I’ve explored so many churches in my life that I tend to skip over the majority these days unless there’s something uniquely special about it. From turn of the century to turn of the last two centuries, I’ve meandered through churches in nearly every country in Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and Australia. Little did I know what Quito Ecuador had to offer.

In Ecuador’s second largest town that dates from pre-Hispanic times, there are over 40 churches and chapels, 16 convents and monasteries with their respective cloisters, 17 plazas, 12 chapter rooms and refectories, 12 museums and countless courtyards. A more extensive blog post captures some of the visuals in the old town, including La Ronda, a narrow lane lined with picture-book 17th century buildings, with placards along the walls describing some of the street’s history and the artists, writers and political figures who once lived there.

La Basilica is a must visit; its tower visit is a mere $2. Be prepared to climb very high, but it’s well worth the experience. Gothic and overbearing in a glorious sort of way, it was built in 1926. Not the gargoyles of Paris, but as magnificent of a view and the architecture is incredible — every step of the way.

Instead of gargoyles, turtles and iguanas protrude from the church’s side. The highlight is the climb itself, straight up to the clock tower as well as the stunning views of Quito below. It requires crossing a rickety wooden plank inside the main roof and climbing steep stairs and ladders to the top…..all this after climbing a spiral staircase and three more sets of ladders. Loved every minute of it – below I capture the views and the experience of the climb itself in three separate short videos.

Canadian Ryan Janzen is part researcher, part scientist, part engineer and part composer. Below, he shows us how to use the Hydraulophone, a tonal acoustic musical instrument played by direct physical contact with water. As he plays, you’ll note that he gets one note per water jet as he plays the instrument. A cross between a piano and a wind instrument, he says that the people who learn how to play it quickly are those with both a flute and a piano background. (mixes how you play the notes with expression of how you play them).

The hydraulophone in the first sense was invented and named by Steve Mann, who gave a presentation on-stage the same day. Funtain.ca has more information on them and how to purchase one – apparently they come in different shapes and sizes and colors. Think tens of thousands for starters. As for where you can find them around the country? There’s very few, but museums in Houston and Chicago have one and there’s a permanent one housed in Toronto that is on display 24/7.

The instrument is addictive to play (I tried it and didn’t want to stop) and very hypnotic. hydraulophone or poseidophone combines the simplicity of the piano with the interface of the tin flute or recorder. You play the hydraulophone by stopping the jets of water with your fingers or hands. As Ryan demonstrates, by blocking multiple jets you can even play chords. It appears that the more expression you put into it, the wetter you get. Click play for more.

University of Toronto professor Steve Mann talks about surveillance and corruption and virtual reality on stage at the Singularity Summit in San Francisco recently. Steve is a pioneer in the study and practice of virtual reality and has been dubbed the world’s first cyborg. His book on cyborg living dives into his work in more depth: Cyborg: Digital Destiny and Human Possibility in the Age of the Wearable Computer.

After his presentation, Mann shows a blind woman how to use the Hydraulophone below – an instrument that merges the organ with water with string instruments with really great design. He also plays House of the Rising Sun for her on the Hydraulophone. Listen for the trickling water which is now part of the song.

I had a chance to talk to David Hanson of Hanson Robotics in-depth at the Singularity Summit in San Francisco on August 14. He holds the view that humans want robots to look, feel and sound human – after all, asking humans to think otherwise would be asking humans to re-wire the way they think.

The conversation that unfortunately didn’t make it into the video was around robot(ic) behavior – robots versus humans, more specifically robots versus actors. We were talking about some of the best actors who actually ARE the character, they don’t go INTO character. The two that immediately came to my mind are both women: Meryl Streep and Glenn Close. Both of them draw you into their character and make you believe nothing else exists BUT the CHARACTER.

I could imagine a world where you could buy a product that could be programmed to a particular character. I’d love an ‘open source’ robot like the PR2s that Willow Garage are building, and the ability to separately buy a program that enables the robot to go into a specific personality, just like I buy a DVD movie today. When I’m in a different ‘personality mood,’ I simply change it. What about other human aspects? Listen to David thinks about these topics.