Talk:When HARLIE Was One

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---Begin moved discussion---[edit]

Since H.A.R.L.I.E. only appears in the various versions of the novel (and the short stories from which the original version was assembled) I propose moving this article to When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One. Lee M 23:07, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You are Mistaken[edit]

Clearly you have not read any other of Gerrold's novels. Harlie is refered to, or a minor character in many of them.--Knife Knut 23:33, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No matter how many works this character appears in, it is pretty silly to have an article for a character when the most significant books it appears in do not have their own articles. All of this information could easily be incorporated into an article about the book (which was nominated for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and certainly deserves its own article). I'm pretty busy at the moment, but I think I'll probably get around to doing this eventually, barring any major objections. -- Antepenultimate 20:48, 15 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cleanup[edit]

It needs to be cleaned up in that the final paragraph is based more in opinion/play-by-play than in fact. --Ljlego 18:51, 12 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

As an Afterthought[edit]

Although the acronym and the full name of " HARLIE" were not credited in the titles or ending credtits. I believe that HARLIE was the founding father to many of the fictional computers we see and hear today. How about the "proteus" computer in the 70's movie ( sorry, I cannot recall the name. When I do I will edit this entry to reflect this movie ) and it's russian counterpart " Guardian", both of which I believe were based to some extent on HARLIE. Even their behaviour when they discover that each other exists is akin to HARLIE's when he is confronted with the task of earning his keep and emulating or upgrading his mentors human brain? Just a thought. --pommedave 20:38, 2 December 2006 (AEST)

---End moved discussion---[edit]

About the page move and total article revamping[edit]

OK, I just got done moving this article here, and incorporating all previously existing info into this new article that now focuses on the novel, rather than that novel's central character (per discussion above - I let the issue hang for quite some time and got no response, so I went ahead and did it). Hope nobody minds, but IMO the article is greatly improved (and I don't believe anything got left behind, info-wise).

There were several options on the table as per exactly what the page should be named in terms of capitalization etc. The choices were:

  • When HARLIE Was One (obviously this is the one I chose)
  • When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One
  • When Harlie Was One

For each I could find examples of use either within or outside of Wikipedia (the other two now exist as redirects, so no worries). I chose the first mainly because it seemed to make the most sense (of course the book cover is in ALL CAPS - as many covers are - and was no help), but also because this is how it is presented on David Gerrold's website. The second option, with the periods, is actually how it is presented on the cover of the 1988 "update", however the first edition (the one that was nominated for the awards, and therefore the main focus of this article) clearly lacks the periods. The third option seems preffered by online book sellers, and is also the form used when listed for the Hugo and Nebula awards (example).

OK, I've blathered on about this for some time now - and I'll bet no-one even cares. Oh well. -- Antepenultimate 03:49, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

First ever description of a virus?[edit]

Our article on Self replicating machines claimed that this book contains the first ever description of a computer virus - predating the Internet. However The Terminal Man was published in the same year and also describes a computer virus. Which of these was published first? Is it merely coincidence that both authors came up with the identical (and rather novel) concept? SteveBaker (talk) 16:15, 21 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

(Answering my own question) I just emailed David Garrold and he was kind enough to reply with this:
"I was first. The HARLIE stories were published in Galaxy and If in 1969-70.
The book was originally scheduled with Dell for a 1971 publication date,
but they delayed it, so I bought it back and sold it to Ballantine.
dg"
SteveBaker (talk) 03:35, 22 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
While prowling I encountered The Scarred Man by Greg Benford, published May 1970. HARLie is made of 4 stories published 1969-72 http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?864. The 1969 part definitely does not have a virus, and The God Machine - May 1970 I could not easily locate. The Self replicating machines article incorrectly attributed the Scarred Man plot to HARLie, so I fixed it. Terminal Man no longer shows there, and it was an error, anyway - Crichton's virus was later, in Westworld. What a day I've had. Ukrpickaxe (talk) 22:56, 29 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]