Presenting "Dewey!" The Akron-Summit County Public Library Catbot!

Emma has a new friend and colleague! Meet Dewey, The Akron-Summit County Public Library Catbot! You can talk with Dewey by following this link. Michele McNeal, ASCPL Web Specialist, is developing Dewey and has also created a mobile version of the bot for your phone. You'll be hearing more about Dewey on this blog, stay tuned...

Presentation Slides

Here are the slides to our EGL-IUG presentation. It's too nice a day to spend blogging, so that's it for now.

Fun at EGL- IUG

Michele McNeal and I just got done presenting our bots at EGL - IUG in Akron. They gave us the auditorium, which was a real kick. Nothing like standing at a podium with Emma's face projected onto a HUGE screen behind you. Very "Citizen Kane." (Is this why people get that funny look when I insist that robots aren't going to take over the world?) Michele took some photos which I'll post later along with the slides of our presentation. We got a decent audience, but it was a little hard to gauge their reaction. The public loves her, librarians are...afraid?

Emma and Dewey at EGL-IUG

Librarians from Ohio and nearby states will get to meet Emma and Dewey (Akron-Summit County Public Library's bot) at the Eastern Great Lakes Innovative Users Group 2010 Annual Conference in Akron on Friday, October 15. Michele McNeal, ASCPL's Web Specialist, and I will present "The Intelligent WebPac: enhancing user experience with .aiml." It's going to be a blast! Michele is great fun to work with, and is a tremendous speaker. (I know because I saw her present at the EGL-IUG 2008 Annual Conference!) She's clear, concise, and unfailingly logical. She's also a fine writer. Here's the program in case you're interested.

BTW - The Innovative Users group is an international organization of member libraries who use the Innovative Interfaces, Inc. integrated library software. That's the software that we use to check things in and out, create and maintain patron records, item records, etc., etc.

Quantum processors in 5 years?

Looking forward to the weekend! I've been busy chasing bugs in our new webpac and working on the library's strategic planning committee. At first, I thought this was going to be one of those committees. The kind that we all dread. It's not. We're getting quite a bit done and doing it in a reasonable amount of time. And there's also EGL-IUG coming up next month; Michele McNeal and I will be presenting. That's going to be a blast! (Except for having to buy a new suit.)

Anyway, here's some news - scientists at the University of Bristol are developing a computer chip that uses photons instead of electrons. A big step forward.

Quantum Technology Paves Way for Faster-than-Light Computing

UK team brings quantum computers one step closer

Ungainly Headline Heralds "Replacement for Humans"

No, mine isn't much better. The phrase "replacement for humans" doesn't really grab you....it doesn't exactly get your heart racing. Given their plunging ratings, maybe CBS should have gone with an all-out, screaming shocker like "Household Appliances Declare Victory over Mankind. 'Supreme Toaster' Dissolves U.N." If you're still reading at this point, which is doubtful, and want to see what started all this foaming at the mouth, here it is:
Era of Robot Replacement for Humans Inching Nearer.

They already have fake fur...

Robotics breakthrough: Scientists make artificial skin. (Yeah, another article. I've been really busy, OK? Besides, Emma is starting to answer real reference questions now and there's still a ton of code that needs to be written.)