The Novel Ender’s Game written in 1985 is one of the best-known novels by Orson Scott Card. In the book, mankind has barely survived two invasions by an insectoid alien race called “buggers”.  In order to find and train the eventual commander for the anticipated third invasion, the world’s most talented children, including the extraordinary Ender Wiggin, are taken into a training center known as the Battle School.  It turns out that all of the Battle simulations that Ender has been going through were real battles taking place in bugger space as the human ships sent long ago reached their destinations.  He discovers that he is responsible for completly wiping out this alien race.

The website io9 has an article about the book being adapted to a Comic with the help of Orson Scott Card.

I remember when I was a kid being amazed by the possibilities that the future held.  I grew up watching the Transformers and Robotech and couldn’t wait to have my own robot.  There was one episdode of the Transformers where a girl was injured during one of the Autobot/Decepticon battles and ended up being paralyzed from the waist down.  I believe that it was Ratchet, the medic that made an exoskeleton for her so that she could walk again.  She was thrilled, but her Dad was so Angry that these robots were turning his little girl into a robot.

I never really feared robots, but then the Terminator movies shifted my perspective on that a bit.  :D  In the Terminator movies it was Cyberdyne Systems that made human killing machines.  I can’t help but think of how odd it is that a new company called CYBERDYNE is offering an exoskelatal suit for rent to assist the handicaped and elderly. The 22 pound battery-operated system is belted to your waist and captures brain signals through sensors attached to your skin.  It supposedly works effortlessly with your muscles, increasing your strength up to 10 times.

A perfect combination of the useful applications that I was exposed to as a child and the fear of a Robot Uprising.  The icing on the cake is the name of this product.  It’s the Hybrid Assistive Limb, also reffered to as HAL.  Go to the site here.

Here’s a preview of what’s coming up on Friday.