[Robotgroup] Micro$oft Robotics

Tue Oct 2 20:49:59 PDT 2007

Okay um well uhh yeah.  I agree.  But it beats waiting tables on Sunday afternoons for the non-tipping church crowds because, even though you majored in English, you didn't take the additional 6 credits required to get teacher certified; that would have been admitting to failure to early.

  Just barely, but it beats it.

http://miayawear.com/gala1.jpg
  http://miayawear.com/gala2.jpg

  Anyway, this is the General Applications concept aka "Gala Dolly".  She currently lacks motivation.  So here is my plan -- if anyone wants to join me:

  1) Order a Boe-Bot kit

  2) Chop a currently functioning but falling apart so it won't matter anyway laptop PC into the dolly chassis

  3) Assemble the Boe-Bot so I know how to, and then take it apart and use it for the Robot Head

  5) Build a motorized wheel base powerful enough to move the entire body, plus up to 15-20 lbs of cargo -- without destroying the Boe-Bot controller in the process

  6) You would do the arms while I program the Micro$$oft Robotic service and the General Applications recognition algorithm.

  :-)
  Scott

Vern Graner <vern at txis.com> wrote:
  vkonradi wrote:
> I'm so glad to see Microsoft _finally_ apply their charitable bent to the cause. Now things are really going to happen!

Yup. Now robotics can benefit the same way the other markets have by 
Microsoft being involved. Things like:

Driving competitors out of the market (think Word Perfect, Netscape, Novell)

Stealing ideas or sabotaging others in the space (think Stacker/ DR-DOS)

Using their monopoly-made mega-dollars to patent *everything* so you 
can't make a product without stepping on a patent "land mine"

Hiding critical source code as "trade secrets" so no one can make 
compatible or work-alike software.

Draconian EULA's that strip away your rights i.e. "You can run THE 
PRODUCT on ONE robot in your swarm, each additional robot requires an 
additional license, if the robot speaks, you must purchase a separate 
text to speech license for each robot in the swarm. If your robot 
becomes damaged you cannot transfer this OEM edition software to another 
robot." etc. etc.

Your robot won't boot till it passes Windows Genuine Robot Advantage 
Activation (I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that!")

Giant, buggy, bloated, slow software prone to STOP: Your robot has 
performed an illegal operation in module "walk.exe" and will be shut down.

Weekly fixes and "upgrades" that won't apply if the W.G.R.A. *thinks* 
your robot isn't "genuine" (I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I *still* can't 
do that, you filthy pirate!")

FUDing of Linux and/or open source alternatives (you can't trust 
something as dangerous as a robot to a hodge podge of code from hippies! 
You need a professional M$ product!)

A EULA that will let them off scot-free if their "professional" product 
damages anything or anyone. ("I'm sorry Dave, I know I killed people but 
my EULA says all I owe you is a refund of my purchase price")

Suing people into oblivion via the The Software Gestapo aka "The 
Business Software Alliance"

EULA terms that require you to submit any benchmarks or reviews to them 
for approval before they are published.

Security holes big enough to drive ED-209 through (hope your robot isn't 
armed!)

Yeah it's gunna be great, can't wait. :P

:)

Vern

-- 
Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE | "If the network is down, then you're
Senior Systems Engineer | obviously incompetent so why are we
Texas Information Services | paying you? Of course, if the network
http://www.txis.com | is up, then we obviously don't need
Austin Office 512 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" ©VLG
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L. Scott Hudson

  If I were certain that the World would end tomorrow, I would plant a tree...

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