Ever wonder why HAL sang the song "Daisy Bell" as he was shutting down in '2001: A Space Odyssey?' Here's why:

It turns out that the choice of 'Daisy Bell' was a tribute to the IBM 704, which, thanks to the brilliant programmers at Bell Labs, became the first computer to sing, way back in 1962. The popular ditty from the late 19th century was chosen by geniuses John L. Kelly, Carol Lockbaum, and Max Mathews as part of a demonstration of speech synthesis. Before he'd penned the film's namesake novel, author Arthur C. Clarke, who also co-wrote the screenplay, paid a visit to a friend at Bell Labs. There, Clarke was treated to a performance by the IBM 704, and later, inspired by what he'd seen, reproduced it in the dramatic death scene of HAL 9000.

[via Switched]

Illustrator James Turner created The Map of Humanity in order to describe the human condition in an organized map form based on names from history and fiction.  Here James Turner describes the map in his own words.

A friend just sent along a link to this incredible documentary that Channel 4 did about Philip K. Dick and Blade Runner. Based on Dick's story Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep, Blade Runner is easily one of the greatest Sci-fi films ever made.



Whether you agree with me about the absolute fantasticness of Blade Runner, the documentary (On The Edge Of Blade Runner) is solid in it's own right and well worth an hour of your eyeballs.

And, yes, they interview Daryl Hannah. 'Nuff said.