One of the major things that is bugging me is my camera (right now I have the Canon Powershot SD550). I got it a few years ago, so it’s a bit out of date. The Image Stabilization is old, and it’s not as good as it could be. I really want a new camera! I have my heart set on the Canon Powershot SD1100IS. It uses the DiGIC 3 processor! That means I could have it on a higher ISO level, and it wouldn’t be as grainy as on my camera now. Plus, the faces will be in focus! I can never get faces in focus with my camera now. In fact, to take a good photo I have to take at least 10 shots on continuous mode so that it will be in focus, comparable to a DSLR shot, almost. Furthermore, I think I will only have two 2GB cards. Errg! I don’t know how I’m going to do it. Maybe I’ll optimize my settings so that the images will be web quality, but definitely not stellar quality.

Either way, it’s too late to buy it now thanks to my Dad who didn’t want me to order it (even with my OWN money). All of my photos will be horrible quality and blurred. GRR! I won’t have the TIME to worry about making it a great shot. I just want a better point and shoot camera with a waterproof case for this trip!

Despite all this whining and cheesing, I’m really excited to go! I did order 3 books for the planes there.

Designing Sociable Robots (by Cynthia Breazeal)
The Emotion Machine (by Marvin Minsky)
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (by Philip C. Jackson, Jr.)

I already started reading some of them! Introduction to Artificial Intelligence is very very very mathematical. I like it a lot, except for the parts where I have to re-read chapters But really intriguing. It sort of teaches you a different way to think about AI. As for Designing Sociable Robots, it’s as awesome as I thought it would be! I haven’t exactly started reading The Emotion Machine as I didn’t really adore how it’s written at first glance. It’s sort of like a big FAQ book that can tell a story. However, I look forward to reading it on the planes! It’s probably a really good book, I just didn’t like it at first glance.

I really like Artificial Intelligence Just the thought of designing something that can process thought and learn is really remarkable to me..

On the plane I’m also going to print out a few Project Euler questions and work on it on paper. That site is REALLY addicting! Not to mention, I’ll have my iPod video saturated with videos (maybe I’ll put Chuck on it )! I’ll be listening to Robots podcast and the old Talking Robots podcast! Maybe a few Mugglecasts too. =D

I’m not 100% sure if I will be able to blog while I’m at Stanford. I’m not even sure if I will want to. I can blog anytime when I get home! I’ll probably just write in a journal about what happened each day, and then for 3 weeks I’ll post them up here. It will be kind of like re-living the experience, I guess!

Oh yeah, I’m staying a few extra days! I want to see the JPL very badly. =D

With all this said, I’d really like to thank everyone that helped, donated, or bought a Styrobot! This dream wouldn’t have been possible without you guys. ^_^