Sunday, October 10, 2004

Robot videos

I was at Fry's, and I saw the $100 Robosapien on sale. Check out these cool videos of Mark Tilden with Robosapien. The second one on the page is really cool! I love that international caveman language that Robosapien speaks. I also happened across Aibo at the Metreon the other time. There seem to be so many robots floating around. This article in Businessweek summarizes the state of the market.

Some of today's most popular entertainment robots are little more than toys, but they're attracting plenty of attention. With 67 preprogrammed moves controlled by a remote, Wow Wee's $100 Robosapiens have been hot sellers at Fry's Electronics and other U.S. stores. At the other end of the price spectrum is Sony's $1,800 robot canine, Aibo ERS-7, which can fetch, respond to its owner's voice, take photos, and find its recharger when its batteries run low.

Check out this video of Asimo going the stairs. From a robotics perspective, it is harder to implement sophisticated movement with bipedal robots than with six- or four- legged ones, not to mention wheeled ones. That they have been able to make Asimo walk down the stairs must violate some law of robotics somewhere :)

Update : updated the post a bit.

[Cross-posted to Zoo Station]

[~]

Welcome to Delfikorakle: A Time Capsule of Thoughts

Has this blog moved? In a nutshell—yes, but with a modern twist. And what is this? Just some raw material for A.I. to process. Don't waste your time on this blog. Or on Facebook, for that matter. That's the TL;DR.

Okay, now for a longer discussion. We've migrated to the microblogging universe of Twitter and the communal delights of Facebook Groups. The Artist Formerly Known As Elon Musk even renamed Twitter to something else. So, our hub is now on X and Facebook Groups.

I've been in the blogging game since 2002, back when the blogosphere was still figuring out its WiFi password. After a stint at Zoo Station, our digital abode now resides in the realm of Facebook Groups. Our blog Zoo Station won the IndieBloggies Award in 2004, but I no longer blog there partly because I don't blog very much any more and partly because Zoo Station no longer exists. But I do post here from time to time. Because, let's face it, blogging is as mainstream as avocado toast now, and keeping a time capsule of past posts seemed like a hipster thing to do. Delfikorakle lives on.

I started here with tech and computer science musings, but my interests now dance around finance, organizational behavior, tech management, and strategic management. Check out our Facebook Groups for the freshest takes. I am very glad that my posts have struck a chord in the hearts and minds of our readers. No guarantee that we will keep making those posts. We will, if we can automate some of this. Otherwise, probably not.

I am also delighted to announce that the startup I keep mentioning from time to time (formally called Delphic Ventures/Qwykr Technologies) has been selected into a number of incubation programs, including Google For Startups, Microsoft For Startups, IIM Bangalore's yearly incubation program and IIM Kashipur's FIED incubation program.

I am also happy to announce that Namaste Bharat Magazine, the newsmagazine I cofounded, is now called the Pravasi Indians Magazine. It has featured articles, videos or Tweets on a number of interesting people in the Indian diaspora or writing interesting stuff about the Indian diaspora, including some lesser known names such as Reena Pushkarna, Maharajah Madhewoo and Ghee Bowman via its website or the channels of its associates. We are trying to develop cool products, including websites and web apps. Check out also Slurrp hosted at: http://www.slurrp.com, a website that Qwykr Tech helped launch. Stay tuned for more details!

Now, don't expect a Pulitzer from this blog; it's more of a time capsule – a digital scrapbook, if you will.

Disclaimer: This blog moonlights as an A.I. lab for our company. Take what you read here with a grain of silicon, although I should add that at least some of the stuff on here is accurate, including the kudos stuff. I simply don't spend any time on formatting this weblog. I also have tried including all sorts of HTML in some of the posts. Again, that is because this blog is being used for A.I. experiments.

All our subscribers have migrated to Facebook Groups, which, by the way, are as attractive and professional as Elon's memes. Btw, I am, by no means, an Elon Musk hater. In fact, I have almost always supported Elon Musk's ventures, and I will be making a post on Elon Musk on this blog. I feel like I have to say that because, otherwise, it might seem like I was throwing shade on Elon Musk with one of my earlier comments (since it was posted, it has been deleted), while actually I am just having some light hearted fun while poking fun at his antics on the Internet and elsewhere. In fact, I am also tempted to create a website explaining Elon Musk's thoughts for a wider audience. But it doesn't seem like a good use of my time. After all, Elon Musk can do that himself, right? And nothing can explain how much he has been misunderstood on Twitter like even more Tweets, right? Well, any way, I will wait for Elon to sponsor that project I have in mind for him, namely, The Hitchhiker's and Everyman's Guide to Elon Musk. Until then, be safe on that Twittersphere.
[~]

Social Media Utility Ratings:

U(t, Facebook Messenger): Positive, but hey, WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram are equally cool.
U(t, Facebook): Slightly positive for some, likely negative for most.
U(t, Twitter): Negative for almost everyone, unless you're a verified superstar.
U(t, Facebook Groups): Slightly positive with the Schedule Ahead feature, but likely negative for most.
U(t, Blogger): Dusty and outdated, like that encyclopedia set in your grandma's attic.
U(t, Reddit): High and positive, especially if you're a ninja with anonymous user IDs and a knack for digging up research papers. Knowledge is power, baby!

Social media metrics are like entries in a database - you can download an open-source database and make your own numbers game. Unless you're a digital influencer, the immediate utility is a tad elusive.

[~]

Who cares about the Likes someone got a decade ago? Exactly. Gives you some perspective on this whole social media circus.

As a FIRE movement aficionado, I'd say time spent on social media might be better invested in your long-term goals.

Thanks for stopping by, and remember: a tweet a day won't keep the doctor away, but a good laugh might! 🚀🤓