Don't Make Me Come Over There, China

A few months back when I was visiting my parents in NYC, we got into an expected conversation about all the recent problems facing Japan including the sudden and quickly escalating situation between China, Taiwan, Korea(s), Russia, and Japan. I had no idea what was going on and started to wonder why this isn't more top line news especially considering the potential for U.S. involvement.

It's a really strange territorial dispute that I'm still trying to make sense of. If you have any opinions on the matter I'd be curious to hear them.

Japan to open robot farm in tsunami disaster zone. Wow.

It's true. The Japanese government's Ministry of Agriculture has begun an ambitious project called the "Dream Project" which involves unmanned robotic tractors farming on land that was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Read the full story here.
What strikes me about this story is it is another reminder of the difference between how we (Americans) see robots and how the Japanese see them. For the most part, Japanese society sees robots as a beneficial helpers. Even in their popular culture they've had characters like Astro Boy, Doraemon, Robocon and Arale. Not to mention the slew giant robot heroes like Gaiking, Raideen and Mazinger.

While we do have friendly characters like Wall-E, Number Five (Short Circuit) and C3PO + R2D2 we also have that Skynet Terminator thing in the back of our minds giving way to a certain amount of distrust (or like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Joshua from War Games). But looking at the real world applications of robots in the US there seems to be a lot less experimentation in using them for more humanitarian purposes. We've got some pretty bad ass robotic military machines though! Meanwhile the Japanese are developing therapeutic robotic pets for senior citizens. What gives?

I'm uniter, not a divider

OK, well, maybe I divide a little.

Far away thoughts

This is actually next week's strip but I wanted to post it this week while people were still thinking about it because we all know once a story leaves the 24 hours news cycle it isn't happening anymore.

I have to say that I've been especially touched by how people (neighbors, bank teller, school bus driver...) have been asking if I had family in Japan and if everyone was OK. It's a nice balance to the ridiculous nastiness and public displays of ignorance.

Japan

I have no doubt that the people of Japan will get through this with their signature resolve and humility. But it seems they're not out of the woods yet so keep them in your thoughts and help out if you can.

Who needs people when you can have robots!

It's no secret that Charlie is a bit of a tech junkie. It's also no secret that he can be completely content surrounded by inanimate objects that challenge his intellect. Enter robot friends. Robots can do a lot of stuff these days and every few months there seems to be some new advance in their capabilities. In Japan a lot of the focus seems to involve the interaction of people with robots. They aren't necessarily thinking biggest, faster, stronger. Rather gentler, smarter and more helpful. Then again, maybe it's just a ploy to take over the world with cute and cuddly machines of death.