An interview with John W. Anderson about STAND BY HER Living Sunny Side Up

I just wanted to celebrate with everyone today my wife Sharon’s 9th anniversary as a breast cancer survivor. It seems like yesterday when I was sitting next to her when the doctor told her that her tumor was malignant. But here we are, in 2010, and she is healthier and happier than ever. The day is cold, but the heart is warm.  –John Anderson

Talk about Stand by Her… check  out this song that’s performed by country western star Craig Morgan which is  all about the woman that he loves going through breast cancer. Click:

“Tough”

And here’s the lyrics written by Monty Criswell/Joe Leathers

She’s in the kitchen at the crack of dawn
Bacon’s on, coffee’s strong
Kids running wild, taking off their clothes
If she’s a nervous wreck, well it never shows
Takes one to football and one to dance
Hits the Y for aerobics class
Drops by the bank, stops at the store
Has on a smile when I walk through the door
The last to go to bed, she’ll be the first one up
And I thought I was tough

Chorus
She’s strong, pushes on, can’t slow her down
She can take anything life dishes out
There was a time
Back before she was mine
When I thought I was tough

We sat there five years ago
The doctors let us know, the test showed
She’d have to fight to live, I broke down and cried
She held me and said it’s gonna be alright
She wore that wig to church
Pink ribbon pinned there on her shirt
No room for fear, full of faith
Hands held high singing Amazing Grace
Never once complained, refusing to give up
And I thought I was tough

Chorus
She’s strong, pushes on, can’t slow her down
She can take anything life dishes out
There was a time
Back before she was mine
When I thought I was tough

She’s a gentle word, the sweetest kiss
A velvet touch against my skin
I’ve seen her cry, I’ve seen her break
But in my eyes, she’ll always be strong

There was a time
Back before she was mine
When I thought I was tough

Some times, people go too too far when it comes to personal sacrifice. Living like a pauper with a load of cash in your account.

Mataric concluded that, as with human caregivers, temperament would be a key factor. The robots would need to be able to judge whether a patient was introverted or extroverted, and know how to respond in the appropriate manner.

To test their theory, Mataric and her team categorized the personalities of healthy volunteers, using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and observed their responses to robots that were programmed to behave as introverts or extroverts. A robot’s degree of sociability was defined by how far it positioned itself from the patient, the speed of its movements, and its type of communication. For people who were more extroverted, Mataric programmed the robot to move close. “We are not talking sociopathically close, because we always maintain three to four feet of
safety distance between the user and the robot,” she explained. “But, with the extroverted robots, they move into your area, and talk with a slightly higher pitch, more words per unit time, and they say things that are more forceful,
like ‘Come on, you can do three more. I know you can do better than that.’ ” The more introverted robots were programmed to stay farther away from the user, to gesticulate less, and to speak with a slightly lower pitch and at a slower tempo. “You don’t want to make the introversion glaring,” Mataric said. The introverted robots also said more soothing things and offered more praise.

To read the whole article go to "Robots that Care," New Yorker, November 2, 2009

We wanted everyone to hear it here first. John is set to appear on The Today Show with his wife, Sharon Rapoport, on Thursday, October 8th, to talk about his book. Hope you can tune in.