Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Hello to Seychelles

I was checking out RobotPacifier's (website, not blog) stats and just about every month, it received visits from Seychelles, which is a series of islands off the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. I've never even heard of Seychelles before apparenty it's "as pure as it gets". Maybe that will be the homebase for the coming robot revolution, beerbots and all.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

ifbot

thanks to djlicious for sending this and for pointing out the engrish...

The Yori-soi ifbot

Dream Supply (Japan) will start offering the Yori-soi ifbot, which was invented through a partnership of two Japanese companies, Business Design and Futaba Industries, on December 1st. The price of the robot will be ¥604800, and it will also be available for rental. The robot can perform such functions as conversation, calculator, puzzles, memory games, advice, medical check among the altogether 15 functions it has. It also has 108 LED lights built-in to its head so it can express emotion. The Yori-soi ifbot will be available in three different colors: off white, silver metallic and light green.

more info:
Presented as a "domestic communication robot", the machine can understand and speak human language (at least Japanese language), thanks to a database of "tens of thousands dialogue scenes".

But the robot is also able to learn from the habits and personality of its owner. It can recognize up to ten persons from their face or voice, and adapts to the emotional tones of the speaker.


(yes, if your family is passive-aggressive, ifbot will play right along. "Boy, it sure would be great to have some potatoes right now, they sure smell good." "Boy-it-sure-would.")

ifbot can move alone (avoiding obstacles and detecting steps), take pictures and send them wirelessly via the Internet.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Nice Guy Eddie is dead...


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Chris Penn has died in a Santa Monica residence, with no signs of foul play, a local ABC television affiliate reported on Tuesday.
Penn, 43, was the brother of actor Sean Penn.

He was also Officer Nicky Dimes in True Romance.

tap this

Members of the audience, some wearing black hoods, stand up and turn their backs on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as he speaks at Georgetown University Law School Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006. Answering the Bush administration's critics, Gonzales said Tuesday that warrantless surveillance is critical to prevent another terrorist attack within the United States. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)


"abuse of popular gullibility"

from yahoo news...here.

An Italian court will this week ponder the existence of Christ after an atheist accused a priest of misleading the public by presenting Jesus as an historical character.
---
"This complaint does not wish to contest the freedom of Christians to profess their faith...but wishes to denounce the abuse that the Catholic Church commits by profiting from its prestige to present historical facts as if they are real when they are only inventions," the atheist says on his website.

The trial, beginning Friday morning, will consider article 661 of the Italian penal code which, under the term "abuse of popular gullibility", sanctions people who mislead others.


I want to sue the Bush administration for this, maybe the church, or how about all organized religion in general? Pat Robertson perhaps?

Monday, January 23, 2006

Ferrofluid sculptures

"The term liquid architecture is used a lot in interactive architecture based on the ideas of how architecture becomes animated by adding the 4th Dimension of Time. Sachiko has taken this idea of liquid architecture more literally with these stunning sculpture made from Ferrofluid which changes its state by the introduction of electro-magnetic waves into the fluid turning it solid. check it out here. thanks to red devil for the link.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

the neighbor's flag down the street

Saturday, January 21, 2006

ogi 1




recently bought this shirt designed by a japanese artist, ogi.

ogi 2

details of the envelope....





Thursday, January 19, 2006

on being a guy...

Don't want to shave for work? Just shave your neck, makes five o'clock shadow look like you did it on purpose.

"Hell is other people." - novelist and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre:

check out George Carlin quotes here.

recent additions to the rp library




Saturday, January 14, 2006

Question re: The Hajj

363 people died during the stampede to complete the stoning ritual of the Hajj. By throwing stones at the three pillars, which represent the Devil, the pilgrim is cleansed of sin. Does this include being cleansed of the sin of trampling to death a fellow pilgrim just moments before?

And I ask this question with the deepest respect.

PLANO V8 part 2

Saw this vanity plate today: HAT.


yes, just that...HAT. Now that tops Plano V8 in terms of being generic.

In California, vanity plates were obscure and bizarre, transmitting to the world some inside joke that left the viewer ponderous to it's meaning. There was an actual attempt to use the extra money that a vanity plate costs to appeal to the illusion of consumer individuality. Texas should provide people with ideas for vanity plates, like FLLWR (follower), B-LEVER (believer), or TEXAN.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Little black book

suggested reading: Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American black market by Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation. Three essays on the cultural, political, legal, and personal effects of marijuana, porn, and illegal immigrant labor. He also discusses their history and place in the economy.

wickedthembeats

screen capture from Ghost In The Shell:Stand Alone Complex.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

war on drubs

from yahoo news. here


AUGUSTA, Maine - For the first time, drug overdose deaths in Maine apparently exceeded the number of people killed in traffic accidents last year, officials said Wednesday.

Final figures are not available yet, but state officials projected that overdose deaths in 2005 would reach 178, most of them accidental, compared with 167 highway deaths.According to a preliminary report released by the state, the number of accidental drug deaths increased from 19 in 1997 to an estimated 140 for 2005. Most of the increase is attributable to the misuse of prescription drugs, the report said.

Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat seeking re-election, said federal budget cuts will hurt Maine's efforts to fight drug abuse.

"Let me be blunt: The Bush White House has failed to step to the plate for some of the most basic needs of Maine people," he said.


interesting...not illegal drugs, but prescription drugs. I'm hoping someday America starts to have an intellectually honest discussion about "drugs". or about anything in general.

Alcoholism, lung cancer, drinking and driving, AA, mouth cancer..but no one even blinks. "Because they're aren't drugs, they're...they're...uh..hey, what's on foxnews?!" Pot? that's way more dangerous, will turn you into a cocksucking communist! I love the circus when senators show the american people they're on the case and bring in the big pharm ceo's for a talking to...
SENATOR: "Now you're putting out drugs that haven't been properly tested and actually cause the problems they're supposed to solve, what do you have to say?"
CEO:"...uh.....the answer is....go fuck yourself?"
CEO 2: "which of your "charities" can i make a donation to? I hope this hearing goes well, I'd hate for it to cause me to not attend a campaign fundraiser."
CEO 3:"I have the answer in my pocket right here, Senator...oh..oh....ohhhhhhhhh(pulls out his middle finger)...there it is!"

This is of cource, old news, but the fact that it continues is ridiculous.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

awesome

japantechtoys.blogspot.com
check out robot overload 2 here
and robot overload 1 here