A rumor buzzing around the net says Sony and MGM have secretly completed their merger, which they've been talking about for some time. The official news will likely be announced Monday or Tuesday.
Rise of the Machines: Israeli Border to be Patrolled By Killer Robots
Israel may create a "remote control border" with the Gaza Strip after withdrawing troops complete with robotic cars and towers that automatically kill border crossers. The "computerized observation system" would automatically choose from a variety of weapons and be able to shoot "deep into Gaza," according to a report. Critics fear an arms race that would involve Palestinian android robot teenage suicide bombers.
Ad Creep: Snow-Covered Mountains Made Into Billboards
Those relentless advertising geniuses have scoured the globe looking for any remaining surfaces still unimproved by advertising. Alas, they have found another one: snow. A company called Socal Promotions is offering "snow ads" -- advertising messages sprayed onto snow.
World's Smallest Robotic Forceps Enable Brain Surgery You'll Hardly Notice
Toshiba and Keio University have invented the world's smallest robotic forceps -- just 3 mm in diameter -- which will be used for endoscopic abdomen, brain and heart surgery. The new, tiny instrument will be rolled out Monday in Nagoya, Japan, at RoboMec 2004 for the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers. It's the next best thing to shrinking a submarine and crew and injecting them into the bloodstream.
Portland General Electric in the state of Oregon recently enabled customers to pay their electricity bills using cash, check, debit or credit cards at the any of 54 7-Eleven stores via special kiosks that have been installed. Like some ATMs, it costs an extra $1.50 to use the kiosks. This is progress? Whatever happened to online bill paying?
Fuel-Cell Go-Cart for Children Goes On Sale This Summer
Chemix, a Japanese company that makes fuel-cells, has created a a fuel-cell-powered go-cart for children that it plans to start selling this summer. The go-cart goes about 4 miles per hour.
Mitsubishi Electric Corp has developed a gigantic (4.8 meter-by-0.9 meter) "virtual aquarium" screen -- basically a 3-D version of the old screen saver -- but with lifelike clarity and fish that respond to noises, such as clapping.
Intel has created the perfect board for surfer geeks -- a surfboard with a built-in Tablet PC. The wireless surfboard was created for the purpose of showing off at the 2004 Intel GoldCoast Oceanfest in Devon, England, a sports and music festival. The surfboard is powered by an Intel Centrino chip, and it's sealed inside the surfboard and therefore totally waterproof.
A new explosives detector from General Electric called EntryScan3, which enables passengers to be scanned by simply walking through (much as they now do through a metal detector), has now been deployed to T.F. Green Airport, Warwick, RI; Greater Rochester International Airport, Rochester, NY; San Diego International Airport, San Diego, CA; Tampa International Airport, Tampa, FL; and Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, Gulfport, MS. for a trial. Unlike other similar devices being developed in labs around the world that detect explosives by forcibly sucking air off passengers like a vacuum cleaner, the EntryScan3 uses what they call the "human convection plume" to collect molecules from the body and clothing of passengers.
Newt Gingrich Among Top 500 Amazon.com Book Reviewers
Former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, has been ranked the 488th top book reviewer on Amazon.com. He did that by writing 137 book reviews that were marked as "helpful" by 2,002 people. I guess he has a lot of time on his hands now that he no longer has a vast, right-wing conspiracy to run.
Nokia says that the number of mobile phone users will reach a whopping 2 billion by 2007. That's about half a billion more than today. That's a lot of fried brain cells.
