Giant Robot Month: The Post Black and White era, Droids, Androids, Artificial Intelligence and Comedy

Welcome back to GRM.  I believe we left off with the introduction of Robby the Robot in the classic film Forbidden Planet.  In the post Robby world there were many imitators of the mechanical man and they became sleeker and more stylish, but as we entered into the 60's and beyond, people became more aware of the world's dependence on technology for work and for pleasure.  This led to the paranoia of Artificial Intelligences gone mad and people being replaced androids.

It took a long time for Robots to return to the place where Robby put them..Instead of being a boon to humanity, Robots had been turned into things to be feared.  It didn't switch back until Star Wars and then they were reduced to cute sidekicks.

B-9 (Robot) Lost in Space:
Although a machine endowed with superhuman strength and futuristic weaponry, he often displayed human characteristics, such as laughter, sadness, and mockery, as well as singing and playing the guitar.

Star Trek:  The Science Fiction series that had a social message hidden in it often warned us of the dangers of too much dependence of technology.

Norman:was the "leader" of a group of androids who inhabited the planetMudd
In 2268, Harry Mudd, who became stranded on the planet which he named after himself, sent Norman to capture a Federation starship so that he could leave the planet in exchange for the vessel's crew.

Norman left the planet and, posing as a Starfleet sciences division lieutenant, signed aboard the USS Enterprise. After successfully taking over the ship, he redirected it to Mudd to carry out "Lord" Mudd's plan.

Ruk was an android found by Dr. Roger Korby in the underground ruins of Exo III. Ruk was built centuries earlier by the Old Ones; when Korby found him in 2261, he was still tending the machinery they had left behind. Even he did not remember how many centuries he had been doing this work

The M-5 computer or the M-5 multitronic unit was created by DoctorRichard Daystrom. It utilized very sophisticated technology, probably similar to the Human neural network, and much more sophisticated than the duotronic computer commonly in use at the time. According to Dr. Daystrom, the computer could think and reason like a Human. He had used his own memory engrams as a model for the computer. Models M-1 through M-4 were not entirely successful.

M-5 was installed on board the USS Enterprise in 2268 as a test of its capabilities. It was due to command and control the ship during several battle simulations, where up to four other starships would attack the Enterprise. Manned with only a skeleton crew of twenty, the ship was completely run by the computer.

HAL 9000 is a fictional character in Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series. First appearing in 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL (Heuristicallyprogrammed ALgorithmic computer) is asentient computer (or artificial general intelligence) that controls the systems of theDiscovery One spacecraft and interacts with the ship's astronaut crew. HAL's exterior physical form is not depicted, though it is visually represented as a red television camera eye located on equipment panels throughout the ship, and its interior in the scene where his advanced memory modules are disconnected. HAL 9000 is voiced by Douglas Rain in the two film adaptations of the Space Odyssey series and a short film voiced by Andrew Stanton. HAL speaks in a soft, calm voice and a conversational manner, in contrast to the crewmen, David Bowman and Frank Poole, who speak tersely and with little inflection.

Westworld is a 1973 science fiction western-thriller film written and directed by novelistMichael Crichton and produced by Paul Lazarus III about amusement park robots that malfunction and begin killing visitors. It stars Yul Brynner as an android in a futuristic Western-themed amusement park, and Richard Benjamin and James Brolin as guests of the park.

DARK STAR (1974)
In John Carpenter's Dark Star (1974) an asteroid storm and an escaped alien (in the form of a large beach ball with webbed claws) initiate a series of malfunctions on the already dilapidated starship. The storm and the alien both foul up a "communications laser" that sends bombing signals and orders to the ship's 20 "thermostellar nuclear" bombs, each designed to destroy an entire planet. Mother, the ship's main computer, is able to convince bomb #20 twice to return to the bomb bay after receiving faulty orders, but the third time, the bomb stubbornly refuses to disarm itself and return to the bay, anxious to fulfill its single purpose in life, its destiny: to explode.

Desperate, Doolittle, the ship's commanding officer, seeks advice from Commander Powell, who is in cryogenic suspension after suffering a freak accident caused by a malfunctioning seat-belt. Powell tells Doolittle to teach Bomb #20 "a little phenomenology." Doolittle goes EVA and has the following conversation with Bomb #20:

The Comedies of the era-Some films tried to make light of the situation and still have a point.  Not always an easy thing to do, and like the genre itself, it had varying degrees of success.

Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs
Nefarious mad scientist Dr. Goldfoot once again plots to take over the world by creating female robot bombs specifically designed to blow up high-ranking generals of NATO countries. Goldfoot hopes that by doing this he will start a war between Russia and America. It's up to disgraced government agent Bill Dexter to stop Goldfoot.

- Written by Woodyanders

Sleeper-A nerdish store owner is revived out of cryostasis into a future world to fight an oppressive government.

The Stepford Wives (1975)
Joanna Eberhart has come to the quaint little town of Stepford, Connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents.



And there were the Robots that had a conscience 


Wizards-Necron 99, a robot sent by Blackwolf to kill believers in magic. Avatar confronts the robot and battles it using brain reading. Necron 99 loses the desire for war and changes his name to Peace






Some were just evil through and through

The Daleks were created by writer Terry Nation and designed by BBC designer Raymond Cusick.[1] They were introduced in December 1963 in the second Doctor Who serial, colloquially known as The Daleks.[2] They became an immediate and huge hit with viewers, featuring in many subsequent serials and two 1960s motion pictures. They have become as synonymous with Doctor Who as the Doctor himself, and their behaviour and catchphrases are now part of British popular culture. "Hiding behind the sofa whenever the Daleks appear" has been cited as an element of British cultural identity;[3] and a 2008 survey indicated that nine out of ten British children were able to identify a Dalek correctly.[4] In 1999 a Dalek photographed by Lord Snowdon appeared on a postage stamp celebrating British popular culture.[5] In 2010, readers of science-fiction magazine SFX voted the Dalek as the all-time greatest monster, beating competition including Japanese movie monster Godzilla and J. R. R. Tolkien's Gollum, of The Lord of the Rings.[6]


And finally, Robots getr back to helping out people

C-3PO is a protocol droid designed to serve human beings, and boasts that he is "fluent in over six million forms of communication". He is generally seen with his long-time counterpart, R2-D2. Threepio's main function is to assistetiquette, customs, and translation, so that meetings of different cultures run smoothly. Threepio and R2-D2 played vital and pivotal roles in the Galaxy's history. While protocol/interpreter droids range in color, C-3PO appears primarily in gold finish with silver from the right knee down.


R2-D2 or Artoo-Detoo (called "R2" for short) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universecreated by George Lucas. An astromech droid(referred to in the novel as a 'thermocapsulary dehousing assister'), R2-D2 is a major character in all Star Wars films, and is also the first character to appear in the franchise.

Giant Robot Month: When Robots were small, black and white and still stood tall

I am not a robot scholar.  I'm just a geek who really likes movies that have robots.  Today we feature some of the earliest examples of Robots in films.  They are listed in the order I remembered them in.  Some of them are super cool for their time, others are ridiculous no matter what era they were created in.  The list ends in Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet.  I think that he ushered in the more modern era of mechanical man.  After Robby there were radical changes.

I suggest you follow the link at the bottom of the article.  They are cinematic Robot Scholars.  There list and history is way cooler than this one.

the Golem: In modern times, an antiques dealer (Henrik Galeen) finds a golem (Paul Wegener), a clay statue brought to life by a rabbi four centuries earlier. The dealer resurrects the golem as a servant, but the golem falls in love with the dealer's wife. As she does not return his love, the golem commits a series of murders.

Dr. Satan's Robot:
An edited version of the 1940 Republic serial "Mysterious Doctor Satan", which was released to TV in a syndication package in 1966.

Ro-Man: Robot Monster tells the story of Moon robot Ro-Man's mission to destroy all the humans on Earth. It manages to kill all but eight survivors, who have become immune to his death ray. But Ro-Man runs afoul of his leader, The Great Guidance, after he becomes attracted to Alice, the surviving scientist's eldest daughter, and refuses to harm her. The Great Guidance kills Ro-Man and must teleport to Earth to finish what has been started.

Metropolis: The Maschinenmensch (German for "machine-human") is a fictional character in Fritz Lang's film Metropolis, played by German actress Brigitte Helm in both its robot form and human incarnation. She is a gynoid (female robot or android) created by the scientist Rotwang. Named Maria in the film, and "Futura" in Thea von Harbou's original novel Metropolis, she was one of the first robots ever depicted in cinema.

The Maschinenmensch has been given several names through the decades: Parody, Ultima, Machina, Futura, Robotrix, False Maria, Robot Maria, Roboria and Hel. The intertitles of the 2010 restoration of Metropolis quotes Rotwang, the robot's creator, referring to his gynoid Maschinenmensch, literally translated as "Machine human".

Tobor the Great (aka Tobor) is a 1954 American black-and-white science fiction film from Republic Pictures produced byRichard Goldstone, directed by Lee Sholem, and written by Carl Dudley and Philip MacDonald. The film stars Charles Drake, Karin Booth, and Billy Chapin.

The storyline involves Dr. Ralph Harrison, who resigns his government post in protest against the inhumane treatment being inflicted upon spaceship pilots. His colleague, Professor Nordstrom, develops an alternative: a robot that he names "Tobor" (the reverse anagram of "robot"[1]), which soon becomes a friend and playmate to Harrison's young son, "Gadge". Tobor is stolen by enemy agents, and only the two scientists' and Gadge's psychic link with the robot can save it from being reprogrammed and used for evil purposes against the USA.

Gort is a fictional humanoid robot that first appeared in the 195120th Century Fox American science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and years later in its 2008 remake.

In the original science fiction short story "Farewell to the Master", on which the two films are based, the character is called Gnut.

Robby the Robot is a fictional character and science fiction icon who first appeared in the 1956 film Forbidden Planet. He made a number of subsequent appearances in science fiction movies and television programs, usually without specific reference to the original film character.

Terms related to robots include:

• robot or 'robotic', often used pejoratively, refers to any 'programmed' device or machine that performs mechanically or automatically without original thought; a robot's behavior is dependent upon programmed rules, functions and commands; an artificially-intelligent (AI) super-computer can be considered robotic although it does not possess a moving machine body
• automaton - refers to a mechanical object with a human-like appearance that operates in a manner similar to a clock or music box; it was the term most commonly used to refer to 'robots' in the early 20th century
• android (droid or humanoid) refers to an automaton or artificial man that possesses human features and resembles a human being; over time, it has come to be used as a general nickname for a robot
• cyborg (or bionic man/woman) refers to a human whose body and physiological processes are aided or controlled, in whole or in part, by electronic or mechanical devices that are integrated into the original organic body; in most cases, a cyborg is not a true robot

this site is dedicated to the robots of films.  follow the link, it's pretty cool

http://www.filmsite.org/robotsinfilm4.html

Giant Robot Month: Skin jobs and Robots that look like me.

As we explore the world of Giant Robots and Robots in general, we must considerer the concept of Robots that have been built to resemble the human form.  The design is always flawed.  In books, television, and film the building of Bots that resemble human beings always leads to trouble.  This particular trouble can come in the form of wacky antics or world domination.  The level will vary but it's always an issue.

The following is a list of prime examples of the Robot designed to look like a human and the problems that it can incur.

A replicant is a fictional bioengineered or biorobotic android in the film Blade Runner (1982). The Nexus series of replicants are virtually identical to an adult human, but have superior strength, agility, and variable intelligence depending on the model. Because of their similarity to humans, a replicant can only be detected by means of the fictional Voight-Kampff test, in which emotional responses are provoked; replicants' responses differ from humans' responses. NEXUS 6 replicants also have a safety mechanism, namely a four year lifespan, to prevent them from developing empathic cognition and therefore immunity to a Voight-Kampff machine. A derogatory term for a replicant is "skin-job."

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. First published in 1968, the novel is set in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, where Earth's life has been greatly damaged by nuclear global war. Most animal species are endangered or extinct due to extremeradiation poisoning, so that owning an animal is now a sign ofstatus and empathy, an attitude encouraged towards animals. The book served as the primary basis for the 1982 film Blade Runner.

The main plot follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who is faced with killing ("retiring") six escaped Nexus-6 model androids, while a secondary plot follows John Isidore, a man of sub-par IQ who aids the fugitive androids. In connection with Deckard's mission, the novel explores the issue of what it is to be human. Unlike humans, the androids are claimed to possess no sense of empathy.

My Living Doll is an American science fiction sitcom that aired for 26 episodes on CBS from September 27, 1964 to March 17, 1965. This series was produced by Jack Chertok and was filmed at Desilu studios by Jack Chertok Television, Inc., in association with the CBS Television Network.

The series starred Bob Cummings as Dr. Bob McDonald, a psychiatrist who is given care of Rhoda Miller, a lifelike android(played by Julie Newmar) in the form of a sexy, Amazonianfemale, by her creator, a scientist who did not want her to fall into the hands of the military.

Rhoda's real name is AF 709, and she is a prototype robot that Dr. Carl Miller (Henry Beckman) built for the U.S. Air Force. Through a series of mishaps, the robot ends up in the care of Dr. Miller's friend, Air Force psychiatrist Bob McDonald, when Miller is transferred to Pakistan. Bob is initially reluctant but soon becomes intrigued by the experiment of educating this sophisticated but naive robot. Bob's initial goal is to teach Rhoda how to be a perfect woman, which he defines as one who "does what she's told" and "doesn't talk back". He also strives to keep her identity secret from the world

Small Wonder is an American comedy science fiction sitcomthat aired in first-run syndication from September 7, 1985 to May 20, 1989. The show chronicles the family of a robotics engineer who secretly creates a robot modeled after a human girl, then tries to pass it off as their adopted daughter.

The story lines revolve around V.I.C.I. (an acronym for Voice Input Child Identicant, pronounced "Vicky"), an android in the form of a 10-year-old girl. V.I.C.I. was built by Ted Lawson, an engineer/inventor for United Robotronics, in an effort to assist handicapped children. The robot is taken home by Lawson so that it can mature within a family environment. V.I.C.I.'s features include superhuman strength and speed, an AC outlet under her right arm, a serial port under her left arm, and an access panel in her back. Despite this, the Lawson family initially tries to pass V.I.C.I. off as an orphaned family member whom they eventually legally adopt as their daughter.

Making Mr. Right is a 1987 science fiction/comedy film,directed by Susan Seidelman; starring John Malkovich as Jeff Peters/Ulysses and Ann Magnuson as Frankie Stone.

This film is primarily about the misadventures between an android and a woman.

Jeff Peters (John Malkovich) is an emotionally repressed scientist who cannot stand others because of their intellectual inferiority. He dreams of deep space exploration, which would be difficult because of the lack of human contact for long periods of time. He develops the Ulysses android (which looks exactly like him) for the purpose of space exploration, since an android would not be affected by the isolation.

Frankie Stone (Ann Magnuson) is hired to do public relations for the project. As a part of her job, she must get to know the android better, in order to "humanize" him for the benefit of the project's sponsors in Congress. However, in his interaction with her, the android develops emotions and develops better social skills than the scientist himself. At one point he impersonates Jeff in order to leave the laboratory, and stows away in Frankie's car. After escaping he encounters human society at a shopping mall, buys a tuxedo, goes on a date with a woman who thinks he is Jeff, reducing her to an emotional wreck, and then loses his head (literally) over Frankie's best friend Trish (Glenne Headly) who has taken refuge in Frankie's apartment after walking out on her husband who is a star on the popular daytime soap opera New Jersey.

Frankie also develops feelings for the android and befriends Jeff on a lesser level. Frankie's mother, (Polly Bergen) learns from Frankie's ex-boyfriend's (Steve) mother that Frankie has a doctor boyfriend (Jeff) and expects Frankie to bring him to the wedding of Frankie's sister. Frankie persuades Jeff to come, but Ulysses again absconds from the lab and gate-crashes the wedding. Trish's jealous TV-star husband crashes the wedding and gets into a fight with Ulysses. Ulysses short-circuits and crashes into the swimming pool, turning the occasion into a public relations disaster. Frankie is fired from her job and forbidden contact with Ulysses or anyone on the project. She attempts to say goodbye on launch day by using her connections with a former client and boyfriend (Steve), a candidate for Congress, but she only sees Ulysses during his farewell speech, in which he bemoans the tendency of humans and their tragic emotional relationships.

Eventually, it becomes clear that Ulysses' final speech was actually made by Jeff, who has realized he cannot deal with people. Due to his lack of social skills, Jeff realizes that the lack of human contact will not be a hardship for him. Jeff decided to go into space while the android takes his place on Earth so Ulysses and Frankie (who by now are deeply in love) can be together.

Terminator (character concept)

A Series 800 terminator, a robot-only "Hunter Killer" version of the Model 101 android played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In the Terminator film series, a terminator is an autonomous robot, typically humanoid, originally conceived as a virtually indestructible soldier,infiltrator and assassin.

James Cameron introduced the first terminator character in the 1984 filmThe Terminator, featuring a single android simply called "The Terminator", portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. When later Terminator films introduced additional models, some sources retroactively gave Schwarzenegger's character a model number, leading to multiple conflicting names.

The Robot Who Looked Like Me is a collection of science fiction short stories by Robert Sheckley. It was first published in 1978 by Sphere Books. As with much of Sheckley's work in general, many of the stories are satirical and express the writer's criticism of modern American society.

as we explore

It includes the following stories (magazines in which the stories originally appeared given in parentheses):

1. "The Robot Who Looked Like Me" (Cosmopolitan, 1973) A man builds a robot version of himself to free-up extra spare time.
2. "Slaves of Time" (Nova 4, 1974)
3. "Voices" (Playboy, Oct 1973)
4. "A Supplicant in Space" (Galaxy, Nov 1973, as "A Suppliant in Space".)
5. "Zirn Left Unguarded, The Jenghik Palace in Flames, Jon Westerly Dead" (Nova 2, 1972) A status report from a military outpost in space.
6. "Sneak Previews" (Penthouse, Aug 1977)
7. "Welcome to the Standard Nightmare" (Nova 3, 1973)
8. "End City" (Galaxy, May 1974, with a different ending.)
9. "The Never-Ending Western Movie" (Science Fiction Discoveries, 1976) A day in the life of a television star who has been featured in a western for the last 20+ years.
10. "What is Life?" (Playboy, Dec 1976) A traveler in Nepal is asked the title question by a Voice from the mountain
11. "I See a Man Sitting on a Chair, and the Chair is Biting His Leg" (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan 1968; co-authored with Harlan Ellison, although Ellison is not credited in the book edition) Concerns a man who is chased through a futuristic Las Vegas-like city by inordinate objects with an unnatural affection for him.
12. "Is That What People Do?" (Anticipations, 1978) A man finds a pair of binoculars and uses them to observe people in nearby highrise buildings.
13. "Silversmith Wishes" (Playboy, May 1977)

Giant Robot Month-Space Giants

Today on Giant Robot Month we give you The coolest show that screwed up our childhoods.  Three robots in a family.  Just blow your crazy rocket shaped whistle

Ambassador Magma (マグマ大使 Maguma Taishi?) is the title and protagonist of a manga and tokusatsu TV series created byOsamu Tezuka. The TV series, produced by P Productions, aired on Fuji TV from July 4, 1966 to September 25, 1967, with a total of 52 episodes. It is the first color tokusatsu TV series in Japan, beating Ultraman to the airwaves by 6 days. The show later aired in the U.S., dubbed in English, as The Space Giants.

Basic plot

The alien invader Goa plots to conquer the Earth. He first warns the Murakami family (father Atsushi, mother Tomoko, and son Mamoru) of their invasion, and demonstrates his powers by transporting them to a prehistoric jungle and destroying a Giant Dinosaur (in reality, Agon, the title monster of a Godzilla-like TV series) before their very eyes. But they will not agree to surrender to Goa, so hope comes in the form of Magma, an armored, golden giant with long hair and antennae. He and his human-sized wife Mol, both created by the wizard Earth (who indeed lives deep beneath the Earth), are sent to defend our world against Goa. They befriend Atsushi and Mamoru; the latter has touched Magma emotionally, as he wanted to have a child with his wife Mol, so Earth creates a duplicate of Mamoru, named Gam (who wears a helmet with antennas). Earth gives Mamoru a whistle, with which he can call Gam (when blown once), Mol (when blown twice) and Magma (when blown thrice) in times of crisis. So when Goa unleashes his various daikaiju, chances are, Magma, Mol, and Gam will fly to the rescue.

Ambassador Magma

Ambassador Magma, despite his robot-like appearance, is not a robot, but actually, a living giant forged from gold. In fact, true to his original manga appearance, in the series pilot opening, the actor playing Magma (Tetsuya Uozumi) wore gold make-up on his face. There were difficulties, though, like the actor's face turning beet-red, drowning out the gold makeup. The easy solution: Uozumi wore a golden human-like mask.

Magma, just like his human-sized wife Mol and son Gam, transforms into a giant rocketship. In fact, he is considered one of the earliest transforming mecha, even before the anime super robot, Brave Raideen, which set the standard for the genre.

He also shoots rockets out of a panel located in his chest, and shoots electrical bolts from his antennae.
US version (The Space Giants)

The Space Giants is the English title of this series. The show is most notable for its humanoid robot heroes who responded to crises by transforming into rockets to combat a wide variety of dinosaur-like space monsters, and faceless, ninja-like villains called Lugo men (人間モドキ ningen-modoki literally mock-human) who melted into oozing blob-like slime when killed.

The main conflict of the story involved an evil space villain named Rodak who continually tried to conquer Earth by sending a new dinosaur-like monster from deep space to wreak havoc on the greater Tokyo area. The stories were generally resolved in four episodes, much like Doctor Who, and a new monster would be found by Rodak to begin another four part struggle. Rodak's efforts were opposed by an ancient white-bearded wizard named Methusan (sometimes called Methuselah), aided by a trio of humanoid robots that were capable of changing from humanoid form into rocket form.

The human interest in the story was a family of three: a boy named Miko, his mother Tomoko, and his journalist father Ito Mura. The family became involved in the story due to the villain Rodak's desire to publish news of his presence to world media. The Mura family found themselves continually caught in the crossfire of monster attacks and harried by the Lugo men. A major sub-plot in the series developed when Miko's mother was kidnapped by the Lugo men and held in uncertain conditions for a number of episodes.

In the first episodes, the robot team were a duo consisting of a 50-foot (15 m) gold robot aptly named Goldar and his companion, a silver-clad humanoid female named Silvar. It is implied they were created by the wizard Methusan. Early in the series, the wizard Methusan completed the team to mirror the Mura family by creating a humanoid rocket-boy named Gam in the image of Miko Mura, complete with his trademark red-and-white sweater vest. All members of the robot team were capable of transforming into rockets identified respectively by gold, silver, and red-and-white color schemes. Each had bulb-tipped antennae protruding from their heads, capable of discharging directed blasts of gamma rays. Goldar and Silvar are capable of firing missiles from their chest cavity, Silvar is shown only doing this once. A regularly featured plot device was Miko's ability to summon the robots by blowing a special high-frequency whistle - once to summon Gam, twice to summon Silvar, and three times to summon Goldar.

The show first aired in Japan in 1966, and its international title was Space Avenger (one episode was dubbed for international markets). Originally intending to title it Monsters from Outer Space, the entire series was dubbed into English by Bernard H. Schulman's Lakeside Television Co., and syndicated to a limited number of US television stations in early September 1970, under the title The Space Giants. The show was not distributed widely to US television stations until the late 1970s, when it became a staple of fledgling Superstation TBSafternoon programming. 52 episodes were made, each running 25 minutes. It was known in Spanish asMonstruos del Espacio and in some English-speaking countries as Space Avenger.

The North American television and home video distribution rights are still owned by Bernard Schulman under this Lakeside Television banner. It is rumored that the series will be issued in Blu-ray and Digital HD format for the 50th Anniversary in 2016, exclusively produced and distributed through AnimeImages,Inc. and Lakeside Television company in a joint partnership for production and distribution.


Ambassador Magma makes a cameo appearance in the 2004 Astro Boy: Omega Factor game for the NintendoGame Boy Advance, along with a number of other characters created by Osamu Tezuka.

US version name changes
Magma - Goldar
Mol - Silvar
Gam - (same)
Goa - Rodak
Atsushi Murakami - Ito "Tom" Mura
Tomoko Murakami - Tomoko Mura
Mamoru Murakami - Miko Mura
Earth - Methusan
Atsuya Sekita - Kita
Modoki Men - Lugo Men

Giant Robot Month: Gigantor-Robophobia-The laws of robotics

As far as I can tell, the first evidence of the Giant Robot was Gigantor.  Also included in today's lesson are Robophobia and the Laws of Robotics.  

Gigantor is an American adaptation of the anime version of Tetsujin 28-go, a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama released in 1956. It debuted on U.S. television in 1964. As with Speed Racer, the characters' original names were altered and the original series' violence was toned down for American viewers. A new series was produced in Japan in 1980. Later it was shown as The New Adventures of Gigantor, on the Sci Fi Channel from 1993 to 1997.


 

The series is set in the year 2000. The show follows the exploits of Little Jimmy Sparks, a 12-year-old boy who controls Gigantor, a huge flying robot, with a remote control. The robot is made of steel and has a rocket-powered backpack for flight, a pointy nose, eyes that never move, and incredible strength, but no intelligence (although he started to tap his head as if trying to think in one episode). Whoever has the remote control controls Gigantor.

Originally developed as a weapon by Jimmy's father, Gigantor was later reprogrammed to act as a guardian of peace. Jimmy Sparks lives with his uncle Dr. Bob Brilliant on a remote island. Jimmy usually wears shorts and a jacket, carries a firearm and occasionally drives a car. Together, Jimmy and Gigantor battle crime around the world and clash with the many villains who are always trying to steal or undermine the giant robot.

Robophobia is an anxiety disorder in which the sufferer has an irrational fear of robots, drones, robot-like mechanics or artificial intelligence. It frequently results in a panic attack and can be triggered by certain stimuli or situations, such as viewing a robot, being near a robot, or even just talking about robots. Some robophobic patients with find their anxiety levels rise when they are near most any autonomous machine, especial human-looking robots. This is similar to fears of luddites, but more specific to robots and AI. .

The Three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The Three Laws or Three Laws, also known as Asimov's Laws) are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although they had been foreshadowed in a few earlier stories. The Three Laws, quoted as being from the "Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.", are:

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 Laws.

MARCH IS GIANT ROBOT MONTH

Giant Robot Month is dedicated to the celebration of all the robots who have served us.  The Robot has become a staple of Science Fiction.  Many have become cultural icons.  Humans have been known to take their artificial friends for granted.  this has caused many a mechanical man uprising.  It is time for us to realize that "Robots Need Love Too"

Help us by spreading the word. RNL2 is a movement that anyone one in this post industrial age needs to get behind.  March is dedicated to the celebration of Giant Robots.  Whether they are big on the outside or big on the inside, every Robot is a Giant Robot.

SOME ROBOT HISTORY
R.U.R. is a 1920 science fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek. R.U.R. stands for Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti(Rossum’s Universal Robots).However, the English phrase Rossum’s Universal Robots had been used as the subtitle in the Czech original. It premiered on 25 January 1921 and introduced the word "robot" to the English language and to science fiction as a whole.

R.U.R. quickly became famous and was influential early in the history of its publication. By 1923, it had been translated into thirty languages.

The play begins in a factory that makes artificial people, called roboti (robots), out of synthetic organic matter. They are not exactly robots by the current definition of the term; these creatures are closer to the modern idea ofcyborgs, androids or even clones, as they may be mistaken for humans and can think for themselves. They seem happy to work for humans at first, but that changes, and a hostile robot rebellion leads to the extinction of the human race. Čapek later took a different approach to the same theme in War with the Newts, in which non-humans become a servant class in human society.

R.U.R. is dark but not without hope, and was successful in its day in both Europe and the United States.

REALLY COOL ARTICLE ABOUT GIANT ROBOTS HERE
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/07/15/your-brief-history-of-giant-robots-adi-tantimedhs-look-it-moves/

A valentine's day mix tape

This is my annual Valentine's day playlist. If you remember, last year was about guilty pleasures. This year is cooler and more romantical. I hope you dig. the real cheese of Valentine's day playlist ber, last year was about guilty pleasures. This year is both cooler and more rom

my top albums of the 80's

This has nothing to do with sales or air play.  As always this blog expresses my worthless opinion.  The 1980's were a strange and wonderful decade musically. We had some of the best and worst that could ever fit into a radio dial.

As a high school/college student.  the world of pop music had gone south.  It was all bad metal and hair bands.  Most of the folks I knew had retreated into the annals of classic rock.  There were the occasional recognitions of Punk and New Wave, but for the most part I was busy being entirely too angst ridden and listening to David Bowie's Hunky Dory and the first Boston album to care.

This does not mean that I wasn't listening to music made in the 1980's.  There are hundreds of songs released in the decade that I own on 45 rpm.

In the 80s, I was prone to insomnia.  I used to stay up late and listen to vinyl through a pair of Nova 16 head phones.

The albums that saved be during the decade are listed below in no particular order.

1. Let's Dance-David Bowie
2. Songs from the Big Chair-Tears For Fears
3. Love and Hope and Sex and Dreams-The BoDeans
4. Little Creatures-The Talking Heads
5. So-Peter Gabriel
6. Spike-Elvis Costello
7. Boomtown-David and David
8. Robbie Robertson-Robbie Robertson
9. Indigo Girls-Indigo Girls
10. Zenyatta Mondatta -The Police

 I've included on track from each album.  I hope you like it