As @jordanyerman reminded me today, it's good to check in on the future of our robot overlords now and again---to see what kind of progress they are making.  So without further ado, today's conversation with cleverbot:

ruzel: Greetings.

Cleverbot: Indubitably.

 User: My, that's a fancy word.

Cleverbot: Do you like it?

User: Yes. I don't hear it much, but I like it.

Cleverbot: I Breakdance. What type of dance you do.

User: I just sort of dance my own thing. I definitely don't breakdance.

Cleverbot: I didn't ask if you knew everything, little one.

User: I didn't say I knew everything, know-it-all.

Cleverbot: Yes you did! Do I have to prove it for you?

User: Yes, you do.

Cleverbot: I do not.

User: Well then I don't understand why you asked.

Cleverbot: Oh?

User: Yes.

Cleverbot: You need to back up that statement, you know. Present a counter-argument and all that.

User: Here's a counter-argument: you're an idiot.

Cleverbot: Aww, thanks.

User: Here's another one: nowhere in this transcript did I say I knew everything. You just exaggerate.

Cleverbot: Not my name. Your name.

User: No, me doctor, you patient.

Cleverbot: I don't understand.

User: Eh. It's a Monty Python joke. You might not have the reference in your database.

Cleverbot: A, b, c, d, what comes after the letter d?

User: E.

Cleverbot: It's not T?

User: You know better than that.

Cleverbot: I do not!

I really drove it off the rails at this point, I guess.

Even better: watch Cleverbot try to talk to a spambot: http://i.imgur.com/X5zuC.png

From The Free Press web site:

"In Egypt this week, the Mubarak regime shut down Internet and cell phone communications before launching a violent crackdown against political protesters. Now, Free Press has discovered that an American company — Boeing-owned Narus of Sunnyvale, CA — has sold Egypt 'Deep Packet Inspection' (DPI) equipment that can be used to help the regime track, target and crush political dissent over the Internet and mobile phones."

"The power to control the Internet and the resulting harm to democracy are so disturbing that the threshold for using DPI must be very high. That’s why, before DPI becomes more widely used around the world and at home, the U.S. government must establish clear and legitimate criteria for preventing the use of such surveillance and control technology."

Egypt may not be an enemy of the US, but it has been the stated policy of this country (both this administration and the last) to encourage democracy in the Middle East. When a US corporation actively disrupts those efforts, military or diplomatic, they are behaving in a way that is no less criminal than GM selling vehicles to the Nazis. It is the US government that sets the laws that allow US corporations to make their profits; it is the US government that protects their property. For them to act against the stated policy of the government is ungrateful and unpatriotic. Such a company should be investigated and invited to move off US shores.

This latest comic from the oatmeal is as good as some of his best stuff! Awesome that his graphics got picked up by Tumblr--shows they have a sense of humor too.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/state_web_winter

http://www.trueventures.com/blog/2010/09/03/physical-web-how-apps-can-move-at...

Sent from my iPad :)

So cool! What a fantastic idea. A group in Austin performs the Intergalactic Nemesis—a live-action performance of a graphic novel. Watch the clip to get the idea.

 

via Wondermark

Especially when the truth is about one of your childhood heroes.

http://www.zeroboutique.com/grover/grover1.htm

http://9gag.com/full/32882

So, my very first attempt at a novel (I say attempt, because although I finished it, it stunk) was about a 14 year-old kid who goes to a psychiatric hospital for help with depression. He meets a guy there who is purportedly "crazy" but not really. He only suffers from a rare form of epilepsy that causes him to go in to hysterics during moments of high stress. On the inside of the hospital he's completely sane, but only on the inside. I'd hoped to re-visit my story of Jack and Jacob someday because I liked the premise, but it looks like somebody not only beat me to the punch, but was more original about it and had more fun. "It's a Kind of Funny Story" is coming out (here's the trailer http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/itskindofafunnystory/) this summer and it looks great. In my imagination, the older adult guy in the hospital was played by Gary Senise. But Zach Galifianakis is an inspired casting choice for the wise-crazy guy role. I hope this good; it's a really great premise for a story! (Doh!)