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Bad
Robots
Geniuses at MIT are
creating a robot dog, based on the Sony Aibo, that wirelessly
monitors your pedometer and food diary to keep you on your
WEIGHT LOSS PLAN. If you pig out on a bucket of ice
cream, it looks sad and mopes around. But if you stay on track
with calories and exercise, it wags its tail and jumps up and
down in response to the question "how am I doing?"
In a contest of man-vs-machine,
man wins... for now. No, I'm not talking about chess, but
BOWLING. "Harry" the ball thrower took on pro
bowler Danny
Wiseman recently -- and lost -- in a first-ever contest between
human and mechanical bowlers.
Yet another stab at
the consumer humanoid robot market is taking place in Japan.
Starting next month, Japanese folks will be able to buy a
ROBOT CHILD that goes by the
name of Wakamaru, from Mitsubishi-Heavy Industries Ltd.
A
new robot called the da Vinci Surgical System brings the
precision and speed of robot technology to
VAGINAS everywhere. The system involves three or,
optionally, four robot arms that act in concert. The surgeon
uses a remote station with a 3-D, high-rez image processing
system and master controls for manipulating the robotic arms.
Here comes the
VIDEO! (note that the da Vinci segment starts about
3/4 of the way into the video)
A new, experimental
TELEPRESENCE ROBOT system from Japan called
gTELESAR beams your face and shirt, head and hand movements to
another side of the planet and into the body of a creepy, Lost
In Space type robot body. Here comes the
VIDEO! (Go to the bottom of
the page for more video.)
Video Game Babylon
Nintendo has been granted a patent for a system that makes
game characters
GO INSANE (start hearing things and hallucinating).
Half Life 2 is such a
badly written piece of software that it literally
CANNOT BE PLAYED. Users are reporting that it's
impossible to sign in to the required Steam account.
California's legislative
body has signed Assemblyman Leland Yee's bill to ban the sale of
violent and sexual computer and video games to kids. It will
become law if signed by, of all people, Governor
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER.
A survey by George Mason University's Evan Rosenfield found
that violence may be
GOOD for kids. The survey showed that games
involving hand-to-hand combat, such as Mortal Kombat, made
children less tolerant of violence and more prone to break up
fights. Lesson learned: Shooting civilians Grand Theft Auto
style is bad but ripping off heads with bare hands Mortal Kombat
style brings peace.
First death by exhaustion, now death by fiancé -- welcome to
the hazardous world of Chinese video games. A woman in China has
been charged with
KILLING her fiancé because he spent too
much time playing online games and not enough time looking for a
job.
Grand Theft Auto's 'Hot Coffee' modification, which provided
access to a hidden sex scene, rocked the political establishment
and ushered in a new game crackdown. Now, could there be a "HOT
BISCUIT" modification for the "Nintendogs" virtual
pet game?
A hot new exercise bicycle called the BK-A6 from NeXfit
Technologies Inc. may usher in a new era where gamers become
SLIM, BUFF AND RIPPED from playing Xbox all day.
The bike doubles as a joystick -- controls on the handlebars
plug into your PC, Xbox or Playstation. It even has a force
feedback system that jolts you with 16 levels of shock.
Found Video
Microsoft usually produces a
surprisingly funny video for its developers conferences. This
one -- called Bill Gates Goes to College -- is the best yet.
Here comes the
VIDEO!
News You Can Lose
A new scientific research paper says that "problems with
experimental and statistical methods mean that there is less
than a 50 percent chance that the results of any randomly chosen
scientific paper are true," according to a story on
NewScientist.com. Of course, the paper could be
WRONG.
Some 20 percent of Americans think VoIP (a.k.a.
Voice-Over-IP) is a
EUROPEAN HYBRID CAR and 10 percent think it's a
low-carb vodka drink, according to a poll by Harris Interactive.
Before
he assumed control of Microsoft as its CEO, apparently Steve
Ballmer worked as a
VILLAIN in 1980s-era "Spider-Woman" comics. Here
comes the
COMIC BOOK.
Google founders Sergey
Brin and Larry Page are rumored to have bought a Boeing 767 for
their own
PERSONAL and business use. When they use it for
business, the company will reimburse them thousands of dollars
per hour.
Don't Try This At Home
Case modder and Ford
Bronco enthusiast Richard Sherman built a PC that looks like a
tiny 1969
FORD BRONCO. He bought the used parts on eBay, and
now his 4x4 PC plays MP3s while he works in the garage on his
real 1969 Ford Bronco.
A Futurama fan case
modder built his own, life-size
BENDER PC. It even says, "Bite my shiny metal ass!"
Here comes the
VIDEO! Here comes
ANOTHER VIDEO!
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Just fire up your browser and all
this can be yours:
A comfy jacket with a built-in digital spy camera
Virtual game "possessions," avatars and points
and even
Diddy's "P"!!
Cell Phone Follies
Oregon State
University is planning to lash tiny
CELL PHONES to songbirds to monitor the birds'
migration. The idea is to take advantage of cell towers to track bird locations to within 3 miles. I wonder
if the university will save money on nights and weekends?
Now all that energy
your
HAMSTER wastes on is exercise wheel can be put to
work: Charging your cell phone. This brilliant idea was a
science project of one Peter Ash, a 16-year-old UK high school
student.
Mike's List on
the Radio
Craig Crossman's
Computer America features Mike Elgan every
Thursday night. The show runs from 7pm to 9pm SVT (Silicon Valley Time). Listen
to Computer America on your local Business TalkRadio station or
over
the Internet every weeknight. Don't miss Computer
America!
Worst
USB Gadget Yet: Flowerpot Speaker
A new low: Now you
can buy a
FLOWER POT SPEAKER system for your PC or notebook.
Just plug it in, and your desk can have all the ambiance and
style of a Chinese restaurant. The pot itself houses the
speaker, and a fake flower lets people you're shamelessly
comfortable with your bad taste.
Gotta-Get-It
Gadgets
Matsushita Electric Works
plans to start selling (under the brand CyberDome) a new,
$100,000 3-D display that uses a 4.5-foot reflective
DOME starting September 20. Two projectors and
goofy glasses create the 3-D illusion.
DaimlerChrysler
STUNNED the auto world by unveiling a new concept
car at the Frankfurt Motor Show called the Smart Crosstown. The
convertible is less than nine feed long and slightly more than
five feet high.
Twisted Game
Infect
Mystery Pic o'
the Week
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