Creatures (artificial life series)

Creatures is an artificial life (alife) computer program series, created in the mid-1990s by English computer scientist Steve Grand whilst working for the Cambridge video games developer Millennium Interactive. Gameplay focuses on raising alien creatures known as Norns, teaching them to survive, helping them explore their world, defending them against other species, and breeding them. Words can be taught to creatures by a learning computer (for verbs) or by repeating the name of the object while the creature is looking at it. After a creature understands language, the player can instruct their creature by typing in instructions, which the creature may choose to obey. A complete life cycle is modelled for the creatures - childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and senescence, each with their own particular needs. The gameplay is designed to foster an emotional bond between the player and their creatures. Rather than taking a scripted approach, Creatures series games were driven by detailed biological and neurological simulation and their unexpected results. There were six major Creatures releases from Creature Labs. Between 1996 and 2001, there were three principal games released, the Docking Station add-on (generally referenced as a separate game) and two children's games, and there were three games created for console systems. A sequel named Creatures Online was in development, with the artificial life technology from Creatures 3 and Docking Station updated to a 3D environment.

Artificial life

Artificial life (often abbreviated ALife or A-Life) is a field of study and an associated art form which examine systems related to life, its processes, and its evolution, through the use of simulations with computer models, robotics, and biochemistry. The discipline was named by Christopher Langton, an American computer scientist, in 1986. There are three main kinds of alife, named for their approaches: soft, from software; hard, from hardware; and wet, from biochemistry. Artificial life imitates traditional biology by trying to recreate some aspects of biological phenomena.

Overview

Artificial life studies the logic of living systems in artificial environments in order to gain a deeper understanding of the complex information processing that defines such systems.

Also sometimes included in the umbrella term "artificial life" are agent based systems which are used to study the emergent properties of societies of agents.

While life is, by definition, alive, artificial life is generally referred to as being confined to a digital environment and existence.

Energy (Operation Ivy album)

Energy is the only studio album by the American ska punk band Operation Ivy. It was originally released only on vinyl and cassette in March 1989 through Lookout! Records (LK 010). It was remastered and re-released on CD by Lookout! Records in 1991 as an eponymous release with an additional 8 tracks from the band's Hectic EP and the Maximumrocknroll double 7-inch compilation Turn It Around!. Energy has been cited as one of the most important albums of the ska punk genre.

Hellcat Records re-released the original album as a 12-inch LP picture disc in 2004, and in 2007 re-released a remastered version of the self-titled CD.

Hellcat reissued the original album again with a digital download code on April 18, 2012 (2012-04-18).

Recording and style

Operation Ivy originally intended to record Energy at 924 Gilman Street but because of problems, they set out to record at Sound and Vision in San Francisco, California in January 1989. As did Hectic, Energy had outtakes that were later put onto the album Unreleased Energy. Energy has been said to be more mature and less hardcore than Hectic.

Program (machine)

A program is a set of instructions used to control the behavior of a machine, often a computer (in this case it is known as a computer program).

Examples of programs include:

The execution of a program is a series of actions following the instructions it contains. Each instruction produces effects that alter the state of the machine according to its predefined meaning.

While some machines are called programmable, for example a programmable thermostat or a musical synthesizer, they are in fact just devices which allow their users to select among a fixed set of a variety of options, rather than being controlled by programs written in a language (be it textual, visual or otherwise).

Computer program

A computer program is a collection of instructions that performs a specific task when executed by a computer. A computer requires programs to function, and typically executes the program's instructions in a central processing unit.

A computer program is usually written by a computer programmer in a programming language. From the program in its human-readable form of source code, a compiler can derive machine code—a form consisting of instructions that the computer can directly execute. Alternatively, a computer program may be executed with the aid of an interpreter.

A part of a computer program that performs a well-defined task is known as an algorithm. A collection of computer programs, libraries and related data are referred to as software. Computer programs may be categorized along functional lines, such as application software or system software.

History

Early programmable machines

The earliest programmable machines preceded the invention of the digital computer. In 1801, Joseph-Marie Jacquard devised a loom that would weave a pattern by following a series of perforated cards. Patterns, including flowers and leaves, could be weaved and repeated by arranging the cards.

Television program

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A television program is a segment of content intended for broadcast on vision, other than a commercial, trailer, or any other segment of content not serving as attraction for viewership. It may be a single production, or more commonly, a series of related productions (also called a television series).

A television series that is intended to comprise a limited number of episodes may be called a miniseries or serial. Series without a fixed length are usually divided into seasons or series, yearly or semiannual sets of new episodes. While there is no defined length, US industry practice tends to favor longer seasons than those of some other countries.

A one-time broadcast may be called a "special," or particularly in the UK a "special episode." A television film ("made-for-TV movie" or "television movie"), is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video.

A program can be either recorded, as on video tape, other various electronic media forms, played with an on-demand player or viewed on live television.

Life (Diamonds in the Dark)

"'Life (Diamonds in the Dark)" is a song by Swedish DJ and producer John Dahlbäck featuring Swedish recording artist Agnes. Dahlbäck originally released the instrumental version of the song called "Life" in February 2012, but later got Swedish singer Agnes to sing the vocals on the re-release. In an interview with American magazine "Billboard" Dahlbäck commented on the co-operation with Agnes; "“She’s one of the biggest pop stars in Sweden, so for me it was a big honor to have her on the track. This may not be what she’d do normally, but she’s very happy with the result.”

The song is released together with three remixes that will accompany the February 25 release. Dahlback selected remixes from Australian upstarts Feenixpawl, fellow Swedish DJs Lunde Bros., and Canadian electro-house artist Lazy Rich.

Track listings

(Released: February 25, 2013)