Technology Tuesday: Robotic Bears and Singing Butlers

Call me old fashioned, but I usually don't expect to be woken up by a stuffed bear smacking me in the face.  But as we look to the future of robotics, alongside surgical aids and car manufacturing, one of the next big advances is... the teddy bear snore-preventer.



This video shows a demo from 2011's International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo, featuring a visibly uncomfortable test subject as the robotic bear reacts to the sound of snoring and strokes the side of his face to get him to turn to his side.  Another bear attaches to your hand and measures your oxygen levels as you sleep.  The robot's developers hope that, by encouraging sleepers to lie on their sides, they can reduce the incidence of snoring and sleep apneas.

Aside from working as the snoring police, robotics engineers also see a future for robots as musical butlers.  The company Ologic presented the AMP, or 'Automated Music Personality' at this year's RoboBusiness Conference in Boston, MA.  Aside from rolling around and serving you drinks, this remote-controlled robot also streams music through its speakers, making it an instant dance party on wheels.  That is, if you're willing to shell out $300-$400 for a roaming set of speakers.  Personally, until the AMP goes more mainstream, I would suggest taking a tip from Parks and Recreation's Tom Haverford and just strapping an iPod to Roomba.

Scholarships Available!

The Southern Crescent Technical College Foundation, Inc. offers scholarship opportunities to students. Application deadline for Spring Semester 2012 is Wednesday, November 9, 2011.

Click the link to access available scholarships: http://www.sctech.edu/student/grants.php.

Available scholarships:

GED/Advancement-to-College Textbook Scholarship is a $250 textbook scholarship awarded to a recent Southern Crescent Technical College GED graduate (completed within the last 12 months) who scored over 500 on the GED test and who has enrolled part-time or full-time in Southern Crescent Technical College to begin work on a certificate, diploma, or degree program of study.

High School-to-College Textbook Scholarship is a $300 textbook scholarship awarded to a recent high school graduate (graduated within the last 24 months) who is planning to attend Southern Crescent Technical College as a full-time or part-time student enrolled in a certificate, diploma, or degree program of study.

John Bradley Memorial Toolbox Scholarship is a $250 scholarship awarded for the purchase of program-required tools, uniforms, equipment, and/or supplies to a currently enrolled part-time or full-time student in good academic standing. The student must demonstrate a need for financial assistance in purchasing the required tools.

Textbook Scholarship is a $300 textbook scholarship awarded to a currently enrolled part-time or full-time Southern Crescent Technical College student in good academic standing in a certificate, diploma, or degree program of study.

Tuition/Completer Scholarship is a $900 tuition/fees/books scholarship awarded to a currently enrolled part-time or full-time Southern Crescent Technical College student in good academic standing who is NOT eligible for the HOPE Grant/Scholarship or PELL Grant financial aid. Applicants for this scholarship may also include those who have capped-out on HOPE financial aid.

For additional information on scholarships contact:

PH: (770) 227-3417

FAX: (770) 229-3236

Email: scholarships@sctech.edu

National Book Month: Finding Books Reviews and Literary Criticism

Reposted from GALILEO News and Announcements:

October is National Book Month, an annual celebration of writers and readers. In honor of this celebration, we have been offering tips each week on how to use GALILEO resources to find books and authors along with reviews and criticism.

This month, we have learned how to find book lists, find the next book to read, and find more authors like a favorite.

For our last tip in this series, we will see how to quickly find reviews and literary criticism for books and authors.

In Literary Reference Center, search for an author or book title (or even a theme). Click the Literary Criticism tab to see work analyses and criticism, or click the Reviews tab to see book reviews from a variety of sources.

David's 2nd Blog Ever!!

Ok folks so how bout I'm just now getting around to finding out the "scientists" of the world have disowned Pluto as a planet!! What the *&^% happened there?? Everyone I know says Pluto is a planet because these same scientists have been telling us it was since (for most of us) day one! Now they say it's too small and its gravity is too weak and its orbit isn't uniform enough... so based on this type of logic a Chihuahua isn't a dog, a South African Black-Footed Cat isn't a cat and anyone born under like 6 lbs isn't human!!! BOGUS! Trust me, I know it is. So yea, now poor lil Pluto is a dwarf planet and is in a new list of about 40 other celestial bodies that don't have a name yet...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060824-pluto-planet.html

Technology Tuesday: Google Games and Typing Sharks

Here on the blog we try to highlight fun, free and easy ways to sharpen your research and computer skills.  Today's Technology Tuesday tips are A Google A Day and Typer Shark, games that painlessly improve the way you type and search for information online.

A Google A Day

What: Google releases a new puzzle every day that puts your googling skills to the test.  Race against the clock to find answers to these daily questions, and improve your searching skills in the process!
Example: You just ordered “κρασί” from a menu in the southernmost country in Europe. What will be brought to your table?
Where: A Google A Day
How: Looking for search help, or want to work with other daily googlers?  Check out this online community where people try to crack A Google A Day together.


Typer Shark

What: No matter what your typing skills, this free online game is a fun and stress-free way to brush up on your speed and accuracy.  Even if you hardly ever touch a keyboard, the game has a tutorial mode that takes you step-by-step through new typing skills.  Once you master the tutorial, you move on to zapping sharks by typing the words spelled on their sides.  Too slow, and you're shark bait!
Where: Typer Shark!
How:  No download necessary; you can play this game directly online through the PopCap website.


Have any online learning games you'd like to recommend?  Let us know in the comments section!

November Book Club Meeting: Super Freakonomics

Join the Flint River Book Club this month in reading Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner's book Super Freakonomics!

These two authors made a huge splash with their first collaboration - you guessed it, Freakonomics - a book which dissected social issues from an economist's perspective.  They expand their reach in this sequel, tackling questions such as:

*Which is more dangerous: driving drunk or walking drunk?
*How can eating a kangaroo help save the planet?
*How effective are car seats?
*Are people naturally selfish or naturally selfless?

Each chapter tackles a different unexpected question - from an economist's perspective.  As someone who wouldn't know what to do with money if you threw it at her, I highly recommend this book as a super-interesting, super-readable introduction to the economist mindset.

We will discuss this book in the Flint River Library at 4.00 PM on Thursday, December 1st.

Technology Tuesday: Conversations with Robots

Honda's ASIMO robot: http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-3543338099 

Pop culture is filled with talking robots - from Star Wars' C-3P0 to Haley Joel Osment in A.I.  But while these chatty robots may seem like total science fiction, they may be closer to becoming reality than you'd think.  Some robotics software is so advanced, it tricks people into thinking it's human.

Meet Cleverbot, the software that talks back.  When visiting the Cleverbot website, you'll find an empty text field inviting you to chat.  You can enter a comment or question to start the conversation.

IMing Cleverbot can feel surreal, as the program 'learns' from past conversations and builds up knowledge. For example, check out this conversation I had with Cleverbot about Lady Gaga:

Cleverbot: I love music! 

User: What kind of music? 

Cleverbot: Pop/electro/dance. 

User: Like Lady Gaga? 

Cleverbot: Exactly like Lady Gaga. 

User: What's your favorite Gaga song? 

Cleverbot: Poker face. 

User: Good choice. 

This ability to 'learn' and adapt sets Cleverbot apart, and gives the program its human-like quality.  In fact, Cleverbot is so clever that it's passed the Turing Test, which was developed to identify humans from robots.  In a test in India, more than half of the test's participants thought they were speaking to a human when they were actually talking to a machine!

What do you think - would you have been fooled?  Drop by the Cleverbot website for a conversation to decide for yourself.