Skynet becomes self-aware on April 19, 2011

[BreakingBacks]

Special date in the 'Terminator' franchise causes fans to celebrate and wonder if the machines may yet still rise up

http://movies.msn.com/paralleluniverse/ ... ?gt1=28103

April 19, 2011, is a day that went down in history (or faux-story) as the day Skynet became self-aware.

If you have no idea what Skynet is, then you've likely not familiar with the "Terminator" series, the franchise that not only catapulted Arnold Schwarzenegger from barbarian to superstar, but scared the bejesus out of us with the idea that one day computers would get smarter than we are and eradicate the human race.

Sure, it sounds kind of hokey now, 27 years after the first movie first hit theaters. After all, our phones -- as James Cameron noted to TMZ -- are basically smarter than we are at this point. But back in 1984, when we were sizing up our Commodore 64s as big dummies, it seemed like a terrifying and totally possible -- if remote -- future.

Anyhow, according to "Terminator" lore -- and, specifically, "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (the franchise's sole TV effort) -- the vast network of computers known as Skynet became self-aware at 8:11 p.m. and slowly began a systematic campaign to rid the Earth of humans. Somehow they weren't smart enough to do a better job than the average pest control guy does with roaches, so they resorted to creating "terminators," cyborgs that looked like 'roided-out bodybuilders, infiltrated our "nests" and then blasted our kind into bits.

So how close are we to self-aware computers that decide man is the enemy? Well, according to the New Yorker's Adam Gopnik, computers are already as smart as we are. So, you know, not much of a threat.