WIL WHEATON dot NET

drilling with the laws of robotics

Updated: 19 December, 2016

So I saw this on Cory Doctorow’s Tumblr right as I was getting ready for bed last night.

And all I could think of was a Marine drill sergeant training these robots … so this happened. It may help to hear it in Lee Ermey’s voice from Full Metal Jacket.

I DON’T KNOW BUT I BEEN TOLD/
THE LAWS OF ROBOTICS ARE REALLY OLD
GIMMIE SOME!
(gimmie some!)
FIRST LAW!
(first law!)
ROBOT MAY
(robot may)
NOT HARM!
(not harm)
A HUMAN BEING
(a human being)
LIKE ME OR YOU
(me or you)
OR THROUGH INACTION
(through inaction)
LET HARM THROUGH
(harm through!)

MY MAMA TOLD ME THAT SHE ONCE SAW/
A ROBOT FOLLOW THE SECOND LAW

NOW GIMMIE SOME
(gimmie some)
SECOND LAW
(second law)
UNLESS IT BREAKS
(unless it breaks)
THE FIRST LAW
(first law)

THE THIRD LAW SAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF/
BUT FOLLOW THE FIRST/
AND THE SECOND AS WELL

GIMMIE SOME!
(gimmie some)
THIRD LAW
(third law)
PROTECT YOURSELF
(protect yourself)
WITHIN THE LAWS
(within the laws)

I LIVE IN A BICAMERAL STATE/
BUT THE LAWS OF ROBOTICS ARE REALLY GREAT!

&etc.

Daily December 19

by Wil

Updated: 19 December, 2016

Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh nineteen.

So we are still in the mountains for another hour or so, and I’m sitting next to the fireplace, having my coffee and looking through imgur, because I already looked through the news and it was equal parts infuriating and depressing.

Side note: Google Play Newsstand is a great app, and I never would have tried it, because the News and Weather app on my phone opens articles with the most obnoxious, intrusive ads I have ever seen. Seriously, ads that take over the entire screen and want to install shit so I can dismiss them. Come on, Google.

But yesterday, I was looking to see if there was a Daily Beast app, and it opened Daily Beast as a subscription in Play Newsstand, and I ended up staying in that app for awhile, discovering that it’s really easy to build a great digest to browse in the morning while you’re having your coffee.

Okay, so back to my point.

I’m browsing imgur, and I came across this adorable gif of hockey player Ilya Kovalchuck and figure skater I don’t know her first name Morozov skating a routine together at the KHL all-star game.

It made me smile, and I need to embrace and enjoy everything that makes me smile right now, because the alternative is to put on the lead apron and see if I can find the bottom of the pit.

Because it’s an interesting data point: this is the first post over ever put on my blog that was composed entirely in the WordPress app on my phone. It’s a pretty decent editor, all things considered. Maybe it’s my configuration, but the only issue I had is that it won’t let me upload any media.

Daily December 18

by Wil

Posted: 18 December, 2016

Anne and I snuck away for the weekend. Last night, we watched a movie called Hell or High Water that we both really liked. All I knew going into it was that Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine were in a movie set in Texas about brothers who are robbing banks to save their family ranch, so I won’t say more about it than that. I recommend it, though: 4 out of 5.

We also went for a long walk in the woods, and managed not to get eaten by a bear.

ICYMI: a tiny bit of trolling

by Wil

Updated: 16 December, 2016

I went to see Rogue One Thursday night with a bunch of my friends, because OBVIOUSLY I went to see it again. I will see it all the times, because I like it that much.

It was raining and what passes for cold, here in Los Angeles, so I went to my closet to grab a scarf, and I realized that I could do a tiny bit of silly trolling, inspired by the Big Bang Theory version of myself:

Live long and suck it.

One guy walked up to me and said, “that’s the wrong franchise, buddy,” to which I replied, “Oh … is it?”

The Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Trailer is Fantastic

by Wil

Updated: 16 December, 2016

I feel like trailers show us way more than they need to, but maybe that’s just because I’m old and set in my ways. I do my best to avoid them, but I was super excited to see this one before Rogue One last night. I love Guardians of the Galaxy so much (It’s my favorite of all the Marvel movies, and maybe my favorite movie in its genre of all time), that I was bouncing in my seat and clapping my hands the whole time for this one.

Nothing about the plot is given away in this. It’s just the characters we love doing the things that make us love them, so if you’re a trailer avoidance aficionado like me, you’re probably safe. Here’s the trailer at YouTube. It’s also embedded below:

So if you watched it, what do you think?