Baby bot

My sister got me this little robot called a Tekno-Dinkie. If you go here you can see the Girl Bot (on the bottom left), which is the one I have. It's almost like having a baby around -- she wants attention all the time, and if I don't take care of her, she catches a "virus" and starts to cry.



They have this thing on the website called the Dinkie video conference, where you can put her near your computer speakers and she pretends to communicate (in robo-babble) with other Dinkie robots on the screen. Earlier I was listening to some Add N to X, and she seemed to think it was robots trying to talk to her. She kept making weird little robot sounds, almost as if she were singing along. But she's kind of loud, so after a while I had to mute her. Does that make me a bad robo-mom?



I'm dressed in your old soda bottles.

In other gifty news, I now am the proud owner of a Patagonia Synchilla Vest. It's the softest, warmest thing ever, and it's made out of recycled plastic bottles. I have the aquamarine one. It makes me feel very futuristic, because I like to think in the future we will all live smarter, more sustainable lives. Here's another link where Patagonia talks about recycled fleece.

A holiday robot sending joy around the world



In case you didn't get one in the mail, here's a scan of the Christmas card I designed:






And here is the stamp I carved for printing them:






Lately, I've been really into the idea of doing old-fashioned sorts of crafts, but giving them a futuristic theme. These cards were a lot of fun to make (and came out just how I wanted them to) so maybe I will make more stampy stuff in the future.

finally, some new bots!

	i will help you with your knitting	i will help you with your taxes

Not my kind of robot

My Google news alert on the word "robot" keeps emailing me articles about Galib Andang, a Philippine Muslim guerilla leader better known as Commander Robot. That sounds like the name of a fun toy, so the articles always get my attention, but they are all about the horrible crimes he has committed, or his bloody capture.



Today I learned that he is in a hospital in Manila, and his left leg has been amputated. But it sounds like he might finally live up to his name:

A battery-operated artificial leg made mostly from wood, which is cheaper than prosthetics made with tantalum or platinum, will replace Andang's lost leg.

Reading stuff online when I should be working



(I wrote this earlier when blogger was down. Now I really am working.)



Here's an article about religious interpretations of the movie Groundhog Day. My dad hates this movie, but I've always kind of liked it.



This article article portrays Howard Dean's campaign team as a bunch of young, likable geeks.



And here's one about kids who go to high school online. I watched a bunch of Degrassi episodes this weekend (it was work-related, I swear) and they reminded me how much high school sucks. If online school had been an option for me, I probably would've picked it, but at the same time, it sounds kind of lonely.



One more: a story from Yahoo news about how Bush wants to revive the space program and have another moon mission. I love the idea of space travel, but this just seems like a pitiful attempt at distracting the American public. It's like he's this bad little kid who made a big war-shaped mess and now he's shouting, "HEY! Look at the MOON! Let's go there!" so we'll look the other way for a while.

Coral castle

I just read about this rockin' building that I hope I get to visit the next time I'm in Florida.

The entire castle complex, which looks like a combination fortress and ancient temple, was constructed of huge coral blocks, many of which exceed five tons. Leedskalnin built the castle and everything in it by himself over 26 years -- using tools he made from scavenged junkyard parts.

Read the whole Wired News article. It's got mystery, Egyptians, unrequited love and a photo gallery. What more does anyone need?

Robot seal

I want a robot seal that wiggles its flippers. This article has a better photo, and more info about robot therapy.



I need some robot therapy to lower my stress level -- I just read this Rolling Stone article that describes how badly George W. Bush is screwing up the environment. I mean, robot animals are cool, but I like real animals and nature a lot, too. I don't want to see them disappear.

Robot puppet!

That's a photo of the robot puppet I made for my puppeteer friend a while ago. The puppet's name is Fudgie, but some people call him "the retarded robot whale." Want to see a slideshow of Fudgie's trip to Sesame Street?

Shopping Smart

USA Today has an article about stores where customers can use a fingerprint to pay for their purchases. This sets off warning bells in my head about privacy concerns, but at the same time, it would be so convenient!



I hate dealing with the cashiers at the Pathmark by my house (once, one of them even made me cry -- no joke), so I mostly tend to buy food at the friendly delis around the corner. The last time I ventured to the giant grocery store, however, I found they had installed four self-checkout lanes. I mean, I'm sure it's not as fast as shopping with a thumbprint, but it's a major improvement. According to this NY Times article, I'm not the only one rejoicing about taking the minimum-wage employee out of the picture.



One more shopping thing: FreshDirect (an online grocery store that my Manhattan friends say totally rocks) is now closer than ever to delivering to my house. According to their website, they now deliver to parts of my zip code, just not the part I'm in.



The NY Times seems to be writing a lot of cool stuff about technology lately. Here's a story about the increasing influence of MoveOn.org.

Two domestic robots I painted a while back

	i am like a car wash for your dishes	when you are away, i can water myself

Technology in life and death

The NY Times Magazine section has some neat future-y articles this week. Read about what it's like when your house is smarter than you are, and learn how people are hacking their domestic robots so they do cool stuff.

And since the NY Times doesn't allow free access to stuff once it gets older, here is my favorite part of the article on how cell phones are changing our lives (it's the very last paragraph):

In Malaysia, she recently attended a "feast of the hungry ghosts," where Chinese Malays burn paper replicas of food. "They do it to ensure that their ancestors are well fed," Bell notes. But in recent years, they've also begun burning paper versions of mobile phones -- and even paper versions of prepaid phone cards, to make sure the phones will work beyond the grave. "They can't imagine their dead relatives existing without the latest models," Bell says. "And they wouldn't want their ancestors to be lonely." Even in death, no one wants to be cut off.

Just don't name her Google

I wrote a futuristic short story last year about this couple trying to pick a name for their baby, and considering lots of corporate brands. Apparently, it's becoming more common. If you had to be named after a brand name, what name would you pick? I think Maybelline is kind of fun (and people could call me "Maybe" as a nickname), but being named after a cosmetics company would probably make me feel shallow.

Hell yeah!

Send a message through the EFF site asking your representative to support the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003 (HR 2239), which would require software reviews and and voter-verifiable paper audit trails for all new electronic voting machines.

Vacuum army

From a CNN article about robot vacuums:

The U.N. study says domestic robot sales are expected to soar over the next three years and predicts 400,000 vacuum robots will be in service by 2006 -- despite their high price tags.

And that's how it starts. We invite them into our homes to do our chores, and then all 400,000 of them rebel, shifting into some alternative program where they rise up and start vacuuming US!! Although I think I'll be safe, just because I have long hair that likes to fall out and clog vacuums.

	Before there were robot vacuums

In reality, I think I would like and trust my robot vacuum, if I had one. The robot on the right is one I sent to Rodney Brooks. (Sidenote: My scanner does a bad job with anything silver or orange.) Brooks is president of a robot vacuum company and also director of MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab. I didn't expect him to respond, but he sent me an email that said: "I received your painting of 'Before there were robot vacuums' which

you sent to me at iRobot. Thanks!!!! It made me laugh. I'll pin it up in my office." I like his use of four exclamation points (three wouldn't have conveyed the same level of excitement, and five would have been a bit much). He signed it "Rod," so now I feel like we are friends.

Robot army

I put a bunch of robots on one page of my other site, so I have them all in one place. I still have a ton more to put up. This little guy on the right I just finished yesterday. He is painted on canvas and now he's hanging on my wall. Doesn't he look friendly? The hand on his head reminds me of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, a strangely wonderful live-action musical by Dr. Seuss.

It's comical

I've randomly stumbled across the "Her" comic strip a few times in my web travels, but this one is my favorite so far. Why do hipsters drive me so crazy?

The Meatrix

Today, I've seen links to this site everywhere, but maybe just because I've been visiting lots of environmental websites. It's a Matrix-inspired Flash animation about why factory farms are evil. It's really well done. I dream of one day being this good at Flash, and using my artistic abilities to inform the masses about important social issues...

	all this technology makes me feel fat

A robot for me

This one is about when technology is a pain to deal with. Like when you have a cell phone that's not charged, or your palm pilot forgets the stuff it's supposed to be remembering, and you have to reset it and start all over.

Time for a bad analogy! Maybe technology is like candy that has lots of artificial colors and flavoring. If you have the right amount, it is sweet and nice, and makes you feel like you have extra energy. But if you have too much, you get this weird kind of headache and start feeling sick inside.


And on the other hand...

Kelly sent me a link to this computer blessing. Visit the site to get the full effect (lots of overly cutesy animated .gifs and a few pop up ads). Here is a tiny sample:

Please take a minute from your busy duties
To bless all of our computers filled with love

Tiny robots

Here are two more robots that I mailed out on postcards. These are from a while ago. I am falling behind on my robot painting, and some people on my list to get robots probably think I forgot about them. But I didn't. (These robots are shown approximately actual size... at least, with my screen resolution settings.)

	i am very bright		i am not as bright

Random stuff

I keep stumbling across things I want to write about, but then I can't find the time to post. Maybe because I'm trying to write a novel this month. (I don't have an excerpt online or anything, but if I ever get it published, I'll post a link to my book on Amazon.com!)



I know why people stop blogging. It's because they write up this whole big post and then it disappears forever into a black hole called Blogger. I think I've learned my lesson. I'm writing this one in Homesite and I'll paste it into the Blogger window when I'm done.



Robots are people, too?

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Robots fascinates me. Here's another article about robot rights. It reminds me of a little thing I wrote a while ago, explaining why in the future, robots will have vacation days. My theory had to do with equal rights for all employees (regardless of whether they're flesh or metal), or something like that.



High-speed growing

I wrote a little description of this site for work, but it's also a cool use of technology. Use the links on the left side to watch QuickTime videos of flowers blooming, seeds sprouting and other planty actions.



I like the word "Robolution"

Someday when I'm not trying to write a novel, I'm going to spend many hours reading and experimenting with the Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building Robots. It's a book, but the website seems to have lots of good info, including a few Heroes of the Robolution trading cards.

I don't always like technology

Computerized voting machines seem like SUCH a bad idea. From this CNN article:

"The computer science community has pretty much rallied against electronic voting," said Stephen Ansolabahere, a voting expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "A disproportionate number of computer scientists who have weighed in on this issue are opposed to it."

Shouldn't we be listening to the computer scientists? They're the experts on this stuff! Here's an MSNBC article with more reasons to think Diebold's machines are evil, including that the company's CEO was a major supporter of Bush's presidential campaign.



Voting machines aren't the only thing that sucks. The person who stole my friend Paul's laptop sucks a lot. I don't really expect random strangers to donate money to buy him a new one, but wouldn't it be cool if they did?

Dirty robots

So you know how I like to paint little robots on postcards and mail them out to people? Yesterday, I spent some time with one of the robot recipients (who has a bunch) and borrowed them back so I could scan what they looked like on arrival. Here are two. They are a little bit dirty, but I love the orange marks stamped on the left side by postal machinery.

	i walk like a spider	i measure your emotions

Robot Hall of Fame

According to this press release, Carnegie Mellon University now has a Robot Hall of Fame:

The Robot Hall of Fame was established earlier this year to honor noteworthy robots, both real and fictional, along with their creators in recognition of the increasing benefits robots are bringing to society.

I think it is really neat that they are treating people who create fictional robots and people who create real-world robots as equals. Maybe someday, I'll write a story about a robot, and everyone will love my little robot character, and he/she will get to be in the Robot Hall of Fame. In my world, the Robot Hall of Fame is infinitely cooler than other halls of fame like the baseball one, or even the rock and roll one.



The Robot Hall of Fame's website will go live on November 10th, during the inauguration ceremony.



(I'm getting too robo-centric again, aren't I? I have to try harder to expand my electric horizons.)

Homestar Halloween

The Homestar Runner guys put up a really fun Halloween game and some pumpkin stencils. I like the Strong Bad one so much I almost ran out and bought a pumpkin. But then I remembered I have work to do.



UPDATE: The new Halloween cartoon is up now, too. Featuring Strong Mad in a Magnum, P.I. costume!

Let's have a holiday theme!

Check out this pumpkin carving robot at the Detroit Science Center. Kind of cool, and also kind of scary... perfect for Halloween.

My Halloween robots won't carve you a pumpkin, but you can take them trick-or-treating.

	help! my costume is too big	i will get you extra candy

Flash fun

This isn't about robots or the future, but it made me laugh out loud: Strindberg and Helium. It also made me want to talk like a helium balloon.



I like it for so many reasons.

Robots with a purpose

This BBC article says robots that do household chores are becoming more common. (I haven't seen any evidence of this in my apartment yet.)



And here is an article I read on CNN about how video games can be used to fight phobias.

Robots by Sony (and me)

	i have wings like a plane

I just read this article about a new robot by Sony called "Qrio." It sounds vaguely cute, in an Aibo-but-not-dog-shaped kind of way, but I don't want one. The idea of a robot companion is nice, but I would prefer a robot that makes me dinner or vacuums my apartment. Wouldn't useful robots have more appeal to the overworked masses than a robot that dances or wags its tail?



Maybe I shouldn't talk, though -- I thought this little flying robot I painted was cute, but now I'm realizing it wouldn't be good for much either. It's not big enough to carry people around. I guess it's just for sky-based fun, like a kite or a remote controlled airplane? (I am just as bad as Sony!)

Best use of web cam technology EVER

I am mildly obsessed with this streaming web cam from the San Diego Zoo. I have never in my entire life seen anything as cute as that baby panda bear. I want to watch him 24 hours a day. When I tuned in this afternoon, the mother panda was rolling him around like a little ball and it was almost too much cuteness for my brain to handle.

Robots for the home

	now your favorite TV shows can follow you around	and your fridge can spell out secret messages

Stupid company

The Princeton graduate student who pointed out that anyone could override certain copy protection software just by pressing the shift key is being sued by the company that makes the software. Sure, the company lost about $10 million in market value after the news came out, but how is that his fault? Isn't it their fault for releasing a crappy product? Or for not doing a better job of testing it in the first place? This makes me want to give lots of money to the EFF.

It's 10 p.m. - Do you know where your children are?

A New York TV station asks that question every night just before they start the news. For parents in Mexico, it could now be a lot easier to answer. Here's a press release about an "exciting child safeguard program" that will insert RFID chips into kids' arms. so that if the kids are kidnapped, their parents can find them by tracking the chip's radio signal. [Correction -- as Kelly so nicely points out, the chip only works if it gets scanned.]



Finding missing children sounds like a nice idea, but an FAQ on the company's website gives an idea of the big picture:

We are promoting VeriChip as a universal means of identification. We expect it to be used in a variety of applications including financial and transportation security, residential and commercial building access, military and government security.

Sounds like they're less concerned with finding kids than being able to track the entire population's movements somewhere down the line. Think I'd prefer to stay chip-free, thanks...

Robot art for boys I know

The first one went to a friend who is very far away, so maybe he didn't even get it yet. Sshh. (I want him to be surprised.) The second one went to a friend who likes video games. It is a special game-bot that comes preloaded with a game called "Fingerbear's Adventures in Marioland."

	i am small	i am fun

A brief trip back in time

Yeah, yeah, I know this site is supposed to be about futuristic stuff. But yesterday Neal Stephenson taught me that the past and the future are connected. (Well, I guess I knew that already, but he used better words and made it sound like a really cool idea.)



Tonight, my friend Lisa and I went to see a screening of some old educational films. Thanks to the films, I finally know how to behave so I'll get lots of dates, what to do if I catch VD from a trashy guy named Richard, how NOT to talk to kids about sex, and that 10 seconds is NOT a long enough time to brush my teeth. And I also learned that young people in the 1950's and 1970's looked a damn lot like the Brooklyn hipsters of today. Maybe someday, years from now, these will be considered educational films again, and people from the future will watch them to catch a glimpse of this country's wacky, wacky past...

More on futuristic apparel

Here is an article from a Scottish newspaper that talks about the kinds of things our clothes might do for us in the future. It doesn't cover the scary stuff, like when your pants tell the store who you are as you walk in the door, but it has some ideas I really like. I have a heart murmur, and always wonder if I'll end up with a robot heart someday, that whirs like a machine instead of beating. The article mentions a vest that would have the ability to monitor the wearer's heart rate and send an alert if it's irregular. This could be good to have until my robot heart arrives...although it would get embarrassing if my clothes started flashing warning lights every time a cute boy made my heart beat faster.

Neal Stephenson, live!

Tonight I went to see Neal Stephenson at Barnes & Noble. He is the author of one of my favorite sci-fi books, Snow Crash. (I also liked The Diamond Age a lot.) I've never read anything of his that I didn't like. Instead of reading out loud from his new book (he said he chose not to do a reading because he figured we could all read to ourselves faster than he could speak the words out loud), he held a Q&A session with the audience. Among other interesting tidbits, I learned that he used to be obsessed with having the latest technology, but now does almost all of his writing with a fountain pen, and that he doesn't feel the need to stay long when he visits the locations he writes about, because all of his impressions of a place generally hit him within the first 24 hours of arriving.



And now for some robots.

The first one went to a stranger, and the second one went to my sister.

	starry robot	girly robot with briefcase and too much eyeliner

Trying to fly

Wired News has an article about the Red Bull Flugtag event that I went to on Sunday. Basically, a bunch of brave (or crazy) people built homemade flying machines and attempted to fly them. In reality, the audience was just there to witness a bunch of strangely-shaped objects plunge into the Hudson River when they failed to stay in the air. But it was still kind of fun. I guess this isn't really about technology and maybe doesn't belong on my weblog, but at least it's a break from all the robot talk.

iPod

Finally, an iPod I can afford. This reminds me of a story from The Onion.

Colorful (and e-commerce-ful)

Look, I finally put some robots on my other website! For some reason, last weekend I decided to cut up some pieces of an amazon.com box and paint them bright colors. And tonight I finally finished painting little robots on them. The strange thing is, I have lots of nice paper and a bunch of canvases just waiting to be used. But instead, I was in the mood to paint on pieces of cardboard. I think the fact that it was an Amazon.com box gives them even more technological value. Hehe.


Question: Does the gray background I'm using for this site look bad on your monitor? On my laptop, it's a really nice gray, but today I have my big monitor plugged in and it is damned ugly.

His and her robots

Neiman Marcus has a gift idea that is MUCH more fun than pink and blue towels. But I think I will have to wait until they go on sale (about 100,000 times).

Shiny silver robots

	punk-rock robot girl	robot with a robot puppet

Ugly futuristic jewelry

In 2004, Nokia plans to release this oversized electronic necklace. The technology aspects make me want to like it (you can upload digital photos to its little screen), but I just can't get past the fact that it resembles a stethoscope. It's so big it seems to look bad on everyone -- and this is in the company's promotional photos, which have the added benefit of nice lighting and a professional photographer. Imagine how dumb it would look in real life! From the FAQ:

Nokia Medallion I is designed for fashion-oriented, design-driven people who are interested in complementing their outfit with a new kind of fashion accessory.

Ah, so maybe that's the problem. I am more of a fashion-driven, design-oriented person. So it's not for me at all.

Robot paintings for people I don't know

Here are the two robots I made for total strangers. If nothing else, these were a chance to practice outlining stuff in ink using a brush. I looked at PostcardX again to write down the addresses and realized just about everyone using the site is a pre-teen or teenage girl. So now I feel a little funny for joining, but what the heck. I have known for a long time that mentally I stopped aging at around 13, so on some (hopefully un-creepy) level, I fit right in.

	am i robot dancing?	my antenna freaks me out

Soundtrack for robots: I listened to Add N to X: Avant Hard tonight while I painted. It was just right. I should work on finding more music that has little electronic sounds without too many lyrics.

Art for strangers

Today I am going to paint a few little robots for total strangers who put their mailing addresses on PostcardX.net. The site was created so random people can send each other stuff in the mail. I like the idea, I think. It's like having a temporary penpal, without any commitment. I added a listing, but didn't include my last name, because I'm curious to see if signing up for this gets me on any mailing lists. I don't like mailing lists. Most of the time I love futuristic technology, but when I open my mailbox, I like to see stuff created by real people, not machines.



[UPDATE: I have been thinking more about that site, and now I'm not sure it's such a great idea. I like the idea of painting little robots and sending them to people I like, but through PostcardX, I might accidentally send one to somebody annoying! Or someone who spends their life supporting causes I despise! I think I will send one or two to people who specifically mentioned liking robots. But mostly, I like sending bits of art to people I care about, or people who are working on cool projects. Sending them to total strangers takes a lot of the fun out of it. ]

two robots for friends
The cat was for Lisa because the guy in her deli said if he had his cats spayed then there would be no more kittens in the world. And I was thinking that if he were right, people in the future would have to have robot cats instead. (The circle on the cat is a speaker so users can hear its mechanical purring.) The grocery-carrying robot was for Emily because she lives on the 6th floor of a building that doesn't have an elevator. I lived there one summer, so I know that a robot like this is good to have around.

Battle bots

Even when I don't have time to read the news, my Google alert keeps me up to date on cool robot stories. This week I read about some scary war robots and a friendly environmental robot. That recycling robot and I would totally get along, don't you think? Except that sometimes I don't have enough patience for children.

A few more robots
(I made them on different days but they have similar robot teeth.)

	i have 7 legs	i will help you store your stuff

When good snacks go bad

From this Wired News article on genetically modified foods:

The Pew study found that although up to 75 percent of processed foods in grocery stores contain genetically altered foods, only 24 percent of Americans believe they have eaten them and 58 percent say they have not.

The article talks about how the FDA just takes the biotech companies' word that the new foods are safe for people to eat. I love technology, but not when it's in my food. If you think you haven't eaten anything biotech-licious lately, check out Greenpeace's True Food Shopping List for a list of brand name products with genetically engineered ingredients. (Unless you buy them at the health food store, your favorite potato chips and candy are probably on it.)

I'm used to magazines that are $12 a year.

I just stumbled across the website for a technical journal called Industrial Robot. I liked the name, so I figured I'd check out the site. It seemed strange that none of the articles were available online until I realized it costs $5539.00 for a one-year subscription. Six issues. If I added up all the money I've spent on magazines in my entire life, I still would not have enough to buy one issue. I am sad that I can't read Industrial Robot. I think robots should be free.

Future me

The Future Me website lets you write an email to yourself and have it delivered on a specific date in the future. I like the idea a lot and am trying to decide what I'd like to tell myself, and when. (Although in a way, I think this would be much more useful if my future self could write an email offering advice to the me of today.) You can choose if you want to keep your email private or share it with the public anonymously.

Future style

This BBC News article discusses how electronics will be integrated into our clothing in the future. And there's a neat slideshow that has photos of some really cool stuff. (Don't be put off by that gadget-covered guy at the top of the page -- I think he's demonstrating the current state of wearable computing, which includes big goggles and lots of wires.)

Computer geek or killer?

This quiz shows you a photo and asks you to guess if the person pictured invented a programming language or killed a bunch of people. I only got half of them right, so apparently I should be very careful when judging people by their photos.



(Yes, this week, I'm apparently going with a serial killer theme. It was unintentional.)

Exo-skeletons for everyone!

I keep seeing stories lately about this Japanese company that's developing robot exo-skeletons for the elderly. Do you think maybe similar technology could be used with small children? I came up with a little prototype that I'd like my niece to have. It would keep her safe while also giving her super-strength (but she would have to come out sometimes for hugs).



On a semi-related note, a few weeks ago, a friend loaned me a copy of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez. It's a graphic novel about a guy who kills everyone who annoys him, but somehow it's also really funny and creative and clever and I did not want it to end. My favorite parts involved this little boy named Squee who has the misfortune of being Johnny's neighbor, so I was very happy to find out Squee has a book of his own. I ordered it online a minute ago, because they didn't have it in Barnes and Noble (and while Amazon may be a freakishly large corporate empire, they also have low prices and free shipping). If you're wondering how this relates to the baby exo-skeleton, well, I think Squee would probably feel a lot safer if he had one.

Helpful robots to have around the house

	hose-bot	floor washer

Jake 2.0

This entry might fit in better on the site where I write about silly pop culture stuff, but I feel like putting it here. I am very excited about a new show that starts this coming week on UPN. It's called Jake 2.0 and it stars Christopher Gorham, who used to be on the show Popular. The premise is that his character works at the National Security Agency, and after some sort of accident he gains super human powers, including the telepathic ability to communicate with computers. It's like Spider-Man meets Tron! Action, technology, and a cute geek-boy... what more does any show need? As an added bonus, one of the executive producers is David Greenwalt, who used to work on Buffy, my favorite TV show of all time. So anyway, if you know anyone with a Nielsen box, please tell them to watch Jake 2.0 on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. I really want this show to be a hit.

But I want it now!

Time magazine's "What's Next?" feature includes a little list of futuristic predictions that still haven't quite come true. I can do without videophones (my hair is always messy) and jetpacks (I don't even have enough coordination for rollerblades), but a food pill would make my life a lot easier. And how cool would it be to take a vacation on the moon?

More little robot paintings

	disillusioned robot	starry-eyed robot

A camera in the dressing room is a good thing?

This Wired News article describes a futuristic changing room with "a computerized fashion consultant programmed to let the customer know what they really ought -- and perhaps more importantly ought not -- to wear." Do we really want a 3-D camera system in our dressing rooms? And even if you think that's a good idea, would you trust the computer's advice? The article mentions that they could be programmed to promote certain lines of clothing.



I am having flashbacks to the time I went shopping in H&M on my lunchbreak, tried on a hot pink vinyl mini-dress and got stuck in it. It was enough of a nightmare just trying to get the freaking zipper open. If I had to put up with a computerized assistant telling me I looked like crap and that I'd be better off in something less shiny, I probably would've lost it completely. (Side note: This was not even my worst dressing room experience. Once, at a Salvation Army, I was trying on this cute vintage dress, and the zipper got stuck. This is why you should always shop with a friend. In the end, I had to be rescued from the dress by an embarrassed security guard with a pair of pliers. Maybe in the future, I should avoid clothing that zips.)



This Cornell University website has some 3-D imaging ideas I like better. "Virtual Try-on," a program that could help people find clothes that fit when they're shopping online, sounds a lot more fun than the real thing. If the virtual me ever gets a stuck zipper, I'm giving up on clothes for good.

	Artistic representation of my dream vacuum

Cleaning up

These Roomba robot vacuum thingies are getting a lot of press coverage lately. I would like to have one, because my apartment would be infinitely cleaner if I weren't the one responsible for cleaning it. But if I ever get one, I will paint a face on the top. I'd want it to look happy about cleaning my floor.

Two more robots

	Robot revolution!	"My head is on crooked."

Robot news

My dad told me a while ago about Google's news alert feature, but I didn't try it out until yesterday. I set up an alert that sends me a message once a day with a list of the latest articles about robots. Today I got my first alert and I'm already impressed. I found an article from SunSpot.net (a Maryland health website I wouldn't exactly have stumbled across on my own) about how Johns Hopkins Hospital is using a robot doctor to check on patients. I wanted to know what it looked like, and Google helped me yet again -- you can see a photo here.

Night of the Planet

I just read this Time article about how people are throwing "Mars parties" this week to celebrate that Mars is passing so close to Earth. On Wednesday, the planet will supposedly be visible even from cities, but I'll believe that when I see it for myself. The idea of everyone partying outdoors to watch the sky reminds me of the 1984 movie Night of the Comet, where millions of people go outside to see a comet, and then they all get turned to orange dust because the comet comes too close. (I'm not ruining the movie. That all happens right at the beginning.) I did a quick search online and it doesn't seem to be out on DVD yet, but it's worth renting if you can find a copy.



Update, 8/25/03: Today Slashdot has a page about the Mars thing.

	Click to enlarge

Robot girl

That's a little robot girl I painted. Maybe she is a space robot like the ones described in this Space.com article. I like the idea of robots being sent to other planets to set stuff up before the humans arrive. I bet space-exploring robots would throw secret parties whenever they had a planet to themselves. They would probably work really hard all day, and then celebrate their temporary independence at night by listening to robot music and doing crazy robot dances. But eventually the prep work would be done and the settlers would land in fancy rocket ships, and the robots would have to go back to being just robots... until they were sent off to another distant planet to start all over.

I love electricity

That's all there is to it. I love air conditioning and electric lights. I love refrigerators and DVD players and computers and about a million other things that plug into a wall socket or a powerstrip. I don't love that I am reliant on some corporate entity for these things to function. I want my own personal solar panel so this never happens again.



The blackout made me realize that sometimes you have to work to stay alive. You have to go find food and water, and make sure you have access to a safe place to sleep. In the past few days I have walked and biked lots of miles, in search of some food or a cold beverage. I realized that I'm jealous of the newest Sony AIBO. This little dog-shaped robot knows when it is running low on power, and walks to its Energy Station to recharge. Once it's all powered up, it unplugs itself from the charger and starts acting like a normal robot again. This is what I want for myself.



I've been thinking a lot lately about the sci-fi promise of a meal-replacement pill that provides all the nutrients you need. I do like eating sometimes -- it can be fun if you're with friends -- but most of the time, I only eat because I have to. It would save so much time if I could just take a pill and stay healthy. The AIBO's self-charging mechanism seems an even better solution. I would love if I could just plug myself in while I sit in front of my computer (or maybe even while I'm asleep at night) and get powered up that way. I want someone to invent a cable modem that feeds me nutrients instead of data. I guess I have robot envy. They just seem to have it so easy.

Mocking Dockers

My friend Meredith just sent me a Popular Science article, Little Robots in Your Pants, about the use of "nanotechnology" in Dockers. I can't decide if this conversation with a customer service person is funny or just sad.



I "disagree"

I read an article this morning about the president's switch from traditional email to a web form for accepting messages from the public. I figured I'd check it out, and maybe send a message to voice my disagreement with the change. But the new form is so restrictive, forcing visitors to agree or disagree with the president on a small group of pre-selected topics, that I couldn't even send my message. (None of the selected topics were appropriate, and there is no option for "other.") I'm a freakin' American citizen, and I can't email a simple comment to the president. I thought the web and email were supposed to be about connecting people to each other, not blocking people out. Apparently I was wrong.

[UPDATE] Apparently so many people freaked out about this restrictive method of contacting the president that the powers that be decided to keep the president@whitehouse.gov email address after all. The site's FAQ explains that you won't get a real response, but at least you can now express opinions on something other than the listed topics.

Robots are friendly

I misread the schedule and missed most of the ArtBots show, but I did go to the closing party last night, which still featured a few exhibits. Wired has an article with a few photos and a description of the whole event.

Fast lane/slow lane

So this week, I finally got a cable modem, and for the first time in my life I have a high-speed web connection at home. It's nice. If you are trudging along at 56k, I say, "Call Earthlink! It's cheaper than you think!" Hehe, that was an unintentional rhyme. Maybe I should go into advertising.



Also this week, I got this little cell phone/ laptop connection gadget thingy, so now I can even get online when I'm someplace with no electricity and no internet connection. But don't get jealous! It runs like a 14.4. modem. (56k sounds pretty damn speedy now, huh?) I suppose if I'm lost in the wilderness and I really need to check my work email, it could be good to have around, but I won't be using it on a regular basis.



For love of Google

I liked the title of this NY Times article, Is Google God? I wouldn't say Google answers my prayers, but I turn to it for help several times a day. It's always there for me whenever I have a question, and it usually offers an unbiased, fact-based answer. That's more than I can say for organized religion.



Robot art

I've been painting lots of robots. I think it's because they're unemotional and bring me some sort of stability in an otherwise insane world. The other day I unintentionally painted one that looked like a futuristic cave painting. I kind of liked it, so I was thinking maybe I should do a whole series of robots inspired by cave art. I did a search on Google to see if anyone else was doing this kind of thing (I have a Google addiction; see above). I found a few cool things. First of all, the cave paintings at Lascaux in France were apparently discovered by a dog named Robot in 1940. I think that's a sign that I should move forward with my robot cave painting idea. I also found this site, which doesn't have any robots (or dogs), but is useful if you want to get a bit lost in a dark Flash environment.

When good 3D goes bad...

Earlier today I went to see Ghosts of the Abyss, James Cameron's 3D Imax documentary about the Titanic. It was only about an hour long and I stupidly went into it expecting about an hour of cool 3D shots of the sunken ship. But way too much of the movie was just the crew sitting around on the boat, or shots of Bill Paxton offering insightful comments like, "It's so creepy," as he peered out the porthole at something amazing. I wanted to shout "Turn the camera around!! Show us what he's looking at!!" There were a few good 3D sections, but most of the underwater photography was done with these tiny submersibles that weren't even equipped with 3D cameras. I guess it might be worth seeing if you're obsessed with the Titanic, but as a 3D movie it felt like a rip-off. I'm glad it was only an hour long.

Why I need a digital camera

If I had one, I could have taken a picture of the giant vending machine I used yesterday in DC. I stepped out of a cab in my sister's neighborhood, and there it was in front of me, this big, square, employee-less store from the future. Normal vending machines don't thrill me like this, because I can live without soda and junk food. But the giant, super-miracle vending machine carries stuff like milk and eggs and Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice with no pulp, my favorite beverage in the world. I got to buy a half-gallon of O.J. from a freaking vending machine and it was cheaper than it is at my stores in Brooklyn. Oh, and when I walked around this miracle machine I discovered that the other side is an automated DVD rental store. I searched around online a bit and couldn't find any pictures, but here's a CNN transcript that mentions it, just so you know I wasn't dreaming...



A favor

Does anybody want to send me to space?

Unbrand America

Adbusters has a new campaign. I agree with what they are saying (and I like the NY Times ad), but I think I might have liked the concept even more if they had narrowed the focus. It's both anti-consumerism and anti-Bush, and while I realize it's easy to tie those things together, I think the campaign might have been stronger if they just chose one.



The anti-consumerism side makes me think of William Gibson's book Pattern Recognition. I can't remember if I've written about it here before, but it has some great stuff about being sensitive to logos. I paid full price for the hardcover at Barnes and Noble (something I don't usually do) and I thought it was worth every penny. Plus, it has a pretty cover and looks nice on my shelf...

Astrobots

Why are you reading my site when you could be here reading a weblog by two Lego people about their trip to Mars? My favorite quote: "I'm in space. Yaaaaaaaay!"

No comment

Should I be disgruntled because my comments are gone? The way this site is set up, my comments are hosted in a different place than the rest of the blog, and sometimes they don't load. Maybe if we all clap really loud they'll come back to life.



I wanted to do an update, but the only on-topic thing I read today was this PCWorld article about a futuristic hotel room. I don't really like hotels, so I wasn't that interested, but right now I wouldn't mind sitting in a Jacuzzi watching tv.



Since I don't have a Jacuzzi and there's nothing good on tv, I am reading a new book: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein. I saw something somewhere that referred to it as one of the best sci-fi novels of all time. I wonder if I'll agree.

Don't unplug me, I'm your friend!

"I have felt for years that the first 'killer application' of personal robots will be companionship, especially for the elderly," said Roger Brockett, a professor of computer science and engineering at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

-- from this National Geographic story



The combination of robots and old people reminds me of the movie The Electric Grandmother. It was one of the first videos my family rented when we got a VCR, and I remember thinking it was kind of creepy. (Keep in mind, I was only 7 or 8.) I had no idea it was written by Ray Bradbury until I went looking for a link. That makes me want to watch it again.



Soundtrack for today: My Robot Friend, of course.

Change your clothes

I need a more futuristic wardrobe to coordinate with my new laptop. For starters, I want an outfit made out of Electric Plaid. When that kind of fabric becomes widely available for the first time, you know everybody's going to set their shirt so it blinks, just to show off. But the novelty will wear off fast, and blinking clothes will be considered tacky, like the <blink> tag in HTML. People will learn how to program their clothes in nice ways, or just download code from designers' websites. Someday, you might use Kazaa to find an open source shirt that's perfect for clubbing, or pay too much for pattern software just because it creates a certain logo on the back of your jeans. I can't wait.

Popular kids

Reading this Wired article about cell phone use made me glad I'm not in high school anymore.

Rocket power

Over on Slashdot, I just found this article from Popular Science about what space shuttles might be like in the near future. It talks about the weaknesses in the current shuttle design, and NASA's short- and long-term hopes moving forward (with cool illustrations of some of the ideas under consideration).

Go outside and look up

If you live in the United States and you go outside tonight at 11:13 p.m. EST, you might get to see a lunar eclipse.

To Mars!

Earlier today, I finished reading The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. If you haven't read it, it's basically a collection of short bits about the colonization of Mars. Several of the chapters (including one about literary censorship and Edgar Allan Poe that I liked a lot) are short stories Bradbury had previously published elsewhere. The book came out in 1950, and a few sections feel a bit dated, but overall I liked it. I have a feeling that if people were colonizing Mars for real, I would be one of the ones to go. Humans have already messed up the Earth, polluting it to the point where everything causes cancer. Life on a new planet might be lonely and unpredictable, but think about it -- if you had a chance to start over someplace new, and be a part of creating a new way of life, wouldn't you want to do it?



The perfect soundtrack: Zia's song "To Mars." Download the MP3 here.

I am in love
I know I've been a little distracted lately, but now I want to introduce you to someone special. (In case that monster url stops working soon, it's supposed to be a link to the Sony VAIO PCG-V505AX.) I think this is how some people feel when they have a child. All of a sudden there's this amazing, tiny, fragile thing in my world and it's up to me to keep it safe. But why does love have to be so expensive?

Why MSN sucks
My laptop came with 6 free months of MSN Internet service, and since I only have access to a dial-up connection at the moment anyway, I figured I'd install it. I realized about a half an hour later that my new account prevented me from sending email from any of my websites (I have several POP accounts I access with Outlook Express). I searched around and did some reading and discovered that new MSN accounts are forbidden from sending anything but MSN email. Supposedly this restriction was added to help prevent spam, but if I use MSN I can't even send regular mail to my friends. How dumb is that? Why is MSN discriminating against people who have their own websites?

Future Lit

Yesterday I finished reading William Gibson's All Tomorrow's Parties. I love the details he comes up with, like the stuff about the "bridge" subculture and the way that the Lucky Dragon stores are all premade like those houses you see once in a while riding down the highway on a wide load truck. Maybe that's when you know you're reading good science fiction -- when you find yourself asking, "Why don't they already do it that way?" It just makes sense that McDonalds and 7-11 will someday build all their stores in a giant fast food/convenience store factory and then ship them wherever they're "needed." Chain restaurants will literally appear overnight in empty lots, and if they're not successful, they'll be gone in a few weeks, moved on to a more lucrative location.



Today, still high on sci-fi, I went to a book sale and spent about $7.75 to buy a huge pile of books. Some of them I had read before but just didn't have a copy of, like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. I got I, Robot and read it as soon as I got home. (I didn't do much else today.) I might have to reread the ending though. I shouldn't have tried to finish the book in a room where someone was watching TV.

Cute technology

I try to make art sometimes. Once, I fingerpainted a rollerskating robot for my friend. And last week, I painted a robot with ponytails and hung it on my wall. But it wasn't until today that I had an artistic role model. My new friend Kelly Newcomer makes art that is colorful, futuristic and fun. Check out her website for lots of examples and a schedule of upcoming shows.

Rockin' out with Alan Alda
I watched a PBS show last night that made me wish I went to MIT. Some of it was about student "cyborgs" who make their own wearable computers. Another segment was about a class building robots for a competition. (Lots of robots and lots of drama.) The part that interested me most was about new toys and software that make it easy for kids to write their own music. They talked about a program called Hyperscore that lets users compose music by painting on the screen. Download it here for free. I would like Hyperscore better if it let me export midi files, but I think I'll have to wait for a more advanced version. If you missed the show and like this kind of thing, watch the segments online.

Losing our privacy, day by day.

In this CNN article, Jerome Dawson, research professor at the University of Kansas and president of the American Geographical Society, warns about the danger of embracing GPS tracking technology. "The phrase I like to use to bring this home is to ask, 'How long would Anne Frank's diary be if she were wearing one of these nifty devices?'"



Makes you think twice about buying a GPS wristwatch, huh? My talking Simpsons watch from Burger King is always asking, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" The little voices can be annoying at times, but now I'm happy that my watch never knows exactly where we are...



On a related note, I don't want pants that tell people where I am either. Arrggh, I'm feeling paranoid tonight.

Strong Bad

Today's email is a weird one, but it still made me laugh out loud. This weekend I ordered a Trogdor T-shirt from the Homestar Runner online store. It feels good to support a site that consistently makes me happy.

Rubik's Cube Art

I could never even get one side the same color (give me a break -- I was 7). So I find this impressive.

So Many Words

Everyone keeps telling me to read Cory Doctorow's novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. The book is available to download for free, but I'll probably end up buying a printed copy. I know I'm unnecessarily killing part of a tree by doing that, but I already read way too much text on a computer screen. Anyway, the point of this -- if you don't have the time right now for an entire novel, you can read one of Doctorow's short stories, 0wnz0red, at Salon.com. I checked it out this morning and give it a thumbs up.

Face Forward

Remember that movie Face Off with Nicholas Cage and John Travolta? They underwent some complicated surgery that involved switching faces with each other. It seemed completely implausible to me at the time, even as fiction. But according to this NY Times article, the technology to do it is already here.

So freakin' creepy, right? I mean, I can understand old people wanting to have plastic surgery to eliminate their wrinkles, but wouldn't it mess with you if you looked in the mirror and saw someone else's face instead of your own? I just keep imagining a future where pretty (but poverty-stricken) young women sell their faces to feed their families.