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My new book: “50 Sad Chairs”

keaggy — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:06:27 +0000

Totally unrelated to robots, pirates, monkeys (or even ninjas): I probably should mention that my new book is out. It’s published by the weird and wonderful folks at BlueQ. It’s a nice little photo book of the sad chairs of St. Louis. No, really. Discarded chairs in alleys. Abandoned chairs on street corners. Abused chairs on loading docks. You get the picture. You’re gonna like it.

Check out www.50sadchairs.com to see some page samples and (if you want) by it at Amazon or Blueq.com.

C’mon!

Are Humans Giving Robots Too Much Power?

keaggy — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:03:45 +0000

New Video of BigDog Quadruped Robot Is So Stunning It’s Spooky

keaggy — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:01:22 +0000

Killer Military Robot Arms Race Underway?

keaggy — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:10:56 +0000

“coondoggie writes to tell us NetworkWorld is reporting that one researcher seems to think that a military robot arms race may be imminent between both governments and terrorists.”

We are beginning to see the first steps towards an international robot arms race and it may not be long before robots become a standard terrorist weapon to replace the suicide bomber, according to professor Noel Sharkey, from the Royal United Services Institute Department of Computer Science.

ROBOT SALESMAN LTD

keaggy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 03:34:01 +0000

Best stationary ever. Via the ‘lele.

Monkey Tea, Monkey Do

keaggy — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:43:34 +0000

“This tea is called Monkey Picked Tea, and it’s not just a name it’s a fact. According to legend, monkeys used to pick tea from high branches and brought them to their masters. The masters — mostly monks — thought it was delicious and so a cycle was born. These days, the monkey picking tea practice has all but died out, but apparently one remote village continues the tradition.” (Thanks Coudal Partners!)

Armour: robot

keaggy — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:55:46 +0000

Armour: robot

Originally uploaded by AkitaSan

Great find by AkitaSan. Tagged: Click this icon to see all public photos tagged with Armour Plant, National City, East St. Louis, Illinois, UEU.

I, For One, Welcome Our New Robotic Calligraphers

keaggy — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:32:45 +0000

“This robot has been programmed to write out the entire Martin Luther bible in a calligraphic style on a long roll of paper. I wonder if they’re going to bind the pages up and publish it? What the robot does is a step up from print in reproducing the manuscripts made by monks, which is great, though it doesn’t say (though my German isn’t good enough to read the product page) whether the robot arm applies differential pressure and angle of stroke depending on the previous letters, or how far across the line it is, or how far down the page, like a human being would. If it did, then that would in my mind give the work a magical, delicate quality of something written. I don’t want to get all tedious and mystical about some missing innate human or animistic quality, but I like the idea of a robot arm having to stretch a bit at the edges of the page, altering its stroke weight after a particularly arduous cadel previously, all that kind of stuff. I can imagine a whole series of publications that could be given this ‘hand done’ treatment.” (Thanks Coudal Partners!)

South Korea doubles up, now getting two robot theme parks

keaggy — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:25:09 +0000

“Thrill seekers and robot admirers alike can mark South Korea down as a must-see destination in the coming years, as it will soon be home to not one, but two robot theme parks. Yeah, we already knew that one of these fantasmical places were on the planning block, but just today the Commerce Ministry ‘announced a proposal to build two parks by 2013 for $1.6 billion.’ Reportedly, each park will mesh culture and entertainment with robot technology, and while one will be built in Incheon, the other will be erected some 242 miles south of Seoul in the port city of Masan.”

Miniature Robots Travelling in the Bloodstream to Cure Disease Now a Reality

keaggy — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:17:47 +0000

“It has long been discussed that one of the goals of nanotechnology is to create miniscule machines and robots that can function inside our bodies to cure disease. Once this idea was straight from the script of a science fiction movie but now Korean researchers from Chonnam National University have created a microscopic robot that can travel through blood vessels.”