Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Robot obeys its Master’s thoughts



Of course, I was completely mesmerized when I saw this particular item of interest: a robot that obeys your thoughts.

Stop right there. Is this serious? Apparently so. Inventor Taku Ichikawa of the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo is creating this robot for the Robo-One contest in Toyama, Japan.
The Robo-One is sort of a battlebots style competition, and I suppose that thoughts really are the best interface for that. Unfortunately, this is about all the information my sources have about this.
In other words, I have no idea if the user has to “think real hard” in order to get this robot to move, or if thinking about other things will distract the robot as well as the user.
A thought based interface is probably the best choice for any type of robot manipulation. It’s a lot better than that keyboard that the bad guy used to control Deadpool in at the end of that Wolverine movie. I mean, he has to type in “DECAPITATE” for crying out loud.
However, robots that are controlled by our thoughts? That seems a little too science fiction for me. And if there is one thing that science fiction has taught us is that mind and robots don’t mix.

Source1 and Source2

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Hands on Review of 19-Key USB Numeric Keypad and Optical Mouse



For those who have notebooks or netbooks, you may have noticed a lack of numeric keypad with your particular model. You could probably get a USB numeric keypad if you really wanted one of those, but you are probably going to also have to purchase a mouse.

Why not combine those purchases with the Adesso 19 Key USB Numeric Keypad? In addition to having the number pad, the mouse has 1000 dpi resolution. When I tried it out, it was a lot smoother than my usual mouse.
The keypad has a transparent cover that flips up when in use, and closes conveniently when not needed. The keypad is perfect for quick calculations on the Calculator program, or for more complex accounting calculations for Quicken or Microsoft Money. There is a video of it after the jump if you want to see it in action.
As an added bonus, it has a glowing scroll wheel. The Adesso Keypad mouse is completely driver-free, so it plugs right in, and it is easily recognized.
My only complaint is that I’m not certain why Adesso has a “000″ button on the keypad, as I would have put a “00″ button there. I used to work at a bank, and if you can hit “00″ instead of one zero, it saves time. However, I rarely had to input three zeroes. Clearly, this keypad is made for some big money makers.
The Adesso 19 Key USB Numeric Keypad can be purchased from the Adesso site for about $27.99. More information about it can be obtained here.


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Iran Test-Fires Missiles That Put Israel in Range



PARIS — Locked in a deepening dispute with the United States and its allies over its nuclear program, Iran said Monday that its Revolutionary Guards had test-fired missiles with sufficient range to strike Israel, parts of Europe and American bases in the Persian Gulf.

“Iranian missiles are able to target any place that threatens Iran,” a senior Revolutionary Guards official, Abdullah Araqi, was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Fars news agency.

The reported tests of the medium-range, liquid-fueled Shahab-3 and the solid-fueled Sejil-2 missiles on Monday, as well as short-range missiles on Sunday, came just days after President Obama and the leaders of France and Britain used the disclosure of a previously secret nuclear processing plant under construction in Iran to threaten Tehran with a stronger response to its efforts to enrich uranium.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but many in the West say it is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. The Obama administration is now working to assemble a package of tougher sanctions, which could include a cutoff of investments to the country’s oil and gas industry as well as restrictions on many more Iranian banks, senior administration officials said Sunday.

The first direct contact in decades between the United States and Iran is scheduled to take place Thursday at international talks in Geneva. Analysts said the launchings might have been intended to give Iranian negotiators the appearance of a stronger hand at the talks.

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said at a news conference that the missile tests had been planned for some time and were not linked to the nuclear dispute, the state-run, English-language Press TV reported. The report said the tests were part of an effort to improve Iran’s defenses.

Concern about Iranian hostility toward Israel is matched by frequent speculation that Israel might carry out a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

Hassan Qashqavi, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Monday that the just-disclosed enrichment facility was in Fordo, a village about 115 miles south of Tehran, and 60 miles from Natanz, the site of Iran’s other enrichment plant, The Associated Press reported. That would place it, as United States officials have said, close to the holy city of Qum.

Less than two weeks ago Mr. Obama canceled a plan from the administration of George W. Bush to station a radar facility in the Czech Republic and 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland as part of what had been described as a shield against potential missile attacks from Iran.

The Obama administration now plans to deploy smaller SM-3 interceptors by 2011, first aboard ships and later in Europe, possibly in Poland or the Czech Republic.

On Sunday, Iran test-fired three short-range missiles with a range of 90 to 125 miles as part of a military exercise named the Great Prophet IV, the state-run television said. Press TV said the tests of the Shahab-3 and Sejil-2 on Monday were also part of the exercise.

An “optimized” Shahab-3 missile has a range of 800 to 1,250 miles, it said. The Sejil-2, a two-stage missile, is more sophisticated than the Shahab-3, although it has a similar range. Parts of western Iran lie some 650 miles from Tel Aviv.

Iran first acquired the Shahab-3 from North Korea. Because the Sejil-2 is powered by solid fuel, experts said, it can be stored in mountains, transported, reassembled and fired on shorter notice, and thus could be harder for Israel or other nations to target.

The military exercise and escalating tensions with the West coincide with a period of political uncertainty in Iran, in the aftermath of Iran’s disputed June 12 election.

On Monday a protest erupted at Tehran University, the first of the new school year and the first since the demonstrations that followed the vote, when opponents accused President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of falsifying results.

The Revolutionary Guards were essential to safeguarding the president’s victory and led the violent crackdown after the election that opposition leaders say killed at least 72 people.

The force, which also runs the country’s missile program, remains close to Mr. Ahmadinejad and accountable only to the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Sunday, in a deal that underlined its expanding economic and political power, the Revolutionary Guards purchased just over 50 percent of Iran’s Telecommunication Company in a $7.8 billion deal.

The Revolutionary Guards, in addition to being part of Iran’s military complex, has in recent years become one of the largest conglomerates in the country. It has been awarded more than 750 construction, oil and gas contracts and has its own ports.

Its political influence has also increased, with many of its members elected to Parliament in 2003 or appointed as cabinet ministers in 2004.

Now, the Revolutionary Guards’ hold on the country’s telecommunications systems will give it further control over land-line, Internet and cellphone services. On election day, the country’s text messaging service was cut off; the cellphone network was disconnected during the unrest that followed. Opposition leaders accused the government of misusing state-run services.

The deal announced Sunday was part of the government’s plan to privatize business sectors. But critics have complained that the government is awarding institutions close to it while the real private sector is excluded. The Revolutionary Guards’ unit involved in the deal competed only with a company affiliated with the Basij, a paramilitary organization that assisted the Revolutionary Guards in putting down the postelection protests.

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