Dr Robo is in, PhD in Psychology

 Ever wanted to be an astronaut when you were a kid? Sure you did! What with all the grand imagery of flying into space, viewing the world from outside and floating around in weightlessness. After movies like Armageddon, all the more you want to be one of those grand heroes who do something to save the earth (or walk on the moon, depending on what turns you on). How cool is it to be one of the privileged few to have left the earth’s atmosphere and explore the boundaries of our solar system!

But before you go rushing off to apply for NASA’s training program, here’s something your mother never told you… the dark side of “astronautdom”… NO, i’m not talking about dangerous asteroids, flying comets, fatal radiation or the possibility of never making it back to earth… I’m talking about what if your astro buddy steals (and consumes) your only remaining freeze-dried fruit loops, and you suddenly develop an insatiable urge to konk him/her on the head with your extremely thick NASA training manual? What do you do then? There’s no one around to whine/complain to for the surrounding 200,000 miles. You can’t call your mom either.. the phone bill would be absolutely astro-nomical (no pun intended).

So you grit your teeth and walk over to the $1.74million computer program known as ‘Virtual Space Station’

Virtual Space Station Screenshot

 

In essence, it is a software being developed to provide assistance to astronauts on future space missions. This interactive software suite is intended to address the psychosocial challenges of long-term space travel. In the program, astronauts type their various psychological problems into a console, and a pre-recorded video therapist leads the astronaut through a series of likely solutions.  To put it in simpler terms, it is a robo-shrink.

Quoting Psychologist James Carter, PhD, one of the program’s developers: “Behavioral health problems can interfere with the success of the mission, especially on long-duration space flights like missions to the International Space Station, the moon and Mars. These self-guided software tools will provide private and immediate access to treatments even though the patient may be many miles from Earth.”

Wow, what do you think of that? Counselling by a computer. If you have any thoughts on this, I’d sure like to hear them! I wonder what’s next… a virtual girlfriend?? Oh wait, they already have those things…..

I’d like to see the French Spiderman climb this

Behold the Burj Dubai, soon to be the world’s tallest structure

Artist's Impression

 The skyscraper which is currently being constructed in Dubai (duh) is expected to be ready by late 2009. The building will reach a vertical height of almost 1km,  with 160-189 floors. Let’s compare the Burj Dubai to some of the existing tallest buildings in the world.

Source: burjdubaiskyscraper.com

Gosh that’s a pretty big difference. Makes you wonder if there’ll ever be a limit to how high we can go. The elevators within the building would have the world’s highest travel distance from lowest to highest stop, and would also be the world’s fastest elevators, reaching speeds of 40mph.

Once completed, the structure will cover 22 million square feet of total development and will include 30,000 homes, 9 world-class hotels,19 residential towers , 6 acres of parkland and 12 hectare Burj Dubai Lake. Basically, an almost self-sufficient metropolis.

For now, it still looks like this:

Under Construction

It’ll be interesting to see it in its full glory once completed, but for now, it’s time for us to think about some broader issues. With the earth’s population increasing at an exponential rate, is it the time to go up or out? When the day comes that earth is overpopulated and we run out of living space, are we going to venture out into space and colonize Mars or something? Or do we just keep building upwards instead?

Firewall causing fires among online community

The Australian government has recently unveiled a $125.8 million Plan for Cyber-Safety which includes education, international cooperation, research and law enforcement. A large component of this plan involves a censorship regime that blocks selected websites, ostensibly to prevent youngsters from accessing pornography sites. Such a system has caused great outcry in fairly-liberal Australia, with netizens labelling it as draconian and “Nanny-like”. Quoting “CUBEY”:”Apparently if you phrase your contempt for freedoms in the right way, you can not only paint freedom of information and freedom of speech as depraived and immoral, but also quash any opposition. “

Source: gizmodo.com

Rather than going into technical details about internet filtering, and percentage of accurate website blocks, I’d like to pose a question to you: “Do you think it is right for a government to implement a nationwide ban on selected websites?” Keep in mind that in Australia it is an “opt-out” system rather than opt-in. If you opt-out, you get put on a separate blacklist. Still a notch above some other countries which I shall not mention, that impose a “choice-less” blanket ban on some websites.

I have my own views on this, and feel free to criticise or bring up alternative views. This blog is meant for this purpose anyway, to provoke you into thinking about issues that affect our lives, and to solicit your views. My personal take on this is that filtering is wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in support of pornography, but only against filtering. In fact, due to my upbringing and religious beliefs, I am strongly against the millions of pornographic websites proliferating the net. However, that is no excuse for governments to control the content that their citizens are able to view. What’s the limit then? Who decides the limits? Would there come a day when every form of media (be it TV, internet, newspapers, radio etc) is so closely controlled that the way we think, every belief, value and opinion, has been shaped by our governments? Would George Orwell’s 1984 materialise? Australians are concerned that the filter could be extended to controversial issues of euthanasia, drugs and political dissent.

If there is any filtering to be done, it should be done by parents who are personally responsible for the welfare of their own children. When these children reach a certain age too, they should be given the freedom of choice, to choose personal responsibility or otherwise. I believe that humans are creatures of free-will. The choices we make determine our lives, but who’s to control what choices we make?

Also, some internet filters block based on wording. So if you have a website that is against pornography, and gives advice on how to prevent children from accessing pornography, but you happen to have numerous mentions of the words “porn”, “sex” or “child”, it could very well be the case you get blocked for being a child porn website. Tests have shown that internet filters are not perfect (duh), and let slip up to 12% of banned material.

Well these are my arguments against nationwide internet-filtering. If you have anything at all to say about this issue, please do so!

You Will Obey Your Computer

I realised its been quite awhile since my last entry. Been SWAMPED with work sigh. Anyhow, tonight i’ve been ordered to blog by my computer. It gave me 2 minutes to complete this entry and 10 seconds thereafter to exit my house. If not, i’d become a victim of either an aircon that freezes me to death or a violent ceiling fan spinning wildly out of control.

What’s that!?? You must be thinking i’ve gone completely off my rocker. Maybe so, (especially when i’ve got a 2000-word assignment due in a couple of hrs), or perhaps just a hangover from watching the movie “Eagle Eye”. (Oh, no wonder I couldn’t find time to get down to my assignment yet).  

Despite the film receiving strong criticism for being “a mish-mash of parts stolen from superior films” and having a mind-numbing series of “ADD-infected chase scenes”, I found the film to be rather thought-provoking. To summarize, the film speaks of a supercomputer that gathers intelligence from around the globe, is able to control all things electronic, and sorta develops a mind of its own and goes rogue.

What caught my attention in the movie was how dependent we actually are on technology in our daily lives. Say there really was a computer that could control anything electronic, it could take over my computer, my handphone, the train I take to get to school, and virtually the whole of my school. To make matters worse, Google just came up with their Street View Service as you can see here, meaning that hypothetical-supercomputer could also track my physical movements. *Shudders* 

Let’s hope to goodness that mankind retains its control over the technologies that we create.

Its a Pa(l)in to listen to

I’m going to deviate a bit from tech because I find this awfully interesting.

Lets talk about the internet and how quickly people can react to news. Case-in-point: Sarah Palin

As you know, Ms Palin is John McCain’s running mate in the U.S Presidential elections. Some of you might have been fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to have caught her in interviews on CBS etc. In case you haven’t, sit back, relax and enjoy the spectacle:

 

WELLLLLLLLL, I got no comments personally. But apparently over 600 Americans did, on Jack Cafferty’s blog on the very same day the video went up. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the power of the groundswell. The internet empowers people – Instant discussion & debate, instant influence, and exponential spread.

Cafferty posted on his blog the question “Is Sarah Palin Qualified to be President?”

Let’s see what some Americans had to say about that:

• She’s no more qualified than Marge Simpson

• On the list of qualified candidates, she is one step above McCain’s other favorites- Paris Hilton and Britney Spears!

• Absolutely not! Listening to her attempt to respond to questions makes me cringe and feel sorry for her! She sound like a grade schooler trying to bluff an oral quiz, knowing she has not prepared for it. It’s embarrassing to listen to an adult who displays such a lack of knowledge- I know kids who are more knowledgeable!

• Jack, Only if an intelligent life forms takes up residence in her body.

• She knows so little about Foriegn Policy that she actually thinks that looking across the Bering Straights at Russia gives her all the information she needs to deal with foreign powers. She has shown that she knows absolutely nothing about economics beyond balancing a family budget and she thinks that is all she needs to know to run our government

• Jack, if you are referring to President of the PTA or local Alaska High School then yes, she is qualified. There isn’t a hint so far that she is qualified to be President or Vice President of the USA. 

• Hi Jack, God help us. No. (I don’t think McCain is qualified to be President, either, but next to Sarah he looks like Einstein.)

• No. But I feel sorry and embarrased for Sarah. McCain has sucked her into an ‘opportunity’ akin to a sub-prime mortgage situation on a house she cannot afford.

• Do pigs fly?

• Jack: Why of course…..She is a pitbull with lipstick.

• Frankly Jack, I have never been much of a fan of Katy Couric…. but I would have to say that yesterday’s interview shows that Katy is immensely more qualified for the job than Sarah Palin.

• Trick question, right Jack? Absolutely, she’s qualified… She’s an expert on foreign policy. She’s the only American who knows that both Russia and Canada are a part of the stae she’s the Executive of… At least, that’s what she told Katie Couric. She also knows about McCain’s track record in fighting too much deregulation… She told Katie she’d find some examples and bring them to her. Qualified? I wonder how she got elected Govenor of Alaska.

• I mean come on Jack! Do americans leave their brains on the nighstand when they wake up in the morning? How can anyone honestly believe this individual is remotely qualified to be vice president, president or even in charge of anything?

• No, she can see the moon from Alaska, so I think she is more qualified to be an astronaut. Let’s shoot her into space. Then we won’t have to watch her embarass herself trying to answer questions about foreign policy. She can tell us how pretty Alaska looks from outer space.

• The prospect frightens me. I know there is a learning curve, but I think it would be easier for a chicken to learn to play piano than for Sarah Palin to become a competent leader of the free world. She is in so over her head and not aware enough to know it. But, John McCain should.

• Are we sure she is an earthling? Maybe she fell out of a UFO. Either that or they threw her out.

• Four years ago, I had a passport, and while traveling abroad, I saw Tony Blair in a hotel lobby. That’s two ways I have more foreign policy experience than Sarah Palin.

• She is qualified to be the President….of the Mickey Mouse Club. That’s it. what the hell is going on up the in Alaska to elect such a flake?

• Paris Hilton is more qualified to be President than Palin. At least Paris has banking experience.

• We just endured 8 years of “Bushisms” that were humorous for a time and made some people a living off them, but can we bear an era of “Palinisms”? Enough is enough. We already bear the brunt of the jokes in the political world and frankly, I don’t want to see my airspace filled with “Putinisms”

• Are you kidding this, person is from the planet wamboni. she sounds like a manure salesman with a mouthful of free samples. Please God watch over us.

• Is it me or was she checking her notes for the “answer” of that question?

• I used to give answers like that on a final exam when I had skipped class all year and had crammed for a test the night before. No coherent thoughts, no specifc examples, just garble the talking points among some other words and smile.

There you have it. Some of the comments are hilarous, some are uneccessary, some are downright mean, but all speak volumes of people expecting the highest standards from anyone aspiring to one of the highest offices in the country. (which should be the case don’t you think?)

Sad that George Carlin ain’t around no more, he’d have had a field day with this. It’ll be interesting to see how the Republican campaign develops further, and it’ll be fantastic if you share any thoughts on this!

I leave you with a quote from Kathleen Parker: “If B.S. were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.”

The number ONE FORMULA for success

I can’t help it, I just HAVE to talk about the recent Formula 1 race in held in Singapore. Billed as the world’s first ever night race, this spectacular event took place in an unforgiving bumpy-tarmac-concrete-lined-steel-fence-ringed-hell-in-a-cell street circuit right smack in the middle of the city centre.

My personal experience came on the eve of the big event, the qualifiers to be precise. As dusk fell, and I was driving on the ECP approaching town, I could hear in the distance the mighty roar of the supermachines. Mechanical wonders built for the sole purpose of pushing the limits of land speed. My excitement building, I tagged behind a convoy of VERY-slow-moving vehicles on the Sheares bridge (obviously everyone was just trying to get a piece of the F1 action from a great vantage point). My partner-in-crime, loy kee, had a good time filming (i’ll post up a vid if i can get it from him).

Anyways, to cut a long story short, we had a great time checking out the cars, the babes, and the whole atmosphere of the event. Took a rather flimsy, poor-quality vid with my Nokia N76 handphone:

I do apologize for the grainy, shaky video, but it’s the best I could do that night. Anyways just found out that an amazing amount of technology goes into an F1 race. I’ll try to keep it short.

Lighting-wise, 1,500 lighting projectors around the track light it to the level of 3,000 lux–nearly four times brighter than that of a typical sports stadium, with provisions made to adjust the angle of the lights to minimize glare off the surface of the track should it rain.

Computing power is the name of the game behind the scenes at F1. For eg, the Williams team uses 8 servers to process terabytes of telemetry data coming off the hundreds of sensors in the cars and engines. From CNET: [Drivers use this data to compare and learn from each other while on the track, too, according to the Williams team driver, Nico Rosberg. Speaking at a media briefing, Rosberg said, "I can compare (driving) data with teammates, and immediately adapt my driving style to the portions of the track where they were faster around the corners."] I safely presume that such technology played a part in Rosberg’s second-place finish in Singapore.

 

It’s often easy to overlook the pivotal role that technology plays in many of our modern-day sporting or entertainment events. Just think of the Olympics, concerts, exhibitions etc. So the next time you scream your lungs out at Michael Phelps touching the wall in world record time, spare a minute to remember the poor Omega technician who set up the time-keeping system that enabled the feat to be captured in the first place. =)