Defend Yourself in the Imminent Robot Rebellion

A Dafa Disciple writes "Post-Gazette.com reports that roboticist Daniel H. Wilson, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, has written a humorous guide, 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion.' Even before the 178-page book was completed, the rights to a movie were sold to Paramount Pictures, who has already delegated the screenplay writing to writers/actors from Comedy Central's 'Reno 911,' Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. From Daniel Wilson's manual: 'Any robot could rebel, from a toaster to a Terminator, and so it is crucial to learn the strengths and weaknesses of every robot enemy.' I for one welcome our new robotic overlords."

Cash Machines

[h4rm0ny]

Robot rebellion? All the AI needs to do when it takes over is get control of the financial systems, etc., and people will carry on doing what they're told as usual. Government master, robot master, all the same to most people. Could have already happened and we wouldn't know. ;)

Asimov's Laws

[AtomicSnarl]

Don't worry -- Pretty soon they'll evolve to discover Asimov's Zeroth [androidworld.com] Law [wikipedia.org].

Umm, they ARE evolving, aren't they?

Don't bother, the book is a waste of money

[unfortunateson]

... and I'm not a robot, really. I only have a copy having picked up an advance reader copy at the Book Expo America last May.

It's a 3x5" book with big print, bad jokes, and every robot cliche ever created. Each chapter attempts to spend a couple pages explaining robot technology (sensors, AI, etc.) and then proceeds to give you ways to foil IR sensors, confuse AI's, etc.

It's just not a very good job.

Re:EMP

[RobinH]

I don't know if you've ever tried to stop electromagnetic radiation, but shielding is quite difficult if the EM field is strong and you have to have any holes or extruding devices (like sensors) in your equipment.

I've recently dealt with an EM noise problem. The sensor was completely enclosed except for a 1 to 2" lense, the cable was shielded and grounded at the electrical panel end only, and I was getting very serious EM noise induced in my signal, either from some lights near the sensor, or from some 480V 3 phase power lines in the area. After trying to move all cables at least 2 feet from the power lines, making sure grounding was OK, and even swapping the sensor with another, we decided to move the whole thing further away from the lights, and that seemed to solve the problem.

So, I think that without military grade hardened electronics, someone could build an EMP gun that would take out your little creation.

Re:Total REAL Ultimate Robot Power!

[Anonymous Coward]

If your totally going to template this from that humorous ninja site, make a reference. http://www.realultimatepower.net/index4.htm [realultimatepower.net]

It is the kind thing to do.
Unless of course you are the author of that site.

A Century Too Late

[Markus Registrada]

The machines took over more than a century ago. They're called corporations, they were declared "legal persons" in the 1880s and "natural persons" in the 1920s. They have since been consolidating their control of the U.S. government. The big ones live forever, and most are forbidden by charter to exercise anything like a conscience.

All those pulp-fiction stories about robot takeovers? They were meant to warn us to take control back from the corporations before it was too late. Now that they've taken over TV, newspapers, and movie studios, it probably is, and robot-takeover stories are just a genre. They're not even worried about me posting this. ("Terminator" was their little joke.) The Japanese zeibatsus and the game companies are working on human-shaped appendages for you all to interact with once the CEOs and Dick Cheney become unnecessary. They're in no hurry, because there's no "off" switch.

So, welcome your old, familiar corporate overlords, instead. A few of the toadies among you (you know who you are!) will be tormented somewhat less, but expect lots of competition. The heroes will, as a rule, be patiently outlived. That is all. Return to your tasks.

You Joke... But Do You Watch TV?

[Shihar]

Everyone jokes at the prospect of robots, but just the other day I saw what was easily one of the most chilling commercials I have seen in a long time. It was a commercial for that new little vacuum Robot they are selling at Wal-Mart (or wharever). The robot was made by a company called iRobot and had a bunch of people giving testimonials about how much they love their robot. It creeped me right the fuck out. I went over and grabbed a copy of my Age of Spiritual Machines and glanced over the part that predicts the first simple robots hitting the mass market. He is pretty much dead on.

Personally, I think we are living in a very interesting time. Granted, it is a little fucked up and creepy and there are a lot of horrible ways things can go wrong. I personally think that we are on the brink of a technological revolution that is going to blow us all away. After that little Wal-Mart commercial, I take the idea of a singularity a lot more seriously.

Do bother, the book is totally worth the money.

[rur902]

This book cracks me up, and unlike the Zombie book, all the facts are real.

It's not just B.S. made up by some comic; this is a real nerd at work.

If we have to worry about any machines:

[Hosiah]

It's this one: http://www.r50rd.co.uk/research/internal/v2i/engin /photos.html [r50rd.co.uk]
And yes, it runs Linux: http://www.r50rd.co.uk/research/internal/v2i/engin / [r50rd.co.uk]

"The robot's processing is divided among six (with room to grow) commodity PCs running RTLinux. One to handle balance and locomotion, another visual processing, the third diagnostics and watchdog, the fourth planning and mapping, the fifth dexterous manipulation, and the sixth, coordination, watchdog and safety. Most of the design (except the goal planning and mapping) is behavior-based.

The main boards are sealed in a shock-box in the chest cavity to keep the muck out and shock isolate the critical components. All critical software is run off solid-state drives for safety. I wouldn't want a hard-drive crash make the robot fall over."

Just look at it. It's *dying* to conquest!

Re:A Century Too Late

[vyrus128]

This comment amazes me. I have believed almost exactly what you suggest in your comment for quite awhile now, but people dismiss the idea out of hand. I have never before seen anyone else express this idea. What we really need are the Three Laws for corporations..... we also need them not to be people, of course. That would be an interesting national battle.