IMS201 Blog

Robots Should Stick to Cleaning My Floors

{ March 6, 2008 @ 3:26 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Comments (1) }

I thought that the Roomba was technologically advanced, but after reading this article about the many and various robots that Japan creates and uses, I realized the Roomba is basically just child’s play. According to the article, which I found on CNN’s website, there were 370,000 robots working in Japanese factories in 2005 which accounted for 40% of the global total. But it doesn’t stop there. The robots being created in Japan today are not just worker bees; they’re not just some mechanical thing with wires and metal pieces sticking out everywhere. The robots being used and created today are being used- among other things- to comfort the lonely (a furry seal robot. Don’t even get me started. I’m pretty sure I’d be creeped out by a furry seal robot, not comforted), to act as receptionists/guides in hospitals and some even spoon feed the elderly (again, I’m creeped out). However, the most truly sci-fi-licious part of the article described the creation of a rubbery humanoid robot in the lab of a Tokyo University. The robot, which looks slightly like an over-sized melted barbie or ken doll, has been programmed to respond to certain words with 6 different emotions: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, happiness and surprise. (Ok, now I’m totally creeped out)

There is something utterly uncomfortable to me about the notion of a robot imbued with human-like qualities. On one hand, it feels fake and phony. There is no way that a machine will ever be able to replicate human emotions or respond to situations as a human. But on the other hand, what if. I mean, what if the robots could in fact be programmed to “learn” our emotions? Wouldn’t that reduce whatever it means to be human to something manufactured? I for one do not care to learn if this is possible. Ignorance is bliss. I like my robots vacuuming my floor, where I can step on them if necessary.

Photog Contest

{ February 27, 2008 @ 2:30 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: Film, Holga, Light, Photography } · { Comments (1) }

If you’re a photog nerd like me, then you might appreciate this site from Wired.com that features the top 10 winners of a photography contest as voted on by viewers. The camera that took all the submitted photos is called a Holga and it features medium format film which captures more detail than regular film and the lens lets in large amounts of light and other “visual aberrations” which account for the chaotic images.

I like that the images are based on film and not a digital medium. I took a photography class back in high school and one of the best and most interesting parts of the class was the developing of the film which we did in a dark room. It took a couple rolls to get the procedure right (helloooo you’re in the pitch dark mixing chemicals and twisting film in canisters) but the end result was always exciting. I think digital cameras have taken the old school fun out of developing pictures so I appreciated this site. Plus, the pictures are pretty sweet. Here’s my fav.

Warning: Misusing Facebook Can Result in Jail Time

{ February 26, 2008 @ 5:57 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: Facebook, Law, MySpace, Social Networking } · { Comments (1) }

If you thought that discrimination for certain jobs based on your Facebook profile was bad, then brace yourself. According to this article, Fouad Mourtada, a Moroccan man, was sentenced to three years in jail earlier this week for the creation of a fake page on Facebook in which he claimed to be Moroccan Prince Moulay Rachid. The court claimed that he stole the man’s identity to which Mourtada replied that the page was a “gag” and a “joke.”

After reading the article, I got to thinking about my various Facebook friends which included (at one time) President George W. Bush and Cartman from South Park and could potentially include Mother Teresa (fingers crossed that she accepts my friend request). I realized that there is a level of seriousness that the Moroccan government attaches to Facebook profiles that I never have. Of course I know that W. and I are not friends, nor do I assume that the Facebook profile was created by the man himself. I’ve always assumed that there is a sort of anonymity that comes with the Internet community which demands that certain things be taken with a grain of salt. It seems almost everyone knows this. Exhibit A: teachers don’t accept all websites as valid research sites. So where on Facebook does it say that everything posted on the site must be the truth? Social networking sites seem ripe for the ability of deception. Let’s face it, eHarmony user, you know you’re not 5’9″ 140 lbs with flowing blonde hair and a love of Ann Rand novels and the Packers and you know that the guy you’re talking to probably isn’t all he says he’s cracked up to be either.

If such a truth and honestly stipulation does exist, then these falsified profiles become a sort of defamation and libel, which adds a legal arena to social networking. I have not heard of this area of law being prosecuted before so I believe it is a little hasty of any government to imprison someone just yet. And if not hasty, the sentence is at least excessive. Three years in jail? For a Facebook profile? Couldn’t they just have fined the man and put a new law on the books?

YouTube Hooks Up with College Campuses

{ February 19, 2008 @ 4:54 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: Class, College, Professors, YouTube } · { Leave a Comment }

I’ve heard it said that 90% of life is showing up. What the other 10% is composed of isn’t clear, but YouTube is making that 90% a whole lot easier- which doesn’t necessarily mean better. YouTube now apparently offers services to colleges and universities in which the institutions can put up videos of events or lectures on the site, making it easier for a large amount of people to be a part of the experience. A lot about this idea would seem appealing to many people I think. However, the article got me thinking about the nature of lectures and why I go to class. I go because hearing the lectures is important to me, even if I don’t get the reading done. Sure, you can always borrow someone’s notes, but it’s not the same. You didn’t hear the professor say it and you don’t know what he/she emphasized. Putting lectures online doesn’t seem to compromise that but there’s still something about it that seems to easy to me. Another reason I go to class is because being there forces you to pay attention. Sure I zone out sometimes (who doesn’t?) but I guarantee that if I had the option of downloading a lecture and watching it on my computer, I would not be nearly as compelled to pay attention as I do when the teacher is standing up in front of you. You can pause an online lecture to go watch TV, you can pull up a window for online shopping while the recording of your teacher explains mitosis, hell, you can openly sleep while the recording is going on and no one would even know the difference. It’s too easy, passive and impersonal. I prefer the idea of going to class and seeing the professor in person rather than the watching a recorded lecture online.

The Roomba: A Clean Freak’s Dream

{ February 19, 2008 @ 12:08 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: cleaning, roomba, technology, vacuum } · { Leave a Comment }

I am a self-professed clean freak; one of those people who can’t study in a room that’s not tidy, gets intense urges to organize mess and has been known to vacuum the living room at 12 am on a Tuesday. And what bothered me most about that situation was not that I was vacuuming that late at night but that the damn vacuum cleaner didn’t pick up anything. My mom and I bought the offending machine from Target when she and my Dad helped me move in this year. It’s an upright DirtDevil and the box promised that this “power stick” would clean up anything my carpet could throw at it with its 12 amps. It lied. It takes half an hour to vacuum a 12 by 16 foot room. After I’ve gone over the same patch of carpet for the fifth time, I’m usually sweating profusely.

Because graduation is around the corner and my housemates love me in spite of (or maybe because of) my anal retentive streak, they looked up roombas online to get me for a present. The idea has apparently been nixed because the units are pretty expensive, but the search sparked my interest. I did a little online searching to find out more about the product, made by iRobot. The wikipedia site offers a general overview of the roomba. The spherical units look like something from “The Jettsons.” The appear to hover over the floor, detect walls or furniture with infrared sensors and even have an internal timing system so that you can set it to vacuum your floors while you are at work. I don’t really see a down side to this, I mean, it’s a completely guilt free use of technology. I don’t really like cleaning or spending my time cleaning, I just like the end result so the roomba is basically a dream come true. Although I am skeptical about it’s effectiveness (does it do corners? how does it know if it’s gotten everything in an area?) I would definitely buy something like this after I’d tested it out.

Flight of the Conchords on Bittorrent

{ February 11, 2008 @ 12:32 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: bittorrent, Flight of the Conchords, Internet, TV } · { Comments (1) }

I’ve found a new way to enjoy one of my favorite shows because of bittorrent. I’d only really heard about bittorrent before this class, but since we checked the site out in class, I’ve been doing a little bit of exploring. But this post is actually more about the show, Flight of the Conchords. It started this summer on HBO. It was right after Entourage, which was initially why I watched it in the first place. Well thank god for Entouage– mostly because it introduced me to one of the freshest and funniest comedies on television. I mean I love Ari as much as the next guy but there’s something about the awkward sketch comedy of Jermaine and Brett that is in a league of its own.

The premise of the show is this: two New Zealand musicians (Brett and Jermaine) head to the states to debut their self-titled brand of digi-folk in New York City. We get to watch as the two fumble their way through air-port shows, birthday card music greetings, pathetic gigs and numerous failed relationships. But the best part of the series is the musical snippets performed by Brett and Jermaine as members of their band, The Flight of the Conchords. The song I found on bittorrent, titled “Business Time” is all about Jermaine singing the praises of, well sex. The official website of the show has the lyrics of all the songs featured in the show so you can download them and laugh to by your self, which I do on a regular basis. Come to think of it, I don’t know if the show got picked up for a second season…I’ll have to check on that.

Here is one of my favorite songs from the show.

Crowdsourcing: Who’s Keeing Track of Accuracy?

{ February 10, 2008 @ 11:54 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: accuracy, Crowdsourcing, Internet, journalism } · { Leave a Comment }

This post does a little bit of a backtrack to the topic of crowd sourcing, but I found a blog that is relevant to the issue and my thoughts/concerns about its relationship to journalism. Actually, the problem I have with crowd-sourcing could really apply to any of it’s applications wherein accuracy is important. Take Wikipedia for instance. It uses information from the masses to create its entries, but what if the masses aren’t as smart as we assume them to be? It doesn’t even have to be a big piece of incorrect data– say for instance I create a page about myself (it would totally be the most visited site on the web, duh) and I tell everyone my birthday is November 28 instead of 29. This clearly isn’t life altering information, but the point is that this incorrect data becomes common knowledge and then somehow sort of morphs into the truth. Like Stephen Colbert says, truth becomes what the market supports. Truth becomes what one person types into an entry box on a computer, even if it isn’t based in factual information.

The use of crowd-sourcing for journalism really makes this point. Media companies are relying on individual people’s accounts of what happened, but what if that person gets it wrong, or doesn’t stay for the whole thing or in some other way makes a mistake? I’m not saying that professional journalists don’t make mistakes but in this digital world of crowd-sourcing, you don’t know the “reporter” from Adam and he doesn’t really have any stake per say in what he’s reporting to you. Although I see how the information gathered could be helpful, a sort of ears and eyes of the people, it should also be taken with a grain of salt.

Can Reality TV Shows Go On Strike Too?

{ February 4, 2008 @ 9:31 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: ANTM, Reality TV, TV, Writer's Strike } · { Comments (1) }

I’m getting really tired of reality tv shows. When the writer’s strike started back in November, I was sure that things would be resolved fairly quickly. Maybe this was naive or just a defense mechanism I used to reassure myself that The Office wouldn’t run out of shows, forcing me to find another way to spend my Thursday evenings. But no. It’s still going on. And all I have to fill the void with is reality tv.

My housemates, one in particular, love reality tv. I’ll admit, I’ve grown to love Project Runway, the design show on Bravo, but other than that, I could pretty much do without the rest of them. America’s Next Top Model is one big self aggrandisement for Tyra Banks. And if I have to hear her give one more motivational speech in that slightly whiny, slightly self righteous voice of hers, I’m going to scream. News flash Tyra, there’s no difference in the pose you’re showing us and the pose the hopeful model did in the picture. Ugh.

And the reality romance shows are no different. Sure, it’s occasionally funny to watch some chick get so drunk that she can’t even make it to the elimination part of “Rock of Love” with Brett Michaels (classy), but those shows as a whole make me annoyed of females everywhere. We’re backstabbing, we’re whiny, we cry waaay too much and for what? For love? Doubtful. You’ve known the guy for like what? 8 weeks? And all your dates have been set us by tv producers who are going for the romantic sappy moments. Try making it out in the real world. You can’t? Oh, duh.

So please, writers and producers, resolve your differences. Writers should be getting payed more for their work and for video/dvd sales. Think about it, without them, there would be no product to back and to sell. Whatever you have to do, get it done. I don’t think I can make it through another season bogged down by reality tv.

Interactive Video Games

{ February 4, 2008 @ 5:46 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: Guitar Hero, NintendoWii, technology, VideoGames } · { Leave a Comment }

Sometimes I wish I was a boy because locking myself in my room for hours on end to play video games would be legitimate. I’m still kicking myself over the fact that I pawned, yes pawned, an X-Box gaming system that I won senior year at our graduation party. To be fair, it wasn’t even an X-Box 360, plus I didn’t have any games. Sure my (guy) friends all told me to get Halo but I didn’t listen. I’m also pretty sure that part of me knew that I would definitely turn into the kid who spends hours playing video games by themselves. I also didn’t have anyone to play with. None of my girl friends played games and it might look weird if I started calling my guy friends to play video games after school. They would probably think that it was code for making out.

It made me particularly sad that I never became a gamer when I heard about interactive gaming systems like the Nintendo Wii and Guitar Hero. I mean, how cool is it that the system senses when you swing your arm and the little guy on the screen hits the tennis ball? Probably the coolest thing ever. And don’t even get me started on Guitar Hero. I’ve wanted to learn the play the guitar for years now and they release a game where you get to hold a guitar controller and “play” covers of the most awesome rock songs? One night and you feel like a rock star. It’s genius.

With this new wave of games and gaming systems, now seems like the perfect opportunity for me to become the video game nerd I’ve always wanted to be. Never mind that my hand-eye coordination is sub par, these systems are fairly new to everyone, so hopefully I won’t be the only one that sucks. Here’s hoping.

Check out this article reviewing Guitar Hero.

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