i.e.
A common abbreviation for the Latin phrase id est, or “that is.” The abbreviation, which can appear in italics (as is the traditional method of writing out Latin phrases) or in standard font, typically appears in a parenthetical rewording of a phrase or sentence for clarification, such as: “The class valedictorian (i.e., the student with the highest academic achievement) will deliver the commencement address at the graduation ceremony.”
I, Robot (film)
In Chicago circa 2035, US Robotics is a giant corporation that manufactures humanoid robots to serve the human consumers who buy them. When a dead body appears on the atrium lobby floor one morning, it is deemed to be that of the chief robot designer, in an apparent suicide. In this 2004 release based on Isaac Asimov’s celebrated novel, Will Smith plays Detective Del Spooner, who doesn’t believe it’s a suicide. Governed by his deep-seated mistrust of robots, he follows his suspicions, despite the famous Three Laws of Robotics, which declare above all that a robot must not harm a human being. The dead man is Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), who, we are told, wrote the Three Laws. (The Three Laws were actually written by Isaac Asimov, the author of the novel.) Accompanied by Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), whose job at U.S. Robotics is “to make the robots seem more human,” Spooner’s investigation leads him to interrogate one robot named Sonny (voiced by Firefly’s Alan Tudyk), who is more advanced than the standard robot, more “human,” and capable of profound questions like “What am I?”
I, Robot (novel)
A 1950 collection of robot-themed stories by Isaac Asimov, published as one volume with the collective theme of “technology out of control.” Rather than think of the robot like Frankenstein’s monster that would turn against us, which Asimov termed “the Frankenstein complex,” the author thought of the robot as a tool, like a car, which could be built to be safe. Some of the same characters show up multiple times in the collection, and in order to make the stories coherent as a single volume, Asimov added a frame story: the tales were all one character’s memories, being told to an interviewer. Using her memories, the reader witnesses the entire history of robotics, but the other key element that ties the stories together is Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, the laws that would keep robots from being a danger to humans. I, Robot inspired a 2004 film starring Will Smith.
Iago
The villain of William Shakespeare’s play Othello – and ironically, the character who the audience spends the most time with during the play, though it is named for the target of his revenge – remains one of the most ruthless and unfathomably evil men in literature. Created in 1603, the year in which the play is believed to have been written, this master plotter, misogynist, abusive husband and racist seeks revenge for being overlooked for promotion by his leader. To this end, he plants the seed of doubt and suspicion in Othello toward his captain’s new bride Desdemona. A brilliant improvisor and manipulator, Iago moves people and items about like chess pieces in order to cause his general, his general’s wife, his rivals, and even his own wife confusion, pain and in many cases, ultimately death.
Though he originally plans to find a way to sleep with Desdemona to repay Othello for having (as he thinks) slept with Emilia, he ends up convincing Othello that his wife has been cheating, despite the fact that Desdemona has been completely faithful
Through all his cruelties, Iago refuses to offer any explanation for his actions, either to the audience during his confidential asides, or to the other characters when he is ultimately discovered to be behind every other character’s suffering. He simply seems to enjoy ruining people’s lives, and he does so with a sense of craftsmanship, stopping each time he does something evil to muse on it and tell the audience how clever he is. The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge calls Iago’s behavior “motiveless malignity.”
The various actors who have portrayed the Shakespearean villain in film include Frank Finlay in Othello (1965), Kenneth Branagh in Othello (1995) and Josh Hartnett (as “Hugo”) in the modernized version O (2001).
IBM
See International Business Machines (IBM).
Icarus
Greek mythological character and son of the craftsman Daedalus, who created the Labyrinth, a huge mazelike prison on the island of Crete, for King Minos. Though initially constructed to imprison the monstrous Minotaur, in order for the secret passage out of the Labyrinth to be kept secret, Minos imprisoned Daedalus and Icarus in a tower above his palace. Over time, Daedalus managed to create two sets of wings by gluing birds’ feathers to wooden frames with wax. He taught Icarus how to fly with them, warning him not to fly too high, where the heat of the sun would cause the wax to melt, nor too low, where the sea water could get the feathers wet, rendering them useless. Together, they flew out of the tower, but once airborne, Icarus soon forgot his father’s warnings, and started flying higher and higher, until the wax started melting under the scorching sun. His wings dissolved and he fell into the sea and drowned. The area where he is said to have fallen is now called the Icarian Sea, and the nearby island of Icaria also pays tribute to this symbol of youthful impetuousness.
Icon
In the computer world, an icon is an image that represents an application, a capability, or some other concept or specific meaningful entity. It is typically selectable, but an icon can also be a non-selectable image, such as a company’s logo. Frequently, an icon is a hypertext link to another page or website.
Id
One of Sigmund Freud’s three aspects (or divisions) of human psyche, along with the ego and the superego. Freud, the father of modern psychoanalysis, named the conceptual parts of the “tripartite” (three-part) system of personality, each of which develop at different stages in a person’s life. The id, known as the primitive and instinctual part of the personality, contains a person’s sexual and aggressive drives, as well as deep-seated memories. Sometimes described as the “child” to the superego’s “parent,” the id consists of all the inherited (biological) components of personality present at birth, including Eros (the sex/life instinct, which contains the libido), and Thanatos (the aggressive/death instinct). It is the sole component of a newborn child’s personality, and it responds directly and immediately to human instincts. The id remains infantile in its function throughout a person’s life, as it is not in touch with the external world, and therefore does not change with time or experience. The id is not affected by reality, logic or the everyday world, as it operates within the unconscious part of the mind.
According to Freud, the id operates on the “pleasure principle,” which is the idea that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately, regardless of the consequences. When the id achieves its demands, we experience pleasure. When it is denied, we experience “unpleasure,” or tension. Freud made the analogy of the id being a horse while the ego is the rider, holding the superior strength of the horse in check.
id est
See i.e.
Idea Men, The
Featured villains in the September 10, 1994 premiere episode of Ben Edlund’s Fox animated series The Tick, The Idea Men appeared with a plot to attack The City’s dam. Lucky for the citizens that The Tick had just gotten off the bus, after recently being assigned to protect The City. Running into – or crashing into – the moth outfit-wearing Arthur, who was fresh from being fired from his accounting job, The Tick finds an instant sidekick with whom to thwart the Idea Men’s evil plan (which is rather hard to understand with their masked mumbling!).
Identity theft
The fraudulent and illegal use of someone else’s identifying or personal information or documents (such as their credit card information or Social Security number), especially in order to obtain money or credit.
Identity thief
One who engages in identity theft.
Identity tourism
The process by which people assume an identity in the virtual world that is entirely different than their own.
Idle, Eric
Founding member of the legendary British comedy troupe Monty Python, Idle was born March 23, 1943 in South Shields, County Durham, UK. He attended Pembroke College at Cambridge, earning a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature in 1965. He became president of the Footlights Dramatic Club, touring with them in the 1965 show My Girl Herbert. He next did a season in the Leicester Repertory Theater, then after moving to London, appeared in two TV movies for the BBC and started writing for BBC Radio’s I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again and TV’s The Frost Report. In 1968, Idle began writing for a British children’s television show, Do Not Adjust Your Set, and while there, met future Pythons Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam. Coming together with Graham Chapman and John Cleese, the newly-formed troupe completed four seasons of television’s Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969-73). Following that successful run, Idle appeared in several stage productions, and produced and starred in the Python films … And Now For Something Completely Different (1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (75), Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983). A live performance of their television skits, Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, was released in 1982.
After Python, Idle created Radio Five, a comedy-music show for Radio One, then wrote and starred in two seasons of Rutland Weekend Television, which led to writing and co-directing the Beatles-esque mockumentary The Rutles: All You Need is Cash, which he made with Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels for NBC. In 2001, a sequel, Can’t Buy Me Lunch, was made.
Idle has also been successful doing his own writing. He published his first novel, Hello Sailor in 1975, and wrote his first play, Pass the Butler, which ran at the famous Globe Theatre for five months in 1983. Other books include Rutland Dirty Weekend Book (1976), the audio book The Quite Remarkable Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat (1996), and the novel The Road to Mars (1999). In 1991, the Idle-sung Life of Brian tune “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” became a hit single in the UK.
A familiar face and voice on the big screen, Idle can be seen in Yellowbeard (1983), European Vacation (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Nuns on the Run (1990), Splitting Heirs (1993) and Casper (1995), while hisvoice can be heard in the animated Transformers movie (1986), South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), Shrek the Third (2007),as well as four episodes of The Simpsons.
Another Python-inspired project, the musical stage production Spamalot ran from 2004-2009, and won 2005 Tony Awards. The soundtrack earned the show a Grammy, as well. In 2006, Idle starred in, and recruited several Pythons to do cameos for, the stage production Not the Messiah (He’s A Very Naughty Boy), a musical “for choir, orchestra and sheep” based on Life of Brian in 2006. During its tour, Idle appeared in every performance. In the summer of 2014, the Pythons did what was billed as their last reunion show at London’s O2 arena. Monty Python Live (mostly): One Down, Five To Go did very well, with the title referring cheekily to the 1989 passing of Graham Chapman.
Igor
Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s laboratory assistant, seen in several films over the years. Even though he is never mentioned in Mary Shelley’s original novel, the character has become a familiar part of the Frankenstein story, thanks to Hollywood. Though the 1931 original film Frankenstein featured a similar character whose name was Fritz, Igor has been portrayed on film by Bela Lugosi (credited as Ygor) in the sequels Son of Frankenstein and Ghost of Frankenstein (both released in 1942), by Marty Feldman in the 1974 comedy Young Frankenstein (in which he sarcastically pronounced his name “EYE-gor”), Kevin J. O’Connor in 2004’s Van Helsing and by Daniel Radcliffe in 2015’s Victor Frankenstein.
IGP
See Integrated Graphics Processor (IGP); Interior gateway protocol (IGP).
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