Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: When did Iain M. Banks create The Culture?
"A Gift from the Culture", published in 1987, is a short work of space opera, by the Scottish science fiction author Iain M. Banks. The story is an early venture into the "complex and unusual and very distant" setting of the Culture, which Banks would further develop through various of full length novels, stories, and his essay "A Few Notes on the Culture".
Cultural anthropology has a rich methodology, including participant observation (often called fieldwork because it requires the anthropologist spending an extended period of time at the research location), interviews, and surveys.
One of the earliest articulations of the anthropological meaning of the term "culture" came from Sir Edward Tylor who writes on the first page of his 1871 book: "Culture, or civilization, taken in its broad, ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." The term "civilization" later gave way to definitions given by V. Gordon Childe, with culture forming an umbrella term and civilization becoming a particular kind of culture.
Tony Watson reviewed "Civilization" for "Dragon" magazine #70 (February 1983). He commented: "Once in a while, a new game comes out that proves that there is still plenty of virgin territory out there for game designers to explore and plenty of room for innovative and imaginative approaches to those subjects. Avalon Hill's release, "Civilization", is just such a game."
The culture of Australia is primarily a Western culture, to some extent derived from Britain but also influenced by the unique geography of Australia, the cultural input of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and other Australian people. The British colonization of Australia began in 1788, and waves of multi-ethnic migration followed. Evidence of a significant Anglo-Celtic heritage includes the predominance of the English language, the existence of a democratic system of government drawing upon the British traditions of Westminster Government, Parliamentarianism and constitutional monarchy, American constitutionalist and federalist traditions, Christianity as the dominant religion, and the popularity of sports originating in (or influenced by) the British Isles. Australian culture has diverged significantly since British settlement.
Baker and Martin devised for "Doctor Who" the robotic dog K-9 (created for "The Invisible Enemy"), the renegade Time Lord Omega (created for "The Three Doctors", "Doctor Who"'s 10th anniversary story) and the Axons. K-9 was originally intended to appear in one story only, but the BBC decided to make it a recurring character. Several of Baker's stories had elements of hard science not often found in "Doctor Who", even though they've also been criticised for scientific inaccuracy. Together with Martin, they also created fantasy television serials for children including "Sky" (1975).
American Horror Story: Cult is the seventh season of the FX horror anthology television series "American Horror Story". It premiered on September 5, 2017, and concluded on November 14, 2017. The series was renewed on October 4, 2016. The subtitle "Cult" was announced on July 20, 2017. This season takes place in the fictional suburb of Brookfield Heights, Michigan, during the year 2017, and centers on a cult terrorizing the residents in the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The Beat Generation was a literary movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized throughout the 1950s. The central elements of Beat culture are the rejection of standard narrative values, making a spiritual quest, the exploration of American and Eastern religions, the rejection of materialism, explicit portrayals of the human condition, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, and sexual liberation and exploration.
In the third edition of "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction", author and critic John Clute writes of "Inter Ice Age 4": "It is a complex story set in a near-future Japan threatened by the melting polar ice caps. The protagonist, Professor Katsumi, has been in charge of developing a computer/information system capable of predicting human behavior. Fatally for him, this system predicts his compulsive refusal to go along with his associates and his government in the creation of genetically engineered children, adapted for life in the rising seas. Most of the novel, narrated by Katsumi, deals with a philosophical confrontation between his deeply alienated refusal of the future and the computer's knowing representations of that refusal and the alternatives to it. The resulting psychodramas include a mysterious murder and the enlistment of his unborn child into the ranks of the mutated water-breathers."
First issued in 2003 by publisher Image Comics, the series was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore (who was later replaced by Charlie Adlard from issue #7 onward, though Moore continued to do the covers through issue #24.) "The Walking Dead" received the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series at San Diego Comic-Con International.
Four official novels have also been written. The first three, set within the original timeline, were published between 2003 and 2005. The first novel, "The Amulet of Power", was set after the events of "The Last Revelation", while its sequels "The Lost Cult" and "The Man of Bronze" are set after the first novel. Another novel set within the 2013 reboot timeline, "Tomb Raider: The Ten Thousand Immortals", was published in 2014 as a continuation of the original story. A fifth book, titled "Lara Croft and the Blade of Gwynnever", also written by Dan Abnett and Nik Vincent was published in late 2016, and is a stand-alone adventure.
The "cultural cognition hypothesis" holds that individuals are motivated by a variety of psychological processes to form beliefs about putatively dangerous activities that match their cultural evaluations of them. Persons who subscribe to relatively individualistic values, for example, tend to value commerce and industry and are inclined to disbelieve that such activities pose serious environmental risks. Persons who subscribe to relatively egalitarian and communitarian values, in contrast, readily credit claims of environmental risks, which is consistent with their moral suspicion of commerce and industry as sources of inequality and symbols of excessive self-seeking.
Development of "Cortex Strikes Back" began in October 1996. For the game, Andy Gavin created a new engine and scripting language named "Game Oriented Object LISP 2" (GOOL 2) that was three times faster than the previous game's engine, could handle ten times the animation frames and twice the polygon count. The jungle levels were originally to have featured ground fog, but this was abandoned when magazines and the public began to heavily criticize other developers for using fog to hide polygon count. Sunlight and depth accentuation was experimented with for these levels. Wanting to have some "dirty" locations in the game, Naughty Dog worked in the sewer levels and added color contrast to the levels to show depth and break up the repetitive monotony of the endless sewer pipes. A flat plane z-buffer was created for the game; because the water surfaces and mud in the jungle had to be a flat plane and be exactly flat on the Y-axis, there could be no waves and the subdividing plane could not be at an odd angle. The effect only worked on objects in the foreground and was only used on Crash, some enemies and a few boxes at the same time. The soundtrack of "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back" was provided by Mutato Muzika (consisting of Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell), while the sound effects were created by Universal Sound Studios (consisting of Mike Gollom, Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears). The characters were designed by Charles Zembillas of American Exitus, Incorporated. Clancy Brown provided the voice of Doctor Neo Cortex, while Brendan O'Brien voiced the dual role of Doctor N. Gin and Doctor Nitrus Brio and Vicki Winters voiced Coco Bandicoot. The game was unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta, Georgia in June 1997 to a positive response from the game industry. The game went into the alpha stage in August 1997. Around that time, Dan Arey, the lead designer of "", joined Naughty Dog and streamlined the level design.
During and after the completion of "Dark Legions", Silicon Knights spent several months working on the design of "Blood Omen" without a particular platform in mind. Major inspirations behind the project included "The Wheel of Time", "Necroscope" and Shakespeare's plays, while the concept of the Pillars of Nosgoth was derived from cover art for "The Pillars of the Earth". Crystal Dynamics agreed to publish the game in 1993, and although there was indecision as to whether it should be produced for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer or the Sega Saturn, both parties settled on the PlayStation once Sony announced its impending launch. The game took over three years to develop, undergoing a substantial expansion mid-process which required Silicon Knights to increase its workforce—Crystal Dynamics sent several staff to assist them, including Amy Hennig and Seth Carus. Following "Herculean efforts", "Blood Omen" was released in late 1996. After its success, Silicon Knights contemplated creating a sequel in what they described as the "Blood Omen" series, but their relationship with Crystal Dynamics dissolved in 1997. Crystal Dynamics began developing "Soul Reaver" internally, and were acquired by Eidos Interactive during its production.
Yuri becomes the king of a nation where all of the citizens are demons, but they appear indistinguishable from humans. Their only distinguishing traits are their long lives and the ability to use magic. The people of the Demon Tribe are able to make a pact with an element after which they can then use magic of that element. Covenant Castle is in the capital of the Demon Kingdom. It is the residence of the demon king. The culture of The Great Demon Kingdom is very different from the Japanese culture Yuri is accustomed to, and the differences make for amusing mishaps with long ranging consequences, such as an accidental proposal of marriage.
The character was created by Daniel O'Mahony for the Telos "Doctor Who" novella "The Cabinet of Light". Shortly after the novella was published it was announced that BBC Enterprises would not be renewing Telos's licence to produce "Doctor Who" novellas. Telos subsequently announced that they would begin producing a series of "Part mystery, part detective story, part dark fantasy, part science fiction"  novellas that would continue the spirit of the "Doctor Who" novellas. This was the "Time Hunter" range, which continued the adventures of Honoré and Emily Blandish.
For example, Snyder's chapter (2009) explores the way in which culture affects positive psychology. More specifically, Snyder acknowledges the fact that culture impacts individual's understanding of strengths and weaknesses. Snyder claims that it is important to understand the cross section of positive psychology and culture, because it allows one to not only understand people within a culture but it also enables one to appreciate people from different cultures. Snyder outlines two schools of thought in the positive psychology field that pertain to how we should view strengths within a cultural context: culture-free and the culturally embedded perspective. Those ascribing to the culture-free perspective believe that strengths are not affected by culture and that there are universal strengths. The culturally embedded perspective argues that one must take into account culture when one is considering strengths, because they believe strengths manifest themselves differently in different cultures (Snyder, 2009).
The trilogy was optioned early on by the entertainment company Nelvana, which is known for its children's animation. The first volume, The Mob, was published in 2004 with The Plague following in 2005 and The Judgment in 2006. The trilogy's themes contain similarities to a lesser known novel, "The Crow Chronicles", by Indian author and birdwatcher Ranjit Lal, which was published in paperback format by Penguin Publications in 1996.
In the early-21st century live-action film trilogy directed by Michael Bay, Cybertron is depicted much in the same way as in the source material: the homeplanet of the Transformer race. As described in the first film, the AllSpark is the origin of life in Cybertron, and over millennia, its population grew and developed a global state, peaceful and just, remaining so for eons until the war for possession of the AllSpark broke out. The war was so devastating that it ravaged the planet until it was consumed by death, and the only way to restore Cybertron to its former glory was through the retrieval of the AllSpark, which is the premise from which the film series start and progress to its climax.
By the 1960s, science fiction was combining sensationalism with political and technological critiques of society. With the advent of second-wave feminism, women's roles were questioned in this "subversive, mind expanding genre". Three notable texts of this period are Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" (1969), Marge Piercy's "Woman on the Edge of Time" (1976) and Joanna Russ' "The Female Man" (1970). Each highlights what the authors believe to be the socially constructed aspects of gender roles by creating worlds with genderless societies. Two of these authors were pioneers in feminist criticism of science fiction during the 1960s and 70s through essays collected in "The Language of the Night" (Le Guin, 1979) and "How To Suppress Women's Writing" (Russ, 1983). Men also contributed literature to feminist science fiction. Prominently, Samuel R. Delany's short story, "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones" (1968), which won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1970, follows the life of a gay man that includes themes involving sadomasochism, gender, significance of language, and when high and low society encounter one another, while his novel "Babel-17" has an autistic woman of colour as its primary hero and protagonist. Octavia Butler's "Kindred" (1979) tells the story of an African American woman living in the United States in 1979 who uncontrollably time travels to the antebellum South. The novel poses complicated questions about the nature of sexuality, gender, and race when the present faces the past.
By the 1970s, the science fiction community was confronting questions of feminism and sexism within science fiction culture itself. Multiple Hugo-winning fan writer and professor of literature Susan Wood and others organized the "feminist panel" at the 1976 World Science Fiction Convention against considerable resistance. Reactions to the appearance of feminists among fannish ranks led indirectly to the creation of "A Women's APA" and WisCon.
In "Shadis" #2 (March/April 1990), Jolly Blackburn began to run a comic that
he had written called "Knights of the Dinner Table", which depicted the humorous interactions of a gaming group. When Blackburn published that first "Knights" strip, he thought that he was just filling a blank page but when he tried to replace it with more professional strips beginning with "Shadis" #6, there was an outcry; because of that outcry "Knights" soon returned. Blackburn also published "Knights of the Dinner Table" as a comic book, the first three issues of which appeared from his company Alderac Entertainment Games over the next year (1994-1995). As a result of diverging interests with his partners, Blackburn left Alderac in 1995, with "Shadis" #21 (December 1995) being his final issue; he kept the rights to "Knights of the Dinner Table". Blackburn formed a new company called KODT Enteractive Facktory, which was to publish the "Knights of the Dinner Table" comic monthly. While he was working on getting that new company together, Blackburn received a call from the editor of TSR's "Dragon" magazine, asking if the "Knights of the Dinner Table" strip was now available; although Blackburn originally planned to continue the strip in "Shadis", he accepted the offer and "Knights of the Dinner Table" thus began appearing beginning in "Dragon" #226 (February, 1996). While working on "Knights of the Dinner Table" #4 (1996), Blackburn concluded that he really did not want to go it alone, and David Kenzer and the staff of Kenzer & Company wanted to get Blackburn to join their company. In November 1996 when David Kenzer and others were visiting Blackburn over the course of a local con, and Blackburn decided that Kenzer had the sort of business sense and integrity that he was looking for in a partner. Starting with issue #5 (February 1997) "Knights of the Dinner Table" was the work of the "KoTD Development Team" which consisted of Jolly Blackburn, David Kenzer, Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson.
His second novel "Walking on Glass" was published in 1985. "The Bridge" followed in 1986, and "Espedair Street", published in 1987, was later broadcast as a series on BBC Radio 4. His first published science fiction book "Consider Phlebas" was released in 1987 and was the first of several novels of the acclaimed Culture series. Banks cited Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Brian Aldiss, M. John Harrison and Dan Simmons as literary influences. "The Crow Road", published in 1992, was adapted as a BBC television series. Banks continued to write both science fiction and mainstream novels, with his final novel "The Quarry" published in June 2013, the month of his death.
The Culture is a fictional interstellar post-scarcity civilization or society created by the Scottish writer Iain M. Banks and features in a number of his space opera novels and works of short fiction, collectively called the Culture series.
The "Culture" series is a science fiction series written by Scottish author Iain M. Banks. The stories centre on the Culture, a utopian, post-scarcity space society of humanoids, aliens, and very advanced artificial intelligences living in socialist habitats spread across the Milky Way galaxy. The main theme of the novels is the dilemmas that an idealistic hyperpower faces in dealing with civilizations that do not share its ideals, and whose behaviour it sometimes finds repulsive. In some of the stories, action takes place mainly in non-Culture environments, and the leading characters are often on the fringes of (or non-members of) the Culture, sometimes acting as agents of Culture (knowing and unknowing) in its plans to civilize the galaxy.
Iain Banks received the following literary awards and nominations:Banks' non-SF work comprises fourteen novels and one non-fiction book. Many of his novels contain elements of autobiography, and feature various locations in his native Scotland. "Raw Spirit" (subtitled "In Search of the Perfect Dram") is a travel book of Banks' visits to the distilleries of Scotland in search of the finest whisky, including his musings on other subjects such as cars and politics.
Banks wrote thirteen SF novels, nine of which were part of the Culture series; and a short story collection called "The State of the Art" (1991) includes some stories set in the same universe. These works focus upon characters that are usually on the margins of the Culture, a post-scarcity anarchist utopia; in the same universe are other civilizations, with which the Culture sometimes enters into conflict, and sentient artificial intelligences.