At the moment I'm exporting jigsaw puzzles in Prescott, AZ. Once had a dream of getting my feet wet with crayon art in Orlando, FL. Spent a year training wooden trains in Salisbury, MD. Spent childhood selling salsa for the underprivileged. Had moderate success building Virgin Mary figurines on the black market.
Physician Frank Warsh, in his blog, writes about "the death of family medicine", and though there are definitely those who don't share his frustrations, this is a worthwhile read to understand some of the challenges facing family medicine in Canada today.
[And finally huge thanks to those who've already donated to my Movember fundraising efforts. Thanks to your generosity, I've raised more than $6,000 for men's health! And it's not too late - if you find this blog valuable and/or if you enjoy these weekend shares, a tax-deductible donation would be very welcome, all you need to do is click here]
Meet Cimon. The 3D-printed floating robot head was developed by Airbus for the German Space Agency. He’s been a crew member of the International Space Station since June, though as Gizmodo notes, this is the first time we’re seeing him in action.
Really the floating, Watson-powered robot face is like an extremely expensive Amazon Echo designed to study human-machine interactions in space. This video highlights an early interaction between Cimon and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst.
Gerst requests his “favorite song,” leading Cimon to play Kraftwerk’s “Man Machine,” only to be shaken by the astronaut, who then demands the robot shoot some video. Once again Cimon complies, though this time he’s clearly a bit annoyed that the music has stopped. Kind of a rough first encounter for the two new co-workers.
“Happy with his initial outing, both Cimon’s developers and Alexander hope to see Cimon back in action again soon,” the ESA says. “While no further sessions are planned during the Horizons mission at this stage, it could mark the beginning of exciting collaboration between astronauts, robotic assistants and possible future artificial intelligence in space.”
Hopefully things go a bit more smoothly next time. Lord knows the last thing you want to do is piss off a space robot.
Saturday Night Live recently revealed the first few hosts of its December lineup, and it already looks like a happy holiday for us all. Claire Foy leads the charge when SNL returns with new episodes on Dec. 1, followed by Aquaman star Jason Momoa on Dec. 8 and Matt Damon on Dec. 15. It will be Foy's first time hosting, while Damon will be hosting for the second time following his debut episode in 2002. Most recently he appeared as Brett Kavanaugh in a hilarious cold open that also featured Kate McKinnon as Senator Lindsey Graham, Pete Davidson as Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and SNL alum Rachel Dratch as Senator Amy Klobuchar.
