DBA

Right... so, for about 5 weeks, I'll be one of the 2 Database Administrators in this project...

Sounds great, hope it will be so... Much to learn, much to do, just hope I'll be up to the challenge.

Cu participarea Microsoft Romania si Facultatea de Informatica Iasi, Code40 lanseaza Summer School. Summer School propune un exercitiu practic de software development in care o echipa de 19 studenti impreuna cu dezvoltatori de la Code40 vor planifica, dezvolta si livra un proiect comercial din verticala financiar bancara.

http://summerschool.code40.ro/

Just a worm...

Un viermisor mic traia cu mamica lui intr-un rahat. Intr-o zi el o intreaba:
- Mamico, noi putem trai intr-un mar?
- Da fiule!
- Dar intr-o pruna?
- Da fiule!
- Atunci de ce traim intr-un rahat?
- Pentru ca asta-i tara noastra fiule!

If you, my dear reader, are not romanian, you wouldn't get the feeling even if I would have written it in english...

NBA 2 RPG

So the story continues...
The most concerning problem I found there was this: (young) people don't play outside as much as they used to.
Do we find it easier to stay indoors and click our way through skeletons and robots? Have we forgotten the way grass feels between our toes, the way we should smile towards the sun in the morning?
I know that as a child I wasn't too sporty, but still... nowadays everything tends to be overprotective. Yesterday, the Copou park was filled with kids; many racing around on their roller skates, but all of them had their knees, elbows, heads protected...

80's

It all started when a friend of mine gave me a link (RO) that made me remember my childhood... Yes, I am a product of the 80's too! I don't think this makes me better, just a bit different.

I have encountered this "romanian early 80's" nostalgia in many different places, like:

• Cum am supravietuit copilariei comuniste?
• latrecut
• Nascuti la inceputul anilor 80

There has always been a generation gap like this one. The single problem that comes to my attention is that nowadays kids are not as likely to play outside as we were...

But... that is another story...

Morgui

Morgui (mandarin Chinese for Magic (Mor) Ghost (Gui)) is the creation of Kevin Warwick, a University of Reading cybernetics professor with a long record in attention-seeking robots.

"We want to investigate how people react when they first encounter Mo, as we lovingly like to call the robot. Through one of Mo's eyes, he can watch people's responses to him following them around. It appears this is not deemed acceptable for under 18-year-olds without prior consent from their legal guardian. This presents us with a big problem as we cannot demonstrate Mo in action either to visitors or potential students." said Prof Warwick.

Morgui's five senses include visual and audio, as well as a further three that are extra-sensory, as far as humans are concerned: radar, infrared, and ultrasonic.

In Europe, Japan and the US, researchers have been looking for robots that will respond "naturally" to humans. It therefore follows that the robots must also study how humans respond to them, but Morgui was deemed so frightening it has been banned from interacting with under 18s.

Unfortunately, Reading University's ethics and research committee banned the "scary" robot.

For more info:

• X-rated robots: Professor Kevin Warwick & Morgui
• University robot ruled too scary (The Guardian)
• University Deems Robot Adult-Only

And to think I was only able to make a hamster-lovig chat bot...