Midori-san!!!

Midori-san!!! (http://plant.bowls-cafe.jp/)

Personally, I never knew that people could get so bored with life. First we dressed up monkeys and elevated them to “great-(grand^152) ancestor” status. Now we have plants blogging about their life, their exp3r13nc35, their daily activites, their feelings….

It’s quite subjective as to how accurate these ‘bloggings’ are. The readings that are provided by the sensors seem to give a proper description of what Midori-san is going through. However, we cannot be certain for sure that the posts that are..um...posted are an accurate enough description of Midori-san's feelings and thoughts.

I feel that this is a great achievement in computer algorithms, the fact that the feedback given by the sensors are able to be translated into words by the computer. Judging by the comments by other people I am assuming that the posts are substantial and grammatically crafted enough to be accepted as 'realistic' posts. I say assume, because I can't be a proper judge on that as I don't really understand Japanese...I recommend anyone who is interested in computer generated sentences to visit this page: http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/scigen/

However, as I whole, I really like this initiative. It comprises an effort to link nature with the man-made world, a relevant move since today's Earth is facing destruction at the hands of technology. Midori-san is a reminder to us of how we should be caring for the environment, and by personifying her (Midori is a girl's name) we tend to be moved by the “personality” that she has adopted. People will be more touched by a talking plant than by a person who is speaking for the plant.

I think another key idea that comes across as I read the article (and Midori-san's website) is that JAPANESE ARE DOMINATING OUR LIFE!!! I mean that in a good way, no offense. Many of our daily items are manufactured or invented in Japan. Mitsubishi owns many of our electric fans and family cars. Mitsubishi was responsible for the downfall of the British Airforce in Singapore (freaking A6M Zero Fighters). Much of our cartoons today are largely influcence by Japanese Anime (not to mention the anime themselves are being screened everywhere). The Americans and British were wrong to look down on Asians. They got pwned. Almost. A particularly obese male and a pre-adolescent child stood in the way of Japan's near-victory. And Japan is rising to the top of the world today! Beat that!

As a final word, Midori-san is so cute!!! I can't help but contribute to helping her photosynthesize. (*keeps clicking on widget *) At the same time, I'm also contributing to global warming as the continuous usage of fluorescent lights results in the excessive use of fossil fuels, subsequently increasing the amount of carbon dioxide concentration in the air. Ah well. Guess I'm obsessed too... ^_^