This paper was written by Comaniciu and Meer of Rutgers University presented at International Conference on Computer Vision 99.
In order to avoid estimation of the probability density function, mean shift is applied as a nonparametric estimator of density gradient. In image segmentation as well as smoothing process, it’s difficult to keep details while merge similar parts solely by spatial domain or range domain solutions. Usually users are required to set many constraint parameters for these tasks.
This paper proves the convergence of mean shift on lattices, and employs mean shift in the joint, spatial-range domain of gray level and color images for discontinuity preserving filtering and image segmentation. In processing in Spatial-Range Domain, each data point becomes associated to a point of convergence which represents the local mode of the density in the d-dimensional space. The output of the mean shift filter for an image pixel is defined as the range of information carried by the point of convergence. For the segmentation task, the convergence points sufficiently close in the joint domain are fused to obtain the homogeneous regions in the image. And for smoothing task, these points are merged together.
Mean-shift applied to several videos by someone somewhere (not me).
Based on proof of the convergences and applications in image smoothing and segmentation, mean shift can merge similar regions while keeping high details at the same time. Also this method reduces parameters needed for these tasks. What is more, the mean shift has a more powerful adaptation to the local structure of the data, and can run until convergence without stopping criterion.
Picture of the Day:
The differences between the World Cup and the Ph.D., (credit: http://www.phdcomics.com).
Have you noticed that loud buzzing sound, like a gigantic swarm of bees coming right at you from your TV (or computer) no matter which world cup game you try to watch? This new world-wide sensation has become the dominating theme for the currently on-going 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa, and the culprit is a South African "traditional instrument" (but the cheap plastic version) called Vuvuzela.
The vuvuzela is a long plastic horn/trumpet type instrument. It came to international attention during the run-up to the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, also hosted at South Africa as a testing run for the following year's World Cup tournament. As FIFA's official web site puts it:
The vuvuzela has become part of the official South African football fans arsenal. It is a plastic trumpet which makes a distinctive noise, comparable to an elephant blowing their trunk. A stadium can often erupt with noise from fans blowing on their vuvuzelas. The South African Football Association, in a community-building project, has helped manufacture the colored plastic trumpet.
At the price of only 60 South African Rand (approximately $8 USD), this plastic horn quickly gained the hearts of many South African football (the international football, not American football) fans whether rich or poor, and soon became a symbol representing the South African flavor for the sport of football. And as the many football fans from all over the world gathered at the South African nation, the fashion quickly caught on among everyone. When tens of thousands of fans blow their beloved plastic trumpets at the same time inside the same stadium, the effect can be quite dramatic and annoying to some.
Broadcasters have complained about the constant annoying buzzing noise created by the many vuvuzelas, complaining that they are ruining the viewers' World Cup experience, and asked for a ban of the plastic trumpet at the World Cup. Some viewers had opted to mute the games just to get rid of the constant noise. Some players also complained that the noise can affect players' ability to perform in the field. Spain striker David Villa, who played at the Confederation Cup had said:
"In many parts of the game it can bother you a bit because you can't communicate anything to a teammate who's more than 10 meters away from you."
The vuvuzela, a long plastic horn, is just about the most
popular item in South Africa right now. -- Photo: AFP
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk actually banned spectators from blowing their vuvuzelas at his team's training sessions, and a London Doctor also warned that the vuvuzela can spread cold and flu germs. However, most viewers didn't mind the noise and actually liked it because it really brings out the enthusiasm at the stadium and make the experience more alive. And for those spectators at the stadium, this is one thing everyone must have. It also makes a great souvenir. England defender Jamie Carragher said that he had been asked to bring some back and his kids had been on the phone asking for two. FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, also defended South African fans' right to blow their vuvuzela horns at the World Cup:
"I have always said that Africa has a different rhythm, a different sound," the FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in a Twitter message on Monday. "I don't see banning the music traditions of fans in their own country."Blatter went on to ask: "Would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions in your country?"
So if you are quite annoyed by the buzzing sound from your TV (or computer), how can you improve the situation? Here are some suggestions:
Use a noise-canceling headphone such as these ones. Turn it on, but don't plug it into anything.
Watch your World Cup games on a desktop computer with very loud fans, so the loud noise of the fan covers the noise of the vuvuzelas and you get annoyed by the noisy fan instead --- this is my personal solution!
Buy a vuvuzela from an online store (e.g.this one) for each of your family members (and maybe friends) and then blow them as loud as you wish toward your TV (or computer) without exceeding the annoyance threshold of your neighbor. You can even use your vuvuzelas for a lot of other things as this web site has suggested:
1. Cricket bat.
2. Hearing Aid.
3. Petrol funnel.
4. Water sprayer. (force trumpet side down into water)
5. Drinking funnel. Nuff said.
6. 4G mobile communication
7. Walking stick,
8. Light saber. (Just insert a torch) as seen on Starwars….
9. Jousting Stick (simply insert one into another.)
10. And of coarse… supporting any team/thing you like…..
Having decided, he began tracing the handwritings on the steel plate and tried to memorized everyone word of it.
“I must completely memorize this thing, so that the formulas will simply bolt out when I teach him and he will never have any doubt about it. Only that my voice is too different from that of the senior master Ren. I’ll really have to lower my voice. I’ve got an idea! I can shout at the top of my lungs for the next two days and dampen my voice. Then I’ll also mumble when I speak, so it’ll be hard for him to detect anything unusual.”
In the next while, Linghu Chong would spend some time reading the formulas on the steel plate, and then spend the next moment shouting out loud. He knew that the dungeon was located deep underground, and with the many gates, even if he were to burn firecrackers in the cell, people outside would still not be able to hear anything. Crying at the top of his lungs, he cursed the Four Skunks of Jiangnan for a good while and then began singing songs and theater opera. Eventually, even he, himself, couldn’t withstand his own ugly singing. He burst out into loud laughter. Then he would go back to memorizing the formulas on the steel plate.
Suddenly, Linghu Chong came upon a few sentences: “Make Dan-Tian[1] an empty box and a deep valley. Empty box can store objects; deep valley is a reservoir for water. When inner energy flows through, distribute into the acupoints in the Ren Channel.”
He had actually traced these sentences with his fingers a few times before, but since he detested all energy cultivation techniques in his mind, he never really thought about the meaning inside. Now when they caught his attention, he was very dumbfounded.
“When Master taught me inner strength cultivation, the main essentials were all about storing inner energy inside Dan-Tian. The more vigorous and dense the inner entry streams inside Dan-Tian, the stronger the inner strength. Why would this formula say that there should be no inner energy stored inside Dan-Tian? If inner energy cannot reside inside Dan-Tian, then where inner strength would be coming from? No inner strength cultivation methods out there will ever suggest something like this. Is this technique a joke? Ha-ha! Black-White is a wicked and despicable man. Why don’t I pass this method on to him and make a fool out of him?”
He traced the handwritings on the steel plate and slowly pondered over the meaning. The first several hundred characters taught techniques on how to disperse one’s own inner strength and energy. The more he read it, the more shocked he felt.
“Who in the world would be so stupid and willing to dissolve the inner energy he had once diligently cultivated over his entire life? Unless he was determined to end his life. But if he wanted a suicide, he could just easily slash his throat with his own sword. Why make it so complicated? To dissolve inner energy this way is much more difficult than cultivating inner energy. Besides, what good does it do?”
He mulled over the matter some more and found himself in great depression.
“Once Black-White hears these formulas and techniques, he would know immediately that I am just messing with him. For sure he won’t fall for it. I guess my plan is not going to work at all.”
Linghu Chong became more and more annoyed as he recited the words again and again, “when there’s inner energy steams inside Dan-Tian, distribute them into the Ren Channel, like a bamboo is empty inside, like a valley is always void….” Anger built up as he went on and eventually he gave a good smack at his bed and cussed loudly, “Damn it! This guy was angry for being stuck in the dungeon, so he decided to play tricks and make fun of other people.”
He scolded for a while and then fell asleep again. In his sleep, his mind seemed to have started following the formulas on the steel plate and began the exercise. When he thought of the sentence “when there’s inner energy steams inside Dan-Tian, distribute them into the Ren Channel,” a stream of inner energy actually dispersed into his Ren Channel, and he felt ineffable comforts all over his body. This went on for a good while in his wooziness. Half-sleep and half-awake, Linghu Chong could feel the energy streams inside his Dan-Tian still flowing toward the Ren Channel. But all of a sudden, he realized what was going on.
“Oh, no! If my inner energy keeps flowing out like this, I’d turn into an invalid!”
Startled, he sat up hurriedly. The inner energy streams immediately flowed backward from the Ren Channel, and he found himself consumed by strong nausea and dizziness. After a long while, he was finally able to breathe normally. Then, a thought suddenly struck him and brought him a pleasant surprise.
“My inner injuries are so difficult to cure all because I have running wild inside me seven or eight heterogeneous inner energy streams from the Peach Valley Six Fairies and Monk No-Commandment. Even Dr. Ping One-Finger couldn’t cure me. Great Master Fang-Zheng, the abbot of the Shaolin Temple, said before that only the Tendon Altering Sutra of Shaolin would allow me to gradually tame and dissolve these heterogeneous inner energy streams. But aren’t these inner energy cultivation techniques carved on the steel plate teaching me exactly the same thing – how to dissolve the inner energy streams inside me? Ha-ha! Linghu Chong, you are such a fool! While others fear the loss of their inner energy, you actually fear that the inner energy wouldn’t go away. Now there’s this amazing method just perfect for my case. How wonderful!”
He knew that what happened was only because he dreamed what he thought. Because he recited the formulas again and again when he was awake, those meditation techniques and breathing exercises carved on the steel plate had occupied his entire mind. Once he fell asleep, his subconsciousness took over and simply started following suit involuntarily. However, since his mind was not focused in his dreams, he didn’t really follow the formulas letter to letter. Now, having figured out the great benefit, he found great inspiration. He carefully traced the carvings on the steel plate two more times and made sure he understood the true meanings before sitting down cross-legged in a meditation pose and beginning the energy cultivation step by step.
Only about two hours into the meditation, he could already sense a fraction of the heterogeneous energy streams, which had been stuck and getting wild in his Dan-Tian region for a long time, dispersing into his Ren Channel. Although he still couldn’t rid them out of his body, the pain and tension caused by those energy steams rolling over inside him had certainly been greatly reduced.
Great joy welled up in his heart and he couldn’t help but jump to his feet and sing at the top of his lungs. He soon realized how ugly and hoarse the singing was. Turned out his previous day’s screaming and shouting were very effective and had really done it for his voice.
“Ren Woxing! Ren Woxing! You had left these formulas behind with the intention to cause harm. You probably had no idea that one day I’d run into them and actually benefit instead of suffer from them! If you knew this, you’d probably turn over in your grave and cry! Ha-ha! Ha-ha!” he thought to himself.
He continued working on dispersing energy steams without any break. The more he exercised, the more comfortable he felt. Then he thought.
“After I completely disperse the energy streams from the Peach Valley Six Fairies and Monk No-Commandment, I could very well start all over with our Huashan School’s inner strength cultivation, following the instructions taught by Master. Although I’ll have to start from scratch again, and it might take a lot of time and effort, chances are, my life probably would be safe now. If Brother Xiang eventually comes and rescues me out of here, there’s a new life waiting for me out there in the martial world!”
Then he had a different thought, “Since Master had already banished me from the Huashan School, why bother practicing Huashan School’s inner strength? There are plenty of inner strength cultivation methods from the many schools in the martial world. Why can’t I study from Brother Xiang or even Ying-Ying?” Desolation and excitement entangled in his mind.
After eating the day’s meal, he practiced the techniques again and felt a great sense of soothing in his entire body. Not able to contain his joy, he burst into hearty laughter. Then, Mr. Black-White’s voice all of a sudden rose from outside of the prison door.
“How are you, revered mister? I have been humbly waiting outside for a good while!”
[1] Dan-Tian is an acupoint, but is normally used to refer to the lower abdomen region where inner energy can be stored at.
Now support the translator Lanny by following my blog and leaving comments! :)
Video of the Day:
Another great fighting scene in Kung Fu movie Ye Wen --- Ye Wen was Bruce Lee's Master in the style of Yong Chun. Here Ye Wen was played by Donnie Yen.
In a previous post, I talked about several robots used to fight oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico. Today I will focus on only one of them -- the iRobot 1KA Seaglider.
The Seaglider robot was originally developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory at University of Washington. It is submarine like UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle) or AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) used to collect oceanology data under the surface of ocean water. (Go here to see more pictures.)
Seaglider ready to launch (Photo credit APL-UW)
Seaglider in action (Photo credit APL-UW)
Seaglider is 1.8 meter long with wing span of one meter and weighs only 52 kg dry. Powered by 24V Lithium battery, Seaglider has a cruising range of 4600 km and can dive up to 1000 meters. As shown in the short animation below, the robot doesn't have any propeller and flies through water using changes in buoyancy for thrust. This minimum energy consumption allows the robot to stay in water for very long missions that many times last months long.
The Seaglider robot had been used to "track deep-diving mammals by their high-frequency clicks and squeals." It had also been deployed to the poles months underneath the sea ice for a study of climate change as shown in the video below. Every once a while, the robot would surface and then using the long antenna in its tail to send data to a satellite, which then become accessible from web-enabled devices. The operator can also upload preset way points to the robot for it to survey a certain region. The robot is also capable of loiter and drift modes that will allow the robot to maintain neutral buoyancy at any depth.
In June 2008, the Massachusetts based robotics company, iRobot (yes, the one that makes the popular home vacuum cleaner robots), purchased the Seaglider technology to mass produce it for military use. With its top speed at 25 cm/s, I'd think the robot is probably going to used for reconnaissance use instead of the more action-packed 007 style attacking missions. However, at $100,000 a piece, I don't know if this is tax money well spent. In the BP Oil Spill Crisis currently in progress, iRobot has sent several of this sleek autonomous submarines to the Gulf of Mexico to help collect ocean data and track the movement of the oil spill.
Obviously, this robot is only good for the very patient type users. However, I just can't help asking this question, "if, by any chance, the robot gets swallowed by a big fish, will the fish get diarrhea?"
Picture of the Day:
How often do you see this man in a suit? And can you believe these two used to be teammates?
Argentina's coach Diego Maradona (L) speaks to midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron after substituting him during their 2010 World Cup Group B soccer match against Nigeria at Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg June 12, 2010.
Photograph by: DAVID GRAY Credit: REUTERS
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig burns as oil
pours into the Gulf of Mexico.[The Canadian Press]
If you follow the news somewhat, then you probably have heard about the Oil Spill at the Gulf of Mexico. The BP-owned well has been leaking for nearly two months, causing great disaster to the environment and ocean lives. In the process of fighting the oil leak, many new robotics technologies were put to test and proved to be very handy tools for gulf researchers.
iRobot Seaglider Robot
One robot used is the iRobot Seaglider, a deep-diving UUV (Underwater Unmanned Vehicle) used to detect and map leaked oil in the gulf. Seaglider was originally developed by University of Washington and later acquired by iRobot in June 2008. The robot is powered by changes of buoyancy and does not need a traditional propeller, which allows it to go on missions that last many months long. Sensors on the robot can detect levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, temperature, salinity, other ocean properties, and the presence of oil all the way down to 1,000 meters. The robot has been used to locate and monitor clouds of dispersed oil droplets. Data can be uploaded to a satellite and then distributed via the web to any web-capable devices around the world.
Scripps Glider: Spray
Another robot used is the Spray robot, which is also a submarine type underwater glider, developed under ONR (Office of Naval Research) support by Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Scientists. The robot is "fitted with a sensor similar to the one used used to measure chlorophyll, which is essential for the growth of plants." Scientists hope that the sensor can also pick up the spreading oil leak. The glider can dive up to 1,500 feet deep, and then periodically surface to relay data back to the scientists. It is also possible to use an i-Phone to command the glider, such as telling it to go up or down, turn, or to turn on/off sensors.
BP engineers also used ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicles) type robots to wield clamps and haul machinery in slow machine below the surface of the gulf to cap the renegade well. Video feeds showed the robots using a circular saw-like device to cut small pipes around the leaking riser. I cannot find more information about what kinds of ROV robots were used, but from the video below (from the perspective of the ROV robot) you can see that the ROV robot had arms and grippers tele-operated by human operators to perform manipulation tasks.
Isn't it amazing that we see robots everywhere these days? They are in the air, under the sea, and even in people's homes (not mentioning those ones on other planets). I sure have picked the right career! :)
Picture of the Day:
Giant Isopod that hitched a ride on an ROV in the Gulf of Mexcio. The subject of Isopocalypse 2010.
On June 3, 2010, the third stage of the Mars-500 Project kicked into gear at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow, Russia, where six volunteers from four different countries would spend their next 520-days inside a locked experiment facility simulating a long enduring trip to Mars.
The Mars-500 project is a ground-based experiment simulating manned flight to Mars. The main purpose of the experiment is to evaluate how the long isolation, especially the 20-minutes delayed communication with the outside world, affects the state of health and working capability of the crews.
The project has three stages. The first, 15-day stage took place in 2007 and was only designed to test out the facility. The second, 105-day stage happened in 2009 with 6 volunteers living in the isolated living complex. Currently in progress is the third stage, and another 6 volunteers will actually simulate a complete 520-day mission to Mars -- yes, that's how long the round-trip takes.
The 6 volunteers (professional astronauts, scientists, and engineers) will spend the entire duration of the experiment in a sealed facility with no windows and a '20-minute, one-way time-delay in communications to mirror the real lag in sending messages over the vast distance between Mars and Earth. It's almost like serving an 18-month jail term, but only worse, because they won't ever see the sun and have to live off canned food. They will also be under constant supervision and will be going through many scientific tests each day.
I have always been a big fan of space exploration. Call me Chicken Little if you wish, but with enough nuclear bombs that can blow up our planet over 300 times with only the push of a button, and with so many maniacs in this world, we've got to spread the seeds for human kind before the dooms day, before we wipe out ourselves completely from this universe. Therefore, great shout outs to these 6 volunteers who are willing to make the sacrifice for the benefit of the entire human race (think of all the World Cup games they are going to miss!!). I wish them a very productive "journey" and the greatest success! If I ever get locked up for 18 months, the entire book of Smiling Proud Wanderer would have been translated. LOL!
In order to successfully establish human outposts (or colonies) on another planet, it is essential to have intelligent worker robots working alongside human crews. Although we already have several robots roaming on top of the Martian surface, they are mainly for scientific exploration. What we really need are robots that can work as a team building/assembling equipments and living complexes. Some of them can be sent to Mars before the humans to get things started. Because of the long distance and long communication lag, they would have to be quite capable of autonomous operations, probably at some basic level tasks. Then more robots would go along with the human crews. These robots don't have to be fully autonomous, but will need to be able to interact with human well and take directions/supervisions from human operators efficiently/effectively. Robots have great advantages over human for these kind of space exploration because they don't need to eat, breathe, be entertained, and will never need a psychiatrist during such long space trips.
Picture of the Day:
The South African players dancing on the sideline in celebration of their goal against Mexico in the 2010 World Cup. It is so wonderful that the host nation gets to score the first goal of the tournament! Go Africans!
This paper was written by Meila (MIT) and Heckerman (Microsoft Research) and published at the Machine Learning journal in 2001.
This tech report compares three batch clustering algorithms: EM, CEM, and HAC and also investigate the effect of three different initialization schemes on the final solution produced by the EM algorithm.
The clustering algorithms first use the log posterior probability of model structure given the training data log P(K|Dtrain) to select model structure, and then learn the parameters of a given model structure. The EM algorithm is iterative, and in the E step, assigns the case fractionally to each cluster. The CEM algorithm assigns the case fully to the class k that has the highest posterior probability given the document and the current parameter values. The HAC algorithm merge smaller clusters by recursively merging the two clusters that are closest together until only K clusters are left. The authors derive the distance metric for mixtures of independent multinomially distributed variables.
The three initialization methods experimented are: the random approach where the parameters are independent of the data, the noisy-marginal method (data dependent), and the method of using HAC on a random sample of the data. Several performance criteria are used. For the model structure, the log-marginal-likelihood criterion and the difference between the number of clusters in the model and the true number of clusters are used. For the entire model, one criterion is the cross entropy between the true joint distribution for X and the joint distribution given by the model, and another criterion is the classification accuracy. Running time is also used to compare algorithms.
Experimental results from two datasets were reported. The synthetic dataset was constructed using the MSNBC news service, and the digits dataset consists of images of handwritten digits made available by the US Postal Service Office for Advanced Technology. For both datasets, EM outperformed CEM for all initialization methods and for all criteria (except that CEM is four times faster than EM). After constraining EM run time to match CEM, EM still performed better. When comparing EM versus HAC (initializing using Marginal method), EM is clearly better.
When comparing initialization methods, for the Synthetic dataset, Marginal and HAC are always better than Random (for all criteria) with no significant differences between themselves, but Marginal is much faster than HAC. For the digit6 dataset, there is no clear winner.
Picture of the Day:
First time ever a rescue helicopter landing in Bryce Canyon, Utah. The chopper landed right on the top of the ridge. Got to give the pilot some shout out for his awesome skills!
A voice came from outside the iron-door, “Mr. Ren, it has been very hot in the last couple of days. May I ask if the revered mister still enjoys his good health?”
As soon as Linghu Chong heard the voice, he recognized it instantly. It was the voice of Mr. Black-White. If he had come to his cell one month before, Linghu Chong would have shouted all kinds of invective at him with no scruples. However, after many days of imprisonment, his anger had mollified a great deal and he was able to think calmly.
“Why did he call me Mr. Ren? Has he come to the wrong cell?” he thought to himself and decided to remain silent and listen on.
“Every two months, I come and ask the revered mister the same question. Today is the first day of July, so please allow me to ask once again: Will the revered mister grant my request?” Mr. Black-White continued, his tone respectful and cautious.
Linghu Chong laughed inwardly. “He got the prison cells all mixed up and must have thought I am the Revered Mr. Ren. How careless of him!” But immediately after, he felt a chill in his heart. “Mr. Black-White obviously is the most meticulous one among the four Masters of the Plum Manor. It might be possible for Mr. Bald-Brush or Mr. Paint to mix up the prison cells, but how could Mr. Black-White actually make such a mistake? There must be a reason behind this.” With that in mind, he kept his silence.
Mr. Black-White continued, “Revered Mr. Ren, valiant and capable all your life, why let yourself languish with the decaying dust in the underground dungeon? My words are as firm as the mountain. If the revered mister grants me my request, I promise I will help the revered mister get out of this prison.”
Linghu Chong’s heart thumped wildly. Many thoughts raced through his mind, but he failed to put them in order. What was Mr. Black-White really after and why did he speak this way? He simply couldn’t figure it out. Then he heard Mr. Black-White asking a second time.
“Will the revered mister grant my request?”
Linghu Chong knew that this could be the very opportunity for him to escape. Despite any possible ill intentions, it would still have been a much better alternative than getting stranded forever in the underground prison for some unknown reasons. But having no way of identifying Mr. Black-White’s true intention, he bit his lip and remained silent, afraid that he might say something wrong to ruin this precious opportunity.
“Revered Mr. Ren, why aren’t you speaking up?” Mr. Black-White heaved a sigh. “Last time, when that boy Feng challenged you in the art of sword, you didn’t mention a single word about my request in front of my three sworn-brothers. I am truly grateful for the kindness. I thought to myself, the sword fight must have brought back the many fond memories and the lofty sentiments in Revered Mr. Ren’s heart, and reminded him of the vast world outside. If your Excellency could break out of the dark dungeon, the entire world would be yours for the taking, and you can snuff out any mundane life at will, whether male or female, old or young; and no one would ever dare defy your wish. Wouldn’t that be exhilarating? Granting the request would not have brought any nuisance to your own. Why wouldn’t you ever consent in the past twelve years?”
Linghu Chong could sense the sincerity in his voice. Apparently he really thought he was addressing senior master Ren, which puzzled Linghu Chong even more. He listened on as Mr. Black-White begged again and again for him to agree to the request. Linghu Chong really wanted to know more details about the request, but he reckoned that the situation would take an immediate bad turn if he opened his mouth. Holding his tongue forcibly with great effort, he dared not make the slightest sound.
“If the revered mister is still so stubborn, I guess I’ll visit him again in two months,” Mr. Black-White concluded. He suddenly let out a few chuckles. “The revered mister didn’t scold me this time. Maybe there’s a favorable turn in the situation. I hope the revered mister will give my request some good consideration in the next two months.” After those words, he turned around to exit.
Linghu Chong became quite worried. It would be another two months before Mr. Black-White would return, and how could he stand another two months of the miserable life in the pitch-black prison? He waited until Mr. Black-White had taken several steps and then spoke up in an intentionally lowered and coarse voice.
“What request shall I grant?”
Mr. Black-White turned around at once, and with a swift leap, he had returned back to the square-shaped opening.
“You will…you will grant me my request?” His voice trembled.
Linghu Chong turned to face the wall and covered his mouth with his hand.
“What request?” he said in a muffled voice.
“In the past twelve years, I would take on great risks to come here six times each year, just so that I could implore for the revered mister to consent. Why is the revered mister asking when the answer is so obvious?”
“I forgot!” Linghu Chong snorted.
“I would like the revered mister to teach me the secret of the magical art. Once I master the skills, I promise to let the revered mister out of this place.”
“Has he really mistaken me for that senior master Ren, or is this some kind of intrigue?” Linghu Chong pondered. Still having no clue about Mr. Black-White’s true intentions, he mumbled something indistinct, not even knowing what he said himself.
Naturally, Mr. Black-White didn’t understand a word of his, and had to ask again and again, “Will the revered mister grant it? Will the revered mister grant it?”
“You don’t live up to your promise. You won’t fool me,” Linghu Chong replied.
“What kind of guarantee would I have to provide so the revered mister will believe my words?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I understand the revered mister’s worries. What if I break my promise after the revered mister teaches me the secret of the magical art and still not let him out? There is no need to worry! I have it all arranged, and the revered mister can put his trust in my arrangement,” Mr. Black-White answered.
“What arrangement?”
“Does this mean the revered mister will grant me my request?” Mr. Black-White asked quickly, his voice filled with excitement.
Linghu Chong thought very quickly, “He wants me to teach him the secret of the magical art. Where the heck would I find this secret of the magical art? But I might as well check out his arrangement. If he really will let me out of this place, I could just give him those meditation techniques carved on the steel plate. Who cares if it works or not, it doesn’t hurt to give him some false hope.”
When Mr. Black-White didn’t hear an answer, he added, “After the revered mister teaches me the magical art, I would have automatically become an apprentice of the revered mister. In our cult, an apprentice who deceives his master is to be skinned and dismembered alive. In the past several hundred years, not a single one had managed to get away from the harsh punishment. How would I ever dare to not let the revered mister out?”
“I see,” Linghu Chong let out another snort. “Come back in three days to get your answer.”
“Why won’t the revered mister grant my request today? Why wait another three days in this dark dungeon?” Mr. Black-White pleaded.
Linghu Chong thought to himself, “He is even more impatient than I am. It might be a good idea to wait three days and see if he’s going to pull some clever tricks.” At that thought, he produced a loud, disgruntled humph as if he was very annoyed.
“Sure! Sure! I shall return in three days so I could ask advice from the revered mister again!” Mr. Black-White hurriedly agreed.
Linghu Chong listened as Mr. Black-White walked out of the underground tunnel and closed the iron gate while many unsettling thoughts swirled inside his head.
“Could he really have mistaken me as the Ren-named senior master? He is a very meticulous man. How could he make such a silly mistake?”
Suddenly, an idea struck him. “Could it be possible that Mr. Huang-Zhong found out about Mr. Black-White’s visits and secretly moved senior master Ren to another cell, then put me in this cell instead? That’s got to be it! In the past twelve years, Mr. Black-White had been paying a visit every other month. It’s very likely that someone found out about it. It must have been Mr. Huang-Zhong who set up this scheme clandestinely.”
Then, he remembered what Mr. Black-White had said earlier. “In our cult, an apprentice who deceives his master is to be skinned and dismembered alive. In the past several hundred years, not a single one had managed to get away from the harsh punishment.”
“Our cult? Which cult?” he thought it over. “Could it be the Demon’s Cult? Is it possible that the senior master Ren and the Four Skunks of Jiangnan are all members of the Demon’s Cult? What kind of game are they playing? Why are they dragging me into this mess?”
As soon as the name “Demon’s Cult” came to his mind, he found the entire matter surreptitious and beyond his comprehension, and decided to not ponder upon it. Instead, he concentrated only on two things: “Was Mr. Black-White sincere or was he just acting it up? How shall I answer him when he comes back in three days?”
All kinds of strange idea went through his mind, but no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t figure out Mr. Black-White’s true intentions. After some time, he became extremely weary and fell asleep. By the time he woke up, his first thought was, “If brother Xiang were here, with his experience and knowledge, he would have guessed Mr. Black-White’s intention in no time. That Ren-named senior master was also very bright, likely even smarter than brother Xiang…oops!”
He suddenly cried out and jumped to his feet. After the nap, his brain functioned much better and he realized something.
“For the last twelve years, senior master Ren never granted him the request. Why? Because he knew very well what would happen if he did. As sharp and experienced as he is, he clearly knew the pros and cons of the matter.” Then he thought to himself, “Although senior master Ren should not grant the request, I am not senior master Ren. Why can’t I?”
He knew he shouldn’t do it. He could even smell the great danger involved, yet the hope of escape weighed heavily on his mind, and he would risk the greatest calamity just for an opportunity to break out from the dark underground dungeon. He soon made up his mind.
“When Mr. Black-White comes back in three days, I will consent to his request and teach him the inner energy cultivation and meditation techniques carved on the steel plate. Then I’ll just act according to his reactions.”
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Video of the Day:
One of the best fighting scenes in Kung Fu movies --- Jet Li's Fist of Legend
A few words first: To make it easier to find posts that interest you, I've added a search box to my blog (you probably have noticed it right above my post) that searches through all my blog posts but not anything outside of my blog. Just on the right side oft each post, you can also click on different blog labels to read my posts by category. At the end of each blog post, I've also included icons you can click to share the post with your friends using your favorite social network tools. Spread the good word if there's something you really enjoy! Okay, the real post starts below. ================================================================
Robot arm stabbing a human volunteer with a knife (Photo credit: IEEE Spectrum)
At the ICRA 2010 conference (IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation) that is currently ongoing in Anchorage, Alaska, some German researchers presented their latest research on the biomechanics of soft-tissue injury caused by a knife-wielding robot. The paper is titled "Soft-tissue Injury in Robotics." In other words, they wanted to find out what will happen if a robot holding a sharp knife erroneously stabs a person.And, no, I am not joking. The robot arm in the picture on the right is really holding a knife, and it really stabbed the guy's arm with it.
These researchers are from the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, part of DLR, the German aerospace agency, in Wessling, Germany, and they share the same dream with me --- that one day robots will be smart enough to take over kitchen duties and free us from the laborious duty of cooking. This task of course requires the robot to be able to handle a knife appropriately, so it can cut, chop, slide or dice during the course of preparing a meal. But what if it accidentally struck a human? With that question in mind, these researchers performed a series of experiment to investigate the severity of possible injuries and also designed a collision-detection to minimize the damage.
Various knives used in the experiments (Photo credit: IEEE Spectrum)
They mounted various sharp things, from knife to scissors to screwdriver (why does this somehow remind me of GTA San Andreas? Shudder!), to a DLR Lightweight Robot III, or LWRIII, a 7 degrees-of-freedom robot arm, and then tested the striking on a block of silicone, a pig's leg, and eventually, on the bare arm of a human volunteer. The collision-detection system turned out to be very successful, because the volunteer still has his arm.
The video below shows how the experiments were performed and how the robot arm performed differently with and without the collision-detection system (the real excitement is at the end of video). As a researching in Human-Robot Interaction myself, I couldn't help but imagine this poster in my head that reads, "Volunteer needed for a user study: Get Paid to be Stabbed by a Robot!"
But I am a little bit confused. Once turning on the collision-detection system, the robot will stop cutting/stabbing the human. The human is safe now, and so is that piece of steak! Three hours later, I'd be shouting in starved voice, "Where's my steak dinner?"
Note that the idea of a robot holding a knife would never be allowed in US universities. It would never get approval from the IRB (Institutional Review Board). See, we do things very differently here in the US, instead of knives, we give robots machine guns and missiles!! And there will be no danger to US citizens, because we send these robots to other countries! LOL!
MQ-9 Reaper Predator UAV
SWORD Robot
I think I am a bit off topic now, so let's get back to these German researchers. If I remember correctly, I actually saw a video from HRI 2007 made by the same guy demonstrating how he would let a powerful robot arm punch him in the head (Sorry I am having a hard time finding this video now). The robot arm would VERY QUICKLY slow down when it detects the collision, thus sparing the guy's life. Well, hats off to the guy!! Comparing to him, I am a coward, because I would never put myself under such conditions --- because I am a terrible programmer, and I have lots of bugs in my code. And my admiration for him went sky-high when I realized they also performed the following experiments. Ouch!!
Anyway, I think it will be a long time before we actually have knife-wielding robots that roam our homes. When I program my robots, I actually intentionally make it not touch things such as knives, gas stoves, and explosives. But I bet you this day will eventually come, and a lot of lawyers are going to get rich.
Drinking excessive amount of Mountain Dew and staying up till 4am can lead to severe stomach cramping and internal bleeding and many days of lost productivity.
If you've ever made purchases online, or signed up for any kind of account on the Internet (forums, subscriptions, etc.), or installed software applications on your computer, then you must have seen screens where you have to agree to some kind of terms and conditions, or EULA (standing for End User License Agreement). How many times, however, do you actually read through those pages after pages of dry, dull, impossible to understand legal languages, especially on a computer screen?
Well, if quickly clicking through things has grown into a habit for you, it's probably time to reconsider it now.
According to this article from Newslite and this article from geeks.com, GameStation, on UK online games retailer, added the "immortal soul clause" to its online purchase agreement basically saying the customers would grant them the right to claim their souls. More than 7,500 customers (88%) agreed to the clause without really reading the agreement details, and now GameStation legally owns thousands of souls. Here below are the exact wording of the sneaky clause:
By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions. We reserve the right to serve such notice in 6 (six) foot high letters of fire, however we can accept no liability for any loss or damage caused by such an act.
If you a) do not believe you have an immortal soul, b) have already given it to another party, or c) do not wish to grant Us such a license, please click the link below to nullify this sub-clause and proceed with your transaction.
Luckily, 12% of the customers did notice a small tick box at the bottom of agreement allowing them to opt out of the clause, and earned themselves a £5 gift voucher by doing so. But really, how many of the 12% customers actually read the terms and services agreement? My guess would be very few.
Although this probably was part of an April Fool's Day joke (the vouchers were no joke), and GameStation has no intention to ever claim their rights on the souls (in fact, they emailed all customers nullifying the clause), this clearly shows the general public opinion on these agreements. Most people think that if most people don't read these things, they are no longer valid. However, the truth is that they will most likely be legally binding (not the soul clause, of course) unless challenged in a court of law. And do you ever want to get into a legal battle with large companies who employ an army of lawyers?
There are, actually, some people who take these agreements very "seriously!" Anne Loucks from obesso.com created a clever way to get herself out of legal troubles with EULAs. Using a piece of cardboard that reads "Kitty Agrees" with a protruding piece underneath, she would have her cat to step on the board, which pushes the spacebar underneath and agrees to an EULA for her. So worst comes to worst, it would be the cat losing its soul, and not Anne!
Putting aside the legality of these actions of both the businesses and users, clearly the system is not working very well. I know for regular business contracts or terms and agreements, critical elements are required by law to really stand out (bold, larger size, etc.). I am sure a better standard and approach will have to be created soon, because soon or later, somebody is getting sued over this.
Picture of the Day:
Brian Ghidinelli's creative reuse of his old equipments.
