Legends of Innovation : Rodney Brooks on Robotics, ATP 11.8.09

via web.me.com

Rodney Brooks is a Professor of Robotics at MIT and a founder of the robot companies Heartland Robotics and iRobot Corp. On Tuesday 11 August Rodney will be giving a presentation to high school students at the Australian Technology Park. If you are interested in robots and technology this is an event not to be missed. To book a place for you and your friends ask your school to email Peter.Edmonds@nicta.com.au Places are strictly limited.

After Rodney Brooks presentation all participants are invited to tour NICTA’s annual TechFest exhibition. See the latest Australian ICT research from laboratories around the country and talk to researchers about their work. Also see the University Of New South Wales Solar Racing Team’s Sunswift III solar powered vehicle that broke the world record for a solar car journey from Perth to Sydney. TechFest will remain open until 4:00pm.

There is also a robotic poster competition that students can enter and win great prizes!

Posted via web from technoist at large

Housework Rules

via mattwillms.net

First rule of housework is NO HOUSEWORK!

Second rule of housework is related to the second law of thermodynamics as expressed succintly by Pamela Zoline in the seminal "Heat Death of the Universe" 1967 - see http://justinelarbalestier.com/books/daughters-of-earth/excerpts/papke/

Where the second law of thermodynamics states that entropy (disorganization) will always rise in a closed system. Therefore, housework, while reducing the entropy in the house, will only result in even greater entropy in the universe as a whole. Why fight physics?

The third rule of housework = the third google entry, a fabulously funny essay which you'll just have to go visit.
http://gaelyne.com/content/housework-avoidance-hints

The next google entries were respectively; Kraft.com.au - The Exercise Benefits of Housework; ZenHabits - The Minimalist's Guide to Simple Housework; Housework Tips; and How Men Dodge Housework.

This is my point in a nutshell. When my partner does the housework, he gets to feel good for every hour of labour done. When I do (or don't) housework, I get to feel bad for every hour of labour UNDONE.

And there is never, never enough energy to fight entropy. See rule 2.

Posted via web from andragy's posterous

Progressive Dinner Party

via progressivedinnerparty.net

The fabulous zoe aka crazybrave has let me guest post over at the Progressive Dinner Party. I am gobsmacked. She's also found an ORSM pic to add to my Harry Potter vs Famous Five food fetish musing.

"Is that it? What's for desert then?"

Posted via web from andragy's posterous

I haven't color coded the lego... yet - andra at technoist at large

Tin robots, LEGO’d by Count Blockula

What comes to mind when you think of “LEGO robots”? Probably something that fits in our standard mecha category.

But Mike Crowley’s mind is slanted in a very beautiful way, yielding a passel of plastic robots of the tiny and tinny variety.

via brothers-brick.com

I have almost finished turning the large household boxes of lego into an enjoyable user experience. Michael, you'll be pleased to see that I've been heavily influenced by your user interface and design work.

I have resisted the urge to color code. I have rebuffed the attempts of each different piece to have it's own unique category. I've piled everything onto our very large dinner table and sorted into the most obvious divisions based largely on sheer number of pieces.

I've purchased 6 large flat clear plastic drawers and I am NOT dividing them up further (although I really want to!). The boxes allow for shuffle and search without overflowing. They also put away easily into drawers without the nuisance of lids to attach/open/close, and are light enough for kids to carry around house.

It became clear that if I ignored all the black swans, that lego fell into the fat, flat, or skinny categories quite easily. Now I've filled up all but one drawer. And I've got four smaller piles left.
All the really small stuff which could fit into their bigger drawers. Ditto the roof pieces, which straddle fat and narrow categories. The people (generally also little) and weird exceptions which can also be big but are too much for the special/functional drawer which has all the wheels, gears, hinges, pulleys, doors, windows etc.

Today is a new day and I know the answer is near. The answer may simply be, "for pete's sake, get it all off the table so we can have dinner".

via technoist.com

Posted via web from andragy's posterous

The demise of the food fetish in children's books, The Famous Five and Harry Potter .

The Famous Five (series)

via en.wikipedia.org

Kid's these days just aren't hungry enough. Wedges of fruitcake, ginger beer, fresh butter and eggs, jam sandwiches, sausages - none of these stir the reader the way they used to in the heyday of The Famous Five.

I think one of the successes of Harry Potter is the nostalgic updating of boarding school type food treats.

My children are cooking these holidays. They've been told that if they want to eat something, they're going to have to cook it themselves. I used to cook sweets and puddings and pies and slices. As a child, I made jam and toffee and fudge and ices.

We've had a couple of experiments, some choc chip cookies, sorbet and shepherds' pie and they're bored. They can buy better and they're prepared to wait me out.

I believe this trend has been reflected in modern children's literature. Harry Potter is the only series I've read recently that gave me a full feeling in my stomach. Where are the endless dishes of mushrooms and cider from The Hobbit? The picnics and fry ups from The Wind in the Willows? The tea parties of Alice and Wonderland?

Posted via web from andragy's posterous

Daring Natalya silenced by bullets

Daring Natalya silenced by bullets

Chechen journalist and activist Natalya Estemirova. Photo: Reuters

via smh.com.au

Women warriors can fight with words. Natalya Estemirova, Chechen journalist and activist, fought a nation. She may have lost her life but she might still win the war. Her far reaching human rights report was released the day of her murder. It implicates Russian officials all the way to Vladimir Putin in human rights abuses and murder. Vale Natalya.

Posted via web from andragy's posterous

Raw Prawn - Machines vs Humans Round 1

via martinwilson.com.au

Just removed raw prawn from the dishwasher filter. Realize filter is there to protect machine, not us.

It's been almost a week since we ate fried rice with prawns.

Raw Prawn (2007) by Martin Wilson
wool on hessian 320cm x 320cm
Contact: martin@martinwilson.com.au

Posted via web from andragy's posterous