O F F L I N E from Matthew Santoro on Vimeo.

A is for Adama.

B is for Battlestar Galactica or Bill Adama.

C is for Cylon – a CYbernetic Life-fOrm Node created on Caprica.

D is for Daughter & Daddy.

E is for Ethnicity, a recurring theme.

F is for Frankenstein and his monster.

G is for Gemini the twins.  Twin lives intertwined.

H is for Holographic Hedonism & the Holocaust of Humanity.

I is for Intelligence as in Artificial.

M is for Monotheism, the most dangerous religion around.

R is for Robotics

S is for Soldier.

T is for Tauron, where the bull-headed Adamas hail from.

V is for virtual reality.

Z is for Zoe, who looks like a virtual clone of Zooey Deschanel.

Apparently Jolene Blalock is not going to be in this reboot of the Star Trek franchise.  I think that’s a big mistake.  As you can see from this picture, “appropriated” from Maxim magazine, Ms. Blalock has exactly what a new beginning of Star Trek needs: more sex appeal.  Let’s be honest, if nerds were thinking more about sex and less about technology and blowing things up, schools would not have to become prison camps where every student is shaken down by security on a daily basis.  Unfortunately J.J. Abrams has taken the Michael Bay, more explosions more quickly approach to filmmaking, rather than the Zalman “Red Shoe Diaries” King direction.

Ah, the Enterprise, now with 110% more aerostyling (yeah, I don’t even know if that’s a word, but you know what I mean).  This is an Enterprise designed by the people who brought you 10 dozen different car models, all indistinguishable due to their aerodynamic styling, apparently to increase gas mileage to a whopping 30mpg.  Gone are the days off retro-future-past, where everything had fins and extraneous gadgets stuck to hull.  Now the Enterprise is ready to go swimming in the oceans of Ganymede, or some actual planet that has gaseous oceans large enough for a galaxy-class starship.  Bottom line: you’re going to love the new Enterprise, because it is so fucking sleek!

There is no way, yet, to reverse the ravages time has taken on William Shatner, the only man to make running a starship look as fun as a weekend in Vegas with a fistful of benjamins and a pocketful of Viagra.  Our heroes grow old and join law firms, but thanks to the wonders of Hollywood, what was old is now young again.  I don’t even really know the name of this kid filling Shatner’s shoes, I am not going to bother looking it up, if he can overact, and… talk… like… this! then I am sure he has a new career ahead of him: going to nerd conventions and answering inane questions about the nuances of a script that he barely remembers until he is arrested for beating up a hooker dressed like Lt. Uhura.

Great choice, selecting a Scot to play Scotty.  No wonder those casting agencies make the big bucks!  This new Mr. Scott will bring the audience an additional joy of wondering every moment he is onscreen if zombies will begin to attack the crew!  Is it now?  Now?  Now, are the zombies going to attack?  Because as you now, as good as this movie could possibly be, there is now fucking way that it could possibly compare to the movie in the mind of every Shaun of the Dead fan – “What if Zombies attacked the Enterprise?”  Sure it would be a lot like the Borg, but Shaun of the Dead!  On the Enterprise!  Why didn’t they just make that movie?

By some irritating coincidence, three people asked me the same question today:  “What is the Singularity?”

Simply put, the Singularity is a future period in which technological progress becomes so rapid that it radically transforms humankind.

Blah, blah, blah – words.  Let’s explain this in terms of movies.  There are three sci-fi movies about the Singularity that you have already seen: Lawnmower Man, The Terminator movies, and the Matrix films.

To refresh, in Lawnmower Man, a scientist utilizes cognitive enhancement drugs and virtual reality education to augment the intelligence of a mentally challenged man.  Eventually the test subject transfers his consciousness into the virtual world.  Three common singularity ideas: 1. We will develop drugs to make us smarter.  2. Computerized education can increase intellectual capabilities. 3. We will eventually be able to upload our consciousness into a computerized environment.

The Matrix supposes a post-singularity earth where things did not turn out well, to say the least.  Advancements in computer technology and artificial intelligence develop into a world where humans live in a simulated environment controlled by a combination of self-aware software “agents” and conscious machines that harvest the energy of human bodies.  Three additional singularity concepts: 1. Software could become self-aware.  2. Computer intelligence could exceed human intelligence. 3. Enough computing power could completely simulate what we consider to be the “real” world.

The Terminator movies and TV shows present another bleak view of accelerating technological progress.  When Skynet, a network of computers becomes (marginally) self-aware , it utilizes its military connections to declare war on the human race and start a fairly one-sided nuclear war (Judgment Day).  It is unclear whether actual artificial intelligence has been achieved, but technology in this sci-fi series has certainly gotten out of hand.  Three more Singularity oriented concepts: 1. Computer intelligence will become similar to biological intelligence with similar motivations (fear, self-preservation).  2. Networks provide a higher order platform of potential artificial intelligence.  3. Networks of computers will eventually be designing new, faster, more complex, and better computers than those designed by humans.

Movies are made to make money.  Money is made by giving the audience an emotional experience.  Fear is the easiest emotion to create.  All of these movies portray a dystopian future, created by the accelerating technological change obtained by intelligence increasing capabilities of positive feedback loops created by networking more, faster and better computers.

So where does that leave us?  Why am I so excited about the next 20 years of unprecedented levels of smaller, faster, more networked and cheaper computing?

Stay tuned.