Wikipedia

Marc Stiegler

Marc Stiegler(born August 1, 1954) is an Americanscience fictionauthorandsoftware developer.He co-authoredValentina: Soul in Sapphire(1984) withJoseph H. Delaney.The novel features Valentina, a computer program that is one of science fiction's earliest examples of sentientsoftware,in contrast tomainframe-basedAIssuch asHALandColossus.His notable works also includeDavid's Sling(1988), a techno-thriller that explores the concept ofe-democracy.

Marc Stiegler
Born(1954-08-01)August 1, 1954(age 70)
OccupationAuthor,software developer
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHeidelberg College,Virginia Tech
GenreScience fiction,non-fiction
Notable worksValentina: Soul in Sapphire,David's Sling

Stiegler also wrote theshort story"The Gentle Seduction",[1]based onVernor Vinge's ideas about a technological "singularity," the exponential growth of future technology that will drastically affect the human condition. The story's characters are augmented withmolecular nanotechnology.The 'seducer' is the technology itself, and perhaps the programmers of the technology - the majority of mankind is more willing to swallow a pill that fixes one's back (this happens in the story) than take a pill that installs a computer in one's forehead (also from the story). He also realized that many humans do not have the mental fortitude to survive theTechnological singularity.The heroine of "The Gentle Seduction" is a normal woman whose very elemental connection with her own identity is key in soothing humanity's jarring experience of finally meeting an alien mind.

Marc Stiegler's novelEarthwebenvisions a future where computers are immune to attacks, the Web has evolved to largely replace government as the foundation of human civilization, andprediction marketsare utilized to make informed decisions about significant future events.

Stiegler's career in software development somewhat mirrors his science fiction work. His non-fiction piece, "Hypermedia and the Singularity", predated the advent of the Web and postulated thathypertextwould play a pivotal role in accelerating knowledge evolution. Shortly after penning this article, he assumed management[2][3]ofProject Xanadu,the hypertext system envisioned byTed Nelson.

Subsequent software development endeavors included the creation of DecideRight (1995), which garnered the Software Publishing Association's CODIE Award[4]for Best Numeric or Data Software Program. In the late 1990s, his focus shifted to computer security.[5][6][7]

Later, he developed CapDesk, a capability-based desktop resilient to cyberattacks, and formulated the principles underpinning Polaris,[8]an overlay for the Windows operating system designed to secure the system against various major types of computer viruses and trojan horses. He presented on objectcapability securityat theRSA Conferencein 2012 and 2013.[9]During his tenure at HP Labs, his research incorporated approaches to security in planetary-scale computing.[10]

Bibliography

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Books

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  • Valentina: Soul in Sapphire(1984), co-authored withJoseph H. DelaneyISBN0-671-55916-8
  • Programming Languages: Featuring the IBM PC and Compatibles(1985), co-authored with Bob Hanson
  • David's Sling(1987)ISBN0-671-65369-5
  • Earthweb(1998)ISBN0-671-57809-X

The BraintrustSeries

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The Dread NoughtSeries

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Collection

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  • The Gentle Seduction(1990)ISBN0-671-69887-7
    • "Masters of the Mortal God" (1990)
    • "Too Loving a Touch" (1982)
    • "Petals of Rose" (1981)
    • "The Bully and the Crazy Boy" (1980)
    • "Evolution of Entropic Error in Closed Conservative Systems" (1982) - Non-fiction article
    • "A Simple Case of Suicide" (1983)
    • "The Gentle Seduction" (1989)
    • "Hypermedia and the Singularity" (1989) - Non-fiction article

Anthologies featuring stories by Marc Stiegler

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  • Nanodreams(1995)

Short works

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The following three stories are included in the novelValentina: Soul in Sapphire:

  • "Valentina" (1984), co-authored with Joseph H Delaney - Hugo nominee
  • "The Crystal Ball" (1984), co-authored with Joseph H Delaney
  • "The Light in the Looking Glass" (1984), co-authored with Joseph H Delaney

Awards

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References

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  1. ^Stiegler, Marc."The Gentle Seduction".
  2. ^Gary Wolf (6 January 1995)."The Curse of Xanadu".wired.WIRED.Retrieved18 November2018.
  3. ^Birner, Jack; Garrouste, Pierre (2004). "Chapter 4".Markets, Information and Communication: Austrian Perspectives on the Internet Economy.Routledge.ISBN0-415-30893-3.
  4. ^"SIIA CODiE Awards 1996".SIIA.26 October 1996. Archived fromthe originalon 27 October 2015.Retrieved18 November2018.
  5. ^Marc Stiegler (Speaker) (March 19, 2010).The Lazy Programmer's Guide to Secure Computing.Google Tech Talk.RetrievedJuly 2,2020.
  6. ^Stiegler, Marc (January 25, 2007).Emily: A High Performance Language for Enabling Secure Cooperation.Fifth International Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing. Kyoto, Japan: IEEE.doi:10.1109/C5.2007.13.ISBN978-0-7695-2806-9.
  7. ^Stiegler, Marc (2006).How Emily Tamed the Caml(Technical report). HP Labs.
  8. ^Stiegler, Marc; Karp, Alan (September 2006)."Polaris: Virus-safe computing for Windows XP".Communications of the ACM.49(9): 83–88.doi:10.1145/1151030.1151033.S2CID18264492.Retrieved18 November2018.
  9. ^"Marc Stiegler".RSA Conference.26 February 2013.Retrieved18 November2018.
  10. ^"72 Hours to DonutLab".HP Labs Technical Reports.6 January 2005.Retrieved3 July2023.
  11. ^"Prometheus Award for Best Novel -- Nominees".Libertarian Futurist Society.27 June 2012.Retrieved18 November2018.
  12. ^Glyer, Mike (26 March 2018)."2018 Prometheus Award Best Novel Finalists".File 770.Retrieved19 August2018.
  13. ^"PROMETHEUS AWARD FINALISTS Chosen for Best Novel".Libertarian Futurist Society.5 April 2020.Retrieved5 April2020.
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