Asimo is 10 today

Today is the 10th birthday of the Asimo from Honda.

I wonder if anyone considered the coincidence of the date and Halloween and the possible negative marketing / branding which could accompany it? Particularly if they ever did malfunction. (Which I personally doubt they ever will, but since everyone who reads my blog who I speak with irl seems to think I’m on the wrong track about robots in every house, I thought I’d mention it.)

My only issue today is that the Asimo is now in its 10th year and still not available on the open market.

Computers (and robots…) to stop working in 2038

I expect this is some kind of joke, but according to some thinkers (possibly the same ones who got us all in a pickle about the millenium Bug during the late 1990s):

Computers will stop working at 03:14:07 UTC on Tuesday, 19 January 2038 because of the Y2K38 problem.

I’ll be into my 60s by then, so right now am not particularly bothered by this, I expect someone will figure out how to fix this by then – the Y2K bug didn’t actually do anything drastic, so I am struggling to raise myself up into a panic.

But, just in case, just so I am clear, if my Asimo breaks down on this day I will seek compensation from Honda!

 

 

Project Management for you

If you work in project management, or indeed need to manage any type of project either in your professional life or in one of your “other” lives then I happen to know an expert.

Her name is Elizibeth Harrin and her blog is called A Girls Guide to Project Management. If you happen to be a boy, you’ll probably find some tips you can use there too!

Elizabeth has also written a bookon Project Management,called Project Management in the Real World.

On top of all that, she also runs a business writing consultancy called OTOBOS, which stands for “on time, on budget, on scope”. Which is pretty important for any project manager imho.

A bit about OTOBOS from its website:

“The Otobos Group is set up to provide a professional but accessible type of business writing for corporate and trade blogs, newsletters, websites and magazines.  Your customers and employees expect to be treated with intelligence but not bored to death with news of your new widget.”

The OTOBOS website was also Shortlisted in the 2010 PCG Freelancing Award.

Oktober Books is seeking submissions

My publisher, Oktober Books, is currently seeking submissions for its 2011 list.

Any completed manuscript in any fiction genre or non-fiction subject will be considered.

If you have a book you would like Oktober Books to have a look at please send them the first three chapters along with a synopsis of the rest of the book to:

submissions@oktoberbooks.co.uk

Will the Feed In Tariff survive?

Assuming the Feet In Tariff (FIT) still exists the day after tomorrow, it is worth looking into whether you can save on your electric bill and make some money (ie pay for the loan, then eventually make a small annual profit).

Figures I have seen say a solar panel system costing £6,250 should save £200 in electric bills and earn £900 from FIT each year. In theory, thru reduced bill and income, paying for itself in five or so years.

Details from:

www.ofgem.gov.uk (assuming this still exists the day after tomorrow…)

www. energysavingtrust.org.uk

Kerouacs Dog

I am a big fan of Jack Kerouac.

I was only just 16 the first time I read On The Road, the beat classic which Jack apparently wrote in only 3 weeks in 1952 (I recall reading somewhere he spend five years living it, three weeks writing it and five more years getting it published).

The book remains one of my major literary (and life) influences. I have read some other Kerouac, notably The Subterraneans (which also made a pretty good movie imho, featuring George Peppard the year before he made Breakfast at Tiffany’s, although the Kerouac based film is under rated by critics I feel) and would advise you the most accessible of his work is On The Road, so start there if you are interested.

A friend of mine, Oli Johnson, sometimes referred to as Oli “Oranges” Johnson, altho I have no idea why, has also been influenced by Jack and his writing.

So influenced in fact, Oli is now launching a quarterly magazine covering new writing, design and photography, called Kerouac’s Dog Magazine. I haven’t seen my copy yet, but I have ordered one.

I hope Kerouac’s Dog does well. Good luck Oli.

Censorship or protection?

I am not good at accepting censorship. I wrote my university dissertation on American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis (researched while studying briefly at an American higher education establishment). The book uses murder and mutilation as a metaphor for the damage unchecked capitalism does to the poor. The main character is a Wall Street banker who by day manipulates money markets to his own advantage and by night stalks the streets of New York on a killing spree.

My book, The Joy of Ex, contains swear words (even the C word), sexual content, adult themes (altho their is an advisory warning printed on the  back cover) – so I am ok with edgie and adult content.

Right now in the USA, where almost 20 years ago, American Psycho caused proper uproar, there is an ongoing debate about children’s access to books.

Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mocking Bird and the Twilight saga are all being battled over at schools in the land of the free.

(This is a serious issue, the other day an episode of Private Practice (spin off from Grey’s Anatomy showing what the character of Addison Montgomery did next) on Living had a storyline about a young girl who got Hep B (or something similar) from a boy who had bitten her neck and had done it to other girls, even though he said he only loved her… or some such – the upshot of which was don’t bite your friends just cos you like Twilight.)

The main message I took from Catcher in the Rye when I read it as a teenager nearly 20 years ago, was don’t be a faker. (definitely not kill a rock star). While from Mockingbird (again, about 20 years since I opened it up), which is about lots of things, I particularly got the message we should not judge people (which always makes me wonder if Harper Lee meant the irony of having a court room drama with that message).

As for Twilight, I am way out of the target demographic and havent read any of it, altho the movie trailers seem to be about love and relationships. Maybe when my son is old enough to read it, I’ll dip in so I can discuss with him, but I think my vampire / human love story of choice is still Buffy / Spike. (apologies to Sookie and Bill and probably Cordy and Angel too)

I am sure the parents who are raising these issues about what books their children have access to in school libraries have genuine concerns, but I am not sure censorship is ever the answer.

Made in Weston: stalls still available for Christmas craft fair

Only a handful of stalls are still available for traders to sell their wares at the latest of the successful Made in Weston craft fairs.

The Christmas Craft fair is being held on November 13 at the prestigious Winter Gardens venue on the sea front in Weston-super-Mare from 10am – 5pm. Entry is free, although the local branch of the RNLI will be on hand at the door – all donations welcome.

Event organiser Rebecca Keating said: “Makers of any kind of arts or craft products are welcome at the event. The ethos of Made in Weston is to offer quality locally sourced goods wherever possible.”

The latest Made in Weston event follows two previous successful craft fairs this year, one also at the Winter Gardens and the recent summer event on the Italian Gardens in Weston-super-Mare High Street. The summer event raised £520 for the local branch of the RNLI through donations from the public on entry.

To book your stall, priced £20, email info@madeinweston.co.uk.

About Made in Weston:

Made in Weston is a craft collective which aims to promote arts and crafts products from Weston-super-Mare and the surrounding northern Somerset area of England.

Reuse of materials in the production of art and craft items is encouraged. A green and local ethos is at the core of everything Made in Weston does.

Members of Made in Weston produce a huge range of arts and crafts including jewellery, cards, candles, homeware and children’s toys.

Because everything is hand-made, Made in Weston prides itself in being able to offer a made to order service that is second to none. If you can imagine a product – we know someone who can make it.

Made in Weston sells products through the website www.madeinweston.co.uk as well as through hosting and attending craft fairs in Weston-super-Mare and the surrounding area.

Animal Kingdom

I’ll let you in to a little secret.

I quite like Aussie cinema.

I know, I must be a bit of a weirdo.

But BMX Bikers, Emerald City are all a bit of fun (both feature the early career of a certain Nicole Kidman) – Picnic at Hanging Rock and Walkabout are a bit surreal and could do with a re-imagining, but are still pretty good movies all told.

Muriel’s Wedding is strangely lovely (and I still go thru phases of saying: “you’re terrible Muriel”) and Priscilla Queen of the Desert has some awesome cinematography in it.

Sample People is pretty good too, an ensemble melodrama, this time set in the Sydney club scene. And Kylie in a red wig somehow works for me.

While Strange Planet, despite being an (again) ensemble melodrama, is one of my top 10 movies of all time.

And one that has come out this year I’m really hoping to catch at some point – probably on DVD is Animal kingdom.

Nick Bryant, one of my fav bloggers wrote a column about it earlier this year (before his column got dominated by the Aussie election).

So check out Animal Kingdom (and maybe some of the others). When I get to see it I’ll post something about on this blog.

Why do I like Aussie cinema? I think because a lot of the time you get good movies but without all the Hollywood schmaltz.

The Rest of the Robots

OMG! Please check out this blog and listen to the podcast. I blogged about robots and supermarkets previously and this follows on from that.

What happens when you have an Asimo in your house that can remember EVERYTHING it sees, hears, smells in its internal hard drive and, if you have a cloud version, on a remote server (and several mirror servers)?

What happens if a Government organisation wants access to what this robot has recorded? Will this data be admissible in a court of law – can the robot’s memory be used against you? What you store on your home PC can be, so why would robots be any different?

And how can we be sure our robots aren’t being hacked by criminals to use against us – are we all sure our home PC has never been hacked?

Ryan Calo works at a top US law school and is a robots expert.

One of the key things he says in this podcast is that robots will be the transformative technology of this century.

He refers to how PCs changed lives in the 80s, the internet in the 90s. I would look back to the 19th century and remember the changes cars heralded and also the telephone and light bulb. The rise of the robots is THAT important.

Seriously, the sci fi fear industry shows us what happens when robots go wrong (James Cameron and The Terminator are the most famous and chilling example). As often happens military applications are where technology is developed and robots are the same. Alan Turing is a perfect example here, involved as he was with the development of modern computing and later defined the Turing Test.

I have been speaking about the use of robots for a long time with someone I know well who remains sceptical (I keep telling this person robots would be perfect to do a certain role in their organisation) and this person mentioned it to their boss who agreed with them and said it will never happen.

The blog goes on to discuss the insurance industry which will naturally rise up around robots in every day use. I mentioned this to an actuary I know over a year ago who was going off to see what his company were doing about this. He has not come back to me, which either means his company think I am nuts, or they are well aware and just don’t want to acknowledge it.

There will also be international industry safety standards for robots as there is for all sorts of items you can buy.

Maybe I am wrong about these robots, but I remember when I got my first mobile phone back in 1997 people couldn’t understand what I was doing carrying around this brick everywhere I went.

Just about no one else I knew had one.

One lady (the mother of one of my friends) pointed out I had a post uni McJob rather than a high-flying career, so what was I thinking?

No one got it – yet today every one of those people has a mobile phone they take everywhere they go.