<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT"%> <% Dim MM_editAction MM_editAction = CStr(Request.ServerVariables("SCRIPT_NAME")) If (Request.QueryString <> "") Then MM_editAction = MM_editAction & "?" & Server.HTMLEncode(Request.QueryString) End If ' boolean to abort record edit Dim MM_abortEdit MM_abortEdit = false %> <% ' IIf implementation Function MM_IIf(condition, ifTrue, ifFalse) If condition = "" Then MM_IIf = ifFalse Else MM_IIf = ifTrue End If End Function %> <% If (CStr(Request("MM_insert")) = "form1") Then If (Not MM_abortEdit) Then ' execute the insert Dim MM_editCmd Set MM_editCmd = Server.CreateObject ("ADODB.Command") MM_editCmd.ActiveConnection = MM_BinkyII_STRING MM_editCmd.CommandText = "INSERT INTO Comments (UserName, PageID, UserID, [Comment]) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)" MM_editCmd.Prepared = true MM_editCmd.Parameters.Append MM_editCmd.CreateParameter("param1", 202, 1, 50, Request.Form("hfUsername")) ' adVarWChar MM_editCmd.Parameters.Append MM_editCmd.CreateParameter("param2", 5, 1, -1, MM_IIF(Request.Form("hfPageID"), Request.Form("hfPageID"), null)) ' adDouble MM_editCmd.Parameters.Append MM_editCmd.CreateParameter("param3", 5, 1, -1, MM_IIF(Request.Form("hfUserID"), Request.Form("hfUserID"), null)) ' adDouble MM_editCmd.Parameters.Append MM_editCmd.CreateParameter("param4", 203, 1, 1073741823, Request.Form("ComArea")) ' adLongVarWChar MM_editCmd.Execute MM_editCmd.ActiveConnection.Close ' append the query string to the redirect URL Dim MM_editRedirectUrl MM_editRedirectUrl = "RobotsAAU.htm" If (Request.QueryString <> "") Then If (InStr(1, MM_editRedirectUrl, "?", vbTextCompare) = 0) Then MM_editRedirectUrl = MM_editRedirectUrl & "?" & Request.QueryString Else MM_editRedirectUrl = MM_editRedirectUrl & "&" & Request.QueryString End If End If Response.Redirect(MM_editRedirectUrl) End If End If %> <% Dim rsUsers__MMColParam rsUsers__MMColParam = "1" If (Session("MM_Username") <> "") Then rsUsers__MMColParam = Session("MM_Username") End If %> <% Dim rsUsers Dim rsUsers_cmd Dim rsUsers_numRows Set rsUsers_cmd = Server.CreateObject ("ADODB.Command") rsUsers_cmd.ActiveConnection = MM_BinkyII_STRING rsUsers_cmd.CommandText = "SELECT * FROM Users WHERE UserName = ?" rsUsers_cmd.Prepared = true rsUsers_cmd.Parameters.Append rsUsers_cmd.CreateParameter("param1", 200, 1, 50, rsUsers__MMColParam) ' adVarChar Set rsUsers = rsUsers_cmd.Execute rsUsers_numRows = 0 %> <% Dim rsComments__MMColParam rsComments__MMColParam = "3" If (Request("MM_EmptyValue") <> "") Then rsComments__MMColParam = Request("MM_EmptyValue") End If %> <% Dim rsComments Dim rsComments_cmd Dim rsComments_numRows Set rsComments_cmd = Server.CreateObject ("ADODB.Command") rsComments_cmd.ActiveConnection = MM_BinkyII_STRING rsComments_cmd.CommandText = "SELECT * FROM Comments WHERE PageID = ? ORDER BY TimeKey ASC" rsComments_cmd.Prepared = true rsComments_cmd.Parameters.Append rsComments_cmd.CreateParameter("param1", 5, 1, -1, rsComments__MMColParam) ' adDouble Set rsComments = rsComments_cmd.Execute rsComments_numRows = 0 %> <% Dim Repeat1__numRows Dim Repeat1__index Repeat1__numRows = -1 Repeat1__index = 0 rsComments_numRows = rsComments_numRows + Repeat1__numRows %> Robots are among us at RalphJStone.com

There are ROBOTS AMONG US!!!

Years ago, in the 60's and 70's, there was a feeling of something missing from our ordinary, everyday, day-in/day-out, work-a-day lives. An itch on the horizon of your mind that very soon, in the very near future, everyone would have a robot. Plenty of places to get this idea through out the last century: popular fiction, movies, television, the news of all sorts, and the constant stream of new-fangled, time-saving, life-changing APPLIANCES. Let me list just a major few: the automobile, the toaster, stove, blender, etc, the radio, the television, the computer. In a way, these were all robots.They helped us do everyday things much easier and they were all automatic in some ways. It is still not the same thing as Rosie the robot maid, or C3PO, constant whining companion, but they are robotic in their ability to facilitate ease.

Think back on all those wacky inventions in the world of the Flintstone's. They were basically animal powered robots. Now is a great time to mention The Jetsons, also. If you've ever read a Richie Rich comic then you know that Professor keen bean often created robots. Richie had Irona the robot maid. Richie's butler, Cadbury, was very much a robotic companion. Cadbury was human, but he seemed robotic in his rigidity and unbending morality. He was not only there entirely to serve but also was the best of friends with his 'Master' Richie. Ok. I'm a little bit off track now. Let me turn it back around. Think of Forbidden Planet or Lost in Space, Star Wars or Star Trek, Barberella, Spaceballs or Ice Pirates. How could you be alive at anytime in the last fifty years without thinking you were going to have the perfect robot companion/slave? ...and soon!

That's why I'm here with this article. I want to say that, although we haven't gotten that humanoid type buddy/butler robot, we have gained the ability to place many other robots in our lives. Case in point: Please peruse the picture above. That is one of my robots. It's a Roomba. It's GREAT! It has its problems. To vacuum, I must clear the room, block Roomba in the room, wait an hour, and then clean the dirt out of Roomba when it is done. Even with these issues Roomba is still easier to use than a normal vacuum. I also believe that Roomba does a more thorough job than my old Dirt Devil ever has done. Because it is easier to use, quieter, and more fun, I run Roomba four times as much as the Devil. That has to make my floors cleaner than they have ever been...all thanks to a ROBOT AMONG US!
Above is a Clean Dr. Motorized Disc Cleaner Max. You may call Dr. Max a bit lame but this is another of my robots. I simply spray cleaner on the disc and push it into the slot. Dr. Max spins it around for about half a minute and then stops and spits the disc out. How convenient is that? VERY! Easier than turning a crank and again...more fun. Dr. Max also has a pleasant blue light that it shines on the spinning disc and right before it is done with the disc it flashes that light. What a good friend is Dr. Max.

Here's another ROBOT AMONG US!!! That device is a Logitech Harmony Universal Remote, model H628. Got it on sale at Sam's club for $100. They dropped it to $80 a month after that. Drat it all! Whatever! Anyway, this remote was a bargain for twice that much. I replaced seven remotes with this one. This universal remote also makes complex setup changes into a single button push. Before this remote, if I wanted to watch a movie I would need to change the TV to DVD, turn on the DVD player, change the A/V receiver to output the DVD sound and then use both the DVD remote for control of the DVD and the A/V remote for volume changes. When I was done with the DVD and wanted to watch TV again I had to switch everything back and find the TV remote again. You get the idea. Well, with the Harmony remote, when I want to watch a DVD, I simply push the DVD button. The remote changes the TV to DVD, changes the A/V to DVD and turns on the DVD player. Then, the remotes buttons change to control the DVD player but the volume buttons on the remote change the volume on the A/V reciever. Now, there was a significant amount of setup to get all this to happen but it is all worth it for the EASE which the Harmony universal remote FACILITATES.

One remote to rule them all,

One remote to bind them,

One remote to replace them all,

and infra-red remind them....

Remind them of what? Who's the boss? I AM! I hold the Harmony universal remote and with it I rule, as a king with a scepter, while sitting on my office-chair throne and pointing at my loyal 'robot' servants. That brings me to another of my robots.

TIVO

Tivo is probably my favorite and most prized of all the robots. You see, I like TV, alot. A LOT! Whole buncha burnin' love for TV. TV was there for me at all times in life: before school, after school, Saturday mornings, midnight snacks, in sickess and in health, for richer and poorer, long may ye both live, I now pronounce you TV and life. So, when I first read about Tivo, I was entirely emphatic that this was a piece of technology that I must own. I actually was one of the first to own a Tivo since I ordered mine directly through the Tivo website as soon as they were available for sale. When you read the capablities of Tivo, you really don't understand the profound difference that it will make in your life. That is, if you love TV as much as I do. Basically, the best way to put it is: I don't watch TV anymore...I watch Tivo. That is a subtle distinction but here is what it means. I don't watch 'LIVE' TV anymore (besides the nearly half an hour of CNN I force myself to watch weekday mornings). I only watch what has been recorded into my Tivo. Tivo is undeniably a ROBOT! Tivo, once set, will record whatever programs I want to watch. Tivo will save those programs until I get a chance to watch them. Tivo will also analyze my eccentric taste in shows and 'Suggest' shows that I will 'maybe' like. That is above and beyond. That is Tivo. Tivo will sit there un-failingly serving my viewing desires. All hail Tivo!!! All hail Ralph!!!

I have just one more 'robot' to discuss. My computer. PC's do so many things for me: entertainment, employment, education, communication, information, and so much more. Let me lead this back around to the beginning. In the 60's and 70's we were dreaming of things to come. There were tastes of the future for us even then: digital watches, electronic calculators, microwave ovens, cable television and some of the very first personal computers. What is a robot, anyway, if not something automated to make us more efficient. What is more efficient than the internets ability to serve up whatever information we might desire right in the comfort of our homes. When I am cooking, I go internet and search up a recipe. I print it out and start cooking up a masterful delicacy. I can chat with people across the globe with IM's. I can buy a much searched for chunk of my lost childhood on eBay. I can publish this page for you to read and I can hope you will be entertained by some of my obscure thoughts. No? Well, I'm not forcing you to read this. Bugger off, mate, ye sloggin' wanker!
Sorry. It's late here. Please, read on.

So there you have it. I hypothesize that ROBOTS ARE AMONG US!!!

Maybe it is just a basic human need to imagine fresh things, and to foster life, no matter synthetic, and also to dream of less toilsome chores. Maybe it is just a chasing of the American Dream, or capitalism, or however you may want to classify it. I don't really know. But I do know that, although we don't quite have our robot maid or droid companion in a humanoid form, the ROBOTS ARE AMONG US! ...and I for one am very glad they are!

Thanx, Ralph!

Just a quick mention to PROOF, for the pictures I kyped for the background and lead.
 

RalphJStone.com - eMail Ralph
Articles - Services - Art - Music

AquaPike - TVEmpire - VertiBird ReConnect - RobotsAreAmongUs - Ralph's-Den-Of-Musicality - Try-Perfecta Food Review - Ralph-J-FrankenStone - RoofNuts

 

<% rsUsers.Close() Set rsUsers = Nothing %> <% rsComments.Close() Set rsComments = Nothing %>