I Robot

I’m just rewatching the film I Robot for about the fifth time. I remember watching it when it first came out as I’d read the Issac Asimov book that the film is based on when I was a teenager. I read a lot of his other books too. For example the Rest of the Robots. There are several books about Robots but other interesting ideas too.

They were written several decades ago so they are quite anachronistic (this was the era of Flash Gordon and Sci fi anthologies like Amazing Stories). There’s lots to read out there if you can obtain copies although someay have gone out of print. I was always borrowing them from the school library.

I remember being impressed by the three laws of Robotics. To paraphrase , A robot cannot cause harm to a human. A robot must obey the orders of humans unless they cause harm to humans and lastly a robot must save itself unless that would cause harm to a human….

With all the discussions about AI I think that the three laws should apply to computers too…. Hopefully it’s already included in programming?

Work computer

Write about your first computer.

I had a work computer before one at home. The screen was covered in green writing to add information. There were no pictures, you had to use a mouse and keyboard. If you wanted to get on the Internet you had to use a modem. That made funny squeaky noises when it commented. I remember we had to defragment the computer every few months. That meant spending ages waiting for all the files on the computer to defragment. But you had to watch it so you could click a button at the end. I also remember you had to send information by fax.

Computer problems

My wiring has gone wrong. The tangle of wires behind my arm chair has been mashed. The heavy armchairs, I got second hand, have castors, unfortunately. I’ve had to move them a couple of times and then with my weight, they are knackered. Plus the socket they plug into must have got clattered with the hoover? It was cracked. Anyway it was over 25 years old.

So I tried the computer because the landline still isn’t working. I got an error message, my ethernet cable isn’t plugged in. I checked both ends, they look OK. I will get replacements and see if I can fix it. I’m going to pin the wires up on the wall to stop them getting damaged again. X

Modem not working

I found my modem cold and dead last night. All the lights off. I tried switching it on and off. Wiggled all the cables. So I think my phone is using data now. I’m not sure this will post so I am not adding an image. Will contact the phone company when they open up. Might not do much blogging till it’s fixed.

My first computer experience

Write about your first computer.

My experience of computers was non existent when I was at college in the ’80’s. I went to an exhibition in a gallery and I remember being faced with a screen that said type ‘hello world!’ Or something similar and you would get a nice surprise.. So I typed:

Hello world

Nothing happened

I typed:

Hello world

Hello world

Hello world…

Over and over, the instructions soon disappeared off the top of the screen. I was frustrated, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to get back to the start. I didn’t know how to scroll back up the screen.

I gave up. Nowhere in the instructions did it say ‘press the enter key’!

It took me a few years before I bothered with a computer again.

Quiet day

I woke up from a nightmare where I’d lost my house keys and couldn’t get back in the house. I decided to have a quiet day. I haven’t been online much today. I decided to stay off the computer and basically played a game on my phone all day. It was diverting and took my mind off things. But I think I will delete the game. It’s a mindless matching hexagons game. It’s frustrating and fun at the same time. But half the time is t taken up by adverts. I tried to get past them as quickly as I could but they are intensely irritating and there’s no way I’m paying to avoid them. So I’m back to reality again….

Screen time

How do you manage screen time for yourself?

I don’t manage it well, when my hands get tired I put my phone down, or when I watch something on TV. But I think I’m addicted. I like a couple of word games and play them on my phone, then there’s art, and taking photos of things I like.

Currently I’m watching a very old Alfred Hitchcock film from the 1930’s. It’s a romance. TV screen…

Apart from that I’m on a few social media platforms (too many for my own good! ).

To be honest I wish I could turn the clock back and STEP AWAY FROM THE SCREENS!

Questions?

What questions do you ask the net?

Today I asked what type of car was in the Randall and Hopkirk TV show from the 1960’s. Where is a train station that was on the TV? Turns out the answer was near Newcastle upon Tyne.

Then I asked about the profitess Cassandra. I had done a drawing and wanted to ask about the title I was going to call it. I’d also recently asked about Atlas holding the world up. I use the free images on Jetpack sometimes, but they often don’t come up with the image I’m looking for.

I have to admit, I don’t believe half of what I see on the Internet, but I think Wikipedia is not too bad. I also consult a site called Snopes.com which is a fact checking service.

I think its important to ask questions, knowledge is important. I won’t always remember the answers, but I try.

scrolling

📜

Oh I keep scrolling down the page

Facebook posts are all the rage

Never ending thoughts and hopes

I don’t know how anyone copes!

Addicted to that vertical scrolling

Dragging my eyes, they keep rolling!

Bits and bobs, this and that

Someone’s thin someone’s fat.

A work of fiction or of fact

But intelligent thinking is what’s lacked?

Sometimes serious causes emerge

But often it’s just a tawdry surge

Of endorphins keeping me awake

Switch it off. For goodness sake!