Ghost In the Shell

This is just short-form notes for the talk I gave, but I was pretty pleased with the content and thought I'd put it out there for anyone who was interested.

Talk for CSLUG and Anime club presentation of "Ghost in the Shell," November 17, 2004, by Giles Orr
Thanks to ...
- Ashley Clair - several other people worked hard on this, but Ashley kept on pushing us until it really happened.
Let's talk about computers ...
- The Internet originated with the idea of networking computers to share information
- computer viruses - started as just destructive or humourous - printing a message on your screen
- computer worms - viruses require you to run something to let them in. Worms look for vulnerabilities and let themselves in.
- hijacking computers is now commonplace
  - You get a virus or worm, it allows someone else to use your computer - usually you'll never even know it's happening.
  - groups of hijacked computers become a zombie network
  - DDOS
    - Distributed Denial Of Service
    - What it is: Multiple hijacked computers attack a website at once.
  - spamming
    - Spammers don't want people to know where they're sending mail from because people tend to blacklist those addresses.
    - Spammers buy zombie networks or the worms/viruses to create them.
    - They send spam through multiple hijacked computers making the mail almost completely untraceable.
- Always connected
  - We expect these days to always be connected to the internet
  - DSL
  - Cable modems
  - Even cell phones - a lot of cell phones can browse the web
Cyberpunk
- A genre of science fiction, started by William Gibson's "Neuromancer"
  - Came out in 1984
  - He wasn't really a computer user, but came up with the idea of "jacking in to the net"
  - The idea of visualizing data, and extreme body modification
Cyborgs
- Some consider it the next step in computers and human evolution
- Inserting computers into humans
- We have wearable computers right now - they're not very good yet
- We have mind-controlled computers right now (as of October 2004) - they're not very good either, but they exist
- Stick a computer in your body, wire it to your brain, connect it to the internet
- Enhance your memory and reflexes, make yourself better
- Search the web by thinking about it.
- Wait, is that a networked computer you're using to remember stuff with?
Anime
- term used for Japanese Animation
- North Americans think of animated material as being "for kids," but Anime ranges from children's material through action adventure and adult content
- Fan service
  - The "fans" are mostly young, adult, and male
  - Give them what they want: "fan service"
  - ie. naked women - it's mostly gratuitous in this one, and one of the movie's few failings
- Detour: Why do so many anime characters look caucasian?
  - ~ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/2607/shoujo.htm
  - big eyes, more emotional - small eyes, more furtive
  - Shoujo Manga initially set in the west, now hair colours represent personal characteristics to some extent
  - Westerners were perceived as having more freedoms, a less restrictive society. So the characters were set in that less restrictive milieu.
GitS itself
- directed by Mamoru Oshii
- released in 1995
- Only major North American anime release prior to it was the non-sensical but beautiful "Akira"
- COMPLEX movie - I was astonished how much more I picked up the third time I watched it.
- Very philosophical
- The Wachowski Brothers definitely found some inspiration here for "The Matrix"
What to see/read after this
- Ghost in the Shell: Innocence
  - Haven't seen it: reviews indicate it's more intellectual (too much so?), more violent, and maybe even more beautiful.
- Ask at Anime Club
- Neuromancer - still highly relevant
- Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson, the other definitive cypherpunk novel
- Hayao Miyazaki
  - Spirited Away
    - Kid-safe, but stunningly beautiful - so much so as to be great for adults too
  - Princess Mononoke
    - Not exactly for children - very dark, pretty violent
  - My Neighbour Totoro
    - Definitely for children
- Akira
  - Incomprehensible but beautiful
- Bladerunner
- The Matrix
Sponsors
- Anime Club
- CSLUG
  - Meets 5:15 Herty 252, next year Herty 313
  - Alternate discussion with presentations, outside and local presenters
    - Previous presentations include ...
      - Linux Live CDs
      - Hardware Basics
      - Vinyl to CD Conversion
  - ~ http://www.gilesorr.org/cslug/