Slashdot Mirror
Hitchhiking Robot's Cross-Country Trip Ends In Philadelphia
An anonymous reader writes: A hitchhiking robot that successfully traveled across Canada in 26 days last year and parts of Europe, has met its demise in Philly. Created as a "social experiment," hitchBOT started its journey in the U.S. in Marblehead, Massachusetts, on July 17 with its thumb raised up and tape wrapped around its head that read "San Francisco or bust." After about two weeks in the U.S., someone in Philadelphia damaged the robot beyond repair. "Sadly, sadly it's come to an end," said Frauke Zeller, one of its co-creators. The Independent reports: "The robot was designed to be a talking travel companion and could toss out factoids and carry limited conversation. A GPS in the robot tracked its location, and a camera randomly snapped photos about every 20 minutes to document its travels."
Hitchhiking human's Cross-Country Trip Ends In 01
Unfortunately the less fortunate in other countries have more respect for something than our country. Thanks asshole.
Too bad it was damaged beyond repair, I'm curious around the real circumstances as to how it became that way? Anybody have a better link than the TFA?
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
Of course it was ruined in Philly
There are laws against hitchhiking in many states because it is considered dangerous. Many people are killed each year from it. While l personally think this is a great social experiment, the outcome should not be unexpected. While most of us would love to pick up a hitchhiking robot, robots have yet to their respect and place among humans.
The article mentions a blog, but there's no link to it. The article mentions that the "robot" took a photo every 20 minutes but there's not a single photo to show us.
It's like the Internet is only able to use text for articles and things like photos, animations and videos are the exclusive domain of advertisers.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Robot Lives Matter!
You know where it goes from here...
"A GPS in the robot tracked its location, and a camera randomly snapped photos about every 20 minutes to document its travels."
Nice try Canuckistan, but your cutesy spy robot attempt has FAILED!
>> tape wrapped around its head that read "San Francisco or bust."
Option 2. Mission accomplished, right?
some social scientists are settling their bets with each other on how far it would make it.
Now they have learned that the best defense is a good offense.
The best robot will pull be a hijacking hitchhiker.
Here's a story with a picture of the robot back when he was in good health, as well as a picture of the now deceased robot:
http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com...
Should have avoided the entire east coast if you wanted it to stay intact.
captcha:corridor
That was a douche move. Thanks, Philly, for showing the world how classy we are.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
Maybe if we volunteer to get it fixed, hitchbot can continue its journey!
They probably thought it was a bicycle, Philly is an awful place for bike theft and destruction.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
nuff said.
Wow, that Minnesota dentist gets around doesn't he? He can now boast one more unique "taking". He is a true sportsman, he picks as target only things that has the same level of intelligence as him.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Release the photo of the robot for the kids! They need to learn what happens to hitch hikers.
America is not ready to join the civilized world. It must be the trauma of their 9/11. A spell was cast that drove off all the humanity and left only the death eaters You all are right, I don't belong here. Such a sad place paradise has become. I cry as I post this.
Philly needs electronics!
The creators were sent an image of the vandalized robot Saturday but couldn't track its location because the battery is dead. They said they don't know who destroyed it or why.
The perpetrators of this vandalism probably were bored, undereducated, underachieving young WHITE male(s). The definition of 'nigger' has changed; it has to do with how you think and act, not the color of your skin. Ironically, racist pieces of shit who go around calling black people 'niggers' are the ones who are the real niggers in the world, because they're largely who are perpetuating so-called race-related problems.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Alot of racial talk here. But we're missing the 1 probable suspect. Some drunk moron from the local college university.
Alot of racial talk here. But we're missing the 1 probable suspect. Some drunk moron from the local college university. Always something idiot student in my city caught doing vandalism usually when walking home from bar/party.
That doesn't sound like vandalism to me, it sounds like plain theft. I know the article wanted to pain this person as "terrible" to fit with the snappy title, but it's more likely that this person was just desperate and found some electronics to steal. According to the USDA there's close to 7 million households in the US that go hungry once in a while because they don't have a reliable income.
Alot of race on here wow. Realistically, it was probably some drunk moron from the local College/University.Quite common where I live to see these idiots vandalizing stuff while walking home at 3am
Yeah, keep lying to yourself, skippy.
Oh look, it is the "cows" guy again.
How pathetic is your life that you post this every day on every article?
Every consider talking to a therapist and getting out of your parents basement?
Surely it's not just one person. I weep if one person is that persistent.
Halifax -> Vancouver
At least it wasn't the police. Sting was nowhere near Philly. As for drug dealers, the CIA will neither confirm nor deny its involvement. Actually they lost the records, can't remember a thing, saw nothing, heard nothing, and didn't even get out of bed this morning.
The perpetrators of this vandalism probably were bored, undereducated, underachieving young WHITE male(s)
You have any facts to back that up or is this just speculation?
The fact that this thing made all the way through canada (full of bored white people) only to die in philly speaks volumes.
The perpetrators of this vandalism probably were bored, undereducated, underachieving young WHITE male(s). The definition of 'nigger' has changed; it has to do with how you think and act, not the color of your skin. Ironically, racist pieces of shit who go around calling black people 'niggers' are the ones who are the real niggers in the world, because they're largely who are perpetuating so-called race-related problems.
very well said
Apparently the Hitchhiking Robot was dating his cellphone so they both had to go.
There are some days I really hate living here. This is a morals tale like Short Circuit. Ih I had known the bot was here I would have driven it around for few days and maybe have turned it over to my ingress brethren to get it on it's way... farking arse holes....
~corporate tool, but employed~
And was set upon by a gang of cheap Windows Vista laptops that had been lounging around glomming the free WiFi. It was found face down behind the diner, stripped of all data, with its USB port full of viruses.
I am actually surprised it crossed Canada. I didn't think it would stand a chance here let alone in the US.
Ironically, racist pieces of shit who go around calling black people 'niggers' are the ones who are the real niggers in the world, because they're largely who are perpetuating so-called race-related problems.
I'm glad you agree that Rap Artists are a big part of the problem.
The perpetrators of this vandalism probably were bored, undereducated, underachieving young WHITE male(s)
You have any facts to back that up or is this just speculation?
Blacks are more commonly convicted when tried, and there are still more whites than blacks in philly, so it's probably still more likely. Also, consider that whites may have felt more likely to get away with such a crime.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
i guess to robot failed the ocular patdown.
lose != loose
http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com...
"You know son, that plastic dome thingie looked awfully ridiculous on your wall."
Are you surprised? Expecting people in a s***y urban area to respect other people's property? What did you think would happen?
Damaging what amounts to someone's garbage is a crime?
For the Canada trip they outfitted it with a pleasing personality and the robot made it across the country. For the US trip they should have outfitted it with a sidearm and live ammo. Just how we roll here.....
Hey, we're not bored, we're just freezing!
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Rap "artists" are a big part of the problem and I don't care about the colour of their skin either.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
What do you mean? African or European coal?
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
"We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better... stronger... faster."
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Virtual +1 Funny.
Seriously, I used to get mod points every few weeks and now I haven't gotten any in over six months.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
did you miss the part where it successfully traveled across Canada and parts of Europe?
Yes, this social experiment did tell us lots...
The definition doesn't change because you want it to change. Did you know that the word "nigger" is derived from the Latin word "niger", which translates into "black"? If you refer to yourself as "black", you are basically calling yourself a nigger.
Here is a couple youtube videos that aptly describes African-American culture. Amusingly, the show it came from was made by an African-American. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ZRAmz-NWM
Black people take pride in being called niggers, and calling each other niggers. They don't want non-blacks to call them niggers because that is disrespectful.
What about 'thug'. Can non-blacks say 'thug'? Am I wrong to type 'black'? Should it be 'African-American' instead? Or People of Color?
Who cares who abused the robot? Why wasn't the robot armed? Why didn't the robot dial 911?
We all knew the robot was going to be molested somewhere during the US trip.
Maybe there's someone out there collecting robot heads.
http://totaldickhead.blogspot.com/2008/04/headless-man-sues-loses.html
Brotherly love clearly left Philly (escaped to Canada/Europe). Its something about "public commons" that gets exhausted by a greedy, self-interested person who has no respect for 'public commons' and spoils the public good due to their own greed. Its why things like socialism can't exist in America. Its why bankers given money to ease interest on the poor will instead pocket it and squeeze the poor. Its why the oceans (a public resource) are full of garbage put there by private polluters who just don't care. Its why words like "Charity" to a stockbroker/Republican is like holy water to a vampire. If your house burns down, they will warm their hands by the fire. If there is a threat to their home (smoke/heat) they will sue before the fire department gets there. If you take out your heirlooms and put them on the front lawn to keep them from being destroyed, they will try to steal them, and if you don't have enough room on your lawn they will charge you rent if you ask to use theirs, and even offer to buy it from you for half a cent on the dollar. They will also offer you water to put out the fire at a hundred dollars per drop. Clutching, grabbing, angry greed. Made in America.
Some people can just really milk a joke for a long time.
Bot travels the Internet, trolling for corrosive hatred, and hits paydirt on Slashdot.
hitchBot was probably last seen alive on the BFvsGF channel on Youtube (vlog channel for PrankVsPrank). Near the end of the video they gave him a ride to the bench where he was probably picked up by the bad guys. Too bad they didn't trust the taxi driver to take him to New York.
In Philly? Could have been Mennonites.
www.chihuahuarescue.com- Help to end dog abuse, abandonment and cruelty
Where are you getting your facts? Philadelphia is not more white than black.
Or sounds like a bored kid crime race neutral to me though.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
Nah, it's just that most Americans are uneducated and violent, regardless of their skin colour.
Ah, that's so nice. Our President hasn't even finished his second term and there's already a town named for him.
I love all the comments here by racist cops, I mean, pigs.
Maybe that was always the reverse psychology of the endeavour.
Listen up y'all. Hitchbot had it comin...he was really snitchbot... U kno that shitchbot was really put out there by my FBI man Bobbie Mueller...we knew he was down with those South Jerzey boyz. Just lucki we took care of him before he went East Coast and they never would have found him...
No, they left out important info. How many people did it use to travel across Canada and part of Europe? Did one guy take it halfway across Canada and another the rest of the way? Did it take 50 people for it to travel from MA to PA? Philadelphia has one of the highest crime rates in the nation. You're still at risk of getting killed from crossfire in a shoot between gangs near your local 7-eleven. I used to live there. Did the robot stop at any similar high crime areas in Canada or Europe? Total distance traveled is an extremely poor metric by itself.
And maybe the people in Philly were smarter? "San Francisco or bust." The people in Philly helped it reach it's goal more efficiently than everyone else. Destruction was listed as a valid result. "???? or bust" is an old saying you don't hear anymore.
The perpetrators of this vandalism probably were bored, undereducated, underachieving young WHITE male(s). The definition of 'nigger' has changed; it has to do with how you think and act, not the color of your skin. Ironically, racist pieces of shit who go around calling black people 'niggers' are the ones who are the real niggers in the world, because they're largely who are perpetuating so-called race-related problems.
Bullshit. You don't get to redefine what words mean, magically wiping away all the history and context associated with a term.
They shouldn't have painted it black - probably got shot by the cops.
Just more proof that some Americans are evil
Start weeping. And never stop....
An Open Letter to #Cuckservatives
The TRS Guide to SWPL Safaris
You'll need it.
"In Philadelphia, it's worth fifty bucks". They should definitely search the pawn shops for any valuable parts that match.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
You tell someone they're this and that and they're bad long enough, and guess what happens? They start believing it, especially when that's all you heard your entire life since you were a little kid. We see now they've started turning it around into some sort of virtue. You see a similar phenomenon in the whole fat acceptance movement, and that's fucked-up too. Us white people made black people what they are today, we're the original perpetrators of that, and now they've been told they're this-and-that-and-bad for so long that they actually believe it themselves. So they act accordingly. Which just makes racist white people feel justified in their attitudes towards black people. Which continues the whole goddamned vicious circle. What did you think was going to happen?
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
The perpetrators of this vandalism probably were bored, undereducated, underachieving young WHITE male(s)
You have any facts to back that up or is this just speculation?
Blacks are more commonly convicted when tried, and there are still more whites than blacks in philly, so it's probably still more likely. Also, consider that whites may have felt more likely to get away with such a crime.
Watch a few episodes of the "reality" show "First 48." The format of the show is following homicide detectives in large cities.
You will see that being uneducated, poor, and certainly ignorant of constitutional rights will play a large part in what happens to people accused of (and who almost always did) crimes.
Occasionally someone clams up and the show ends with "still under investigation". The other guys, they have captions like "convicted and sentenced to 20 years"
Blacks get convicted because they shoot their mouths off during questioning and don't ask for a lawyer as soon as they are arrested.
The point is, those numbers are not "racism" causing blacks to go to prison. Those numbers are blacks causing themselves to go to prison. Either through perpetuating the culture that gets them there via ignorance, "being too white" with an education, or just plain being dumb.
I am looking forward to photos or a history of where the robot was for a little insight on this issue, but I expect the cynics to be basically right on it.
Also, at what time do we have the right to ask that these guys not break the law, not sell drugs, not be violent and not be killers? Your ideas of fairness will fall onto deaf ears until that day comes. Here's now to stay out of prison for murder.... DONT DO IT.
No one who knows Philly can be surprised that the robot died there.
"Remember Hitchbot!"
"Not malfunction Stephanie. Number 5 is alive. "
Not likely to be white in that area of Philly. Still racist are racist
OMG Ponies!!! with Glitter!!!! I miss Pink
Same thing would have happened to Will Smith if his parents hadn't sent him to Bel Air.
plus there is the whole slavery/legislated inequality/terrorize thing; The grandpa of my neighbor was owned. Mike has shared stories his Grampa told him when young about what it was like as a teenage slave making rope in the winter. We're not that many generations removed from slavery. Not to mention that blacks were the subjects of highly effective terror campaigns where thousands of blacks were tortured, maimed, and murdered with impunity for nearly 80 years. Ida Wells famously pointed out these terror campaigns (lynching / murder) often successfully killed and terrorized blacks that competed with whites (in business and women). Paired with the state government effectively blocks on black success via jim crow and segregation post-reconstruction, it isn't surprising the kind of situation w're in. During this approximately 80 year span we had white families taking advantage of extremely generous government programs that got them land, job training, and college degrees, to name a few of the advantages that have given rise to the predominately white middle class. Meanwhile effective terror and government campaigns caused widespread chaos, emigration, and continued subjugation of black communities. This isn't white guilt, this is simply a recognition of what has brought us to this point and our failure to ever deal with it in a conclusive manner as a country. Like we failed to actually fully rectify most social problems that have been hilariously exaggerated over the last ~190 years by the comical progression of US society.
The real lesson here is don't go to F*^%ing Philly. It is a $H!t hole filled with $h!ty people.
It's probably the only thing that sports fans from New York and Boston agree on; Filthydelphia sucks. This is where Santa was pelted with snowballs by Eagles fans after all...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Martin? Is that you? What are you doing in that timeline? Hurry up an get back on the Heart of Gold before Earth gets blown up to make way for the hyperspatial express route. Gosh, you'll probably go on and on about how you were mistreated for years....
-Zaphod
https://twitter.com/Jessewelle...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CL...
Pretty obvious what happened next
Also it probably doesn't help that all through recorded Human history (and likely even way before that) slavery of one type or another was considered an acceptable way of life; you wage war on someone and conquer them, you enslave their people. How about during the industrial revolution? Or before women's rights? One could plausibly argue that these were forms of slavery, and there was even less excuse for it because it's not like they were 'some other race' or 'some other people', it was the same people from the same country. Even today there is slavery of various forms going on in the world, from as awful as the so-called 'islamic state' enslaving the women and children of the areas they take control of, to sex trafficking (even using children), to some countries where child labor for pitiful wages is a standard business practice. And people wonder why it is that I sometimes say 'humans are not actually civilized'; how can you say they are when there's still these sorts of things going on in the world?
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
I believe that we should make a concerted effort to identify the culprit. Based on the information provided a lot of information is already known, and much more can be safely assumed. As an example, since no one has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attack, we know the assailant is a coward. Since the robot did not have any threatening features nor was it programmed with any offensive dialogue, we know the assailant to be the aggressor. Since the aggressor had nothing to gain from the attack, we have to assume that the motivation was purely emotional. As to actual motive, I believe that we can safely assume this act was compensating for the assailants extremely small male genitals. Furthermore, based on the nature of the attack we can also assume we are looking for someone that could be classified as mentally challenged. Hopefully by telling the Police that we are looking for an Aggressive, Cowardly, Brain-Injured male with a micro-penis from the Philadelphia area we can finally bring justice to hitchbot.
Guy in the video looks pretty white to me. Maybe you mean the bullshit that white dudes who are sick in the head go on about while they do evil:
http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/heres-video-of-the-jerk-who-killed-hitchbot-1721797093
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
..and right on cue the racist pieces of shit of /. mod me right down into the ground, how fucking predictable. Like a friend of mine says, the age of the Great White Male is coming to an end; get over it and move on or prepare to be obsoleted.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
...some redneck shoots first and asks questions later when a drone flies over his house.
Perhaps some trigger-happy gun-nut thought that the robot was looking funny at his girls in the car and decided to blow its circuits out....
Some surveillance video is out finally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
This should be +5.
Thank god for clear thinking.
Next, let's send the robots into menonite towns to force them to show respect.
It obviously "updated" itself to Windows 10.
One word then... Marriage