The Japanese have brilliantly developed, Kirobo, a talking robot that went into space on Aug 4, 2013. I am hopeful it will be an asset to the astronauts and a big boost for space robotics in terms of communications, intel, and yup, entertainment and loneliness during space missions (for humans or robots, you ask?). Speaking of loneliness, I was thinking that Kirobo should also have a companion so he doesn’t get lonely. This robot monkey could be on a planet working collaboratively with Kirobo and other robot monkeys to do our manufacturing: http://robotik.dfki-bremen.de/en/research/robot-systems/istruct-demonstrator-1.html
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engineering “Survivor”
If I had to choose a person to be with on the TV show ‘Survivor’, it would be an engineer. I was hoping that after all these years, perhaps by hanging around them, I could learn to think like them. In actuality, I do think in a similar process as they – logically and analytically – but I apply that to human behavior instead of machines/technology. I am able to read the ‘Human Operating System’ of each individual fairly quickly, but when it comes to putting, say, a piece of equipment back together, I just don’t get it. A part
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Farenheit 451
19 Arizona firefighters, aged 21-43, have died trying to save others’ lives and property. Meanwhile, a robot being developed at Purdue University was used for the first time in a working fire. The 400 pound, 2 foot tall bot was remotely controlled to successfully water down hot spots too dangerous for humans. The robot can withstand temperatures up to 1400 degrees, and can operate continuously for up to an hour and a half. Here is some video on it: http://www.publicsafetyreporter.com/tag/firefighting-robot/ This is the perfect application for a robot – so why isn’t there one in every U.S. fire department?
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smart clothing
This article headlined NBC Technology News – http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/internet-things-pits-george-jetson-vs-george-orwell-6C10462818 and what caught my attention was the LED dress, and for many reasons: For decades, I have been thinking about ‘smart’ clothing: clothing with smart’ materials and sensors that adjusts to both our body temperature and the environmental temperature (especially beneficial for menopausal women with hot flashes); 3-D printers that print clothes for us that are recyclable with matching clothes for our robotic companions.
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Robot seeks single lonely human
‘Robot seeks single lonely human’ Will this be an ad of the future? The Supreme Court has ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. And, I may add, just in time to prepare for a future when a human (or robot) want to marry each other. The legal definition of marriage will drastically change as we just witnessed. What legal considerations are there when we can ‘marry’ a non-human partner? And, how will human and non-human be defined?
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Asimov’s good life
Though I personally knew Isaac Asimov, what I didn’t know until the other day, was that he died of AIDS. I’m only about a decade behind this news. His widow Janet Asimov, disclosed for the first time, in her 2002 book, “It’s Been a Good Life”, that Asimov acquired AIDS from a blood transfusion during bypass surgery in 1983. His doctor advised him to keep it secret.
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my mind on autopilot
I attended a free Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction which is defined as a moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness. For me, a Type A who is rarely in the present (never mind the moment), and mostly in the future, I thought it could be very helpful. Who isn’t multitasking? We hope some of the tasks are mindless and can get accomplished on ‘autopilot’. However, if you look at the two dents in both my husband’s car and mine, it’s easy to see that driving is not one of these mindless, multitasks. I realized this after I talked to my teen about what time she
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learning curve
I had a telephone training on WordPress with the company helping me with my website, and later that night I met with MK, my marketing media maven, and spent several hours learning about social media, i.e., HootSuite. WHAT WAS I THINKING? NOTE TO SELF: Never allocate more than one hour of a new technology learning session at a time. Though I’m not a ‘techy’ nor engineer, I am fairly savvy and highly analytical. As a non-expert, I actually view myself as the quintessential user, meaning that if I don’t understand how to use the technology, most of the public won’t.
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future shock
Three questions I predict future generations will ask: 1) What do you mean you had to walk to your car parked in the lot? 2) Marrying another human, regardless of their gender, was a social and political issue?? (Just wait until California’s Prop 80) 3) You needed sleep to function?
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hacking cars
Yesterday I went to my local auto body shop, the second time in a month (don’t even ask), and the owner, a super nice guy, is 6’ 4”. Needless to say, every time I see him I tell him how envious I am of his height and stature and remind him that in a crowd, at 5’0”, all I can do is smell asses, as my vision and hearing are completely obstructed. Actually, I complained that my 2011 Hyundai Elantra (even though I didn’t pay much for it), didn’t have the proper sensors of readjusting everything for me after someone
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