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Robot Plays the Flute Like a Human

An article from http://newslite.tv/2008/11/06/robot-plays-the-flute-better-t.html
Robot plays the flute like a human
November 6, 2008 6:57 PM



Robots could soon be taking over the orchestra if this chap is anything to go by, and if they do they will be wearing snazzy hats too.

The robot flautist, or WF4IV as he likes to be called (you know what these musical types are like) is the latest creation from Waseda University.

He is able to play complex musical scores perfectly and is even able to engage with the audience giving him what his creators say is a human-like quality.

Everything about him is designed to make him the perfect musician, his mouth and lungs have been carefully designed to mimic and improve upon the expert air control of a professional flautist.

His eyes even have cameras which monitor other members of the orchestra and interact with their performance ... there is however, no explanation for the hat.
WF4IV is, as his name would suggest the forth in series of flute playing robots from the Japanese university.

Research started in 1990 but the first model was not created until 2003.

In this version the robot's tongue was redesigned to enable the double-tonguing technique (not what you are thinking) a high-speed playing technique.


Watch him perform 'Flight of the Bumblebee' almost flawlessly - well certainly better than I could do.

Makers hope he will one day be sophisticated enough to be able to teach music to pupils, hopefully he won't lead them off like the Pied Piper.

Waseda University

Mickey Mouse for President

According to American Partisen Mickey Mouse gets approximately 20,000 votes in each general election. Other notable write in candidates include Donald duck, Bart Simpson and Madonna. Those of you as old as I may remember the popular 1968 slogan “Pat Paulsen for president.”

In 1992 Pat Paulsen received enough votes in a few counties to come in 2nd to Bill Clinton. That same year he came in second to George Bush in the North Dakota Republican Primary. In the 1996 primaries Pat Paulsen received a total of 76,754 votes, although Paulsen died in 1997 he received 10,984 votes in the last republican primary - enough again to be considered a major spoiler in the election. This year because of feelings of national political hopelessness and discontent, political experts believe Paulsen has the potential to siphon votes off from both parties and become a spoiler once again.

On average only about 60% of registered voters vote in each election. Between 1-5% of those are willing to throw away their vote. So if you tell yourself that your vote doesn’t count, you are mistaken. In a country of 300 million people, a mere 10,000 votes can make or break an election. If every voter voted for a viable candidate, instead of throwing away their vote, the outcome might be different. Or if only 200 people from each state decided that their vote might count, and voted, they could change the outcome of American history.

Ventriloquism In Motion: How Sound Can Move Light

Ventriloquism In Motion: How Sound Can Move Light

ScienceDaily (Aug. 24, 2008) — Research led by Dr Elliot Freeman, lecturer in psychology at Brunel University’s School of Social Sciences, recently published in Current Biology, confirms that what we see can sometimes depend as much on our ears as on our eyes.

The study, conducted in conjunction with Prof. Jon Driver at University College London, revealed that the perceived direction of motion from a given visual object (in this case, red bars across a screen), depends on minute variations in the timing of an accompanying sound (a sequence of beeps, for example). This provides evidence that the brain’s integration of these visual and audio cues occurs at a very early stage of processing.

Every day examples of audio-visual integration include our ability to identify who is saying what in a noisy crowd and the illusion that sound comes directly from the an actor’s lips seen on a television, rather than from the loudspeakers; the latter is the well-known ‘Ventriloquist Effect’, where seeing influences the location of sounds.

The audiovisual illusion revealed by this new research could be dubbed ‘reverse ventriloquism in motion’, as it shows that sound affects what we see. This might explain why if we watch dancing without sound, the dancers appear to have no rhythm; and why the sound of a ball hitting a racket can help us to determine the direction of the ball in a game of tennis even though the ball moves faster that the camera or eye can track.

Dr. Freeman believes that his research could have profound implications for the understanding of the neural processes that underlie multisensory perception. This knowledge could be applied in a number of industries: “The illusion could be applied to novel displays that change their appearance depending on sound, which may be of use in advertising or providing an eye-catching multisensory warning or alert in safety-critical applications. It may also eventually be useful in detecting and diagnosing subtle perceptual differences thought to be characteristic of certain clinical conditions such as dyslexia and autistic spectrum.”

Adapted from materials provided by Brunel University.

The Michael Phelps Olympic Diet

Michael Phelps is sweeping the Olympics this month as he has now won more gold medals than any other Olympic swimmer in history. At 6 foot 4 inches tall and about 200 pounds he is a tower of muscle and mass.

In a recent interview he said that all you have to do to follow his athletic diet is to order the entire left side of the menu at Olive Garden and then go to sleep. funny, I tried that diet once and ended up looking more like the Goodyear Blimp. I suppose the real "diet" secret is to power swim 7 hours a day.

This morning I was listening to the radio and heard the host list what Michael Phelps eats in a day; I was completely floored. He eats an average of 12,000 calories a day. The average man eats about 2000 calories a day. Unbelievable! I have only one question though, where's the veggies?! Men.

Breakfast:
Phelps starts off his morning by eating 3 fried-egg sandwiches piled high with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

He then eats a 5-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.

Lunch:
At lunch he downs up a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread - he also drinks about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks with his meal.

Dinner:
For dinner, the athlete loads up on carbs by eating another pound of pasta and an entire pizza.

He washes all that all down with another 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

I'm hoping his pasta dishes come with veggies, I mean, he wouldn't want to be a bad example right?

Alarm Clock with Nine Lives

This is every cat I have ever owned. Aren't pets wonderful?!

If you've ever owned a cat...
Uploaded by a62vw

FISH PEDICURE!!! Live Fish Eat Dead Feet Skin.

In the effort of living green perhaps this will be the next best way to save the planet. Imagine, no more dead skin cells filling our landfills or polluting the water. GO GREEN!

Liquid? Solid? You be the Judge - Cornstarch Experiment on Ellen D.

I love quirky science experiments and You Tube has plenty to share. Life is full of amazing and entertaining venues. I believe we can enrich our life by finding and enjoying them.

What Happened to the Electric Car?

So what is so unobtainable that Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks and Peter Horton were unable to buy one? It's not a baseball team or a tropical private island. The one thing that no amount of wealth can purchase is a GM, EV1 electric car.

In the late 90's several auto manufactures began to lease all-electric vehicles that could go 100 miles between charges. They were large and comfy enough for a family of 4 and could keep up with any gas guzzler on the highway. Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks and Peter Horton all leased EV1's. But when the car companies and the oil companies decided to trash the vehicles not even these high profile people were able to purchase their vehicle - at any cost.

GM had made the decision to lease the vehicles, instead of selling them, just so they would have the power to destroy them later on. And that is exactly what they did. When people offered to pay far more than the $25,000 sticker price for their already used cars GM refused. Instead the cars were all taken back, at the end of each lease period, and shredded.

Until recently the last EV1 known to exist was on display at a Smithsonian Museum. But GM decided that people didn't need to be reminded that electric vehicles were a possible answer to the fuel crisis. They want the public to forget that the technology already exists so they had the car taken off display. Why? Because from 1997-2003 the leased car became the most requested vehicle on GM lots. GM soon realized that the electric vehicles were so reliable that they didn't need to visit service and parts departments as often as gas vehicles. And that meant loss of revenue for auto manufacturers. It all came down to greed overruling public desire and environmental health.

And what happened to the diesel vehicles of the 80's that were getting an average of 60 mpg? I owned a diesel VW Rabbit that got 60 mpg even in mountainous terrain. It needed frequent maintenance, as did many of the diesel cars of the period, so that wasn't an issue for the manufacturers. In fact it was the oil companies that began to panic. Diesel at the time was about 19 cents a gallon which was about 1/3 the price of gas. And the incredible gas mileage the cars got meant that fewer gallons of fuel were being sold. As soon as the oil companies saw that the diesel car was becoming a high demand vehicle they raised the price of diesel to rival and even surpass the price of gasoline. Again, it was all about greed.

We have the technology for electric vehicles, fuel operated vehicles that get 60-plus MPG and even solar cars, but government and big business is more interested in maintaining their outrageous bank accounts than in providing environmentally friendly transportation. We, the people have been prevented from having a voice for so long that we are becoming complacent and passive to the point of non-action. What will it take to rile us up enough for us to stand up and take our power back? What ever happened to the idea of "Power to the People?"

Dance Away Your Troubles

At 23 months old she is already a dancing queen.

There is something wonderful about the spontaneous, jubilant, expression of a child's happiness.

If we would all just let loose once in a while and dance, we could get through our difficulties without so much stress.

The IRS and Governmentlly Enforced Robbery

So April 15th has come and gone once again; the most disliked American ritual - tax day, has passed.

This morning I listened to a man brag about his keen understanding of the tax system and how that knowledge enabled him to keep from paying any taxes this year. "Oh, really," I responded, "didn't you pay the government about $30,000 in taxes over the course of the year?" he was visibly shaken by my abrupt declaration of the truth and admitted that he had indeed paid about a third of his income to the government.

That got me thinking. Our government figured out long ago that if you automatically have money taken out of your paycheck and put into a savings account every week you aren't likely to miss that skimmed money. If you have never held it in your hands it seems as if it doesn't exist. So they devised a system where they take your money before you see it and put it into their bank account, hoping that we won't protest; and for the most-part, we don't.

But what if you got to keep all of your money every week, and at the end of the year the government said you had to write them a check for $30,000 (or roughly a third of your annual income)? My guess is that people would scream, riot and do whatever they could to get out of giving their money to the crookedest charity in the US, the US government.

So why are we so passive about allowing our hard earned money to be snatched from us every week? Do we truly believe that we cannot fight city hall? Probably. And unless there were a nationwide boycott against the IRS in which nearly every citizen participated, nothing much would change.

So what's a person to do besides blog about their angst? Well one thing is to learn about where your money is going, and to begin participating in the process of deciding what the government uses it for.

Taxes are just a way to socialize our society. Like Robin Hood, the government takes from the employed and gives to the bureaucrats. About 70% of your hard earned tax dollar goes to pay someone else's salary and administrative costs that go along with their government appointed job. Another 15% goes to provide homes and money for the unemployed and the rest goes to funding ridiculous pseudo-researchers and their pet projects.

Every time you vote yes on a ballot issue that says it will cost money to provide for that service you are willingly allowing the government to take more out of your paycheck. Why not just keep your money and decide for yourself which charities to support? Instead of creating countless administrative agencies to decide how the remainder of the money will be spent. Why doesn't the government give us a list of charities we can give to and allow us to bypass the middleman? I guarantee that the money would go further to help those in need and we the contributor would feel a deeper sense of connection to out American neighbors.

Even if the IRS forcibly required us to donate 10-15% of our income to our chosen charities, not only would the money be better invested but we would still end up with more than we have now. We could provide better for our own family. The economy would flourish, and we would feel more in control of our personal destiny.

I understand that taxes are already such an integrated part of our society that changing the system is only a pipe dream. But now that I have given all of my money to the government, dreaming is the only pastime I can afford.

Bugs Bunny for President?

According to an article by Jeff Greenfield of Slate.com every election year since 1960 a pole is taken asking people who they would vote for for president - Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck. Hands down, every 4 years the waskaly wabbit wins the nomination for president of the United States. It may sound like comedy but since the 1960's analysts have studied the phenomenon and have come to some interesting conclusions.

"Bugs and Daffy represent polar opposites in how to deal with the world. Bugs is at ease, laid back, secure, confident. He's onto the cons of his adversaries. Bugs never raises his voice, never flails at his opponents or at the world. He is rarely an aggressor. When he is pushed too far and must respond, Bugs always prevails" writes Greenfield.

Daffy Duck, by contrast, is always at war with a hostile world. Greenfield adds, "He fumes, he clenches his fists, his eyes bulge, and his entire body tenses with fury. His response to bad news is a sibilant sneer ("Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin!"). In one classic duel with Bugs, the two try to persuade Elmer Fudd to shoot the other—until Daffy, tricked by Bugs' wordplay, screams, 'Shoot me now! ...Hmmm,' he adds a moment later in a rare bit of self-scrutiny. "Pronoun trouble."

The article goes on to make parallels between the Loony Toon characters and past and present presidential nominees, and sure enough, Bugs Bunny always wins.

In 2000, when George W. and Al Gore were sparing partners, the two created one of the most memorable debate quips in recent history. As Bush began answering a question Al Gore arrogantly stood up and began walking behind Bush almost as if he were nervously stalking his opponent. Bush looked over his shoulder, smiled wryly and said "Oh, hi there!" It was a classic, laid back and lightly comedic, Bugs vanquishing tactic - and the debate was effectively over.

Greenfield states "Is there any doubt about who is Bugs and who is Daffy between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama? When Clinton insisted that Obama not simply "denounce" Louis Farrakhan but "reject him," Obama shrugged. "Well, he said, I don't really see any difference, but if you think there is, I reject and denounce." Very bugs-like.

So this begs the question, does life imitate art or is the political stage and it's players a collection of personified characters better describes as Loony Toons?

Old Fashioned Family is Best for Children

Well I've got another granddaughter on the way. She is due in about a week but and we can hardly wait. As usual I wish we lived closer so that I could be a bigger part of my family's life. Being a mother, mother-in-law and grandmother has got to be the best part of life. I do believe that having a close loving family is the best way to enjoy life to the fullest.

There is something to be said for the way families used to function. I'm talking about family structure in world history up until about 100 years ago. Families stayed together geographically. Children grew up and married and still lived with their family - often in a new home built for them on the same piece of pasture land that they grew up on. Children were raised by their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Cousins were best friends and family was the central focus of life.

In spite of the technological deficit and physical hardships, children felt secure in the large family unit. They had more than their parents telling them how to grow into adults, they had the example of everyone around them showing them social etiquette and family obligations. Work ethic was taught early on and they grew up knowing that their contribution to the family was important.

Mother-in-laws remembered what it felt like to be the young bride and new member of the family and so it was easy for them to welcome their son's wife with open, loving arms. If fact she was probably happy to have another woman in the family to commiserate with. Fathers were eager to see their young sons become men and so they encouraged them and accepted them as they grew into individuals with thoughts and opinions of their own.

Of course there were families with more than their share of troubles. I'm sure that mental illness, domestic violence and substance abuse tore families apart then just as they do now. And history is full of stories of children growing up to become outlaws and ladies of the night - likely products of these troubled families. But overall, I think that society functioned nicely for most.

Families today are becoming less cohesive and more isolated from each other and from society in general. We are becoming a culture of lonely, depressed islands unto ourselves. Parents rationalize that a nanny is a good substitute for their own time and attention. And the latest studies show that such children grow up narcissistic and dependent rather than feeling like important contributors to the world around them.

Truth is that no era in history seems to have completely mastered a way to produce a generation of whole, self assured adults. But I do believe that we are falling way off the mark in today's hedonistic, personal and family culture. We are experimenting with the lives of our children and paying too much attention to our own desires and not enough to the needs of our children.

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Now playing: KXNT
via FoxyTunes

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Now playing: KXNT
via FoxyTunes

Hillbillery - Black Gold, Arkansas Tea...

Hillbillary Clinton Photo.

Many have begged the question, "Who will really be leading the country if Hilary wins the presidential election?" Those who remember the Clintons first 8 years in the White House, without the fog of idealism that seems to obstruct the view of some, can remember how in many ways, they were like hillbillies in designer clothes. Thus the creation of the term Hillbillery. It's funny, they are anything but united in their marriage but when you put their names (or their photos) together it seems to indicate that they were meant for each other.

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Now playing: KXNT
via FoxyTunes

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Now playing: KXNT
via FoxyTunes

Square Watermelon, Japanese Farmers Test the Limits

Round watermelons don't stack very well, especially when you are attempting to ship them in large quantities. So Japanese farmers have developed a way to force watermelons to grow in cubes instead of in large ovals.

Once the small fruit has begun to grow they insert it into a square jug. This forces the watermelon to grow to fit the shape of the jug. Ingenious! Not only does this allow them to ship the fruit more efficiently but it also allows chefs to cut the fruit into neat cubes without any waste. And in Japan, that is a very important selling factor as watermelon is very expensive. According to Japanese restaurant owners, the ability to make every ounce count compensates for the higher price of the square delicacy.

Life is a constant exercise in imagination and ingenuity.

Freedom from Anger

Every once in a while I meet someone who is so negative, so angry that they have forgotten how to enjoy life. On more than one occasion I have commented on their pattern of anger and have received an instant, angry response of "I'm not an angry person...humph, scowl, growl."

Anger is a surface feeling. It is always a cover for another more vulnerable feeling such as fear or frustration. Learning to recognize the underlying emotion can help you express your feelings with words instead of resorting to the primitive expression of acting out.

What a lot of people haven't realized yet is that anger is a choice. Sure all of us have moments of irritation, frustration and impatience, but it is our choice to foster those feelings and allow them to grow into anger and bad behavior. Although we would like to believe that we are not in control of our feelings and behaviors regarding anger, the fact is that we are - or at least we can choose to be.

Some people become so habitually angry that they actually become accustom to feeling negative and they forget what it felt like to be at peace with themselves and with the world. Anger, like gambling and alcohol can become an addiction, creating a sad and miserable lifestyle.

If you find yourself feeling negative, judgmental, angry or sullen much of the time you can choose today, this minute to change your life. Here are a few first steps you can take to begin feeling the peace and freedom that comes with ridding yourself of anger and negativity.

1. Make a firm and committed decision to replace every negative thought with a positive one.

2. Every time you have a judgmental, angry or negative thought replace it by thinking of something you are grateful for, something positive about the person you are thinking about or something you can do to stop the negative thought from turning into a negative behavior.

3. Start including feeling words in your vocabulary. Use I statements to express yourself, i.e. "I feel hurt when I am ignored because I fear that I'm not important to you."

4. Do something positive for yourself for every day that you are able to reach your goal of remaining positive.

5. Share your success with others. Teaching others is a great way to reinforce your own healthy habits. And letting others praise you for your efforts is positive reinforcement for a job well done.

6. Allow yourself to forgive. Forgiveness is a powerful deterrent to negativity. Learning to forgive yourself and others is one of the quickest ways to begin to feel less negative and angry. Forgiving doesn't mean that you now accept the wrong that has been committed; it just means that you have decided not to let your anger control your life or your feelings anymore.

7. Take a break. When you begin to feel frustrated step back from the situation and figure out what your true underlying feeling is. Then find words to express your fears and frustrations rather than exploding angrily.

Take your power back. Let go of your anger and allow yourself to start enjoying life. Today only comes around once. Choose to make it the happiest day yet.

God and the Mind of a Woman

So, a priest a rabbi and a minister went for a walk along the beach. All of a sudden the Lord came to them and told them he would answer one prayer for each of them. The priest clasped his hands and said "Oh Father, please bring the people back to my church. They just don't see the importance of attending mass anymore." Then just like that the priest was gone and his prayer was answered.

Then the rabbi said "I have one prayer that is most important to me, please let their be peace in the Middle East." Then boom, just like that, there was peace in the Middle East.

At that the minister said "Oh Lord, I work so hard without any rest and I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, but I'm afraid to fly. Could you create a bridge between here and Hawaii so that we could get to Hawaii more easily?"

The Lord looked down at the minister and said "A bridge? But that is not a rational request, and a bridge that long would be a huge waste of resources. Don't you have another prayer that I could answer?"

The minister thought for a moment and then said. "Yes Lord, I have a wife and 3 daughters. No matter how hard I try I just cannot make them happy. So, could you help me to truly understand the mind of woman?"

"The Lord quickly answered, "So, should I make that bridge two lanes wide or four?"


No commentary needed.