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And the Oscar Goes to.... Nexi, the Emotional Robot

by Andrew McKinnon, posted Nov 13th 2008 at 11:01AM



"Nexi" has the legs of R2D2, the face of C-3PO and the emotional I.Q. of HAL 9000, and she is preparing for her debut at the Boston Museum of Science for the summer of 2009. You can catch a sneak peak of her at the MIT Personal Robots Group home page.

Nexi represents the current generation of MDS robotics. MDS stands for Mobile, Dexterous and Social. The Mobile refers to a two-wheel base, the Dexterous refers to arms that can pick up, grip and throw objects, and the Social refers to the head's ability to understand and express emotions. Nexi expresses emotion by combining movements of the eyebrows, head, eyelids and mouth. When she's excited, for example, Nexi will raise her eyebrows and open her eyelids and mouth. She can be sad, mad, bored, frightened.

Continue reading And the Oscar Goes to.... Nexi, the Emotional Robot

Wallet Phones are coming!

by Andrew McKinnon, posted Nov 11th 2008 at 3:21PM


Wallet-phones featuring "contactless" transactions are inevitable. It is not a question of "if" but "when": when you are able to make all your transactions via cell-phone. In Japan, 50 million people currently use cell phones to make purchases, borrow library books and ride the subway. They simply wave their cell phones across a glass-covered infrared signal, instead of pulling out the dead cow skin, handing over the cheap plastic, signing with the dirty pen, and stuffing the paper into a clump that will eventually land in the garbage.

Japan began this service of contactless transactions in 2004 through a partnership between NTT DoCoMo, Sony and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. Contactless payments are now a common feature of Japan's wireless landscape. The service uses a technology similar to Bluetooth called Near Field Communication or NFC. NFC, with shorter range and lower data feeds than Bluetooth, provides for better security. NFC, more importantly, has a shorter set-up time than Bluetooth, making for smoother transactions. Japan's version of NFC is called Felica and is produced through a joint venture between Sony and DoCoMo.

Japanese cellphone manufacturers, telecom operators and financial institutions have been cooperating for years in the development and deployment of Wallet-phone technology, leaving the US and Europe lagging far behind. Why can't the U.S. get their act together and get with the program?

Developing and deploying a service like wallet-phones requires the cooperation of three major industries: finance, telecom operators, and phone manufacturers. Wallet-phones also present regulatory and infrastructure issues that require complex congressional approvals.

The future, despite all these hassles, looks bright. Javelin Strategy projects 700 Million wallet-phones worldwide by 2013, and currently Visa is developing software for Google's Android system that will facilitate contactless payments. Hopefully, the wallet will soon be joining the Sony Walkman and the typewriter in your closet.


[From Reuters]

Facebook app incites a murderous rage

by Andrew McKinnon, posted Nov 1st 2008 at 11:10PM



If you are a Facebook user ,then you are familiar with the status update feature in the profile section. It allows you to share with your friends things like what you're doing right now, what you're wearing and your relationship status, married, single, dating or divorced. Recent divorcee Emma Forrester, 34, and mother of two, after 15 years of marriage changed her status from married to single on her Facebook profile. Wayne, her now ex-husband, noticed the change and went homicidal.

On the 18th of February 2008, in the Croyden section of South London, Wayne, drunk and high on cocaine, repeatedly stabbed Emma with a kitchen knife in the head and neck. The attack woke up the neighbors, and he was discovered by the police sitting outside Emma's home covered in blood. Wayne was ordered to serve a minimum of 14 years, a shockingly lenient sentence for such a horrendous crime.

What lesson can we draw from this tragedy? In this new world of sharing personal information with large groups of people at the click of mouse, the emotional stakes are higher. It is one thing to share with your friends that you are back on the market, but to share with a community with the aggrieved present is another issue entirely. Facebook is a powerful social interaction tool and people get hurt, and when people get hurt, some lose it. Switched has been following some of these cases and perhaps will write the Facebook etiquette guide to help you avoid any major disasters.


From the BBC

Cash Rich Tech Companies

by Andrew McKinnon, posted Nov 1st 2008 at 4:25PM



Valleywag has run a stock screener using the Yahoo Finance screening tool to determine the most cash rich tech companies of today. A vital question for the Investor and the spectator of these high-tech firms is how are the Microsofts, Intels and Apples managing their balance sheets during these shaky economic times? Are these firms over-leveraged?

To the casual observer Silicon Valley may seem like a profligate culture, spending large amounts of money on massages and exotic buffets for even the lowliest programmer. Technology companies do indulge on pool tables and team- building t-shirts but they generally keep large reserves of cash in order to stay competitive in the cutthroat technology marketplace where a 20-year old MIT dropout may render your business model obsolete at the drop of a hat.

The top ten is a who's who of the technology world, Microsoft, Cisco, Apple, Google, Intel. China Mobile is the most cash rich with $31.0 Billion, with Cisco in second with $26.2 Billion followed by Microsoft and Apple. China Mobile's place at the top should come as no surprise, given that China has over one trillion US dollars in its cash reserves and China Mobile is, like most Chinese Multinationals, largely government-owned.

[From Valley Wag, image courtesy of ]

FCC clears the air

by Andrew McKinnon, posted Nov 1st 2008 at 3:37PM


There has been a movement spearheaded by the FCC and a few Silicon Valley start-ups to provide free wireless Internet service nationwide. The service would operate on a spectrum of bandwith that the US Government currently owns and operates. Companies like T-Mobile and AT&T charge for wireless Internet services that operate on adjacent spectrums, and these companies have opposed the plan for free wireless because of the belief that use of the government spectrum would disrupt the service of their paying customers. A Federal Communications Commission report released Friday concluded however that these concerns about interference with other carriers are overblown.

The "free-use" wireless spectrum will be auctioned off by the government and several Silicon Valley start-ups are positioned to take over the operation and deliver the service, most notably M2Z Networks, Inc., a Kleiner Perkins-backed start-up that two years ago proposed the original plan. M2Z would use the 25 megahertz block of spectrum to provide a free service nationwide. M2Z would then try to recoup costs through advertising and subscriptions for consumers willing to pay for faster service.

The FCC requires the auction winner to provide free family-friendly wireless broadband services to 50% of the population in four years and 95% of the population within 10 years.

from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122385228422827027.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

For more on the free wireless Internet movement and its benefits see http://www.FreeBroadbandNow.org/

Popular Mechanics 2008 Breakthrough Awards

by Andrew McKinnon, posted Nov 1st 2008 at 1:16PM



Popular Mechanics put on a great show Wednesday for their 2008 Breakthrough Awards
featuring products and inventions from synthesized diesel to powerful solar panels to
small packets that make dirty water drinkable. The Awards honor the innovators,
visionaries and product designers whose engineering talents and creations stimulate the
moral imagination by aspiring to do more with less in the service of the greater good. 

The Leadership Award, the top honor, went to Amy Smith from MIT's D-Lab, an incubator
which introduces students to the technical, social and economic problems of the third
world. The Editors have come up with a clever device, an "equation", to help the layman
understand each engineer's contribution. Amy Smith's prize-winning equation: "brilliant 
design + broad experience in developing countries + passion = a movement to tackle 
complex problems with simple technology."

Amy Smith is a worthy successor to Buckminster Fuller, except that she succeeds in 
areas where Fuller failed. She, like Bucky, asks the big questions but she meets the challenges with 
products and solutions that are simple, efficient and empowering. One big question is: 
"What is the number one cause of death for children under five?" Quick, think. Is it HIV,
malnutrition, land mines? The number one cause of death is acute respiratory failure 
brought on by indoor cooking fires.  

Ms. Smith met this challenge by developing a charcoal briquette maker that converts
carbonized corn cobs into a clean burning fuel. The machine was on display on the third 
floor atrium of the Hearst Building along with the Mars Phoenix lander,a motion capture 
system developed by Organic Motion, and a car-shaped test tube containing renewable diesel
 
A car, the Aptera Typ-1e, was parked in front of the Hearst Building on 57th and 8th Avenue, 
drawing a huge crowd. Steve Fambro the CEO and co-founder of Aptera Motors could not have 
dreamed of better placement for his ultra-high-mileage, 120-150 miles per charge car which 
also appeared on the front cover of Popular Mechanics' November Issue. It was the most 
charismatic of the products on Breakthrough Awards red carpet, addressing the sins of us
gas guzzlers. Aptera's equation: "aerodymanic design + lightweight composite-fiber body +
real-world experience = a new, ultraefficient automotive category". The Typ-1e will be 
available by the end of 2008 and will be priced at $30,000. 

Will Wright of Sims fame was awarded a Breakthrough award for his Spore, a game where players guide 
the development of the game itself. Will sat down with Popular Mechanics senior technology
editor Glenn Derene to discuss his development as the Game Master and the future of game media. 
The interview along with extensive coverage of the event are available on the Popular Mechanics
website.
 
From Popular Mechanics 2008 Breakthrough Awards





Underage Cellphone Users Beware!

by Andrew McKinnon, posted Nov 1st 2008 at 12:38PM


A 15-year-old Newark, Ohio girl was arrested last Friday for allegedly sending nude cell phone photos of herself to classmates. The Licking Valley High School student spent the weekend in jail and on Monday pleaded deny, the juvenile equivalent of not guilty, to two charges: the illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material (a second degree felony) and possession of criminal tools (a fifth degree felony).

The defendant could be labeled a Tier I sex offender and be required to register annually for 10 years. According to Ohio law, 2907.323(A)(3), anyone possessing material that shows a minor in a state of nudity is guilty of a fifth-degree felony. State Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark helped write the state's Adam Walsh Act that organizes sex offenders into three tiers, mandating that Tier 3 offenders, the most serious, must check in with authorities every three months for the remainder of the offender's life. Representative Hottinger says that this case was not something the legislature envisioned and that the Judge will have flexibility on the verdict and whether the defendant will have to register as a sex offender.

Authorities will not identify the girl by name because she is a minor and her alleged offenses are not violent. The juvenile Division of the Licking County Court of Common Pleas placed the girl, a foster child, under house arrest, barring her from using a cell phone or having access to the Internet. The Licking County Prosecutor Ken Oswalt said Wednesday that the investigation into the incident remains open.

This case highlights how legislators and law enforcement officials are grappling with the moral dimensions of young people's use of sophisticated technology. Young people have, at their disposal, tools that make a high level of interactivity and creative use possible. Should parents and authorities limit the access to certain technology features, like the camera phone or will that just encourage the youth to commit an act he or she would otherwise never considered?

Ringo to Fans "Peace and Love" and "No More Signing Stuff"

by Andrew McKinnon, posted Nov 1st 2008 at 10:15AM


Ringo Starr, in a video posted on his website, has told his fans to stop sending him fan mail. The former Beatles drummer in a post titled "Sorry, No More Signing Stuff" told his fans to stop sending him fan mail because he is too busy to sign or read it and it will be thrown out.

"I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do. So no more fan mail, thank you, thank you, and no objects to be signed, nothing! Ah anyway peace and love, peace and love." The post was delivered in typical Ringo fashion, in his deadpan Liverpudlian accent.

The "No More Signing Stuff" video has the appearance of a quirky, impulsive move of a teenager and shows Ringo adapting brilliantly to the technological advances in the rock star's world. 45 years ago Ringo would have had to organize a press conference, hire a flack and bring the major television broadcasters. Now he can sit in his living room and address his millions of fans.

The website is run by Signatures Network International, one of the largest music merchandising and artist fan club companies in the world. Perhaps the company will have to change the company name as the result of Ringo's latest missive. Or perhaps Ringo will have a change of heart. Ringo is currently holding a Ringo All Starr Tour 2008 Photo Contest where the participants send in their photos from the Ringo 2008 tour. The winner will go home with an autographed Ringo drumhead!


From http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081013/en_afp/entertainmentbritainmusicpeoplebeatlesstarroffbeat via http://www.popeater.com/music/article/ringo-starr-too-busy-for-fan-mail/209216

Are You a Conversation Hog? New Research Can Help You Find Out.

by Andrew McKinnon, posted Oct 30th 2008 at 8:31AM


Dr. Alex (Sandy) Pentland, Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at M.I.T., a pioneer in computational social science, has developed a system that will help you understand the tone and turn-taking behavior of your conversations. Dr. Pentland's system, called "Reality Mining," monitors conversations using a cell-phone like gadget, observes body movements using a badge with sensors, and analyzes the data with a software program.

The Reality Mining system is designed to help problem speakers and their victims better handle face-to-face and group interactions by studying the cadences, tones and movements behind their words. The system is being tested in select banks and universities, where participants in the trials wear the badges and carry the gadgets for weeks or even months on end. Words are not recorded, so you need not worry about trade secrets being leaked.

Are you a conversation hog? Are you the victim of a conversation hog? Said conversation hog will interrupt and chatter on with no regard for the group, not to mention wander off when you are speaking. The Reality Mining team at M.I.T. believes it has a "hog" management solution.

We have high hopes that Reality Mining will help us all better handle the subtleties of face-to-face and group interactions by acting as a kind of personal assistant or butler that will monitor the conversation game, letting us know whether we've become the life of the party or the most annoying chatterbox in the room. [From The New York Times]

Muxlim Aims to Be a Facebook for Muslims

by Andrew McKinnon, posted Oct 29th 2008 at 9:12AM



Muxlim.com, a Finnish-based social network site for Muslim communities, has announced the arrival of "Muxlim Pal," a virtual world that adheres to the Muslim code. Muxlim Pal, essentially, is a Second Life for Muslims, where the women wear virtual hajibs, or veils, that cover their faces and and where everybody goes to the prayer 'room' five times daily.

Muxlim Pal hopes to reach citizens of Muslim countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Iran that seek the virtual world experience, but are unable because authorities block sites like Second Life, MySpace and Facebook (or at least parts of them). These sites -- or parts of them (like the dating apps on Facebook) -- are blocked because they do not adhere to Muslim codes of conduct.

A notable Muslim code-breaker occurred in May 2008 when a Gary Kasparov political rally was interrupted by a flying penis on Second Life. Muslim authorities didn't like that stunt. There won't be any flying penises on Muxlim Pal, but the community will be open to both Muslim and non-Muslim alike, creating an environment for these "civilizations" to clash without any collateral damage.

Muxlim Pal's motto is "enhancing the Muslim Lifestyle," and with nearly one-fifth of the world's population being Muslim, corporate marketeers and advertisers will be eager to enter this virtual world in order to promote and sell their brands, just as they do on Facebook and MySpace. Okay, so maybe it'll be a nice place for Muslim and non-Muslim folks to stay in touch and socialize, but we hope the site will also provide US Foreign Policy movers and shakers an opportunity to experience and understand the Muslim life before engaging in any unilateral invasions. [From: Muxlim via The Machinist]

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