A PORTRAIT-DRAWING ROBOT!

Comcast DVR Hack - 30 Second Skip!

Joli and I got the Comcast DVR when we moved into our new place, and it's kind of changed our [TV-watching] lives. We've found so much quality programming that the truly great shows have actually elbowed out the shows we previously considered good: no more Scrubs; no more Sex and the City; no more America's Next Top Model (a former favorite Joli's, not mine). No, now it's Frontline, Top Chef, and Wired Science.

But the DVR realm is not a level playing field. Some people prefer the Tivo interface (Joli and I both felt like we were being pandered to with all of the goofy sound effects), and others like the Dish Network DVR. I am one of the latter, simply because of the skip ahead feature. When we first got Comcast, I missed it so.

But thanks to a guy named Moe, there is a hack to solve the problem. Make sure you skip step 4.

While I am grateful for the ingenuity people have, I wonder a bit about this type of discovery. I liken it to the fact that a credit card with a "dead" magnetic strip can be changed into a working credit card by placing a plastic bag over it and sliding it through again. Who thought to try that first? These people should be placed in history next to the person who first ate an egg.

Superconductor Anyone?

Get your own HERE.

Geekologie: Cut A Bottle With String, Acetone, And Fire

From Geekologie:



"You can cut a beer bottle using string dipped in acetone and then setting it on fire. The video is a demonstration. I like how the guy in the video shows you some great uses for the bottle after you've removed the top. Apparently it makes a great toothbrush holder or place to store desk supplies. While I did enjoy this novel approach to glass cutting, I already have my own bottle cutter. It's called the sidewalk. You may not be left with a toothbrush holder afterwards, but it will significantly decrease foot-traffic in your neighborhood."

Consolidate Your iTunes Library

I can't say how many hours of my life I've spent obsessing about the location of the music on my computer. I have a relatively tiny primary hard drive and a larger secondary drive, and I prefer to keep large files on the secondary for better performance. Those who use laptops don't have these issues.

Before now, I thought one had to transfer each file manually, and I've spent a good amount of time doing just that. Well, iTunes has a tool for that, and it actually works like it's supposed to.

I'd still like to have those hours back.

Song File Migration

Snap-O-Lantern!

Tesla Coils, Mario Bros.

I can't help it. When I first got my Nintendo, I nearly peed I was so excited. (This has partially to do with the fact that it was my only present I hadn't found that year, and the Nintendo was the only surprise I hadn't ruined for myself.) I loved Mario Bros.

Murata Boy: the Robot that can Ride Bicycles

Rubot: The Rubik's Cube Solving Robot

Asimo Buckles, Such is Life

There are times when I wish someone would dim the lights, whip out a privacy screen, and give me a moment to compose myself.

I feel you, Asimo.

UPDATE: Failure is never a pleasant experience, but sometimes, when you look back at the situation, it can feel alright. Happily, it can even be something that makes you laugh. Check out this commercial, featuring the unmistakable voice of Garrison Keillor:

Moebius Transformations Revealed

Symantec Threatcon

Picture a close-call home robbery. A mom sleeps soundly. The kids are in bed. A window is smashed in, and an arm, always clothed in a black sweatshirt, reaches in and desperately searches for a doorknob. An alarm goes off. The kids wake up. They run into the bedroom to be with their mother, who, luckily, is on the phone with the home security company. Terrifying.

I feel the urge to call the security company, too. I consider the safety and security in my apartment. Then I gain my senses. And I feel overwhelmingly resentful.

I felt the same thing a few years back when the terrorism threat level would fluctuate, with no concrete reasons to validate the changes, and at politically opportune times. Grumble.

Now, Symantec has adopted the same system. On the Symantec website, computer users can view their color-coded risk. All of these systems seem to say the same thing: "Trust us. It's bad out there. We work in this business. We know. You should use this information as a motivator to do [fill in the blank]."

Grrr...

Nano-Posters?

In the Technology Review section on nanotech this week, there is an article about a "solution of nanoscopic iron oxide particles" that changes color in response to magnetic fields. Using variable, controlled magnetic fields, this liquid can be changed to any visible color. One of the practical applications mentioned is "as pixels in rewritable posters or other large displays."

Think of all those bars that could change the cover price for entry in response to nightly attendance:

Empty? "No Cover!"

Packed? "Cover: $20... and deadly good looks."

Technology Review Podcast

Make Magazine: Silver Dollar Ring

iBot Sighting

In LoDo last week, I saw an iBot, which is inventor Dean Kamen's answer to the wheelchair. Try to forget the media circus that took place around the Segway, that silly little scooter (Remember the code name "Ginger" and the idea that our mail would one day be delivered by Segway-driving postal workers?). The iBot is truly amazing; it provides transportation to those who can't just go out and buy a skateboard.

Using gyroscopes, the iBot balances its user high up on two wheels (at eye-level). Best of all, the iBot can take people up stairs. I even found video of a man in an iBot at the shooting range.

Jeff Han: Perceptive Pixel

Jeff Han, the founder of Perceptive Pixel and the creator of the multi-touch interface now being seen in the iPhone, is featured on the Technology Review website today. He talks about the simple idea behind his interface - moving away from the single point interface, as with a mouse arrow - and instead choosing something that gives users a more natural and intuitive response. He mentions that part of the goal is to develop a presure-sensitive interface.

This reminded me of the progression from the harpsichord to the piano, which, for the first time, allowed 18th-century composers to write in an important musical dimension: volume. The action inside the piano, which strikes the wires rather than the plucking motion of the harpsichord, allows the pianist to play loudly or softly.

Technology Review Video

Animaris Rhinoceros Transport

From the Strandbeest website: "Since about ten years Theo Jansen is occupied with the making of a new nature. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic matierial of this new nature. He makes skeletons which are able to walk on the wind. Eventualy he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives."

I've seen a lot of robots walk, but I've never seen anything look so life-like that didn't require thousands (if not millions) of dollars worth of programmable motors and processors. These are wind-powered and absolutely gorgeous.

If these three things are seemingly out of reach creatively, try your own hand making an articulated machine with SodaConstructor, a software that allows the user to build and run virtual machines.

The Onion Weighs in on The iPhone:

Ah, The Onion. Perfectly put:

• Comes with an iPhone hat, so people know you own an iPhone during the brief periods you're not using it

More...

iConcertCal

This weekend, I found out about iConcertCal, a plugin for iTunes that uses your music catalog to search for local concerts. Pretty dern cool.

Make: Magazine

About a month ago, I saw Make: magazine on the shelf at Tattered Cover. As described on Amazon: "MAKE brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life and celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend your technology to your will. MAKE ignites your ingenuity and connects you with your fellow "Makers.""

For example, here are directions for building a pinhole panoramic camera.

They even have a "Weekend Projects" video page on YouTube.

If you need me, I'll be at RadioShack.

Liquid Cool

Three years ago, I saw a brief article on PBS about something called ferrofluid, a liquid that hardens when magnetized. The application it was being used for at the time was hydraulic shocks. The stiffness of the shocks was variable and determined by the amount of current being run through the ferrofluid inside them.

To explain this tactilely, remember playing with oobleck, a mixture of water and cornstarch, as a kid? When you squeeze a handful of it, it's solid, but then let it go and it oozes through your fingers. Apparently you can run across the surface of a pool full of this mixture: "A pool filled with non-newtonian fluid"

You can even make some of your own ferrofluid, but be careful! I read through the directions, and not only do you expose flammable materials to heat, but the operation looks very similar to a meth lab. When you explain to the police that you're simply making a flammable liquid magnet, you'll change instantly from a suspected drug dealer to a suspected terrorist. Yippee!

At first, this video just looks like bubbles in oil. But wait until he removes the Ferrofluid reservoir.


Also, there are all sorts of modular or configurable robots being designed. These robots assemble and disassemble themselves depending on the application. This is by far the creepiest one I've seen so far:

Do You Like Robots?

Last year, right about this time, I posted an entry with the exact same title because I had seen a video of QRIO, Sony's amazing little robot that walks and talks and recognizes faces. I nearly keeled over from the excitement.

As Joli might tell you, I can really geek out about robots. In July, we were walking in the subway tunnels, and I saw a poster for the Wired Nextfest. I couldn't help myself. I screamed "ROBOTS!" When she got over the initial stunned silence, and realized that I was still the same old Ross (but with my geekiness out in full view), she thought the outburst was cute. A few of Joli's friends now scream out "ROBOTS!" whenever they see me.

Today, I found two things robot-related: Robot Village, a store in New York where people can buy and build their own robots, and Plen, a tiny skateboarding, rollerskating robot. At a sale price of $2,206, I think it's a bargain and something Joli should consider buying for me.

If we don't have butler robots in our homes by the time I'm 80, I'll be very, very disappointed. I'll move to Japan if that's what it takes to get more robot exposure.