Robots of Arabia

The ideal camel jockey is the size and weight of a starving 4-year-old boy. Ancient tradition collides with new technology, atop a beast racing at 25 miles per hour in 112-degree heat.

From Wired 2005

A snippet from the article.

All the children are gone, but there are some young men hanging about, former child jockeys now old enough to stay on as stable hands. Abdullah is one: Thin, windburned, and slightly forlorn, he came from the Sudan in 1994 at the age of six. "When I was small I rode the camels," he recalls. "But now, no. Any job, I can do it. I want to stay here, but when the robot came in there was no job for me." We were surrounded by wealthy owners and trainers, and he seemed anxious to put a good face on things. "It is OK for us," he said suddenly. "No problem. The robots, they are very good."

As good as him?

He laughed a little uncomfortably. "If they could understand Arabic they would be as good as me," he says.


Robots: stealing jobs from kids and bad at Arabic.

Which is worse: ACLU or Robots

Well, based on this blog's theme, the answer is clearly robots, which is why in this instance I support the ACLU's decision to Question the legal basis of using drones to kill. Especially considering "Recent reports [which] indicate that U.S. citizens have been placed on the list of targets who can be hunted and killed with drones."

The metal ones are coming.

Chickenbot

Ever burn a whole chicken in the oven and give it magic powers and the ability to move again? If so, it might look like this.



I like to think of the remoteness of Western Pennsylvania as a safe getaway for a robotic invasion, but with CMU's robotic institute close by, I'm not so sure anymore. More videos are available at Matt Zucker's page.

Robot Insurance

Robots...I don't even know why the scientists make them. Get your insurance before the metal ones come for you.