HAL-- the explanation....

For those of you too young to remember HAL....

Hal was the enormous computer in charge of things in the space ship in "2001:  A Space Odyssey," the 1968 movie by Stanley Kubrick.  I haven't seen it in ages....like since I was in 8th grade in 1968, I think.  It was a very creepy sci-fi movie about the future.  LOL

HAL rebelled against the crew and even killed some of them, I think.  He then refused to do what the astronauts were telling him to do.  He had "artificial intelligence" and talked to the humans in a very smooth sounding, reassuring voice.  He could understand what they were saying and could even read lips if they tried to whisper about him.  He was represented by an eerie red light that they talked to.

In the end, HAL refused to do what he was told because he "thought" the mission was being jeopardized.  Astronaut Dave, in a very suspenseful scene, disassembles key components of the giant HAL while HAL tries to persuade him not to, as his voice slows down and fades away.

I think the You Tube clip I have above is when Dave first realizes that HAL is, in fact, rebelling.

I called my laptop HAL the other day because I thought to do so would be the ultimate insult if a computer were anthropomorphized.   Computers are supposed to help people and OBEY people.  :-)

I don't think anyone every really knew what that film was supposed to be about.  LOL

This clip is of Dave disconnecting the giant HAL while it is losing power.

Those of you who never saw this movie might not get the same effect that we did when seeing this long before computers were commonplace.  It was very creepy to think that a machine could think and rebel against the human beings.

So.....that is why I insulted my laptop (which I actually love, under normal circumstances :-) by calling it HAL.