University of California, Irvine, graduate student Garnet Hertz has invented a cockroach-controlled robot. Soon he will no doubt build a cockroach-robot army to rise up and take over.(props)
New Digital Camera Takes Higher-Quality Pictures Than Film
Well, it finally happened. Popular Photography magazine reviewed Canon's new 16.7 megapixel EOS 1Ds Mark II and compared it with Canon's EOS 3 film camera, and the digital camera photos were actually better quality. The choice to go digital always meant sacrificing quality for cost, convenience and flexibility. But digital camera technology has official caught up -- no sacrifice necessary.
The entire senior editorial staff of LinuxWorld Magazine has resigned over editorial ethics -- nowadays considered a contradiction in terms by publishers.
Siemens, the German tech giant, has posted some awesome pictures of its mobile phones being torture-tested. I've selected a dozen of the best for your viewing pleasure. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12. Here's the lot.
Project Aims to Buy Google Using Google Ad Revenue
The Google Will Eat Itself (GWEI) project aims to buy Google little by little. The site uses Google Ads, which pay small payments whenever someone clicks on them. The site says they'll invest all revenue gained by the ads into buying shares in Google itself. Eventually, they want to own all of Google.
Cornell University researchers have created a robot that reproduces by cloning itself. The robot is built from four-inch modules connected by magnets. The robot can take disconnected modules lying around and construct a copy of itself.
Box office sales are down, newspaper subscriptions are plummeting, young viewers are abandoning TV, the recording industry is in a slump -- the "old-and-busted" media have responded to the challenge of emerging "new hotness" digital media with spectacular incompetence. And they're paying the price.
Arianna Huffington's hyped blog, "Huffington Post" not only "blows," it's "unsurvivable" for Huffington from a publicity standpoint -- the "Gili" of political blogs, according to a scathing attack in the L.A. Weekly. Ouch!
A brand-new high-end golf simulator from ProTee is powered by your PC, but can be expanded to a simulation system that rivals what the pros use. The basic system includes advanced simulation software and a sensor mat. But you can add extra sensors, extra golf courses, a hitting cage, projectors and other goodies. Use your own favorite clubs and choose to play soft or hard-cover balls or no balls at all.
More Stupid Art: Knapsack Bleeds When Someone Makes Cell Call
Artists Agnelli Davide, Buzzini Dario and Drori Tal have created garments and accessories that react to cell calls. This one bleeds. (props to Textually.org)
Service Sends Video Of Your Karaoke Performance To Your Phone
Now you can share the misery your friends experienced during your karaoke performance -- even if they weren't there! The Japanese karaoke giant (they have karaoke giants?) Tetsujinka Keikaku plans to launch a new service that will send you a video of your horrible singing to your cell phone.
What if they gave a time-traveler's convention and nobody from the future came? Organizers of the MIT time-traveler's convention I told you about May 2 say no confirmed time travelers attended their event on time travel. However, they're continuing to advertise it in the hopes that visitors from the future will show up in the past. Comdex organizers should try this.
eBay went dark last night after a power outage in the San Francisco Bay Area affected a the company's hosting facility. Maybe they should search eBay listings for a backup generator?...
Don't try this at home. Two guys have built a car simulator using an actual car. They hooked the steering wheel and pedals, etc., up as controls and replaced the windshield with an immersive display.
The American company iRobot (which makes the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner) is suing the Canadian firm Urus (which make the Koolvac) for alleged patent infringement. Instead of settling this in court like big sissies, why don't they take it to the mat? Here's my proposal: Six months from today, they hold a "BattleBot" (a.k.a. Robot Wars) event. Each company develops a violent mini-robot based on its vacuum-cleaner platform. On the appointed day, the robots go at it in a cage. Whoever loses admits defeat and the whole thing is settled.
