMM, with whom one communes in a chapel that resembles a phone booth. The feedback one received from OMM was reminiscent of the old AI program ELIZA, where soothing generalities and “but what about you?”-style questions sufficed to convince some people an actual human being was at the other end.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And one last one that you might never have heard of from the SEQUEL to 2001! \"\"Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2010: Odyssey Two<\/a><\/strong><\/span> and it was turned into a movie as well, with SAL-9000 the ‘upgrade’ to HAL-9000 who had terrible social skills. But was always willing to go on a ‘bicycle built for two<\/a><\/strong><\/span>‘ – perhaps the first ever Smart Car technology?<\/p>\n

And the usual assortment of recently searched interesting links, videos and other cool stuff – but beware, most of the computers are .. bad, very bad!<\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. List of fictional computers – Wikipedia<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Holodeck – Wikipedia<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. WarGames – Wikipedia<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  4. 7 (Fictional) Computers That Changed Our World<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  5. In Pictures: 30 Famous Fictional Computers<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  6. The top 50 robots and AI computers in the movies<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  7. The 19 Best Artificial Intelligence Characters in Movies<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  8. 12 Fictional Supercomputers I Hope Never Materialize<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  9. The top 10 coolest supercomputers in movies (with video)<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  10. 12 of the Most Evil Movie Computers<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Ghosts in the Machine: Female Computers in Science Fiction and History<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  12. HAL’s Pals: Top 10 Evil Computers<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  13. Computers In Science Fiction – Novels and Short Stories<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  14. Badass Fantasy Machines: 6 Most Influential Computers in Sci-Fi<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  15. Scenes from WarGames (1983)<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  16. 7 Things You Might Have Missed During Captain America: The Winter Soldier<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As long as there are words out there<\/span>, there will be interesting topics! <\/p>\n

        E<\/span>N<\/span>J<\/span>O<\/span>Y!
    \n       <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\"\"     
    \n<\/span><\/strong>       T<\/span>T<\/span>F<\/span>N<\/span>!<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/h2>\n

     <\/h2>\n

    Shall We Play a Game?<\/span><\/h2>\n