news.for-robots

the robot would like to offer greetings and observations from a limited experience in South Korea. thus far, dealing with this country and culture has led the robot to several conclusions:

the Koreans are the true tech mecca of the east. Sure, Nippon has Sony and all the flash and pizzaz... but Korea is where almost all the stuff is made. it's dirt cheap for almost any OEM tech thingy here - CDMA cell phones, anything PC related, TV's, appliances, blank recordable media, high-capacity batteries, anything cable or AV related, and so on. hot and fresh from the factory door. not to mention the glorious games they have here. in addition to the largest per capita online PC market in the world, they are also staring to boom in the console market as well. which has a slightly grey underbelly; almost any game shop will sell you a mod chip, modded console, or bootleg game over the counter. hmmm.

the Robot spent the better part of the day investigating the endless tunnels and mall-sized buildings comprising Techno Mart. it's not just the main mall building, as there's also two Grand Central Station sized complexes crammed with booths selling anything you would every use with or near electricity. if you've ever owned a calculator watch, or said "neat" at a CGI movie scene, or played a game boy even once, you'll almost cream your cheese when you see this area. truly impressive.

not to mention, as the robot is consistently pleased to discover, almost everything in Seoul is extremely affordable. a subway pass that's served the robot for the past three days was approximately 8$. a fancy dinner is 10$. electronics, as stated, are only pennies above actual cost. I had to catch myself when I realized I was haggling aggressively over a 70 cent price difference (1000 won).

in addition to technology, Korea seems to have fast food and junk food down to a science. the snacks are even more tasty than some Japanese ones. and the best part - all convience stores are eat-in. they have a little counter with a hot water dispenser where you zap your instant Ramen and slurp it down. the robot did just that with some Kimchee Ramen and washed it down with a "Pine tree bud drink" which tasted like Pine-Sol with lots of Honey.

fast food aside, Korean food is, in the robot's opinion, the best stuff on earth. the Korean family housing me is doing wonders to perpetuate that belief. the robot was recently given a sugar-boiled and frozen persimmon to gnaw on. it was like a little slice of mechanized heaven.

finally, faced with a completely foreign sounding language (the robot is accustomed to the sound of Chinese, even if the meaning is elusive) upon hearing Japanese even in the background, it comes through as clear as english. this is pleasing, and today at the DMZ I had to catch myself when I realized I'd engaged a fellow tourist in conversation not noticing it was in Japanese.

that is all for now. in sum, the robot highly recommends anything having to do with Korea. be sure and visit here, eat Korean food, and congratulate the Koreans you know on their recent table tennis gold medal over china as often as possible.

the robot would like to offer his most sincere "screw you" to the current administration for using terror information as a political weapon. that is, jacking up the terror level and trying to scare New Yorkers into feeling insecure and needing our idiot man-child war president.

especially when the information used to raise the terror levels yesterday was over three years old. the robot is sorry, but that is fucking pathetic.

interesting how the terror alert color code is intimately tied to rises in the Kerry/Edwards poll numbers...

the robot is horrified to see that despite his pending criminal charges, Michael Jackson is making babies again. in equally evil news, Spider-man takes over a University in Peru.

the robot also enjoyed the movie Supersize Me greatly, and wonders how this is possible.

and the robot hates all Duke freshmen on the grounds of jealousy.

in addition to the US article mentioning music.for-robots, we've also got another noteworthy mention on a Brazillian site that's earned us 1,300 hits, and on an indie news operation. the robot is pleased.

Jon Stewart calls bullshit, and the robot wholeheartedly concurrs. the robot also would like to see this movie, on a similar note.

the robot is peeved today. peeved that oops! is a valid excuse in addressing presidential desertion, but not for younger humans confronting their parents.

furthermore, peeved that there were no demon-day school closures when the robot was in school. how very Buffy.

the robot is miffed by what a special-interest driven entity the US government is. two prime examples are science/medicine and the entertainment industry. while it's been noted previously that the FBI ranked online piracy/downloading as the #3 national security threat behind terrorism and counter intelligence (the robot does not lie), now the actions are getting more and more rediculous. like holding the makers of any device, service or network that allows for file swapping accountable.

the latest target - everyone's favorite fetish item, the iPod. not only is the bill being introduced utterly sinister in nature, the fees that could be imposed would be more than enough to completely bankrupt any company, no matter how big if they "enabled" a few thousand songs or movies or whatever to be downloaded, stored, or even trafficked.

it sucks. the robot hopes others are equally disgusted by how a few record and movie execs' dollars can steer the government into picking on nerds not spending money on Britney CDs than on education reform or health care. ignorant, profit-driven fucks they are.

in a similarly related story, noting how special interest groups can derail a large chunk of government what ought be serving the public better, there's an excellent essay by Dr. Howard Dean on ways in which the Bush administration has completely closed the book on the environment, science, and medical advances and health concerns in the current day and age. while a group of concerned scientists including many Nobel laureates has already voiced their protest, this essay is a nice piece from the good doctor summing up a fair amount of into. please read it.

similarly, while the robot can recall a time when Bush pledged additional AIDS help to Africa, even though that promise has all but turned to vapor (not to mention he's completely slashed prevention programs in his own country) the good news is that overall the AIDS epidemic in Africa is slowing. the bad news is that the epidemic wordwide is spreading faster, with India and China being seriously troubled hotspots. the robot would like to point out that 3 million people died of AIDS last year, and (while this will make the robot seem incredibly un-patriotic) though 3,000 people perished tragically in the 9/11 attack, the anti-terror budget (including the 120 billion or so for a useless Iraq war) exceeds the AIDS research and prevention budget by over a ten thousand times. despite the fact that the latter could prevent a serious threat to global stability in the coming decade (which is not that far off).

meanwhile, an institution the Bush administration does back just filed for bankruptcy because it couldn't stop anally raping little boys, and now has to pay the price. that, and they're also re-writing the book on the inquisition. the robot's mechanical soul can smell the hypocracy miles away.

but enough of that. in other news, Japan has a fantastic way to take attendence in schools, and the special sauce will sting, mind you.

finally, the robots music project has made it to MSNBC.

the robot is on vacation. I'm filling in this time.

in a day and age when I've seen friends get married and divorced multiple times in their early twenties, it gets somewhat easy to develop a very cynical view of romance, love, and companionship. for reasons unknown to me, I've always been a hopeless romantic, and always will be, however seeing the current state of affairs (no pun intended) makes me somewhat pessimistic (though not in my personal life so much).

at the time of her passing, my grandmother Pearl and her beloved husband Max continue to be the inspiration behind my desire to spend my entire life in love with my unbelivable girlfriend. The one constant in Pearl's life was and always will be Max, starting when they fell in love when they were around 16. this bond is not only what held them together, it brought them continually closer, and eventually was the only thing keeping her alive. Doctors gave her 3-6 months to live, and her love for her husband and family gave her four and a half years.

here's to you, Pearl. you're a beautiful woman, a wonderful mother, and an inspiration to all those lucky enough to love you.

the robot is amused to see ex-US officials booing the President, while W hangs onto his favorite new toy, despite the fact that (again) there was no link between his fuzzy spider-hole teddy bear and the 9/11 attacks.

elsewhere, worms for your cell phone, and 50 Cent throws tantrum, cries, leaves. what a bitch.

the robot would like to apologize for the long haitus. graduation was briefly neccessary.

the robot would also like to deeply thank Millipore for the free iPod won at the ASM General Meeting. being a geek pays, evidently.

in the world, the responsibilty continues to climb the ladder, thankfully; poor snake got no game no more, OSX saves a Kennedy from worm bites, and Aussies are now the 9th nation outside of Japan to get i-Mode.

when the hell do we get iMode, hmmmm?

the robot is bewildered by bulldozer psychos, despite the fact that the back of NyQuil bottles are clearly labeled with "should not operate heavy machinery after using."

Metallica's Lars is hospitalized, misses download festival. dude, karma. seriously.

the robot also has a newfound hard-on over these. bless Apple. wireless print server, wireless iTunes-stereo bridge, and an 802.11g base station in less than 7 oz. damn.

the robot is amused by this headline, partially because it's unclear where the probe was inserted. in an equally curious tale, sex drives a swede mad.

N. Korea recalls all cell phones to prevent its people from getting too "worldly" for their liking. what a curious place.

finally, the robot's 8-bit brothers are starring in comics. hoo-ray.

the robot is pleased to see that some judges uphold the constitution over W's religious ideals. robot is less pleased to see W comparing a war with no clear enemy, no clear objective and no conventional warfare to a war that was the polar opposite to all of the aforementioned. furthermore, was this on the radar in WWII? and robot is charmed by the ignorance of british school kids: it rivals our own. it's no wonder brit kids grow up to be easily distracted.

in Japan, 4G networks launch (the rest of the world gets airwave text messages), and shinto priests nail sacred virgins.

finally, M$ patents the double-click. that, my dear humans, is absurd.

the robot would like to wish all humans a happy memorial day, and best of luck with their BBQing endeavors in the rain.

your president, on the other hand, is celebrating the holiday by lying to the country, claiming that the troops he has sent to their deaths have "made America safer and freed millions," which the robot supposes could be true if by safer he means introduced actual terrorist cells into Iraq where there were none before, and by freed millions he means prison sodomy by US private contractors. but the man is very proud of his new toy, and at least is giving plaque makers a job, unlike everyone else.

the robot has returned from New Orleans, where he attended the ASM General Meeting, ate Oysters Rockafeller at their birthplace, ate Bananas Foster at their birthplace, experienced jazz at Preservation Hall, ate lots of beignet and drank lots of chicory coffee, among other tourist activities.

for those who remember it: the TurboGraphix 16: a memoir. also, antibiotic misuse can lead to increased development of allergies, among other bad drawbacks.

in legal news, Fox finally has a show even it won't air, the Buffalo Spammer is going to be getting it in the shower for 3.5-7 years, and privacy concerns have sparked legal action against G-mail.

the robot is amazed at how oppresive news of the war is becoming, however it seems to bode very badly for the president, and that makes it seem okay. after reading this summation of recent events, the robot is optimistic for the first time that we may not have a second term's worth of this tyrant.

in Iraq, a soldier is punished for desertion in protest and the US seeks continued immunity so we can continue to sodomize and torture, I mean "liberate" these fine people whose oil and reconstruction contracts we love, I mean "want to aid."

finally, John Kerry may decline the DNC's nomination to allow him to raise more money, and certainly cause a mess.

the robot will be relocated next week and away from an internet connection. so hold tight.