Listening to: Dinosaur Adventure 3D - Underworld

The South Koreans are putting together a Robot Ethics Charter:

An ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa, is being drawn up by South Korea.

The Robot Ethics Charter will cover standards for users and manufacturers and will be released later in 2007.

…

The new guidelines could reflect the three laws of robotics put forward by author Isaac Asimov in his short story Runaround in 1942, she said.

Asimov’s three laws are:

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 orders given 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.

Later stories saw the introduction of the Zeroth Law:

“A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.”

For me this is really interesting because it is an example of the sorts of ideas put forward by Bill Joy many years ago. Poo-poo’d at the time I am very confident that these are ideas that will gain a lot more currency - not taking responsibility has been shown to be a failed business strategy (when judged on metrics like longevity and sustainability).

Listening to: Trapped Under Ice Floes - +/-

John Sharp pointed me at another of his wonderful sliceform pieces:

Listening to: Breathing - Kate Bush

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Too cool:

BILLUND, Denmark, March 5 /PRNewswire/ — The LEGO(R) Group today announced it has commenced a working relationship with NetDevil(R) to develop a massively multiplayer online gaming experience to further engage its dedicated and active community.

Listening to: Open Your Arms - Editors

Bruce Sterling has written an op-ed for the WaPO on the green future:

In 1998, I had it figured that the dot-com boom would become a dot-green boom. It took a while for others to get it. Some still don’t. They think I’m joking. They are still used to thinking of greenness as being “counter” and “alternative” — they don’t understand that 21st-century green is and must be about everything — the works. Sustainability is comprehensive. That which is not sustainable doesn’t go on. Glamorous green. I preached that stuff for years. I don’t have to preach it anymore, because it couldn’t be any louder. Green will never get any sexier than it is in 2007. Because, after this, brown will start going away.

It is a short, educational and amusing read.

Listening to: Devotion - Flash Harry

IEE Spectrum have a great profile of Benedetto Vigna - the man responsible for the motion sensor used in the Wii.

Listening to: Closer To Heaven - Pet Shop Boys

One Good Move has posted a BBC Radio 4 The Now Show segment that tackles the question of our age…

Listening to: I Am The Resurrection - The Stone Roses

Provoke has just taken wraps off their Fresh From the Oven project. Provoke has been doing some serious MOSS (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007) work over the past year (making them the most experience MOSS team in NZ) and they are deservedly showing off their skills.