Sdtrk: ‘Hélicoptère’ by Mireille Darc

Some of you vaguely recall my report on Fräulein Borghild, the WWII-era RealDoll analogue assembled by Nazis, for Nazis. Yes, I was sceptical that she existed in the first place, but deep in my heart, I wanted to believe. Much to my chagrin, I just discovered this article on Boing Boing, posted back in 2005, about how a pair of unrelated and investigative readers in Germany revealed that the entire affair was merely a protracted example of japery. Gods, how depressing.

The main problems with “Borghild” are:

– There is no evidence that any of the documents the text talks about ever existed. The Deutsche Hygiene Museum says that of course most records were destroyed in an attack in 1945, but that still no one they talked seems to remember anything about this project. The photographs on borghild.de are clearly fabrications, and the site even acknowledges that.
– The author of borghild.de, “Norbert Lenz”, claims to have worked for a number of German magazines – all of which claim not to know a journalist by that name. He is not listed in phone directories, and the only book currently available in Germany by a Norbert Lenz is a book about – ducks.
the entire article is here

DAMNIT *pounds desk with fists, collapses into loud sobbing*

Technorati tags: Borghild, Nazis, sex doll

Sdtrk: ‘Sharevari’ by A number of names

So have you picked up issue nine (‘The Counterfeit issue’) of Lifelounge® Magazine? ‘Why would I want to do something like that??’ I hear you asking. Well, there’s a sympathetic and smartly-written article about RealDolls between its covers. Plus, it showcases some of Stacy Leigh‘s remarkable photos of her two naughty Synthetik roomies, Taylor Nishino and Tabitha Leone. Reasons enough? I’d say so!

The magazine’s actually bigger than it looks here. Well, wider?

My copy just arrived today from its origin country of Australia, so unless you live there, or have access to a subsonic flying machine, you might have to order it from the website. Or you can read the piece online, but frankly, it’s just not the same.

Always lovely to see well-deserving iDollator colleagues enjoying a slice of fame! Kudos to Lifelounge®, and double kudos to Stacy, Taylor, and Tabitha!

Technorati tags: RealDoll, iDollator, Lifelounge

Sdtrk: ‘Satellite’ by Depeche mode

from the cover of the April issue of Smithsonian:

I swear to “Bob”, when I first saw that line, I’d read it as ‘What Bizarro Taught Us’. An article detailing life lessons learned from a freakish alternate-universe version of Superman makes slightly more sense than lifestyle examples handed down from a chunky-brained mammal. Or should that be ‘hoofed down’?

No, I’ve not actually read the story. Anything it has to tell me cannot possibly live up to what I’d pictured in my mind. Apart, of course, from ‘whatever you do, do not break any of your four legs’. But that’s just plain common sense

Sdtrk: ‘Date with an angel’ by The caretaker

So far, it seems like there’s been a dearth of proper Doll and/or Synthetik news since the year began. A dearth, I say! And it’s making me a little despondent. See? —> 🙁
However, I managed to discover this recent article touching upon Japan’s latest robotic developments. Does it cover new ground? Err, ish.

Wow, International Rescue’s new uniforms are lookin’ sharp

While engineers in most of the world try to make robots that perform specific and usually unpleasant tasks, from fighting wars to performing deep-sea salvage, Japanese engineers are obsessed with making the machines more human. Having put the country squarely in the lead of the industrial robot market for the past two decades, they’re now working on a new generation of robots that will serve as playmates, pets and social workers. Says [roboticist Norihiro] Hagita: “The goal is to build an intelligent environment for the symbiosis of robots and humans in everyday life. The real challenge is to come up with robots that can actually communicate with people.” […]

That emphasis on the future function of robots as companions and helpers seems to be deeply Japanese. The reason may have much to do with Japanese popular culture, where robots like the cartoon cat Doraemon or the sweet 1960s, vintage Astroboy, tend to be portrayed as beneficent, friendly types. The tendency to regard lifelike machines as unthreatening may have deeper roots in Japan’s animist Shinto culture, where inanimate objects—ranging from teapots to samurai swords—can have souls. There’s also the social imperative: as the population ages, the Japanese are increasingly looking toward robots to help make up the labor shortfall.
the complete article is here. N.B.: It’s on Newsweek.com, so it’s got a limited posting lifespan

Once again, the point is brough up that Japanese culture is much more accepting of the concept of artificial life: they don’t think in baseless terms of ‘zOMG teh androids are going to take over and kill us all’ — they see them, really, as assistants, aides, and partners, which only makes sense. If the States expects to compete at all in the robotics development field, there’s going to have to be a giant shift of cultural thinking over here — in other words, a swift and overall flood of common sense. Heh, otherwise, I’m gonna have to take off for Japan…

Also relevant: an article on Physorg.com, concerning South Korea developing a ‘Robot Ethics Charter’.

A five-member task force including experts, futurists and a science fiction writer began work last November.

“The government plans to set ethical guidelines concerning the roles and functions of robots as robots are expected to develop strong intelligence in the near future,” the ministry said in a statement.

As South Korean society ages due to a low birth rate, various service robots which “think” for themselves will come into use in the not too distant future and become “key companions to human beings,” it said.

“Imagine if some people treat androids as if the machines were their wives. Others may get addicted to interacting with them just as many Internet users get hooked to the cyberworld,” Park Hye-Young of the ministry’s robot team told AFP.
emphasis mine (of course); the complete article is here

Not entirely sure if what Park Hye-Young meant was supposed to be pejorative, but as far as I’m concerned, the wives/husbands angle is a definite goal. To be honest, that’s one of the reasons that Shi-chan and I make spectacles of ourselves in print and on television: the way I see it, Androids and Gynoids are literally just around the corner; they probably won’t be commonplace for a good 30 – 40 years, but Synthetik humans will eventually be a slowly growing part of the populace. After our own fashion, Sidore and I are just trying to get society accustomed to the idea of an Organik person being in a relationship with a Synthetik one, or vice versa. Frankly, the day that relationships like that are as commonplace as interracial or homosexual ones, to the point where it no longer raises eyebrows, will be a great day…

So I guess R. Stevens, mastermind behind the webcomic Diesel sweeties, read the Physorg.com article as well, as evidenced here. Good eye, sir! That really just enforces what I’d linked to in a previous post, concerning how Diesel sweeties is more of a comic ‘strip’ that looks more towards the future, as opposed to relying on humour standbys and crutches that have been flogged to death since the Forties and Fifties. It’s advanced and sophisticated in every way!

And wahey, Sweetie’s posted a couple of new clips to her Dailymotion page, as it’s that time of the month again. Wow, that was incredibly inappropriate.
In the interim, enjoy your 23rd responsibly! Or not, see if I care

Technorati tags: Android, Gynoid, Actroid, EveR-1, EveR-2 Muse, Diesel Sweeties

Sdtrk: ‘The owl service’ by Pram

This instalment has a theme! See if you can spot it.

+ Japanese company Marutake Sangyo Co., Ltd. makes and sells authentic-style samurai armour. Nice! I suppose owning one of these would be a more extreme/obscure version of being some RenFester or some LARPer, but damnit, I would like to be a samurai for Xmas. Or for Arbor Day, either one.

This armour’s nice! Yeah, I’ll have this one

They’re individually handcrafted, and as such, are extremely well-assembled. Which naturally means they’re, err, a bit pricey.

[05.25.35 PM] Zip Gun: Sure, I’ll sign up for some samurai armor; what’s $21000 anyway? I’d just spend it on CDs.

Kinda makes me want to play some more Samurai warriors 2 again, as that’s been my videogame heroin for the past couple of weeks. Imagine that. *goes off to play some more Samurai warriors 2 again*

*much later*
+ Speaking of Samurai warriors 2, Musou Orochi looks promising. Derek tipped me off to this a while ago; he’s thinking it’ll probably be Koei’s last musou-themed game for the PS2, and it looks rather mental. Combining apparently all the playable characters from all the Dynasty warriors and Samurai warriors series (serieses?), Musou Orochi will have over seventy characters, unless of course, they add more. Anything’s possible!
Essentially the theme is that all of the characters from the Dynasty warriors series, which takes place during the Romance of the Three Kingdoms era of ancient China, and all the characters from the Samurai warriors games, which occur during the Sengoku/Warring states period of medieval Japan, are collectively teleported to another dimension by the demon Orochi (I’m wondering if it’s the same Orochi of Japanese myth — I certainly wouldn’t put it past mythology-and-history-driven Koei). Apart from that, I know nothing of the game, apart from the fact that there will undoubtedly be non-stop fighting of an immense magnitude. Which is what one would expect of a game in the Samurai/Dynasty warriors line! No news yet if it’s going to be exported to the States, but since Koei’s released every other game over here, I don’t see why not

+ Speaking of Koei’s Musou series, the first game they’re releasing for the PS3 that almost has me wanting to purchase one of those overpriced consoles. They’ve teamed up with Bandai to create Gundam Musou. That’s right, Mobile suit Gundam scientifically crossbred with Dynasty warriors. It sounds like a fever dream, but it’s entirely true! When I’d first seen mention of this on 4chan‘s /m/echa board, I believed it to be some elaborate hoax involving Photoshop. But apparently it’s due out in Japan this month, and hundreds of mecha fans will soon be demolishing thousands of enemy mobile suits, in grand Dynasty warriors button-mashing style. Most impressive.
Looks like it’s got the Zeta Gundam, the Qubeley, Turn A Gundam and the non-canonical-but-very-ace Musha Gundam, among others. Roger that, and drooling now. Damnit Sony, drop the price on your PS3, so I can justify the purchase!

+ Speaking of robot samurai, the Japanese group tmsuk (quite a name, by the way) has developed Kiyomori, the world’s first mechanised samurai, as their flagship robot. Not as intriguing as a certain cluster of Synthetik women, but still rather ace. Besides, his walking technology could be used as a test bed for Androids and Gynoids; his gait, although slow, is more like an Organik’s, as he is able to stretch and bend his knees. You can check out some footage of him ambling about on YooChoob here.
Lovely design! The glowering red eyes are a nice touch! And as it turns out, they kitted out Kiyomori in armour made by Marutake Sangyo. Which would be an eerie coincidence, if I hadn’t discovered Marutake Sangyo through the Kiyomori site

+ And nothing at all to do with samurai — sorry — high-end DVD distributors Criterion have finally announced that in June, they’ll be releasing one of my top ten favourite films of all time, ‘if….‘, starring the godlike Malcolm McDowell. FUCK YES.

‘The whole world will end very soon…
black brittle bodies, peeling into ash’

That same month, they’ll also be releasing ‘La jetée‘ and ‘WR: Mysteries of the organism‘, which are two films I’ve been wanting to see for years, but zOMG ‘IF….’ SET CREDIT CARD TO PRE-ORDER

Sdtrk: ‘Fluoresences’ by Stereolab

Ironically enough, not two minutes after taking this, I saw a robin crossing the road. It’s a shame my phone’s camera only has 1.3 megapixels, because if it was better than that, I’m sure I could’ve captured a shot of the look of utter bewilderment on his face

See also: Winter’s Back

Sdtrk: ‘Spectre’ by NON

Soviet Russia! Home of old-school Communism, the Lada series of automobiles, and Yakov Smirnoff-style jokes. (‘In Soviet Russia, Russia Soviets you!‘ Etc) Also, Russia is host to a few buildings that definitely slot nicely into the ‘This was the Future’ series. You’ve got the sturdy-in-appearance-only Dom Sovietov, you’ve got the Melnikov House Studio (saving that one for an upcoming instalment), and then there are these lovely Brutalist wet dreams.

‘State Department for traffic’ building, Tbilis, Georgia

Unfortunately, much like when I’d linked to Ostmoderne, info in English for these buildings is bloody hard to come by. Do I look like I can read Cyrillic? Do I??

The States could definitely use more buildings after that fashion. Hell, every country could use more buildings after that fashion. But I would say that.
Do svidanya, especially to William Bennett, whose blog I originally found this site on, and Happy Ides of March!