Can Pinocchio Come Out and Play? Things Look Like Humans

I have been noticing things in the news that taken alone are just hopeful medical or impressive tech stories, but together makes me wonder.. when is the Robot coming? There is seemingly enough "stuff" out there, or soon to come, to assemble a pretty extraordinary robot by now. Question is when will this Pinocchio come out to play? It brings up a few questions.

Did the Blue Fairy create a Robot, or a Real Boy made of wood?



Pinocchio dies saving his family from the nightmarish whale. In return he is gifted with "real" life.



The only thing that changes about him as a soul is what he's made of. Are building materials the ruler on which something is judged to have rights? If he's killed as a "real" boy is it a crime, if so, why not when he's made of wood, if he's still the same "person"? It's easy to assume that most people would think a wooden or metal, artificially created person should have no rights, but what of one made of the same stuff we are? Well this is a children's tale that isn't real. Right?

What if you really have to face this question because someone skips the wood stage and goes right for flesh and bone? Science Fiction? Science yes but fiction still? Let's assemble a Robot:


Brain


Bones


Muscles


Skin and here too.


Eyes


Nervous System and here too.


Heart


Blood Vessels and Blood, here too

Internal Organs and Hands and Feet.

Features they could have built-in...

Helping Children with Autism
A Womb, Great Conversation Skills, Moving Things with their Brains will give them a lucrative future as magicians, Balance by learning from its mistakes, Knowing what it's Tasting (sort of..), Cooking for and Feeding you, Sensing your Every Need, Music Appreciation, Color Identification, Self Defense, Could they look like a Loved One, Could You Fall in Love with One? Would they like a Pet? Buy a Car?

Some of the Prejudice they will face.

This is just a small sample of what is publicly known. I am sure there is much more not revealed. Whether we like it or not it looks like the not-so-far future will have these new human/humanoid rights issues arise.

What side will you take?

Blade Runner (Five-Disc Complete Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

Pinocchio (Two-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)

A.I. - Artificial Intelligence (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Complete Series

A Times Square "TLLT"

The Old Times Square and the New family friendly Times Square collide in these two billboards. Click to go to the Copyranter source and also Curbed for some snarky commentary :)

Added 11/09 the Ol' Cheezburger site has one too!

Back from the Dream

For Indie, who took the last picture and inspires so many

The Red Menace

It started out innocently enough..

..some people even liked it.

But soon it was everywhere..

and there was nothing anyone could do.

Things looked hopeless..

..until they found out it tasted good.

Now it's an endangered species.

Toni's Drop of Gold

Is it a Coming to Life.. or is it a Magical Fish of Color.. you decide :)





This is for Star who some of you will know as Citlali257 who chose some pictures she took after I asked for some to see what kind of TLLT I might make with pictures chosen for me. We "met" when my blog was a BON. The whole Google BON link was like having a room that suddenly became full of thousands of people all chatting and milling about, but then they filed out except for some.. that I would consider "friends". I think a new definition of friend needs to be made- people you meet, so to speak, online, that you will probably never meet in person but that you can share with creatively.. the nuances of this relationship have been brand new and wonderful in a way only possible online- in the best possible way. Please visit Citlali257's Flickr gallery for some wonderful photographic art and the blog for wonderful stories.

Toni is the pretty fish "model", please click the other pix to see the work of the other photographers who are a part of this :)

Suddenly she...

During the moment the mists grew thin and she could see the other side..


...she suddenly decided to come to life.

She cast off the veil, and began to dance...

..and it felt good.

As she spun and felt her flesh growing stronger she heard the warnings from the others. The life of flesh ends, you cannot come back, you will become dust. She paused for a moment.

Suddenly she began to run, as fast as she could away from the voices. And she was gone.

Where is she now? She is that girl you pass on the street with the look of wonder on her face, as if she is seeing everything for the very first time.

Scrolling...

Treat upon treat.. I had a big amount of pictures appearing on the page at once because I loved having everything be "on the first page", but its become too much for some dial-ups and eventually some nice things would scroll off anyway.. so I cut down the loading pix to 50 posts on the page as opposed to 150 :) So if you were used to visiting a favorite picture or photographer by this page please use the side links, archive and keywords, to navigate.

zinkwazi.

It happens..

Objektivblick.

It happens, it will happen over time and one day it will all be just a memory. The pictures here click directly to their creator's sites. If the person leaves flickr their picture will disappear too. I wondered what I would do in that case and I decided if I can, I will replace it. It happened in one story and I think the new picture, the very last in the sequence is so beautiful and dare I say even better than it's previous one, that I wanted to make a mention of it, not just pop it in and be done with it. I want to share people's wonderful images. All the images in the story are amazing it's just there is a new one at the end. It fits very well.
The Sea Dreams of the Sky

Where are you? What door what floor..

sunsurfr.

Please remember to add your link to "Places To Wander" . You can also leave a little bio if you like or other places you have found that you love.
I cannot express what your supportive words and thoughts mean, it's a real treat to know that somehow in all this craziness of the world you can still find in this way, very special talented thoughtful people and feel connected even if its just a computer screen. Thank you for your kindness, words and art.

The reason why?

Things look like, sound like, are like.. beautiful things.
So strange why this didn't dawn on me before. I wanted to do a "tllt" of text from a book I loved and the first one that came to mind was one of the most beautiful passages (to me) in one of the most beautiful books- the part of "The Little Prince" where he meets the Fox. I looked it up again and realized, it's a "tllt". This was one of the first books I read, it influenced me as a child- maybe it's why I have I had so much joy doing these. The Little Prince planted that seed? If you have never read the book you can read it here.
If you love the book the way I do you will also understand how sad yet ethereal it is and how strangely appropriate how the author left us.


"My life is very monotonous," the fox said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the colour of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat..."

Places to Wander

Pallas.

Please add your links if you are not already linked and a little something about yourself (if you like) here in the comments section. This will be a list of places to see people to meet. :) It will be linked on the side (edit- it is now linked over to the right :)). If you have recommendations of other places feel free to mention those too. I may add a few things I see and like too..

Whispering Woods

The trees would never forget her, whispering long past the days that any man would remember why they shivered in the woods even when the wind did not blow.

Flickr-y Letter Fun

I noticed that some people do these cute things with letters on Flickr...