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My name is Bernie Michalik. Thanks for visiting!
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Search Results for: robots
Today in good robots: reforesting drones
I’m often critical of robots and their relatives here, but these particular drones seem very good indeed. As that linked article explains: swarms of (theese) seed-firing drones … are planting 40,000 trees a day to fight deforestation…(their) novel technology combines … Continue reading
New robots just dropped (in your pool and your…toilet?)
Whenever new robots are released, I like to feature them. Robots are still pretty limited in the home, but there has been some attempts to get past the Roomba and have them in other parts of the house. Cases in … Continue reading
Comments Off on New robots just dropped (in your pool and your…toilet?)
Posted in IT
Tagged IT, robots, Yanko, yankodesign
The two problems with home robots
This is a cool story about a concept robot for homes: A BB-8 Droid for your home – Yanko Design. I used to have problems with such concepts, because they provide an opportunity to have a device wandering around your … Continue reading
Why beach robots are good
While I am not a fan of most popular robots these days, I will make an exception for this one: This Microsoft-powered AI-enabled robot cleans up cigarette butts littered on the beach! – Yanko Design It’s sad we need such … Continue reading
On Toronto, tiny robots and the media
So the city of Toronto has put a hold on this company that has dumped their robots on city sidewalks for now. Good. It has been an epic struggle for advocates to get proper bike lanes and other form of … Continue reading
It’s Monday morning: are robots going to replace you at your job?
Possibly, but as this article argues, there are at least three areas where robots and suck at: Creative endeavours: These include creative writing, entrepreneurship, and scientific discovery. These can be highly paid and rewarding jobs. There is no better time … Continue reading
San Francisco puts delivery robots on a lease. Good.
According to CNET: Delivery robots face strict rules in San Francisco. I like that picture above. Often when I see delivery robots in photos, they are by themselves on an uncrowded street. In the photo above, you can get a … Continue reading
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Tagged cities, cityplanning, IT, robots, SanFrancisco
Some thoughts on the end of the CBC mail robots
According to Haydn Waters, a writer at CBC, the mail robots at the corporation are being discontinued. Instead: Mail will be delivered twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday) to central mail delivery/pickup locations on each floor.” What gets lost in … Continue reading
34 good links on AI, ML, and robots (some taking jobs, some not)
If you are looking to build AI tech, or just learn about it, then you will find these interesting: Artificial intelligence pioneer says we need to start over – Axios – if Hinton says it, it is worth taking note Robots … Continue reading
It’s not A.I. or robots that are taking away jobs. It’s you.
A year or so ago, a parking lot I use had a human in a booth to take tickets and provide other services. That human booth was replaced by the thing in the photo above. It’s not a robot and … Continue reading
Thinking critically about robots. (Hint: think vending machines)
The following is anuncritical and hyped-up analysis of robots, from Wired (On Cyber Monday, Friendly Robots Are Helping Smaller Stores Chase Amazon). A key quote from it is this (highlighting by me): … (Amazon) is relying on more than 100,000 temp … Continue reading
Two takes on robots that stem from one fact
Take 1: Over at Make, A Peek Into the Design of The Robot Anyone Can Afford | MAKE. Take 2: Over at Kottke is a good post on why we shouldn’t be blase about robots replacing us (Humans need not apply). The … Continue reading
The end of Work: the apotheosis of robots and the degradation of humans
I think this passage from this article, New Wave of Deft Robots Is Changing Global Industry – NYTimes.com, is key: Foxconn has not disclosed how many workers will be displaced or when. But its chairman, Terry Gou, has publicly endorsed … Continue reading
The future darkly: more on military drones and robots
One of the most important technologies of the 21st century will be robots. Right now they are primitive, but they are improving all the time. Oddly, no one is paying them much attention. (Maybe if Apple starts making them, this … Continue reading
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Posted in new!
Cute quadrotor robots perform music (I wish I could believe they were cute)
Impressive. What I find interesting in the various videos on robots that I see is the presentation of them as positive. Perhaps it is just my cultural history, but I see them as something to worry about. Time will tell … Continue reading
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Posted in new!
Terminators or appliances? Some thoughts on the new robots
There’s been alot of buzz around the work being done at Boston Dynamics on robots. Previously there was their video of BigDog And recently this clip has been getting alot of attention, of PETMAN: I was alarmed when I first … Continue reading
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Posted in new!
More awesome Christmas…stuff! Dancing Robots!
Dancing Robots?! How is that Christmas-y?! Well, check this out and see! I’m very impressed how well this is done. I think someone should get these little guys on SYTYCD! YouTube – Synchronized Robot Christmas Dance
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Posted in new!
The ikan and other robots we will know
The Ikan is a new way to shop for groceries, it says. You can read about it at the site. I would include some text on it here to promote it, but all the text is trapped in Flash. 😦 … Continue reading
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Posted in new!
Here’s eight good pieces reflecting the state of work these days
I wanted to say the state of work is in flux these days due to the pandemic, but I have to admit that work is always in a state of flux, regardless of what is going on in the world. … Continue reading
Spot the robot finds useful work in Pompeii
I am not a fan of Boston Dynamics or their overhyped robots. They are often put to poor use, like harassing homeless people. And yet people seem positive about them. To which I normally reply: “meh”. I am happy to … Continue reading
On the Amazon Astro robot, or servants old and new
Amazon has a new robot coming out, and there’s been a number of reviews. Here’s a list of just a few of them: Amazon Astro, the home robot with wheels, is now in homes — and people are showing off … Continue reading
IBM Cloud, Terraform and DB2 (or some of what I find interesting in tech, nov 2021)
Wow! I haven’t done one of these posts on things I have found interesting in tech since July! So of course there is a lot here! I need to do these more often. For this one it is mostly on … Continue reading
Weird parts of Toronto: transformer houses
No, they do not transform into robots. Instead: These are Toronto’s residential substations, fake houses built by Toronto Hydro to conceal what’s inside: a transformer that converts raw, high voltage electricity to a voltage low enough to distribute throughout the … Continue reading
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Posted in Toronto
Tagged hydro, infrastructure, Toronto, weird
What I find interesting in tech, May/June 2021
Here’s what I found interesting lately in tech, from cloud to coding and lots more. Cloud: I’ve been doing lots of work on Azure recently. Some things I found useful were this listing of Virtual machine sizes Also disk types. … Continue reading
Great advice on how to get better at drawing that can be applied to anything
I have been trying to get better at drawing lately, but I have been floundering. Much of what I have been drawing is poor by my standards. Poor and not getting better. To try and get better, I was trying … Continue reading
The problem with colonizing other worlds…
The problems with colonizing other worlds can be read here: Humans Will Never Colonize Mars. It’s a bucket of ice water to dump on the head of anyone who optimistically thinks it will happen. It may happen, centuries from now. More … Continue reading
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September 2, 2019 in ideas, new!
Tagged astronomy, exploration, Mars, planets, space, technology
Mechanical Kiwis, or how the Kiwi’s food delivery bots are only semi-autonomous
Looks like autonomous robots have a way to go. So while Kiwi’s food delivery bots are rolling out to 12 more colleges (TechCrunch), they aren’t exactly autonomous robots. Instead… The robots are what Kiwi calls “semi-autonomous.” This means that although they … Continue reading
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Tagged automation, food, IT, robots
Humanless stores: a bad idea that refuses to die
It’s funny how certain tech ideas are bad and yet keep coming back, like zombies. Micropayments is one. Another is stores or establishments run without people: automats, in a sense. It’s a terrible idea in my opinion, and yet people … Continue reading
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August 27, 2019 in IT, new!
Tagged automat, automation, China, IT, robots
Twenty good IT links to make you smarter
Here are some good links I have been collecting over time on IT that are still worth reading. They cover AI, the IOT, containers, and more. Enjoy! How to build a supercomputer with Raspberry Pis: Fun! 6 things I’ve learned … Continue reading
Thirty five links worth a look
Here’s a long list of things I had saved in Instapaper that I thought worthwhile, but never blogged about individually. While I hadn’t blogged about them, they are still worth a look: World population may actually start declining, not exploding.: … Continue reading
What to remember the next time you see a scary robot video from Boston Dynamics
The next time you see a scary robot video from Boston Dynamics, remember this: Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns | Military.com. When you see the videos of their robots, they seem so impressive. In fact there … Continue reading
How technology can enhance work and not simply eliminate it
This piece: What it’s like to be a modern engraver, the most automated job in the United States — Quartz, reminded me once again that the best use of technology is to augment the people doing the work, and not … Continue reading
Wages, Nash equilibrium, and the productivity paradox: a small theory of my own
Economists write a lot about the mystery of why productivity is not increasing, with pieces such as this. There’s even a section on it in Wikipedia. My own theory is that limited wage increases is also limiting the benefits of … Continue reading
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Posted in economics
Tagged economics, gametheory, productivity, vox, wages
Thoughts on automation, from the WSJ (and me, someone who specialized in automation)
Christopher Mims has a good piece here that touches on many of the recent arguments concerning automation, here: Automation Can Actually Create More Jobs (WSJ). Well worth reading. For my own perspective, early in my career my job was automating many … Continue reading
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Tagged automation, ideas, IT, kiosks, McDonalds, minimumwage, WSJ
A great primer on self driving trucks that everyone should read. (Really!)
This piece, 1.8 million American truck drivers could lose their jobs to robots. What then? (Vox) is a great primer on self driving trucks and how they are going to have a major impact sooner than later. If you are … Continue reading
The problem with AI, Bots and social networks
Bots combined with AI and social networks are going to become an increasing problem. I thought of this when reading about the relatively recent Ashley Madison fiasco. Even if you wouldn’t be caught dead using such a service, this applies … Continue reading
Calamityware is the best dishware you can get
This porcelain is not just amazing, it is something you can buy. And not just robots, but sea monsters and flying monkeys too. Perfect for anyone needing a house warming. 🙂 I love the detail: the robot is in the … Continue reading
Robot Fast Food workers, automats, and food trucks: food of the future
Are low-wage workers going to replaced by robots? There are cases to be made for that happening, both here: The Shift From Low-Wage Worker to Robot Worker from FiveThirtyEight and from the recent book, The Second Machine age (pictured above). Indeed, some … Continue reading
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Posted in new!
Tagged automat, automation, food, foodtrucks, future, robot
Robot Fast Food workers, automats, and food trucks: food of the future (some notes)
Are low-wage workers going to replaced by robots? There are cases being made for that happening, both here: The Shift From Low-Wage Worker to Robot Worker from FiveThirtyEight and from the recent book, The Second Machine age (pictured above). As well, some … Continue reading
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Posted in new!
Tagged automat, automation, food, foodtrucks, future, robot
People thinking drones are a new thing for Amazon are mistaken
Just last year, Amazon invested in Kiva (The Economy Will Be Roboticized: Amazon Buys Kiva and A day in the life of a warehouse robot), a company that makes warehouse robots. Automation of the supply chain is something Amazon has already been … Continue reading
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