Travelling, Robots
Yesterday H had taken the day off specially. We were both going up to London to see the 'Robots: The 500-year quest to make machines human' exhibition at the Science Museum. Well, that was the main reason. That and seeing BiL again.
I don't know why people want to make 'human-like machines'. I mean, it's not as if making real humans is that difficult. Although I suppose it can have a fairly long lead-time and getting one to turn out 'well' can be difficult - you know, Dear Reader, around twenty or so years of continuous, good input and all that. Maybe it's a control thing? Maybe it's an echo of the original sin "you shall be like gods"(Genesis 3:5)?
Anyhew, the development of human-like robots may have taken 500 years, so far. After a while it began to look as if our journey might take, ok, not quite that long, but . . .
Travelling Hopefully pt 1 (Readers interested in the exhibition might wish to skip this part. Down to the heading Robots)
As two of us were travelling we got the just-before-10am from Portsmouth - the fare for the two of us leaving then, tickets booked the day before, was only slightly more than the fare for one of us leaving an hour ealier. Which was fine, we thought. We'd arrive around midday, be up to the Science Museum by about 12:30.
Yes. Well. Things were going well until we got to Guildford, when we were told that the train wouldn't be stopping at Woking but would be going straight on to London. Bother! Our tickets were cheaper because they specifically weren't for going into central London stations. We got off at Guildford, by which time it was raining, sorted out the next train to Woking, caught it. Got off at Woking. That was our mistake. We should have stayed on 'til Clapham Common. But hindsight is always 20:20.
"What time are our tickets?" Asked H.
"Pardon?"
"You're supposed to book tickets in advance, and they give you a timed slot" (so the exhibition doesn't get too full.) "Did you book the tickets?"
"Oh. It was a long time ago that I actually looked at the website. I forgot I needed to book." Memory? Isn't that something a computer has? On chips? Fortunately I had remembered to take my knitting!
As 'twas we eventually, about half-to-three-quarters of an hour later, we got a train to Clapham Common station, where we changed for a train to Wimbledon, where we changed to the District Line to South Kensington Station. Finally arriving around 1pm. Perhaps it was just as well I hadn't booked tickets.
Fortunately BiL had been amusing himself in the Victoria and Albert Museum (where he is a Member) and didn't mind waiting. He'd even been able to check waiting times etc at the Science Museum. Apparently there wasn't a problem.
We were hungry by then, so headed to the nearest Prêt à Manger for something to eat. 'Pret', as it's known colloquially, is a "get 'em in, fill 'em up and get 'em out - fast" place. They stock a pretty good range of food, I thought: sandwiches, wraps, salads of various kinds (aka 'breadless sandwiches), fruit pots, yoghurts, pieces of fruit, sweet and savoury pastries, and various hot and cold drinks. Fortunately we could afford their prices They also have 'eat in' facilities: tables with chairs or high tables where you perch on high stools (tables complete with hooks for handbags etc, which I thought a good touch.) The real giveaway that this is a FAST food joint is the LOUD muzak. Very heavy on the drums etc. Not-so-subliminal message: 'Come in, eat up and get out!'
Then we very slowly, cos that's how I walk these days even with a stick, up to the Museum. No queues, go straight in. For a fee: Adults - £15, Senior - £14, Concessions - £13. Fortunately H and I come under 'Senior'. And in we went.
Robots
Suggest you go look at the Science Museum website for more details about the exhibition and the exhibits.
Or view this
Hmmm. BTW - the 'baby' is an animatronic built for use in TV programmes and films where using a real baby would have Health and Safety people coming down on you like so many tons of rectangular building things; not to mention Child Cruelty!
What did we think? Well, it was very noisy in there - that was just the noise of the exhibits. With a class of excited junior school children it would have been . . .
They had a clip of her 'Maria', the robot from the film 'Metropolis', being formed, very "shades of 'Frankenstein'". Evidently people were concerned about artificially made 'humanoids' back in the 1920s. They'd probably read Mary Shelley's book, because the last few questions posed in the exhibition were about how made 'humanoids' might actually work and learn, what it actually means to be a living Human being and how robots might 'evolve'.
I suppose the exhibitors stuck to their brief. We'd have liked to have seen more 'useful' robots demonstrated, not just the balletic Swiss multi-jointed, double-armed thing. You know, Dear Reader, the kind shown in those car ads.
For that matter, some coverage of medical robots wouldn't have come amiss either. Our local hospital has (or had) a form of 'hands in' robot thingy for carrying out keyhole and other delicate surgery. Some other hospitals have Really Good Links and the operating surgeon is somewhere miles from the actual patient, working over a video link.
Or even those robot 'explorers/exploders used by Bomb Disposal. But I suppose that comes under 'Military Secrets' and BD wouldn't let one out; not even a very battered and dated one.
On the whole, what with the noise and the narrow focus, we were rather underwhelmed by the whole thing. They did have some pretty neat 'robot' brownies in the adjacent cafe. Very keen on their cafes, the Science Museum. Probably something to do with trying to maximise income and having a captive market. (Cynic? Moi?)
We ignored the 'robot' brownies and wandered out to look around the rest of the museum - which has changed quite a bit since I was working in their library nearly forty years ago. But then, in forty years I suppose it might. Goodness only knows, Science itself has.
And The Rest
I went to look around Exploring Space - models of different rockets, from the V2 to the Space Shuttle, a full-scale model of the Apollo Lunar Landing Vehicle - which looked kinda small for two men (and had much less computing power than your average smartphone.)
I was just looking at the First Woman in Space display when I realised my cardigan was missing. I'd taken it off in Robots 'cos I was quite warm in there. Oh dear. Where had that slipped out of my bag? Quick tour of Exploring Space. Nothing. Found BiL, who kindly went and did a tour of Robots and other bits we'd visited together. Nothing.
Ask at Information Desk - described cardigan: blue/grey, v-neck, handknit, pink and green flower-shaped buttons, pink and green edging on cuffs. Nothing. BiL asked if I'd photographed it. (So that's a project for this weekend, when the light is forecast to be good.) Filled in a Lost Property form, handed it in.
Carried on looking around the ground floor galleries. Then headed to a useful little cafe for much-needed rehydration: chai latté with cinnamon, peppermint tea and satsuma. We were just finishing this when H hove into view (phew!) Turned out his mobile was on the blink, not recieving txts, had no signal and almost out of battery. He had a latté. Then off to explore further.
We found the actual capsule that brought Major Tim Peake back to earth after six months on the Space Station. That was smaller, and held three men. Claustrophobics need not apply to go into space.
We found an early steam locomotive, very prettily painted (think Fowler engines.) We found one of the original steam locomotives - Stevenson's Rocket. That looked a bit battered, which is hardly surprising as it's going on 200 and had been hammered out of iron.
Then they started announcing that "The Museum is closing shortly. Please make your way towards the exit." We complied, then sat about nearby waiting for actual 'chucking out time'. And lo, one of the guys on the Information Desk held up a piece of knitwear - my cardigan! Yay! I hadn't had to carry it around a lot of the museum, it's quite heavy*, and I wasn't going to be shivering on the way home.
We left and ambled back towards South Kensington Station but decided on a pitstop because it was tea/dinner time and some of us might have a long journey home. BiL checked the News (on his fancy mobile) and told us about the attack at Westminster. Oh. Boy.
Travelling Hopefully pt 2
We waited until after 7pm, BiL said TfL charge lower prices for journeys, and on to the District Line to Wimbledon (BiL off earlier). Stopping train to Guildford, where we had three minutes to change platforms, even H didn't make it so we went and waited the next half-hour in the waiting room - which was open, and warm, and was decorated with artwork from a local school. I was very glad I'd taken my knitting as well as H. Got as far as turning the heel on a sock for him by the time we got home!
And finally a train to Portsmouth. And to bed, and all by 11pm! Here's hoping the next time we go to London there are no 'problems', signalling or otherwise!
If you have been, thanks for reading this far, Dear Reader.
Y'all have a good day now!
*I don't recommend this as a way of not having to carry heavy garments around with you. After all, someone might take a fancy to it. They might not hand it in.
I don't know why people want to make 'human-like machines'. I mean, it's not as if making real humans is that difficult. Although I suppose it can have a fairly long lead-time and getting one to turn out 'well' can be difficult - you know, Dear Reader, around twenty or so years of continuous, good input and all that. Maybe it's a control thing? Maybe it's an echo of the original sin "you shall be like gods"(Genesis 3:5)?
Anyhew, the development of human-like robots may have taken 500 years, so far. After a while it began to look as if our journey might take, ok, not quite that long, but . . .
Travelling Hopefully pt 1 (Readers interested in the exhibition might wish to skip this part. Down to the heading Robots)
As two of us were travelling we got the just-before-10am from Portsmouth - the fare for the two of us leaving then, tickets booked the day before, was only slightly more than the fare for one of us leaving an hour ealier. Which was fine, we thought. We'd arrive around midday, be up to the Science Museum by about 12:30.
Yes. Well. Things were going well until we got to Guildford, when we were told that the train wouldn't be stopping at Woking but would be going straight on to London. Bother! Our tickets were cheaper because they specifically weren't for going into central London stations. We got off at Guildford, by which time it was raining, sorted out the next train to Woking, caught it. Got off at Woking. That was our mistake. We should have stayed on 'til Clapham Common. But hindsight is always 20:20.
"What time are our tickets?" Asked H.
"Pardon?"
"You're supposed to book tickets in advance, and they give you a timed slot" (so the exhibition doesn't get too full.) "Did you book the tickets?"
"Oh. It was a long time ago that I actually looked at the website. I forgot I needed to book." Memory? Isn't that something a computer has? On chips? Fortunately I had remembered to take my knitting!
As 'twas we eventually, about half-to-three-quarters of an hour later, we got a train to Clapham Common station, where we changed for a train to Wimbledon, where we changed to the District Line to South Kensington Station. Finally arriving around 1pm. Perhaps it was just as well I hadn't booked tickets.
Fortunately BiL had been amusing himself in the Victoria and Albert Museum (where he is a Member) and didn't mind waiting. He'd even been able to check waiting times etc at the Science Museum. Apparently there wasn't a problem.
We were hungry by then, so headed to the nearest Prêt à Manger for something to eat. 'Pret', as it's known colloquially, is a "get 'em in, fill 'em up and get 'em out - fast" place. They stock a pretty good range of food, I thought: sandwiches, wraps, salads of various kinds (aka 'breadless sandwiches), fruit pots, yoghurts, pieces of fruit, sweet and savoury pastries, and various hot and cold drinks. Fortunately we could afford their prices They also have 'eat in' facilities: tables with chairs or high tables where you perch on high stools (tables complete with hooks for handbags etc, which I thought a good touch.) The real giveaway that this is a FAST food joint is the LOUD muzak. Very heavy on the drums etc. Not-so-subliminal message: 'Come in, eat up and get out!'
Then we very slowly, cos that's how I walk these days even with a stick, up to the Museum. No queues, go straight in. For a fee: Adults - £15, Senior - £14, Concessions - £13. Fortunately H and I come under 'Senior'. And in we went.
Robots
Suggest you go look at the Science Museum website for more details about the exhibition and the exhibits.
Or view this
Click to viewHmmm. BTW - the 'baby' is an animatronic built for use in TV programmes and films where using a real baby would have Health and Safety people coming down on you like so many tons of rectangular building things; not to mention Child Cruelty!
What did we think? Well, it was very noisy in there - that was just the noise of the exhibits. With a class of excited junior school children it would have been . . .
They had a clip of her 'Maria', the robot from the film 'Metropolis', being formed, very "shades of 'Frankenstein'". Evidently people were concerned about artificially made 'humanoids' back in the 1920s. They'd probably read Mary Shelley's book, because the last few questions posed in the exhibition were about how made 'humanoids' might actually work and learn, what it actually means to be a living Human being and how robots might 'evolve'.
I suppose the exhibitors stuck to their brief. We'd have liked to have seen more 'useful' robots demonstrated, not just the balletic Swiss multi-jointed, double-armed thing. You know, Dear Reader, the kind shown in those car ads.
For that matter, some coverage of medical robots wouldn't have come amiss either. Our local hospital has (or had) a form of 'hands in' robot thingy for carrying out keyhole and other delicate surgery. Some other hospitals have Really Good Links and the operating surgeon is somewhere miles from the actual patient, working over a video link.
Or even those robot 'explorers/exploders used by Bomb Disposal. But I suppose that comes under 'Military Secrets' and BD wouldn't let one out; not even a very battered and dated one.
On the whole, what with the noise and the narrow focus, we were rather underwhelmed by the whole thing. They did have some pretty neat 'robot' brownies in the adjacent cafe. Very keen on their cafes, the Science Museum. Probably something to do with trying to maximise income and having a captive market. (Cynic? Moi?)
We ignored the 'robot' brownies and wandered out to look around the rest of the museum - which has changed quite a bit since I was working in their library nearly forty years ago. But then, in forty years I suppose it might. Goodness only knows, Science itself has.
And The Rest
I went to look around Exploring Space - models of different rockets, from the V2 to the Space Shuttle, a full-scale model of the Apollo Lunar Landing Vehicle - which looked kinda small for two men (and had much less computing power than your average smartphone.)
I was just looking at the First Woman in Space display when I realised my cardigan was missing. I'd taken it off in Robots 'cos I was quite warm in there. Oh dear. Where had that slipped out of my bag? Quick tour of Exploring Space. Nothing. Found BiL, who kindly went and did a tour of Robots and other bits we'd visited together. Nothing.
Ask at Information Desk - described cardigan: blue/grey, v-neck, handknit, pink and green flower-shaped buttons, pink and green edging on cuffs. Nothing. BiL asked if I'd photographed it. (So that's a project for this weekend, when the light is forecast to be good.) Filled in a Lost Property form, handed it in.
Carried on looking around the ground floor galleries. Then headed to a useful little cafe for much-needed rehydration: chai latté with cinnamon, peppermint tea and satsuma. We were just finishing this when H hove into view (phew!) Turned out his mobile was on the blink, not recieving txts, had no signal and almost out of battery. He had a latté. Then off to explore further.
We found the actual capsule that brought Major Tim Peake back to earth after six months on the Space Station. That was smaller, and held three men. Claustrophobics need not apply to go into space.
We found an early steam locomotive, very prettily painted (think Fowler engines.) We found one of the original steam locomotives - Stevenson's Rocket. That looked a bit battered, which is hardly surprising as it's going on 200 and had been hammered out of iron.
Then they started announcing that "The Museum is closing shortly. Please make your way towards the exit." We complied, then sat about nearby waiting for actual 'chucking out time'. And lo, one of the guys on the Information Desk held up a piece of knitwear - my cardigan! Yay! I hadn't had to carry it around a lot of the museum, it's quite heavy*, and I wasn't going to be shivering on the way home.
We left and ambled back towards South Kensington Station but decided on a pitstop because it was tea/dinner time and some of us might have a long journey home. BiL checked the News (on his fancy mobile) and told us about the attack at Westminster. Oh. Boy.
Travelling Hopefully pt 2
We waited until after 7pm, BiL said TfL charge lower prices for journeys, and on to the District Line to Wimbledon (BiL off earlier). Stopping train to Guildford, where we had three minutes to change platforms, even H didn't make it so we went and waited the next half-hour in the waiting room - which was open, and warm, and was decorated with artwork from a local school. I was very glad I'd taken my knitting as well as H. Got as far as turning the heel on a sock for him by the time we got home!
And finally a train to Portsmouth. And to bed, and all by 11pm! Here's hoping the next time we go to London there are no 'problems', signalling or otherwise!
If you have been, thanks for reading this far, Dear Reader.
Y'all have a good day now!
*I don't recommend this as a way of not having to carry heavy garments around with you. After all, someone might take a fancy to it. They might not hand it in.