Marc Stiegler

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Marc Stiegler
Born (1954-08-01) August 1, 1954 (age 69)
Occupation
Heidelberg College, Virginia Tech
GenreScience fiction, non-fiction
Notable worksValentina: Soul in Sapphire, David's Sling

Marc Stiegler (born August 1, 1954) is an American

software developer. He co-authored Valentina: Soul in Sapphire (1984) with Joseph H. Delaney. The novel features Valentina, a computer program that is one of science fiction's earliest examples of sentient software, in contrast to mainframe-based AIs such as HAL and Colossus. His notable works also include David's Sling (1988), a techno-thriller that explores the concept of e-democracy
.

Stiegler also wrote the short story "The Gentle Seduction",[1] based on Vernor 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 with molecular 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 the Technological 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 novel Earthweb envisions a future where computers are immune to attacks, the Web has evolved to largely replace government as the foundation of human civilization, and

prediction markets
are 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 that hypertext would play a pivotal role in accelerating knowledge evolution. Shortly after penning this article, he assumed management[2][3] of Project Xanadu, the hypertext system envisioned by Ted 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 object capability security at the RSA Conference in 2012 and 2013.[9] During his tenure at HP Labs, his research incorporated approaches to security in planetary-scale computing.[10]

Bibliography

Books

Collection

Anthologies featuring stories by Marc Stiegler

  • Nanodreams (1995)

Short works

The following three stories are included in the novel Valentina: 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

References

  1. ^ Stiegler, Marc. "The Gentle Seduction".
  2. ^ Gary Wolf (6 January 1995). "The Curse of Xanadu". wired.com. WIRED. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  3. ISBN 0-415-30893-3
    .
  4. ^ "SIIA CODiE Awards 1996". SIIA. 26 October 1996. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  5. ^ Marc Stiegler (Speaker) (March 19, 2010). The Lazy Programmer's Guide to Secure Computing. Google Tech Talk. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  6. ISBN 978-0-7695-2806-9
    .
  7. ^ Stiegler, Marc (2006). How Emily Tamed the Caml (Technical report). HP Labs.
  8. S2CID 18264492
    . Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  9. ^ "Marc Stiegler". RSA Conference. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  10. ^ "72 Hours to DonutLab". HP Labs Technical Reports. 6 January 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Prometheus Award for Best Novel -- Nominees". Libertarian Futurist Society. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  12. ^ Glyer, Mike (26 March 2018). "2018 Prometheus Award Best Novel Finalists". File 770. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  13. ^ "PROMETHEUS AWARD FINALISTS Chosen for Best Novel". Libertarian Futurist Society. 5 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.

External links

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