Reader Tips

Reader Tips 35 Comments

The products of modern science can be unsettling at times. At Aalborg University in Denmark, a human-like robot has been built whose facial features and movements have been modeled, with eerie accuracy, after Henrik Scharfe, the director of the University’s Center for Computer-mediated Epistemology (the “study of knowledge and justified belief.”)
From the Center’s website:

Geminoid|DK will be the first of its kind outside of Japan, and is intended to advance android science and philosophy, in seeking answers to fundamental questions, many of which that have also occupied the Japanese researchers. The most important questions are: What is a human? What is presence? What is a relation? What is identity? We intend to pursue these questions while looking at areas such as emotional affordances in HRI, the novel concept of Blended Presence, and by studying cultural differences in the perception of robots.

Videos of Geminoid|DK here and here.
The comments are open for your – humans only, please – Reader Tips.

35 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  1. Found him!
    “A hapless bank robber who abided by a Dallas teller’s request to provide two forms of identification before she could give him money is going to prison…”

  2. Probably taught by elite members of Wisconsin education system.
    Got 100% on his tests, but………

  4. A Canadian government scientist has spearheaded the development of a new, high-tech measuring device… to more accurately gauge the amount of methane released by burping and farting cows — a significant source of the world’s greenhouse gases. http://tinyurl.com/45l9nom

  9. Plus, he’s got tattoos:
    “An animal welfare group wants New York City prosecutors to investigate Mike Tyson’s reality television show about pigeon racing.
    “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says the Brooklyn-based show is cruel to animals and its races could involve illegal gambling.”
    (emph. mine)

  10. The Truth about Three Mile Island.
    On March 28, 1979, the coolant water level in Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island (TMI) No. 2 reactor dropped, uncovering the top of the fuel core. More than one-third of the fuel melted. Inadequate instrumentation and training hampered operators’ ability to respond to the accident. This combination of mechanical failure and human error resulted in the United States’ worst nuclear power accident. No new nuclear plants have been licensed in America since TMI.
    The events at TMI were serious. However, rather than proving nuclear power plants are inordinately dangerous, TMI showed that redundant safety measures built into the reactor worked.
    * Despite the melted fuel, the integrity of the reactor vessel was maintained and the containment building confined the radioactive material as designed.
    * The small amount of radiation released into the atmosphere was equal to about one X-ray per person for those living within 10 miles of the plant.
    * The maximum dose received by any single individual was equal only to what the average U.S. resident experiences as normal background radiation each year.
    Between 1981 and 2002, none of the more than dozen studies examining the health effects of the TMI accident found any injuries, deaths or discernable health effects from the small amount of radiation released.
    With more than 50 years’ experience with nuclear power in the United States, no deaths or negative health affects have been conclusively linked to radiation leaks from nuclear plants or spent fuel.
    http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba508

  11. Ron in Kelowna – just think how far nuclear technology could have advanced if it weren’t for the propoganda against nuclear that spawned after TMI.
    Oh right….crazy people…running the world, or something to that effect!

  12. I was just wondering if this robot is like the one they left on the Space Station last time….

  13. NOW I recognize that blank look… what did they call it ‘blended presence’…. I think that guy is in the WH trying to pass himself off as BObama.
    That way Bam Bam can concentrate on his brackets.

  14. Weasel “Barbara Yaffe” and Weasel “Vancouver Sun” of the Weasel MSM.
    >>> “”Liberal” Senator Raymond Lavigne,”.
    “The website also points to a recent fraud conviction of “Liberal” Senator Raymond Lavigne, who in fact was ousted from the Grit caucus back in 2006.”
    “Contempt of Parliament charges reduced to sideshow”
    http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Contempt+Parliament+charges+reduced+sideshow/4454373/story.html
    …-
    “On the proper use of weasel quotes”
    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/016321.html#comments

  15. Neo-AGW Progress Report.
    “Freezing weather, heavy snow in Japan
    New Zealand Herald”
    …-
    Rattled, shaken, and bolted.
    NGO* flees ‘quake.
    “Team member Kelly Kaley, also a paramedic, said she was ready to bolt from her hotel room during one of the long aftershocks.
    “It was disconcerting. It’s a very ominous, unnatural feeling,” she said.”
    *NGO = do-gooders.
    “Canadian medical team returns to Vancouver amid threat of nuclear catastrophe
    ‘Our expertise is not in nuclear response. It’s in medical response,’ paramedic says”
    http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Canadian+medical+team+returns+Vancouver+amid+threat+nuclear+catastrophe/4454304/story.html

  16. Of Liberal Iggy’s O’Harvard buddy: MIA.
    …-
    “Ledeen: What Would a Desperate Wimp Do?”
    At about this stage in the Carter years, I began to worry: the president was getting a reputation for being a wimp, the economy was going to hell, and his poll numbers were headed steadily south. The main enemy — the Soviet Union — was flexing its muscles, invading Afghanistan in December of 1979. This came amidst the Iranian hostage crisis, which began early the previous month.
    We tend to forget that the U.S. military buildup, which ultimately played a big role in the successful outcome of the Cold War, was started by Carter in response to the Soviet move, but by the time it started, “the wimp” could not hope to recover his lost manhood by sending money to the Pentagon.
    And so I asked myself, is there a point at which a president realizes that wimps don’t get reelected? And if so, what might he do to shatter that image? For the next two years I worried that Carter might overreact to some international crisis in order to make folks see that he was really a tough guy.
    [More]”
    http://pajamasmedia.com/michaelledeen/2011/03/16/what-would-a-desperate-wimp-do/
    …-
    “March Madness — Obama Fills Out NCAA Bracket But Is Missing In Action on Japan, Libya and the Budget”
    “Since taking office, President Barack Obama has come under fire for ducking during some of the most serious times in his tenure. From his late in the game responses to the crisis in Libya to the Fort Hood shooter and the Christmas Day bomber, to his hands off approach on the health care reform bill to the federal budget Obama has been missing in action or worse. At times he has simply outsourced some of the most sensitive issues of his presidency, matters that belong in the Oval Office, to his allies on the Hill or in his administration.
    Just yesterday, Republicans used the passage of a three-week spending bill in the House to ramp up pressure on Democrats and the president, saying he has “yet to truly weigh in” on the budget.”
    http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/03/16/march-madness-obama-fills-ncaa-bracket-missing-action-japan-libya-budget/

  17. “If not nuclear, then what? Globe and Mail”
    AGW Fraud & Hope have the answers: Stinkin’ Killer Windmills.
    1.”*Things have fallen so far behind that government officials are happy to see anything happen at all.”
    2. Hope** rides to the rescue. Fear** Not, says AGW.
    “He suggested that wind farms or other structures should have decoys on the ground to try to distract birds, or emit sound to alert them to the danger.”
    …-
    “*Clean Energy with a Price Tag”
    “*Germany’s Dream of Offshore Wind Farms Gets Expensive”
    “Technicians inspect the Alpha Ventus wind farm near the German North Sea island of Borkum. The 12 wind turbines are intended to provide electricity for 50,000 households.”
    “Construction of offshore wind farms off Germany’s northern coast in the North and Baltic Seas has faced significant delays, even as the country’s utility companies tackle one project after another abroad. Things have fallen so far behind that government officials are happy to see anything happen at all.”
    http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,751149,00.html
    …-
    **Hope and Fear ride to the rescue:
    “Earth News”
    “Flicker of hope for the wind turbine victims”
    “The misery of shadow flicker, which blights the lives of people living near some wind turbines, could soon be over.”
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8385809/Flicker-of-hope-for-the-wind-turbine-victims.html

  19. HillBilly’s Legacy: O.
    …-
    “Hillary Clinton Will Leave State Department if Obama Wins Reelection in 2012 ABC News (blog)
    Hillary Clinton: Not Staying on if Obama Wins in 2012 Opposing Views
    Salon – Sify”
    (googlenews)

  20. Of Liberal Iggy’s Liberal Ad$Cam MartinJr* and O.
    Congratulations go out to Liberals. Thanks a lot.
    …-
    “Gunter: After Libya, Western credibility is shot”
    “It’s said that Teddy Roosevelt used to enjoy quoting a West African saying, “Speak softly, but carry a big stick.” To the extent that the current U.S. president, Barack Obama, has a foreign policy doctrine, it would have to be the exact opposite, “Shoot your mouth off, but carry no stick whatsoever.”
    Just look at the disaster the U.S. and the Western allies have created in Libya.
    In early March, Mr. Obama insisted that the murderous Libyan strong man, Col. Muammar Gaddafi, “step down from power and leave” Libya immediately. Everyone, including Gaddafi, thought that meant that if he didn’t depart, the U.S. was prepared to use some level of force to make him go. Shortly after the president utter his threat, it was reported that Col. Gaddafi was trying to negotiate his exit with the rebel forces that, at that time, seemed certain to depose him.
    But then there was no no-fly zone imposed by the U.S. or NATO. And there were no arms shipments to the rebels. A few automatic weapons and some grenades might have tipped the balance in the war.
    The U.S. and its allies have aircraft carriers and air force bases within easy striking distance of Libya. With little effort (and little risk to their flyers), they could have pinned Col. Gaddafi’s jets on the ground and silenced his anti-aircraft batteries. They likely, too, could have restricted his use of helicopter gunships.
    [More]”
    “Related:
    Black: On Libya, the U.S. Is a Pitiful Giant
    Podhoretz: Obama the invisible
    Leaders dither as Gaddafi hails final showdown
    Libyan Forces Rout Rebels as West’s Effort for No-Flight Zone Stalls
    Specter of Rebel Rout Helps Shift U.S. Policy on Libya
    Gaddafi: ‘Libya funded Sarkozy’s French poll campaign’”
    http://www.jacksnewswatch.com/
    …-
    Liberal Ad$Cam MartinJr* and O.
    Good buddies shake hands.
    http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40646000/jpg/_40646393_martin203.jpg

  21. Good morning, Maz.
    You’d be doing yourself and the rest of us an enormous favour if you’d tighten it up a bit. I’ve been here long enough to glean, and fully appreciate, the – truly – aware sensibility that hovers within your comments, but your comments are a bit excessively into the…self-referential mode, and your graphic, ritualistic, line-breaking approach detracts from your message, which is, in and of itself, entirely worthwhile and welcome.
    Please take a more human, interactive approach; say “hello” in some sense – you won’t be judged for it – acknowledge that you’re there, make your point, and most of all, don’t take up so many unnecessary vertical inches, svp; otherwise, I’ll have to start deleting your comments, which would be a loss for all of us. You’re a font of insight, and – sincerely – greatly appreciated; just tighten it up a bit, please.
    Thank you.
    Your fan, EBD.

  22. Just to reiterate, Maz, I’m an enormous fan of your contributions. I’m just asking you to tighten it up a bit in this particular forum, and to try to structure your contributions in a more concise, paragraphed form.
    I understand it would take some effort on your part, but it would benefit us all. We should pull together at times like this.

  23. *
    all together now… “i get by with a little help from my friends…”
    “The turning point was really the Arab League statement on Saturday,”
    Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday.
    *

  24. “the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave.”
    From the resignation letter of Hal Lewis, formerly of the American Physical Society.
    http://tinyurl.com/4rx4orm

  25. I’m wondering this — could global warming be causing the bad beats I keep getting on the river?

  28. EBD – maz2.
    YES! I made a similar remark a while back – a suggestion that he tighten up form and format.
    It is true: maz2 provides a motherlode of good stuff here but I find myself scrolling by a lot of the time.
    Idea? EBD, a form/format master, does a reformat of one of maz2’s posts.
    maz2: I’ve asked you this before. Was it you who often mentioned Our Enemy, the State (Albert Jay Nock). If so, my eternal gratitude.

  29. General Electric, of climate alarmism fame, wonders if it’s reactors in Japan will melt. No wonder, with a CEO by the name of Immelt.
    Just saying.

  30. You’ve got to admit, the 10:35 comment was pretty darn terse 🙂
    I’m a fan too, Maz. I always appreciate the esoteric but engrossing and pertinent links.

  31. Like others here, I’m a fan of maz2, but have only so much time in a day!! Like MND, I often scroll past because my time allowance has run out and/or the part of my brain that deciphers clever codes and virtuoso verbosity is on overload.
    Believe me, maz2, you’re a treasure — but could you please shorten your jolly gems? … 😉

  32. Just listening to Michael Harris, host on CFRA, and the guy is dripping with vemom and hatred toward PM Stephen Harper.

  33. When I was a kid I used to watch “Lost in Space”. Now there was a robot! “Danger Will Robinson, Danger Will Robinson!”. It would probably be so hokey now, but as a kid I thought it was so coooolll.

  35. William in Ajax @ 7:27 1.m.: “Could global warming be causing recent earthquakes?”
    If global warming had anything to do with earthquakes, wouldn’t they at least be more likely to happen in summer?
    – – – – – – – – – –
    Peter O’Donnell @ 10:27 a.m.:
    No, those are coolers.

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