Updata
Is It Art, or Is It Appropriation? It's an age-old question, indeed. And one that can be applied to many fields outside the realm of fine art. Our culture is riddled with examples. Take, for instance: Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb. Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5. Macintosh '84 and Windows 95. Melrose Place and The Spot. In the immortal words of Pablo Picasso, "Bad artists copy. Good artists steal." – The Editors
Virtual Romance, by Paulina Borsook Virtual Love, by Avodah Offit
| An interconnected series of short stories that borders on a cohesive novel. Title story published in 1991 by University of Phoenix Press, series excerpted in Wired 1.4 (September/October 1993). | A novel comprised of many short stories. Published in 1994 by Simon & Schuster.
| Educated, intellectual, semiscientific professional female protagonist living on the East Coast and cohabitating with a male partner gets to know married male protagonist living on the West Coast through e-mail. They ultimately commit adultery with one another. They share true confessions, sexual musings, and childhood experiences with a candor unique to both of their lives. | Educated, intellectual, semiscientific professional female protagonist living on the East Coast and cohabitating with a male partner gets to know married male protagonist living on the West Coast through e-mail. They ultimately commit adultery with one another. They share true confessions, sexual musings, and childhood experiences with a candor unique to both of their lives.
| Part of the action is set in the desert, with references to Navajo and Southwestern cultures. | Part of the action is set in the desert, with references to Navajo and Southwestern cultures.
| Female protagonist has a brother who drowns at age 15. | Female protagonist has a brother who dies of bulbar polio at age 17 – technically, a death by drowning.
| Male protagonist's brother was hit by a truck. | Male protagonist's brother was hit by a truck.
| Love object has Native American cheekbones. | Love object has Native American cheekbones.
| Male love object is a speed and sensation junkie. | Male love object is a speed and sensation junkie.
| Male intimate of female protagonist has epilepsy. | Male intimate of female protagonist studies epilepsy.
| Mentions Heisenberg uncertainty principle. | Mentions Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
| Contains long quote from highbrow literary work. | Contains long quote from highbrow literary work.
| Makes reference, direct and indirect, to a novel by 18th-century British writer Samuel Richardson. | Makes reference, direct and indirect, to a novel by 18th-century British writer Samuel Richardson.
| Discussion of piano playing and Bach. | Discussion of piano playing and Bach.
| Climactic scene pays homage to the epiphany in "The Dead," from James Joyce's Dubliners. | Climactic scene pays homage to the epiphany in "The Dead," from James Joyce's Dubliners.
The Man and His Machine In September, two months after his victory at the Indianapolis 500, Jacques Villeneuve clinched the 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series championship title. The young French-Canadian held a comfortable lead in championship points going into Laguna Seca after racking up two race victories immediately following his Indy win. Though Laguna Seca was something of a disappointment, Team Green was proud of its driver.
But Jacques won't be part of Team Green in '96. He's joining the Williams-Renault Formula One team in Europe. Though the 24-year-old had never before driven a Formula One car, he equaled the times of Damon Hill, Williams-Renault's lead driver, during a test session.
"We're obviously very, very disappointed to be losing him," says Team Green owner Barry Green. "But we expect he'll make us all proud."
[Original story in Wired 3.10, page 124.]
Check (beep) Mate (whirrrr) Russian chess master Garry Kasparov, who lost to a Pentium processor in 1994, was recently given the opportunity to redeem himself. In a man-versus-machine rematch sponsored by Intel, Kasparov solidly trounced the same processor in Cologne, Germany, this May. (Final score: 11�2 to 1�2.) However, at Intel's World Chess Championship this September, computers were again watching Kasparov. As the master defended his 10-year title against Indian challenger Vishy Anand, commentators were able to diagram moves in real time with the aid of specially designed, 3-D chessboard graphics. More than 1,000 spectators on the 107th-floor observation deck of New York's World Trade Center watched as two big screens sported live shots of the game along with diagrams of strategy and potential moves. Intel's Pentium Predicts and Fritz chess programs worked a third screen, running calculations on the game's outcome while Intel's home page further catapulted the game into the 21st century, offering live, play-by-play action, player bios, and match updates.
Although Kasparov emerged victorious this time, you can bet a silicon opponent is waiting in the wings.
