P.W. Singer was the Defense Policy Task Force coordinator for the Obama presidential campaign. He’s also a sexy geek. Jon Stewart calls him “the Shecky Greene of robotics.” Here he talks about the coming robot uprising and his book “Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century“.
Robotic Platforms Act as Walking Stepping Stones
Filmed during the Wired NextFest event located in Chicago in June 2005, (Yes, this is pretty old, but still cool nonetheless), these robotic stepping stones were used to demo a new kind of visual tracking system. Further details on what we think seems to be the same (or very similar) technology can be found here.
Have a Smashing Morning with the Smashing Clock
For me, I don’t think there’s anything as annoying as the electronic sound that those stupid alarm clocks blast into my ears at six in the morning. It just makes me feel like smashing the clocks to little pieces. And hitting the snooze button on those things doesn’t really give you a measure of satisfaction since you can’t hit them as hard as you want, else you’d just break them.
But thanks to the Smashing Clock, your dream could one day come true… if someone has the good sense of actually manufacturing the thing on a large scale. In order to shut the clock’s alarm off, the only thing you need to do is to smash it as hard as you can with your fist. Not only will this give you a measure of satisfaction, but the adrenaline the action brings into your system will help you kick start your day the good way.
[Via OhGizmo]
A Blogging Experiment
It takes real guts to work several years to build a top 50 blog, then turn it over to anyone and everyone, but that’s what’s happened at Neatorama. Alex has instituted a new feature called the Upcoming Queue. It’s like a submission, only the submitter writes the post with links and graphics. Then the public gets to vote it up or down. With enough up votes plus a decision from the editorial staff, the post goes onto the front page of the blog, with credit to the submitter. Alex even invites people to submit their own site links and content, which is frowned upon at some other networking sites. What could possibly go wrong? I suppose I will soon find out, since I work for Neatorama. Either I could be eased out of a job by the competition, or I could find myself with added editorial duties. Either way, it’s an opportunity for you to get your name (and links) out to a huge audience. Check out the submissions in the queue, and tell yourself you can do better. Then do it!
I Can Has Cookie?
The problem with the little candy message hearts you see around Valentines Day is that they are tiny. And they don’t particularly taste good. And they don’t say what you really want to say. Sometimes you can’t even decipher what they are supposed to say! So …make your own! Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories baked up shortbread cookie hearts and slapped custom phrases right on them with homemade stencils. You see what phrases they chose. What would you put on a heart?
Get ready for “A-Team: the movie” coming to the big screen
By Johnny Daniels
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
I am about to start crying now that one of my favourite childhood TV programmes is about to be chopped and diced into little pieces by the Hollywood money machine. Is nothing sacred in this world anymore? Come on Mr. T, start busting some heads!
Variety is reporting that the classic 1980’s TV show The A-Team is about to be made into a Hollywood movie, directed by Joe Carnahan and produced by Ridley and Tony Scott. They’re aiming for a June 2010 release date.
You remember the A-Team don’t you? That was the programme where those 4 guys travelled around in that cool black van helping everyone, being chased by Major Decker, shooting everyone (but they never actually got shot or died), blowing everything up (but again, no-one got injured or died. They just dusted themselves down and went on their way) and no locked building ever held the A-Team! With an elastic band, a matchbox and a garden hose, they made themselves an armoured car and busted their way out! Yeah! Every kid’s dream!
Since they’re updating the movie for 2010, the Middle East will replace Vietnam as the place where “they’re accused of a crime they didn’t commit” (the Middle East being very “in” at the moment) but it’s their cast choices that are getting me a bit worried. I read that the person in the running for Hannibal Smith is none other than Bruce Willis, and for B.A. “I ain’t getting on no plane” Baracus? Ice Cube! Oh dear…..I can just feel the A-Team fans rising up in revolt now!
If you were or still are an A-Team fan, what do you think of Bruce Willis and Ice Cube taking over where George Peppard and Mr T left off (assuming these reports are true)? Do you think that the A-Team is the sort of programme that CAN be made into a movie without it turning into a total farce?
Here to get you into the A-Team mood is the soundtrack to the show. Nah, nah, nah….
Insider Plants Logic Bomb – Fannie Avoids “Final Solution”
A senior Unix administrator known only as “SK” admitted she got lucky when she found the malicious script planted in a development server on the network. The script was buried within lines of legitimate code according to an affidavit filed against Rajendrasinh Makwana, an Indian citizen living in the United States under a work visa. Makwana is accused of illegally accessing Fannie’s network after being fired from the job. Had the script executed as planned, 4000 servers would have been wiped clean tomorrow, January 31st.
According to an InformationWeek article here:
The discovery occurred on Oct. 29. Makwana had been terminated as a Fannie Mae contractor on Oct. 24, around 1 or 1:30 p.m., the affidavit says, but his network access was not terminated until late that evening. Makwana was fired for allegedly creating a computer script earlier that month that changed server settings without the permission of his supervisor.
Makwana was not required to turn in his badge or Fannie Mae-supplied laptop until the end of the day on Oct. 24. According to Nye’s affidavit, it was during that afternoon that Makwana is alleged to have planted the malicious script.
Makwana had planted his script by using his existing credentials over an encrypted channel. Since his accounts were still active and his access rights still in place, no technological solution could have prevented or stopped such an attack. But it clearly highlights the threats posed by internal users.
When employees who hold root access to key network components are terminated, precautions must be followed to prevent any tampering from happening. Also, the employee needs to be protected from blame should any happenstance befall the network. That’s why most companies will send a security guard to watch as the person packs his belongings and to confiscate keys, badges, laptops and other items. Also, network access to all resources should be revoked while the termination takes place.
Everyone wants to trust their employees as friends and colleagues. And enforcing a procedure that requires a security guard to watch the employee as he packs his things and turn in personal items just makes a company look like a cruel, bullying entity. However, not following such a process could jeopardize your data.
Revolutionary New Zumba Mobile Phone
Planned for release before the next holidays, the new Zumba phone, if it works as explained, will truly revolutionize the world of mobile phones. Unfortunately, I think this thing sounds a bit too good to be true. But who knows? I could be wrong.
Introducing the New Awesome Way to Fly
Please, someone tell me where I can get one of these things… NOW! That really has to be one of the most awesome invention ever. The water jetpack works just like a regular jetpack, but instead of using air to propel yourself in the air, it uses water. Ok, you may be attached to a base at all time, but who cares? And with that music playing in the background, I can only think of one word to describe the experience: glorious.
Ordering from Dell? Be prepared to wait… and wait… and wait
First, let me say this: I’ve been a Dell customer for a long time. And I hope someone from Dell reads this.
I’ve bought systems and servers from them for the past 10 years. As I moved from job to job, I brought them along with me, giving them new business with companies that weren’t using them for their computer needs. The main reason for this is that as a large business customer, I’ve always been really happy with them: Product deliveries are usually on time, and their large business support is excellent.
But as a small business owner, I’m not so happy. On January 7th, I ordered a Dell Mini 12, which I planned to use in early February for a short trip I was planning. I got an excellent price on the system. The expected delivery date was fixed to January 19th – two weeks. Not terribly quick, but I could live with that.
But almost three and a half weeks later, I still haven’t received my system. And, if I hadn’t called Dell multiple times to get a status update on the delivery, I wouldn’t have gotten any news about it at all.
Sure, you can always go to Dell’s website to get your updates via your order number, but when your system is listed as “in production” for three weeks, you have to start asking some questions.
The system is still listed as “in production” today. That means it probably won’t get shipped until a few days, and that I won’t be getting my laptop before the middle of next week, at the minimum.
Now, the Dell Mini line is a very popular line of computers, and perhaps demand is outstripping production. I don’t mind that – what I’m having a problem with is being quoted a time of two weeks, and then getting the equipment several weeks later. If I had been told in the beginning that it would take a month or more to get the laptop to me, I would have decided to order something else. Now, I’ve paid hundreds of dollars for the computer which can no longer be used for the specific purpose it was purchased for. You can understand my frustration.
And this is not the first time something like this has happened with Dell. I thought it was an anomaly when, around a year and a half ago, I ordered a $3000 box through them, and had to live through the exact same thing. When I received it, the system was over a month late – and by the time I got it, the price for it dropped around $75. I called up Dell’s representative, and he said he would reimburse me the difference.
I never received the reimbursement, but unfortunately only realized it six months later. I then decided to drop the matter, as I didn’t feel like arguing with them again.
A few work colleagues and friends have had similar experiences – One of them had a 3-week delay on his order, and when he got told he had to wait, and that there wasn’t anything that could be done about the issue, he called his sales rep’s boss, and eventually ended up speaking with one of Dell’s Canadian VPs. On the same day, his system was shipped by air, and he got it the following morning.
The moral of this story? If you are a small business or an individual and need a Dell product quickly (two to three weeks, if that can be called “quickly”), don’t even bother trying to order it from them. Go to your local electronics store and get what they have in inventory.
I still think that Dell makes excellent products, but when it comes to delivery time and follow-ups for consumer’s products, they’re just not in the game.
Have you experienced anything similar with Dell or any of their competitors? Are they worse than everyone else, or is this kind of thing generalized through manufacturers that deal directly with home customers?
Edit: Followup story: CDW Astroturfs [GAS] with Fake Comments
Update: My Dell Sales Rep. called me yesterday and told me there was some pieces on backorder for the Mini 12. He canceled my order and placed a new one for the same machine, but with an upgraded processor, hard drive, and warranty. This time, the new expected delivery date is set to March 10th 2009.