Journal 15 April 26, 2009

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/04/10/i_robot____and_gardener_mit_droids_tend_plants/

The article for this week’s current event blog comes from MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A group of undergraduate students have created a robot that has the capability of watering, harvesting and pollinating several cherry tomato plants. These robots have the ability to water each individual plant, as well as pick tomatoes when they are ripe. IT knows when to water the plant because there are numerous sensors in the soil that can tell the computer network when it is necessary to provide water or fertilizer. The robot is able to recognize a ripe tomato by using a web camera, and pick it with the right amount of pressure as not to harm or kill the plant. The process behind picking a tomato from the plant is far more difficult for a robot than a human. The robot must have the right touch, as to not hurt the plant, and know when to pick the ripe tomato. I think this topic and these articles are key stepping stone towards the future. I believe that robotics are going to play a huge part in our future, and this is one of the first innovations that may lead to bigger and better things for the field and the world as a whole. The article states that the agricultural industry is large and growing exponentially and is becoming an integral part to our society. This little advancement in robotics could possibly lead to more ideas and bigger robots to help grow and harvest crops. There have been a ton of movies and books about robots and their various roles in our future, but this brings all of these fantasy stories closer to reality. People have all of these ideas about robots and how in the future they will be able to do everything that humans do not possess the urge to do. Maybe everyone will have something like the robotic maid in the television series The Jetsons. I am very impressed to see that undergraduate students, who are just the same age as I am, are coming up with these little pieces of technology that may become a base for bigger and better robots to further our society.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30109901/

Journal 14, April 19, 2009

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/helping-parents-snoop-on-kids-iphone-habits/

Probably the newest most innovative piece of technology on the market is any iPod product. I, myself, have an iPod Touch and love using it every day, and one of the main reasons is because it picks up WiFi internet and allows for wireless internet use. As an adult, I have enough discretion and internet sense to know what web sites I should visit and which ones I should not. These abilities are shared by most adults who regularly use the internet, but many children do not know what is good and what is bad on the internet. Since both the iPhone and the iPod touch are internet compatible, and more and more children own them, then there needs to be a way to monitor and block access to these inappropriate web sites that children can but shouldn’t visit while using their iPod products. This is where the app store comes in with iTunes. The article that I found talks about different apps that allow for parents to limit what their children can go to on the internet, and some apps even track where the child tries to go. The first app is Mobicip, which is free. It is basically an internet that the parents can put locks on certain websites. There are more apps that are not quite as cheap as Mobicip, but have more ways to limit and monitor children. One of these more efficient monitoring tools is called iWonder Surf, and its big difference is that it allows for parents to pick which web sites can be blocked or unblocked, and costs just under fifteen dollars. The other is Safe Eyes Mobile, which allows the access to the internet to be controlled and it also emails or alerts the child’s parents when the child is trying to access the blocked sites. The significance of these apps, and this article, is to show that even though technology is progressing and children are being exposed to more and more these days, that there are people out there who still are trying to let kids be kids and not be exposed to too much too early in their lives.

http://www.mobicip.com/online_safety/content_filtering

Journal 13, April 12

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29972476/

How cool would it be to walk out to your car, get in and just tell it where you want to go and it would automatically drive you there. Kind of like an autopilot. There is no technology in the near future that will be able to do this but Honda Motor Co. has developed a way to read patterns of electric currents on a person's scalp as well as changes in cerebral blood flow when a person thinks about four simple movements, moving the right hand, moving the left hand, running and eating. This is a small but necessary step in working towards a car that can drive without the help of a human. Honda showed a video of an employee wearing the helmet thought about raising his right hand and in a few seconds the programmed robot raised his right arm. Honda did not do a live performance because they thought that an audience would cause a distraction and the experiment would not work. Another key problem they are facing is brain patterns differ greatly among individuals, and so about two to three hours of studying them in advance are needed for the technology to work. Yasuhisa Arai, executive at Honda Research Institute Japan Co., stated “I’m talking about dreams today, practical are still way in the future.” Honda has made robotics a centerpiece of its image. “Our products are for people to use. It is important for us to understand human behavior," he said. "We think this is the ultimate in making machines move”, Arai told reporters. This is astonishing to me to think that we are able to just think about moving our hand or running and our brain signals can be transmitted to a robot that will do what we are thinking. I can think of this being a series advantage in some aspects of our lives but also making us, humans, even more lazy and reliant on technology.

https://unccmail.uncc.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29900077/
This article is talking about scientists using brain signals and the flow of blood to power electrical devices such as cell phone batteries, iPods and other small devices. It seems that more and more people are trying to figure out how to get away from using batteries and other pollutant items and replace them with things that are produced through our bodies or even using our bodies to run devices.

Journal 12, April 5, 2009http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dont-text-and-drive-play-it-safe-name-a-designated-texter/

There are way too many incidents involving cars and alcohol. Drinking and driving is probably the number one cause of accidents that kill. What many don’t realize is that text messaging and driving is also a big concern when it comes to accidents. Lawyers in the New York Legislature are trying to pass laws that prohibit text messaging while driving a vehicle. The same state legislature as well as other states has already passed laws forbidding drivers from using hand held cell phones. There is a method to the madness. If you think about, it can not be safe to have your head down with your fingers moving across your cell phone instead of your eyes on the road with your hands on the wheel. In a recent survey done by the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company one in five drivers said that they do in fact text message while they are driving. That number increases to one in three that text and drive. Of the states that have in fact passed laws banning test messaging while driving, none are really cracking down on the issue. Other than a small fine of maybe $100, the states are doing nothing to enforce these new laws.
I think this is great that the states are finally coming to there senses when it comes to cell phones. I will admit that I do use my cell phone when I am in the car but I try to refrain from text messaging while driving. Text messaging takes more away from one’s focus on driving more than talking on a cell phone. As one of the articles says, ‘For most people driving in a car is the most dangerous thing they do all day. So why not focus on being safe and not worry about text messaging.’ I’m happy these laws are being passed, hopefully they can be enforced and they will make our roads safer.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/20090328/tc_pcworld/policechiefshowswhytextingdrivingdontmix