Misbehavior Exhibition

Posted by Christoph Bartneck on Oct 9, 2014 in Culture, Design | 0 comments

Katja Rosenberg has put together an amazing show entitled “Misbehavior” at the CMR Gallery in Redruth. The project features contributions by members of CMR and other artists from Britain including London, Manchester Cambridge and Margate, as well as from from Germany, France, Slovenia, Portugal, New Zealand and the United States. The show will be on October 8-29, 2014. If you are around, check it out. Or download the complete catalog. This is my second art object that is being displayed. Yeah!

Accessing scientific literature from home

Posted by Christoph Bartneck on Oct 7, 2014 in Documentation, Research | 0 comments

I work for the University of Canterbury and once I am connected to the university network, I can easily access scientific literature since most publishers authenticate users through their IP address. When I work from home or from off-campus I do not have a university IP address and hence it is harder to get access. Many authors do post their PDF files online these days, but just not enough of them.

There are several ways on how to access all the literature from home. First, you can use the Firepass system, but it does remain rather difficult, in particular if you do not work on Windows or if you do not have the device with you. A much better way is to use the proxy server of the library in combination with Google Scholar.

First, you need to visit Google Scholar and log in with your Google account. The you need to click on “Settings”

Next, you need to select “Library links” and enter the name of your university. In my case this is University of Canterbury. Hit the search button.

Google Scholar will present you with a list of search result and you need to select the right one before you click on “Save”.

When you now perform a search on Google Scholar you will see on your right a link to the full text via your library. Click on it.

You will now be presented with a login screen from you university proxy server. Once you entered you login and password you have direct access to the PDF files.

If you are not a big fan of Google Scholar then you can still use the library proxy server. Simply type in the address bar of your browser: “https://login.ezproxy.canterbury.ac.nz/login?qurl=linkToTheArticle” where linkToTheArticle is the URL of the paper you are after.

UWS Postgraduate Research Awards

Posted by Christoph Bartneck on Sep 11, 2014 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

The University of Western Sydney has postgraduate scholarships available. Please consider applying. Omar Mubin and me would love to run another HRI project. The application deadline is 31 October 2014.

Godspeed Quenstionnaire Series now available in French

Posted by Christoph Bartneck on Sep 11, 2014 in Research | 0 comments

Wafa Johal provided the French translation for the Godspeed Questionnaire series. I hope that this will be useful to you.

The 4:30 Show Reported on our LEGO Show

Posted by Christoph Bartneck on Aug 13, 2014 in LEGO, Press | 0 comments

The 4:30 Show reported on our Christchurch Brick Show 2014. Here is the video:

The highest Jenga Tower Ever

Posted by Christoph Bartneck on Aug 10, 2014 in Design | 0 comments

Saki and me had a good daddy and daughter morning and we decided to build the tallest Jenga tower ever. This is of course not based on playing the game, but based on using only the blocks in the original set. Our tower was 144 cm high. Can you build a taller tower?

144 cm tall Jenga tower

128.6 cm tall Jenga tower

A 97.2 cm tall Jenga tower

The REAL Ninjago

Posted by Christoph Bartneck on Aug 6, 2014 in LEGO | 0 comments

I am not always happy with how the LEGO Company is treating enthusiastic fans concerning the usage of the LEGO brand. While the company did in the past claim copyright to Minifigures I was not able to find a relevant entry in the relevant registries in the USA. And of course the LEGO company did loose several lawsuit against Mega Blocks in recent years. While the LEGO company is fighting to protect its brand and its market, several competitors have arrived that offer compatible bricks. But what I discovered in a 1 dollar shop recently goes even too far for my taste. The JLB company, whose logo is a clear rip off from the LEGO logo, is offering Ninjago Minifigures. They use the Ninjago logo, the characters names (in this case Lloyd) and even the slogan “Masters of Spinjitzu”. The LEGO company has registered a Ninjago trademark in the USA, so I wonder if you can only buy this little gem or product piracy in New Zealand and China. In any case, I am amazed by JLB’s  boldness of copying a LEGO product. A quick Google search revealed that JLB is also offering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Super Heroes. I played with Lloyd a little while and the quality of the Minifigure is far below that of the original.

Llyod by JLB