UP-Robots: the birth of useful personal robotics

According to Forbes, robots are going to be the next tech bubble. There's nothing really new going around the net these days, just fights over taking control of the next big thing, which is probably going to be old after a couple of months. Facebook is already going down, with lesser new subscriptions every day.

A bubble is something that, by definition, is supposed to burst, sooner or later. The trick is to ride it while it's still full (of air), and to put your money in it while it's still taking shape. Robots are going to happen, sooner or later. They are going to take over a lot more of tasks around our houses, our places of work, our cities, our fields, our factories, even in our nice little battlefields abroad...

Of course this is already happening, what's new is that it's going to happen right before our noses. Technology is getting cheaper, and something is going to hit big time our supermarket shelves and start a new trend, simplifying something that we do everyday. It's not going to be a gadget. Gadgets are expensive for what they do and boring after a short time. This is something that we are going to buy and hold on to for no less then five years, like a TV set or a laundering machine. Everybody is going to have one. It's going to interact with us and with our houses, it's not going to kill our cat or molest our children and it will talk and walk and do something really cleaver.

During the next 2 to 5 years Auchan is going to start selling it.

If you know what it is, put your money in it.

Quote of the day, from the same Forbes' article:
"Will Microsoft merge with Yahoo! in the same way that a shark merges with a surfer?"

(A deleted scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

Vel'oh!

New site here: http://www.veloh.lu/.

Véloh!
Envoyé par weblessentiel dans Evènements sur wat.tv

A new comment about the Marcel Kalmann incident

An update to my previous posts (here, here and here):

"Anonymous said...
Belgian newspaper De Standaard has an article about this story today, basically showing that the story is incorrect, and that the city of Bruges has complained to the newspaper Joods Actueel that launched the story for not checking its sources and publishing an incorrect story. Mr Kalmann is said to have gone to the press in Holland before with invented stories
27.2.08"

You can read the De Standaard article here. Besides what's written in the above comment, it also says that the discussion concerned the price asked for one coffee (6.5 euros), and that Professor Kalmann is not an American citizen, nor a professor. After complaining to the police about a supposed anti-Semitic discrimination, he then demanded an English written certification of the complaint (at least that's what I read in my BabelFish translation...). Afterwards, he is said to have expressed himself in perfect Dutch. Back in 2001, Mr. Kalmann was involved in a similar "incident" in the Netherlands (I have tried to confirm this one, but never could reach the post reporting it; I tried again today, and it's now available here, where the whole story was covered very seriously).

If any of my Dutch-speaking readers wants to correct "my" translation of the article, or report another perspective of the incident, please feel free to leave a comment or to e-mail me. I will publish it.

More problems with the bicycle contract in Luxembourg City

The free bicycle system - and the contract with JC Decaux - is still fuelling the political debate in Luxembourg City. Some of the MUPIs (Mobilier Urban pour l'information) were removed, and it seems that others will follow, because their location was said to be dangerous for traffic visibility. A written approval from the Ministry of Culture is also missing, according to the opposition. "This fairy tale comes from people who have no clue about public tenders", says the City Council.

The result of all this is obvious: the City will have to loose a lot of money to honor the contract with JC Decaux, and the opposition will have a very good argument for the coming election, although they don't seem to have any solutions or a positive attitude towards pollution or traffic increase (the bicycles are not to supposed to solve any traffic or pollution problems, they're just a very good way to start changing, to say "we care, we are aware of the problem, we are doing something"). This Friday the City Council will present a preliminary study for a Plan d’aménagement général that will deal with a foreseen increase of residents, jobs and number of cars entering the city everyday. First councillor François Bausch (from the Greens, and best known for putting his money where his mouth is: I'm not the only one to see him cruising trough the city in his bicycle almost everyday) said that by 2020 the Council expects to have tripled the offer of public transportation and doubled the numbers of soft mobility (walking, cycling).

More comments (in French) here and here.

Sarkozy's video update

The video was gone... Here it is again. (I guess Le Parisien is trying to get back all the traffic from YouTube)

Nicolas Sarkozy: "Piss off, you prick"

There is an interesting little discussion going on here over the best English translation of Sarkozy's very polite words. It was not my intention to take part in it, but I have to admit that "fuck you" is not the best match for "casse-toi". It's closer to "sod off" or "piss off". About "pauvre con", I keep my original translation: "you prick". Very nice, any how.

Nicolas Sarkozy: Casse toi pauvre con!

Nicolas Sarkozy, the Frech president, at the opening of the annual Salon de l'agriculture, in Paris, this Saturday: "Fuck you, you prick" (or any other possible translation). The guy was refusing to shake his hand. (check the update: Piss off, you prick)

"The right way to make mayonnaise, cheese soufflé and foie gras is to receive protection from the United Nations if the latest ploy from President Sarkozy wins approval from the international body. Mr Sarkozy announced that he wants la cuisine française to be listed by Unesco, the UN agency, as part of the world's cultural heritage. " (TimesOnline)

"France is back in Europe," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy following the adoption of a law that allows him to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. Be afraid. Be very afraid.