I’m playing around with Google Sidewiki which launched last week. It basically allows you to contribute helpful information next to any webpage. It appears as a browser sidebar, where you can read and write entries along the side of the page. So far there’s nothing next to my blog but I’m not exactly surprised… there’s one entry now

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Here’s an example of how it’s used on a more popular site such as TechCrunch.

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To learn more about Google Sidewiki, check out the Google Blog

I’m not sure if this will actually be useful as it looks to be a comment section and when I read articles or look at videos, most comments tend to be either irrelevant to the article or rude, mean, snotty… you get the point.

Feel free to leave a comment

So I was lucky enough to attend TechCrunch50 with a client and while I’m doing reports for them I’ve decided to share with you some companies that I found interesting from a consumer point of view. There will be no talk of business models, novel technology, distribution, market penetration, road maps… I’m going to try to keep it simple so that even my mom even understands the company. Without furter ado, here’s the first company.

Story Something – storysomething.com.

I’m hesitant to write about this company right now because they’re still in private beta and if I tell you about a company or service I want you to be able to go try it out right away. This app is basically for really busy parents who would like to still be able to provide their kids with personalized and customized stories. You can either have the stories on the web or have them sent to your iphone. It’s hard for me to know if this type of product will become a big hit, esp. since I don’t have kids, but in my experience as a teacher, new and exciting things are great for keeping a child’s attention and the ability to read the stories on different form factors is cool. This provides another way for parents to spend quality time with their children and  IMHO, a much better option than having them fall asleep to the tv…

So most of you know I’ve checked out a couple of online dating sites but have done it more in the name of research as opposed to searching for somebody to date. This is evident in the fact that I won’t pay for the services. I’m mostly interested in the different UIs, the algorithms for setting ppl up, the business models and the mobile apps. Apparently yesterday an app launched at DEMOfall 09 which gives a person the ability to look up people that they will possibly date. Although the app is free but you have to pay extra (I hope it’s written clearly how much and at what point) for information regarding criminal records, social networking info… This is an app I will not be purchasing. When looking at companies or services, I usually research the management and it appears that this one has a sketchy history. Kinda funny if you think about it since they probably wouldn’t want allegations of fraud to be brought up when requesting funding or trying to get a date but with their app, it’s possible.

Where I was going with this is that yes, I sometimes google people that I’ll be meeting up with or going on a date with but in the end, I look forward to getting to know the person by actually talking to them as opposed to researching everything about them first. Unless of course you’re an ax murderer…

Below is a question and answer regarding robots and the issue of robots disobeying orders/doing unethical actions… I think I’ve seen too many movies as I read the answer as Asimov blah blah blah oh my God, the robot is killing my dog. Ok, so maybe I made up that last part of I’m jaded after seeing Will Smith have to take on the whole robot force in iRobot. For now, I’ll vacuum my floors, pick up heave objects, and figure out what’s logical on my own.

Q: Do you envision robots ever disobeying military orders on the battlefield to “do the right thing?” If so, under what circumstances?

A: Asimov originated the use of ethical restraint in robots many years ago and presented all the quandaries that it can generate. In our prototype ethical governor (and in the design itself) we do provide the robot with the right to refuse an order it deems unethical. It must provide some explanation as to why it has refused such an order. With some reluctance, we have engineered a human override capability into the system, but one which forces the operator to explicitly assume responsibility for any ethical infractions that might result as a consequence of such an override.

— Ronald C. Arkin, director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory at Georgia Tech, who is working on programming ethical behavior into military robots.

Just had a video call with my parents in Michigan and my sister & her family in North Carolina. Quite comical as Michelle’s webcam first wouldn’t work and then her audio wouldn’t work. My parents were having a good time trying out all this new technology. Maybe it’ll go off without a hitch next time we do it. Happy Fathers Day!