Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Electric Sheep Distributed Screen-Saver: Collective Computer Unconsious
The Electric Sheep Distributed Screen-Saver taps into the collective unconscious of sleeping computers all over the world. When your computer sleeps, does it dream of electric sheep?
(From Electric Sheep)
Once you have downloaded the screen saver client to your machine, it activates when your computer is idle ("sleeping"). Once every fifteen minutes a new sheep, an animated fractal flame, is downloaded to all sleeping computers. The screen of each computer becomes a window into a visual space shared by all users. The client computers render jpeg frames which are then uploaded to the server. When the frames are ready, the server compresses them into an mpeg animation; client computers download the finished "electric sheep", presenting them on the screen in dreamy contemplation.
The program was inspired in 1999 in part by the SETI@home project; the name derives from the well-known novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick. In the story, humans have devastated their world; most animals are dead, and most genetically whole people have left the planet. Those who remain may purchase mechanical animals - like electric sheep - and care for them as if they were real. Artificial humans (androids) are created to mimic people in every way. Do androids also dream of having their own animals? The novel was the inspiration for the movie Bladerunner.
Another interesting sf connection - Robert Heinlein created the idea for the screen-saver in his famous novel Stranger in a Strange Land, published in 1961.
See the Explanation of the Electric Sheep Distributed Screen-Saver for details; see sample "electric sheep" on the sample page.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/16/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Computer ")
Jetson Orin Nano Super 70 Just $249
'Rayno folded up the microterm and tucked it back inside his jumper.' - Bruce Bethke, 1983.
Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...' - John Brunner, 1975
Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity
'Cultured brains on a slab.'- Peter Watts, 1999
AI Worms That Spread
'...there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net now' - John Brunner, 1975.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
Darpa 'Defiant' Unmanned Autonomous Ship
'There was no wheel, and no steersman!'
What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...'
DNA Printed Book By Isaac Asimov Now Available
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!'
AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.'
Space Traffic Management (STM) Needed Now
'...the spot was a lonely one in an uncharted region, far from the normal lanes of space traffic.'
Fine-Tune Your Infinite Book The Way You Want It
'I squatted down beside the roller and tried to make some sense out of the knobs. There were thirty-nine of them...'
SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm
'Beware the long, flexible, glittering tentacles...'
Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month
'...I don’t understand technical things — tell me, does it ever feel anything?"
Stratospheric Solar Geoengineering From Harvard
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
