Guide to The Blog Galaxy

I know, I know, the title seems bombastic, got your attention I hope :) This article is dedicated to all my blogger friends out there, and those of you who wants to have one. I have gathered here some terms and new lingo for doing blogging, here they are:

1. Blogs: a web based log of well....pretty much anything that you want to write.
2. Blogosphere: the world of blogs, or blog universe
3. Moblogging: Posting to a blog on the go. This is possibly done on high end phones or handheld devices with wirelesss access to internet.
4. Vlogging: Video blogging of individuals/companies post video instead of texts and pictures.
5. Podcasting: a technology which allows one to create own radio shows and post them on the web. This was started by bloggers. It is now very popular, or so I heard ( I don't have Ipod :P)
6. RSS: Also known as Really Simple Syndication. This is a technology to track blogs, so whenever there are updates, one person will be notified (only if he/she chose to accept it)
7. Dooced: An expression used when someone looses job because of blogging.
8. Flogs: Fake blogs, as they are usually designed by corporations/organizations to promote certain products/ideologies.
9. Paid blogging: Bloggers who actually write about a produc or issue. I guarantee you I am not one of them, hehehe
10. Micro news: Blogs devoted to extremely niche topics (for instance, things that happen in your local neighborhood).

I just thought the definitions are cool! Here are few more statistics about blogosphere:
1. 40,000 thousand new blogs appear DAILY on the internet.
2. Some blogs can actually earn up to USD 28,000/month. Hmm...not bad for an investment. Kaching!
3. There are at least 5000 podcasting shows now online, and growing.
4. It only takes up to 10 minutes to setup a blog. Easy, isnt' it?

So there you are. Enjoy the statistics and keep on blogging, moblogging, podcasting or whatever you want to do. I know I am having fun ;-)

Talk About Vulnerability

I am what you can call....a very amateur astronomy enthusiast. I love seeing those heavenly bodies in the sky. I remember vividly the line of Milky Way spreading across the night sky when I was on vacation. I didn't realize how wide it was, streaming across the sky like a river, meandering to eternity.

In any case, I came across this NASA Nearth Earth Objects Program It basically lists past meteors that Earth has come into contact in the past. It even lists the predictions of meteors that might be in contact or do a fly by close to our Earth. In a way, I felt a chill coming when I saw it. FYI, only about 1% of the sky is actually known when it comes to objects that might come in contact with Earth. God knows whatever else is out there that we do not monitor.

Of course we should never fall into depression seeing this number, I am not :) I just thought it is interesting that while we are living with complete oblivion, there is that possibility our lives here can be obliterated, should these meteors hit us. Oh well, Live like you are going to live forever, and pray as if you were about to die tomorrow, right?

On Robots in Our Lives

Of all societies in this world, I think I can safely say that Japan has the friendliest attitude toward our mechanical friends, robots. For those of you who reads Japanese comics, or watch their anime (cartoons), perhaps you can see where this passion of robots came from. The most famous anime that embodies this is most likely Atom Boy, a child robot which has super human ability and also kind to mankind.

There is a sort of romantic yearning by Japanese to be able to coexist peacefully with robots. I am not sure if I am being too dramatic here, but it would appear that way to me somehow. The news, TV shows, and once again movies and comic books, all of them ooze with things that have robot themes. It must be what Isaac Asimov dreams about in his sci-fi novels, robots becoming human caretakers, guarding their human masters (so they are slaves, now?) with full devotion. As for me, well, I still reserve my judgment up to this point. I think, just like anything else, there is a great potential for robots to be living alongside humans. To be honest though, I am a little wary with any artificial forms that will resemble humans in shape and form. I like robots that do not look like human :-) Otherwise, they get too creepy for me.

The question is, will we be able to control the very creature that we created? Artificial intelligence might still be more than 20 years in the future to be mature, or even be meaningful. When that time comes, are we ready to accept human creations that are stronger, more intelligent than us? What would stop them from becoming the next evolution in life on earth....and possibly beyond? Will they have soul too like us? What is soul again, now? Phew......gets too interesting now, I think I am going to stop for now. Nevertheless, these are questions that those scientists making robots should be asking now....or perhaps it is too late......The path has been laid as of today actually, we just have to see where it goes next.


Here are some links that you might find interesting:
1. Making a walking robots like the ones you see in Gundam series (complete with "fake" guns on the side!): Moonwalking robots
2. Various robots in the Aichi expo: Aichi robots
3. Movies on robots: The Matrix ; I, Robot ; A.I (God, I wish that kid just stop keep saying "Will I be a real boy, mommy?"