David 的个人资料The Extraordinary Touris...照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
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A not so LIVE space.It's been over a year since I posted to this blog. Back then it wasn't called a 'Windows Live Space' it was just an 'MSN Space'. Some where in the past year everything went 'live' except me...apparently. To be fair to MSN (there's a sentence that you don't see too often) I did get the emails about the changes. However the whole idea of a 'Windows Live' space didn't seem all that exciting, especially if you didn't at least have Windows XP and Explorer 7 (neither of which I have because I can't afford to upgrade to XP and Explorer 7 doesn't work with Windows ME). So I'm looking at this space with Firefox 2.0 and beyond a change in heading and maybe a few tweaks to the layout it all looks the same. Can't really see what all the fuss was about? Maybe I need to click the 'What's New' link I can see in the upper right hand corner. In the mean time, if you want to read my words of ...hmmmm... well my words anyway... why not visit my main blog at: http://www.extraordinarytourist.com/blog.html More Robot PhotosFor those of you interested in 'real world' robots (as opposed to fictional robots) I've added quite a number of new photos to my 'Robots' album.
Included are robots that can help you learn to dance, medical 'dummy' robots that simulate real patients, TV presenter robots, Sony's Abio, and my personal favourite, Sony's little dancing humanoid. There are one or two others as well. See if you can discover their names, who made them etc.
- TET, Sept 28th, 2005
Real World RobotsSomething I've had an interest in for a while is robotics and the dream of creating a 'human-like' robot. Unlike their fictional counterparts humanoid robots are very difficult to create. It's only been very recently that the achievement of making a robot that can walk kind of like a human has become possible.
Then there is the whole issue of AI (Artificial Intelligence). We can simulate AI up to a point but we're a long way off from a robot that can truely think for its self. Present AI seems to react to the environment rather than initiate lines of thought and response independent of its surroundings (if that makes sense).
Anyhow I won't get all deep or technical, this entry is really to alert you to the fact that I've started a photo album of real world robots.
The first two photos are of Mitsubishi's Internet linked robot 'Wakamaru'. Designed as a home assistant (I guess that's an apt description) Wakamaru can recognise up to ten people and call them by name in a friendly female voice. 'She' can greet you when you come home, alert you to phone and email messages and she can wake you in the morning with news headlines etc.
She can keep track of appointments, help you exercise and be used as a remote video survalence security system for your home.
At one metre tall she can also amuse you by giving you the opportunity to rattle off as many short jokes as you can think of without causing offense and, because her hands don't appear to work, it's safe to assume she won't pick up a gun and plan world domination any time soon.
What a lovely little tacker she is!
For more info here's the link to Yahoo's news item:
I'll add more robot photos as I happen to find them. Feel free to alert me to any that you see.
- TET, 16 Sept 2005
The Web Cam Monologue...Being someone who lives in their head quite a lot speaking to a web cam is not something that comes naturally. This week I wanted to send a video message to my Dad for Father's Day. I don't have a video camera so the next best thing is a web cam.
I set my web cam up in my art studio. Set up an interesting background with one of my artworks. Wired myself for sound. Sat down in front of the camera and....nothing. Could not think of anything to say after 'Hi Dad'.
It's not that I didn't have things to tell him. Quite a lot has happened since I last saw him. Speaking to a web cam makes me incredibly self concious. My head starts thinking 'how is this looking, 'do I sound good', 'will this be interesting' etc. etc. By the time I've said 'Hi Dad' my head is so filled with other worries I've forgotten what I wanted to say. Pregnant pause 'oh my god, I'm going to look like a pratt!!' Stop filming, start again.
Several attempts, no luck. A few days later I give it another try. A couple of false starts and then I think 'Stuff it I'm just going to ramble on and not care about how it looks!'
Twenty seven minutes later my video message is done. I watch it back and I sound a bit tired, maybe a bit bored, I'm figitting a lot, looking down a lot, looking off camera a lot but hey - that's me.
Few people ever really like how they look on video or how their voice sounds. There's always something they'd like to improve. I'm no exception.
No doubt my Dad will think 'That's how David is all the time' (which means I'm very 'natural' on camera!)
That's TET - keeping it real!
- TET, September 2005
XP - Perhaps I should install a brick?'lsass.exe' is a program I'm growing to hate. Let me explain. Twice in two weeks I have started my notebook with the error message 'Object not found' attributed to the file 'lsass.exe'.
Ordinarily I can fix errors without too much drama but this particular file has been the downfall of my system twice. The problem is, this error occurs before you even get to the log on screen. Then, when you continue trying to boot, the computer restarts, hits the error again, restarts and so on and so on etc. etc. etc. a perpetual loop.
Do a Google search on this file and you'll discover two things. One that it is possible the file could be a virus depending on the spelling 'lsass.exe' or 'Isass.exe' (in some fonts a capital 'i' looks identical to a lower case 'l'. Two, most solutions require you to log into Windows XP first in order to fix the problem. Neither piece of information is very helpful. It's also important to note that 'lsass.exe' is a system file that XP requires in order to run successfully. So if its missing you're stuffed.
The only way out is to reinstall Windows - leaving the file system intact so you don't lose your data (but you lose all your existing accounts and all your installed programs disappear from the registry). It's a real time consuming task getting your computer back up to speed after a reinstall of Windows. In my case I have to go through about 20 different CDs to load all my software, updates and patches.
Having to do this twice in two weeks is really ticking me off. Not least because I didn't mention that in the middle of those two weeks a different error had the same effect. This time there was nothing to identify the problem, only that my computer wouldn't boot to the logon screen and it was stuck in a perpetual booting loop. So all up I've been through this process three times.
I don't know why this is happening so often. The last time everything was working fine. I'd even turned the computer on and off a few times to make sure it was all working. Six or seven hours later the computer is turned on and there it is again 'Object not found'.
I tell you this. I had very serious thoughts of calmly placing my laptop on the floor and helping it find 'lsass.exe' with my foot. I also toyed with the idea of hurling the laptop into a wall.
Maybe some day I'll install a brick through its screen. |
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