ARPANET

— The panel of the very first Interface Message Processor (IMP). This one was used at the UCLA Boelter 3420 lab to transmit the first message on the Internet

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was an early packet-switching network and the first network to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the technical foundation of the Internet. The ARPANET was initially funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the United States Department of Defense to ensure military communications in the event of a nuclear attack. By using packet-switching to disassemble data into addressed parcels, blip them over high-speed lines, and reassemble them just before they reach their destination, ARPANET rendered itself invulnerable to conventional attack; if a portion of the network went down, traffic would automatically be rerouted.

Kardashev scale

— Energy consumption estimated in three types of civilizations defined by Kardashev scale

The Kardashev scale is a method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy a civilization is able to use. It was proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev in 1964. The scale has three designated categories:

A Type I civilization—also called a planetary civilization—can use and store all of the energy available on its planet.

A Type II civilization—also called a stellar civilization—can harness the total energy of its planet's parent star (the most popular hypothetical concept being the Dyson sphere—a device which would encompass the entire star and transfer its energy to the planet(s)).

A Type III civilization—also called a galactic civilization—can control energy on the scale of its entire host galaxy.

Predatory Coevolution

The Mountain's Goat climbing ability

This animal is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs and ice.

Daily movement patterns reflect an individual's needs for foraging, resting, thermoregulation and security from predators or disturbance.

Neuromancer

Title: Neuromancer
Author: William Gibson
Year of publishing: 1984 

William Gibson's debut novel Neuromancer gained a cult-status very soon after its publishing by being one of the first novels in a new science-fiction genre called Cyberpunk. So it has become "the definitive cyberpunk book" and the most famous cyberpunk novel of all the time. Neuromancer was book of the year 1984 in the USA, and it also gained 3 sci-fi literature awards: the Hugo, the 1984 Nebula, and the 1985 Philip K. Dick Memorial Awards.

Faust: Margaret's Question

Margaret:

Promise me, Heinrich!

Battle of Tours: Islam in Europe

– Charles de Steuben's Bataille de Poitiers en octobre 732 romantically depicts a triumphant Charles Martel (mounted) facing Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi (right) at the Battle of Tours.

The Battle of Tours (10 October 732)—also called the Battle of Poitiers and, by Arab sources, the Battle of the Highway of the Martyrs marked the victory of the Frankish and Burgundian forces under Charles Martel over the invasion forces of the Umayyad Caliphate led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Governor-General of al-Andalus. It was fought in an area between the cities of Poitiers and Tours, in the Aquitaine of west-central France, near the village of Moussais-la-Bataille, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Poitiers. The location of the battle was close to the border between the Frankish realm and the then-independent Duchy of Aquitaine under Odo the Great.

Aldous Huxley: The Art of Seeing

Basic Principle Underlying the Practice of Every Art

Whatever the art you may wish to learn, whether it be acrobatics or violin playing, mental prayer or golf, acting, singing, dancing or what you will-there is one thing that every good teacher will always say: Learn to combine relaxation with activity; learn to do what you have to do without strain; work hard, but never under tension.

Language Is A Virus From Outer Space

Extract from The Electronic Revolution. By William S. Burroughs:

In the beginning was the word and the word was god and has remained one of the mysteries ever since. The word was God and the word was flesh we are told. In the beginning of what exactly was this beginning word? In the beginning of WRITTEN history. It is generally assumed that spoken word came before the written word. I suggest that the spoken word as we know it came after the written word. In the beginning was the word and the word was God and the word was flesh... human flesh... In the beginning of WRITING. Animals talk and convey information but they do not write. They cannot make information available to future generations or to animals outside the range of their communication system. This is the crucial distinction between men and other animals. WRITING.