Sure, lots of people have made beer fetching robots in the past, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one as effective as this one. I mean, look at the thing! It can even open bottles for you if you don’t have a beer bottle opener handy. Simply awesome.
[Via Willow Garage]
The following video features excerpts from Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. More specifically, from the chapter titled A Universe Not Made For Us. Narrated by Carl Sagan himself, the clip is truly a wonder to listen to. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
On Tuesday we reported on an attempt to fly a plane for a full day without a drop of fuel. That attempt was a success – and the designers say they expect to one day fly a similar plane around the world.
As the name implies, the Solar Impulse project’s plane HB-SIA is powered entirely by the sun’s rays. Though it had flown before, this was the first time it had flown long enough that it needed to rely on storing solar energy to get through the night: the first time that’s ever been done by a solar plane.
The way the plane works, with four electrical engines and solar panels on the wings, is both remarkably simple in concept and extremely difficult in practice. As well as using a carbon fiber design to keep the weight low, the power of the plane is limited to around 6kW and the top speed is a mere 43 miles per hour.
The plane took off at 6.51 am local time in Switzerland yesterday morning, reached a top altitude of 28,000 feet, and touched down again at 9 am today. It still had three hours of battery life remaining, more than expected.
That the plane was able to fly all night means that theoretically it could stay airborne indefinitely, limited only by components wearing out. However, In practice, there are human limits as to how long a pilot could stay in the air.
The plan now is to produce a follow-up model next year which will add a pressurized cabin and extra oxygen supplies so that the plane can get as high as 39,000 feet. The necessary tweaks to the plane design will mean the wingspan will have to be brought up to 260 feet, slightly wider than that of the super-size Airbus A380 passenger airline.
In reply to the question of whether there’s any point producing such a plane for a single passenger (a two-seater model is in the works to allow for a non-stop circumnavigation of the globe), the designers noted that the now commonplace transatlantic flight began with single-seater planes.
Now that is really cool. German Vimeo user Surfap used a projector and a motion tracking system to play Mario on a sidewalk. Check it out:
[Via TechEblog]
A few weeks ago we reported on an ultra-powerful laser pointer made available for public sale and many of you commented in negative terms. It’s now emerged that George Lucas shares your dislike.
As you can probably imagine, Lucas’ company is not just concerned with safety, but with intellectual property. It has written to the manufacturers, Wicked Lasers, claiming “It is apparent from the design of the Pro Arctic Laser that it was intended to resemble the hilts of our LIGHTSABER swords, which are protected by copyright and trade dress laws.” (Trade dress refers to the packaging or appearance of a product.)
The letter goes on to claim that press coverage which mentions the similarities means that “Wicked Laser’s adoption of the LIGHTSABER trade dress in connection with the Pro Arctic Laser has caused confusion among consumers, who believe that the Pro Artic Laser is endorsed, affiliated, or sponsored by Lucasfilm.”
(From an editorial perspective, although we referred to the device as a “real lightsaber”, and though we certainly spotted the visual similarities, we find it difficult to believe any of our readers would have concluded there was any official connection to the Star Wars prop whatsoever.)
Lucasfilms is now threatening legal action if Wicked Lasers does not immediately withdraw existing units from sale and then modify the design to “clearly distinguish” the device from a “real” LIGHTSABER. They also want the company to add a disclaimer on the website and packaging to make clear that there is no connection with the movie prop.
Wicked Lasers says the design of its laser pointer is fairly typical in the market and is not a copy of the prop. It suspects this may simply be a case of Lucasfilms complaining for the sake of appearances so that it can’t be accused of failing to defend its intellectual property in future cases.
The manufacturer also notes that since the interest from the media coverage it has modified the laser to add a safety lock as well as shipping it with a removable lens which lowers the laser’s power considerably when fresh out of the box.
If one estimate is correct, Microsoft’s Xbox Live has become a billion dollar business.
Bloomberg made the estimate after failing to get a precise figure from Microsoft. It did, however, get two points confirmed by the company:
Take half of the 25 million users, multiply by $50 and then double to account for non-subscription revenues, and the result is that Xbox Live must have taken at least $1.2 billion in a year.
Bloomberg also quotes an analyst who believes Microsoft’s profit margin is such that it will keep around 65% of that figure after costs (but before taxes). That healthy margin is largely related to it being a virtual product with no manufacturing costs.
The same analyst believes the entire Microsoft entertainment division will make pre-tax profits of $1.05 billion for the year, meaning 85% of the profits can be accounted for by Xbox Live alone. Depending on your view, that’s either a sign that the online gaming is performing fantastically or that Microsoft is doing very poorly from hardware such as the Zune media player.
Without precise breakdowns, it’s difficult to know exactly what’s responsible for the huge amount of cash from downloads rather than subscriptions. It could be the sheer number of games with additional content, the effect of true blockbuster games with DLC such as Modern Warfare 2, or the benefits of platform exclusive content such as the original releases of the Grand Theft Auto IV episodes.
While Microsoft is dwarfing Sony and Nintendo when it comes to online revenues, it’s unlikely to have become the biggest player in the game. That’s almost certainly still Activision Blizzard which took $1.5 billion (largely from World of Warcraft) last year and looks likely to beat that figure this year.
From Pogo, the internet-famous creator of Expialidocious, here’s “Gardyn”, an original song created using only samples of his mother’s voice and sounds from her garden. As is usual with Pogo’s music, the final result is absolutely fantastic. Check it out:
Song available for download here.
The magic of Lego never ceases to amaze me. This series of Lego artwork featured in Topcultured showcases the true flexibility—and inherent playfulness—that’s made these iconic toys (toys seems so limited a term!) so enduring. Who says you can’t play with toys as a grownup? Silliness.
I particularly like the take on the Mona Lisa and “American Gothic”. I’d totally hang a print of those in my house over the originals. And the Escher is truly brilliant. I can’t even begin to contemplate constructing something on this scale. My Lego prowess taps out pretty early on in the game, and once things get more complicated than adding a window or a door I’m pretty lame.
Any of you ever attempted something like this? Inspired to do so?
[Above photo/work by Marco Pece, via Flickr/Topcultured]
Move over ladies – there’s a new Twilight Saga in town — and this one is for the guys!
Warning: Video contains profanity, kissing, and girls in their underwear.
