Cold wintery night,
She has to put up with this urging fight.
Built up walls made of pure steel,
Tries to take hold,
And let herself heal.
Loosing all control,
She might not reach her lasting goal.
Slipping back into the depths of her mind,
She needs to find peace of any kind.
She wants release,
Anything to put her at ease.
Her walls begin to crumble,
Her world begins to fall, and tumble.

> El Ayuntamiento y la empresa CTL finalizarán este mes las actuaciones en los pinos de los centros docentes.

Con el fin de evitar los efectos de la procesionaria de los pinos en los niños -reacciones alérgicas e irritaciones de piel y mucosas-, la concejalía de Sanidad y la empresa CTL, encargada del control de plagas en el término municipal, están realizando los tratamientos preventivos oportunos en los colegios y escuelas infantiles municipales.

Fuentes del Ayuntamiento informaron de que está previsto que dichos tratamientos concluyan antes de final de mes. En ellos se utilizan inhibidores del crecimiento de estas orugas, ya que son los productos que han dado mejores resultados y son respetuosos con las personas y el medio ambiente.

Existen numerosos métodos de control que aplicados de forma adecuada, pueden reducir las poblaciones de procesionaria y mantenerlas en bajos niveles de infestación. Hay varios métodos, además de los químicos convencionales, que no son nocivos y por lo tanto, no tienen impacto sobre personas ni medio ambiente. Se trata de insecticidas biológicos (como gérmenes que les matan), inhibidores de crecimiento, trampas con feromonas, y medidas físicas como son la rotura, corta y quema de los bolsones de orugas.

La competencia para controlar estos insectos varía según la zona donde se ubiquen. En los colegios públicos corresponde a la Concejalía de Sanidad. El departamento de Parques y Jardines se encarga de la ladera del río Vinalopó y de los parques y jardines municipales. Las zonas de monte público y los institutos dependen de la Generalitat. Y, por último, en propiedades privadas y jardines comunitarios es responsabilidad de sus propietarios.

El Ayuntamiento advierte de que si aparece algún bolsón de orugas de procesionaria, nunca hay que golpearlo para romperlo, ya que lo único que se consigue es esparcir los pelos urticantes y provocar un daño mucho mayor.

Plaga de la zona
La procesionaria del pino es una mariposa que constituye la plaga forestal más extendida en los montes de la Comunidad Valenciana. Produce dos tipos de daños: en primer lugar ataca a estos árboles, ya que las larvas se alimentan de sus hojas; y en segundo lugar, provocan reacciones urticarias en personas y animales.

En los pinares adultos, el ataque de la procesionaria implica una disminución en su crecimiento y los debilita tanto que facilita el ataque de otras plagas. Los ejemplares jóvenes acosados por la procesionaria, terminan secándose.

Vía | laverdad.es

Pop/R&B legend Janet Jackson opened the 2009 American Music Awards with a medley of her hits, beginning with her 1986 breakout charttopper “Control.”

Janet did her thing but performing just one good song could have been better.

Janet did a great job. I see nothing wrong with the way she perfomed. *Why do ppl want her to still be 25?* and dance like she still that age? But anywho here are the titles of the songs she did in her performance:

Control
What Have You Done For my Lately
Miss you Much
If
Make Me *Her new single*
Together Again

Final Fantasy VII, in my opinion, is one of the best games ever made.  For its time, the graphics rocked.  The storyline kept you hunting for answers with great twists.  I’m sad to admit, however, that the game became an obsession for me.  Looking back, I can see how it helped me escape reality and how that became addictive.  It came at a time where I needed to face reality and God and make my faith real.  I was participating in the first in-depth Bible study of my life.  There were times where I had to consciously make the decision to go read my Bible.  At the time, reading the Old Testament in my study seemed rather dull and boring compared to the vivid storyline of FFVII, which I’d consider to be more of a visual and interactive book rather than a video game.  The plot of FFVII has its redemptive value which I hope to write about more at a later time.  Video games are not bad in and of themselves, but in my specific case, they took a negative turn because it took God’s place in my priorities, thoughts, and heart.

I remember when there were commercials on tv for FFVII.  My entire focus became immediately glued to the tv screen every time I as much as thought I heard the music.  I still remember it pretty well.  An announcer described the daring feats, brutal combat, insurmountable odds, “a love that could never be” (that always got me!), and dashing honor you will encounter as you play.  He said something about how you must save the world!  Everyone is counting on you!  And if you fail…  “you can always hit the reset button.”

Wouldn’t it be great if we had one of those?  Ah, to have a reset button!

“Oh man, I shouldn’t have said that!  Let’s reset.”

“Wow!  I can’t believe I did THAT!  I’ll just reset.”

“Now things will never be the same …unless I don’t save today.”

Nope.  We have no such option.  This life is the only shot we have.  We can’t go back even a few seconds to undo anything.  In fact, you’d be surprised to realize how little control you have over your life.  The only control you have is over what you say and do at this exact moment in time.  Sure, you can plan, promise, and make provisions for the future.  Those endeavors can even be wise, keeping in mind that God’s plans stand more firm.  The fact is that the only thing you can change is now.

What shall this sobering reality mean for us then?  That we have to make sure we do everything perfectly and in perfect timing?  No.  Like I said, you’d be surprised at how much you can’t control.  We live in a fallen world and we’ll be blindsided by circumstances we never could have prevented.  I don’t mean for us to become obsessed about every second on the clock, but I do mean for us to consider how much we are allowing ourselves to be taken by mediocrity.  How many Godly things have we put off to do later?  How many times have we tried to do something to better ourselves but haven’t taken the time to complete them?  How much time do we waste doing things that will count for nothing when this life is over?  In essence, how many times have we said to the Lord, “not now.”

Perhaps we fool ourselves thinking our “not now” approach isn’t so bad because it’s not telling the Lord “no.”  We have the intention to do what He’s asked of us.  After all, doesn’t He look at the heart anyway?  If we’re going to lean on that idea, we better take a good, hard look at our hearts.  Do we really want to do that thing for the Lord?  Do we truly desire that as deeply as God desires it?  If not, this message is for you.  Stop putting God off.  No more of this “I can’t do that now, Lord” attitude!  Even if you know you’re not ready for the tasks, He knows your faults and His power is made perfect in weakness.  He will do amazing things with your surrendered heart if you desire Him above all other things.

If your heart is indeed in line with God’s desires and His plan, please don’t let this message freak you out and make you rush God’s timing. Perhaps He is asking you to wait.  But if He’s waiting on you, you may have a problem.  I just ask that we take the time to question ourselves to see if He’s pushing us and whether or not we’re budging.

Consider today.  This is the only today you have.  What have you not done that you need to do?  Be advised – you have no reset button.

I received a great question from a Reiki student today who was researching Reiki for an assignment at college.

Q. I was just wondering what your opinion is about differing qualities of Reiki given by a reiki Master or a level 1 or 2 practitioner?

This is a wonderful question, which I am pleased to be able to offer an opinion about.

I can really only speak from personal experience. For me, the ‘quality’ of Reiki coming out from my hands didn’t really change from Level 1 to Level 2, but increased dramatically when I did the master level. Having said that, I think there are so many factors influencing the ‘quality’ of a person’s Reiki, including how grounded they are, how much spiritual development they have done, whether they’re coming from a heart space or ego space (especially!), how strong their spiritual practice is, what’s going on in their life at the time, and how much of a “click” factor you might have with them in general. I’ve had Level 1 or 2 people put their hands on me and it’s been just wonderful and I’ve had “masters” put their hands on me and I’ve wanted to slap them and run away!!

My general advice, at all times, is to ask your higher self to direct you to where you need to go and then trust your instincts.

I don’t really know how I feel about the ’scientific’ study of Reiki… I appreciate that we all want to quantify things and that ‘research’ gives us great arguments to defend what we do. But, personally, I’m not really interested in defending something that I simply know to be true. (In my experience, defending something rarely gets results anyway because the people on the attack aren’t really interested in hearing the answers.)

The biggest problem for me with ‘research’ of Reiki is that it assumes you can control the energy, and the first principle of Reiki is that we must let go and let the Reiki do its own work. We cannot control it. To assume otherwise is laughable. And, because of the individual’s effects on the ‘quality’ (as discussed above), for me there can be no such thing as a ‘control group’ because that would assume that the Reiki coming from everyone’s hands is exactly the same, and we know from experience that that’s just not true.

In summary, I don’t believe that the level of Reiki necessarily affects the quality of the healing and I don’t believe that it can be ‘proven’ one way or another. So, trust your instincts and take guided action.

We can easily insert progras bar inside the tree view just like we added check box and combo box. We are again going to use the CellTemplate property of GridViewColumn. We are going to define data template to use the progress bar.

This time we are going to do something useful rather than using some dummy sample. This time we are going to make one simple application to calculate the book value of a fixed assets cost using the straight line method.

Here is a class to store the information about the depreciation.

  1: public class DepreciationInfo

  2: {

  3: 	public int Year

  4: 	{ get; set; }

  5:

  6: 	public double Depreciation

  7: 	{ get; set; }

  8:

  9: 	public double AccDepreciation

 10: 	{ get; set; }

 11:

 12: 	public double BookValue

 13: 	{ get; set; }

 14:

 15: 	public double Percentage

 16: 	{ get; set; }

 17: }

 18: 

Calculation of book value using straight line method is very simple. Here is a simple method to calculate the book value.

  1: double depExpense = depValue / year;

  2: double accDepreciation = 0;

  3: double bookValue = cost;

  4:

  5: for (int iIndex = 0; iIndex < year; iIndex++)

  6: {

  7: 	accDepreciation += depExpense;

  8: 	bookValue -= depExpense;

  9: 	DepreciationInfo dpInfo = new DepreciationInfo();

 10: 	dpInfo.Year = (iIndex + 1);

 11: 	dpInfo.Depreciation = depExpense;

 12: 	dpInfo.AccDepreciation = accDepreciation;

 13: 	dpInfo.BookValue = bookValue;

 14: 	dpInfo.Percentage = bookValue * 100 / cost;

 15:

 16: 	depreciation.Add(dpInfo);

 17: }

 18:

 19: 

Here is a complete XAML code of this project.

  1: <Window x:Class="Depreciation.Window1"

  2:     xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

  3:     xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

  4:     Title="Depreciation" Height="400" Width="600">

  5:     <Grid Background="AliceBlue">

  6:         <Grid.RowDefinitions>

  7:             <RowDefinition/>

  8:             <RowDefinition/>

  9:             <RowDefinition/>

 10:             <RowDefinition Height="4*"/>

 11:             <RowDefinition/>

 12:         </Grid.RowDefinitions>

 13:

 14:         <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

 15:             <ColumnDefinition/>

 16:             <ColumnDefinition/>

 17:         </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

 18:         <TextBlock Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0" Margin="5" VerticalAlignment="Center">Enter Cost of Fixed Asset</TextBlock>

 19:         <TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" Margin="5" VerticalAlignment="Center" Name="txtCost"></TextBox>

 20:         <TextBlock Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="1" Margin="5" VerticalAlignment="Center">Enter life Span</TextBlock>

 21:         <TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" Margin="5" VerticalAlignment="Center" Name="txtYear"></TextBox>

 22:         <TextBlock Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="2" Margin="5" VerticalAlignment="Center">Enter Scrap Value</TextBlock>

 23:         <TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="2" Margin="5" VerticalAlignment="Center" Name="txtScrapValue"></TextBox>

 24:

 25:         <ListView Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="3" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" Name="list" Margin="5" HorizontalContentAlignment="Stretch">

 26:             <ListView.View>

 27:                 <GridView>

 28:                     <GridView.ColumnHeaderTemplate>

 29:                         <DataTemplate>

 30:                             <Border BorderBrush="Brown" BorderThickness="2" CornerRadius="5">

 31:                                 <Border.Background>

 32:                                     <LinearGradientBrush>

 33:                                         <GradientStop Offset="0" Color="Wheat"/>

 34:                                         <GradientStop Offset="1" Color="LightCoral"/>

 35:                                     </LinearGradientBrush>

 36:                                 </Border.Background>

 37:                                 <TextBlock Foreground="Blue" FontSize="14" FontWeight="Bold" Margin="5" Text="{Binding}" Width="Auto"/>

 38:                             </Border>

 39:                         </DataTemplate>

 40:                     </GridView.ColumnHeaderTemplate>

 41:                     <GridViewColumn Width="Auto" Header="Year" DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding Path=Year}"/>

 42:                     <GridViewColumn Width="Auto" Header="Depreciation" DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding Path=Depreciation}"/>

 43:                     <GridViewColumn Width="Auto" Header="Accumulated Depreciation" DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding Path=AccDepreciation}"/>

 44:                     <GridViewColumn Width="Auto" Header="Book Value" DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding Path=BookValue}"/>

 45:                     <GridViewColumn Width="Auto" Header="Percentage">

 46:                         <GridViewColumn.CellTemplate>

 47:                             <DataTemplate>

 48:                                 <ProgressBar Width="50" Height="20" Margin="5" Minimum="0" Maximum="100" Value="{Binding Percentage}"/>

 49:                             </DataTemplate>

 50:                         </GridViewColumn.CellTemplate>

 51:                     </GridViewColumn>

 52:                 </GridView>

 53:             </ListView.View>

 54:         </ListView>

 55:         <Button Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="4" Margin="10" Width="75" Name="btnCalculate" Click="btnCalculate_Click">Calculate</Button>

 56:         <Button Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="4" Margin="10" Width="75" Name="btnExit" Click="btnExit_Click">Exit</Button>

 57:     </Grid>

 58: </Window>

 59: 

Here is a complete C# code of this project.

  1: using System;

  2: using System.Collections.Generic;

  3: using System.Linq;

  4: using System.Text;

  5: using System.Windows;

  6: using System.Windows.Controls;

  7: using System.Windows.Data;

  8: using System.Windows.Documents;

  9: using System.Windows.Input;

 10: using System.Windows.Media;

 11: using System.Windows.Media.Imaging;

 12: using System.Windows.Navigation;

 13: using System.Windows.Shapes;

 14:

 15: namespace Depreciation

 16: {

 17:     /// <summary>

 18:     /// Interaction logic for Window1.xaml

 19:     /// </summary>

 20:     public partial class Window1 : Window

 21:     {

 22:         List<DepreciationInfo> depreciation;

 23:         private int year;

 24:         private double cost;

 25:         private double scrap;

 26:

 27:         public Window1()

 28:         {

 29:             InitializeComponent();

 30:

 31:             depreciation = new List<DepreciationInfo>();

 32:         }

 33:

 34:         private void btnExit_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

 35:         {

 36:             Close();

 37:         }

 38:

 39:         private void btnCalculate_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

 40:         {

 41:             depreciation.Clear();

 42:

 43:             year = Convert.ToInt32(txtYear.Text);

 44:             cost = Convert.ToDouble(txtCost.Text);

 45:             scrap = Convert.ToDouble(txtScrapValue.Text);

 46:

 47:             if (year <= 0)

 48:             {

 49:                 MessageBox.Show("Number of years can not be zero or negative.");

 50:                 return;

 51:             }

 52:

 53:             double depValue = cost - scrap;

 54:

 55:             if (depValue <= 0)

 56:             {

 57:                 MessageBox.Show("Either Cost or Scrap value is not correct.");

 58:                 return;

 59:             }

 60:

 61:             double depExpense = depValue / year;

 62:             double accDepreciation = 0;

 63:             double bookValue = cost;

 64:

 65:             for (int iIndex = 0; iIndex < year; iIndex++)

 66:             {

 67:                 accDepreciation += depExpense;

 68:                 bookValue -= depExpense;

 69:                 DepreciationInfo dpInfo = new DepreciationInfo();

 70:                 dpInfo.Year = (iIndex + 1);

 71:                 dpInfo.Depreciation = depExpense;

 72:                 dpInfo.AccDepreciation = accDepreciation;

 73:                 dpInfo.BookValue = bookValue;

 74:                 dpInfo.Percentage = bookValue * 100 / cost;

 75:

 76:                 depreciation.Add(dpInfo);

 77:             }

 78:

 79:             list.ItemsSource = depreciation;

 80:         }

 81:     }

 82:

 83:     public class DepreciationInfo

 84:     {

 85:         public int Year

 86:         { get; set; }

 87:

 88:         public double Depreciation

 89:         { get; set; }

 90:

 91:         public double AccDepreciation

 92:         { get; set; }

 93:

 94:         public double BookValue

 95:         { get; set; }

 96:

 97:         public double Percentage

 98:         { get; set; }

 99:     }

100: }

101: 

Here is the output of this program.

201417     ระบบไฮดรอลิกและการควบคุม     Hydraulic System and Control

ของของไหลในระบบไฮดรอลิก ส่วนประกอบของระบบไฮดรอลิก กระบอกไฮดรอลิกและไฮดรอลิก มอเตอร์ ลิ้นควบคุม การขับเคลื่อนชนิดไฮโดรสแตติก น้ำมันไฮดรอลิกสัญลักษณ์ของอุปกรณ์และวงจรไฮดรอลิก การออกแบบระบบไฮดรอลิก ระบบไฮดรอลิกของรถแทรกเตอร์ การวิเคราะห์และแก้ไขปัญหาระบบไฮดรอลิก ฟังก์ชันถ่ายโอนและบล็อกไดอะแกรม การวิเคราะห์การตอบสนองที่แปรเปลี่ยนตามเวลาและความถี่ การวิเคราะห์เสถียรภาพของระบบป้อนกลับเชิงเส้น

(Fluid power in hydraulic system; components of hydraulic system; pumps, cylinders and hydraulic motors, control valves, hydrostatic drives, hydraulic fluids, hydraulic symbols and circuits; design of hydraulic system; hydraulic systems of tractors; analysis and trouble shooting of hydraulic systems: transfer function and block diagram; analysis of time and frequency response; analysis of stability of linear feedback system.)

(201417 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

201452     ระบบควบคุมชนิดป้อนกลับสำหรับวิศวกรรมเกษตร     Feed Back Control System for Agricultural Engineering

การแปลงลาปลาสและการแก้สมการเชิงอนุพันธ์ ฟังก์ชันการถ่ายโอนและแผนภาพบล็อก ระบบการควบคุมแบบวงเปิด ระบบการควบคุมแบบวงปิด ผลตอบสนองชั่วครู่ของระบบ การแทนและการวิเคราะห์ด้วยปริภูมิสเตท ผลตอบสนองเชิงความถี่ของระบบ แผนภาพโบด แผนภาพไนควิสท์ เกณฑ์กำหนดเสถียรภาพแบบรูท-เฮอร์วิทช์ เทคนิคการปรับระบบให้มีเสถียรภาพและสมรรถนะของระบบ ระบบไฮดรอลิกและเซอร์โว กระบวนการควบคุม ระบบควบคุมแบบต่างๆ ในงานวิศวกรรมเกษตร

(Laplace transform and differential equation solving, transfer function and block diagram, open loop control system, closed loop control system, transient response of systems, state space representation and analysis, frequency response of systems, Bode diagram, Nyquist diagram, Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion, stabilizing technique and system performance, hydraulic system and servo, process control, different types of control system in agricultural engineering.)

(201452 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

202361     การป้องกันและการควบคุมมลพิษ     Pollution Prevention and Control

หลักการป้องกันมลพิษ ระบบการจัดการด้านสิ่งแวดล้อมและอนุกรม มาตรฐานสากล ไอเอสโอ 14000 วิธีการตรวจประเมินเทคโนโลยีสะอาด หลักการควบคุมมลพิษอุตสาหกรรม วิธีการบํ าบัดและทิ้งนํ้ าเสีย มลสารที่เป็นอนุภาคและที่เป็นก๊าซ ของเสียที่เป็นของแข็งและสารอันตรายจากอุตสาหกรรมเคมี

(Pollution prevention concept, environmental management system and ISO 14000, cleaner technology audit methodology; principles of industrial pollution control; treatment and disposal method for industrial waste water, particulate and gaseous solid waste, and pollutants, hazardous wastes from chemical industry.)

(202361 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

202421     พลศาสตร์ของกระบวนการและการควบคุม     Process Dynamics and Control

แบบจํ าลองทางคณิตศาสตร์ของกระบวนการทางวิศวกรรมเคมี เทคนิคการแก้ปัญหาและพลศาสตร์ของระบบ หลักการควบคุมแบบย้อนกลับ การวิเคราะห์เสถียรภาพของระบบการออกแบบระบบควบคุมและตอบสนองความถี่ และเทคนิคการควบคุมขั้นสูง

(Mathematical modeling of chemical engineering processes, solution techniques and dynamics of these systems, feedback control concept, stability analysis, frequency response and control system designs, advanced control techniques.)

(202421 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

202422     การควบคุมแบบหลายตัวแปรและอุปกรณ์     Multi-variable Control and Instruments

วิธีปริภูมิสถานะ การเฝ้าสังเกตการ การควบคุมได้ การควบคุมด้วยดิจิทัลและการออกแบบการควบคุมกระบวนการขนาดใหญ่

(State space method, operability controllability, digital control, and design of large scale process control.)

(202422 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

Hell of a week for me to have my last session with my therapist right? It wasn’t this set in stone date by any means.  A few weeks ago I finished this stack of papers, or worksheets if you will, on losing someone.  Since then our time has slowed down and there isn’t much left to say.  As helpful and wonderful as she has been I seem to know the answers myself already.  There isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been said. 

So halfway through my session she tells me she doesn’t think I need to come in anymore unless I really feel the need to.  This surprisingly didn’t freak me out any and she said she wanted to leave me with a few key things to think about….

• She believes I am one of the most mentally healthy people she knows and she sometimes feels as if I should be sitting in her chair.  I have apparently been one of her most favorite client in years.  Good ego boost.
• I should never feel there is a time limit on this. Not seeing her doesn’t mean I should now feel 100% better.  It just means the worst is over but I still need to handle my grief as it comes.  Not ignore it.
• I need to keep writing.  I know this, she knows this.  It has been one of the best things I have done.
• Use my support system.  Keep them in tack.
• Continue with the goals that Bill and I wanted to obtain even though he isn’t with me.  Like my trip to Wyoming.  I can do those just fine on my own.
• Be selfish.  This time is very much for self discovery and soul-searching.  Use it to the fullest extent.
• Don’t hold back the tears.  If I still feel the need to cling to the kitchen floor then I need to get it out but always remember I will get back up. 

After a few laughs and even a few tears she gave me a big hug and told me to call if I needed anything.  Then she caught me as I opened the door and made me promise to call her if he ever did come back around.  She laughed saying I didn’t even have to call her as a therapist, she just wanted to know what the explanation was too…and any other juicy details:) I told her no problem.  That would be the biggest post I have ever written.

Here is to taking that next step forward.

So seriously, why do we run?  My husband figured for the longest time that it was as a result of wanting to look good for the opposite sex.  Totally wrong!  He assumed that putting ourselves through that regime of torture was only for attracting someone else. 

However, I know that most of the people I know, women, are deep down doing it for their own selfish reasons.  They don’t want to look at that bulge on their tummy and the cellulite on their legs and butt.  They, quite frankly, don’t want anyone else looking at that either!  But, it’s not to attract someone specific.  We make the effort to diet or excercise to try and exert some control over out basic instincts and foibles.  There comes a time when the pain of sport or working out is simply because we feel the need to torture ourselves and it’s probably one of the only culturally appropriate ways of doing that.  We sometimes exercise to exorcise personal demons. 

I remember working out for the sake of a guy. I swam 100 lengths of a 25m pool, continuous.  Previous to that I think the longest continuous swim I’d had was about 30 minutes.  I was determined not to stop.  I was determined to push myself beyond my limit.  It had nothing to do with attracting him but it had a lot to do with impressing him.  It was really all about having control of my own spirit and body connection because I certainly had no control over his!

La vigilancia por Internet desenmascarada por Stephen Baker, en "Los Numerati"

Cuando terminé de leer el libro “Numerati” de Stephen Baker me encontré en una situación bastante peculiar: Trataba de imaginar cuánto de lo que encontré en el libro se adecuaba a lo que he investigado en la web, y cuánto de lo que Baker narra se convertiría en una amenaza para los que como yo, luchamos por combatir la desinformación y la  dictadura mediática de las corporaciones de la información en Latinoamérica. La respuesta aún sigue rondando en mi cabeza. Lo importante es que sin el aporte de gente como Baker, lo que hemos descubierto y lo que descubrimos día a día no tendría la suficiente difusión, ni tendría la “credibilidad” que realza una edición en la prestigiosa Seix Barral. Lo importante de todo esto es que Baker pone de manifiesto una situación ue hemos comentado en este  blog de manera constante. El seguimiento y la vigilancia en Internet de la actividad de los usuarios por parte de un equipo de profesionales dedicados a monitorear, predecir e interpretar nuestras posibles acciones aquí, en el mundo virtual y allá, en el real. Los dejo con este extracto de este fabuloso texto, y también con esta interrogante: ¿ Es la hora de la unión de los activistas ? 

El actor norteamericano Michael J Fox padece de Parkinson. Cuando los investigadores clínicos repasan ahora sus programas de televisión de los noventa, mucho antes de que se le diagnosticase la enfermedad, pueden detectar cambios sutiles en su voz y su forma de andar. El actor, sin quererlo, nos presenta el caso perfecto para poder estudiar su comportamiento, ya que ha pasado gran parte de su vida delante de las cámaras. Pero hoy en día no resulta tan distinto del resto de los mortales. Imprevisiblemente, nos adentramos todos en un mundo vigilado y medido.

En Portland, la ciudad más poblada  del Estado de Oregón, tenemos ya una muestra de lo que se nos puede  venir encima. Allí, centenares de personas mayores han invitado a Intel Corp, el fabricante de semiconductores, a colocar sensores en sus hogares. Esta maquinaria realiza mapas de sus movimientos en sus casas y calcula la media de sus pasos. Registra el tono de sus voces y el tiempo que tardan en reconocer a un amigo o pariente al teléfono.  Los sensores debajo de sus colchones no sólo toman nota del peso y de sus vueltas en la cama, también de sus paseos al baño. El cepillado de dientes, las visitas a la nevera a medianoche… Todo queda registrado, y todo viaja a través de Internet a los ordenadores de Intel.

Con este acopio de información, los científicos de Intel están desarrollando  lo que ellos llaman  los puntos de partida de comportamiento de cada hogar. Cualquier desviación de las normas es señal de que algo puede estar fallando. La investigación está en sus albores. Pero, con el tiempo, esperan  programar  los ordenadores para que sean capaces de reconocer  los patrones de las enfermedades desde los primeros estadios de Parkinson o Alzheimer. Confían en que eventualmente se podrán reemplazar enfermeras  bien retribuidas mediante artilugios de vigilancia cada vez más baratos -sin mermar la calidad de vida de los pacientes-.

Mientras se desarrolla ese escenario, una nueva casta de profesionales despunta. Éstos no son médicos ni enfermeras, pero sí especialistas en encontrar patrones significativos entre las cada vez mayores montañas de datos digitales. Les llamo los numerati. Son ingenieros, matemáticos, o informáticos, y están cribando  toda la información que producimos en casi todas las situaciones de nuestras vidas. Los numerati estudian las páginas web que visitamos, los alimentos que compramos, nuestros desplazamientos con nuestros teléfonos móviles. Para ellos, nuestros registros digitales crean un  enorme y complejo laboratorio del comportamiento humano. Tienen las claves para pronosticar los productos o servicios que podríamos comprar, los anuncios de la web en que haremos click, qué enfermedades nos  amenazarán en el futuro y hasta si tendremos inclinaciones -basadas puramente en análisis estadísticos- a colocarnos una bomba bajo el abrigo y subir a un autobús. El publicista Dave Morgan es uno de ellos. Desde su empresa Tacoda, ubicada en Nueva York, ha contratado a estadísticos para rastrear nuestras correrías por la Red y predecir nuestros pasos. La misma tarde que conversé con él vendió su empresa por más de 200 millones de dólares.

No es fácil determinar el número total de numerati, pero a un alto nivel existen varios miles de personas que realizan estas tareas. Y están orgullosos de lo que hacen. Creen que sirve para curarnos, para encontrar amigos, para conocer amantes. Muchos de ellos trabajan en universidades y empresas privadas. Intercambian información en congresos y conferencias. Si bien no puede hablarse estrictamente de una especie de mafia matemática, una parte importante de ellos lleva a cabo estas actividades de manera coordinada. Estados Unidos es su tierra prometida. En Europa, en cambio, regulaciones más estrictas dificultan su tarea, sobre todo en países como Alemania y Francia.

Quiero dejar muy claro desde el principio que esta ciencia, basada en la estadística, determina solamente la probabilidad. No puede predecir con certeza el comportamiento de un individuo. Por eso, los numerati empiezan a proliferar en sectores en los que se pueden cometer errores  de forma regular sin causarse (o causarnos) problemas. La publicidad y el marketing son sus campos de pruebas, y Google, una compañía que resuelve nuestras búsquedas con  escalofriante aproximación en nanosegundos, es el primer emperador del reino.

Llevo meses dando conferencias sobre los numerati por Norteamérica y, cuando describo sus averiguaciones sobre lo que llevamos en nuestros carritos de compra o lo que tenemos en los botiquines de casa, observo que la gente empieza a menearse en sus asientos y a hablar en voz baja con los de al lado. Les preocupa el asalto a la privacidad y les alarma saber que Yahoo! captura una media mensual de 2.500 datos sobre cada uno de sus 250 millones de usuarios. Al final de las conferencias, alguien suele preguntar si podemos hacer algo para protegernos de los inquisitivos numerati.  

Esta creciente preocupación está empujando a políticos y legisladores a ambos lados del Atlántico para poner freno a una forma de marketing por Internet conocida como targeting del comportamiento. Están implicadas compañías como Yahoo! y Google y cientos de pequeñas empresas de publicidad. Llegan a  acuerdos con editores, incluyendo los principales periódicos y revistas, para colocar a cada visitante un código informático identificador conocido como una cookie (galleta). Esto les permite seguir muchos de nuestros movimientos por la web. La mayoría de estas compañías ni siquiera se molestan en conseguir nuestros nombres y direcciones (seguramente eso les daría problemas con las autoridades de protección de datos). Nuestros patrones  de navegación les son suficientes. Un madrileño que lee un artículo sobre París y consulta los precios sobre un tinto de Burdeos tendrá más probabilidades que los demás usuarios, según decide un programa automatizado, de hacer click en un anuncio de Air France. Así que le colocan uno mientras navega por la Red.

Aquellos preocupados con la privacidad pueden borrar las cookies de forma periódica, o incluso dar instrucciones a su ordenador de que no las acepte. Al hacer esto, están optando a no ser tratados como una persona conocida, sino como un punto negro intercambiable. Eso es lo que millones de nosotros hemos sido durante décadas en centros comerciales y supermercados y en las aceras de las grandes ciudades: virtualmente indistinguibles de los demás. Muchos lo asociamos con la privacidad.

Sin embargo, no todo el mundo comparte la misma opinión. Ni de lejos. Sentados uno al lado del otro entre el público, algunos están tan preocupados con la privacidad, que juran “salirse de la pantalla”. Pero hay muchos otros que publican los detalles más íntimos de sus vidas en Facebook, MySpace, Tuenti y en las ráfagas de 140 caracteres de Twitter. Mucha de esta gente no tiene inconveniente en contestar encuestas en sitios web de libros, cine o citas. Quieren sistemas automatizados que les conozcan mejor para poder recibir un servicio personalizado o ampliar sus conocimientos de obras de creadores que les son desconocidos.

Hay un foso divisorio entre aquellos que quieren que las máquinas estén informadas y sean inteligentes y los que prefieren que se queden en la oscuridad. Así que la línea divisoria sobre privacidad no es entre los numerati y el resto de la humanidad; existe  (y se hace cada vez más ancha) entre las personas que tienen diferente opinión sobre ese tratamiento de la  acumulación de datos personales. Como sociedades, no tenemos claro todavía qué papel deben tener las máquinas que cada vez más van a ayudar a gestionar nuestras vidas.

También hay algo evidente. Las cantidades de datos digitales que producimos continuarán creciendo exponencialmente. Y si está usted preocupado con la publicidad que estudia su conducta cuando navega por la Red, ya está viviendo un adelanto de lo que se nos viene encima. Veamos Sense Networks. Es una pequeña y joven compañía startup en Nueva York que estudia los senderos que vamos dibujando mientras nos movemos con nuestros teléfonos móviles. En los ordenadores de Sense, cada uno de los millones de personas que rastrean no es más que un puntito parpadeante en un mapa. Pero los científicos de Sense pueden estudiar esos puntos y sacar toda clase de información sobre esas personas. Si el punto se pasa muchas noches en el mismo barrio, Sense puede (cruzando datos del censo) calcular sus ingresos o el valor medio de su vivienda. Los puntos que pausan en paradas regulares camino del trabajo son usuarios de trenes de cercanías. Es fácil ver los que van de copas por la noche. Los que juegan al golf, los que van a la iglesia, los que duermen en distintos sitios, todos están fichados por los datos.

Esto es sólo el comienzo. Mientras el sistema de Sense sigue los movimientos de los puntos, empieza a reconocer patrones similares. Asigna a cada grupo o tribu su propio tono de color. No es posible siempre definir estas tribus, porque los patrones son seleccionados por el ordenador, no por personas. Pero ahora las tribus trascienden los tradicionales segmentos demográficos con los que se han guiado los profesionales del marketing durante décadas. En el esquema de Sense, dos gemelos idénticos podrían tener puntos de colores distintos. Después de todo, conductas similares pueden ser más determinantes que  las mismas edades o el color de piel.

¿Por qué centrarse en todos estos puntos? Supongamos que un cervecero monta una promoción exitosa en los barrios madrileños de Moncloa y Argüelles. Mirando uno de los mapas de Sense, la compañía podría rápidamente ampliar la campaña a otros barrios que estén parpadeando con los mismos puntos. O podría anunciar la promoción en líneas de autobuses que llevan viajeros del mismo colorín. Los políticos, que empiezan a usar técnicas de análisis complejos de datos para llegar a los votantes potenciales, podrían estudiar los sombreados de los puntos en sus mítines. Luego podrían buscar grupúsculos de esas mismas tribus en otro pueblo o ciudad. Un partido centrista podría encontrar que personas en barrios que habían descartado como socialistas o nacionalistas podrían mostrarse receptivas a su mensaje.

El estudio de los movimientos de las personas a través de sus teléfonos móviles es sólo el principio. Con terminales cada vez más sofisticados, entregamos más y más información sobre nuestro comportamiento a los numerati. A través de nuestras búsquedas en el móvil, los anunciantes, por ejemplo, pueden empezar a estudiar cuándo y dónde nos entran el estimulo para ir de compras o las ganas de cenar en un buen restaurante. Nokia contempla analizar a la gente a través de los sitios desde los que envían fotos. ¿Qué puede inferir una compañía sobre los que hacen fotos del palacio de Buckingham o del puente de Londres? No lo sabrán hasta que no estrujen los datos.

Al mismo tiempo que muchos se rebotan por la noción de ser seguidos a través de un punto coloreado, a otros les gusta. En febrero, Google lanzó su programa Latitude en 27 países. La aplicación permite que la gente con  terminales de gama alta comparta datos de localización con sus  amigos -y con Google-. En pocos meses, más de 25 millones de personas se han bajado la aplicación móvil de Facebook. Ésta permite que la compañía de redes sociales, que ya almacena un inmenso tesoro de información personal, estudie los movimientos  y patrones de comportamiento de una comunidad grande y creciente.

Mientras la economía global flaquea, las posibilidades de los numerati aumentan. Sus esfuerzos para ser capaces de refinar las búsquedas de los consumidores potenciales conllevan la promesa de eficiencia y menores costes. En ningún sitio es esto más evidente que en el lugar de trabajo, donde las empresas pueden  escudriñar los patrones de tecleos y de búsquedas en la web. En San Francisco, Cataphora ha desarrollado un método para evaluar a los trabajadores basándose en sus correos electrónicos. Aquellos  cuyas frases son reenviadas más a menudo a los demás son valorados como “generadores de ideas”. Y aquellos que transmiten estas perlas reciben buena nota como “trabajadores sociables”. En un diagrama que Cataphora preparó para una compañía  de Internet, cada trabajador es representado por un disco de color. Los discos grandes y de colores oscuros son considerados activos y eficaces. ¿Y los pequeños y claritos? Puede que sean los primeros  que se tengan en cuenta para un ERE.

El sistema de Cataphora es primitivo, y los directivos que se guíen a ciegas por él sin duda merecen sus propios pequeños discos claros. Al fin y al cabo, los mensajes más reenviados podrían ser chistes verdes o chascarrillos de la oficina. Estoy convencido de que la cuantificación del trabajador en su puesto está a la vuelta de la esquina. Los gerentes cada vez tendrán más en cuenta sus conclusiones. Y las técnicas se harán cada vez más sofisticadas.

Los investigadores del Massachusetts Institute of Technology e IBM, un referente en análisis del lugar de trabajo, estudiaron recientemente las redes sociales de varios miles de consultores de tecnología de IBM. Se dieron cuenta de que los trabajadores que mantenían mucha actividad de correo electrónico con uno solo de sus superiores traían alrededor de 1.000 dólares más de ingresos al mes que la media; aquellos con una actividad menor, pero mantenida con más de un superior, tenían peores resultados, 88 dólares menos al mes de media. Estas conclusiones no sorprenden. Pero mientras nosotros los trabajadores producimos más datos, las máquinas van a desarrollar unos análisis cada vez más precisos.

No es que los numerati no tengan que asumir grandes retos. Gran parte de los estudios sobre los empleados de IBM están basados en los mismos algoritmos que la compañía usa para mejorar las cadenas de suministro de componentes para sus clientes industriales. Pero los humanos somos distintos de las piezas de maquinaria en cosas importantes. Aprendemos, cambiamos y conspiramos cuando están en riesgo nuestros intereses. Y somos expertos en manipular los mismos sistemas diseñados para vigilarnos y controlarnos.

Para enfrentarse a esta complejidad, los numerati en IBM trabajan con equipos de antropólogos, psicólogos y lingüistas. Su objetivo es colocar a cada trabajador en la función correcta en el momento justo, con sólo el mínimo entrenamiento necesario y rodeado de colegas que lo apoyen para ser tan productivo como sea humanamente posible. Aunque suena un poco tétrico, tiene su lado positivo. Los estudios no dejan lugar a dudas de que los trabajadores de la información más felices son más productivos y se les ocurren mejores ideas. Así que algunas de las premisas para mejorar la satisfacción en el empleo tendrán que encontrar sitio en estos algoritmos de productividad.

Mientras estudiaba los distintos laboratorios de los numerati, llegué a la conclusión de que en algunas áreas, su metodología nos viene impuesta. En la oficina, claramente, muchos de nosotros vamos a ser humildes siervos de los datos. Pero en otros apartados, como citas online, mantendremos el control. Podemos decidir si queremos mandarles nuestros datos (e incluso calibrar cómo de ciertos queremos que sean).

Para un experimento, mi esposa y yo nos apuntamos a un servicio de citas online llamado Chemistry.com. Queríamos ver si podríamos dar el uno con el otro a través de los algoritmos supuestamente avanzados de la compañía. Contestamos a docenas de preguntas íntimas e intrusivas porque teníamos interés en que la máquina tuviese información veraz nuestra y que nos conociese mejor. Al final, la ruta para encontrarnos nos hizo vivir algunas aventuras incómodas (y admito que no me gustaron nada algunos pretendientes que las matemáticas seleccionaron para  mi mujer). No obstante, durante todo el proceso, dimos detalles para nuestros propios fines. Nosotros éramos los dueños de los datos.

Pero me gustaría añadir otra nota inquietante sobre aquellos hogares vigilados de Portland. Casi todo lo que hacemos -si se estudia con minuciosidad- da pistas sobre lo que ocurre en nuestras mentes. Me lo cuentan muchos investigadores. Cuando analizan los cambios en la rutina de las pisadas sobre el suelo de la cocina o el grado de seguimiento de un tratamiento médico añaden: “Esto también nos da una buena lectura cognitiva”. Es una especie de dos por uno. Analiza cualquier conducta y obtienes lo que pasa en el cerebro de propina.

Y a mí, hay algo que me da verdadero miedo: se pueden sacar las mismas conclusiones analizando las palabras que escribimos.

La novelista británica Iris Murdoch padeció Alzheimer hasta su muerte en 1999. Años después, los investigadores vieron que el vocabulario de sus escritos empezó a perder su riqueza y complejidad más de una década antes de que se le diagnosticase la enfermedad. Supongo que ya pueden ir comparando estas palabras que están leyendo ahora mismo con mis escritos de los ochenta y noventa y, quizá, llegar a conclusiones parecidas sobre mí. Semana tras semana, todos nosotros agregamos correos electrónicos y otros documentos a nuestros archivos digitales; estamos dejando pistas para que se pueda investigar nuestro desarrollo cognitivo. O su declive.

Tal vez algunos quieran estar informados (tengo claro que yo, desde luego, no). Pero pongamos que le llega una oferta en el correo. ¿Permitiría que le colocasen monitores en casa por, digamos, una reducción de 100 euros al mes en el seguro de salud o en sus impuestos? ¿Y si fueran 500? Con mayor frecuencia vamos a tener que enfrentarnos a estas preguntas. Apuesto a que inicialmente muchos aceptaremos un ojo electrónico para “supervisar” a aquellos de los que nos sentimos responsables. Sí, un sensor para que nos diga cuándo la abuela de 90 años se pasa el día en la cama puede tener sentido… Y las cajas negras que las aseguradoras están probando para medir patrones de tráfico y bloquear el encendido si detectan alcohol o drogas podrán hacer que un conductor novel de 18 años siga vivo (o cuando menos, bajar el coste del seguro).

Por tanto, si la vigilancia tiene sentido para jóvenes y mayores, no pasará mucho tiempo hasta que nos encontremos rodeados de sensores. Nos espiaremos a nosotros mismos y  mandaremos informes digitales. De hecho, el proceso ya está bastante avanzado. Mire todas esas cámaras de seguridad que llevan años en nuestras calles y edificios. Para los numerati, ya estamos entregando las películas de nuestras mundanas vidas en sus laboratorios, cada día con mayor detalle.

 Traducción de Antonio Sanz Domingo. ‘Numerati’, el libro de Stephen Baker, está publicado en España por Seix Barral.

YES YES I know I know, I’ve been talking about food a lot.

It’s just an exciting topic, I can’t help it.

Here are a few more things that I’ve eaten in the last few weeks…

Simple pasta with mushrooms, lardons and cream sauce (with Flight of the Conchords on the side)

Pork with oyster sauce, ginger and garlic on rice (personal favourite of mine.. I cook this really often. Really can’t go wrong!)

Baked pasta with broccoli, carrots and chicken

(Ps I know this dish looks MASSIVE in this photo, but it’s really only the size of a large dinner plate! It was yummers)

This photo doesn’t do this salad any justice.. cos it looks a bit pathetic here, when it was actually really nice.

Salad greens here are amazing- really really fresh. I’ve learnt also that there’s nothing greater than making your OWN salad dressing (try olive oil + balsamic vinegar + tinge of mustard + salt + pepper)- it’s incredible.

Even that simple pain mie (sandwich bread) you see in the front is way tastier than sandwich breads in NZ. Nice soft texture and a little bit sweet, so it’s nice even eating it on its own! The French sure know how to make bread

Side note on Lily’s bread buying habits:

I bought baguettes/fresh bread for the first month and a half that I lived here, but I’m starting to revert back to packed bread loaves- reason being that they last heaps longer and they actually (in my opinion) go better with oats than fresh bread. Because it lasts longer, it also means that it’s cheaper So fresh bread’s gone into my ‘luxury’ category now. I only have it when I want to treat myself to something special.

Yes. I bought CHINESE MUSHROOMS from the asian supermarket! Can you say, aaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

If there’s anything I LOVE, it’s mushrooms. ESPECIALLY Shiitaki mushrooms.

So this was some casseroley thingy I put together- minced beef, mushrooms and eggplant on rice

A few weeks ago, on the way to work in the quai campus (I swap campuses morning and afternoons on Mons and Fris), I treated myself to a Mille Feuille (literal translation: 1000 layers). It was beautiful.

You can’t really see it properly, but this was my crêpe dinner. I made crêpes and put tomatoes and cheese in the middle, then made some mashies and had brocolli on the side. The reason there’s also a bit of curry on the plate is that Sheela (landlord)’s mum made some mutton balls and gave some to me to try! It was spicy but so gooooood.

And then the other day, Sheela did the sweetest thing. She gave me a jar of peanut butter!

I’d been telling her how difficult it was to find peanut butter in France (the French don’t like it, it’s the strangest thing) and so when she saw a jar at her mum’s place, she took it home and gave it to me!

So this is me, extremely happy, yes with no make up!, with peanut butter and jam on toast. YUM!

I have to ration out my peanut butter consumption though.. cos YES, I’ve managed to find a supermarket that sells peanut butter so even if I finish this jar I can go get more… but check out the price of this stuff here:

6.14 euros for a little jar (I’m so proud that I managed to sneak a photo of this on my phone teeheehee)

Note on coffee in France

Dunno how many of you think this, but I know there’s a (mis)conception about France having AMAAAAZING coffee.

Sure, coffee’s nice here, but there’s really not a lot of variation.

The French like their coffee STRONG. Think expresso. If you want milk in your coffee? Ask for a café au lait/ petit crème/ grand crème. They will usually have cappucinno, but ask them for a flat white or a mochacinno or a mocha latte (circus circus, mt eden!) and they will honestly look at you with a face that says ‘WUT ZIT YOU SEYY?’

I usually go with the petit crème, which looks like this:

At Raconte Moi La Terre (cafe) doing work

As you can see, it really is petit. A grand crème’s just a bigger cup of the same stuff, really.

Croissanterie’s version of the petit crème. This café’s heaps closer to my place so I hardly ever go to Raconte Moi La Terre anymore.. now its Croissanterie or when I need wifi, Macdo.

Confession about my relationship with food

I think I view food pretty healthily now.

I enjoy cooking because I find it really relaxing and quite intriguing! It’s nice playing with flavours, understanding ingredients etc. I do still snack a little too much, but I eat pretty normally (3 meals) and I try to eat lots of veges and fruit.

This really wasn’t the case when I first moved into my apartment though.

As I’ve mentioned to Keith and my family, for the first few weeks that I lived in my apartment, I REALLY stuffed my face with food. Like I remember one day after a late night out with friends, I came home and managed to stuff (even after having dinner before going out) 6 little pieces of toast with cheese into my tummy.

Was I hungry? Mm.. not really. Actually I don’t think I felt a lot of hunger in that period cos I just ate that often.

Looking back on it now, I think food took on a comfort role for me.

By me eating, it meant that I had control over my life… I know it doesn’t make that much sense.. but in a new environment, I guess it suddenly meant a lot to me that I could decide what to buy/not to buy at the supermarket, how to stock up my pantry, what to cook every night, what to eat and HOW MUCH to eat. Essentially, in the kitchen, I WAS IN CONTROL.

So I overdid it pretty much. In fact, I put on 3 kgs in those first few weeks!

It took some time for me to come to terms with my unhealthy relationship with food and I had to ask God to change my perspective of food. He’s done that. Thankfully. It took time and reflection though. Prayer was such an important part of the process too.

Now I’m back to ‘normal’ (whatever that is).. but unfortunately left with 3 extra kilos on my body from those few over indulgent weeks. Plekh.

How to lose the 3 kilos? Cos mate, I’m not liking these extra flabby bits! I miss not having a gap between my thighs! (Girls, you SO know what I’m talking about)

Thoughts actually crossed my mind to make myself throw up after eating

• … which made me realise: WOW. It’s really not that hard to have an eating disorder! Thankfully though, God’s grace and wisdom was in me and I quickly brushed those thoughts away.

I considered cutting down on food to lose it quickly.

• … which I kinda tried to do a little bit but decided against it cause I didn’t feel it was wise. I have to walk around a lot at work whilst carry equipment and files etc. I know I’ll get light headed and faint or something if I don’t have enough food in me

So I’ve decided to just step up the exercise a wee bit more- prefer stairs over escalators, walking over the metro- little things like that. I’ve already gone down 1 kilo so I guess it’s working.

In any case, I just wanted to share that with you and be a little bit more vulnerable- something that I’m definitely not used to being, but certainly determined to be more of.

Food. Ah. Simple, but sometimes, not so simple.

]]> http://mistaunscripted.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/sos-red-light-green-light/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:02:02 +0000 Chic Realness http://mistaunscripted.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/sos-red-light-green-light/

Released from my security blanket i.e. family/everything known and sent off to school was hard for me yet it got easier especially when I realized I could act anyway I wanted without thinking in the back of my mind that my loved ones wouldn’t approve. Back then I used my sexuality as an achilles heel and approached potential friendships and relationships with guys disrespectfully. Somehow i got in my head that every guy who wanted to just hang around me wanted me romantically. insert here ( Salt -n- Pepper “I Need A Ruffneck” &  Stop the Violence Movement “Self Destruction”) lol ok back to being serious…By making obscene remarks, not keeping my hands to myself, and going all out my way to embarrass those i cared for was shameful and sad too I couldn’t control my emotions i.e the way i was feeling. Plenty of fights broke out between me and folk i considered a friend cause of my misguided ways. Luckily I have the ability to admit when I’m wrong and now looking back at that time period, I was indeed wrong. I learned so much from this bad behaviour and no longer conduct my life that way anymore. Those who have been through something similar or is going through this talk to someone cause it only leads to destruction.

Every time we visited, my grandmother gave
us scraps. “For the dogs,” she’d say.
Staying in love; knowing how to save,
make a little go a long way.

LINOLEUM AND LOVE: NOEL ROWE

Australia – Poetry International Web

foto – sunday live @ wide river cafe

This article’s introduction section may not adequately summarize its contents. To comply with Wikipedia’s lead section guidelines, please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article’s key points. (November 2009)

 

ASIMO, a humanoid robot manufactured by Honda

A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an electro-mechanical machine which is guided by computer or electronic programming, and is thus able to do tasks on its own. Another common characteristic is that by its appearance or movements, a robot often conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own.

Definitions

 

A laparoscopic robotic surgery machine

The word robot can refer to both physical robots and virtual software agents, but the latter are usually referred to as bots.^[1] There is no consensus on which machines qualify as robots, but there is general agreement among experts and the public that robots tend to do some or all of the following: move around, operate a mechanical limb, sense and manipulate their environment, and exhibit intelligent behavior, especially behavior which mimics humans or other animals.

There is conflict about whether the term can be applied to remotely operated devices, as the most common usage implies, or solely to devices which are controlled by their software without human intervention. In South Africa, robot is an informal and commonly used term for a set of traffic lights.

Stories of artificial helpers and companions and attempts to create them have a long history but fully autonomous machines only appeared in the 20th century. The first digitally operated and programmable robot, the Unimate, was installed in 1961 to lift hot pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them. Today, commercial and industrial robots are in widespread use performing jobs more cheaply or with greater accuracy and reliability than humans. They are also employed for jobs which are too dirty, dangerous or dull to be suitable for humans. Robots are widely used in manufacturing, assembly and packing, transport, earth and space exploration, surgery, weaponry, laboratory research, and mass production of consumer and industrial goods.^[2]

It is difficult to compare numbers of robots in different countries, since there are different definitions of what a “robot” is. The International Organization for Standardization gives a definition of robot in ISO 8373: “an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose, manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications.”^[3] This definition is used by the International Federation of Robotics, the European Robotics Research Network (EURON), and many national standards committees.^[4]

The Robotics Institute of America (RIA) uses a broader definition: a robot is a “re-programmable multi-functional manipulator designed to move materials, parts, tools, or specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks.”^[5] The RIA subdivides robots into four classes: devices that manipulate objects with manual control, automated devices that manipulate objects with predetermined cycles, programmable and servo-controlled robots with continuous point-to-point trajectories, and robots of this last type which also acquire information from the environment and move intelligently in response.

There is no one definition of robot which satisfies everyone, and many people have their own.^[6] For example, Joseph Engelberger, a pioneer in industrial robotics, once remarked: “I can’t define a robot, but I know one when I see one.”^[7] According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, a robot is “any automatically operated machine that replaces human effort, though it may not resemble human beings in appearance or perform functions in a humanlike manner”.^[8] Merriam-Webster describes a robot as a “machine that looks like a human being and performs various complex acts (as walking or talking) of a human being”, or a “device that automatically performs complicated often repetitive tasks”, or a “mechanism guided by automatic controls”.^[9]

Modern robots are usually used in tightly controlled environments such as on assembly lines because they have difficulty responding to unexpected interference. Because of this, most humans rarely encounter robots. However, domestic robots for cleaning and maintenance are increasingly common in and around homes in developed countries, particularly in Japan. Robots can also be found in the military.

Defining characteristics

KITT is mentally anthropomorphic, while ASIMO is physically anthropomorphic

While there is no single correct definition of “robot,”^[10] a typical robot will have several, or possibly all, of the following characteristics.

It is an electric machine which has some ability to interact with physical objects and to be given electronic programming to do a specific task or to do a whole range of tasks or actions. It may also have some ability to perceive and absorb data on physical objects, or on its local physical environment, or to process data, or to respond to various stimuli. This is in contrast to a simple mechanical device such as a gear or a hydraulic press or any other item which has no processing ability and which does tasks through purely mechanical processes and motion.

Mental agency

For robotic engineers, the physical appearance of a machine is less important than the way its actions are controlled. The more the control system seems to have agency of its own, the more likely the machine is to be called a robot. An important feature of agency is the ability to make choices. Higher-level cognitive functions, though, are not necessary, as shown by ant robots.

• A clockwork car is never considered a robot.
• A remotely operated vehicle is sometimes considered a robot (or telerobot).^[11]
• A car with an onboard computer, like Bigtrak, which could drive in a programmable sequence, might be called a robot.
• A self-controlled car which could sense its environment and make driving decisions based on this information, such as the 1990s driverless cars of Ernst Dickmanns or the entries in the DARPA Grand Challenge, would quite likely be called a robot.
• A sentient car, like the fictional KITT, which can make decisions, navigate freely and converse fluently with a human, is usually considered a robot.

Physical agency

However, for many laymen, if a machine appears to be able to control its arms or limbs, and especially if it appears anthropomorphic or zoomorphic (e.g. ASIMO or Aibo), it would be called a robot.

• A player piano is rarely characterized as a robot.^[12]
• A CNC milling machine is very occasionally characterized as a robot.
• A factory automation arm is almost always characterized as an industrial robot.
• An autonomous wheeled or tracked device, such as a self-guided rover or self-guided vehicle, is almost always characterized as a mobile robot or service robot.
• A zoomorphic mechanical toy, like Roboraptor, is usually characterized as a robot.^[13]
• A mechanical humanoid, like ASIMO, is almost always characterized as a robot, usually as a service robot.

Even for a 3-axis CNC milling machine using the same control system as a robot arm, it is the arm which is almost always called a robot, while the CNC machine is usually just a machine. Having eyes can also make a difference in whether a machine is called a robot, since humans instinctively connect eyes with sentience. However, simply being anthropomorphic is not a sufficient criterion for something to be called a robot. A robot must do something; an inanimate object shaped like ASIMO would not be considered a robot.

Etymology

 

A scene from Karel Čapek’s 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), showing three robots

The word robot was introduced to the public by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), published in 1920.^[14] The play begins in a factory that makes artificial people called robots, but they are closer to the modern ideas of androids, creatures who can be mistaken for humans. They can plainly think for themselves, though they seem happy to serve. At issue is whether the robots are being exploited and the consequences of their treatment.

However, Karel Čapek himself did not coin the word. He wrote a short letter in reference to an etymology in the Oxford English Dictionary in which he named his brother, the painter and writer Josef Čapek, as its actual originator.^[14] In an article in the Czech journal Lidové noviny in 1933, he explained that he had originally wanted to call the creatures laboři (from Latin labor, work). However, he did not like the word, and sought advice from his brother Josef, who suggested “roboti”. The word robota means literally work, labor or serf labor, and figuratively “drudgery” or “hard work” in Czech and many Slavic languages. Traditionally the robota was the work period a serf had to give for his lord, typically 6 months of the year.^[15] Serfdom was outlawed in 1848 in Bohemia, so at the time Čapek wrote R.U.R., usage of the term robota had broadened to include various types of work, but the obsolete sense of “serfdom” would still have been known.^[16][17]

The word robotics, used to describe this field of study, was coined (albeit accidentally) by the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov.

Social impact

As robots have become more advanced and sophisticated, experts and academics have increasingly explored the questions of what ethics might govern robots’ behavior,^[18] and whether robots might be able to claim any kind of social, cultural, ethical or legal rights.^[19] One scientific team has said that it is possible that a robot brain will exist by 2019.^[20] Others predict robot intelligence breakthroughs by 2050.^[21] Recent advances have made robotic behavior more sophisticated.^[22]
Vernor Vinge has suggested that a moment may come when computers and robots are smarter than humans. He calls this “the Singularity.”^[23] He suggests that it may be somewhat or possibly very dangerous for humans.^[24] This is discussed by a philosophy called Singularitarianism.
In 2009, experts attended a conference to discuss whether computers and robots might be able to acquire any autonomy, and how much these abilities might pose a threat or hazard. They noted that some robots have acquired various forms of semi-autonomy, including being able to find power sources on their own and being able to independently choose targets to attack with weapons. They also noted that some computer viruses can evade elimination and have achieved “cockroach intelligence.” They noted that self-awareness as depicted in science-fiction is probably unlikely, but that there were other potential hazards and pitfalls.^[23] Various media sources and scientific groups have noted separate trends in differing areas which might together result in greater robotic functionalities and autonomy, and which pose some inherent concerns.^[25][26][27]

Some experts and academics have questioned the use of robots for military combat, especially when such robots are given some degree of autonomous functions.^[28] There are also concerns about technology which might allow some armed robots to be controlled mainly by other robots.^[29] The US Navy has funded a report which indicates that as military robots become more complex, there should be greater attention to implications of their ability to make autonomous decisions.^[30][31] Some public concerns about autonomous robots have received media attention, especially one robot, EATR, which can continually refuel itself using biomass and organic substances which it finds on battlefields or other local environments.^[32][33]
The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence has studied this topic in depth ^[18] and its president has commissioned a study to look at this issue.^[34]

Some have suggested a need to build “Friendly AI“, meaning that the advances which are already occurring with AI should also include an effort to make AI intrinsically friendly and humane.^[35] Several such measures reportedly already exist, with robot-heavy countries such as Japan and South Korea ^[36] having begun to pass regulations requiring robots to be equipped with safety systems, and possibly sets of ‘laws’ akin to Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics.^[37][38] An official report was issued in 2009 by the Japanese government’s Robot Industry Policy Committee.^[39] Chinese officials and researchers have issued a report suggesting a set of ethical rules, as well as a set of new legal guidelines referred to as “Robot Legal Studies.” ^[40] Some concern has been expressed over a possible occurrence of robots telling apparent falsehoods.^[41]

Technological trends

Technological development

Overall trends

Japan hopes to have full-scale commercialization of service robots by 2025. Much technological research in Japan is led by Japanese government agencies, particularly the Trade Ministry.^[42]

As robots become more advanced, eventually there may be a standard computer operating system designed mainly for robots. Robot Operating System (ROS) is an open-source set of programs being developed at Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Technical University of Munich, Germany, among others. ROS provides ways to program a robot’s navigation and limbs regardless of the specific hardware involved. It also provides high-level commands for items like image recognition and even opening doors. When ROS boots up on a robot’s computer, it would obtain data on attributes such as the length and movement of robots’ limbs. It would relay this data to higher-level algorithms. Microsoft is also developing a “Windows for robots” system with its Robotics Developer Studio, which has been available since 2007.^[43]

New functions and abilities

The Caterpillar Company is making a dump truck which can drive itself without any human operator.^[44]

Research robots

While most robots today are installed in factories or homes, performing labour or life saving jobs, many new types of robot are being developed in laboratories around the world. Much of the research in robotics focuses not on specific industrial tasks, but on investigations into new types of robot, alternative ways to think about or design robots, and new ways to manufacture them. It is expected that these new types of robot will be able to solve real world problems when they are finally realized.^{[citation needed]}

 

A microfabricated electrostatic gripper holding some silicon nanowires.^[45]

• Nanorobots: Nanorobotics is the still largely hypothetical technology of creating machines or robots at or close to the scale of a nanometer (10⁻⁹ meters). Also known as nanobots or nanites, they would be constructed from molecular machines. So far, researchers have mostly produced only parts of these complex systems, such as bearings, sensors, and Synthetic molecular motors, but functioning robots have also been made such as the entrants to the Nanobot Robocup contest.^[46] Researchers also hope to be able to create entire robots as small as viruses or bacteria, which could perform tasks on a tiny scale. Possible applications include micro surgery (on the level of individual cells), utility fog,^[47] manufacturing, weaponry and cleaning.^[48] Some people have suggested that if there were nanobots which could reproduce, the earth would turn into “grey goo“, while others argue that this hypothetical outcome is nonsense.^[49][50]
• Soft Robots: Robots with silicone bodies and flexible actuators (air muscles, electroactive polymers, and ferrofluids), controlled using fuzzy logic and neural networks, look and feel different from robots with rigid skeletons, and are capable of different behaviors.^[51]
• Reconfigurable Robots: A few researchers have investigated the possibility of creating robots which can alter their physical form to suit a particular task,^[52] like the fictional T-1000. Real robots are nowhere near that sophisticated however, and mostly consist of a small number of cube shaped units, which can move relative to their neighbours, for example SuperBot. Algorithms have been designed in case any such robots become a reality.^[53]

 

A swarm of robots from the Open-source Micro-robotic Project

• Swarm robots: Inspired by colonies of insects such as ants and bees, researchers are modeling the behavior of swarms of thousands of tiny robots which together perform a useful task, such as finding something hidden, cleaning, or spying. Each robot is quite simple, but the emergent behavior of the swarm is more complex. The whole set of robots can be considered as one single distributed system, in the same way an ant colony can be considered a superorganism, exhibiting swarm intelligence. The largest swarms so far created include the iRobot swarm, the SRI/MobileRobots CentiBots project^[54] and the Open-source Micro-robotic Project swarm, which are being used to research collective behaviors.^[55][56] Swarms are also more resistant to failure. Whereas one large robot may fail and ruin a mission, a swarm can continue even if several robots fail. This could make them attractive for space exploration missions, where failure can be extremely costly.^[57]
• Haptic interface robots: Robotics also has application in the design of virtual reality interfaces. Specialized robots are in widespread use in the haptic research community. These robots, called “haptic interfaces,” allow touch-enabled user interaction with real and virtual environments. Robotic forces allow simulating the mechanical properties of “virtual” objects, which users can experience through their sense of touch.^[58] Haptic interfaces are also used in robot-aided rehabilitation.

Varying cultural perceptions

Roughly half of all the robots in the world are in Asia, 32% in Europe, and 16% in North America, 1% in Australasia and 1% in Africa.^[59] 30% of all the robots in the world are in Japan.^[60] This means that Japan has the most robots in the world out of all the countries, and is in fact leading the world’s robotics.^[61] Japan is actually said to be the robotic capital of the world.^[62]

In Japan and South Korea, ideas of future robots have been mainly positive, and the start of the pro-robotic society there is thought to be possibly due to the famous ‘Astro Boy‘. Asian societies such as Japan, South Korea, and more recently, China, believe robots to be more equal to humans, having them care for old people, play with or teach children, or replace pets etc.^[63] The general view in Asian cultures is that the more robots advance, the better, which is the opposite of the Western belief.

“This is the opening of an era in which human beings and robots can co-exist,” says Japanese firm Mitsubishi about one of the many humanistic robots in Japan.^[64] South Korea aims to put a robot in every house there by 2015-2020 in order to help catch up technologically with Japan.^[36][65]

Western societies are more likely to be against, or even fear the development of robotics, through much media output in movies and literature that they will replace humans. Some believe that the West regards robots as a ‘threat’ to the future of humans, partly due to religious beliefs about the role of humans and society.^[62][66] Obviously, these boundaries are not clear, but there is a significant difference between the two cultural viewpoints.

Contemporary uses

At present there are 2 main types of robots, based on their use: general-purpose autonomous robots and dedicated robots.

 

TOPIO, a humanoid robot developed by TOSY that can play ping-pong.^[67]

Robots can be classified by their specificity of purpose. A robot might be designed to perform one particular task extremely well, or a range of tasks less well. Of course, all robots by their nature can be re-programmed to behave differently, but some are limited by their physical form. For example, a factory robot arm can perform jobs such as cutting, welding, gluing, or acting as a fairground ride, while a pick-and-place robot can only populate printed circuit boards.

General-purpose autonomous robots

It has been suggested that Open-source robotics#Uses be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

General-purpose autonomous robots are robots that can perform a variety of functions independently. General-purpose autonomous robots typically can navigate independently in known spaces, handle their own re-charging needs, interface with electronic doors and elevators and perform other basic tasks. Like computers, general-purpose robots can link with networks, software and accessories that increase their usefulness. They may recognize people or objects, talk, provide companionship, monitor environmental quality, respond to alarms, pick up supplies and perform other useful tasks. General-purpose robots may perform a variety of functions simultaneously or they may take on different roles at different times of day. Some such robots try to mimic human beings and may even resemble people in appearance; this type of robot is called a humanoid robot.

 

A general-purpose robot acts as a guide during the day and a security guard at night

Dedicated robots

In 2006, there were an estimated 3,540,000 service robots in use, and an estimated 950,000 industrial robots.^[68] A different estimate counted more than one million robots in operation worldwide in the first half of 2008, with roughly half in Asia, 32% in Europe, 16% in North America, 1% in Australasia and 1% in Africa.^[69] Industrial and service robots can be placed into roughly two classifications based on the type of job they do. The first category includes tasks which a robot can do with greater productivity, accuracy, or endurance than humans; the second category consists of dirty, dangerous or dull jobs which humans find undesirable.

Increased productivity, accuracy, and endurance

 

A Pick and Place robot in a factory

Many factory jobs are now performed by robots. This has led to cheaper mass-produced goods, including automobiles and electronics. Stationary manipulators used in factories have become the largest market for robots. In 2006, there were an estimated 3,540,000 service robots in use, and an estimated 950,000 industrial robots.^[68] A different estimate counted more than one million robots in operation worldwide in the first half of 2008, with roughly half in Asia, 32% in Europe, 16% in North America, 1% in Australasia and 1% in Africa.^[69]

Some examples of factory robots

• Car production: Over the last three decades automobile factories have become dominated by robots. A typical factory contains hundreds of industrial robots working on fully automated production lines, with one robot for every ten human workers. On an automated production line, a vehicle chassis on a conveyor is welded, glued, painted and finally assembled at a sequence of robot stations.

• Packaging: Industrial robots are also used extensively for palletizing and packaging of manufactured goods, for example for rapidly taking drink cartons from the end of a conveyor belt and placing them into boxes, or for loading and unloading machining centers.

• Electronics: Mass-produced printed circuit boards (PCBs) are almost exclusively manufactured by pick-and-place robots, typically with SCARA manipulators, which remove tiny electronic components from strips or trays, and place them on to PCBs with great accuracy.^[70] Such robots can place hundreds of thousands of components per hour, far out-performing a human in speed, accuracy, and reliability.^[71]

• Automated guided vehicles (AGVs): Mobile robots, following markers or wires in the floor, or using vision^[72] or lasers, are used to transport goods around large facilities, such as warehouses, container ports, or hospitals.^[73]

• • Early AGV-Style Robots were limited to tasks that could be accurately defined and had to be performed the same way every time. Very little feedback or intelligence was required, and the robots needed only the most basic exteroceptors (sensors). The limitations of these AGVs are that their paths are not easily altered and they cannot alter their paths if obstacles block them. If one AGV breaks down, it may stop the entire operation.

• • Interim AGV-Technologies developed that deploy triangulation from beacons or bar code grids for scanning on the floor or ceiling. In most factories, triangulation systems tend to require moderate to high maintenance, such as daily cleaning of all beacons or bar codes. Also, if a tall pallet or large vehicle blocks beacons or a bar code is marred, AGVs may become lost. Often such AGVs are designed to be used in human-free environments.

• • Newer AGVs such as the Speci-Minder,^[74] ADAM,^[75] Tug^[76] and PatrolBot Gofer^[77] are designed for people-friendly workspaces. They navigate by recognizing natural features. 3D scanners or other means of sensing the environment in two or three dimensions help to eliminate cumulative errors in dead-reckoning calculations of the AGV’s current position. Some AGVs can create maps of their environment using scanning lasers with simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) and use those maps to navigate in real time with other path planning and obstacle avoidance algorithms. They are able to operate in complex environments and perform non-repetitive and non-sequential tasks such as transporting photomasks in a semiconductor lab, specimens in hospitals and goods in warehouses. For dynamic areas, such as warehouses full of pallets, AGVs require additional strategies. Only a few vision-augmented systems currently claim to be able to navigate reliably in such environments.

Dirty, dangerous, dull or inaccessible tasks

 

A U.S. Marine Corps technician prepares to use a telerobot to detonate a buried improvised explosive device near Camp Fallujah, Iraq

There are many jobs which humans would rather leave to robots. The job may be boring, such as domestic cleaning, or dangerous, such as exploring inside a volcano.^[78] Other jobs are physically inaccessible, such as exploring another planet,^[79] cleaning the inside of a long pipe, or performing laparoscopic surgery.^[80]

• Telerobots: When a human cannot be present on site to perform a job because it is dangerous, far away, or inaccessible, teleoperated robots, or telerobots are used. Rather than following a predetermined sequence of movements, a telerobot is controlled from a distance by a human operator. The robot may be in another room or another country, or may be on a very different scale to the operator. For instance, a laparoscopic surgery robot allows the surgeon to work inside a human patient on a relatively small scale compared to open surgery, significantly shortening recovery time.^[80] When disabling a bomb, the operator sends a small robot to disable it. Several authors have been using a device called the Longpen to sign books remotely.^[81] Teleoperated robot aircraft, like the Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, are increasingly being used by the military. These pilotless drones can search terrain and fire on targets.^[82][83] Hundreds of robots such as iRobot’s Packbot and the Foster-Miller TALON are being used in Iraq and Afghanistan by the U.S. military to defuse roadside bombs or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in an activity known as explosive ordnance disposal (EOD).^[84]

• Automated fruit harvesting machines: are being used to pick fruit on orchards at a cost lower than that of human pickers.

 

The Roomba domestic vacuum cleaner robot does a single, menial job

 

The ANATROLLER ARI-100 is a modular mobile robot used for cleaning hazardous environments

• In the home: As prices fall and robots become smarter and more autonomous, simple robots dedicated to a single task work in over a million homes. They are taking on simple but unwanted jobs, such as vacuum cleaning and floor washing, and lawn mowing. Some find these robots to be cute and entertaining, which is one reason that they can sell very well.
• Elder Care: The population is aging in many countries, especially Japan, meaning that there are increasing numbers of elderly people to care for, but relatively fewer young people to care for them.^[85][86] Humans make the best carers, but where they are unavailable, robots are gradually being introduced.^[87]
• Duct Cleaning: In the hazardous and tight spaces of a building’s duct work, many hours can be spent cleaning relatively small areas if a manual brush is used. Robots have been used by many duct cleaners primarily in the industrial and institutional cleaning markets, as they allow the job to be done faster, without exposing workers to the harful enzymes released by dust mites. For cleaning high-security institutions such as embassies and prisons, duct cleaning robots are vital, as they allow the job to be completed without compromising the security of the institution. Hospitals and other government buildings with hazardous and cancerogenic environments such as nuclear reactors legally must be cleaned using duct cleaning robots, in countries such as Canada, in an effort to improve workplace safety in duct cleaning.

Potential problems

Fears and concerns about robots have been repeatedly expressed in a wide range of books and films. A common theme is the development of a master race of conscious and highly intelligent robots, motivated to take over or destroy the human race. (See The Terminator, Runaway, Blade Runner, Robocop, [[Replicator (Stargate)the Replicators in Stargate]], the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica, The Matrix, THX-1138, and I, Robot.) Some fictional robots are programmed to kill and destroy; others gain superhuman intelligence and abilities by upgrading their own software and hardware. Examples of popular media where the robot becomes evil are 2001: A Space Odyssey, Red Planet, … Another common theme is the reaction, sometimes called the “uncanny valley“, of unease and even revulsion at the sight of robots that mimic humans too closely.^[88] Frankenstein (1818), often called the first science fiction novel, has become synonymous with the theme of a robot or monster advancing beyond its creator. In the TV show, Futurama, the robots are portrayed as humanoid figures that live alongside humans, not as robotic butlers. They still work in industry, but these robots carry out daily lives.

Manuel De Landa has noted that “smart missiles” and autonomous bombs equipped with artificial perception can be considered robots, and they make some of their decisions autonomously. He believes this represents an important and dangerous trend in which humans are handing over important decisions to machines.^[89]

Marauding robots may have entertainment value, but unsafe use of robots constitutes an actual danger. A heavy industrial robot with powerful actuators and unpredictably complex behavior can cause harm, for instance by stepping on a human’s foot or falling on a human. Most industrial robots operate inside a security fence which separates them from human workers, but not all. Two robot-caused deaths are those of Robert Williams and Kenji Urada. Robert Williams was struck by a robotic arm at a casting plant in Flat Rock, Michigan on January 25, 1979.^[90] 37-year-old Kenji Urada, a Japanese factory worker, was killed in 1981; Urada was performing routine maintenance on the robot, but neglected to shut it down properly, and was accidentally pushed into a grinding machine.^[91]

Timeline

History

Many ancient mythologies include artificial people, such as the mechanical servants built by the Greek god Hephaestus^[96] (Vulcan to the Romans), the clay golems of Jewish legend and clay giants of Norse legend, and Galatea, the mythical statue of Pygmalion that came to life. In Greek drama, Deus Ex Machina was contrived as a dramatic device that usually involved lowering a deity by wires into the play to solve a seemingly impossible problem.

In the 4th century BC, the Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum postulated a mechanical steam-operated bird he called “The Pigeon”. Hero of Alexandria (10–70 AD) created numerous user-configurable automated devices, and described machines powered by air pressure, steam and water.^[97] Su Song built a clock tower in China in 1088 featuring mechanical figurines that chimed the hours.^[98]

 

Al-Jazari’s programmable humanoid robots

Al-Jazari (1136–1206), a Muslim inventor during the Artuqid dynasty, designed and constructed a number of automated machines, including kitchen appliances, musical automata powered by water, and the first programmable humanoid robots in 1206.^{[citation needed]} The robots appeared as four musicians on a boat in a lake, entertaining guests at royal drinking parties. His mechanism had a programmable drum machine with pegs (cams) that bumped into little levers that operated percussion instruments. The drummer could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns by moving the pegs to different locations.^{[citation needed]}

Early modern developments

 

Tea-serving karakuri, with mechanism, 19th century. Tokyo National Science Museum.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) sketched plans for a humanoid robot around 1495. Da Vinci’s notebooks, rediscovered in the 1950s, contain detailed drawings of a mechanical knight now known as Leonardo’s robot, able to sit up, wave its arms and move its head and jaw.^[99] The design was probably based on anatomical research recorded in his Vitruvian Man. It is not known whether he attempted to build it. In 1738 and 1739, Jacques de Vaucanson exhibited several life-sized automatons: a flute player, a pipe player and a duck. The mechanical duck could flap its wings, crane its neck, and swallow food from the exhibitor’s hand, and it gave the illusion of digesting its food by excreting matter stored in a hidden compartment.^[100] Complex mechanical toys and animals built in Japan in the 1700s were described in the Karakuri zui (Illustrated Machinery, 1796)

Modern developments

The Japanese craftsman Hisashige Tanaka (1799–1881), known as “Japan’s Edison” or “Karakuri Giemon”, created an array of extremely complex mechanical toys, some of which served tea, fired arrows drawn from a quiver, and even painted a Japanese kanji character.^[101] In 1898 Nikola Tesla publicly demonstrated a radio-controlled torpedo.^[102] Based on patents for “teleautomation”, Tesla hoped to develop it into a weapon system for the US Navy.^[103][104]

 

The first Unimate

In 1926, Westinghouse Electric Corporation created Televox, the first robot put to useful work. They followed Televox with a number of other simple robots, including one called Rastus, made in the crude image of a black man. In the 1930s, they created a humanoid robot known as Elektro for exhibition purposes, including the 1939 and 1940 World’s Fairs.^[105][106] In 1928, Japan’s first robot, Gakutensoku, was designed and constructed by biologist Makoto Nishimura.

The first electronic autonomous robots were created by William Grey Walter of the Burden Neurological Institute at Bristol, England in 1948 and 1949. They were named Elmer and Elsie. These robots could sense light and contact with external objects, and use these stimuli to navigate.^[107]

The first truly modern robot, digitally operated and programmable, was invented by George Devol in 1954 and was ultimately called the Unimate. Devol sold the first Unimate to General Motors in 1960, and it was installed in 1961 in a plant in Trenton, New Jersey to lift hot pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them.^[108]

Literature

 

A gynoid, or robot designed to resemble a woman, can appear comforting to some people and disturbing to others^[88]

Robotic characters, androids (artificial men/women) or gynoids (artificial women), and cyborgs (also “bionic men/women”, or humans with significant mechanical enhancements) have become a staple of science fiction.

The first reference in Western literature to mechanical servants appears in Homer’s Iliad. In Book XVIII, Hephaestus, god of fire, creates new armor for the hero Achilles, assisted by robots.^[109] According to the Rieu translation, “Golden maidservants hastened to help their master. They looked like real women and could not only speak and use their limbs but were endowed with intelligence and trained in handwork by the immortal gods.” Of course, the words “robot” or “android” are not used to describe them, but they are nevertheless mechanical devices human in appearance.

The most prolific author of stories about robots was Isaac Asimov (1920–1992), who placed robots and their interaction with society at the center of many of his works.^[110][111] Asimov carefully considered the problem of the ideal set of instructions robots might be given in order to lower the risk to humans, and arrived at his Three Laws of Robotics: a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; and a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.^[112] These were introduced in his 1942 short story “Runaround”, although foreshadowed in a few earlier stories. Later, Asimov added the Zeroth Law: “A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm”; the rest of the laws are modified sequentially to acknowledge this.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first passage in Asimov’s short story “Liar!” (1941) that mentions the First Law is the earliest recorded use of the word robotics. Asimov was not initially aware of this; he assumed the word already existed by analogy with mechanics, hydraulics, and other similar terms denoting branches of applied knowledge.^[113]

See also

Robotics portal

Main list: Topic outline of robotics

For classes and types of robots see Category:Robots.

Notes and references

Further reading

• Cheney, Margaret [1989:123] (1981). Tesla, Man Out of Time. Dorset Press. New York. ISBN 0-88029-419-1
• Craig, J.J. (2005). Introduction to Robotics. Pearson Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ.
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 2. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.
• Sotheby’s New York. The Tin Toy Robot Collection of Matt Wyse, (1996)
• Tsai, L. W. (1999). Robot Analysis. Wiley. New York.
• DeLanda, Manuel. War in the Age of Intelligent Machines. 1991. Swerve. New York.
• Journal of Field Robotics

External links

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of   Robotics

Wikiversity has learning materials about Anthropomorphic Robotics

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robots

Look up robot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

General news and developments

• robots.net general robot-related news and technological developments.

Research

• International Foundation of Robotics Research (IFRR)
• International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR).
• Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) at IEEE
• Robotics Network at IET
• Robotics Division at NASA
• Human Machine Integration Laboratory at Arizona State University

Other links

• Robotics at DMOZ at the Open Directory Project
• List of robots at Communist Robot

Someone I know sent me a link to this David Icke video the other day…

And it got me thinking…

Yeah… I like Icke. I like him a lot… He speaks sense. A lot of sense. However… I’m not really into his hardcore attack of the system. Reason being is that I’ve done over 10 years worth of psychological research and have found that over 65% of the world would prefer to be living in the Western dream i.e. the car, the wife, the children, the 3 houses (one at home and two abroad), the supermarket, with the money, the TVs (yes, people love that TV!!!), Sky sports, paying lower taxes, have a God, etc… rather than living off the land, tilling the soil, growing their own food, and giving at least 20% of their income to the poorer developed countries of the world, forgetting about cosmetics (but that doesn’t include soap, alright!), giving up their car, taking a pay cut, cycling to work, etc…

In my opinion… It’s more a case of human nature. You’ve either got to want to know where you came from i.e. this star stuff called atoms, that was forged in the hearts of stars… And be able to understand probability quite well to see that we’ve won! WON THE LOTTERY… Not any old lottery, where you win just stupid money… Cause that’s just plain boring and stupid… WE’VE WON THE FUCKING LOTTERY OF EXISTENCE! OR you just couldn’t care less. Too mind boggling to think about!

Just consider this… Out of all the suns in the universe… 80% of them burn for under 4-5 billion years… Bearing in mind life has taken over 4 billion year to emerge on Earth… We’re pretty fortunate to be here. Also… Bearing in mind that this hunk of a planetary rock that we call Earth was situated within the “sweet zone” orbiting around our long burning (10-14 billion year life expectancy) sun i.e. the zone that allows water to exist between freezing and boiling point… Thereby allowing it to “flow…” Something that gives Life the characteristic that we all take for granted. Then there’s fact that we have FOUR gas giants!!! Yeah… Not one, nor two, OR three… But four gas giants… Planets that are way bigger than our own, which have large gravitational fields that seem to swallow most of the debris left over from accretion… AND they didn’t swallow us up during accretion!!! AND there’s also the fact that there are just the right proportion of chemical elements on this hunk-of-a-rock planet, and the surrounding solar system, to allow life to even get its act together… All of which are built from intricate little particles that we call atoms, functioning much like little Lego bricks, with only certain possible arrangements from which to build shapes and patterns out of… That have their own unique physical and chemical properties that allow them to react in certain ways and not others… THEN… To consider that the Stromatolites even got as far as they did (Stromatolites were the first form of life to replicate very successfully and spread all over the planet i.e. they were the first forms of cyanobacteria that breathed CO2 and produced O2)… AND with one more of the millions more factors to be considered that gave Life favorable haven… That we are fortunate enough to have a magnetic field around the earth itself, to protect the thin 20 mile high atmosphere that we all take for granted daily…

It’s a fucking mountain of improbability that we’ve climbed to get here… It’s like winning the lottery of experience. And most of us don’t even glimpse at half of it… They’d rather let the government take the reigns and guide them… Keep them from thinking about the fact that this world is a small world, in an vast infinite inky black void of space and time… That is filled with asteroids between several hundred meters across to 20 miles in diameter… That might come crashing into the earth at any time. PRETTY SCARY EH??? You bet… And there’s death. What happens after we die? Who fucking cares… We’re here. So live in the now. That’s why most people just don’t want to think about it. The now, with all the TOTAL uncertainty is too much for them.

But saying that, they can handle little bits of uncertainty at a time… When I sometimes stand in the queue at my local Newsagent, I watch all these people who buy lottery tickets, scratch cards and other gambling stuff… I’ve been doing this for a while now, trying to understand why they do it. And I’ve noticed several interesting things… When they don’t win anything, they look rather glum. Some even look proper down-trodden. But yet next week, they do the same all over again… Buy another ticket, and look glum when they don’t win that either. Even when (and if) they do win, say a tenner off one of those scratch cards, their minds almost instantly go to the thought of what they’ll spend the money on i.e. “a cheap bottle of sherry,” one lady told me… Then when I pointed out to her that she could have easily bought a cheap bottle of sherry (about six quid) if she hadn’t of bought those ten scratch cards… And she scowled. Yet she, and many others, still come back week after week to buy another ticket, looking glum all over again if they don’t win… Waiting for the chance to change their lives with all that money can buy. Which isn’t a lot when you really think about it… I have mentioned to several of them that I know quite well now, that they won the ultimate lottery… That lottery of existence, which they bask (or paddle) in every day. And they laugh… Brushing it off as though they could never understand this truth… As though it possess too many questions, questions that apparently have no certain answer… That simply show how bleak Life really is. And in some ways I don’t blame them.

65% of the world get REALLY FUCKING SCARED when they see experiments that show how easily we all can be manipulated psychologically… Most of us will know that science shows us facts… But it’s these fact… Facts that show us that consciousness is nothing more than chemicals flowing in a body, built from star dust, that life randomly formed on earth… It’s this lack of purpose that is the scary shit. They’d rather ignore that, than deal with what they are. Random! They’d rather have self importance than face the fact that if Earth blew up, the universe wouldn’t even notice.

Hell… Still freaks me out thinking about it all!!! We’d rather have a hard time living, not knowing the truth… Chasing our tails around and around with lottery tickets… Drowning the thought of being in a bottle of cheap sherry… We rather do all this… Then deal with REALITY in hard facts and be TRULY FREE!

Thus… While Icke is shouting and raving about “THEM” i.e. the corporations of the world controlling us… I think that most of us would chose the “blue pill” and live in bliss and ignorance, than see “how deep the rabbit hole really goes.” And even some of us die hard nutters who have scoured the facts and figures, who push themselves inside out to understand what they are, trying to see past the self imposed delusion that we throw around ourselves all the time… Well… Even some of us, if we were give the chance, would take that fat pay cheque and wrap ourselves up in consumerist cotton wool… Just look at the Milgram Experiment and Stanford Prison Experiment. We’re only human!!! It’s not an excuse… It’s an evolutionary condition.

So… I love you Icke. I hear, dude! You rock. But… I have to have compassion for the rest of us who have a hard time dealing with this reality blow. Because it’s a tough smack around the head. And spewing one’s rage at the masses doesn’t break the psychological conditioning that has occurred over millions of years of evolution. We all need to do the work for ourselves… And learn how fortunate we are… How easily we can be led (read Noam Chomsky’s “Media Control” for starters). And how we can meditate and awaken ourselves to harmony, truth, love and compassion…

Perhaps then… And only then… Will we change the very structure of our minds, and the way we think and act!

During my childhood, I did not have choices. I had things forced upon on my little childlike body. The word “no” did not exist in my vocabulary. I had never heard the word boundaries. Let alone know I could have them.

However, within the past year I have figured out that now, I can choose things. I have chosen to return to school. I have chosen not fight therapy and to just let professionals help me. I am starting to choose who I show love to.

The most important thing that I did choose was to start my journey of healing. I could have picked a very different path than I did. I could have become an addict, or a criminal. I could have chosen to stay a victim but I decided to call myself a survivor.

Recently my mother told me “I am self-centered and selfish for not giving someone a hug”.

I thought about what she said, I realized something. The first 22 years of my life, it was about everyone else.

While I experienced long-term sadistic abuse as a child. I kept my abuse a secret unconsciously because I was worried about how it would ruin the family image. My family stole my childhood away from me because of the unrealistic image they choose to show others.  They enabled my abusers for years until one of them died.

Selfish actually means caring only about oneself and I do not see anything wrong with that. At this point in my journey, I need to work on self-care. I am learning that it is ok and very healthy to establish boundaries.

I will not let others control my life. I will not do anything that I do not feel comfortable doing. If someone gets offended by not getting a hug, too bad. I am an adult now and a survivor. I make decisions for myself based on what makes me feel safe.

Therefore, “Self-centered” and “selfish”…damn right I am!