Transhumanism, Utopia, and the Problem of the Real in Ready Player One

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Monteith
Keyword(s):  
Film Adaptation ◽  
Fan Fiction ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
The Real

Ann Taves’s argument about “special things” permits religion scholars to analyze secular texts fruitfully. Notably, Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One speculates about humanity’s possible future and how technological advancement could reshape it. Although the narrative assumes an atheistic stance, its central, conceptual tensions are categorically religious. Cline’s imagined cyberworld sensorily immerses users into an alternative kind of space and allows them to inhabit bodies of their own choosing; this represents a kind of transhumanist, utopian impulse similar to shamanism. However, Ready Player One problematizes this created world ontologically and questions whether relationships formed in such a place can be authentically meaningful. Contrasting the book, the film adaptation, and fan fiction illustrates the controversial stakes at play.

scholarly journals Metazoa Ludens: Mixed Reality Environment for Playing Computer Games with Pets

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger K. C. Tan ◽  
Adrian David Cheok ◽  
James K. S. Teh
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Mixed Reality ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Computer Game ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
The Real ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Pet Owner

For better or worse, technological advancement has changed the world to the extent that at a professional level demands from the working executive required more hours either in the office or on business trips, on a social level the population (especially the younger generation) are glued to the computer either playing video games or surfing the internet. Traditional leisure activities, especially interaction with pets have been neglected or forgotten. This paper introduces Metazoa Ludens, a new computer mediated gaming system which allows pets to play new mixed reality computer games with humans via custom built technologies and applications. During the game-play the real pet chases after a physical movable bait in the real world within a predefined area; infra-red camera tracks the pets' movements and translates them into the virtual world of the system, corresponding them to the movement of a virtual pet avatar running after a virtual human avatar. The human player plays the game by controlling the human avatar's movements in the virtual world, this in turn relates to the movements of the physical movable bait in the real world which moves as the human avatar does. This unique way of playing computer game would give rise to a whole new way of mixed reality interaction between the pet owner and her pet thereby bringing technology and its influence on leisure and social activities to the next level

After The Music Man

2021 ◽  
pp. 130-163
Author(s):  
Dominic McHugh
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Film Adaptation ◽  
The Real

It was difficult for Willson to choose a follow-up to The Music Man because it was such a big hit. This chapter charts his struggles with his second musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown, including the problems with the show’s director, Dore Schary, which are revealed through newly uncovered production documents. The musical is based on the real life exploits of Molly Brown, who survived the sinking of the Titanic, and was a modest success upon its debut on Broadway. The chapter also briefly explores the 1964 MGM film adaptation starring Debbie Reynolds.

scholarly journals Book Review: 100 Great War Movies: The Real History Behind the Films

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 124
Author(s):  
Edward Whatley
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Film Adaptation ◽  
Great War ◽  
World War ◽  
The Real ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The One ◽  
From Here To Eternity

The one hundred films covered by Robert Niemi’s 100 Great War Movies: The Real History Behind the Films were selected using an eclectic array of criteria (the preferences of the author based on his experience as a film teacher, the preferences of his friends and colleagues, and a survey of numerous best-of lists), and the result is of course a rather eclectic collection of entries. Coverage includes famous well-regarded films that most readers will expect to find in a collection such as this: The Bridge on the River Kwai, From Here to Eternity, and Saving Private Ryan. But readers will also encounter films with which they may not be as familiar, such as Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence starring David Bowie, and the film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. The films included also cover a wide range of ideological viewpoints: from patriotic World War II–era films to more recent films that take a more skeptical view of warfare.

scholarly journals Borderland literature, female pleasure, and the slash fic phenomenon

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Lyn Massey
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Fan Fiction ◽  
Mass Market ◽  
The Real ◽  
Cultural Transformations ◽  
Predominantly Female ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Slash Fan Fiction ◽  
Borderlands Theory

In the discussion of media and borderlands theory, current scholarship primarily attends to investigating borderlands as metaphors for broader minority critique, where niche, representative publications resist hegemonic mass-market productions. However, scholarship has yet to formally extend the borderlands paradigm to slash fan fiction—that is, examining a subaltern where residents display a hybridity of opposing culture. Looking at slash and its predominantly female, often queer, writers through the lens of Gloria Anzaldúa's notion of a borderlands offers insight into the values and motivations of writers and consumers in their production of fan fiction, not just within the microcosm of fandom but also pertaining to wider social and cultural transformations. This investigation considers the circumstances dictating female fan experience by examining the practical and contextual dimensions of fandom and illustrating how fan works differ ontologically, epistemologically, and functionally from mainstream productions, thus facilitating a critique on how fans construct and mobilize imaginary as means of negotiating the real social structures that otherwise limit their enjoyment of consumable media and the transformative works they create that nonetheless mirror the systems of marginalization found in the real world.

Scanning electron microscopy of human iliac bone by a simple preparation method

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-227
Author(s):  
Toshihiko Takita ◽  
Tomonori Naguro ◽  
Toshio Kameie ◽  
Akihiro Iino ◽  
Kichizo Yamamoto
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
Preparation Method ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Real Surface ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Preparation Methods ◽  
The Real ◽  
Simple Preparation ◽  
Scanning Electron

Recently with the increase in advanced age population, the osteoporosis becomes the object of public attention in the field of orthopedics. The surface topography of the bone by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is one of the most useful means to study the bone metabolism, that is considered to make clear the mechanism of the osteoporosis. Until today many specimen preparation methods for SEM have been reported. They are roughly classified into two; the anorganic preparation and the simple preparation. The former is suitable for observing mineralization, but has the demerit that the real surface of the bone can not be observed and, moreover, the samples prepared by this method are extremely fragile especially in the case of osteoporosis. On the other hand, the latter has the merit that the real information of the bone surface can be obtained, though it is difficult to recognize the functional situation of the bone.

Personal Audio System: Hearing Symptoms, Habits, and Sound Pressure Levels Measured in Real Ear and a Manikin

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 2016-2026
Author(s):  
Tamara R. Almeida ◽  
Clayton H. Rocha ◽  
Camila M. Rabelo ◽  
Raquel F. Gomes ◽  
Ivone F. Neves-Lobo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Real ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Sound Pressure Levels ◽  
Audio System

Purpose The aims of this study were to characterize hearing symptoms, habits, and sound pressure levels (SPLs) of personal audio system (PAS) used by young adults; estimate the risk of developing hearing loss and assess whether instructions given to users led to behavioral changes; and propose recommendations for PAS users. Method A cross-sectional study was performed in 50 subjects with normal hearing. Procedures included questionnaire and measurement of PAS SPLs (real ear and manikin) through the users' own headphones and devices while they listened to four songs. After 1 year, 30 subjects answered questions about their usage habits. For the statistical analysis, one-way analysis of variance, Tukey's post hoc test, Lin and Spearman coefficients, the chi-square test, and logistic regression were used. Results Most subjects listened to music every day, usually in noisy environments. Sixty percent of the subjects reported hearing symptoms after using a PAS. Substantial variability in the equivalent music listening level (Leq) was noted ( M = 84.7 dBA; min = 65.1 dBA, max = 97.5 dBA). A significant difference was found only in the 4-kHz band when comparing the real-ear and manikin techniques. Based on the Leq, 38% of the individuals exceeded the maximum daily time allowance. Comparison of the subjects according to the maximum allowed daily exposure time revealed a higher number of hearing complaints from people with greater exposure. After 1 year, 43% of the subjects reduced their usage time, and 70% reduced the volume. A volume not exceeding 80% was recommended, and at this volume, the maximum usage time should be 160 min. Conclusions The habit of listening to music at high intensities on a daily basis seems to cause hearing symptoms, even in individuals with normal hearing. The real-ear and manikin techniques produced similar results. Providing instructions on this topic combined with measuring PAS SPLs may be an appropriate strategy for raising the awareness of people who are at risk. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12431435

Current Issues: Evidence-Based Practice for the Real World: Thoughts on Clinical Education in Communication Disorders

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 100-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne K. Bothe
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Education ◽  
Real World ◽  
Evidence Based Practice ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
University Faculty ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
The Real ◽  
Language Pathology

This article presents some streamlined and intentionally oversimplified ideas about educating future communication disorders professionals to use some of the most basic principles of evidence-based practice. Working from a popular five-step approach, modifications are suggested that may make the ideas more accessible, and therefore more useful, for university faculty, other supervisors, and future professionals in speech-language pathology, audiology, and related fields.

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