Turns Out Robot Waiters Aren't As Good As Humans After All

Turns out, thank goodness, robot waiters aren't nearly
as good as humans for the job. n

A restaurant in China decided to obtain robots to serve meals to customers rather than deal with the expense, messiness and, well, human-ness of actual people as waiters.

It didn't go well, which means at least for now, the legions of waiters at all those restaurants out there can keep their jobs, unless of course they keep forgetting orders, dumping beer on customers or steal from the till.

Luckily, almost all human waiters are better than those described in the above paragraph, which is more than I can say for the robot waiters in China.

According to The Verge, the Chinese restaurant chain bought several waiter robots at $7,000 a pop, but the robots couldn't even pour drinks right. Or serve soup. Or take orders from customers and understand them correctly. Plus they kept breaking down.

Two of the restaurants had to close down due to the incompetent robots. A third restaurant in the chain was able to stay open, but only because it hired flesh and blood humans to serve customers.

Apparently, robots can handle repetitive tasks well, but have trouble when interacting with us quirky, weird humans.

Maybe you don't have to tip robot waiters, but its probably worth tipping humans if it means you actually get the food and drinks you want at the restaurant.

Robot Dog Vs. Real Dog Battle It Out

Boston Dynamics' robot dog isn't nearly as
pleasant and tag waggy and fun as a real dog
but it is a nifty piece of technology  

It's come to this: We have real dogs playing with robot dogs now.

I'm rooting for the real dogs, but still.

In a video posted a to YouTube a few days ago, we see a robot dog (named Spot, of course) playing with a real dog, named Alex.  You can see the video at the bottom of this post.

Alex does not quite know what to make of his metallic robot new friend, with it's fairly accurate dog movements, but he gives it a whirl.

The robot dog was created by Boston Dynamics, the same outfit that caused a bit of a stir last week when they unveiled their nifty humanoid robot that could do lots of physical things that robots could not previously do, like navigate like a human around obstacles, keep its balance, and get right back up when somebody pushes it over.

Apparently, these things would be good in warfare, as it will be machines killing each other rather than humans, goes the theory.

The robot dog can also easily get up and walk away after lying down, it can walk over curbs and rough terrain, and can walk in a variety of different ways.

Impressive robotic work, but I still prefer the real furry companions. Yeah, my real dogs Jackson and Tonks sometimes have accidents in the house, bark at inappropriate times, make a mess and get sick, something that robot dogs won't do.

Robot dogs are cool, but I'd MUCH rather hang on to
my two real furry companions, Tonks (left) and Jackson. 

But you can't replicate the excitement the real dogs Tonks and Jackson bring when you come home from a long day at work.

Robots can't really replicate the laughs you get in a tug of war game with flesh and blood dogs, and they can't comfort you the way a warm dog sits on your lap contentedly when you want to relax and chill out.  

Still, a couple Christmases ago, my young nephew Jonas from Minnesota received a toy robotic dog for Christmas that follows simple commands and "learns" the habits of its human to help make the pair friends.

While not nearly as nice as a real dog, Jonas' robot dog was oddly endearing.

Boston Dynamics' dog is not endearing at all, but obviously that's not the point. The company was just showing off its nifty robots and what they can do.

But, if you're into that type of thing, you can watch the video of the robot dog and real dog cavorting in a parking lot, below:

Unique Oklahoma Politician Says He Was Defeated By Robot Or Body Double

Unsuccessful Oklahoma Congressional candidate
Tim Murray said his winning opponent is actually
a robot or body double, and is thus disqualified.  

U.S Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Oklahoma won the recent primary for his party's nomination to the House of Representatives. It looks like he's headed for an easy re-election.

But one of the defeated candidates isn't going to take this lying down. Candidate Tim Murray says Lucas is actually a body double or robot for someone who died in 2011

"It is widely known Rep. Frank D. Lucas is no longer alive and has been displayed by a look alike," Murray writes in a note to television station KFOR.

Murray claims Lucas is among several U.S. Congress members who were executed in Ukraine in 2011.

Hmm. I'm pretty up on the news and I would have seen in the papers and on TV and the Internet a few years ago word of the execution by The World Court of Lucas and other Congress members in Ukraine three years ago.

Murray said these executions by hanging were televised world wide and it's common knowledge that it happened.

Somehow, I don't recall it. You think it would be all over the news. Like Benghazi or something.

Maybe there was a coverup or something.

KFOR reports that Lucas is a bit shocked by the news he doesn't exist. "It does come as kind of a shock to read that you're not you," Lucas said.

Lucas says he has never been to Ukraine. That's what they all say.

By the way, you HAVE to check out Murray's campaign Web site, that's still up despite the fact that he lost to the robot that is pretending to be Lucas.

Here's one example of Murray's accomplishments, taken from his Web site:  "Requested and obtained removal, from humans, of an illegal de-human chip from persons abroad and in armed forces use. Helped block the 7th day Legislation in the '70s that would put the 666 de-human chip on every person on earth. In prevention of the fore-mentioned, it was sealed with The People, The U.S. President, and the U.S. Supreme Court at that time and since that time."

I hadn't heard about this. 666 de-human chip? 7th day legislation? Tim, Tim, you have to explain this more to us ignorant sheeple.

However, the conspiracy Web sites, which are oh, so accurate, are all over it, Thank Gawd!

On the ZPi Blog, "serving the paranoid since 1997" we have this laudatory report on Murray:

"Murray is not threatening to break the set of political theater by exposing the conspiracy at the heart of modern government: Most politicians are actually android replacements known as Simulacra."

Now I'm even more confused. Simulacra? I've never even heard that word. And why hasn't anybody embedded a 666 chip in me? Or did they?

Maybe Murray will win his appeal of the election which Lucas, or his body double, won. Then we can learn more about this insidious plot.

Or at the very least, be entertained by this, um unique candidate.