Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
You may be familiar with the typical scene these days at a Starbucks with a wifi hotspot: People with laptops and pad computers, typically men, camped out at tables for prolonged periods with their coffee drinks, working intently on a spreadsheet, a marketing presentation, or responding to a slew of emails. Down in the Vietnamese coffee houses of Orange County, the scene is just a little different. There the café patrons are all men; and up until recently some of them were actually doing businessman-type business. But a lot more of them were having fun gambling using rigged video games and enjoying the company of waitresses who wore very little clothing. Or in some cases no clothing at all. At the link, you’ll learn how the gambling and nudity in these Vietnamese joints has gotten beyond what Orange County authorities find acceptable, and what certain cities, most notably Garden Grove, are doing to clamp down on the questionable and illegal activities. But local cops and government officials do have their hands full. The O.C. is home to the largest population of Vietnamese immigrants in the United States. There are quite a few cafés and coffee houses set up all over the county. And it will be interesting to see how the Vietnamese coffee house businesses figure out how to make up for the revenue many have reportedly lost since the police clampdown on nudity and illegal roulette and blackjack began in earnest last March. (Japan Today – Gambling and Nudity With Your Coffee?)
Continue reading
For most us, the idea of a woman having a child without any kind of health insurance to cover the costs is irresponsible. But it certainly is not uncommon and it isn’t something for which mother or child should be made to suffer. And certainly the notion of keeping a mother from her newborn baby until she can pay the bill is one which we could never consider. Well, in Indonesia they don’t feel the same way about that last sentiment. Unfortunately, Indonesia does not yet have universal healthcare for pregnant women. So in order to safely give birth, the majority of Indonesian women rely on private clinics, hospitals and midwives to see them through births and deliver healthy babies. However, problems arise if new mothers and their relatives do not have the money to pay these clinics, hospitals or midwives the fees incurred while bringing their children into the world. As you will read at the link, in at least one case this has meant a new mother of twins had one of her identical children held hostage in lieu of payment of the birthing bill. Is this a huge problem, something that happens every day? No. In 2010, only 36 cases of baby hostages were reported to the Indonesian National Commission for Child Protection. But it is cause for concern, and something to keep in mind the next time you find yourself griping about your HMO (BBC News Asia-Pacific – Indonesian Babies Held Hostage)
Continue reading
Your house is gone, you’re living in a shelter, and you don’t have a firm idea of when you’ll be able have a home of your own again. This is the situation thousands of survivors of Japan’s March 11th disaster still face. And at times like these, the softness, warmth and unconditional love of a pet is often the perfect therapy. Well thanks to a robotic baby seal named Paro, numerous earthquake and tsunami survivors have been getting the chance to know the affection and attention of a cuddly, fuzzy animal just when they need it the most. Paro is an untethered robot equipped with sensors and artificial intelligence which makes him (her?) responsive to human touch. The little robo-seal was introduced in Japan seven years ago to give elderly folks who live where pets aren’t allowed the chance to benefit from the soothing, therapeutic effects which human-animal contact very often provides. At the link, you’ll see video of March 11th survivors interacting with Paro, and find yourself smiling and maybe even tearing up a little. (BBC Asia-Pacific – Baby Robot Seal Gives Comfort) For further reading, you can go here to learn how Paro has been used in a Connecticut mental-health residence to treat people with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Continue reading
Comic Con Signing Line Up. We’ll most definitely be adding specials, deals, and more. I’d keep up with GR news via Twitter @giant_robot Yes, there’s an underscore @giantroboteric (that is me) @invictus (That’s Michelle B)
Continue reading
The old cliché, of course, is that to seriously outperform something one runs circles around it. But for a certain Englishman in Tokyo it isn’t a matter of wanting to outperform an entire city so much as it is a desire to express his deep affection for his adopted home. So he isn’t running circles around Tokyo, he’s drawing pictures with it. Since November of 2010, English transplant Joseph Tame has periodically combined his love of running with that of Tokyoto turn the city into a rather large Etch-A-Sketch. Using a GPS device and special tracking software, Tame runs routes through Tokyo that end up forming large, whimsical pictures which are plotted and traced onto a Google map of the city. In April, he ran a 50 kilometer route which formed a large heart in central Tokyo. Earlier this month, he created a “G+” icon to celebrate the launch of the Google+ social networking service. And earlier this year, he ran 45 kilometers to form an ersatz Hello Kitty face spread over the Nakano and Shinjuku wards of western Tokyo. And as you’ll see at the link, he has drawn a few other fun figures as well. We can’t wait to see where this runner’s kinetic creativity will take him next. (The Art of Running – Huge Tokyo Heart)
Continue reading