Notations From the Grid (Special W-End Edition): Meet Sophia, World’s First Robot Citizen

Sophia Becomes World’s First Robot Citizen

What it is: Saudi Arabia has just granted citizenship to Sophia, a humanoid robot developed by Hanson Robotics — the first time a country has granted a robot the same basic status and privileges as humans. The announcement took place onstage at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, reports Fortune. “I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction,” Sophia said to the audience during her presentation.

Why it's important: As robotics, artificial intelligence, sensors and other enabling exponential technologies develop, we’ll start to see more humanoid robots that look, sound and even feel truly lifelike. How will humans respond as these next-gen robots become integrated throughout society — namely, in our communities, offices and homes? 

View of the Week (Special Edition): On Being Thankful

We are grateful as we begin this month of thanksgiving and send our thanks to Jonathan Lockwood Huie for this compilation of thoughts that is in the spirit of our mission here in the "Vision" property:

 

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter

everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe

that change forever how we experience life and the world.

- John Milton

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

- Melody Beattie

He who can give thanks for little

will always find he has enough.

- Anonymous

Suppose our gratitude could be zero-based gratitude.

With zero-based gratitude,

we would be grateful for everything we had each day -

regardless of whether it was more or less than yesterday.

With zero-based gratitude, I can be grateful for all the people,

the love, the food, the shelter, the services,

the health, that I am blessed with today,

regardless of what I had yesterday.

With zero-based gratitude,

I can be grateful each day for the gift of life itself.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Affirmation:

I commit the whole month of November to expressing gratitude and thanksgiving.

Notations From The Grid (Weekly Edition): On A Vision of the Possible...

As a new week is before us, Our team chose a compilation of snapshots courtesy of Futurism that we hope all enjoy as we wish all the best of weeks and wish all a safe and Happy Halloween:

Bitcoin Breaks $100 Billion in Value, Soars Over $6000 for the First Time in History Future Society Bitcoin, which is unarguably the world's most prominent digital currency, just broke through one of the most important milestones ever, vaulting to over $6000 and over $100 billion in value.READ MORE Elon Musk: The AI in Tesla's Cars Will Be Able to Predict Your Destination Advanced Transport Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained to a Twitter user that his self-driving cars won't have to be told where to go. Instead, they will predict your destination, potentially as part of the improved Autopilot system that Tesla promised to release before 2018.READ MORE These Science Cartoons Depict Our Terrifying and Thrilling Future Sci-Fi Visions When considering the fate of humanity, keen insight, inference, and humor go a long way. That’s what science-communicating husband and wife Zach and Kelly Weinersmith had in mind when they penned their new book SOONISH: Ten Emerging Technologies That’ll Improve and / or Ruin Everything. READ MORE Scientists Want to Create a Universe in a Lab, And They Actually Could Sci-Fi Visions Scientists are seriously discussing the ability to create a new universe in a lab. This is mostly a philosophical discussion but more scientists are agreeing that it could actually some day be possible.READ MORE Blue Origin's Breakthrough Means SpaceX Finally Has a Competitor Off World The space company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is one step closer to flying tourists into sub-orbit, and possible even beyond.On Wednesday, Blue Origin's breakthrough was announced — a successful hot-fire test of its powerful new BE-4 engine. READ MORE

See Full Infographic   Artificial Intelligence   The Rights of Synthetic Lifeforms is the Next Great Civil Rights Controversy   Brad Jones   Self-Driving Cars Will Save Lives, But Will They Cause Organ Shortages? Health & Medicine   DARPA’s New Brain Device Increases Learning Speed by 40% Hard Science We May Be on the Path to Nuclear War, Expert Asserts Future Society   Daimler, Parent Company of Mercedes, Unveils an Electric Truck Ahead of Tesla Earth & Energy Neil deGrasse Tyson Weighs in on the Existence of Alien Life See Full Infographic

Around Town in Our Community on This National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day 2017....

October 28 (today) is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.   We received this courtesy of Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett that represents the 5th District that encompasses our hometown of Laguna Niguel at various locations throughout Orange County including Laguna Hills, San Juan Capistrano  and Lake Forest City Halls. .  We wanted to report on this throughout our properties as we encourage all to participate:

On Saturday, October 28, medications can be disposed of safely at various location throughout South County during National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The service is safe, free, and anonymous. No questions asked, and no forms to fill out. No syringes, medical waste or hazardous waste allowed. See the flyer below for more information.

Notations From the Grid (Special Mid-Week Edition): On #ClimateChange

Fiji is one of those countries at the forefront of climate change.    The image above reflects a village that is being transferred.   We wanted to share this we picked up which is critical for us all to understand--our team found it chilling: 

“Everything has changed from the certain to the uncertain” in Fiji due to #ClimateChange. Watch to learn more. pic.twitter.com/LwsSqEfqN6

— COP23 (@COP23) October 18, 2017