Packrat video games. While you are there, be sure to order your copy of Wolfenstein VCS.
[tags]Retro-gaming, Atari 2600, Odyssey 2[/tags]
Category: Stuff I want
French firm promises humanoid robot in 2007
(via Engadget)
Hoping to be known for more than their expertise in raising the white flag, the French announced information on coming humanoid robot Nao, to be available in 2007.
The project has been launched in the early 2005 and aims at turning available to the public, for an affordable price, a humanoid robot based on mechanical, electronic and cognitive features, compeeting with the research prototypes’ ones (see graphic below).
Delivered with basic behaviors, the robot will be, as of its market introduction, the ideal support to self initiating with robotics. Later on, improved with many behaviors, it will become an autonomous buddy for all the family. It will grow later on from its buddy role up to true functionalities required for daily tasks assistance (monitoring, remote support, information, reality-virtual bond…).
. . .
The robot is based on a Linux platform and on scripting with Urbi, very easy to learn programming language, possibly in code commands for the experts, or through a graphic interface for the beginners.
Currently in final development phase, the first specimens for sale will be presented at the end of 2006 and available in the second half of 2007.
No mention of high power laser-beam eyes, but perhaps that will be a future upgrade in a home-security model of the Nao.
[tags]Robots, Nao, Humanoid robots[/tags]
Make your own RGB mood light with LEDs
(via MAKEzine blog)
This is pretty nifty looking project. 
Of course, I like shiny things, so it might not as cool to others as it is to me. At this site, you can get complete instructions – video (color fades or color jumps) pictures, parts list, and circuit diagrams – for building your own mood light using 3 color LEDs.
On this page i will explain how i created my own colour changing lamp with red, green and blue leds that fades between all colours of the rainbow. It really comes out well at night when other light are dimmed. In daylight conditions the colors aren’t noticed well.
Although it’s low budget i must say the result is nice. Here are some photo’s of my lamp in action. Click on any foto to see it in a bigger size.
. . .
So if it’s low budget, what did you use? Well, mainly free stuff lying around. For the casing i used a plastic pyramid of ferrero rocher chocolates. I also used a microchip pic16f628 microprocessor i got from a free sample. Then i used some resistors and transistors i soldered out from old electronics. The LEDS were the most expensive. I used extra bright ones (red: 3000 mcd, green: 4000 mcd, blue:5000 mcd, all with a 25 degrees opening). I also purchased a battery holder for
4 AAA batteries which power this lamp for 10 hours non stop light effects.
. . .
This lamp is my first one and more of a proof of concept. It was the first time i programmed a pic microprocessor.
In the near future i am planning to make more of these lamps but with other housings. I now know things i can do better in future lamps. For example buy diffused leds instead of transparant ones and with a bigger opening angle (however i solved the latter by rubbing the leds with sandpaper, but still…).
This looks like a fun to build project for me, and color changing useless lights just have an appeal to me. Now to find time to build one, and find a place in the house where my wife will let me leave it out all the time.
🙂
[tags]Mood lights, DIY, LEDs[/tags]
Eye Candy – Spooky edition
From Roswell. I’m into the simple look.
[tags]Eye Candy, Katherine Heigl[/tags]
Eye Candy – Hot for teacher
Man, why didn’t I have a teacher like this when I was in school?
[tags]Eye Candy, Alyson Hannigan, If only school were like this[/tags]
Happy Birthday, Speed lady
Just because I know my oldest brother has a thing for her, I’m posting a reminder to everyone that today is Ms. Sandra Bullock’s 42nd birthday. Although she has done tons of movie work, she is probably best known for her role as Annie Porter in Speed (and again in the less successful Speed 2). Personally, I think Demolition Man and Ms. Congeniality are better movies for her.
First, let’s take a look via way-back technology at a much younger Ms. Bullock. And all you creepy people stop thinking those dirty thoughts over this picture.
Now, with that out of the way, let’s look at something more recent. Here’s a Eye Candy style picture from one of her magazine photo shoots some time back. My brother has a framed copy of this picture. I wish I could have found a clearer copy of it. And by the way, this is one of my favorite pictures of her.
So Happy Birthday to Ms. Sandra Bullock.
[tags]Happy Birthday, Eye Candy, Sandra Bullock[/tags]
Engadget talks Zune
With all the rumors and “facts” flying around the intarweb recently concerning Microsoft’s new portable media player, it can be hard to know what is real and not for this device. One of my favorite gadget sites, Engadget, has some details on what’s true and what’s not for Microsoft’s recently announced Zune.
Well, it’s not much, but we’ve got a quote and an official confirmation of the Zune project at Microsoft. The Zune brand is being billed as a “music and entertainment” project aimed at “connecting with others to discover new
music and entertainment and will deliver a family of hardware and software products.” Here’s what they sent over, by way of Microsoft’s GM of marketing, Chris Stephenson:
“Today we confirmed a new music and entertainment project called Zune. Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year. We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together.”
So, what do we (thanks to Engadget) know? Well, here are just a few of the details Engadget has let us in on.
Ok, so we got off the horn with Microsoft just a few minutes ago and realized that making heads or tails of all this Zune stuff is probably driving some of you crazy . (We know others are probably just getting driven crazy by all the posts we’ve been writing about it. Sorry, it’s our job!) So here’s what we know for sure, think we know according to inside sources (i.e. yet unconfirmed information), and what we don’t yet know at all about the Zune. Continue reading “Engadget talks Zune”
Neverwinter Nights 2 delayed
(via Joystiq)
It looks to just be a one month delay, but for everyone anticipating this game, hearing it’s been pushed back stinks. I realize it’s being done to make sure the game is as polished as it can be at release, but I’m bummed to hear of a delay.
[tags]Neverwinter Nights 2, NWN2, RPGs[/tags]
Wooden USB flash drives
(via MAKEzine blog)
Take a geeky gadget, put a pretty wrapper around it, ????, profit. In this case, ???? = get low-cost craftsmen to perform the work. These handsome USB keys are built by craftsmen in South African nation Sao Tome e Principe, on the Guinea Gulf along the equator. The project is currently working on getting large orders to keep the whole thing going. These are really nice drive cases, and I’d love to see more of this kind of craft-work done with geeky stuff like this.
[tags]USB drive, Craft projects[/tags]
Cool Tool – Low Rise Cot
This is a gadget that would come in handy if the wife and I ever started camping again. Really, for any travel where you don’t know what kind of bedding, if any, you’ll have, the low rise cot would be perfect.
This is one of the lightest, and most comfortable sleeping “mats” I have ever found. When rolled up and compacted it is smaller than all the other mats out there, so it takes up less room in a pack or pannier. Only drawback is how to use it effectively in a winter climate. In the summer in a tent, cooler is good most times as you can sleep better since you are not sweltering in the heat. It takes no more time to take down and set up than inflating a thermorest or other compact mattress. Lastly, for larger guys like my self, it distributes my weight better. The stiff feeling I get after a sleep on most foamies, thermorests, and mattresses does not come about on this cot. For these reasons the Low Rise Cot is getting popular with the cycling crowd.
— Ben Eadie
LuxuryLite Low Rise Cot
$190
Available from LuxuryLite
[tags]Cool Tools, Low rise cot[/tags]
Eye candy – NSFW object of adoration
Thumbnail shown – click image for NSFW full size image.
[tags]Eye Candy, Katherine Heigl[/tags]
Superhero stamps for the US postal service
It appears I learned about these just in time – the new superhero stamps are due out Friday, July 21st (edit: was Thursday, July 20th). So tomorrow Friday after I drop the kids off at school, I suppose I’ll need to swing by the post office and buy a couple of sheets of stamps. Then, I can take two of each stamp and mail one of each of them to my children. My dad did this for me when I was younger, and that’s what got me started collecting stamps. Sadly, I no longer know where all my stamps are. Nothing I had was worth much anyway, but I hate losing the collection. Just for kicks, maybe I should ask my mother if she still has my stamps.
To see a larger view of the stamps, click on the above image. The full view will open in a new window. To see the full list of heros on the stamps, follow the link to the full article: Continue reading “Superhero stamps for the US postal service”