Category Archives: Robots

Just Finished Mowing the Front Yard

Posted in A Little About me, Driver-less cars, Elections, experience, Lawyers and Representation, Politcal Opinion, Robots by

I know. You could care less. However, have you not heard the saying, Laziness is the mother of invention? I know. Not accurate. Same thing only different.

I look at these kids with these R/C cars running them up and down the street at breakneck speeds while the kid operating the $40 toy car stands in one place.

I look at it and I shake my head. Why can’t I do that with my lawn mower? I mean, all that is missing is the R/C, right. Then I can sit under my porch on an elevated seat in the shade. Without even working up a small sweat, I can watch as my modern day mower makes short work of shortening my grass.

My first consideration is my doctor. He wants to make sure I get some good exercise once a week. [Now that is almost an oxymoron. How can exercise be good?]

On the other hand, it might be a conspiracy of the lawyers. It’s something of a disorganized thing. The word might already be spread that the lawyers will all be ready to jump on that lawsuit after the first accident. It ought to be worth a few thousand, even if the manufacturer is not at fault. I mean, the manufacturer will need a well-paid lawyer to explain why the machine is not at fault whilst the other is paid big bucks to prove it is.

So, while laziness might encourage invention, it provides no competition to the discouragement of the legal system.

It does cause me a little curiosity of how much more advanced civilization would be without the legal anchor we must drag behind us.

Do you suppose I could mount my own R/C on a mower. Sitting on my porch in the shade with a Diet Coke while the mower gets the exercise my doctor insist I have would be good, right?

Now I ask you, who else do you know who can write a humorous, interesting post about mowing lawns? This while arguing that our society has too many laws and lawyers.

Looking For More Mens

Posted in Abuse of Power, Biden, Customer complaints, Fast Food, FOC, Kamala, Liberals, Robots by

I know it is improper grammar but I have heard it said before and I think, in this case it is apropos.

I went into McDonald’s and tried to order at the counter. They said, due to lack of personnel (a proper way of saying mens) we would have to order at the kiosk. I told her that I have tried to use the things before without any success. She told me that I had to use the computer to order.

So I went over to the kiosk and tried to order three times without success. I mean I am reasonably persistent. However, logic told me that it would do me little good to continue. I told the woman we would need to go somewhere else. She became impatient with me and went over to kiosk and proceeded to show me how easy it was.

GUESS WHAT? Your right. It didn’t work for her either. She was persistent too. She tried twice on one kiosk and once on two more kiosks.

I can’t blame the woman. To be sure, every one is trying to find more mens. It is literally the FOCs’ fault. They have decided to pay people for doing nothing. So they sit at home and do nothing.

It was, to be sure, the convergence of two problems. The dems and the people who wrote the programing for the kiosk. Maybe I err. It is very possible that it might have been those who made the specifications for the kiosks. Either way, the programming is full of bugs and they just don’t work as advertised.

After working around computers all my life I’d guess it is simply trying to get too fancy. They have all these beautiful pictures up there to help make people hungry and they forget the purpose of the thing… to make it easy to order food.

So, if you are looking on McDonald’s Corp, this is the way I would like it. The screen is large enough to show the whole menu at one time. First, there should be a list off all the menu items. To the left would be a a plus and minus sign. To increase or decrease the count, the customer presses one or the other. Simple. I’m sure there would be dozens of ways to deal with special orders. If nothing else, if four cheeseburgers are being ordered, four lines could be temporarily displayed. pseudo-buttons could be displayed on each line for deleting onions and or mustered, etc.

I am not a professional programmer and I am sure, given a couple of months, I could write such a program in a month or so. It’s not that hard. Like they say in computer programming; keep it simple, stupid. (KISS) Every time you make something more complex, you increase the chances of it malfunctioning. Also, in this case, you make it harder to operate.

Worse yet, instead of saving employee time, it cost this employ about twenty minutes. Then, when it was all over, she had to resort to the old way anyway.

Fixing the kiosk might be McDonald’s idea of resolving the problem. As for me, I’d rather give my order to a human. By the way, a reminder. Some people don’t complain. They just walk out and go somewhere else. It is normally the easiest way of resolving the problem.

As for the more mens problem, let’s just vote the FOCs out of office. The manning levels will then take care of themselves.

A New Use for a Robot

Posted in Computers, Politcal Opinion, Robots, Uncategorized by

With a background in electronics, computers and the Marines, it is only normal I should have an interest in robots.  Already robots have changed the way we fight wars.  A drone is nothing more than a specialized robot.  It is certainly nice to be able to send out a drone to have a good look to see what enemy assets are in the area.

I saw on TV a robot that looks a lot like an ox.  The Pentagon looked at it as a vehicle to carry a soldier’s ammunition and equipment while walking behind him.  The robot they demonstrated actually had the ability to follow the soldier automatically.  It sounded like a good idea to me, but with two changes.  First, I would like to ride on the back of the robot and I would like to have two fifty-caliber machineguns mounted out in front of me.  From what I understand the defense department discontinued the idea.  The robot was too noisy.  Still, I would guess they are still looking into it.  A robot capable of running thirty or forty miles an hour for a few hours is something I would want to have on my side.

I also noticed they have two-legged robots.  They walk, run and even do flips.  I am sure there are a few Vietnam vets that wished they had something like that walking out in front of the squad.  First, the robot might be better at spotting the enemy and booby traps.  Even more, if the robot tripped one, the robot would be lost.  That would be bad, but not nearly as bad as a soldier setting one off.

The robots have many other uses too, that is, besides the assembly lines.  Think of it.  A surgeon in Seattle can perform procedures on a man in Nome, Alaska.  In addition, the surgeons can use the robots locally because the movements can be more precise than a human’s hands. Also, they can access very small places.  I suppose the robots have other advantages in surgery, but I’m no expert on it.

In a related field, bionics are making large strides.  In the near future, people who are paralyzed, or even missing legs, will walk as well or better than those of us who still have our legs.  It beats using crutches.  I know.  I had to use them for quite a while after breaking my ankle.

Of course, one new field for robots is in cars and trucks.  In the near future, most of us might not drive our own cars.  Though it produces a whole new set of problems, the robots will likely be much safer.  They have instant reactions and they don’t get distracted.  Some people would likely insist on doing their own driving, but eventually, all cars will be driven by a computer.

I suppose I’m not telling most of you anything new.  Most of what I have written is common knowledge.  However, I think I have a new use for a robot; one that no one else has thought of.  They could build one that would MC the OSCARS.  Just think; it would have no prejudice.  It wouldn’t laugh at its own jokes, and its feelings wouldn’t be hurt if people made fun of it.  Then of course, the biggest advantage would be that it would have no history.  No one could find something that it did forty years ago while in the first grade.