The Dream of Perfection

 By Jasmin Arceo; 

*student of Professor Dianne Siriban*

As I opened my eyes, I see my normal rough textured dirty white ceiling. I’ve had 9 hours of sleep but then I woke up feeling restless. I stood up and looked at the calendar hanging on the wall. It’s May 23, 2027 and its 9:00! Yeahp, I’m late for my work. I work as an event organizer and I am currently organizing an 18^th birthday party for a very fashionable girl who called and hired me months ago. My meeting with her is at 9:30am, wish I could make it. I’m all settled up and I’m gonna hit the roads. After stepping out the elevator, I saw the humanoid guard robot opening the main door for me. Geez, now I’m entering again the robot world. In our time, people don’t work anymore. All the robots do their work. All the robots are perfectly made to make their work very successful. Everything was perfect. I even work with robotic event organizers. Lots of people push me to stop working since it’s not needed anymore because of the perfectly programmed robots. For most people, they do the same thing over and over again each day.

            During years ago, it was the start of the spreading of humanoid robots. People are very excited to see them work but then, in just one blink, I’d wake up seeing robots sweeping the floor outside, driving a taxi, getting the orders of the people in the restaurant and nursing the old people. There was this one night when I went out with my friends at a club. They told us different stories about these robots. My friend, Gina, looked at us with her dazzling eyes telling about what she discovered about these robots. When she was walking at the streets of her hometown, she is feeling alone wondering where her true soul mate is. She was very sick of feeling alone and “even the nights were worse!”, she told us. She looked at the lovers at the street kissing each other which made her feel really bad of being alone. Then she walked inside a bar, looking for love. While she was sipping her margarita, one sexy guy was looking at her from afar. Because of the strobe lights and party atmosphere in the bar, she can’t see him clearer. The guy walked towards her. She looked at the guy from his firmly fixed hair, white skinned cheeks, leather jacket wrapping his muscular body, black pants and boots. She immediately fixed her super short dress and her sexy hair then sipped again in her margarita. The guy looked at her in the eye and started to talk to her. After meeting this guy, Gina fell in love with him even if that night at the club, she already knew that this hot guy is a humanoid robot. Now she is really proud in telling us that she has a robot boyfriend. She told us how happy she became each day and how contented and satisfied she was with this robot. All my other friends were laughing and were very proud of her. But I got myself thinking and asking on what’s happening in the world. Why does my friend have to fall in love with a robot? Doesn’t she know that he was unreal? But all I hear from her is that, everything was magical, everything was perfect. Then my friend, Chris, interrupted and told us about his story with robots. He started with the part about his sister’s son died when he was just little. After some time, at their dinner table, their dad suggested her to get a robot child to make her feel happy again. At first, Chris’ sister thought it was not right to replace her own son with a robot. But then she had thought of it then decided to get one. Until right now, he’s sister wasn’t regretting on what she has done. Because she told Chris that everything was perfect. Chris told us it was perfect. After that night, hearing all my friends saying the word, “Perfect.”, I just suddenly felt like I’m sick of it anymore. I’m scared that the robots may be the only ones working.  

            Going back to reality, everything is all about robots. I go inside a restaurant to eat lunch with a robot assisting me then taking my orders, and then I’d see from the other table someone dating a robot. Everything was perfect, people don’t have to work. People are all just sitting down, doing things which they want to do and doesn’t have any responsibility to think of. You step out of your messy room in the morning then going back home really clean without an effort of cleaning it. People are so lazy. I wish that I never wished perfection in life. I don’t want my life to be perfect, I want to put back the times before when there are no robots and all humans are working. People make mistakes, and no one is perfect. I’m so sick of perfection.

            Suddenly, I saw nothing then found myself opening my oeyes once more. Looking at my rough ceiling and realized that it was only just a dream. I learned something from my dream or more like a nightmare. I learned that perfection isn’t the key of paradise and happiness. Perfect world or world full of robots makes the people lazy, makes them feel too much fulfilled that they don’t want to act on something anymore. I don’t want to be lazy anymore and I want to work. I want to have a normal life. I don’t want to be stuck in a nightmare.

The Memory of the World by Halo Calvino

Is it a good or a weak SciFi?

For the first time I read the short story, "The Memory of the World", I thought it was a weak Science Fiction. I thought that the story was only about two people talking about their company and about the issue between the narrator and the guy he was talking to. 

But when I read the story once more, I was actually amazed and surprised about the contents in it. Maybe, the first time I read it, I wasn't reading through the lines. I find the story very interesting because it is full of ideas. 

I wasn' really sure on how these persons could save the memories of the people in a disc. But somehow, if you'd think about it, nowadays there are lots of small gadgets which contain loads of memory. And it is not impossible that someday, all the memories of a person could be stored in one small disc. :)

I really liked the part about "Lies". The story told so much about Lies and explained it thoroughly. Because of this, the reader could really relate and understand the feeling the narrator is experiencing during his situation. These are the words which struck me while I read.. 

"Lies exclude truth only superficially. You know very well that lies can be as revealing as the truth.."

"Lies are the only real information we can communicate. This is why I have not shied away from a moderate use of lies whenever they could simplify the message rather than complicating it."

Because of these things, I really think that the short story, "The Memory of the World", is a good SciFi. :)

My Robot Kuya

What kind of robot would I want? I want to have a big brother. :)Since I already have a big sister, I want to know what it's like to have a cool robot kuya. 

I don't want to have a super perfect kuya. 

I want the robot to be like a normal person. One of things which I want him to inherit is to have emotions and feelings. 

I want it to be normal, I want him to have mood swings so there will be a time when we'll get in to a fight just like a typical big brother. I want him to be playful and fun to be with and a kuya who will protect me from anything. 

Even if I want a not so perfect brother, I want to let him have a perfect love for a younger sister, for me. Despite the times which we would be fighting, the love for a sibling wouldn't still be erased. 

So basically, I want a super cool and not so perfect big brother robot who will have an endless love for me as his younger sister.

For next question...

In the creation and production of humanoid robots, where do you think science should draw the line at? Should there be a limit at all? Justify your opinion.

Just like what I wanted my big brother to be, I think I would want the humanoid robots to be not too perfect. I want them to act like humans in such a way that things they do are not always perfect. 

They can do some things perfectly but because of practice. Everything should start from nothing and then in time, turns to something almost perfect. I want them to earn their skills on something to make them feel more real and like a person. :)

Like I'm the only girl in the world. ;)

What am I gonna do during my very own post-apocalypse?? O.o

First, what I would want everyone to rebuild (everyone pertains to the survivors) is shelter which provides their own physiological needs. ;)

Let's say for example they will make their own houses by being resourceful, finding things which they could make their houses with. 

Before the survivors make their houses, they will consider if they are near to water and near to any places where they could plant or find sources for food.

Next, I want the survivors to rebuild places for agriculture and fishing where they could get their food. 

 

Also, it serves as the work for the survivors so that they can have food continuously.

So for the first two, they already have shelter and sources for food. Lastly....

I want the survivors to rebuild a small hospital or a clinic. 

In this part, after building it, they will have to search and find for medicines to provide when some of the people would be ill. 

I think these things could be very useful as a start from an apocalypse. :) And soon, they will have to develop more. But with these three buildings, they could live a simple life but very productively. :)

My Apocalypse

Apocalypse a.k.a. End of the World

How I want the "ending of my world" would be like..

I remember one Science Fiction movie entitled as, "Knowing".

In the movie, the point is that the aliens came to our planet and gave a call to every children on earth. The aliens or ETs knew about the end of the world, so what they did was in the end, they got all the children and earth to save them from the catastrophe which ended the world. They did this because they told them that these children will start a new generation after the end of the world. then on the part that the end of the world is near, the heat of the sun gets hotter and more intense until the sun came really close the earth and burned everything. 

 

I want my Apocalypse just like what happened in the movie.

the heat of the sun burned the earth. But for me, the best part of the movie was before the sun burned the earth, the whole family got together hugged each other and were really close to each other. It shows that until the end of the world, they would want to spend it with the one they love..

So that's how I wanted my world to end..

End it with my family before the heat of the sun strikes us. :)

Mutation, Cause of Radiation

 Mutation of sea creatures because of radiation in the sea in Japan

If radioactive material from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant—disabled by the March11 Japan earthquake and tsunami—continues to enter the ocean, marine life could be threatened.

In the past week, seawater samples taken near the nuclear power plant, on Japan's eastern coast, have shown elevated levels of radioactive isotopes, including cesium 137 and iodine 131, according to the New York Times.

All life on Earth and in the oceans lives with exposure to natural levels of ionizing radiation—high-frequency radiation with enough energy to change DNA. Most such genetic damage heals, but the addition of human-made radiation can make it harder for the body to repair broken genes.

Radiation concentrations in the Japanese seawater samples have fluctuated in past days, but on Wednesday the amount of iodine spiked to 3,355 times the legal limit for seawater, Japanese nuclear safety officials told the Associated Press.

That level is the highest so far—and an indication that more radiation is entering the ocean, though how is still unknown, the agency reported. Cesium was also found to be 20 times its safety limit on March 28, according to the Times.

*Reblogged

Because of these radiation, it can cause into Mutation.

Once in seawater, radiation can hurt ocean animals in several ways—by killing them outright, creating "bizarre mutations" in their offspring, or passing radioactive material up the food chain, according to Joseph Rachlin, director of Lehman College's Laboratory for Marine and Estuarine Research in New York City.

Because of genetics, some sea creatures may survive but with abnormalities. It's possible that levels of radioactive contamination near the Fukushima nuclear reactors could increase and cause some harm to local marine life. Marine organisms' eggs and larvae are highly sensitive to radiation, since radioactive atoms can replace other atoms in their bodies, resulting in radiation exposure that could alter their DNA.

The radiation can also be moved and spread because of the food chain. It can be easily adapted or a creature could easily get it through food chain. They will get these radiation if they eat some sea plants and small radioactive fishes or animals. 

Our Life Dreams, the Utopia.

"Melancholy and utopia are heads and tails of the same coin."

GUNTER GRASS, "On Stasis in Progress," From the Diary of a Snail

  What is UTOPIA??

 

A Paradise?

or...

our imaginations? :)

Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt to create an ideal society, and fictional societies portrayed in literature. It has spawned other concepts, most prominently dystopia.

However, there are problems which are related to Utopia. One of these problems is poor education.. 

Education is one of the most important thing in our life. It is like in a chain reaction. 

When there is poor education,  it may also cause other kinds of problems like high birth rate and low income then malnutrition. 

A possible solution to this problem!

These problems could be avoided if we start to let people learn about family planning. Let them realize the things which they will have to consider before planning to start a family. They should know that education is very important and every human deserves a good education. 

But because of the unplanned start of family, their children grow with poor education. 

We could have the Utopia which we all wanted if we just work out with these problems. 

Although we all believe that being perfect is not real, 
but there's nothing to worry about in trying to reach for Perfectness. :)

ROBOTS! Our helpful friends. :>

What are ROBOTS?

A robot is a mechanical intelligent agent which can perform tasks on its own, or with guidance. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine which is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous or semi-autonomous and come in those two basic types: those which are used for research into human-like systems, such as ASIMO and TOPIO, as well as those into more defined and specific roles, such as Nano robots and Swarm robots; and helper robots which are used to make or move things or perform menial or dangerous tasks, such as Industrial robots or mobile or servicing robots. Another common characteristic is that, by its appearance or movements, a robot often conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own.

The Laws of Robotics:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

LATEST ROBOTS:

BigDog the Mule

Boston Dynamics has created BigDog the robotic pack mule which according to them is "the most advanced quadruped robot on Earth!" BigDog can carry four infantry backpacks while keeping its balance over different type of terrains. BigDog can walk through mud, over slippery snow, over rocks, up a hill, and even keeps itself from toppling over when it's being kicked! BigDog stands about waist high, can carry 165 lbs (75 kg), can walk through most terrain and can always keep its balance. The on-board computer controls locomotion, monitors external & internal sensors and keeps itself balanced. A gasoline engine powers BigDog's hydraulic system for actuating the hydraulically controlled legs.

ASIMO Humanoid Robot

ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative MObility) is a bipadel humanoid robot from Honda . This robot has been evolving since its inception in 1986. Current version of ASIMO is 1.2 meter tall and weighs 43 Kg. This size enables ASIMO to actually perform tasks within the realm of a human living environment. It also walks in a smooth fashion which closely resembles that of a human being.
Advanced Walking Technology Predicted Movement Control (for predicting the next move and shifting the center of gravity accordingly) is combined with existing walking control know-how to create i-WALK (intelligent real-time flexible walking) technology, permitting smooth changes of direction. The latest updates on the ASIMO robot are available at Honda .

HRP-2m Choromet HRP-2m Choromet

The Choromet is expected to be available from General Robotics in September, with price which is less then five grands. The Choromet is about 13-3/4 inches tall, and is capable of walking upright on two legs. Four companies in Japan have created a relatively low-cost, user-programmable humanoid robot targeting educational and research applications. The HRP-2m Choromet uses technology from Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and is user-programmable thanks to open software running on a user-space real-time Linux implementation. AIST hopes Choromet's ability to run software-based movement programs on a real-time Linux platform will enable researchers and schools to experiment with the effectiveness of humanoid robot motion pattern applications.

Those were just some examples of Robots which I have researched. These robots are very much useful and helpful in our lives. So there, thank you for reading my blog. Hope you liked it. ;)

Repent Harlequin!

"Repent Harlequin!", 

said the TICKTOCKMAN.

                        First, I want to share my reaction about this short story. I think that this story is pretty much interesting. I actually learned some new words by reading these short story. I held my iPhone on my left hand while reading the short story and look for the meaning of the words which I cant understand. Haha. 

           I started to feel the urge to read it fully when I got to the part when the author explained about time in their place.

Time is a very important thing for every person nowadays. As for my case, a college student, when I came late in class several times, it might affect my grades at the end of the term. Why? because, the things which I "should have" learned were not known by my mind because I missed the time learning it; I would miss doing my homework because I wasn't there when it was announced. That is how important time is. Time covers lots of small things which could come together as a big thing. 

           So for the Repent Harlequin, they have this one of the major characters called the Ticktockman. The ticktockman is a very powerful man for he holds every thing by the people. So for the case of our professors, their "ticktockman" is Ms. Jenny. This ticktockman checks if these people go to their places on time. Because for them, it is really important to be on time. And there was this point when the people don't let time serve them, but what happened was, they serve time. They became slaves of time.

        These are the words which really struck me when I read the short story. Additional to that is when it reached to the point wherein it becomes more than a minor inconvenience to be late. Being late became a sin. Being late became a crime!

           Moving on with TIME, there was this one thing which struck me. It's not about time and being late, nor knowing who Harlequin is. One thing which struck me is when the wife of Marshall got the letter and was anxious about who the letter is for. She prayed to God that the letter is not for her, rather is for her husband or children. Family is one of the first priorities of us Filipinos. As a mother, you would rather wish that you would die not your kids. You would want to sacrifice your life for them. If you would get the chance to save them, you save your family until your last breath. But in the story, it was different. The mother was very self-centered. It was not practical and very moral. 

       People in the story was changed because of time. Their personality, way of thinking and even on the way they act changed just because of time.

 "Time could control anything, but the most difficult part is when you became a slave of time."  

I understand Science Fiction!

At first, when people ask me, what are the Science Fiction movies? I just think of Star Wars, Aliens, etc. I didn't know that Science Fiction could be big and interesting. 

During the first day of my Science Fiction class, I'm not actually sure of what Science Fiction when I came inside the room. But at the end of the class, I knew that Fantasy and Science Fiction is somehow different. I sometimes thought Fantasy is just like Science Fiction. It was very cool understanding Science Fiction.

Now, what is Science Fiction??

Is it about what's going to happen on the future?

Is it about robots??

Is it about aliens??

"SciFi reflects scientific thought, a fiction of things-to-come based on things-on-hand."

From what I have understood in our lecture about SciFi, SciFi is:

• nature of changes that face us
• includes the cyborgs
• draw on scientific methods and fact
• sometimes leads to anxiety and fear to the things on the future

  Now, here is my shortlist for good Science Fiction movies and weak Science Fiction movies. :)

     

Good Science Fiction movies:

First movie: X-men 

 For me, X-men is a great Science Fiction action movie. It introduced lots of new superheroes when it was released. The movie even got an all time favorite character, Wolverine. I think because of the cool features and unexpected routines. It was a great movie.

Second movie: Iron man 2

 

Iron Man 2 is one of my favorites. I like it because for the new awesome things they use there. Most especially the hologram computer. It is one of the bests. It somehow shows the things on the future (like gadgets, cars, etc.).

Third movie: Captain America

I can hardly remember it because it was a long time ago but then, I could still remember it. It was so nice. It was very well directed according to its comic book. That is the good thing on this movie.

Weak Science Fiction movies:

First movie: Superman

Well for me, some superhero movies were fail or weak science fiction movies. It was a great movie and a very "gwapo" actor, but then when in terms of Science Fiction, it's just not it. 

Second movie: Batman

As we all know, Batman is not a real superhero. He does not have powers. He doesn't have this machine part of a body nor a different DNA. So, it was quite impossible for him to be a very good superhero when all he has is good gadgets and a very nice car. :)

Third movie: The Hulk

The Hulk is a great movie but it was really not that realistic or it's very hard to have an interest in because it is full of fantasies. It is very impossible to get a very very high blood pressure and which would turn out to be a very big and muscular creature. It's not that nice in relation to SciFi. 

So there, thank you for reading my reviews. 

I hope it somehow helped you. :D