Homework 12: Robots and Zombies

1) Suppose you had a coupon for a free robot. The catch is it can only do one thing. But you can get a robot that will do whatever one thing you like, just not anything else. What would you want your robot to do?

Answer 1:
My robot would be A.I and nano-sized. My little robot would live inside of me. Its only job would be to repair my body. The A.I would be required for decision-making. This little bug would know all there is to know about the human body, and mine in particular. When I first got the bug it would only know about humans, but after living inside of me for a while it would come to know what was normal for me. The little bug would determine, based of its knowledge, what jobs were more important then others. For example, repairing damaged tissue in my heart over damaged tissue due to a scraped knee. The little bug would use its wireless abilities to email me reports about my general health. If anything was seriously wrong the bug would notify me right away. The bug would be programmed to want to take care of me like a good owner wants to take care of their house.

2) Write or develop an additional significant piece of your project. As a suggestion, consider the connection of robots to your topic. However, if another subject besides robots seems more appropriate, that is just as good. Post the new section on your blog.

I don’t really feel that robotics can be connected to our topic as we are really more focused on a step back in technology rather then a step forward. Instead, I am going to continue with my work on relevant technology.

Find True North:
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/true-north2.htm

No Google. No GPS. No OnStar. If you’re lost, you are alone.

First you need to know that there is true north and magnetic north – not the same place. If you whip-out a compass and try to head north you’ll end up in the arctic regions of Canada. Because the magnetic fields on Earth are fluid and constantly moving, you might not even end-up in the same place twice. Now the difference is not so great that compasses are useless. In fact, they work pretty good for short distances, but if you needs to go a long way, you need to correct for the difference. Right now that would be easy, you just go to Google, find what the difference is for your location and correct for it. However, once the grid goes out, no more Google (OMG!). If our survivors can’t correct for the magnetic declination compasses will be useless after a certain distance.

What now? – Look up

As we all know in the Northern Hemisphere the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. If it is about noon, the sun will be in the middle of the horizon and directly south. So if you’re facing the sun you are facing south. If its at your back you are facing north.

What if its not noon? – Watches

Yes, a watch can tell you more then the time. (Include image here with farther instruction)

Well, that’s great but I don’t have a watch. So what now? – A stick

Find a stick and a sunny spot on the ground. Remember the sun casts shadows in the opposite direction as its position in the sky. So when the sun is in the east, the shadows will point west. (Include image here with farther instructions)

What if its nighttime? – Look up

The moon can direction you as well as the sun. If the moon rises before sunset, the sun illuminates it from its western position. If it rises after midnight, the eastern side is illuminated. If you can determine one direction you can figure-out the others.

What if there’s no moon? – Look for the little dipper. The last star on its tail is the North Star.

This is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with zombie apocalypse? Amidst all the chaos it would be very easy to get lost. Or if for some reason a group needed to migrate out of their local area they would need to know how to find their way. If you don’t know where you are going, you are more likely to end up somewhere you don’t want to be (like dead).