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The world just got more dangerous with robots that shoot at will

Looks like Judgement Day is getting closer:

Seoul plans to deploy robots with combat capability along the fortified inter-Korean border as part of revamped security measures to deter North Korean infiltration.
...
"The ministry is considering robots which could detect, trace and hit targets automatically or be controlled remotely by operators," said a ministry of public affairs spokeperson.

One option is to upgrade the Aegis Robot (picture above) that was deployed to Iraq last October. The robot is equipped with a temperature and image sensor to track a suspected target and has an auto-firing capability.

Via [we make money not art]

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Darth Vader blogs

What if Darth Vader had a blog?

Up yours, Obi-wan Kenobi. You will never pretend at anything again. You hid from me the one truly beautiful thing I have ever made: a baby boy. And you have corrupted him with your lies. (At least the green worm Yoda is dead. For this I am grateful. Trained as Jedi young Skywalker shall not be. Ha!)

Via [craigblog]

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Cop shoots man while taking of his pants

An off-duty policeman's gun went off twice as he pulled down his pants to use the toilet, injuring a man in the process.

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Berkeley professor wants his laptop back

and he wants it bad! Watch the video (torrent download), listen to the audio or read the transcript.

The thief called the bluff and still has the laptop. Interesting that he used Microsoft as the first threat :-)

Via [Boing Boing]

 

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Shakeutron

Hold your breath and stand still while Shakeutron gives you a helping hand

What's next? Wipeutron?

Via [Gizmodo]

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(un)useless Japanese inventions

Only in America, or so I thought until I discovered The big bento box of unuseless Japanese inventions:

Kenji Kawakami has is the promoter Chindogu: the art of the unuseless idea. The unuseless inventions must work but are not allowed to be patented or sold.

The collection contains 200 Chindogu; the Duster Slippers for Cats (show above),  Duster Slippers for Babies, the Drymobile that dries your laundry dries as you drive) and a whole lot more.

Via Wired 060*04|2005

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Aye-aye

It is not Gollum's offspring, but Kintana the aye-aye (a rare species of lemur from Madagascar):

 Why someone would to breed something like that in captivity beats me.

Via [jwz]

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Religious SPAM

I have received a LOT of spam through the years. Once upon a time there was adult sites. Then Viagra so people could stay up to longer to watch them. Then loans to fiance adult sites and viagra abuse.

Today, for the first time in my life, I received religious SPAM:

Hello ...,

A eternity of torment is forever.
If you or someone you care about to you has not accepted God please do today.
As he is real and alive you need to realize this.
The following prayer can save you or someone that you love.

Say,"Oh God,save my soul. I'm so sorry that I have sinned against you, but I have come home. I will serve you, Lord, the rest of my life. Deliver me from all my sinful habits. Set me free! I do believe Jesus died on Calvary for me, and I believe in His blood, that there is power in His blood to wash away all my sins, all my sins!" Say,"Come into my heart, Jesus; come on in,Jesus.Come on in!"

If you meant it, He has come.  If you meant it, Jesus is yours.  Start reading your Bible, pray daily for all those you care about,including your dead loved ones, and believe that somebody's listening; His name is Jesus, and you are now saved.

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Gresini is upset again

The sore looser after the MotoGP race in Jerez is not Gibernau but Fausto Gresini.  Last year in Qatar he filed an official complaint against Valentino Rossi because someone was trying to clean the sandy track of his start plate with a scooter. This time he is upset that Gibernau lost the first race of the season in Jerez.

That Sete was upset just after the race is understandable. Valentino Rossi found a space that wasn't really there and the riders touched when Sete tried closed the door:
 (Valentino Rossi is on the left)

 

 

To make sure that bitter feelings do not escalate to more dangerous moves on the track, FIM President Francesco Zerbi send a private letter to MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau. He made it clear that no rules were broken but stressing that the situation was at the limit.

Gibernau showed the letter to his boss, Fausto Gresini, like most employees would. Gresini fired on all cylinders and replied with an open letter to the press. Mr Zerbi didn't take the reply very well and replied with this flaming letter

Dear Mr Gresini,

I should not respond personally to your open letter given to the press, but through the intermediary of my lawyers; however, considering that I subscribe to the rules of courtesy and that I believe private life is a right that no-one can deny, I am not going to enter into a controversy – an easy one given the ridiculous arguments in your letter.
The only thing that I want to stress and which, as a man, mortifies me is that I am mistaken in my judgment of men. And that I say on an individual level far more than on an institutional level.

With much bitterness,

Francesco Zerbi
FIM President

NB: I am sending this letter to the press because your employee, by violating all principles of education, more so than of law, did not hesitate to betray the confidence that had been granted to him.

Wow! I guess that pretty much summarizes to: F**k you and your rider!

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Save Toby, my ass

Extortion is illegal where I live and despicable everywhere. This jerk is trying to make money by tricking people to pay him or he will eat his rabbit:

Toby is the cutest little bunny on the planet. Unfortunately, he will DIE on June 30th, 2005 if you don.t help. I rescued him several months ago. I found him under my porch, soaking wet, injured from what appeared to be an attack from an alley cat. I took him in, thinking he had no chance to live from his injuries, but miraculously, he recovered. I have since spent several months nursing him to health. Toby is a fighter, that.s for sure.
...
I don't want to eat Toby, he is my friend, and he has always been the most loving, adorable pet. However, God as my witness, I will devour this little guy unless I receive 50,000$ USD into my account from donations or purchase of merchandise.

support@savetoby.com or whoever he is, has hidden his identity with DomainsByProxy so there is no quick way to find out who he really is (not that I want to know the guy).

HelpToby.com tries to help by collecting funds but the whole story smells to me. SaveToby.com uses the hotmail account HelpToby@hotmail.com for PayPal payments which sounds suspiciously like it is related to HelpToby.com.

I wonder how many people will fall for this scam by July
(BTW, SaveMyKitten.com domain is still available if you want to try your luck)

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Why people rip DVDs to DivX

Looking at this slide from the MGM site makes it pretty obvious:

With a 50% to 60% margin on DVDs it is pretty clear that DVDs are over priced so people look for alternative solutions.

I would love to know the profit margin on CDs. It would surprise me if it is not even higher.

[Via Boing Boing]

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Don't like your middle name?

Simple. Just sell your middle name on eBay

Matthew Jean Rouse doesn't like his middle name and he's letting you pick a new one.
The 31-year-old father of two is selling the naming right on eBay. The "Buy It Now" price is $8,000. As of early Monday, there had been a total of 30 bids, with the high bid $2,175.

A lot of people are looking for some quick cash so they are selling their middle name, last name, their pets name and anything else they can think of.

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Hands off the balls!

Can't keep the hands of the balls?

(Igor Biscan of Liverpool and Lee Carsley of Everton via SportBox.tv)

Why not try the HandzOff gum for sale on eBay:

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ActivePDF lost the battle against SPAM

What can I say; I was impressed when the CEO of ActivePDF, Tim Sullivan, replied to the ActivePDF SPAM charges with this comment:

I personally will investigate why your email has been used in such a manner. activePDF does not, nor has it ever, "sold" email addresses to 3rd parties

I decided to take the post offline until ActivePDF had a chance to investigate the SPAM. I got another mail from ActivePDF a week later asking me to hide the post for a while longer so I told them I would hide it for another week.

2 weeks later after the first post I am back to square one: I gave my e-mail address to Active PDF and now someone else has it. If they sold it for profit or gave it away for free does not really matter. All I know is that I, or my clients, will never use their services again.

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The pope died 2005/04/02 21:37

What can I say; he has been sick for a long time and he died this evening at 21:37.

This will be a loong week. The news will be full of trivia on the Conclave until they elect the new pope. John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years so I guess it is high time to have an Italian pope again...

Church bells are ringing non stop around here, a shame I am not pod-casting.

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Runaway furry clocky

My biological clock must be off. I thought it was spring and that furry stuff belonged to the autumn and winter? Fur should keep stuff warm or at least (try) to decorate.

Looks like I am wrong as the MIT Media Lab has made a furry clock that escapes with Clocky:

Hit the snooze button and the clock rolls away and hides! What a way to wake up in the morning. The clock that drags you out of bed has the same concept but at least it doesn't look like roadkill which my cat would “kill” as soon as it moves.

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The pope is dying

Looks like it's the end of the road for Pope John Paul II. He lost 20kg (~40 pounds) of weight after coming out of hospital as he can't eat anymore. Kidney problems and a heart attack earlier today so I would be surprised if he makes it past the weekend.

He choose to stay at home in the Vatican instead of going to a hospital that can artificially sustain his life for another few months like Terry Schiavo. I admire his choice and if anybody should not be afraid of dying it is the pope that goes to meet his maker. I just hope they have more modern methods to assert his condition that striking him on the head with a silver hammer.

That the pope is dying is bad enough, but the really horrible news is that Italian TV is showing nothing else and my satellite receiver is broken.