|
Dr. Samuel Says -
Weirdness
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Thursday, 30 April 2009 |
|
In William Gibson’s seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, computer viruses were more than just malicious bits of invisible code. They were terrifying three-dimensional AIs that darted through the Matrix like monsters. The famous Chinese icebreaker program used in the novel is described as a kind of chrome wasp, viciously penetrating data networks and replicating, hivelike, as it devoured information.
 I’ve always enjoyed that particular visual, and often think of it when
I read about the latest virus making the rounds. In reality (or virtual
reality, anyway), viruses are just strings of code -- not particularly
scary to look at. But a Romanian artist and MIT researcher has taken
measures to bring about a more Gibsonian future. His project brings to 3-D life the various viruses, spyware, worms that
so plague us. The "malwarez" images -- artistic and scary -- are built by feeding
the raw code of viruses though a set of algorithms and into 3-D
modeling programs. Pretty creepy.
I’d like to see the other side of the struggle -- images of the
antiviral and protection programs that combat viruses. In any case, what a cool idea...
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
