RoboSapien, Part Deux

RoboSapien now has a name. The kids and I decided that his name would be SAMM, which is short for "Self-Actuated Mechanical Man". This, too, is a nod to a former roommate of mine from college, Samuel D. Gibson, about whom I have a number of delightful stories that may eventually be told in this blog. The boys tested out Samm to his limits, walking him around everywhere and making him dance and "talk". They were most impressed with his ability to lean backwards, crouch and "fart". Boys love robots and things that fart--somethings will never change. I have to take some pictures to post here.

I began the audio book "I Robot" yesterday, which apparently takes place around the year 2058. It was written by Isaac Asimov as a series of short stories in the 1940's, and it's always interesting to me how the science fiction authors of long ago (like Asimov or even further back to Jules Verne) saw the future. It's especially interesting to me when Asimov talks about the first robots being produced in the early 21st century, as that is where we presently live. Asimov is noted for his forward thinking, and the accuracy of the terms he uses in dialog and descriptions in his book. His terms are reinforced in our minds by their usage in other science fiction and television shows. I just get a kick out of hearing "the first robots were produced in twenty-oh-three" or something like that.

Back in 1979, I begged and pleaded with my parents to buy me a Big Trak for Christmas. They caved, and I was in possession of the most wonderful toy imaginable. It was my first computer and my first robot! It had a 16 step programmable interface, and it was the coolest! You could make it go down the hall, drop off something by your sister's door via it's companion trailer (that would lift and go back down) and return back to you. Very cool for dropping off a walkie-talkie with masking tape wrapped around it so the "push-to-talk" button would stay depressed--a nifty 1970's 11 year-old's 27 MHz spy technique.

But soon I was in possession of a Texas Instruments TI-55, THE scientific calculator to have. This was my first computer, and I was the envy of my junior high school math club friends. Having this TI-55, it should be noted, did not get me better treatment from bullies, but it did add hours of enjoyment that offset the constant beatings we "nerds" enjoyed at the hands of the less cerebral. The TI-55 was much better than my father's scientific calculator--his was a very early calculator that had a green fluorescent display and took a 9-Volt battery. The TI-55 had a 16 step volatile memory and was powered by a rechargeable battery pack. A couple of years after that, I got a TRS-80 Pocket Computer...the original PC-1 which had 1.9K of RAM, and was programmable using BASIC. More about computers in another entry...