Tele-presence Robot Appears in a Daytime Game Show

I saw The Price is Right the past Wednesday morning. And if you haven't seen that one, you'll never guess one of the prizes that were up for bid. Or... maybe you will.

It was a robot! A tele-presence robot. How cool is that?!

Jonathan from Let's Make a Deal appeared on the robot's monitor to describe the product.

You know, I thought one of these days a robot would be a possible prize on The Price is Right. First, for 2016 it may be another tele-presence robot or maybe a robot vacuum cleaner from iRobot. Next year, it could be a Meccanoid kit, or from Aldebaran Robotics, NAO or Pepper.

Offering a product as a prize is certainly a good way to market it. Good for robotics businesses too, in this case.

Who knows? Maybe in 2017, robots may become an occasional prize on The Price is Right or Let's Make a Deal. This Wednesday was just the beginning.

What are your thoughts on this little TV event, dear readers? What would it mean?

Let's start this conversation! Go ahead and leave your comment below.

Transcription Service for Robot Videos

EDIT: This transcription service is on hiatus until further notice.

Do you have a demonstration video or tutorial video about robotics or productivity software, and you need a transcription for it? How about for a robotics-centered podcast? Or a half-hour long presentation on your robotics project?

With a transcription for your video, you could reach more visitors, readers or customers for your website or company. Some people may just want to read it first to familiarize themselves with the order of events, topics, or terminology. If they watch the video or listen to the audio first, they can download the transcript for future reference. 

If they’d like to, they could watch the video or listen to the audio, having the prior knowledge of the events, topic or product. They may even be more likely to buy, subscribe, or download.

Productivity software (such as those for writing, or writers) is my primary niche, but I’d also like to be involved with robotics in the best way that I can—with writing and transcription being the top two ways that I can.

I happen to offer transcription services on Fiverr.

Question 1: What exactly do I do there?

On Fiverr I provide a transcription service focused on the technology areas of robots and helpful PC software and mobile apps.

I love robots and I’m fascinated with robotics, especially humanoid robotics and social robotics. How about discussions on robot ethics? Yes, that too. Wouldn’t you want someone like this to work with you?

You want someone who is both interested in the subject, skilled in typing, and pleased to help rather than just doing it only for the money.

You want someone who comes alive doing work related to what their interests are. When you choose a specialist, you will get the benefit of that person’s energy and excitement, eager to participate and serve.

Image created by Amethyst Anne, April 17, 2016. (Note: DreamTypistSW is my Fiverr username.)

Question 2: Is this something you, or someone you know, might be interested in?

Think—a transcription for your podcast episode discussing robot ethics would make your material easier to read and review. Or, maybe you’d like a transcription for a tutorial of your new app. Maybe, you want the transcript to be easy to read and follow along with the video or audio content.

I like to help other people get the most out of things. And in this case, helping your listeners, viewers or readers get the most out of your podcast and website, or any other online site, is something I’d be very excited about doing for you.

Don’t just take my word for it on what I can do for you. Try my transcription service out yourself. Let me transcribe something for you, and you never know... it may expand your readership and your visitors' appreciation of transcripts as learning materials.

Question 3: Where can you learn more?

So how about it? If you’re interested in learning more, you can find this transcription service here (If you don’t have a Fiverr account, it’s very easy to create one and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes). 

My basic offer starts at $5, plus a couple of extra options you’ll find on the page. You’ll find me as DreamTypistSW (shows as “dreamtypistsw” in all lowercase).

Nothing Lasts Forever...?

I may have this gig up for a limited time. I am not sure if I’ll keep it one of my permanent services on Fiverr. However, I can’t tell the future. I cannot calculate all the probabilities like a robot might! :P  (Insert funny Perceptor or Computron reference here.)

So if you want a good deal now, then now’s the time to try out my transcription services before I remove them from Fiverr, or even before I raise rates.  This could be as long as months or as short as weeks. 

1 Year After Seeing CHAPPiE, and Finding Common Ground

I saw CHAPPiE on April 16, 2015. It was a Thursday.

Ya see, I remember the exact date I saw it! It was after an important day in my life. Anyway…

I still think about this film from time to time, even after just seeing it once. It is unlike any other robot film I’ve ever seen. Dark and gritty, and enchanting, and inspiring and hopeful.

I really want a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack of CHAPPiE, but so far they are available separately. That sucks, and I want it. (Don’t we all want too much?). Other movies got it, so why not CHAPPiE? But seriously, though...

I’m sorry, guys. I promised you a review of this movie and I never delivered. I am truly sorry about that. I hate it when I say I’ll do something and then I don’t—especially when it comes to stuff like this. That’s how it was with the RoboCop 2014 movie, another review I didn’t deliver. I still want to do it.

Do you guys still want my reviews of either or both films?

Maybe if I get enough demand—even 3 or 4 requests for those—then I’ll consider doing it after all. I still want to, but maybe my motivation to do it is low. I don’t know how many people are actually following or reading Cybernetic Dreams.

I’ve just been so busy, but…

Maybe it’s time I commit to visiting other blogs about robots and robotics. I don’t know enough people in the robotics field. Or anyone there, for that matter. Although, I really like talking about robots in entertainment as well: films, TV, literature. Even artwork.

I want to share what I think. I want to share how I feel, what I experience, every time I see a robot or a humanoid robot in a TV ad, a movie or a TV show. Not every single thing, but at least… the ones that can inspire us to find common ground, hmm?

Cybernetic Dreams is one way I can start. In addition, I should search elsewhere to communicate my thoughts, too. I dunno, it could be my severe introversion speaking. It could be my fear of becoming so vulnerable, even on the internet. Those trolls can be everywhere.

But I am strong. I can handle a little vulnerability. If I say it, and believe it, then I can.

I know I can make a difference. I just have to stop hiding.

A short annoucnement: About NaNoWriMo 2015

I want to take an opportunity to say something that goes with both my love of robots and my love of writing.

Last November I participated in National Novel Writing Month. The last two years I’ve thought about it but never started. Since 2015 was the year I got fully into a writing career, I celebrated my decision by allowing myself to be a part of the NaNoWriMo event.

Can you guess why I’d be sharing this piece of information here?

I am not really a person that likes to brag about my accomplishments. I don’t like getting much attention, but I still like to share some things such as what I thought about this or that. But this experience about NaNoWriMo was very special to me. Particularly because of the subject matter I was dealing with during the writing process. I am proud of myself for having an outline (if not following it for the last third of the time), for being consistent with my daily word count, and not giving up.

When I was approaching 40,000 words as soon as I was, I increased my word count goal to 80,000.

I wrote 80,300+ words toward the first draft of the project.

Now, back to why I am sharing that I participated in NaNoWriMo.

If you guessed I wrote the first draft of a novel, you are right so far. (Easy guess!)

If you guessed that my novel has to do with robots, you are also right. (I guess I gave that bit away earlier.)

If you guessed that the robots are humanoid robots, you are even righter (ah ha hah, I know there isn‘t such a word, but I felt giddy that moment, so humor me J)!

During the NaNoWriMo draft I focused on some character development and scenes. I hardly did anything for setting and descriptions, except that it takes place in the future where having a humanoid robot house companion is affordable for a lot of people.

I want to say more about it, but I prohibit myself from sharing any more concrete details until a draft is ready for beta readers. That may not be until the end of summer or fall 2016. I’ll see.

NOTE: This post is rather late in being released. But I still wanted to share it.

GOT THE NEW BLOG RUNNING

I got my new blog up and running now. I would call it a sister blog to Cybernetic Dreams, too.  Now I can finally tell you what it’s called: I've titled it The Frowning Robot. 

http://thefrowningrobot.tumblr.com/

I am so glad I started it because it may be a useful tool in inspiring me to look up, watch, or read about robot-related things more often than I do now.  More than ever before, I want to blog about my fascination and enthusiasm for robots, androids and cyborgs. Seeing CHAPPiE sort of motivated me to get right to it.  Plus because I threw out some dead weight career-wise, leaving my mismatched healthcare industry profession, I have the time and inclination to do more robot-related writing.

I wanted to keep the new blog more focused on real-world robotics, but it’s Tumblr…I’m going  to have fun with it and post/reblog screenshots, fan art and GIFs of robots, androids and cyborgs that are found in movies, animated TV shows, video games, or from my favorite comic book Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye. Some robot shows I haven’t even seen before, from the early 90s, are showing up on my dashboard and I can’t help but want to reblog them because it makes me smile!

Otherwise, I do want to post or reblog about the occasional real-world robotics, such as the Nao from Aldebaran Robotics, and the ASIMO humanoid robot from Honda.



A few of the blogs I follow there:

• ImagineYourFavoriteRobot
• RobotsInsider
• Adventures with WALL-E
• Jump-Gate
• Awesomerobotanimegifs

 

I saw CHAPPiE, and I loved it!!

          I was able to take a few hours away from my home and see CHAPPiE.  (When I refer to the movie itself, I spell it in all caps except for the letter “i.”  When I am referring to the title character, I go ahead and spell it out “Chappie.”)

I am excited.  This will be the first review I’ve ever done in Cybernetic Dreams.  I was going to write one for RoboCop 2014, but I never got to it.  I didn’t even get the chance to announce that I saw Big Hero 6 on December 13^th last year.  Big Hero 6 just may be my next favorite robot movie right under I, Robot. Maybe when I see those two movies again I could have a review prepared for each.

But while CHAPPiE is still fresh in my mind, I want to write my reaction about it, at least.  Which may read like a review.

Okay, so it’s not a review.  But it’s my opinion.


           I hope to complete my “review” of CHAPPiE within the next two weeks.

A Sister Blog is Coming!

I have wanted to start a Tumblr for a while now.  I’d like to share pictures or blog posts relating to robots on Cybernetic Dreams, but I didn’t know what and how, exactly.  It may be a bit more time-consuming, but I decided to start a Tumblr that also focuses on robots.  It will have reblogs and posts that pertain to what I already have discussed in this blog.

Once I have the new Tumblr ready, I will announce it and include a link to it in Cybernetic Dreams.  I think it would be nice to share my interest in robots, androids and cyborgs in ways other than writing.  The visual aspect of Tumblr will be fun, and it will supplement the topics of the blog  And also, I don’t have to worry too much about what pictures I am allowed to post on the Tumblr because they would be reblogs of posts/images, which is allowed there anyway.

I am hoping to get it started by the time autumn is over.

Almost Human: The Sci-Fi Show We Need Now, Part 1

So I’ve been watching Almost Human for the last several weeks and I have to say (needlessly) that it’s become my favorite live-action TV show.  I love Dorian; he is very funny and great and he looks like he can be my cousin (I am mixed and my hair is a short afro as well).  But generally, the show has a good mix of action, suspense, humor and soft moments.  It can get really intense, to the point where I don’t realize I am holding my breath for the entire segment of the show until commercial time.  The episode “Arrhythmia” was hard for me to watch without feeling a little angry, maybe even my blood pressure raised a little bit.  But I love this show.

Even more important to me about Almost Human besides great characters are the powerful issues it touches on:

• Civil rights, equality (MX’s priority to energy charging stations in an emergency, Dorian excluded)
• Ethics (especially robot ethics…)
• Derogatory words for robot (“synthetic” is neutral, but still offends Dorian in the beginning of the show because he is seen as fake).
• Fear (human fear and even Dorian’s fear)
• Crimes in the future (watch the show and see how scary crime is in this future!)
• Jobs in the future (such as the Recollectionist who helps people recall forgotten memories with the help of a machine)
• Money in the future (i.e. bit-coins)

I really enjoy Dorian and Detective Kennex’s car conversations.  They get to know each other, understand each other better during the drive and we as viewers get to learn about them both too…

When I think back about how they first worked together, Detective John Kennex has changed a lot.  In the beginning he called Dorian a “synthetic,” and Dorian responds “I am not a huge fan of that term.”  I can understand why: he feels human enough that being called a synthetic offends him, implies that he is not real and therefore his feelings and opinions don’t matter.

But they do matter because Dorian is not just an android cop, he’s a valuable friend.  Dorian saved John from quite a few tight traps so far.  Even volunteering to risk his functionality, his life, to save a human victim trapped in the middle of a crime.  He may be too altruistic for his own good.  It seems that in each episode that he gets into a fight, his injuries become more serious. 

I want to write a really good essay on Almost Human and the important issues and themes it brings up. It will have to wait a little longer. For now I want to say that that my guesses about the show (before I started watching it on its November 17, 2013 premiere) were fun to make and now I can enjoy the show as it is.  Of course I was wrong about the “experiment” thing…so far, I could be wrong and something might come up, right?  It repeats on Saturdays at 8:00pm if you can’t catch the regular airing on 8:00pm Mondays.

Please, I want to start a discussion!  If any of my readers want to say something about the show, your thoughts/feelings about it, share it in the comments or email me through Blogger.  Who else enjoys Almost Human?  Or who dislikes it?  I will be respectful of your opinions—just respect mine as well!   ;)

A Lunar Rover with a Beautiful Death Speech

I was checking the news feed online when one article came up that stood out to me.  I think it is relative to some of the things that Cybernetic Dreams is about.

The headline title read: Chinese lunar rover cutely broadcasts its own death

It is a lunar rover robot from China, called a Jade Rabbit Rover, with a Chinese name Yutu.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read about it, considering that I get emotional whenever adorable little robots die/cease to function.  But I was intrigued and wanted to read it.  The article is short, but it is a concise report on the lunar rover’s last message to Earth.

I was almost brought to tears.  In fact my eyes got misty.  And this was the first time I found out anything about this lunar rover from China.  It’s a sad but beautiful true story.

Wow.  If only we can face our own mortality with the same grace and dignity as that Jade Rabbit.  That’s one brave little robot.  If I could, I'd like to do a follow-up post about this in the near future.

Please read it here at this website page:

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/2014/01/28/11/14/chinese-lunar-rover-cutely-broadcasts-own-death

If you would like to say anything or continue the conversation, please leave a comment :)