CYBERHIVE HIATUS!!!

To: "MALAS600B-01-Fall2011":;
Subject: CYBERHIVE..... You Broke Me....: MALAS600B-01-Fall2011


All,

You know how I was complaining that there
was NOT enough activity on the MALAS facebook
page????




thankfully, that is no longer the case...


there is, however, loads of activity for the
cyberhive blog for our technosexuality class....


.... AND.... I can't keep up..... SO, if it's not a bother,
would you mind now posting your course-related
updates on the MALAS program facebook page...


if, however, you have something good, and you
want to post it anonymously, i will be happy to
continue doing so on the technosexualities blog...



thanks!


yours besieged by your amazing,
brilliant, technosexual researches,



bill

CYBERHIVE 44: Technosexualities | TOMORROWLAND

Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:25:42 -0700
Subject: Blog posting for our Technosexualities class
From: Devina Sindhu
To: Bill Nericcio


Hi Professor Nericcio,

I wanted to bring to our class's attention the amazing conference that will be taking place at UCSD on the weekend of October 14 called "Tomorrowland Forever." There will be amazing scholars, writers, and artists presenting including Carole Maso, Rae Armantrout, V.S. Ramachandran, and Bhanu Kapil. Here is the link for it.


One of the presenters that will be at the conference is V.S. Ramachandran, who is a neuroscientist who connects sciences and the humanities through his research and empirical evidence of how the two intersect. In the TED video below "The Neurons that Shaped Civilization"--discusses how we learn social behavior systems through mirror neurons.



"For the longest time, people have regarded the sciences and humanities as being distinct. C.P Snow spoke of the two cultures: science on the one hand, humanities on the other; never the twain shall meet. So I'm saying the mirror neuron system underlies the interface, allowing you to rethink about issues like consciousness, representation of self, what separates you from other human beings, what allows you to empathize with other human beings, and also even things like the emergence of culture and civilization, which is unique to human beings."

CYBERHIVE 43: Technosexualities | More meditations on technology and human behavior...

Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:14:08 -0700
Subject: "Connected" trailer
From: Amelia Ortega
To: memo@sdsu.edu


Hey Bill,

One of the reasons why I decided to take this course was because, for a while now, I have been interested in how technology is affecting our international community and human relationships.

Over the summer, I was devoting some of my time to the South Bay YMCA in Chula Vista. During one of my training courses, my instructor told us this story about how her niece was acting very bratty during a lunch date at the Olive Garden. On the ride home, her niece asked, "Tia, did you check your text messages?" and my instructor told her that she hadn't. So, her niece leaned over towards the front of the car to show her a text message she had just sent. Instead of apologizing to her aunt face to face, she felt more inclined to show her apology through a text message (even though her aunt was with her in person). This story sparked a conversation on how technology has been affecting our youth in this day and age. Children and teens are becoming so consumed with their cell-phones, video games, facebook profiles. It's interesting and a little scary to see how technology is affecting their view on the world and the way that they choose to socialize and engage with others.

I have also noticed how from time to time, when you go out to a restaurant these days, it's not uncommon to see a group of people sitting at the same table looking through their cell phones rather than having conversation and engaging with one another face to face. And on campus, it's typical for students to just stick their earplugs in and disconnect themselves from the outside world with their iPods. I remember watching the film "Wall-E" and observing how the human race had become so disconnected from one another in the film's version of the future. Each human individual was so absorbed with their portable TV's, advertising, and self-indulgence that they didn't even notice the other people around them. From what I can tell, in reality, it seems that humans are going down a very similar path.



It's also funny that after the huge black out we had recently, a news anchorman on NBC had commented on how families had sent in emails about how they were able to spend more quality time with one another because they weren't distracted by the technological devices that usually pull them apart- TV, internet, video games. Through that experience, a lot of families were able to acknowledge the significant effect that technology has made on family dynamics in this day and age.


With all of that said, I came across this movie trailer over the weekend. The film is called "Connected" and it's a documentary that explores the effects that technology has made on the human social sphere.



One more thing, here's a funny article I found on 12 ways that Women have replaced men with technology: 12 ways women have replaced men with technology

Cyberhive 42: Technosexualities | Nurse Robot, to the Rescue

Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2011 20:59:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Francisco Miramontes
Subject: CYBERHIVE
To: bnericci@mail.sdsu.edu


Bill,

 I came across this video which I found to go well with our seminar. It is of a robot developed in Japan that is used to comfort patients at hospitals. I find it to be one of the most intriguing displays of current robotics. Maybe we are much closer then we think to the integration of lifelike robotics into mass culture. Here is the video... I hope you all enjoy.

Francisco Miramontes

CYBERHIVE 41: Technosexualities | FEMALE ROBOTS

Original-Recipient: rfc822;memo@sdsu.edu
To: memo@sdsu.edu
Subject: MALAS600B - Fembots
From: Jenna
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2011 16:59:05 -0400 (EDT)

Technosexualities Colleagues,

I was looking up some things of interest for the class and one thing lead to another (as it invariably does) and I started to think about our culture's seeming obsession with all-things-Fembot. I remembered that "back in the day" I used to watch a popular sitcom called Small Wonder, starring a gynoid named V.I.C.I (Voice Input Child Identicant) whose "father" created her and passed her off as part of the family. She was equipped with an AC outlet, a serial port, an access panel, and superhuman strength. I distinctly recall her picking up the sofa with one hand while vacuuming underneath it with the other, the ultimate "Domestic Goddess" in pseudo-child form. I believe she was originally created to be a domestic servant.

And who could forget Rosie from The Jetsons? The cleaning-obsessed robot that was both matronly and took orders flawlessly. No futuristic household would be complete without one!

Then I remembered the favored Fembots from Austin Powers, with their "machine gun jumblees." Part machine, part sexpot, these femme fatales used their breasts as cannons to try and seduce and kill the International Man of Mystery. Ah, fond memories of Halloween 2000 when I dressed as one of these... but that's a different story...

Body parts disguised as machines led me to Rose McGowan's character Cherry Darling, from the movie Grindhouse/Planet Terror. Now I haven't actually seen this film but the images of the actress with her minigun prosthetic leg kept popping into my head.

Continuing in the same fashion... I came across cyborg images from Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. I haven't seen this television series either, so I'm not sure if the main character is actually part-robot/machine or if the images are merely a marketing ploy. Maybe someone else in the class knows more about this?

Lastly, we have the Bionic Woman (old and new television series)... a woman with bionic surgical implants, including an enhanced arm, legs, and hearing.










This cultural fascination with gynoids seems to be parted into two camps, viewed as either servant or sex object (a technological reformulation of the virgin vs. whore dichotomy?). In addition, these recreations of the female form appear to be an extension of the "perfect woman," either dutifully submissive or existing for sexual consumption (whichever floats your boat and according to your particular desire). They all embody and reinforce femininity, each to a certain degree. It would be interesting to investigate this further, perhaps as part of a research paper...


-Jenna

CYBERHIVE 40: Technosexualities | Nazi Sex Technology Break-throughs!

Bill,

I snagged  this text straight off the Internet (shame, shame, I know) BUT I found this bit of historical information quite interesting:

1941 ---- Nazi’s Invent the Modern Sex Doll. 

That’s right! The world’s first sex-dolls as we know them were created in Nazi Germany at the request of the SS leader, Heinrich Himmler. Called the “Borghild Field-Hygiene Project,” Himmler came up with the concept to stop the “unnecessary losses” of Nazi soldiers due to STD’s. The Project was considered ”Geheime Reichssache,” translated:  ”More secret than top secret.”

The sculptor on the project, Arthur Rink, created three dolls. Typ A: 168 cm bust. Typ B: 176 and Typ C: 182 cm. According to Rink, The SS wanted the breasts “round and full” and SS Dr. Olen Hannussen insisted on “a rose hip form, that would grip well.” As for the face (Yes, they cared about the face, too.) The team agreed it needed a cheeky and naughty look.  They asked to borrow the face of an actress of the time, Käthe von Nagy, for the doll, but she declined. Dr. Hannussen suggested an “artificial face of lust”, which he thought would be more appealing to the soldiers.  Technician, Franz Tschakert agreed saying, “The doll has only one purpose and she should never become a substitute for the honorable mother at home… When the soldier makes love to Borghild, it has nothing to do with love. Therefore the face of our anthropomorphic sexmachine should be exactly how Weininger described the common wanton’s face.” Going along with the Nordish Nazi vision of beauty, a tall leggy blonde rounded out the form. The first model of Borghild, Typ B, was completed in September 1941. Later, this blonde life-sized woman would inspire Ruth Handler to create the Barbie Doll for girls.  Not sure which is creepier, the info above or below (the latter definitely needs a redesign - YUCK!):

2009 --- The First Male Sex Doll. 

Germans make the first make Android-Sex doll, named “Nax.” It has an “automatically soaring penis” and “artificial automatic ejaculation.” It costs $10,000 and the only thing weirder than the name Nax, is what he looks like (above). Yikes! I guess German ladies love bald dudes with ponytails that reek of failed Cirque Du Soleil performer. Sorry American ladies, better luck next time.

-Jenna

CYBERHIVE 39: Technosexualities | We and the PANOPTICON

To: memo@sdsu.edu
Subject: MALAS600B - We
From: Jenn

Bill,

I couldn't help but think of the Panopticon while reading We. Prison inmates are constantly observed and under surveillance, although they were unable to see whether or not they were being observed by the guards in the central tower. While the Panopticon functioned as around-the-clock surveillance, it also served as a form of mental discipline, similar to how the One State was governed. Without ever really knowing who - or if anyone - was monitoring their actions, the numbers had to be constantly vigilant. D-503's Great Operation made me flash back to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, when McMurphy receives a lobotomy, resulting in a vegetative (and, therefore, compliant) state. As a way to assert control over the individual and restrain their rights, the operations served as a medically-sanctioned form of mind-control.

-Jenn

CYBERHIVE 38: Technosexualities | The Medium is the Machine

To: memo@sdsu.edu
Subject: MALAS600B - Machines
From: Jenn
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:01:30 -0400 (EDT)

NSFW!!

Bill,


Totally your discretion if you want to share this on the blog or not. There's an interesting phenomenon in the adult entertainment industry with the creation of "f***ing machines," or sex machines. They serve as a "replacement" for the real thing. I guess the men have their Real Dolls and the women have their F-Machines... how can anybody compete with these??? check out some of the designs:

-Jenn

CYBERHIVE 37: Technosexualities | Robots! At it Again...

CYBERHIVE 36: Technosexualities | WE as Choreographed Dance...

Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:56:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: "ASHLEY L."
Subject: for the blog
To: William Nericcio <bnericci@mail.sdsu.edu>


I thought this video was an interesting take on "We." It's a dance called "Break Away; D-503 and the One State" with choreography based on Yevgeny Zamyatin's novel. The link to the dance is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HynhGMs8gq4

or see it here:



The description of the video is as follows:

"Dancers: Christa Brown, Allie Radice, Julia Kennedy, and Daniel Westbrook. Choreography: Allie Radice Music: stars burn out by lacunae Christa Brown plays the main Character D-503, who is content with the One State controlling all aspects of his life, but when he meets i-330, played by Allie Radice, who breaks away from dehumanization to experience the human condition, a struggle occurs. When D-503 meets i-330, he is torn between what he feels and what he sees as 'best' for him, aka the control of the One State. Enjoy!"

CYBERHIVE 35: Technosexualities | We and 1984

From: Sophia Jacoub
Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:27:36 -0700
Subject: We vs. 1984
To: Bill Nericcio

I've always been enchanted by and drawn to dystopian themed novels. The most canonical works like Huxley's Brave New World, Orwell's 1984, Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, various works by Kurt Vonnegut and several others, are usually at the forefront of the futuristic dystopia discussion and class reading lists. Yet, all these works owe a nod to Yevgeny Zamyatin's We, published several years before all of them. Further still, Zamyatin gives credit to his contemporary, H.G. Wells, for inspiring much of the setting and circumstances within We. This blog from the Guardian (UK) compares We to 1984 and discusses the issue of creative "borrowing" by later authors.

Sophia

Another Unhappy Moment in the Uncanny Valley: Anderson Cooper Edition

source

video

CYBERHIVE 34: Techosexualities | Technology Spurred Human Evolution

click for the link (and the trailer)...

CYBERHIVE 33: Technosexualities | Reading THE STEPFORD WIVES and More...

Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:12:01 -0700
Subject: notes from my brain
From: Victor Fabian

To: Bill Nericcio


I just wanted to share some of the points I picked up on from The Stepford Wives. I believe La Quiebra occurs is on page 29 when Mazzard makes her one of his, so to speak. Up to that point she is considered (and considers herself, if only an amateur) a photographer. In some cultures (and past times) it is feared that photographs steal ones soul. Mazzard took definitely took a part of Joanne's when he sketched her. On pages 2, 13, 19, and 23 the product of her semi-professional hobby are considered photographs. Soon after Mazzard sketches her, her photographs are reduced to pictures. Un-ironically, the first mention of her pictures (as pictures) is on page 64 on the same page where you noted La Quiebra. Furthermore, on page 69 she submits photos to a gallery but is returned (rejected) pictures.
A couple of things I was not able to track down were:

• IMDB trivia states that Ira Levin was originally going to pen this as a play but because it contained so many characters, he opted to write it as a novel instead.
• The three act structure however, remains (setup, confrontation, resolution).
•  "It's in the water" I failed to find the origin of this popular saying and wether or not it originated from this novel.
• In the opening sequence of the film all the men and Joanna walk from the left to right opposite to most of the women. The women walk from right of the screen towards the left. It is a widely used film gimmick similar to the opening scene of the graduate where the protagonist walks in the opposite direction from the flow of traffic. This typically symbolizes that the character is at a loss of direction, traveling again the status quo, etc. In Stepford Wives I feel that her walking opposite to women is equivalent to walking in the wrong direction.

Here's an interesting link that talks a little about soul stealing.

Finally, I'm reading a bit about WE and it almost reminds me of the movie The Island.


Cheers,

Victor F Delgadillo

CYBERHIVE 32: Technosexualities | Gaming and Sex, Breaking Trends in Technosexuality

Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:15:39 -0700
Subject: MMOEG
From: Amelia
To: memo@sdsu.edu

Dr. Nericcio,

I came across this article posted on askmen.com about a new online program that virtually promotes cyber-sex to a new dimension. It's called MMO (massively multiplayer online) and the term is usually grouped with other letters to define the specific sex game being played (i.e. MMOEG massively multiplayer online erotic games). I've heard of this type of gaming before in regards to World of Warcraft, but apparently, MMOEG allows players to use computerized avatars to perform sexual activities with other players online. You can even buy toys that sync with the program to use on yourself. I did some more research through other sources online, and the game has also become available on PS3 and Xbox Live. To be completely honest, I find this program to be quite strange, but it does give a great example of how humans are turning to technology to fulfill their biological sexual needs. The author of this article even suggests that it could serve as a safe alternative to sex.

Here's the article: MMO article

and here's the actual website: MMOEG.NET

CYBERHIVE 31: Technosexualities | The Stepford Husband

Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:38:44 -0700
Subject: Re: hi!: MALAS600B-01-Fall2011
From: Anonymous
To: William Nericcio

After class I went home to make dinner. It was bad, as usual. While admitting that I am a female, cooking is definitely not my forté, and I would rather have someone else do it for me than take a damn cooking class…again.

In my family, men were always the better cooks, and perhaps that’s why I now have this notion that only MEN BELONG IN THE KITCHEN?!? Although we discussed a great deal about the Stepford Wife, we didn’t really discuss the potential of a Stepford Husband. I typed in the aforementioned words in a Google search and this article, although a bit outdated, still rings new:

P.S. Just replace any lines about “raising children” with “making dinner” and I’m all set!

Cyberhive 30: Technosexualities: Life-size Barbie Revealed! Ack!

From: Natalia Clingan
Subject: Re: hi!: MALAS600B-01-Fall2011
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:05:13 -0700
To: William Nericcio <bnericci@mail.sdsu.edu>

Hi, I am Natalia and I thought this was interesting...A young girl did her own 'representation' of what a Barbie would look like based on proportions that the miniature doll currently has. It is one funky looking broad!



It seems to tie in nicely with the idea of an Ike Mazzard girl. This life size representation also drastically distorts the Barbie doll and her perfect embodiment of femininity, beauty, and  talent. We are told when we are young that Barbie can do it all, and we hold fast to this belief because she has the perfect accessories for all her (rather domestic )adventures and not much more than that. If she were to be animated there would be no time to teach, ride horses, swim with dolphins, or cure cancer. Instead, she would just topple over and be suffering alongside the countless women she inadvertently plunged into having eating disorders.

CYBERHIVE 29: Technosexualities | EVE, BARBIE, LINDSEY LOHAN.... a technosexual primer...

Subject: Life Size
From: Natalia Clingan
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:23:37 -0700
To: Bill Nericcio <memo@sdsu.edu>

Life Size is a movie released on TV by Disney (2000)--it features a doll named "Eve" that comes to life and shows the young girl (played by Lohan) how to be a woman. The beginning is eerie as Eve says her robotic catch phrases etc. And the doll-turned-relatively-human is Tyra Banks--a super model, which is destructive to a large percentage of women/girls with body image issues.  Even though it is meant to be family fun and humorous, Tyra Banks still is not fully humanized and rather robotic and too sweet, corny etc! It is more interesting how Disney chose to make a movie like this at all considering the overwhelming critiques they receive for the way they portray gender and the way they control the media. It also baffles me considering I used to love this film and it played a lot on the Disney Channel... :/

A random question: why do you think Disney avoided just making an animatronic Eve? Too soon? They certainly have the technological skill.

CYBERHIVE 28: TECHNOSEXUALITIES | The Disney Industrial Complex... or How Mickey Mouse Touches So Much of What you See/Read

following up on the Disney trail in Ira Levin's THE STEPFORD WIVES...

From: Natalia Clingan
Subject: Re: updates to the schedule...: MALAS600B-01-Fall2011
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:36:15 -0700
To: William Nericcio

Here is a list of all the media Disney owns. They gave a form similar to this to me when I worked for them during my training workshops. They were proud, but I found it disturbing! That means that a predominant amount of our news and entertainment is orchestrated by the same company that we can see has a massive and rather conservative agenda. We also had a  percentage breakdown of how many Disney products and images were distributed via television, movies, books etc. It was shocking to find out that books were still their number one influence and one of their main money makers. I no longer have that secret piece of paper to scan:( The one thing I noticed this website is missing is Marvel, but I know that they only own a percentage. That being the case... what hero will save us now?

CYBERHIVE 27: Technosexualities: Put your hands up for detroit!

Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2011 17:00:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: "ASHLEY L
Subject: blog posting
To: William Nericcio

Hi Prof!

I always liked this music video, and thought it would be a good addition to the Technosexualities blog site:



The song is called "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit" written and produced by Fedde le Grand. It features a science lab where android-type woman technicians create multiple androids. For every android they create, they test its reaction to the android-women stripping.

The first android has a meltdown, while the second flirts with a male doctor instead of looking at the girls.

The third time it works, but he discovers that he is a robot instead of human so he escapes, causing a system shutdown protocol to be activated, shutting down everything including him and the android-women.

CYBERHIVE 26: Technosexualities | Pre-Robot Robots...

Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2011 08:30:19 -0700
Subject: Re: new blog posting...: MALAS600B-01-Fall2011
From: kyle schossow
To: William Nericcio

Dear Dr. Nericcio,

In my internet adventuring I stumbled upon an essay that discusses archaic robots, specifically Christian robots. The last sentence of the essay truly brings it all together, "To make full sense of this development, we must consider the world that preceded it. Before machines became mindless and rote, they were the life of the party." (Riskin). The essay is online here

-Kyle Schossow

CYBERHIVE 25: First There was "Technosexualities" the Class..... Now? TECHNOSEXUAL, the Cologne!

Subject: NYT article concerning the current technology generation
From: Richard Whitehead
Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 13:32:07 -0700
To: William Nericcio

Bill-

Here is the article that I saw....{ hit the image for the nytimes permalink...} About a third of the way down the article you will see "technosexual" to describe the generation that is obsessed with Technology. I found it quite interesting that the CK company trademarked the term.

Rich

CYBERHIVE 24: TECHNOSEXUALITIES | AI

From: Sophia Jacoub
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 21:00:27 -0700
Subject: A.I. interview
To: Bill Nericcio

Profe,

Here's an interesting interview with Jude Law regarding the 2001 film, A.I. 


Law's character is Gigolo Joe, a robot designed to provide sexual pleasure. Yet, he turns out to be far more dimensional than his intended programming. After sifting through the Hollywood milieu, there are some intriguing insights into the roles and messages of the film.


Sophia Jacoub

CYBERHIVE 23: TECHNOSEXUALITIES | Site Inspired by Ira Levin's STEPFORD WIVES

Subject: Stepford Wives
From: Jenna
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 13:07:39 -0700
To: Bill Nericcio

I can't figure out if this website is for real or just an extremely clever satirical nod in favor of the novel by Levine. What do you think?

-Jenna Carter

Cyberhive 22: TECHNOSEXUALITIES | Stepford's Grandmother...

From: Stephany Farley
Date: September 3, 2011 11:49:29 PM PDT
To: William Nericcio
Subject: The Original Stepford Wives?

Dr. Nericcio,

Here is a short story, "A Wife Manufactured to Order", written by Alice W. Fuller in 1895 that I felt was pertinent to our discussion of Levin's book.

Stephany Farley

CYBERHIVE 21: TECHNOSEXUALITIES | That's What She Said Robot

From: Stephany Farley

Subject: That's What She Said

Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2011 11:47:27 -0700

To: memo@sdsu.edu

Dr. Nericcio,

Apparently, they've created a robot that can tell the "that's what she said" joke.  It doesn't get much more technosex than this.  You have to love the robot's name too.  Hit the image below for the link/story...

Stephany Farley

Monsters! Machines! Monsters! via boingboing.net

CYBERHIVE 21: Technosexualities | eyeBORG on BoingBoing.net...

Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 17:42:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: allicia Martinez
Subject: Cyborgs and Transhumanism
To: "memo@sdsu.edu"


Professor Nericcio,

Here is a video on the future of prosthetics, and advancements in cyborg technology.


Allicia Martinez

click for the boingboing article...

CYBERHIVE 20: Technosexualities | OK CUPID and the Future of Love?

From: "Coquereau, Inez"
To: Bill Nericcio

Hi,
I wanted to share with you this article I came across on Gizmodo--hit the image opposite for the link... I thought it was an interesting perspective on online dating. OK Cupid, in case you haven’t hear of it, is an online dating service that also offers a mobile app. You can see other registered singles in your immediate area (hello stalker) and exchange contact info if their profiles entice you. This guy not only found a date through OK Cupid, but also got to read a review of his date on her blog. Talk about a Technosexual nightmare.

Inez Coquereau