Bear robot rescues wounded troops
June 12th, 2007“The US military is developing a robot with a teddy bear-style head to help carry injured soldiers away from the battlefield.”
Did Pirates Really Say “Arrrr”?
June 6th, 2007“Probably not. Both that phrase and the accent that goes with it are strictly Hollywood. They originated with Robert Newton, the actor who played Long John Silver in the movies and on TV through much of the 1950s. Newton was from Dorset, in the Cotswolds district of southwest England, and the regional accent he brought to the movies included a rolled ‘r.’ Though Dorset may well have produced its share of sailors, they were hardly the only pirates out there; most seamen—and especially the outlaws on pirate vessels—were people who struck out from oppressed nations, like Scotland and Ireland, to start over on the high seas.” (Thanks kottke.org!)
Robot Scans Ancient Manuscript in 3-D
June 5th, 2007“After a thousand years stuck on a dusty library shelf, the oldest copy of Homer’s Iliad is about to go into digital circulation.
A team of scholars traveled to a medieval library in Venice to create an ultra-precise 3-D copy of the ancient manuscript — complete with every wrinkle, rip and imperfection — using a laser scanner mounted on a robot arm.”
Bots on The Ground
May 18th, 2007The most effective way to find and destroy a land mine is to step on it.
This has bad results, of course, if you’re a human. But not so much if you’re a robot and have as many legs as a centipede sticking out from your body. That’s why Mark Tilden, a robotics physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, built something like that. At the Yuma Test Grounds in Arizona, the autonomous robot, 5 feet long and modeled on a stick-insect, strutted out for a live-fire test and worked beautifully, he says. Every time it found a mine, blew it up and lost a limb, it picked itself up and readjusted to move forward on its remaining legs, continuing to clear a path through the minefield.
Finally it was down to one leg. Still, it pulled itself forward. Tilden was ecstatic. The machine was working splendidly.
The human in command of the exercise, however — an Army colonel — blew a fuse.
The colonel ordered the test stopped.
Why? asked Tilden. What’s wrong?
The colonel just could not stand the pathos of watching the burned, scarred and crippled machine drag itself forward on its last leg.
This test, he charged, was inhumane.
Pirates & Privateers: The History of Maritime Piracy
May 18th, 2007“Pirates & Privateers began in 2000 as a monthly column with an article on Jean Laffite and a list of recommended pirate web sites. Since then, it has grown beyond my wildest dreams, and now includes book reviews and pirate adventures, as well as a newsletter that includes the latest pirate-related news and information. I thank you for your visit and your support. Within these pages, you’ll find articles on all aspects of maritime piracy from ancient times to modern day.”
Drinky Crow Show (pilot episode)
May 14th, 2007“Drinky and Uncle Crabby debate philosophy and fight pirates in this pilot episode.”
Presenting my new book: “Milk Eggs Vodka”
May 2nd, 2007
We now interrupt the RPM weblog with a very important announcement: Today my book is released. It’s based on one of my web sites, grocerylists.org, and is published by HOW Books (publishers of Print and HOW magazines and a wonderful variety of design books).
“Milk Eggs Vodka: Grocery Lists Lost & Found” features nearly 300 discarded grocery lists from all over the U.S. — and a few from around the globe. The foreword is written by Jim Coudal, of Coudal Partners and Museum of Online Museums fame. Sorted into surprisingly obvious chapters (lists with poor spelling, healthy vs. unhealthy lists, lists made by elderly people or people planning parties, lists with drawings, doodles and notes on them, etc.), each list is displayed, dissected and commented on. You’ll probably never leave your list in the grocery cart again.
Where else will you find a 2,000-year-old grocery list, lists from all 50 U.S. states, the most commonly misspelled words on Americans’ shopping lists, delicious recipes made using only ingredients listed on other people’s discarded lists, a shoplifting list and a chance meeting with Chevy Chase in the bathroom at Yankee Stadium? Where? (Probably nowhere.)
But why collect found grocery lists? Because lists tell us a lot about our neighbors, our friends, our ancestors, our species and ourselves. They’re supposed to be private and that’s why it’s so enjoyable to look through the ones that people discard — unless one of those lists happens to be yours. Then it might not be so enjoyable, because if there’s one thing I like more than finding a lost grocery list — it’s making fun of it.
Order MEV from Amazon U.S.
Order MEV from Amazon Canada
Order MEV from Amazon U.K.
Order MEV from Amazon Japan
Order MEV from Barnes & Noble
Order MEV from Powell’s Books
I also made a promo site at milkeggsvodka.com (with a new blog here to document the weird journey of releasing and promoting the book). This was an extremely fun project to work on — and I think you’ll find it pretty fun to read as well. If you like food, freaks and/or Found Magazine, you’ll dig this.
—Bill Keaggy
The Shoebot: Transformers meets Nike
April 27th, 2007“The toy transforms from a pair of plastic half-scale Nike shoes into a toy robot called ‘Convoy’. The robot, which the toymaker [Tomy Company] created in collaboration with Nike Japan, will go on sale in Japan on April 26, 2007 for a price of 2,625 yen ($22).”
How A Monkey Becomes A Woot
April 24th, 2007“Some things, humans were not meant to know. Other things, most humans don’t particularly care whether they know or not. In the latter category falls the mysterious process by which a lonely, unwanted toy becomes a full-fledged Woot screaming monkey. But you weirdos are not ‘most humans.’ Here for your infotainment: the true story of one monkey’s journey from obscurity to just west of obscurity.”
Robot by Dilip
April 20th, 2007Here’s a cool photo of a robot by Dilip Vishwanat. Hi Dilip!
700 robots, 700 pirates, and some monkeys
March 29th, 2007There’s a group on Flickr called “700 Things” that aims to collect 700 drawings in each of 700 categories. They already have 700 Pirates and 700 Robots going. Maybe they’ll start a monkey group. This is a spin-off of the 700 Hobo Names thing by John Hodgman.
Anyway, here are a couple images that have some RPM overlap: First, #298. Nauticon the Pirate Robot and second, #158. Captain Andromeda and the Space Monkeys. Yippee!
Robot Code of Ethics to Prevent Android Abuse, Protect Humans
March 29th, 2007“The government of South Korea is drawing up a code of ethics to prevent human abuse of robots—and vice versa.
The so-called Robot Ethics Charter will cover standards for robotics users and manufacturers, as well as guidelines on ethical standards to be programmed into robots, South Korea’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy announced last week.
“The move anticipates the day when robots, particularly intelligent service robots, could become a part of daily life as greater technological advancements are made,” the ministry said in a statement.
A five-member task force that includes futurists and a science-fiction writer began work on the charter last November.”
Rescue public demonstration of [robokiyu] (1994 fire festival)
March 20th, 2007“A nifty unmanned rescue robot that enters in places where the fire fighter cannot penetrate in order to rescue people.”
ToyboxDX: Vintage and New Japanese Toys
March 19th, 2007“You seek Kaiju, Sentai, Super Robots, Chogokin, Microman, Shogun, Sofubi, Godaikin, Jumbomachinders…Gaiking, Getta Robo, Gundam, Ultraman, Macross, Mazinger, Robotech, Gatchaman. Sit down. We are here to help…” Go to www.toyboxdx.com.
Thanks Andrew!
Six great comic-book robots
March 18th, 2007“Welcome to At Sixes & Sevens, a new weekly feature in which I’ll get my list-making fix by selecting the six or seven best, worst, greatest, or what have you, in comic books. You see, I have a list infatuation that rivals the idiosyncrasies of the lamest Batman villain. Grocery lists, to-do lists, hit lists — it doesn’t matter. I’ll read them all. So, At Sixes & Sevens is all about enabling, really. Enough about you, you say, What about the robots? All right then: What about the robots?“
Toy robot heads
March 17th, 2007“As the title describes…cleaver huh? I though it’d be cool to single out some robots from my collection and just offer you their heads…it’s a flickr thang.”
The Robot Company
March 14th, 2007“Whether buying your first robot, replacing or adding to your current robot line, The Robot Company can provide you with the used Fanuc robot you need, at a price you can afford… We are interested in buying used Fanuc robots and parts. We guarantee we will take a look at what you have to sell and give you indication of our interest as quick as we can.”
Monkeys Pay for Prurient Pictures
March 7th, 2007“For a monkey, not all images are created equal. A new report reveals that the animals value some pictures more than others and are willing to pay for the privilege of viewing the important ones. The results indicate that monkeys, like people, value information based on its social context.”
Robot Magazine
March 4th, 2007“The latest hobby, science and consumer robotics, artificial intelligence… ROBOT is a unique publication that … offer[s] the ‘how to do it’ for the robot enthusiast and robot hobbyist, as well as the ‘what’s going on’ in the expanding world of robotics for the interested layperson or technical professional.”
For First Time, Chimps Seen Making Weapons for Hunting
March 1st, 2007“Chimpanzees living in the West African savannah have been observed fashioning deadly spears from sticks and using the tools to hunt small mammals — the first routine production of deadly weapons ever observed in animals other than humans.
The multistep spearmaking practice, documented by researchers in Senegal who spent years gaining the chimpanzees’ trust, adds credence to the idea that human forebears fashioned similar tools millions of years ago.”
Switching web hosts… please forgive any glitches…
February 21st, 2007Switching web hosts… also migrating from Blogger to WordPress so please forgive any glitches for the next week or so as I categorize seven years worth of uncategorized posts and code the previous design into WordPress.
Liam sings his robot, pirate, monkey song!
February 19th, 2007WANTED: THE WORLD’S COOLEST ROBOTS, PIRATES AND MONKEYS
February 15th, 2007I’m working on a big RPM project and I want your suggestions for the coolest robots, pirates and monkeys ever. Now, of course I’ve got C-3PO, Blackbeard and Curious George on the list — I need suggestions for RPMs that might not be part of the fabric of popular culture. Or RPMs that are more underground. Or whatever.
So send me your ideas! You get bonus points for including a useful web link, but it’s not required. Everyone who contributes will have their name put in a hat and one random winner will receive a cool set of prizes (which will somehow include robots, pirates and monkeys).
The deadline? It may change, but let’s say March 15. Thanks!
Pirates of the female persuasion
February 5th, 2007Here’s a List of Known Women Pirates.
Robots from the Land of OZ
February 3rd, 2007“L. Frank Baum was the first English-language author to write about sentient mechanical beings ranging from cyborgs to robots. At the turn of the last century, however, neither ‘cyborg’ nor ‘robot’ had yet been coined; Baum’s characters went by their proper names or descriptive terms such as ‘machine man.’ Fantasy was already a recognized genre, but stories that would now be described as science fiction were called ‘Edisonades.’ Long before George Lucas was born, Baum was placing science-fiction characters in fantasy settings.”
The Robot Hall of Fame
February 3rd, 2007“The Robot Hall of Fame recognizes excellence in robotics technology worldwide and honors the fictional and real robots that have inspired and made breakthrough accomplishments in robotics. The Robot Hall of Fame was created by Carnegie Mellon University in April 2003 to call attention to the increasing contributions from robots to human society. Each year, Carnegie Mellon University assembles a jury of scholars, researchers, writers, designers, and entrepreneurs to select real and fictional robots for recognition and induction into the Robot Hall of Fame.”
Tiny Monkey Industries
February 1st, 2007“Tiny Monkey Industries is a leading manufacturer of things both useful and ridiculous. We specialize in developing cutting edge technologies in monkey studies, humor generation and miniaturization.”
Donut Robot of Love 2000
January 21st, 2007Now this is my kind of robot! Donut Robot of Love 2000: “Here is my Belshaw Donut Robot 42. My robot came configured to make 384 donuts per hour automatically. I bought it on eBay for $900, which I thought was a good deal as this particular Donut Robot normally sells for a few hundred dollars more…”
iRobot Create
January 13th, 2007“Ready to create a robot so technologically advanced it could change the world — or at the very least, get you a cold soda from the fridge? Do it right with the iRobot Create… an affordable programmable robot, pre-assembled to facilitate the development of new robots.”
A Robot in Every Home
January 1st, 2007By Bill Gates: A Robot in Every Home | “The leader of the PC revolution predicts that the next hot field will be robotics.”
The RPM Monkey vs. Robot covers compilation
December 15th, 2006
It’s done! I finally did it. The Monkey vs. Robot covers compilation is done! The CD features seven covers of James Kochalka’s classic. Everyone who participated will get a copy and a special excellent prize. Here is the awesome list of people and bands that went and done good:
1 Bob Dorsey
2 Rudy Charisma
3 John Miner
4 Tha Shewz
5 Mike Watkins
6 Reddy Killsalot
7 Fandangoya
8 James Kochalka Superstar
Monkey Day reminder
December 13th, 2006Hey, Monkey Day is tomorrow, December 14!
Monkey Sounds from Monkeymania!
December 8th, 2006Monkey Sounds! | “Only Monkeymania provides you with such a wide selection of MONKEY SOUNDS! And we do it because we care!”
Last call for RPM contest entries!
November 16th, 2006Last call for RPM contest entries! I’ve got to end this contest sometime. Send me your cover versions of James Kochalka’s “Monkey Vs. Robot!” Everyone who enters gets a cool prize, and I’ll buy one winner something from their Amazon Wish List (priced within reason). You have until December 3, 2006.