zooey deschanel

GIRL CRUSH
GIRL CRUSH

love this guy

i want to be your bff seth rogan,
so we can blow smoke rings together.

my tummy is aching me tonight.
questionable burger = poor decision

the thought project

This is beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

Over a period of 3 months Simon Hogsberg stopped 150 strangers on the street, took their photograph, and asked them what they were thinking before he stopped them.

LINKAGE

sneaky

i love extremely elaborate sneak attack plans.

s'been stuck in my head

Robot Love

Robot Programmed to Love Traps Woman in Lab, Hugs Her Repeatedly

Kyoto, JP -3 March 2009- Staff. Researchers at Toshiba’s Akimu Robotic Research Institute were thrilled ten months ago when they successfully programmed Kenji, a third generation humanoid robot, to convincingly emulate certain human emotions. At the time, they even claimed that Kenji was capable of the robot equivalent of love. Now, however, they fear that his programming has taken an extreme turn for the worst.

“Initially, we were thrilled to see a bit of our soul come alive in this so called ‘machine,’” said Dr. Akito Takahashi, the principal investigator on the project. “This was really the final step for us in one of the fundamentals of the singularity.”

Kenji was part of an experiment involving several robots loaded with custom software designed to let them react emotionally to external stimuli. After some limited environmental conditioning, Kenji first demonstrated love by bonding with a a stuffed doll in his enclosure, which he would embrace for hours at a time. He would then make simple, but insistent, inquiries about the doll if it were out of sight. Researchers attributed this behavior to his programmed qualities of devotion and empathy and called the experiment a success.

What they didn’t count on were the effects of several months of self-iteration within the complex machine-learning code which gave Kenji his initial tenderness. As of last week, Kenji’s love for the doll, and indeed anybody he sets his ‘eyes’ on, is so intense that Dr. Takahashi and his team now fear to show him to outsiders.

The trouble all started when a young female intern began to spend several hours each day with Kenji, testing his systems and loading new software routines. When it came time to leave one evening, however, Kenji refused to let her out of his lab enclosure and used his bulky mechanical body to block her exit and hug her repeatedly. The intern was only able to escape after she had frantically phoned two senior staff members to come and temporarily de-activate Kenji.

“Despite our initial enthusiasm, it has become clear that Kenji’s impulses and behavior are not entirely rational or genuine,” conceded Dr. Takahashi.

Ever since that incident, each time Kenji is re-activated, he instantaneously bonds with the first technician to meet his gaze and rushes to embrace them with his two 100kg hydraulic arms. It doesn’t help that Kenji uses only pre-recorded dog and cat noises to communicate and is able to vocalize his love through a 20 watt speaker in his chest.

Dr. Takahashi admits that they will more than likely have to decommission Kenji permanently, but he’s optimistic about one day succeeding where Kenji failed.

“This is only a minor setback. I have full faith that we will one day live side by side with, and eventually love and be loved by, robots,” he said.

Crotchety Old Man Lingo

-nincompoop
-flabbergasted
-ninny
-rabblerouser
-hooligan
-whippersnapper
-lollygagging
-hootenanny
-patoot -- example: "Billy needs a kick, right in the patoot!"


I've decided I need to incorporate these words into my daily vocabulary.
I think patoot and whippersnapper are my fav's -- along with crotchety.

Any additions to the list?

NETFLIX

I LOVE NETFLIX.
So how many of you remember 'A Troll in Central Park'?
I totally scored it in the mail today -- i'm extremely excited.
That movie along with 'We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'
and 'FernGully' were such pivotal movies for me as a kid.

too adorable.

YAY

i just quit one of my two jobs! YEEE MOFOKA!
time to celebrate by doing some homework, or maybe take a nap.

Elif Sanem Karakoc

Found this marvelous person via Flickr, here's a link. They have some really lovely photos.

In other news, I would love to chuck something at my roommate right now.
Maybe like, a tiny dodgeball. Not a regulation sized dodgeball, those aren't as easy to throw, go nearly as fast, or hit nearly as hard.

I mean business. I mean a tiny dodgeball.

tonsillar abscess

I'M SORRY.

but i just can't resist showing off my nasty. the diagram below shows the abscess in my throat. the very same one that prevented me from swallowing for an entire day. at first i thought it was just Strep Throat, so i went to the clinic to get antibiotics, and my lovely doctor informed me of my ailment and said that i had to go to the ER to get it punctured and DRAINED, or i could risk having it grow and prevent me from breathing. extremely terrified of going to the ER by myself, i left to get my perscription filled at CVS. i returned home with my syrup in hand and then proceeded to sit on the couch and endure the worst, constant pain I've ever experienced. i couldn't even sleep. i just had to sit there and drool and be sweaty from the fevers. so i called up my doc, and i said, "YO. this ain't gonna fly." so she made an appointment for me to see a specialist on friday to get this leech of an abscess removed. i just can't wait to eat again..

ONE MORE DAY ABSCESS... one more day...

Carassius Auratus

First thing I do when I move off campus: Buy a goldfish.

oh my god.

Epic

i want more. i will see them live someday.

Isaac Randozzi

Found his work via a mini-interview on Fecal Face.
I am a fan. His website is My Dumb Luck.

Seeing Randozzi's work, along with reading Diane Arbus: A Biography, I've been feeling especially passionate about getting back in touch with my photography lately. And no more hasty digital work like last semester.. I miss my trusty analog friends. It's time to dust them off and get back into the darkroom.

You look so French, and I think about it all the time -- You're so French ALL THE TIME!

-Sarah Julson

i love how i met your mother SO MUCH.