Even with my current job as a systems analyst, a software developer/programmer, I felt a need to document my learning, so I have something to always look back to, especially with my advancing age. But no, I'm not that old yet...
Technology still needs the ancient, unadulterated, manual vehicles… literally…
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06/20/2009 | 09:37 AM
PHILADELPHIA — Google's Street View cameras are now traveling by bike to capture images of some areas not accessible by cars.
The tricycle, mounted with an 8-foot (2 1/2-meter) high camera, has been rolling around the pedestrian walkways of the University of Pennsylvania to collect panoramic images of the campus for Google Maps' Street View feature, which gives users detailed, street-level views of map locations over the Internet.
Google Inc. has been using car-mounted cameras to prowl streets in the U.S. and around the world. The human-powered version allows coverage of pedestrian-only areas on campuses, in public parks and at theme parks, as well as along hiking and bicycling trails, as Google seeks to expand coverage of its maps.
The tricycle has also been cruising around other colleges and universities, Google spokesman Sean Carlson said. It has also been seen cruising past Rome's Trevi fountain, at Santa Monica's Third Street promenade in California and pier and along a Monterey, Californiabicycle trail.
The effort comes as Google faces complaints from many individuals and institutions that have been photographed around the world. Since launching in 2007, Street View has expanded to more than 100 cities worldwide.
Officials say the photos of Penn's tree-lined Locust Walk mall and other places will allow prospective students and their parents to get a good feel for the campus, give incoming students a way to map out the best route to their classes — and let alumni fondly remember their school days.
The 250-pound (115-kilogram) vehicle, which resembles the pedicabs that carry tourists around some U.S. cities, has the cyclist pumping the pedals up front, with the camera mounted on a tower in the back. On the rear is a red generator along with a large white chest that looks like it might dispense ice cream but actually contains the computer recording the digital images.
In other countries, privacy concerns have been raised about the images. Last month, Greek officials rejected a bid to photograph the nation's streets until more privacy safeguards are provided. In April, residents of one English village formed a human chain to stop a camera van, and in Japan the company agreed to reshoot views taken by a camera high enough to peer over fences.
One of the tricycle operators, Martin D.F. Angelo, 27, said the camera occasionally gets a leery reaction from older people but seems universally embraced by the young.
"The biggest disappointment that most people seem to voice is that we're actually going to blur out their faces," he said, "so they're not going to be Internet-famous or something like that." – AP
TOKYO: A Japanese software industry body has decided to ban computer games in which players simulate sexual violence against females, a spokesman said.
The industry move came after a Japanese computer game maker attracted furious protests from US rights campaigners against the game "RapeLay," which lets players simulate stalking and raping young girls.
In the game players earn points for acts of sexual violence, including following girls on commuter trains, raping virgins and their mothers, and then forcing them to have abortions.
US online retailer Amazon in February took RapeLay off its websites, but the game's Yokohama-based maker Illusion brushed off the protests, saying the game was made for the domestic market and abided by laws in Japan.
The Japanese industry group the Ethics Organisation of Computer Software said it had long mulled measures to control such content which it said "deviates extremely from social norms."
The organisation will now ban all "sexual torture software" and set clear guidelines on what content should be blocked from circulating in the market, the group said in an announcement dated Thursday.
The group says it already screens almost all adult-content computer games made in Japan, and that some 90 percent of products carry its rating stickers.
The ban is a form of industry self-regulation and carries no legal weight, but it is expected to discourage most Japanese retailers from selling such games, said the spokesman.
Japan, often criticised as a major producer of child pornography, in 1999 banned the production, distribution and commercial use of sexually arousing photos, videos and other materials involving those aged under 18.
However, the law did not criminalise possession of such materials, and the ban also failed to cover child porn in animation and computer graphics, often categorised as "hentai" (pervert) content.