Tag Archives: technology

I, Robot? Sex Machine?

I came across this article on BBC. Pretty interesting and 100% predictable. All roads eventually lead to sex.

A campaign has been launched calling for a ban on the development of robots that can be used for sex.

Such a use of the technology is unnecessary and undesirable, said campaign leader Dr Kathleen Richardson.

Sex dolls already on the market are becoming more sophisticated and some are now hoping to build artificial intelligence into their products.

Those working in the field say that there is a need for such robots.

Dr Richardson, a robot ethicist at De Montfort University in Leicester, wants to raise awareness of the issue and persuade those developing sex robots to rethink how their technology is used.

“Sex robots seem to be a growing focus in the robotics industry and the models that they draw on – how they will look, what roles they would play – are very disturbing indeed,” she told the BBC.

She believes that they reinforce traditional stereotypes of women and the view that a relationship need be nothing more than physical.

I’m not for banning them. They are inevitable. They are the next step after blow up dolls and vibrators.

Abyss Creations, which sells male and female sex toys, is now starting to introduce electronics into its creations.

Meanwhile True Companion boasts that it is developing “the world’s first sex robot” and promises to launch its first doll, Roxxxy, later this year.

Chief executive Douglas Hines believes there is a real need for products such as Roxxxy.

“We are not supplanting the wife or trying to replace a girlfriend. This is a solution for people who are between relationships or someone who has lost a spouse.

“People can find happiness and fulfilment other than via human interaction,” he added.

He told the BBC that he hopes Roxxxy will eventually become a self-learning engine that is able to talk to her owner and learn his likes or dislikes.

“The physical act of sex will only be a small part of the time you spend with a sex robot – the majority of time will be spent socialising and interacting,” he said.

Really? The physical act of sex will only be a small part? The majority of time will be spent socializing and interacting… with a robot who learns your likes and dislikes… and parrots them back to you?

It’s that part that has my eyebrows lifting. It’s that part I find unhealthy. A sex robot designed to talk dirty to you? Go for it. One that always agrees with you, obeys your every command and validates whatever crazy thing comes out of your mouth? Awesome. One more anti-social, narcissistic, insecure person for all of us to deal with in our everyday lives. That should work out well for society. We take a person who can’t (or won’t) read social cues and have them spend a significant amount of time with a robot programmed to say, “It’s them, not you.” and then sit back and wait for the explosion. Now, if the robot was programmed to call them out on their missteps, to explain and disagree with them that might be helpful, but creating a bubble where the human user’s world view is enforced, their every need and opinion satisfied doesn’t strike me as good for the person or society as a whole.

This summer my daughter and I watched the movie Her. Without a doubt it was one of the most depressing movies we had ever seen. I get the movie’s point. Basically, it said: If you can’t have a healthy relationship with a person, the robot (operating system) will leave you, too. See? It is about you.

Side note: How does one clean these sexbots? Will they have detachable groin areas that are dishwasher safe? Or will many people do what they do in real life when it comes to personal cleanliness and douse the robots in AXE body spray? I have questions, damn it!

Which brings us to MRAs (Men’s Rights Activists) and their take on sex robots. Actually, it’s not about the robots. It’s about, as is usual for this group, about women. Keep an eye on this group (one of its spin-offs gave us Elliot Rodger, who “spelled out his plan to kill every “slut” who had ever denied him sex as “retribution” for his still being a virgin.”) because what they’re saying lines up with a lot of what the GOP is saying, as well as what some “liberal” men are nodding their heads to.

Many men relate to this mindset, and that’s a problem. We saw this on the #YesAllWomen post. For some reason, even liberal men (#notallmen. Sheesh!) refused to admit that Elliot Rodger’s actions were linked to misogyny. Steve Newton summed it up in that post:

When somebody who is rampantly anti-Semitic commits an atrocity, most people are comfortable that they are not anti-Semites and feel no direct empathy for the perpetrator. Then there will be those on the fringe who say (or at least think), “You know, he was batshit crazy and I’d never do that, but I kinda know how the whole Jew-Israel thing pissed him off.” And then there will be those who completely sympathize with the murderer, and say so within their limited, self-referential circles.

The difference here, I think, is there will be millions and perhaps tens of millions of men who read Rodgers’ manifesto and fit into that second category: “You know, he was crazy, and I’d never do that, but man those women can do a number on a guy’s head, and I sorta know what he meant by all those stuck-up sorority bitches out there shaking it like it’s made out of gold or something.”

Yep, there it is.

And don’t buy into their name (Men’s Rights). This group is all about women. Don’t believe me? Scroll down the cover page for A Voice For Men. See anything there about helping men, supporting men, making men’s lives better? Me neither.

But back to the Breitbart (I know, I know) article.

Who, or what, men have sex with is the basis of our civilisation. It is the driving force behind our greatest accomplishments. Men don’t compete for abstract pleasure: they compete to bag the best mate. The internet, the pyramids and the moon landings would not exist were it not for man’s desire to have sex with woman.

That’s why Nature experiments more widely with men: the male IQ range is wider, and there is more variation in male behaviour and biology than in women. Men are where experimentation happens, because a wider variety of male aptitudes and preferences will keep women happier and result in a more well-rounded and healthy society.

Everybody got that? Men invent things so women will have sex with them. Men are naturally smarter, not due to societal restrictions, but because it benefits society and keeps women happier… and in their place?

In response, men are simply checking out, giving up on women and retreating into porn and video games. I call it the “sexodus,” and its immediate victims aren’t men, but women, who are being consigned to singledom as men lose interest in them or are simply too exhausted or fearful of the social consequences of approaching girls romantically. The truth is, men get along okay without women, unlike women, who become shrieking, neurotic messes if they’re still single in their 30s.

Wow. You know, I find this men “are simply too exhausted or fearful of the social consequences of approaching girls romantically” utter nonsense. Perhaps if these exhausted/fearful men approached women as people they wouldn’t have problems. But that’s obviously asking too much of these guys – who view single women as “shrieking, neurotic messes”. Maybe that could be part of their problem?

But gender relations in the West are at their worst for fifty years, possibly more, which is why popular men’s bloggers are now asking whether sexbots will replace women entirely. The consensus seems to be: for some men, yes, totally. For other men, they will become a masturbation tool. A few “alphas” and players at the top will be able to bang their way around the entire female population, which will be comprised of ever more neurotic, backstabbing and insane behaviour.

Now we’re getting to the heart of this. The only man (and woman) who thinks sexbots will replace people is one who already views their human partner as a sexbot. Not to mention… men who are having relationships with actual woman are “alphas” who “bang their way around the entire female population” and not men in healthy, functional relationships. If you’re a man in a great relationship with a woman then you’re on their target list, as well.

In the short term, sexbots will be good news for dudes. For one thing, with a robot, men know the orgasm will be fake, so it removes the performance anxiety of trying to make the grade. (Men know the robot orgasm doesn’t exist — unlike the female orgasm, whose existence is still insisted upon by some conspiracy theorists and biological extremists.) And Heartiste says that real women are going to get “looser and more willing to please” as men become “choosier and less willing to please.”

Um… okay. This might be a big part of the problem. If these guys have convinced themselves that the female orgasm is a myth then could someone explain why women buy vibrators? Do these guys think that women buy vibrators as a prop to make men feel insecure and not for pleasure? And men becoming “less willing to please” is actually a big part of the problem, too. These guys are bad in bed. It really is that simple… and that sad.

I mean, look, I don’t mean to be rude, but most of the reason I went gay is so I didn’t have to deal with nutty broads. Imagine how much worse they’re going to get when the passive aggressive manipulation tactics stop working because the guy can get himself off with a thinner, hotter robot any time he wants to. They’re going to go mental. 

Oh wow! Just wow. He “went gay” because he didn’t want to deal with nutty broads? It had nothing to do with his attraction to men? It was a choice. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what a self-loathing gay man looks like. He is saying, “If women weren’t so “nutty” I’d be a straight man, because that’s truly what I am. I’m just having sex with men until women get their act together. Once they do, I won’t be gay anymore.” Everybody got that?

We’ll have it even worse here in the West, because Japan is still patriarchal. As a result, society functions. In the West, women are surging ahead into positions of dominance in the media, the arts, academia, politics, you name it. Some people will find this offensive, but: matriarchy is a problem for the rest of us. As feminist critic Camilla Paglia so memorably put it, if civilisation had been left in female hands, we would still be living in grass huts.

And this is another one of their grievances. They tie a women’s success to their failure. It’s very personal to them. The reason why they aren’t successful, or in the corner office, has nothing to do with their own mediocrity. This group has always blamed others for their failures. Even before women and minorities succeeded they blamed nepotism, golf, not belonging to the country club, etc..

When men start checking out en masse, as is already happening, you can say good-bye to all of society’s best astrophysicists, mathematicians, philosophers, composers and chess players. Scientific progress will effectively stall, because men are just as happy beating a video game as they are solving the riddles of the universe — and they’ll take the entertainment option if they have no interest in impressing women.

Women will not take men’s places in these disciplines, because there simply aren’t enough women with IQs over 120. Again, sorry if you find that offensive, but it’s just a fact. IQ isn’t a perfect measure, by any means, but it’s the best gauge we have of whether someone can perform the higher-level functions needed to be a game-changing scientist or transcendently brilliant artist.

There aren’t enough words to express how much I hate the biology and/or genetics argument. And I’m insulted for men when this nonsense is trotted out. “Better bang me, baby, or no cure for cancer! I’m going to spend my time playing Assassin’s Creed!”

Sex with a woman will always be the prestige form of intercourse, to put it in the language of marketers. But the sexual marketplace is changing terrifyingly fast. Sex won’t be truly commoditised until there is a mass-produced, victimless, cheap alternative to having sex that is good enough for most men.

It won’t be long before we arrive at that point. And the consequences are going to shake the foundations of our economy and irreparably change how our society is organised. It will also, I’m sorry to say, leave women even more horribly unhappy and lonely than they already are. If I were you, girls, I’d start being a bit nicer to your boyfriends…

Yep, forget getting something out of a relationship, ladies. You had better focus on what men want (men who believe you get no pleasure out of sex – because, let’s be honest, these men are doing it wrong!) or else you’ll end up horribly unhappy and lonely.

And it hasn’t escaped my notice his use of the word victimless. That choice of word demonstrates what a rape apologist is.

In the MRA world, sex is something that happens to women, not with them. And they wonder why they’re alone and salivating at the thought of sexbots. That’s not only sad, it’s pathetic… and is really their only chance of getting laid. Which all this is about! Real human women won’t sleep with/be in a relationship with them – Sexbots won’t change that fact.

Technology Etiquette

Yeah, I’m on a pet peeve roll, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

I love technology as much as the next person, and I shudder to think how much time I spend with my gadgets, but there are times to put the damned gadgets away.  Dining with other humans is the first instance that comes to mind.  It seems placing your smart phone on the table is as much a ritual as placing a napkin on your lap. And I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve sat at a table with friends, enjoying conversation, while one of us is texting, tweeting, or surfing.

It’s rude.

And I’m not the only one who’s complaining:

Andrew Sullivan:

I’ve gotten progressively ruder with my friends, who, even when just hanging out in the evening, keep their iPhones and Blackberrys in their hands. I understand the desire to check your email, stocks, Facebook wall, OKCupid or Grindr message in those moments when you simply have to walk or sit on a train or scarf some lunchtime Chipotle. But when you are actually among people you know, the act of glancing down at your mobile device is simply bad manners. It states absolutely that your current interaction is not as important or as interesting as any number of online connections. It’s rude. And it misses the point.

The point is that these devices can enhance your social life, not replace it. And yet they seem like cuckoos in our social nest. I know I’m not one to talk. I communicate directly with probably ten times the number of people online that I do by face or physical presence. (Summers in Provincetown change that ratio dramatically, thank God.) But I try not to do both at once.

I’ve become progressively ruder with my friends, as well.  It’s like the person who’s always looking past your shoulder during a conversation searching for someone “better” to talk with.  But, hey, maybe I’m boring!

At the Pandora household technology is banned at the dinner table.  There are exceptions in certain cases (work/school related, illness, etc.), but these situations must be announced.  Example:  I’m expecting a call from work about X, and I need to take it.  Fine, but when that call comes in the person must leave the table.

What I’m talking about is basic manners.  No one wants to sit at a table and listen to your phone conversation.  No one wants to be kept apprised of your latest Tweet or what someone said on Facebook.  We won’t die if we don’t find out what Donald Trump said the second he said it.  And it’s not that I’m not interested in this stuff, it’s that there’s a time and a place.

Besides, it could be making you stupid.

….But here’s the thing: there is convincing evidence that this inveterate multitasking has a serious, measurable and long lasting negative effect on cognitive function. Look up Stanford psychologist Clifford Nass sometime. There’s a lovely episode of Frontline from a year or so ago featuring him. He has shown that multitaskers are not only bad at multitasking, but they are also worse than nonmultitaskers on every individual one of the tasks.

That’s the millennial student and it isn’t something to be catered to. Put the damn iPhone down before you make yourself stupid.

Guess what else is growing around the dining table.  The number of times someone glued to their technology says, “Huh?  What did you say?”  So… if you are out socializing with friends (me!) put the technology away, or… stay home.

Who’s with me!  Or… against me.  🙂

Not Sure What To Make Of This

Yesterday, my 13 year old daughter told me she had deleted her Facebook account.  When I asked her why, she said… It was taking up too much of her time and, while she’d miss it, Facebook was pretty lame.

Needless to say, I was surprised.  I check her FaceBook account several times a week – to make sure there’s no cyber-bullying, inappropriate conversations, etc. – and there was never anything out of the ordinary.   I guess I’m wondering if this is just my kid or if anyone else is experiencing this phenomenon.

Going Immobile

I don’t know what website the young lady is viewing on her phone, but it is certainly not the new Delaware.gov website. Yesterday, Delaware unveiled its new website, it has lots of bells and whistles, but the biggest drawback is that is not mobile friendly. In this day and age when so many of us are on the go accessing the internet from our phones, a newly designed government website should be needs to be mobile friendly. And, yes, I know DelawareLiberal is not mobile friendly, though that’s liberalgeek’s fault ;-). Here is a good comparison between Delaware’s site and New Jersey’s mobile site just so you can see the simplicity of a mobile site.

Then, Delaware’s insistence to heavily use Flash on the frontpage, when well over 50% of the mobile web traffic is coming from iPhones, just ranks of short-sightedness. Adding insult to injury, one receives the  following error message when accessing the site. Um, the inability to use flash is not “a known iPad bug”. Nice try.

How Is This Possible?

First, a confession… This year I got suckered into watching Celebrity Apprentice because of Rod Blagojevich.  It was like a horrible accident you couldn’t turn away from.  And the main reason I watched – besides the endless amusement Blago generated by proclaiming his innocence to anyone and everyone – was his complete incompetence with technology.  In one episode Rod sat at a table for a lengthy bit of time before confessing he didn’t know how to turn on a computer.  But the show really got good when Blago became project manager… and was fired.

The men’s team lost for the third straight week. To viewers, it was likely because Blagojevich gave his team little-to-no direction. As viewers saw last week, Blago is basically unable to use a computer or send a text message. While in Orlando, he could not call his team on the phone while he was around Victoria’s Secret model Selita Ebanks–the project manager for the women’s team–without her disovering his team’s “strategy,” which was virtually nonexistent on his end.

It was quite amazing, but obviously not that unsual.

Ben Nelson admits he has never used an ATM

The Nebraska Democrat pleaded ignorance when asked this week whether Congress should cap ATM fees. Nelson said that while he’s no fan of unnecessary fees, he’s unfamiliar with the charges.

“I’ve never used an ATM, so I don’t know what the fees are,” Nelson said, adding that he gets his cash from bank tellers, just not automatic ones. “It’s true, I don’t know how to use one.

“But I could learn how to do it just like I’ve . . . I swipe to get my own gas, buy groceries. I know about the holograms.”

Even our Supreme Court Justices – some of our smartest minds – are completely baffled by technology

The first sign was about midway through the argument, when Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. – who is known to write out his opinions in long hand with pen and paper instead of a computer – asked what the difference was “between email and a pager?” *

Other justices’ questions showed that they probably don’t spend a lot of time texting and tweeting away from their iPhones either.

At one point, Justice Anthony Kennedy asked what would happen if a text message was sent to an officer at the same time he was sending one to someone else.

“Does it say: ‘Your call is important to us, and we will get back to you?’” Kennedy asked.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrangled a bit with the idea of a service provider.

“You mean (the text) doesn’t go right to me?” he asked.

Then he asked whether they can be printed out in hard copy.

“Could Quon print these spicy little conversations and send them to his buddies?” Scalia asked.

How is this possible?  How does a person never send an email, or a text, or use an ATM?  And this isn’t about age.  My parents are in their 70s and they’ve been sending emails and using ATMs for years.  This strikes me more as a resistance to technology, and, given the rapidly changing technological world we live in, being uninformed about basic technology strikes me as a huge detriment – especially when the technologically-challenged are making and enforcing laws concerning ATM fees and text messages.

Perhaps this is the true disconnect in Washington.

iHave

Yes, we have ordered the iPad.  Actually, my almost 16 year old son has ordered – using his money from his summer job.  I can’t wait to get my hands on this!  Luckily, I taught my children how to share.

Based on the reviews,  I’m considering buying another one for my parents.

USA Today’s Edward C. Baig says the “stunning” iPad is “rewriting the rulebook”:

The iPad is not so much about what you can do — browse, do e-mail, play games, read e-books and more — but how you can do it. That’s where Apple is rewriting the rulebook for mainstream computing. There is no mouse or physical keyboard. Everything is based on touch. All programs arrive directly through Apple’s App Store. Apple’s tablet is fun, simple, stunning to look at and blazingly fast. Inside is a new Apple chip, the A4. The machine is the antithesis of the cheap underpowered netbook computers that Jobs easily dismisses.

That is not strictly true, but giving up the iPad felt a little like that. I had been prepared for a smooth feel, for a bright screen and the “immersive” experience everyone had promised. I was not prepared, though, for how instant the relationship I formed with the device would be. I left Cupertino without an iPad, but I have since gotten my own, and it goes with me everywhere.

It is possible that the public will not fall on the iPad, as I did, like lions on an antelope. Perhaps they will find the apps and the iBooks too expensive. Maybe they will wait for more fully featured later models. But for me, my iPad is like a gun lobbyist’s rifle: the only way you will take it from me is to prise it from my cold, dead hands.

The New York Times’ David Pogue deemed the iPad “polarizing” and wrote two reviews for groups at either end of the spectrum. One for “techies” and one review for “anyone else.”

Pogue’s review for “techies”:

The Apple iPad is basically a gigantic iPod Touch.

It’s a half-inch-thick slab, all glass on top, aluminum on the back. Hardly any buttons at all — just a big Home button below the screen. It takes you to the Home screen full of apps, just as on an iPhone.

Pogue’s review for “anyone else”:

The iPad is so fast and light, the multitouch screen so bright and responsive, the software so easy to navigate, that it really does qualify as a new category of gadget. Some have suggested that it might make a good goof-proof computer for technophobes, the aged and the young; they’re absolutely right.

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Andy Ihnatko described the tablet as “pure innovation”:

The iPad user experience is instantly compelling and elegant. It’s not every computer and every function. It’s a computer that’s designed for speed, mobility, and tactile interaction above all other considerations.

The most compelling sign that Apple got this right is the fact that despite the novelty of the iPad, the excitement slips away after about ten seconds and you’re completely focused on the task at hand … whether it’s reading a book, writing a report, or working on clearing your Inbox. Second most compelling: in situation after situation, I find that the iPad is the best computer in my household and office menagerie. It’s not a replacement for my notebook, mind you. It feels more as if the iPad is filling a gap that’s existed for quite some time.

Stephen Fry writes in TIME that he felt an almost instant connection with his iPad:

That is not strictly true, but giving up the iPad felt a little like that. I had been prepared for a smooth feel, for a bright screen and the “immersive” experience everyone had promised. I was not prepared, though, for how instant the relationship I formed with the device would be. I left Cupertino without an iPad, but I have since gotten my own, and it goes with me everywhere.

It is possible that the public will not fall on the iPad, as I did, like lions on an antelope. Perhaps they will find the apps and the iBooks too expensive. Maybe they will wait for more fully featured later models. But for me, my iPad is like a gun lobbyist’s rifle: the only way you will take it from me is to prise it from my cold, dead hands.

Ours is scheduled to be delivered mid-April.  I’ll report back on our experience.

PS:  I’m so excited!

Cellphones, Texting And Kids

There’s a debate going on in the Pandora household – Is it time to let the kids have cellphones, and if we let them have cellphones should we let them text?

First, is everyone sitting down?  Okay, here it is.  I do not have a cellphone.  Now, everyone take a deep breath and I’ll explain.  There really isn’t a specific reason for my not having a cell phone.  I just never bought one.  And while there have been times having a cellphone would have been handy, those situations were never drastic enough to make me take action.  Also, as a stay-at-home mom my time during the day is spent, well, mostly at home.  Go on, you can laugh now.  (FTR, Mr. Pandora has a work cellphone.)

But now the issue has come up in relation to my 15 and 12 year old – mainly my 12 year old daughter since my 15 year old could care less about talking on a phone or texting.

Everybody still with me, or are you still stuck on the fact that I’m a mutant?

I have several concerns about kids with cellphones.  First, imo, kids should only have cellphones for their parent’s convenience.  What that means is if kids aren’t answering their parent’s calls then the cellphone should be taken away.  It’s a privilege, and should be treated the same way as the keys to the car.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been with parents who are beside themselves because they can’t reach their kids on a device they primarily bought to be able to reach their kids.  Another little wrinkle that I’ve witnessed – many times – is how often  kids have called their parents to tell them where they are only for the parents to discover that their kids were lying.  Yeah, I know this has been going on well before technology, but there’s no denying that cellphones have made the “I’ll tell my parents I’m going to the library, and then meet you at the party” ploy a lot easier.  I even know one parent who went so far as to track their child’s whereabouts via a GPS program on their cellphone .  Not sure how I feel about that, but I’m leaning towards if  you’ve reached the point where you’re tracking your child whereabouts through GPS, perhaps you should consider grounding them.

My second concern is the drama, fighting and bullying taking place through the technology.  And while I may have trouble getting my son to talk, I can’t shut my daughter up.  I’m really not complaining about this, she is a fount of information, most of it harmless, but some of it quite disturbing.  This is the way it seems to go:  Person A has a problem (real or imagined) with person B.  Begin texting.  Person A then recruits others to their side and they join the texting war.  Sometimes person B forms their own posse, but sometimes not.

I realize that these sort of arguments have always taken place, but what concerns me is how they are now taking place silently.  Two kids yelling horrible things at one and other attracts attention.  Saying the same vicious things through texting remains under the radar, and many of these attacks are fueled by kids unknown to the victim.  In many ways texting has become the bully’s new playground.

I witnessed this tactic this past summer.  Two 13 year old girls had an argument.  The texting began, only one of the girls put together a network of support that swamped the other girl.  And what started out as an argument over something stupid, and typically childish, ended with explicitly sexual name calling and rumors which quickly spilled onto FaceBook.  When the adults finally got wind of what was going on one little girl was already devastated.  And while this may be likened to nasty messages written on the bathroom wall, the shear volume of the attack isn’t so easily scrubbed away.

Another little cellphone “game” that disturbs me is the “let’s take an embarrassing picture of someone and post it everywhere.”  Again, most of these pictures are harmless and silly, but some are not.

So, I have a dilemma.  In many ways joining the modern world would make my life easier.  In others, I would have to take on more work by keeping a vigilant tab on what’s going on in the silent world of finger tapping.  A part of me knows this is inevitable, and a part of me resents the technology that makes the secretive world of teenagers more secretive.

So… any thoughts, ideas… or recommendations for which cellphone plan I should consider?  Or are you still shaking your head and saying, “Pandora doesn’t own a cell phone?  How is that possible?”

Want One!

A roll up-portable computer! Love how this really is pretty complete AND can also be used as a tablet. Very impressive design (warning: cheesy music ahead):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H0K1k54t6A[/youtube]

Kindle Irony

I am a tech geek, so this interests me.  Apparently, there was an issue at Amazon with a publisher “changing their mind” about offering an electronic version of a book that had already been purchased.  Ok, so they stop selling the books, right?  Only half right.  They actually remotely deleted the already purchased books off of their users Kindles and credited the user accounts for the price paid.

This is akin to asking you to send back your books because they changed their mind on selling the book.

Here is the irony; the two books affected by this “recall” were 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell?