Mar 2009
31
Episode 72 – April 1 & 4, 2009
Posted by Nora Young under Episodes
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On this episode of Spark: Roombas, Goodbye Emails and Facebook Mea Culpas
- University of Calgary grad student Paul Saulnier hacks a Roomba vacuum so that it moves away from you when you’re angry
- Saul Greenberg explains why it’s hard for computers to understand what humans are thinking and feeling
- The CBC’s Sean Prpick says a Roomba vacuum brought pain to his marriage
- Futurist Jamais Cascio looks at how we relate to robots and what we can expect from the new domestic robots
- Megan Hustad wonders why we’re compelled to send out bland “goodbye emails” on our last day of work
- Spark listeners weigh-in on goodbye emails
- Al Rae uses Facebook to find old friends and say he’s sorry for the past (full item)
- Nora invites you to listen to next week’s feature interview with James Boyle about copyright and protecting the public domain
This episode features Creative Commons music and sound effects:
- “Wadidyusay?” by Zap Mama
- Hornet (Scottz Filtered Sandwich Edit) by scottaltham
- cell beeps by cognito perceptu
- LiveCut_light_switch by mdsp
- Exurb by Gurdonark
- ditto, ditto! by DoKashiteru
- 19_VACCL.wav by ReWired
- Parametaphoriquement by gmz
- I dunno by grapes
- Leave It to Roll-Oh (1940) from Prelinger Archives
- Home Electrical Appliances (1944) from Prelinger Archives
You can download this episode as an MP3, or receive Spark automatically by subscribing to any of our totally free podcast feeds:
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For more information (and instructions) visit cbc.ca/podcasting
[Original image by Eirik Newth]
April 1st, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Al Rae's piece was great. Finding the right way to say "I'm sorry" is definitely one of the most challenging social interactions that we are faced with in our lives. Social networking tools and online technology can certainly facilitate the process, but the question I find myself asking is how is this more or less meaningful than a face-to-face apology. Al's piece certainly makes the argument that the message is what counts and that the tech is just the messenger, but I still wonder about this.
I am an artist and MFA student at the University of British Columbia and I have an interest in how these new technologies are affecting our everyday lives and the way in which we deal with social situations. Last year I created a project that explores the act of making apologies online. The project is called Apology Service and is a free service to help people make public apologies. My hope is that it raises questions about the value of such interactions but also the value of the technologies mediating the apology. You can find it at http://www.apologyservice.com and I'd love to hear your feedback.
Also, as an FYI, back in November of 2004 the NPR radio show "This American Life" dedicated a whole episode to the subject of apologies and included a piece called "Dial 'S' for Sorry" where they profiled the work of artist Allan Bridge and his Apology Line from 1980, a phone service where people leave anonymous apologies. A very interesting take on using available technologies to facilitating the making of an apology. The apologies never made it to their intended recipient, yet it had significant effects on those making the apologies.
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Hi Julio,
Very interesting, thanks. I'll take a look at Apology Service. Interesting too, all the technologically mediated confessionals we have now, such as Post Secret.
April 4th, 2009 at 8:40 am
[...] short essay led to this. Both inspired a friend to send me [...]
April 4th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
@XPhile1908 http://tinyurl.com/dnldny Speaking of roombas, check out this emotion-related roomba research on this week’s Spark.
April 6th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Al Rae's piece brought to mind an experience I had on Facebook a few months ago. An ex-boyfriend was apparently going through a recovery program. This is someone I had dated over 10 years ago, back when I was about 16, we had not spoken in that time, except for the facebook friends request he had sent me.
He must have been going through the confess all your wrong-doings and ask for forgiveness step, but he decided to do so in a series of poorly written messages directed to EVERYONE on his facebook friends list. Most people on the list had very limited contact with him, as he had added many people who he may have just met once or twice. The only real reponse he seemed to recieve was a collective WTF and many people removing him from their friend's list and blocking further contact.
Definetely an example of what not to do.
April 7th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
[...] week, my interview with Dr. Saul Greenberg (who coordinated with my supervisor and myself on this project) was [...]
April 8th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Oh, no. I guess it's an example of learning to use the medium first.
April 9th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Robots and robotics is a great topic, but the Roomba segment was pretty lame. A rather goofy project and an interview with no real content. Not the student's fault, but but definitely not the show's best moment.
May 15th, 2009 at 9:52 am
[...] episode 72 [...]
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August 2nd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Cascio’s Laws of Robotics: The Motion Picture…
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January 1st, 2010 at 4:49 pm
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