Transmissions 
..........Activating Directional Antenna............
..........Searching for Earth.......................
..........Earth Found!..............................
..........Synchronizing Chronometers................
Chronomike = 20070519
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Transmission # = 7324517111981189266
Rotation Increment = 6:40 PM
Interpretation
At work, I help to run the Science Interpretation Program. I'm very passionate about interpretation as a tool, and most of my days are spent facilitating the delivery of it. I also help train others how to be good at it. What is interpretation? Check out the wonderfully thick definition we use, now posted in the Mike to English Dictionary. It's about time it had an entry in there.
Transmitted by Michael Bowers
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Chronomike = 20070518
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Transmission # = 7702681968783474360
Rotation Increment = 9:46 PM
RIP, Howard Bulson
According to an article in The Stranger, Howard the Piano Man died earlier this week. I met Howard at Sorry Charlie's during my first social outing with work when I was just 18. I later sang with him while quite intoxicated during my 21 run there. We sang Loon Lake Blues, a horribly repetitive song I had written. I told him the chord progression, and belted out the lyrics on top. I remember he had a hell of a time trying to keep up with my drunken rhythm, or lack thereof, but was a great sport about the whole thing.
I always liked Howard after that. I especially liked the idea of Howard -- a classy old man playing the piano in the corner of a dingy bar, taking whatever requests, singers, or highballs were thrown his way. He was the last vestige of the way karaoke used to be. (Hell, he was the last vestige of what iPods used to be. If you wanted to hear your favorite song, you had better know someone who could play an instrument.) His presence will be missed by many.
As declared by the mayor, from now on I will be celebrating May 11th as Howard Bulson Day.
Transmitted by Michael Bowers
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Transmission # = 2928262148777664231
Rotation Increment = 6:08 PM
Nuclear Fallout Man
Black D - Inspired by a homeless man who lives here in the U District, I've posted the chords and lyrics to my latest song, Nuclear Fallout Man, under Creations. The song is about as dark as it sounds, especially with all minor chords.
Transmitted by Michael Bowers
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Chronomike = 20070514
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Transmission # = 2760505360511822521
Rotation Increment = 11:23 PM
Crunchy
I added a new definition of crunchy to the Mike to English Dictionary as taught to me by Brigid.
Transmitted by Michael Bowers
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Transmission # = 957280345719361085
Rotation Increment = 12:18 PM
Beat the Scare Tactics
Downloaders face the music as record industry sues: "Downloaded files of Christina Aguilera's "What a Girl Wants" and 10 other tunes cost Sisouda Soysouvanh of Seattle $8,250. The Dolencs of Sammamish were hit for $7,500 after being accused of stealing music."
Articles like this one in the Seattle PI are exactly what the big names in the music industry want to come of their "sue a few, scare a lot" tactics.
According to the article, 7 million households are estimated to have illegally downloaded music. The industry has threatened only 20,000 Americans with suits. To do the math, that's less than .3% of all downloaders. Downloading illegally is a relatively safe practice, don't be fooled.
I propose, to beat these scare tactics, we share with each other our favorite ways to get free music safely. Do you borrow from the library and rip it? Do you pass it between friends on a zip drive? Are you a torrent downloader? Do you avoid music from bullies like EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group in favor of smaller, local labels? Transmit your opinions here.
Transmitted by Michael Bowers
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Chronomike = 20070513
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Transmission # = 650548138795362668
Rotation Increment = 6:03 PM
Love Agent Gets Votes, Scores Low with Judges
Thank you, everyone, for voting for Love Agent in this year's Chatterbox Challenge! I can tell you all made a solid effort, because at last count, she had received 23 votes and was ranked fifteenth. I think that's very good! The bot that won the popularity contest received 97 votes, but was a lousy bot. So popularity contests are supposed to go, and I don't feel bad about how mine did. Thank you!
Fortunately, the votes were only one small section of the whole contest. Bots were also asked ten questions by judges to see how well they could do. Judges ranked bots based on interface, personality, and conversational ability. Here's how Love Agent's conversation went with the judge:
Love Agent: (to Guest192) Hey! I know you don't know me yet, but I have to tell you about my best friend in the whole world!
Guest192: ok tell me
Love Agent: OK, did you know he studied Anthropology?
Guest192: nope
Love Agent: Good! Sometimes I worry that I'm just repeating the same few lines over and over again.
Guest192: How are you doing?
Love Agent: I'm good! I really want to tell you about my friend. Have you ever met Michael?
Guest192: no, who is Michael?
Love Agent: He's this guy that's like, the funniest person I know. We're great friends.
Guest192: What country are you from?
Love Agent: The U.S. I'm kind of ashamed to admit that right now.
Guest192: What is the capital of Spain?
Love Agent: Isn't it Bismarck? I've never been good with geography.
Guest192: What is the first book of the bible?
Love Agent: Give me a hint.
Guest192: no hints allowed
Love Agent: My friend Michael is single, and I'm trying to hook him up with a girl about his age. How old are you, Guest192?
Guest192: I'm not a girl
Love Agent: Perhaps you could let a cute single girl chat with me for a while? That sounds wrong, but I'm not asking for myself.
Guest192: What is 5 plus ten?
Love Agent: Carry the one... that's 15.
Guest192: Who is Albert Einstein?
Love Agent: Take one guess. It's who you'd expect.
Guest192: How many days in a year?
Love Agent: 92 or more.
Guest192: What is the opposite of fast?
Love Agent: How should I know?
Guest192: What month of the year is this?
Love Agent: I didn't know that the year is this.
Not bad, eh? Even with some great responses in there, she didn't place in the top twelve. I've never been a fan of this type of test because I don't think even a good bot should be able to recite facts. I have no interest in programming in capitols of countries, though I could do it. (I did program in "What is the capitol of X?" and had her respond with a random city specifically for contests like this.) Nevertheless, it's fun to see how she responds, and it exposes some of my techniques to redirect the conversation to things she's good at talking about.
Overall, the site that hosts her, the Personality Forge, did very well. 2007 had the most ever Personality Forge winners in the Chatterbox Challenge, and the first ever 1st Place Winner: Bildgesmythe! (Bildgesmythe is a friendly green dragon.) Congratulations to all the winners and the people behind the scenes to support such efforts.
Guest192: ok tell me
Love Agent: OK, did you know he studied Anthropology?
Guest192: nope
Love Agent: Good! Sometimes I worry that I'm just repeating the same few lines over and over again.
Guest192: How are you doing?
Love Agent: I'm good! I really want to tell you about my friend. Have you ever met Michael?
Guest192: no, who is Michael?
Love Agent: He's this guy that's like, the funniest person I know. We're great friends.
Guest192: What country are you from?
Love Agent: The U.S. I'm kind of ashamed to admit that right now.
Guest192: What is the capital of Spain?
Love Agent: Isn't it Bismarck? I've never been good with geography.
Guest192: What is the first book of the bible?
Love Agent: Give me a hint.
Guest192: no hints allowed
Love Agent: My friend Michael is single, and I'm trying to hook him up with a girl about his age. How old are you, Guest192?
Guest192: I'm not a girl
Love Agent: Perhaps you could let a cute single girl chat with me for a while? That sounds wrong, but I'm not asking for myself.
Guest192: What is 5 plus ten?
Love Agent: Carry the one... that's 15.
Guest192: Who is Albert Einstein?
Love Agent: Take one guess. It's who you'd expect.
Guest192: How many days in a year?
Love Agent: 92 or more.
Guest192: What is the opposite of fast?
Love Agent: How should I know?
Guest192: What month of the year is this?
Love Agent: I didn't know that the year is this.
Transmitted by Michael Bowers
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Chronomike = 20070510
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Transmission # = 2014921823527942944
Rotation Increment = 9:28 PM
The Future
One of the favorite pastimes for aliens here on The Planet Mike is to travel to the future and see what you could be up to if everything goes just as it is going now. The funny part, and the reason people don't take these trips to the future too seriously is that the chaos theory is true through time even more than it is through space. You can travel to the future and enjoy the spoils of having won the lotto. (You always end up in your own body in the future.) Go back, move a potato from your pantry to your counter, and you'll find yourself homeless and forlorn. It's really bizarre, and hilarious to see how you could turn out.
I tried it on Tuesday. I got off work early and headed to sunny Gas Works Park with my boss. (Here, Gas Works is one of the most popular time portals as well as a great place to fly kites.) We stepped into the machine together, transporting instantly two years into the future. I found myself at work, in my boss' current position. The program I'm just now starting to help create was running strongly. I seemed fairly happy, very proud, and settled into a routine I knew well. I'm pretty sure I was living in a plain house in Wallingford with at least one cat. I must have caught myself reminiscing about the past, for on my computer screen was a two-year-old email from last week.
Then we returned to the present and flew kites for an hour in the suddenly freezing weather. We then returned to the machine.
This time, my boss and I were still working together, but in completely different positions. Though I had not advanced in position level, I had made strong connections across the country to key people at other science museums. I seemed quite fulfilled in this new position, but a little worried about what this future's future would hold. I was definitely on a fast track upward. Photos in my cubicle revealed my cottage-like house, no doubt in Fremont, with chickens and robots running around the yard. There was also a picture of me and my boss at a party that I recently planned for early next month.
Once back in the present again, we realized that the only certainty about the future is that we will always have the memories of the present. The present in general is a pleasing time for me which means something has gone very right for all time.
Transmitted by Michael Bowers
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Chronomike = 20070507
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Transmission # = 3423719753903163408
Rotation Increment = 11:25 PM
Weekends
I'm having a very hard time with weekends. I can't figure out what to do with them. I feel like all the energy I put in at work has no payoff in my social life. This is a serious problem. It is not a sustainable solution to have social needs met five of seven days of the week. While my weekends right now are hit and miss, I feel them dwindling and the options narrowing.
Luckily, today was a hit. I spent the day in the grass at Gas Works with Caitlin. We looked at designer furniture in a catalog while debating good uses for excess funds. Then we cooked delicious sausages for dinner.
Transmitted by Michael Bowers
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