Category Archives: Uncategorized
Big Dog and Exoskeletons
Seeing as today is Veteran’s Day, I wanted to show you the Big Dog robot, which is at once both creepy and cuddly (tell me you don’t feel for it when the guy tries to kick it over) and exoskeletons, both being developed to aid in lugging heavy equipment around often inhospitable terrain.
First up is the Big Dog, being developed by robotics firm Boston Dynamics and DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which develops new military technology and was instrumental in the creation of the original Internet.
Together, they have developed the Big Dog, a robot that can maintain balance (something that is very difficult for robots to do, so much so it has become an area of study all its own). Even when it is kicked, or placed on a hill, or sliding on ice, it can keep upright and continue along. It is able to carry about 350 pounds of equipment and maintain pace with soldiers even in adverse weather, obstacles, and inclines.
It’s loud, as you can see in the video below, so it wouldn’t be very good for covert operations, and while it may appear unnatural, I’ll say it again: try and tell me you didn’t feel for it when the guy tries to kick it over or it slips on the ice. If you’re interested, Boston Dynamics also has the ATLAS robot, that’s pretty remarkable in its own right.
Next is the exoskeleton being developed, as the linked article states, by several companies including Raytheon’s XOS 2 and Lockheed-Martin’s Fortis. Both are meant to ease the burden of carrying heavy equipment around in military operations, prevent the associated injuries and strain that can result, and perhaps most importantly, have already been used to help those who are handicapped get some movement back, even finish a marathon, and this one operates on technology developed from the mind-control technology presented in this earlier post. Amazing.
Watch it work below:
TRON (The command and the movie)
Although most of you figured it out, I received some questions regarding last week’s crossword puzzle, specifically 1-Down, “Slang for ‘Trace On.'”
I suppose I could have reworded it slightly. Perhaps “In the days of BASIC, computer-speak for ‘Trace On'” would have been better, however you’ll notice that the sub-title of the crossword was “e-commerce, a return to networking, and one movie.” To me, that was a giveaway. Did you wonder what the movie was? It was the slang term for “Trace On,” or TRON.
You may remember I made a post recently about an on-line BASIC interpreter, BASIC being an early computer-programming language, and that is the kind of BASIC we are talking about – the kind where each line is preceded by a line number. Here is an example of what it looks like:
Buried Atari cartridges up for sale on Ebay
Back in 1983, Atari paid Steven Spielberg around $25 million for the rights to make a game based on his film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. They gave programmer Howard Scott Warshaw six weeks in which to finish the game in order to meet the holiday season, even though most games took about six months to develop. So confident were they in the demand for the game, they actually manufactured more game cartridges than there were consoles to play it on.
The demand was indeed strong. Unfortunately, the game itself wasn’t so strong, in fact some say it’s the worst game ever made (I disagree), and it’s especially strange considering his other titles – Yar’s Revenge and Raiders of the Lost Ark – are considered some of the best. Either way, the returns started coming fast and furious. Before they knew it, Atari had a massive amount of unsold cartridges and the urban legend was born that in the middle of the night, they trucked all those E.T. cartridges off to a landfill in the New Mexico desert, and didn’t just bury them but buried them under concrete. That couldn’t stop the game from heralding the great video-game industry crash of 1983.
Recently, a documentary produced by Xbox studios was filmed that followed investigators as they set out to dig up that landfill and determine once and for all whether or not the cartridges were actually there. It turns out they were, which I think we all knew, along with copies of Phoenix, Swordquest, Defender, Star Raiders, Centipede, and Warlords. I was lucky enough to attend a screening of the documentary hosted by Howard Scott Warshaw at the recent Classic Gaming Expo here in Las Vegas, and it was fascinating. Here’s the preview for the documentary, and maybe it’s just me but I found the preview itself as interesting as the whole movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIaWAyHIqok
Some of the cartridges that were unearthed have already gone up on eBay, which surprises absolutely no one, but the prices might. Many of the games have some good bids, but the E.T. boxes that came out of the landfill are going for over $500! That’s a picture of one below.
Atari 2600 E.T. game from Almagordo landfill
I’m a collector of this stuff myself as you know, but I just don’t feel motivated to bid on these. We already saw the post on eBay lunacy, and while I understand these are a part of history – and they are – these prices are high, in my humble yet nonetheless correct opinion. I’m tempted, but not at those prices.
Year-old sad news, and amazing progress
I had another post written for today, but I’ll post it tomorrow as this definitely overrides digging up Atari cartridges from a landfill.
Just two days ago I posted a video from 60 minutes regarding research being done by scientists, one of which was Dr. Scott Mackler and his Brain Computer Interface, that allows people to interact with a computer system using only their thoughts. I’ve been showing that video for a while, and I’m equally amazed every time I see it.
In a comment on that story was a link (credit to Jennifer), and in following her link which is in the next paragraph, I learned that Dr. Mackler died last year. I didn’t know that, and while I am grateful for the link I’m at the same time incredibly sad that a pioneer in such a forward-looking technology will no longer be able to contribute to its development.
If you haven’t seen the segment from my previous post, I strongly encourage you to watch it here, and the follow-up video that was also included in her response, as well as in a eulogy by one of the producers of that 60 Minutes segment. That video is below. It’s an absolutely astounding, unbelievable glimpse into the future, and an idea of where this technology is heading, and quickly. To be honest, watching it gave me chills and almost moved me to tears, seeing people who have lost control of their bodies and lost limbs to disease moving these prosthetic limbs with their thoughts. Just incredible.
More Facebook, but actually Internet privacy
Boy, this week is all Facebook all the time. Weird, considering I don’t use it.
So a couple of days ago I made a post about why I’m not on Facebook, at least at this particular time in my life, but I know many others are and that’s ok. For those of you who are, have you ever worried that someone might be spying on you while you connect? It seems like a strange thing to wonder about considering the whole purpose is to be visible, but in other parts of the world, sharing photos or other information on sites like that can result in serious consequences.
So in a somewhat surprising move, Facebook has created a version of their site that can only be accessed using TOR software. Let me give you some background:
TOR is (was) an acronym for “The Onion Router” (which is why the technically correct way of writing it is TOR, not Tor, although Tor is now the catchall term for it). What it does is bounce your connection to a site through a trusted series of secure points before you head out on to the Internet proper through an exit node, where you exit form the Tor network tot he Internet itself, all of which makes it very difficult to trace your origins or determine the true destination of what you’re doing on line. So if someone wants to monitor your network connections to try and determine where you’re going or what the origin of a particular transmission is, TOR would make that very difficult.
Controlling Machines With Your Mind
Mind control isn’t possible, of course, at least not yet. But the idea of being able to simply ‘think’ a command to a computer system is an idea that has been around for a long time. Even Atari had the MindLink all the way back in 1984. It was a device you wear on your forehead to control Atari consoles and computers with your mind, or at least forehead muscles. It didn’t work, but at least the idea was there. The experience was intense! You can tell from this print advertisement, and the promotional video they made. Are these people having the time of their lives or WHAT?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg67H_O7bNs
These oddball devices notwithstanding, allowing people who are incapacitated due to injury or disease the ability to not just interact with a machine but through that communicate with other people is a noble and important cause, and the subject of multiple research projects going on today. Accessibility is one thing, with appropriate subtitles and font sizes and whatnot, but we are talking about being able to use machines with your mind.
Why I’m not on Facebook, at least for now.
Facebook is a behemoth, no doubt about it. Over one billion users, including everyone from the president and businesses to you and me, it’s a force to be reckoned with. Even in light of their recent manipulations of users, the apparent defections to other services, and the fact it’s led by a guy like Mark Zuckerberg, it’s still is a cultural phenomenon and an effective way to connect not just with friends and family but brands and public figures as well.
When I was on the east coast recently, I had at least seven different people tell – not ask; TELL – me to get back on Facebook. I said I’d think about it, but haven’t done it yet. Then, just yesterday, I got a text from someone asking if it was ok to have movie night at my house. I hadn’t heard from this person in three months, and I replied that while I was fine with it, the request was out of the blue.
She agreed, but said everyone else keeps talking about it so she figured she may as well ask me.
I was taken aback. For three months everyone has been talking about having a movie night at *my* house but no one ever asked me? I wasn’t part of the conversation?
It turns out that I wasn’t part of the conversation because I’m not on Facebook. Since they’re all 20 years younger than me, I guess that’s how the kids communicate these days when they’re not on my lawn. And because of that, I’m not made part of the conversation of which I’m the subject!
Earlier this year I wrote about a project titled “99 Days of Freedom” that asks people to go 99 days without Facebook, and explained why I deactivated (but not deleted) my account. It’s been odd; I’m out of touch in many ways, but quite free in others. So since the subject of Facebook has come up so many times in my personal life recently, I thought I would revive the post and see how many of you think you could last over three months without it, or have reasons of your own for leaving. It’s a very interesting socio-technical consideration.
Scary Stuff for Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
Here are some fun scary things to do online, or to download, or to have fun with or interact with or to wonder why. It turns out the Internet can be scary, but in the fun way, not the stolen identity or I’ve-got-a-virus way. Who knew? And let’s be honest, everyone likes to be scared, right? We all love it.
With that in mind, here is a list of seven fun, scary, strange things to do online for Halloween. Oh who am I kidding – anytime.
1. Surprisingly fun and tense scary mobile game: Into the Dead
Into the Dead by TikTok
Does that screenshot look like things are going to end well? No. No it doesn’t. That’s a shot from Into the Dead, a surprisingly entertaining endless runner-type mobile title from PikPok that has you regaining consciousness after a helicopter crash to find yourself surrounded by zombies. You start running automatically, and you just have to tilt your device right or left to avoid running headfirst into something that considers you to be an entree. Occasionally you’ll have a gun. I’m not a big fan of mobile gaming, but this one is easy to control, moody, atmospheric, and tense. For iOS, Android, and Windows/Windows Phone platforms. Also available on Amazon.
I’m with the Band
(UPDATE: I am heading to the Microsoft Store at Fashion Show Mall right now to see if they have one I can play around with, and will update this post with my impressions, if I was able to have any.)
Surprisingly and unexpectedly, last night Microsoft announced its entry into wearable fitness, the Microsoft Band. The belief is they did so because it integrates with both iOS and Android, and leaks from those stores gave away the accessories’ existence.
I myself was surprised when I started seeing the articles, and they came in fast and furious. Within an hour, articles were all over the place. ZDnet referred to it as a ‘game-changer.’Even well-known Microsoft-hating The Verge seemed enamored with it.
Security certificates and what they mean
Yesterday I received an email from a student who was in this class last semester, and they had a question regarding a security-certificate warning that popped up as they carried out a mobile retail transaction on their cel-phone. The screenshot of it is below, and they were understandably concerned:
