December 14, 2005

So I am a sucker for robots and the new [Furby](http://furby.com) looks pretty damn cool, so I ordered one, hey it only cost me $30. The new Furny has an off switch, and we all know you should never trust a robot without an off switch. It also responds to voice commands and has a whole bunch more motors and movement than the old Furby. The furby also has 6 times more memory (512k) than its predecessor. It is powered by a [Sensory RSC-4128 chip](http://www.sensoryinc.com/html/company/pr05_08.html) which is a "single-chip solution providing all hearing, talking and CPU functions". The Furby uses Sensory’s Quick Text to Speaker Independent™ (Quick T2SI) recognition technology, which sounds like it will make hacking a very interesting possibility as it uses text instead of audio files for its speach, there is also a [plethora of developer info](http://www.sensoryinc.com/html/support/documentation.html) on the Sensory Inc website, and [you can download an IDE](http://www.sensoryinc.com/). I am also going to try and get a dev kit. Did I mention it has an off switch? As soon as I get it I will be removing its fur and taking pictures of the process. I will also see what kind if IR fun I can have with it. After reading through the white paper for the RSC-4128 I can see this is going to be a totally hackable robot.

So I just joined the [New Downtown](http://www.newdowntown.com) list-serv, although I hate yahoo mailing lists, and I took a moment to look through their website, specifically the dining section which has to be the most incomplete and out of date directory of food in Downtown. For example, take a look at the [Steakhouse section](http://www.newdowntown.com/searchBy.asp?MainCategoryID=3&MainCategoryName=Dining&SearchBy=SubCategory&SubCategoryID=19) which only contains the Pacific Dining Car and the [Japanese section](http://www.newdowntown.com/mainIndex.asp?MainCategoryID=3) which contains a total of 3 Japanese restaurants... maybe they don't consider Little Tokyo to be a part of Downtown LA, but I do and there are a hell of a lot more then 3 eateries there. I don't think they are intentionally leaving stuff off, I just don't think the site has been updated for years, for instance there are [no milestones in 2005](http://www.newdowntown.com/about_top.html) and the only thing on the calendar is the DLANC meetings (which I've been meaning to attend) so I guess I did get something out of the site. I wonder if they need help keeping the site current? I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask.

I read [this piece](http://la.curbed.com/archives/2005/12/insecurity_over.php) over on Curbed LA about how Urban Pacific Builders is lagging on the completion of the Security Building Lofts, and I wanted to comment on the post, but alas there is no place to leave comments on Curbed LA and no link to email the author / editor. So here is what I was going to post on their site: I will say one thing for the Security Building Lofts, after they removed the wooden piss soaked sidewalk protection, turned on the street lights and posted security guards around the building the obvious crime on the corner has really decreased, and it doesn't reek of urine anymore. **UPDATE:** I sent an email to their general account: [email protected].