Random Thoughts

[Angrboda]

Mr. Robot

Scientists and entrepreneurs are working tirelessly toward a strange goal: robots that look like us. Why, if we just want them to unburden our lives, do we need that? It’s a question for philosophers as much as for inventors.

But you can see the market appeal. A robot vacuum cleaner can’t climb stairs to clean an upstairs room. A robot arm that loads boxes in a factory can’t make you a cocktail. You’d hate to arrive for a hair appointment and see that your colorist resembles a spider made of Legos and wire, even if its work is top-tier.

Humanoid robots can already do some humanlike things, of course. They can dance and run. They can play household concierge. Some can almost load a dishwasher. But they’re clumsy right now. (You broke a glass!)

They’re also hard to instruct. Think about that hair appointment. The work requires a lot of manual dexterity on the part of the stylist. But as Tim Fernholz reported recently, dexterity is difficult to teach. “Humans don’t have a language for gathering, storing and communicating data about touch, the way we do for language and imagery,” he wrote. “Our fingers’ remarkable sensing ability collects all kinds of information that we can’t easily translate for machines.”

-- New York Times newsletter

[Paraselene]

Snow is magical. Rain is sexy.

[Paraselene]

They were oddly similar to scally lads.

[awty]

In my grocery delivery this morning, I did not get eggs but did get two packages of frozen chicken parm....something I have never ordered. Trying to figure out how that seemed to be the right thing to substitute for eggs.

[Paraselene]

In my grocery delivery this morning, I did not get eggs but did get two packages of frozen chicken parm....something I have never ordered. Trying to figure out how that seemed to be the right thing to substitute for eggs.

It's their way of telling you the chicken came first.

[Angrboda]

I ordered a book from Amazon to give to my brother-in-law for Christmas and added the $3.99 option to have it wrapped in a gift bag. It came. It wasn't wrapped in the bag. The bag was provided separately, and the bag is too small for the book. I spent 30 minutes talking to customer service and they told me that they'd provide a certificate for $25 off my next order, which would automatically apply to my next order. I had $30 of stuff in my shopping cart, so I checked. No such $25 certificate or $25 off noted at checkout.

Grrr.

[Nanny]

Consciousness is the user interface for my brain, which operates this meat machine. My brain only permits me to gather sensory input and interpret it as a predictive protective circuit, or to otherwise occupy myself with other stimuli. It can use my conscious predictions and peripherally sensed perceptions to predict potential risk. My brain otherwise does its thing without the UI.

[Paraselene]

They aren't you because, if I remember correctly, you don't smoke.

[Fake Messiah]

If we made a spaceship that is as fast as 3i/atlas, the trip to Mars would last only 9 days at its closest and 38 days at its median distance from Earth.

[Fireball]

^ That would require some wicked acceleration.