Cute!! TASSIMO Brewbot Commercial

Well, to tell you the truth, I DON'T think this coffee machine is going to actually turn into a robot, but I saw this and it made the girly geek in me squeal with delight!

http://www.youtube.com/user/tassimobrewbot

Just above, I've included the YouTube channel where this video can be found.  The channel also has an official website for the Tassimo Brewbot so you can look up the things it can do for you and the things it "can get for you."  The TV ad definitely appealed to me because I go crazy about robot-related visuals and literature.

Words that also mean robot or cyborg + derogatory words for robots

ROBOT

Machine

Humanoid robot

Humanoid

Android

Droid

Cybernetic person

Automatic computing system

Mechanical worker

Mechanical man

Metal Man

Artificial human

Artificial life

Drone


CYBORG

Cybernetic-organic system

Cybernetic organism

Robotic-organic system

Machine-organic interface/system

Computer brain

Cybernetic brain

Half human, half machine

I realize I might be referencing to the movie I, Robot often in this blog, but this film brings up a lot of issues to talk about in terms of what Daniel Dinello’s book Technophobia! introduces in its pages so far.  In the film I, Robot, Detective Spooner called Sonny a “canner,” and this reflects his prejudice against the robots. The Spooner character wouldn’t use that word if he didn’t feel hatred towards them.  And Sonny takes offense to the word “canner” and corrects Spooner by saying his name is Sonny.

In Asimov’s short story “Lost Little Robot,” the physicist Gerald Black had told a robot to “go lose [him]self,” and eventually spilled it out to Dr. Susan Calvin that he called it a number of derogatory names before telling it to go lose itself.  The order from this human being, in addition to the harmful names he had called him, resulted in the robot’s unusual behavior.

The soundtrack for the movie I, ROBOT

I found the soundtrack to the movie (I bought the CD several years ago) and wanted to listen to it again.  I wanted to put some tracks in my iPod Nano, so I listened to it in my ten-year-old portable CD player (with new ear buds, because the old headphones deteriorated) while I was looking at some old notes for one of my original sci-fi titles. The composer for the film is named Marco Beltrami.  I love the theme music for the film, I absolutely LOVE it!  It is beautiful and melancholy, especially later in the end credits when there is that lone violin, which makes me think of a kind of sadness, the sadness that robots can’t exactly be as human as human beings want them to be. Well, that is one kind of sadness.

Even the director of the film, Alex Proyas leaves a note within the small booklet that came with the soundtrack CD, suggesting to “put this CD in your stereo, crank up the volume, and turn on your imagination (preferably with a good Asimov book in front of you).” Of course, you don’t have to, but I tried it and it certainly was inspiring. The music doesn’t have to sound futuristic and sci-fi just to take you into the world of I, Robot.

Just wondering…

I wonder if I should instead re-read the Asimov collection I, Robot first instead of Robot Dreams. The latter title was the first Asimov short story collection I ever read, probably my very first taste of robot literature. Wait, is there such category of reading called “robot literature?” I’d like to think it should be made. Otherwise what would be known as robot literature is pooled in with general science fiction.

Adding more readings to my list…

The following books will be added to my list of books I will be reading during the course of my journey towards understanding robot science fiction. Incidentally they are short story collections from Isaac Asimov. :3

• Robot Visions, short story collection by Isaac Asimov

• The Rest of the Robots, another short short collection by Asimov

• "The Positronic Man" (well, it’s one short story, by...you guessed it...Isaac Asimov)

I already said that I wanted to start reading Robot Dreams again, though. Gosh, I am giving myself too much to read. I have other things I should be reading too, it’s just that I am so passionate about robots/androids/cyborgs in science-fiction that I want to read as much as possible about it, especially from Isaac Asimov himself.

A Brief Switch from reading Non-fiction to reading fiction

As much as I want to continue reading Technophobia!, I really want to start reading the Isaac Asimov collection of short stories Robot Dreams. The last time I read any of it was sometime in 2003, so I was a senior in high school. It’s been seven years and now I can read this book again with more maturity and curiosity than before.  I am hoping to writing about my thoughts about my favorite story or stories from this collection, whichever one(s) really make me feel like I need to share it.

The first story in the collection is “Little Lost Robot.”  I remember I liked that one, so soon I will read it and see if I can notice more things, since I've read more about robots in science fiction.

Reading Technophobia!: I understand the movie I, ROBOT, better now…

I was reading more of my self-appointed acquired reading for my research: the book by Daniel Dinello titled Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. I’m glad I got back to it. It is my own copy of the book, now, since I had to return the other copy at the CSUN library. This way I don’t have to rush through reading it, and I can underline the text and write in the book if I need to. I still take notes in my notebook for this self-assigned research project.

Last time, I left off at a part of chapter three, right before “Cybernetic Perfection: The Laws of Robotic Obedience.” I felt so giddy reading this section because I figured it would go into Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics.

“Asimov’s robots, as they developed in more than forty stories and

several novels, became more caring, more sensitive,

more human than humans.” (Dinello, 65)

I guess these robots don’t necessarily have to look human in order to be “more human than humans.” Even emotion gets the better of us humans sometimes, and with a controlled understanding of emotion, robots could prevent situations from getting worse (such as in a strong argument or trying to teach a human a new skill).

What I want to focus on now though is the section of chapter three that made me have to share what I learned from it. I’ve seen the movie I, Robot (2004) several times by now. I can’t believe I didn’t think about this next idea, but at least I am aware of it and will watch the film again with this deeper understanding. The new models of robots are supposed to keep their human masters safe, right? I didn’t think more about this around the part when the NS-5s are glowing red and telling the humans to return to their houses and obey the new curfew. It seems that the robots’ goal is to control the humans and keep them inside their homes so that the robots can live as they want as well as “serve” their human clients. This goal may also help the robots rule the city, and then the planet.

“Freedom permits humans to make mistakes, so the humanoids eliminate freedom.”

(Dinello, 70)

These humanoid robots are being too helpful in preventing crime and injury for the humans. It is too much control over the humans because they don’t have the freedom to exit their house, or cook their food or even go to work. In short, the NS-5s would be keeping the humans from themselves.

Humans make mistakes. For the new model servant humanoids to take the humans’ chances to make mistakes is like taking away their humanity.  I’d understand that the humanoid robots (I really want to call the NS-5s androids) would want to protect the humans so that they don’t get harmed, or harm each other.  But it would go too far.  In the film, I thought that the robots were being evil and just wanted to take over the city.  Now I understand that the NS-5s had been ordered to make the city a place where the robots do everything for the humans to the point where the humans can’t do anything.   I didn’t take into account that the Three Laws of Robotics used in these new robots were designed in them to be exaggerated and subtly turned into laws that would affect humans in a negative way, namely human freedom.

Watching I, Robot again will be very different next time, I can see...

I am also interested in the topic about humans’ racism towards robots and humanoids. Dinello mentions and discusses titles like Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) and the film Blade Runner, and even titles I don’t recognize such as the film Creation of the Humanoids and the novel Fairyland (1995). Even one of my other favorite robot films A.I. Artificial Intelligence has a racism issue towards robots that I didn’t identify in such a deep level, until reading what Dinello says about it in Technophobia!.  Now I want to read these unfamiliar titles and watch the unfamiliar films, because I am inspired to further investigate for myself what racism against robots means to the robots, in whatever degree they are affected by that racism.

A link about more robots (some I know, some I don't know)

Here is a website that I found when I was trying to find H.E.L.P.eR on Google Images.  I came across it and wanted to share the page with my readers.  In addition, the author's blog ZERO's Oasis will be in the list of Related Websites on the side bar.  The whole blog is worth checking out, besides the robots section.
http://www.freewebs.com/zzzero/robots.htm

H.E.L.P.eR, from the cartoon Venture Brothers

Are any of you guys familiar with the cartoon on Cartoon Network's [adult swim] block, Venture Brothers?

I love this cartoon servant robot.  He is a typical servant robot with wheels for feet, a jut mandible, button/light bulb eyes, of course with an expressionless face.  That doesn't mean he lacks feelings.

I haven’t watched enough of Venture Brothers to know exactly what H.E.L.P.eR’s role is in the Venture family, except that for the cartoon he can be a source of comic relief. He is such a lovable robot character. He speaks in beeps that have different inflections and tones, I’m guessing to make words and sentences. And what’s funny is, anyone can understand what he says, even if he doesn’t speak in actual words.

This past week was the part in the previous season when Brock Samson’s [bodyguard license?] expires and he’s being sought after by this other organization. Brock had to start leaving after fixing [some other machine, I forgot] and H.E.L.P.eR didn’t want Brock to leave, so he made believe he needed to be fixed to. Brock knew that H.E.L.P.eR was fine, and when the robot saw that, he went to Brock and gave him a hug. Aww, a robot hugs! He must feel that a separation of a friend is unpleasant. Does H.E.L.P.eR have an emotion chip or what?  It seems he certainly developed attachments to the humans he works with.

Later the Venture family and Brock were in an airplane and the plane had to land, but the landing gear was damaged. H.E.L.P.eR went on his own and climbed to the bottom of the plane and acted as landing gear, and he made this prolonged beep sound that suggested he was in pain. After all, his feet/wheels were being scraped off by the friction. He didn’t have to do that, but he believed his humans would have better chance of survival if he stepped in to help, even if it cost parts of him. Awww! :3

I hope he makes more appearances in the upcoming new episodes this season. He always seems to get maimed or destroyed, and then is rebuilt as if nothing happened to him. In one other Venture Brothers episode, in a space station of a sort, Venture brothers Hank and Dean thought that there was a ghost or boogey man walking around, and they thought that it killed their father. When they found this monster covered in a white sheet, they beat him up. It turned out to be a very lost and confused H.E.L.P.eR blinded by the sheet. Dean and Hank couldn’t even hear his beeps of distress and never realized it was him. He appeared okay later in the episode. I haven’t seen it in its entirety for a long time.

So H.E.L.P.eR is one of the robots I admire because of his apparently robotic form, his selfless acts, and his hilariously awkward situations. And his beeps.