Show Sectiorv Wednesday 18 February 2004 The Herald Journal THE PRUDENT ml I— Page! VI Enjoy virtual taste of Java By Matthew Syme W v e’re missing the ceiling from our upstairs bathroom due to an 'extensive remodel Unfortunately a fair amount of warm air escapes through the plastic into the attic and out the ventilation system Declaring frugality over comfort our home hasn't been quite as toasty warm this winin' As a result we’ve taken to wool socks and warm soothing drinks Oh were I a coffee drinker sampling the many delectable varieties' offered such a connoisseur! Alas I drink Postum with a bit of evaporated milk and plenty of sugar While not nearly as invigorating as a cup o’ Joe it does ' bring us in an admittedly Robot dogs ‘trained7 to sniff out toxins APphota circuitous manner to today’s topic: Java What is Java (besides a variety of coffee originating from a bean peculiar to the Indonesian island)? If you’ve browsed the Internet for more than a couple of hours it’s likely you’ve encountered at least a small amount of Java Many new cell phones come with Java but you might not even notice And undoubtedly you’ve seen the Java logo with its cup and rising steam either on a software package or in your electron-i- c ed device’s documentation Essentially Java is both a platform and a programming language developed by Sun Microsystems Accord-ing to its website Java originated nearly 10 years ago as a technology tended to control a wide range of S' itertainment appliances (television ' sets VCRs' cable TV boxes etc) with a slick graphical interface Far too ahead of its time the development team recognized its proper application within the emerging Internet and its inherent connected-nes- s to a variety of computers and operating systems One of the challenges presented by this new connectedness resided in building programs and applications that could be distributed to any machine regardless of its age orher- itage At the time if you wanted your program to be available to die largest possible audience you’d be forced to rewrite or translate your application multiple times an endeavor attempted by only this largest of ' : 6 to Gallery-goegather at the Gigantic Artspace in New York Friday-Fewatch an exhibit of robotic dogs The dogs which are wired to sniff out toxic male- rs brainchild of Natalie and : : tealtoystobehadonthelntemet : ic ' er A cyber-anima- com-put- er hindquarters to let researchers observe their ' interaction with handlers The dogs are wired to move in pocks To collect samples from a larger area more effectively the pack is programmed to follow the dog with the strongest sensor reading The result is the collection of data from a broad area with samples and extensive mapping of the area being surveyed Of 12 robotic dogs wired at Yale several have been putto work innearby Hamden where tests have found arsenic lead arid other pollutants in soil beneath a school and homes: Four canine robots have been sniffing around a park on former Consolidated Edison property ajong the Bronx River in New York ' Vanessa Woods education director at the Bronx River Arts Center said community activists saw the project as an unusual way to raisle awareness about pollution in the area A groupof teens working with Jeremijenko spent 12 weeks last June building and equips ping the dogs Their Sensory were designed topick up pollutants that “we already knew were there’’ Woods said “We wanted to make sure it worked” Indeed the dogs were able to pick : up the scent of toxinsin puddles she said Jeremijenko’s project has inspired others who' plan to sic robotic dogs on sites in Belarus that were in the path of radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear plant on sites in Australia used for atomic testing in the T950s and on radioactive waste sites in Idaho : “Anyone who wants to dump a robotic dog r lab at of her said bring them here’’ Jeremijenko Yale “Call this the robotic dog pound” : : ' Yale ' time-specif- self-describ-ed ever-small- Jerefnijenkoa Jecturer in engineering at “technoartist" metallic-skinne- : See SYME on C2 University CS3 ' Thus in 1995 Sun Microsystems proposed to simplify matters by pro-- viding a few essential bits of code to all (or almost all) existing computer systems (PCs running Windows Apple Macintoshes even supercomputers) These essential bits of code' function more or less like a set of " rules of the game only the “games” played on this “platform” can take the form of any number of shapes and directions Developers finally ’ had the ability to speak a common language that everyone could understand with little or no fuss Ten ydirs later the revolutionary impact of Java remains debatable Certainly the innovative concept of distribute to many” “develop once no longer remains unique to Java but Java sull holds its own with a stable group of loyal programmers and ? product developers: Besides making its way into cell phones and other appliances Java based applets pro- - ' vide some of die most enjoyable vir-V' EW HAVEN Conn (AP- )They sniff wag their tails fetch and run in packs But no one minds if these canines stick their noses into some pretty dirty stuff That’s because they are robotic dogs modified by engineering students at Yale Universj-t- y to sniff out toxic materials Equipped with just about everything but a : d wet nose the plastic and robots have spurred toxic search projects in the United States Europe and Australia They are the brainchild of Natalie Jeremijenko a lecturer in engineering at Yale and technoartist ‘Technology is a social actor” she said “These dogs are programmed into instruIt’s extremely ments for social activism the social understand that important engineers implications of their designs” ' Robotic technology is increasingly being to applied repetitive factory tasks or dangerous work such as defusing bombs or finding victims in collapsed buildings : At the same time advances in microtech-nolo- y sensors are leading to opening up a Wide range of potential uses The robot dogs were origmally designed: manufactured and marketed commercially as toys by Sony Electronics Inc Mattel Inc and ls other companies Tinkering with the is allowed the software platform for : Sony’s $l599Aibo for example is available on dte company's Web site so the dogs may be redesigned for other purposes said Jon Piazzaa i Sony spokesman Jferemijepko a mechanical engineer and scientist designed the robotic dogs 18 moaths agoShe calls her handiwork the Feral rialsare the Robotic Dog project because feral dogs are wily The robotic dogs’ "brains” are uppaded and their “noses’’ programmed to pick up the scent or common volatile organic compounds — such as paint thinners or dry cleaning fluids — or more H' dangerous toxins They also are built to navigate a variety of terrains In addition cameras are placed in the dogs’ ' : On the Nat: : http:xdesign0ngyaleediiferHlrobots |