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about
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Prosthetic developed to compliment English 191, taught at Penn State. This site on-line since 1997. Now in Version 4.2.
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film projects
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In the past, students have made short films. Want to know more? Click here.
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note on media
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All media is copyrighted to the appropriate owners and is used here for instructional purposes only. The free QuickTime Player, version 5 or higher, is required to view media.
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note on surveillance
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Quizzes and exams are available in the surveillance section two class periods before they are due.
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invade mars
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linkage
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Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore (Lewis Padgett)
"Mimsy Were the Borogroves" was written by a husband-and-wife team. Learn more about them.
Jabberwocky
Couldn't find your copy of the short poem "Jabberwocky" to examine while reading Padgett's "Mimsy Were the Borogroves"? Well, this on-line copy (with some images scanned from a ninteenth-century printing) should help. Lewis Carroll, creator of this poem, also wrote Alice in Wonderland.
The Mars Society
They're ready to go. You can be, too.
JSC Advanced Life Support Program
Technology as the "barrier" and "protection" between humanity and the alien other at NASA. Technical in places, but clear about the "real" science involved in visiting other worlds--like Mars.
This week's Martian weather
Like Orlando, but colder. Like Jupiter, but warmer.
Use interactive maps of Mars
Navigate by clicking your way over the surface of Mars.
Mars Global Surveyor Image Gallery
A public catalog of over recent 90,000+ Mars images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor.
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A Renewed Spirit of Discovery, NASA Infomercial
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Bush's vision of America in space--one syllable at a time. [15.7 meg file]
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NASA simulation of Mars Rover 2003 landing
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No audio. [2 meg file]
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Red Planet, crashdown
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Crash landing on Mars, decent science. [2.1 meg file]
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Mission to Mars, "He's right, Terry. It's no use."
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Failed space rescue above Mars. [1.8 meg file]
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robots, cyborgs, and androids
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Alfred Bester
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One of the most difficult things to teach people outside the arts . . . and in the arts as well . . . is that the important ingredient in the artist is not talent, technique, genius or luck--the most important ingredient is himself. So says science fiction writer Alfred Bester, who believed both that writers should reflect on their inwardness, and that this inwardness would lead to the writer's personal character or charm. This reflection enables writers to discover new frontiers of personal thought. Bester's impetus for this particular belief comes from science fiction stories that are products of writers who are not true to themselves or their readers. These "hack writers" as Bester calls them have "no sense of dramatic proportion, no principles of human behavior . . . and a wooden ear for dialogue." . . . more
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linkage
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Robots and Mecha
Page that defines robots, androids, borgs, living mechanoids, and mechs.
Sony's Aibo ERS
The "perfect" pet. Hears its master's voice. Plays by itself for your amusement. Recharges. Plays more. Learns from you and its mistakes. Sophisticated technology lurking as a toy--don't be fooled by its appearance or by cheap imitations.
Pixel the robot dog.
Before Aibo, there was this. Robotic domestication.
Androids and Robots in the Movies
Listing of android/robot films with one-sentence descriptions.
The Unabridged A.S.F.R. TV Guide.
Listing of android/robot sightings and appearances in television with paragraph-long descriptions. Plastic wrap recommended. Proceed at your own risk.
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Blade Runner, "How can it not know what it is?"
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Decker tests a replicant. [1.7 meg file]
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Baby, walking robot, and AIBO
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[.4 meg file]
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Batman Beyond, "With coolest green eyes."
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Compare/contrast with artwork by Kelly Freas (1957-1958) for Super-Science Fiction in the Experimental Babes and Robobabes sections of the Babes in Space Gallery. [1.9 meg file]
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