Watched the Battlestar Galactica finale last night with its present-day clips of current robots at the end, such as QRIO, Asimo, Aibo, HUBO, and Actroid. Got me exploring last night and I stumbled upon Elbot, a chatterbot that apparently passed 20% of the Turing test at the last Loebner event. In related news, Immuexa turned eleven two days ago. I can't think of a more fitting way to start our twelfth year than to return to our roots: cognitive agents. Our name is one I thought of while studying cognitive science, while designing Gravity in 1987, which uses agents as...

A week back from Washington DC now, I'm through my post-vacation work scramble for the most part. As usual, the week before and week after a trip completely nullify the rest benefits of the actual trip, which is why a real vacation needs three weeks: one to decompress and two to actually feel it. The trip itself was a real marathon as well, though in the good "I choose this" way. Paula decided to take her spring break convention trip by herself, so Isabel and I decided to go to Washington to take in the sights. Paula was also there...

Too often our to-do lists become all we see. We wake thinking of what needs doing. We fall to sleep with worry over what's unfinished. Through the day, we're reminded of this or that little task around the house or office. We become what we do. As children, we had pretty much one goal in mind ... "let's play." Young kids are in the moment. They're connected with their surroundings. Their work is exploration and making memories and having fun. As adults, we still have this choice. We can get off the hamster wheel, if only for a while, and...

I've heard it said many times that I shouldn't "let other me people rent space in my head." It's one of them pithy sayings that sounds immediately true and helpful, but ultimately ends up being wrong. It's wrong because it's nearly impossible. The tasks and the worries that swirl around my brain usually center themselves on other people, usually when I'm imagining a phone call where that person says the thing I fear. We're nearly always working on something that ultimately hinges on what people think of it, so by working, we're imagining our audience's reaction. Some are able to...

Years past, when I wrote everyday, I had a clearer sense of who I was writing to. Amidst the turmoil surrounding, real or imagine, I found refuge in writing to as yet unknown twins of spirt, the people I had longed to hear from my whole life. Having found a few of these, the need to write outward to the clear unknown has dimmed. I'm caught between the arrogance implicit in even assuming that someone else will read these words and the guilt of not using a gift I've been praised for. At times, the clamor of my imagined crowd...

What part in any time of day determines whether happy/sad outcome we imagine? When future thoughts occur do we step forth lightly or with worry? The future is not written, and though intuition gives a glimpse, it is not fear. This warm chill that rises has its own agenda. It's the other kind of faith: untrue....

What a lawyer would say: "is conclusively met where the reverse is considered true for all cases known to us at this time" What a programmer would say: ! (that's an exclamation point)...

Found another mom website today. I'm always saddened by "mother" bias in a parenting setting. I usually have the same sequence of thoughts ... fathers not welcome if women want equal help in caregiving, they need to start insisting on "parent" not "mom" it's an effective social demographic and simply makes more money it's karma for the myriad other gender exclusive examples favoring men. As one who stayed up nights and worked at home while my wife went outside to work, who chatted with moms at playgrounds and malls, I'm a big fan of fathers getting more of the good...