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Post by judgedeadd on Nov 9, 2009 16:56:09 GMT
Hey, I have this in my house! (My dad runs an antique bookstore, so a lot of books like that goes through our hands.) Never read it though.
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coyotagoat
Junior Member
Helluva poker face.
Posts: 65
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Post by coyotagoat on Nov 9, 2009 18:09:19 GMT
I definitely think something's going on with Jeane's eyes and SW's. maybe the robots are so in love with her because something in the way the portrait was painted resonates with their eye...camera...things..... or maybe the brushstrokes form a pattern that activates some kind of latent program in all the robots (e.g. the "extra part" on their cpu)... I wouldnt put something like that past diego.
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Post by KMar on Nov 9, 2009 19:12:41 GMT
I definitely think something's going on with Jeane's eyes and SW's. maybe the robots are so in love with her because something in the way the portrait was painted resonates with their eye...camera...things..... or maybe the brushstrokes form a pattern that activates some kind of latent program in all the robots (e.g. the "extra part" on their cpu)... I wouldnt put something like that past diego. I thought this as well. Those extreme close-ups... could they be just for the dramatic effect? No! Definitely that is not just an ordinary portrait.
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Post by tyler on Nov 9, 2009 20:31:15 GMT
Perhaps it is a virus that creates an element of free will most robots in the court do not possess? Maybe Robot was originally dismantled because he had it?
The painting could be the transmitter if the information was coded in such a way that the robots could read it and become infected. Like in Snow Crash.
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Post by the bandit on Nov 9, 2009 20:34:24 GMT
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coyotagoat
Junior Member
Helluva poker face.
Posts: 65
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Post by coyotagoat on Nov 9, 2009 20:44:33 GMT
Was it ever discussed who painted the portrait? Maybe Diego had an artistic side, or designed an art-bot, or maybe, like lots of people, I'm just reading more into this than was there in the first place interesting question, tho.
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Post by wynne on Nov 9, 2009 20:56:05 GMT
Eightyfour is right, there are ones and zeros in Sky Watcher's eyes. Whether they're supposed to be 1s and 0s, or if they are just the underlying design of his eyes, I do not know. I'm leaning towards the latter though. Since they're in the last panel and zoomed in on to be noticed, I'd guess that they mean something somewhat important. What that is, though, I have no idea. If the robots were forced to make simplified versions of themselves after Diego was gone, what generation robot do you think Sky Watcher is? He seems a bit too detailed and elegant to have been made by the robots themselves, especially the past few generations.
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Post by Mylian on Nov 9, 2009 21:30:31 GMT
But to hide code in a painting WITH A BRUSH reflects the work of a master that would make Leonardo DaVinci jealous. Then again, we are discussing a man who was able to make articulate, emotional ROBOTS... a very, very long time ago. Or it could be an automated print-like process designed to resemble ordinary brush strokes when printed, but in an encoded pattern.
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Post by tyler on Nov 9, 2009 21:57:42 GMT
Just as a photo-mosaic is several images used to compose a larger macro-image, the ones and zeroes could be used to compose a larger image. The resolution would be dependent on the process, but if Diego built a robot to do the work, and if robots of sky-watcher's complexity are possible, then something with the motor control to produce the image wouldn't be out of the question. Pixel-sized ones and zeroes would be difficult for the human eye to discern, but robots aren't limited the way we are.
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Post by Ulysses on Nov 9, 2009 23:03:31 GMT
Here are all of the things I think regarding the current discussion.
- The painting is just a painting. No code in it. - The apparent 1s and 0s are just a part of Sky Watcher's design that can be seen through the transparent/translucent covering of his eyes. - The '1s and 0s' are only visible because we are zoomed in on SW's face, and the zooming in is purely for dramatic reasons, and a way of showing emotion in a robot with a static face, otherwise physically incapable of showing emotion.
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Post by Robo Alchemist on Nov 9, 2009 23:19:44 GMT
psh, what a terrible use of imagination, Ulysses ;D
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Post by tyler on Nov 10, 2009 2:27:12 GMT
The closest close-up of the painting shows lines that could conceivable correspond with the lines in the eye.
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Post by Seth Thresher on Nov 10, 2009 5:33:08 GMT
You know what? my opinion on Jeanne's expression in that painting has changed, after that lovely half-panel look we're getting now. It's... interesting.
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Post by todd on Nov 10, 2009 12:31:02 GMT
Seeing the painting again reminded me of something I'd wondered near the end of Chapter Eighteen, but forgotten about. Apparently Diego and Jeanne are supposed to be contemporaries. But Jeanne is dressed in what looks like a Renaissance or Elizabethan gown, while Diego's dinner jacket-style attire seems more late Victorian or Edwardian, at earliest.
Probably the best reconciliation of that would be Jeanne being painted in costume for the portrait rather than in her regular clothing (perhaps even a bit like some of those old paintings that have royalty and nobility from early modern Europe dressed like ancient Greeks and Romans). Another might be Gunnerkrigg having some sort of weird garment-style blend at the time of its founding (which might tie in with one of its founders, shown in Chapter Twenty-three - I forget which one - dressed like an 18th century soldier).
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Post by Vratislav on Nov 10, 2009 15:23:16 GMT
Hey, I have this in my house! (My dad runs an antique bookstore, so a lot of books like that goes through our hands.) Never read it though. You can try it. It has some socialistic bias sometimes, but in general, it's a very good adventure SF. Written in "documentary mode" - in form of interviews with protagonists, newspaper articles, etc. that makes the story very believable. It has also two more parts: Rune Rider and Solis Planum (Runa Rider and Sluneční Jezero). PS: I'm pleasantly surprised that something from old time Czech SF was also translated to Polish (as we know almost all novels by Stanislaw Lem here )
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Post by Mezzaphor on Nov 10, 2009 16:20:10 GMT
Seeing the painting again reminded me of something I'd wondered near the end of Chapter Eighteen, but forgotten about. Apparently Diego and Jeanne are supposed to be contemporaries. But Jeanne is dressed in what looks like a Renaissance or Elizabethan gown, while Diego's dinner jacket-style attire seems more late Victorian or Edwardian, at earliest. Probably the best reconciliation of that would be Jeanne being painted in costume for the portrait rather than in her regular clothing (perhaps even a bit like some of those old paintings that have royalty and nobility from early modern Europe dressed like ancient Greeks and Romans). Another might be Gunnerkrigg having some sort of weird garment-style blend at the time of its founding (which might tie in with one of its founders, shown in Chapter Twenty-three - I forget which one - dressed like an 18th century soldier). Not to mention the fact that Sir Young seemed to be wearing a trench coat, an article of clothing that wasn't invented until the 20th century. Jones said that the spot of light was an "artistic representation" of the Seed Bismuth; it's possible that the clothes in the simulation were a similar case of artistic license.
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Post by spoonvonstup on Nov 11, 2009 2:23:48 GMT
I don't know about anyone else, but the lines on Jeanne's painting (perhaps, subtly) and the reflection in Skywatcher's..uh.."eyes".. reminded me immediatly of the Welcome sign in the show "Time of Eve." Time of Eve Skip below for all who are uninterested.[The welcome sign states the "house rules" of the Time of Eve coffee house: "No discrimination between humans and androids." The art of the show has continually implied that there is code hidden beneath the cute chalk writing on the sign which allows the androids to bypass the basic "don't pretend to be a human" command.] So, for those of you who feel like there's something going on in those reflections, perhaps some sort of code/trigger/etc? I'm with you guys.
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Post by Mr Pitchfork on Nov 11, 2009 3:15:13 GMT
The eye 'reflections' are probably just the light-sensitive part of the camera below the green lens.
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Post by Mylian on Nov 11, 2009 3:36:04 GMT
Heck, a code could even be carried in the weave of the canvas.
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Post by warrl on Nov 11, 2009 5:28:10 GMT
I don't know about anyone else, but the lines on Jeanne's painting (perhaps, subtly) and the reflection in Skywatcher's..uh.."eyes.. reminded me immediately of the Welcome sign in the show "Time of Eve". Spoon, your link was broken - don't put quotes around the URL. I fixed it in the quote block.
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Post by judgedeadd on Nov 11, 2009 9:01:13 GMT
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Pig_catapult
Full Member
Keeper of the Devilkitty
Posts: 171
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Post by Pig_catapult on Nov 13, 2009 20:28:29 GMT
(*snickers at them*)
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