Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #11747
To: "'beam@sgiblab.sgi.com'" beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Wilf Rigter Wilf.Rigter@powertech.bc.ca
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 17:03:34 -0800
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Zenbot
hi Zane,
On catching up with a backlog of unread mail i came across a few jewels with
your name attached, so i thought i'd say hello and welcome to our diverse
little group! Good point on the cause, process and effect. It reminded me
of an old sci-fi story about Tibetan monks using a computer to print out all
the names of God, speeding many centuries' of work with pen and ink to
completion in a matter of days and then the universe winked out. Oops!
wilf
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Zane Bryan [SMTP:zipndani@transport.com]
> Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2000 2:02 PM
> To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
> Subject: Re: Zenbot
>
> Seems to me that some time ago I'd read an article (probably in Omni)
> about that "minimalist" behavior in an "army" of small robots that
> performed
> basic tasks based on minimal input...Larger robots (a few inches or so)
> could wander about mowing the yard, smaller robots for washing windows and
> microscopic robots included in toothpaste to clean your teeth long after
> you
> are done brushing or creep around clearing arteries of debris to prevent
> heart disease. I guess the simple behaviors of BEAM critters brings to
> mind
> these applications. I'm sure that through adaptations: increased
> durability, our "tendency toward miniaturization"-ahem- and the like, we
> may
> well be on our way to useful application...
> Creation of a Zen Garden would be pretty impressive, but if you are
> not
> the creator of the little beasties capable of performing the task, you
> would
> never get the same satisfaction of seeing it done...a large part of the
> process of Zen rock/sand gardening. For those who have negated the
> importance of "art" in BEAM robots themselves...they will never "get
> it"....sad. There is a connection to beauty and function. Look at
> Renaissance artists and the exploration of the golden ratio...it's found
> in
> man, nature, science and the arts (in terms of what pleases the eye).
> Sorry, I seem to be weaving a tapestry of "threads" here...Sometimes
> the
> thoughts diverge instead of converge and I find myself on a new highway,
> wondering how the onramp turned into an exit...that said...adieu.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sharon Williams"
> To:
> Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2000 1:01 PM
> Subject: Re: Zenbot
>
>
> > you would end up with problems of getting sand in the motors though
> > (nothing that couldn't be overcome). but i like the idea.
> >
> > -Jeremy Williams
> >
> > At 09:56 AM 2/26/00 -0800, you wrote:
> > >Cool idea.
> > >R.M.
> > >
> > >JVernonM@aol.com wrote:
> > >
> > >> In a message dated 2/25/00 7:08:46 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> > >> malstudios@tradenet.net writes:
> > >>
> > >> > This sounds zen like, or the minimalist approach in art. Is this
> sort
> of,
> > >> > almost, kinda, might be what you are describing.
> > >> > R.M.
> > >> This made me think of an idea I had, well, it was my wife actually. I
> > thought
> > >> I would throw it out since the list has been so slow lately :). How
> about a
> > >> Unicore that lives in a sand box. It pulls a small rake behind it and
> > avoids
> > >> 2 or 3 various sized smooth rocks in the center of the sand. The tiny
> rake
> > >> scratches out rows of parallel lines as the bot travels randomly
> around
> the
> > >> box. A Zen Garden bot! An ever changing pattern of rows and lines
> > >> circumnavigating the entire surface of the sand. A Unicore roughly
> the
> size
> > >> of Scarlet with wide wheels could be placed in a Zen garden roughly
> the
> > size
> > >> of 2'x3' with ornamental rocks in the center. Patterns could be
> > influenced by
> > >> light whether natural or artificial. Zen gardens are traditionally
> > places of
> > >> meditation and reflection. A small bot making endlessly different
> patterns
> > >> would be a nice touch.
> > >>
> > >> See ya,
> > >> Jim
> > >> http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/8281/beamart.html
> > >> ICQ# 55657870
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
11748 Tuesday, March 14, 2000 12:43 PM RE: Giant circuit / botpic database site - an alternative approach beam@sgiblab.sgi.com Phillip A. Ryals
>Well... anyone familiar with Linux? Or *BSD for that matter.
>
>There are plenty of sites that are handling loads like this with Apache and
>mod_perl. I'm afraid my perl skills aren't what I'd like them to be, but I
>think perl and a SQL engine would be the fastest/easiest solution.
>
>my 544,892 cents.
>
>
>-phillip
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-beam@sgiblab.sgi.com [mailto:owner-beam@sgiblab.sgi.com]On
>Behalf Of Wyzyrd1
>Sent: Monday, March 13, 2000 9:06 AM
>To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
>Subject: Re: Giant circuit / botpic database site - an alternative
>approach
>
>
>DONT use Java - this is almost a transparent problem using PHP3 or even
>Javascript,
>but Java wil be its usual slow clunky self and no one will use the site
>
>Wyzyrd
><:)}
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Marcus Cole
>To:
>Sent: Monday, March 13, 2000 11:26 AM
>Subject: Re: Giant circuit / botpic database site - an alternative approach
>
>
>>
>>
>> Hi all. After reading of this gigantic website ressource system, i had
an
>> idea. I'm no expert at html programming but more of a novice so it may
>not
>> be possible to do this ; Using the skeleton idea, someone good at html
>> could make a basic, tree-structured website without _anything_ in it but
>> the java 'engine'. This engine would then generate(???) a complete
>listing
>> for each main categories/sub-categories using but a small .html file on
>> each and everyone participating's site. this file should not be
available
>> to public, but only used as a marker of sort. the marker would containt
a
>> categorized structure, with a date-created/last-updated flag.
>>
>> Of course, this implies that someone(s) would have to build such a
>> skeleton-site and add the links to everyone's web-marker, but then
>> everything would be done automaticaly. Is this feasible? Any and all
>> comments are welcome.
>>
>>
>> Marcus g. Cole
>>
Home