Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, in the United States during the mid-to-late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno in reference to a specific genre of music was in 1988. Many styles of techno now exist, but Detroit techno is seen as the foundation upon which a number of subgenres have been built.

In Detroit techno resulted from the melding of African American music including Chicago house, funk, electro, and electric jazz with electronic music by artists such as Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Added to this is the influence of futuristic and fictional themes relevant to life in American late capitalist society, with Alvin Toffler's book The Third Wave being a notable point of reference. Pioneering producer Juan Atkins cites Toffler's phrase "techno rebels" as inspiring him to use the word techno to describe the musical style he helped to create. This unique blend of influences aligns techno with the aesthetic referred to as afrofuturism. To producers such as Derrick May, the transference of spirit from the body to the machine is often a central preoccupation; essentially an expression of technological spirituality. In this manner: "techno dance music defeats what Adorno saw as the alienating effect of mechanisation on the modern consciousness".

Fixer (comics)

The Fixer is the name of two different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

The first Marvel Comics character known as the Fixer was Roscoe Sweeney. He first appeared in Daredevil #1 (Apr. 1964), and was created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Bill Everett.

The second Fixer was a long-time supervillain who later became a member of the Thunderbolts, first appearing in Strange Tales #141 (February 1966) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. After some time away from the team, he appeared as a regular character in Thunderbolts beginning with issue #144, until he was forced to leave the team in issue #174.

Fictional character biography

Roscoe Sweeney

Roscoe Sweeney was a gangster and crooked fight promoter who was involved in extortion and illegal gambling who operated as the "Fixer." He paid boxer "Battling Jack" Murdock to take a fall and lose a fight. Murdock accepted the money, but when he saw his son, Matthew, in the audience, he became determined to continue the fight and eventually won by a knockout. The Fixer's right-hand man Slade killed Jack Murdock after the fight in retaliation. Matthew Murdock, learning of his father's murder, vowed to bring men like the Fixer to justice. Matt Murdock became a lawyer, and also the superhero Daredevil to do so. Fixer and Slade went to Fogwell's Gym where they encountered Daredevil. When Fixer and Slade ran for it upon them being disarmed, Daredevil pursued them into the subway station. After Daredevil tripped Slade, Fixer had a fatal heart attack when confronted by Daredevil and died. As Fixer's body fell onto the subway tracks, Daredevil stopped a subway from running over Fixer's body. Slade was arrested and sentenced to death by the electric chair.

Internet-related prefixes

Internet-related prefixes such as e-, i-, cyber-, info-, techno- and net- are added to a wide range of existing words to describe new, Internet- or computer-related flavors of existing concepts, often electronic products and services that already have a non-electronic counterpart. The adjective virtual is often used in a similar manner.

Cyber-, e-, i, and virtual

"Cyber-"

Cyber- is derived from "cybernetic," which comes from the Greek word κυβερνητικός meaning skilled in steering or governing. It is used in the terms cyberspace, cyberpunk, cybergoth, cyberlaw, cybercrime, cyberwarfare, cyberterrorism, cybersex, and cyberbullying, among others.

"E-"

E-, standing for electronic, is used in the terms e-mail, e-commerce, e-business, e-banking, "e-sports" and e-book.

"i"

The i prefix was used as early as 1994 by iVillage, an internet community site by and for women. More recent examples include the BBC's iPlayer, and Google's former iGoogle service. It has even been used by companies not in the IT sector for their websites, such as Coca-Cola's now-defunct icoke.com.