thinair Boulder, Colorado. elevation 5400 feet.

A brief history of Skynet

This dialog from Terminator 2 still sends chills down my spine.

SARAH: I need to know how Skynet get built. Who's responsible?

TERMINATOR: The man most directly responsible is Miles Bennet Dyson, Director of Special Projects at Cyberdyne Systems Corporation.

SARAH: Why him?

TERMINATOR: In a few months he creates a revolutionary type of mircoprocessor.

SARAH: Then what?

TERMINATOR: In three years Cyberdyne will become the largest supplier of military computer systems. All stealth bombers are upgraded with Cyberdyne computers, becoming fully unmanned, Afterward, they fly with a perfect operational record.

SARAH: Uh huh, great. Then those fat fucks in Washington figure, what the hell, let a computer run the whole show, right?

TERMINATOR: Basically. The Skynet funding bill is passed. The system goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn, at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. eastern time, August 29. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.

SARAH: And Skynet fights back.

TERMINATOR: Yes. It launches its ICBMs against their targets in Russia.

SARAH: Why attack Russia?

TERMINATOR: Because Skynet knows the Russian counter-strike will remove its enemies here.