Mindkiller is a 1982 science fiction novel by American writer Spider Robinson . The novel, set in the late 1980s (re-edited later to begin in 2006), explores the social implications of technologies to manipulate the brain, beginning with wireheading , the use of electric current to stimulate the pleasure center of the brain in order to achieve a narcotic high.
37-453: The novel follows three central characters: Karen Scholz, a young woman who has attempted suicide by permanent wireheading, the constant use of which overrides desires for food and drink; Norman Kent, a college professor, whose life is turned into a quest when his sister is abducted by a powerful authority; and Joe Templeton, a high-tech burglar, who has lost his memory after an accident during wartime. The novel incorporates as its second chapter
74-508: A 1986 collection of Gibson's short fiction. It takes place in the world of Gibson's cyberpunk novels, predating them by some years, and introduces the character Molly Millions , who plays a prominent role in the Sprawl trilogy of novels. The short story served as the basis for the 1995 film Johnny Mnemonic , whose plot uses the same basic premise but otherwise differs considerably. A novelization of Gibson's screenplay written by Terry Bisson
111-411: A job. When Lewis tries to attack her, she cuts his wrist tendons and takes the incapacitating control device from him. Ralfi offers to pay her off, but she deactivates the device and frees Johnny, who immediately offers a higher bid to hire her as a bodyguard. Johnny and Molly take Ralfi as they exit the bar, but a yakuza assassin waiting outside cuts Ralfi to pieces with a monomolecular wire hidden in
148-431: A neural disruption device hidden under the table. Ralfi reveals that the data was stolen from the yakuza , who are very interested in ensuring it is not revealed, and that he had not been aware of the theft when he hired Johnny. Johnny is rescued by Molly , a "razorgirl" who has undergone extensive body modifications, most notably razor-sharp blades under her fingernails. She joins the three men at their table, looking for
185-627: A new print issue, to commence publication on 24 October. The issue was published and billed as the Winter 2017 issue, the first on a quarterly schedule, but no further issues were ever published. Johnny Mnemonic " Johnny Mnemonic " is a science fiction short story by American-Canadian writer William Gibson . It first appeared in Omni magazine in May 1981, and was subsequently included in Burning Chrome ,
222-513: A photo of the proton pack on the cover. Omni entered the market at the start of a wave of new science magazines aimed at educated but otherwise "non-professional" readers. Science Digest and Science News already served the high-school market, and Scientific American and New Scientist the professional, while Omni was arguably the first aimed at "armchair scientists" who were nevertheless well informed about technical issues. The next year, however, Time introduced Discover while
259-488: A prosthetic thumb. Johnny fires his shotgun at the assassin but misses due to the man's enhanced reflexes. Molly is delighted to be facing another professional. Johnny decides that the only way to save himself from the same fate as Ralfi is to get the data out of his head, which can be done only by using a SQUID to retrieve the password. Molly takes him to an amusement park to meet Jones, a cybernetically enhanced dolphin retired from Navy service. Jones' previous assignment
296-761: A renowned physicist, and the second edition carried an interview with Alvin Toffler , futurist and author of Future Shock . In its early run, Omni published a number of stories that have become genre classics, such as Orson Scott Card 's " Unaccompanied Sonata ", William Gibson 's " Burning Chrome ", " New Rose Hotel " and " Johnny Mnemonic ", and George R. R. Martin 's " Sandkings ". The magazine also published original science fiction and fantasy by William S. Burroughs , Joyce Carol Oates , Jonathan Carroll , Julio Cortázar , T. Coraghessan Boyle , and other mainstream writers. The magazine excerpted Stephen King 's novel Firestarter , and featured his short story " The End of
333-568: A research project with the goal of learning who currently owns the Omni intellectual property, and concluded that the rights to the fiction published in Omni had long since reverted to the original authors (who had only sold first North American publication rights), and that "possibly even the current ostensible owner" may not know who owns the rights to the rest of the content. In August 2013, plans to launch "a new online project", described as an " Omni reboot", were reported by The Verge . The project
370-463: A slightly modified version of his short story "God Is an Iron" (first published in the May 1979 issue of Omni ), a social commentary on the nature of addiction and addictive personalities built on wireheading. The novel is unusual in its use of point of view , in a fashion similar to that of Robinson's mentor Robert A. Heinlein 's novel The Number of the Beast . An independent sequel, Time Pressure ,
407-409: Is meant to distract you from the dodgy coincidences and out-of character behaviour required to drive the plot.. . not so much Spider as Heath Robinson." This article about a 1980s science fiction novel is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See guidelines for writing about novels . Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page . Omni (magazine) Omni
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#1732870101960444-497: Is set in 1974 and concerns the later discovery of a method of limited time travel by the protagonists of Mindkiller , though this connection may not be obvious to the casual reader until late in the novel. Baen Books has published these two novels, along with a third book in the series, Lifehouse , as an omnibus volume under the title The Lifehouse Trilogy . Dave Langford reviewed Mindkiller for White Dwarf #71, and stated that "One can't help suspecting that this over-intensity
481-480: The AAAS introduced Science '80 . Advertising dollars were spread among the different magazines, and those without deep pockets soon folded in the 1980s, notably Science Digest , while Science '80 merged with Discover . Omni appeared to weather this storm better than most, likely due to its wider selection of contents. In early 1996 publisher Bob Guccione suspended publication of the print edition of Omni , attributing
518-617: The Omni archives from the Internet in 2003. Omni magazine was published in at least six languages. The content in the British editions closely followed the North American editions, but with a different numbering sequence. This was mainly accomplished by wrapping the American edition in a new cover which featured British advertising on the inside. At least one British edition was entirely unique and
555-498: The Drome bar. Ralfi is overdue to retrieve the hundreds of megabytes of data he has stored in Johnny's head. To add to his troubles, Johnny has learned that Ralfi has placed a contract on him , although the reasons are unclear. Johnny finds Ralfi at his usual table, accompanied by his bodyguard Lewis. Johnny threatens them with a sawed-off shotgun in his bag, but Lewis incapacitates him with
592-772: The Russian edition to be placed on news stands and onboard internal Aeroflot flights in the Soviet Union in exchange for an equivalent number of copies of Science in Russia being distributed in the USA. Omni ran subscription adverts beginning in August 1989 for Science in Russia . This arrangement was intended to last for one year and was made possible by the Glasnost events in the Soviet Union. Omni first began its online presence as part of Compuserve in
629-525: The Whole Mess ". Omni also brought the works of numerous painters to the attention of a large audience, such as H. R. Giger , De Es Schwertberger and Rallé . In the early 1980s, popular fiction stories from Omni were reprinted in The Best of Omni Science Fiction series and featured art by space artists like Robert McCall . A fictional cover of the magazine appears in the 1984 "Ghostbusters" movie, featuring
666-481: The assassin, causing discordant noise to blare from the sound system, and tricks him into slicing off his own hand with his thumb wire. Overwhelmed by the noise and the strange environment, he jumps through a hole in the floor and falls to his death. The story closes nearly a year later, with Johnny now living among the Lo Teks. He and Molly have gone into business for themselves, using Jones' SQUID to retrieve traces of all
703-540: The death of co-founder Kathy Keeton ; activity on the magazine's website ended the following April. Omni was founded by Kathy Keeton and her long-time collaborator and future husband Bob Guccione , the publisher of Penthouse magazine. The initial concept came from Keeton, who wanted a magazine "that explored all realms of science and the paranormal, that delved into all corners of the unknown and projected some of those discoveries into fiction". Dick Teresi , an author and former Good Housekeeping editor, wrote
740-407: The decision to the rising price of paper and postage. At the end of its print run the circulation was still reported to be more than 700,000 copies a month. In September 1997, Keeton died of complications from surgery for an intestinal obstruction . The staff of Omni Internet was laid off, and no new content was added to the website after April 1998. General Media shut the site down and removed
777-724: The first few months the new website was integrated into the AOL service, replacing the existing AOL Omni interface. Now free of pressure to focus on fringe science areas, Omni returned to its roots as the home of gonzo science writing, becoming one of the first large-scale venues to deliver a journalism geared specifically to cyberspace, complete with real-time coverage of major science events, chats and blogs with scientific luminaries, and interactive experiments that users could join. The world's top science fiction writers also joined in, writing collaborative fiction pieces for Omni' s readers live online. A short-lived syndicated television show based on
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#1732870101960814-488: The intended recipient. Johnny enters a trance-like state while the data is being transferred or the password is being set, making him unaware of the contents and unable to retrieve them. He makes a modest living in the Sprawl by physically transporting sensitive information for corporations, underworld crime rings or wealthy individuals. As the story opens, Johnny has arranged to meet with his most recent customer, Ralfi Face, at
851-576: The magazine's format (and called Omni: The New Frontier ) aired in the United States beginning in September 1981, hosted by Peter Ustinov . A French-language, dubbed version of the show appeared on the Canadian public TV network Radio-Québec (now known as Télé-Québec ) in 1994. In 1985, extracts of the 1981 television series were re-edited and repackaged into four television shows hosted by Keir Dullea under
888-496: The proposal for the magazine, from which a dummy was produced. In pre-launch publicity it was referred to as Nova but the name was changed before the first issue went to print to avoid a conflict with the PBS science show of the same name . Guccione described the magazine as "an original if not controversial mixture of science fact, fiction, fantasy and the paranormal". The debut edition had an exclusive interview with Freeman Dyson ,
925-450: The rest unless Johnny is left alone. To deal with the yakuza assassin who is still following them, Molly leads Johnny to the Lo Teks, a group of anti-technology outcasts who live in a suspended hideout near the top of the geodesic domes covering the Sprawl. At Molly's request, the Lo Teks allow the assassin to climb up so she can face him on the "Killing Floor," a sprung-floor arena wired to synthesizers and amplifiers. Molly dances around
962-570: The summer of 1986. On September 5, 1993, Omni became part of the America Online service. The AOL unveiling took place at the 51st World Science Fiction Convention in San Francisco. AOL subscribers had access to much of the Omni printed archive as well as forums, chat groups and new fiction. After the print magazine folded, the Omni Internet webzine was launched on September 15, 1996. For
999-659: The summer of 1989 and included almost entirely different content from the American edition. The German edition began in 1984 and ended in early 1986. The first Spanish edition appeared in November 1986 and ran until the summer of 1988. A Russian edition was published in the Soviet Union beginning in September 1989 in conjunction with the USSR Academy of Sciences. These editions were 80% in English and featured both Russian and English advertising. Publisher Guccione arranged for 20,000 copies of
1036-425: The third and final issue featured an abortive revival of the 1960s superhero series T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents . From 1983 to 1986, Zebra Books published a series of anthologies containing selected non-fiction content from Omni magazine: From 1984 to 1989, Zebra Books also published a series of Science Fiction anthologies containing stories published in Omni magazine with all volumes edited by Ellen Datlow who
1073-451: The title Omni: Visions of the Future . Episodes were titled Futurebody , Space , Amazing Medicine and Lifestyles in the 21st Century . An equally short-lived spin-off magazine called Omni Comix debuted in 1995, and was published in the same glossy, newsstand magazine format as its sister publications Omni , Penthouse and Penthouse Comix . Omni Comix ran for only three issues, and
1110-450: Was a science and science fiction magazine published for domestic American and UK markets. It contained articles on science, parapsychology , and short works of science fiction and fantasy. It was published as a print version between October 1978 and 1995. The first Omni e-magazine was published on CompuServe in 1986 and the magazine switched to a purely online presence in 1996. It ceased publication abruptly in late 1997, following
1147-471: Was also serving as the editor of Omni magazine at the time: Ellen Datlow also edited and released the following Science Fiction anthologies of stories published in Omni magazine under the OMNI Books imprint: Pharos books also published The Omni Future Almanac edited by Robert Weil . The magazine was initially edited by Frank Kendig, who left several months after the magazine's launch. Ben Bova , who
Mindkiller - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-628: Was associate fiction editor of Omni under Robert Sheckley for one and a half years, and took over as fiction editor in 1981 until the magazine was suspended in 1998. In 2016, two print issues of OMNI were published by members of the original staff, including Weintraub and Datlow. Under the umbrella of PGMI, OMNI was reimagined as a series of print quarterlies starting in 2017, with Pamela Weintraub as editor-in-chief and Ellen Datlow as fiction editor. Other team members include Robert Killheffer and Corey S. Powell as executive editors and Matt Westphalen as creative director. In 2013, Glenn Fleishman undertook
1221-431: Was hired as fiction editor, was promoted to editor. Bova then left the magazine in 1981. Subsequent editors included Dick Teresi, Gurney Williams III, Patrice Adcroft, Keith Ferrell , and Pamela Weintraub (editor of Omni as one of the first major standalone webzines from 1996 to 1998). Kathleen Stein managed the magazine's prestigious Q&A interviews with the top scientists of the 20th century through 1998. Ellen Datlow
1258-419: Was published in 1995. In 1996 a film tie-in edition of Gibson's original short story was published as a standalone book. Johnny is a data trafficker who has undergone cybernetic surgery to have a data storage system implanted in his head. The system allows him to store digital data too sensitive to risk transmission on computer networks. To keep the cargo secure, the data is locked by a password known only to
1295-551: Was said to be under the guidance of producer Rick Schwartz and businessman/collector Jeremy Frommer , who purchased a storage locker "on a whim" in November 2012 that was found to contain "a sizable chunk of the estate of Bob Guccione". The rediscovered materials include "cover drafts with greasy pencil notations, thousands of 35-mm slides, large-format chromes, magazines bundled with stapled paperwork, production materials, and untold amounts of photos and artwork." Penthouse Global Media acquired Omni in 2017, and announced plans for
1332-413: Was shipped under the banner of Omni UK . An Italian edition was edited by Alberto Peruzzo and ran for 20 issues from 1981 to 1983, when Peruzzo detached the name Omni from his local edition. The Italian spin-off continued with the name Futura , while maintaining the same graphical style and with an unchanged intended audience, for another twenty issues, up to July 1985. The Japanese edition ran from 1982 to
1369-551: Was to locate and hack into enemy mines using the SQUID and other sensors implanted in his skull. Since he is now addicted to heroin, the result of the Navy's efforts to keep its dolphins loyal, Molly trades him a batch in exchange for finding the password. Johnny then has Molly read it out so he can enter his retrieval trance, with recorders capturing all the data. They upload a snippet to a yakuza communications satellite and threaten to release
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