Sdtrk: ‘Changer’ by Stereolab

Another new version of Actroid-chan? Yes? Perhaps?? Probably not, but this version, which they’re referring to as ‘Actroid Repliee’ (which was her development name), is being groomed for a possible career in broadcasting.

Robots in Step

And now the news, with “Actroid Repliee.” Osaka University professor Hiroshi Ishiguro looks after this newscaster robot, which relies on “air servo actuators” to move its arms, head and torso smoothly.

A Gynoid newscaster? That’s an idea so revolutionary, that it revolves.
Little bit of trivia for you: t-dash-san, in that recent Email I’d mentioned, says that ‘Unison‘s President was a employee of KOKORO company which developed Actroid’. Another piece of the Synthetik puzzle falls into place..
More details will be posted here as soon as I hear of them, of course

Sdtrk: ‘Alsh’ by The focus group

Articles of negligible importance:

+ Take the ‘Mod or Fraud’ quiz! TAKE IT!!
I scored 12 right out of 17, which is actually a bit embarrassing

+ New Death in June rarities compilation due out this month, entitled ‘Abandon tracks!’ Funny, you’d think this sort of news would be announced on their website, but it’s not been updated since October of last year. :-\

+ My new favourite music label: Ghost box. They are virtually dripping with that esoteric audio-scientific Sixties British vibe that Broadcast so fervently cultivated in me. ‘Ghost Box is an independent music label for artists that find inspiration in library music albums, folklore, vintage electronics, and the school music room’, they say. O yeah

+ The Main Art Theatre in Royal oak is supposed to be premiering ‘Howl’s moving castle’ this Friday, I believe? Gotta round up the lads for that

+ In playing Otogi for the Xbollox, I noticed something very intriguing. It has what might well be called the best soundtrack for any videogame ever made. It’s like a Heian-era Cocteau twins headed by Brad Laner, if you can dig that shizzle. Lots of taiko drums, lots of shamisen, lots of loops, lots of creepy voices from out of nowhere. Unfortunately, it seems that a soundtrack Cd only exists in my fevered imagination, cos I can’t find one for the life of me. Grrr. And now I gotta buy the sequel??

+ new Japanese mook (one of those Engrish portmanteaus of Magazine + bOOK), called ‘My Doll Friend’, that deals with, well, Artificial companions. Obviously I have to procure a copy by hook or by crook, although fellow Japanese iDollator t-dash (of BACKxFORE fame) mentioned in a recent Email that ‘[On the Japanese Doll BBSes], they say that MOOK doesn’t have the contents which correspond with its price.‘ I remain undeterred!

+ No new Actroid news! Just give it a month or so

+ Finally, it’s supposed to be in the upper eighties outside all this week. Christ in shitty knickers. :-\ One of the things I neglected to mention in my 85 things list is that my ideal temperature is between 60 – 65° Fahrenheit. I can’t stand being out in anything above 75° or so for long periods of time. Sweating is really undignified, unless you’re having it off with someone, and even then I suggest air conditioning

‘Shouting to hear the echoes’. You can’t say you didn’t learn something

Sdtrk: ‘Beat surrender’ by the Jam

What’s that, you say? Actroid-chan is now available for rental? Well, then. *big grin*

I think it goes without saying that I have dibs on her first..

(Info in Japanese at http://www.kokoro-dreams.co.jp/ng/actroid/20040721_actroid2/20040721_actroid2.html; movie at the topmost link here)

Sdtrk: ‘Groovy spacy ’70’ by Christine 23 onna

Well, this is certainly interesting. (nicked from Brian)

I’m not as much of a Nihilist as I thought I was! I don’t know whether I should be proud or ashamed.

Upon reflection, I think the hedonism charge sticks. When I think of a typical hedonist, I think key parties, swingers, and enough recreational drugs to choke a horse, and I’m thinking, well, that can’t apply to me, as I neither drink nor do drugs, and I barely smoke. But then, I considered what I was discussing with a mate semi-recently: I find it shameful that, as human beings in the 21st Century, we are still governed by societal conditions where we have to work in order to live. No work = no money, no money = no food. We have the (burgeoning) technological means necessary to eliminate a lot of unskilled jobs through mechanical methods, namely through the use of robots and other automata. Of course, the question that usually follows that statement would be ‘So what are unskilled labourers supposed to do for money, then?’ Simple. Retun to school, and take courses for an actual career, instead of a mere job.
I look at it this way, cashiers, service station attendants, fast food workers, etc — people don’t normally aspire towards jobs of this nature, and to be honest, most people in these positions are crap at their jobs anyway. For example, if we had automated fast food places that were to accurately record your order and swiftly assemble it using a series of conveyor belts, dispensers and robotic arms, that would guarantee customer satisfaction. Wouldn’t you rather receive your made-to-order food package from a charming and personable Synthetik similar to Actroid-chan, rather than dealing with some pimply-faced teen who’s desperately trying to apologise for the fact that you ended up with a Big Mac in your bag, when you’re actually at Burger King?
Plus, a whole new job market just opened up right there — someone has to know how to maintain the Synthetik and the food assembly machinery, as well as restocking, changing the drink syrups, refilling the napkins, etc. I wouldn’t want to eliminate all jobs, just a lot of the shittier ones..

Ultimately, I believe that humans shouldn’t be spending 60% of our lives working, but instead, we should be enjoying ourselves through intellectual pursuits or other means, as long as our pursuits of happiness don’t cause harm to others. ‘If it harm none, do as thou wilt’ is the operative phrase here. Humans should be spending their time, money, and energy on living, not working. I mean, even if you choose to spend your free hours masturbating to the Weather Channel, then as long as you’re not harming anyone, and you’re at home with the blinds drawn, then wank for great justice, my friend!
And think of it this way, if you were able to spend less time at a dodgy job you aren’t enjoying, you could be spending more time developing your hobbies into things that could make money for you, which is guaranteed to make you happier. Some people enjoy cooking. Some people enjoy writing. Some people enjoy creating artwork, while others enjoy squirrels. If you’re having fun while working, it’s not really work..
So yeah, wow. A hedonist. Never really thought of myself in that context, but it doesn’t seem really ill-fitting.

In case you’re wondering, yes; I spent all day yesterday listening to my Joy division box set

Sdtrk: ‘Cave control’ by Screaming MacGregor

Since Kokoro Company Ltd’s very own spokesmodel is at the Aichi World Expo 2005 right this very minute, they’ve updated their pages concerning your favourite Gynoid and mine (mostly mine), Actroid-chan, with two new movies (click on the Actroid banner, and click on the second link from the top that reads アクトロイド　ムービー公開中, cos the URL redirects are making sport of me), and a handful of new photos. Apparently, as they have an Actroid-chan working each of the information kiosks at the Expo, Kokoro has developed three different versions — one for each entrance — plus a sexay new standing version that does the emcee duties in another part of the exhibit. Roger that, and drooling now. Yum.

Miyu-chan, the East gate entrance Actroid

Sakura-chan, the North gate entrance Actroid

Sara-chan, the West gate entrance Actroid

the MC version at Kokoro’s Robot Station exhibit

Also managed to find this link, on a Japanese robot developer’s blog, to a very brief .avi of the pre-Expo Actroid-chan. Very cute, but she seems a wee bit irritable! Which I guess would make sense, if you had people poking you once every ten minutes to see if you were ‘real’ or not.

‘Please stop poking me already; it’s rude’

And (copied and pasted from my post about it on the Doll Forum) can’t believe I forgot to mention this before: Tokyopop is translating a somewhat new six-installment manga series called ‘DOLL’. It’s a loosely-related grouping of various tales having to do with Androids and Gynoids — called Dolls, obviously — and how they affect the lives of those who own them, those who hate them, and those who love them. They’re by one of my new favourite manga-ka (manga artist), Mitsukazu Mihara, who used to do the covers for the Gothic & Lolita Bibles, until she apparently started asking for too much money.
Like I said, there’s six issues total; they’re up to No.4, which I just picked up the other day. Ace artwork, compelling stories, and all about a subject we love so dearly. Give it a look!

Finally, this is a fab article that ran in The Japan Times last year that might help to explain the rationale behind a lot of us who own, or are aspiring to own, an Artificial companion. Damnit, Japan’s got it all over us!

‘Shouting to hear the echoes’. The only Blog you’ll ever need, for unashamedly biased Android / Gynoid / Synthetik / high-end love doll development news

Sdtrk: ‘A watery death’ by Michael Nyman

Felt the need to post, for better or for worse. Instead of typing this lot out, I could be replying to Emails, or even getting back to the Doll Forum, which I’ve not been in for the past two weeks. What the hell am I doing??

+ Nice new interview with Scary go round‘s John Allison o’er at Thunder Chunky (Wasn’t Thunder Chunky a female wrestler from the 70s?)

+ Anyone who buys me a Nixie clock, or builds one to spec for me, will have me as a sex slave for a year. I recently learned what a Nixie clock is — they’re vacuum-tube-based clocks that were created before LEDs got a technological foothold — and after having seen some pictures, all I can say is that they’re beyond ace. I’m certain you’ll agree!
Hrrm. Should’ve saved that for a ‘This was the Future’ article..

+ Right, bollocks to the Nixie clock. Someone get one of those Actroid Gynoids from the Robot Expo curently taking place in Aichi, Japan. She’s so damn cute!

+ Jeff & I caught the Korean thriller ‘Oldboy‘ down at the Main art theatre this Friday past, as the two reviews I’d read showed it in an appealing light, but I’ll tell ya; the first hour, I was like, ‘I’m totally buying this on DVD when I get home,’ whereas the second hour I was like, ‘Errr — what??’
A drunken womanising salaryman spends his daughter’s birthday in jail overnight. When he gets released, he’s kidnapped and locked into a hotel room for 15 years. Then, he’s released from there, having been told that he’s been framed for his wife’s murder, and he has five days to find out who did it and why. I can’t really get into detail why the film let me down in the end, cos my explanation would be spoilerrific, but I’ll just say that if you can see it for free, do so. It looks beautiful, the couple of action sequences were feckin’ fantastic, and the story was compelling, but the resolution was really frustrating, plus it ran a bit too long towards the end. Like I said, see it for free. Then go out and buy a claw hammer and a squid

+ Go read the best thread ever: this is from some poker players’ forum, in the off-topic section, and it asks, ‘How many 5 year-olds could you take on at once?‘ Not only is it the Textbook Definition of Funny, but it’s an entirely valid question

School is winding down, and I have to do one rather involved final thing for each class, which possibly explains my lack of focussed writing. Or focussed anything, really, as far as these past two weeks have been. Have I mentioned that I’ll be ridiculously ecstatic once I finish school? Not in the past five minutes, you say? Well then.
Right, I’m off to answer some Emails. Or hop back on the Forum. I’ll just flip a fecking coin

Just so you know, I will be working on the rest ov ‘I am not making this up‘, but as I have to do a bit ov cross-checking — I have to scan thru Emails & ICQ logs and whatnot, cos believe me, my time with that hateful individual was one big messy fucking blur — that’s kinda on hold, cos at this moment, I’m literally racing against the clock to get into courses for this Fall, and describing what I have to do for that is far too involved for me to get into right now. I’m remaining hopeful, but I’m sure I know what the outcome will be. :-\ But I’ll be getting onto the rest ov that saga soon, as I’m sure that’s the only thing that’s drawn a lot ov people to this blog in the first place..

In the meantime, let me throw some links at you, in lieu ov actually writing something. Here’s the Gynoid cutie known as Actroid, from Kokoro co., Ltd ov Japan: Link one, her movie at Link two, more at Link three, which features additional movies, and a direct link to another movie at Link four