Robot women – beautiful or creepy?
How about a robot "goddess" who does whatever men say?
There's certainly a lot to tease out in the University of Science and Technology of China's April 15th debut of Jia Jia. The life-sized female robot, dubbed "the goddess," is the latest iteration in a heated race to create the most realistic humanoid robot. (Realistic if you believe women still refer to men as "my lord.") Jia Jia took three years to make, according to R. Siva Kumar of News Everyday, and "is like a woman with human features and actions that include blinking and expressing feelings. She has realistic hair."
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Good grief.
Kumar goes on to report that, "Jia Jia has been created to mimic humans in as many ways as possible. The mouth lip-syncs various words, she looks around to scan the environment and she processes the events around her, even requesting space if someone gets too close to her to click a picture. 'Don't come too close to me when you are taking a picture, it will make my face look fat,' she says."
(Fear of appearing fat goes hand in hand with deferring to "my lord," it seems.)
As Hannah Cranston, the host of Think Tank observes on Youtube's The Young Turks, the potential for a really good girlfriend – that is if one is looking for one hardwired to be subservient and docile – is all there.
So, are big bots in and real women out?
But hey, at least Jia Jia (pronounced Zsa Zsa – like the more flamboyant Gabor sister of cop-slapping fame) isn't as creepy as Mark I, according to Kumar. Mark I, irrespective of the male name, is a prototype female robot. Introduced earlier this month by inventor Ricky Ma, this robot was lovingly fashioned to resemble A-list actress Scarlett Johanssen – crop top and all.
Lucky Scarlett? Or just plain weird all around?
Bread or baby?
Bread or baby? That's the headline over at the UK's Daily Mail. And while there's nothing new about parents bragging about their kids, especially babies, the standards of boasting are getting truly bizarre. We're not talking who spoke first, who walked or even who rolled over first. Japanese parents, moms and dads, are flocking to social media to determine which chubby baby arm – those adorably roly-poly marshmallow ones – most closely resembles a popular pull-apart bread sold mainly at 7-Eleven!
The talking heads, Mike and Dan, at Youtube's Double Chen News give us the skinny.
Unity Blott, reporting for Mailonline, dishes the details of those who would have their baby deemed the one with the "best bread." According to Blott the craze began after one (Twitter) user, named Koni, posted a photo on Thursday with the caption: "Which is bread and which is the arm? I can't tell."
No fat shaming in the land of the sumo wrestling! Less than six months back, Japanese parents were touting their babies as rice balls. Not quite mocking as asserted by Jaime Lutz at Someecards, but just plain fun.
Facebook user Sachi Kirishima, according to Blott, shared a picture of their baby surrounded by not one but two sticks of bread in different colours. Again, no mocking here, just a spot-on observation of what is often missed.
What's special about your baby? Or what do you find delightfully predictable?
Prince kicks Kim Kardashian off stage!
This Feb. 7, 2011 video of Prince's Madison Square Garden performance in NYC is going viral – again. Terry Shropshire of the Atlanta Daily World reports the details of the seeming snub that was, in truth, more like a professional who expected those on his stage to perform accordingly.
Of course, Ms. Kardashian believes she redeemed herself at a later date, having danced while the Purple One played piano on Feb. 8, 2011. But dancing to someone's music – even on stage – is not dancing with that person. Not even close. And while opportunities come, they also go – often in the blink of an eye.
Much like the opportunity for medical intervention that Prince seems to have passed on, the very same that could have saved his life. Opportunity came and it went. And so, sadly, did a very talented and beloved man. For a save shot to counter a Percocet overdose and a three-hour layover at an Illinois emergency room is not the same as remaining at the hospital to get the necessary treatment and care to overcome a deadly, serious problem.
God speed, Prince Rogers Nelson! You are missed.