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Archive for the ‘Robots’ Category

Cubeecraft Paper Toys

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008


Want to waist a whole day getting your paper craft skillz on? Then Cubeecraft is where you begin your journey. These nerdtastic paper toys need no tape, glue or mad origami skills to assemble. Just print them out, cut ‘em and fold as directed. And let me tell you, there’s just about every geeky pop-culture icon there, for example – Ultraman, Brock, a Stormtrooper, Mr.Stay Puft, Usagi Yojimbo, Master Chief, Dr.Manhattan, Bender, Gir, Strongbad Jason Voorhees and Peyton Manning (yeah, he’s a nerd’s football player if there ever was one).

Source – Neatorama

World War 2045

Friday, September 5th, 2008

If the Trasnformers kicked it old school in the year 2045, 100 years after WWII, they very well would look something like you find in the video here.

This is a pretty clever and humorous short animation. Its creator Vincent Chai developed it with every-day programs like Maya, Photoshop and After Effects. Pretty damned swank, and inspiring, if you ask me.

Source – DVICE via BotJunkie

MythBusters Paint With 2100 Barrel Paintball Gun

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Adam and Jamie of MythBusters created a massive 2100 barrel paintball gun to create their own version of the Mona Lisa – all in one single shot. And it looks pretty damned good.

The big gun took six months of work to create and was for Nvidia’s Nvision tradeshow. Named Mona Lisa, it was used as part of a demonstration (on an absurdly large scale) on the difference between a CPU and a GPU, the massive paint gun representing the GPU and a smaller robot seen at the beginning of the video named Smiley being the CPU.

Beyond the fact that most of us mortals could give a rat’s ass about the difference between a CPU and a GPU, this demonstration was of a typical MythBusters level of over the top we know and love them for.

Source – Gizmodo

Rat Brains + Robots = DOOM!

Monday, August 25th, 2008

I’m sure that by now many of you have seen or read about professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading and his colleagues creating a robot that uses the tissue of rat brains to do the voodoo it do. But if you haven’t here’s a brief synopsis:

Meet Gordon, probably the world’s first robot controlled exclusively by living brain tissue.

Stitched together from cultured rat neurons, Gordon’s primitive grey matter was designed at the University of Reading by scientists who unveiled the neuron-powered machine on Wednesday. [...]

Because the brain is living tissue, it must be housed in a special temperature-controlled unit — it communicates with its “body” via a Bluetooth radio link. The robot has no additional control from a human or computer.

From the very start, the neurons get busy. “Within about 24 hours, they start sending out feelers to each other and making connections,” said Warwick. “Within a week we get some spontaneous firings and brain-like activity” similar to what happens in a normal rat — or human — brain, he added.

I for one welcome our soon to be Ratobot overlords. Just remember my masters, I loved the film Ratatouille.

Terminator DVD Player

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008


This is a level “Ass Kicking” item that I must have. It’s a T-800 Terminator skull that plays DVDs whilst it glares at you sinisterly.

Source – Toxel.com via Boing Boing

Mad Scientist Showdown – Doctor Steel Vs. Dr. Horrible!

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

I have to be honest, I knew it would eventually come to this. Doctor Steel, a mad scientist who has been steadily making grounds for world domination through his toys and music, is now fully aware of Joss Whedon’s newest creation – Dr. Horrible, another mad scientist who has just begun his quest for world domination through just his music. And I think it’s safe to say that the rubber gloves have been thrown.

Doctor Steel fans, err I mean ‘troops’, have rallied behind their master for a full-on assault upon Whedon and his Dr. Horrible with Operation: Expose Dr. Horrible, a cunning plan that involves the ‘education’ of the Internet masses. They point out all of the similarities between these two diabolical Doctors beyond the whole singing and rubber gloves, such as:

Both use propaganda tools to spread their plans for world domination.
Both have a Q&A segment (“Ask Dr. Horrible” and “Ask Doctor Steel”).
Both have similar titles to their respective releases (Dr. Horrible’s “Sing-Along Blog” videos and Doctor Steel’s “Read-A-Long” album).

Joss, we like you and all so we’ll be kind enough to tell you this; Doctor Steel’s fans are like your fans – rabid, undyingly loyal and willing to do just about anything for their lord and master. Be ready.

And to give you a taste of what you’re up against Mr. Whedon , here’s one of Doctor Steels propaganda videos. Good luck.

Futurama: Bender’s Game Sneak Peek

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

Here’s a little sneak peek into the next Futurama movie, Bender’s Game, which is set to be released late this year. Filled with nerdtastic Dungeons & Dragons references and various scifi puns, Bender’s Game tells the tale of how the Planet Express crew gets trapped in a fantasy world while in search for fuel.

“Everything is set into motion based on the high price of fuel, which is dark matter,” head writer and executive producer David X. Cohen told Wired.com in June. “Our crew tries to get to the heart of the problem…. Of course, strange events unfold.”

Yeah, like Leela turning into a very hot centaur.

Know Your Robots

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

The Measure of a Robot

Not too sure if the robot you just ran into is evil or good? Is it a little too human-like or does it look like a big old trashcan? Well let this handy-dandy chart be your guide. From WALL-E to 7 of 9, this chart can be your guideline to knowing your robots and their intentions.

Source – io9

Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs Out Today!

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Futurama: Beast With A Billion Backs Today is the day my fellow Futurama fans. Today is the release of the second Futurama film – The Beast With A Billion Backs hits the shelves today.

Described as a “depraved, yet sensuous” adventure, writer and producer David X. Cohen refers to it as “disturbing.” He goes on to say “There is certainly more of an adult theme in this film than the average Futurama episode.” Well with quotes like “These aren’t tentacles, they’re gentacles!” I think that’s pretty obvious.

So what’s the movie about and what tasty bits are included in the DVD you may ask coffin-stuffer? Well let me tell you…

In Futurama’s latest and most tentacle-packed epic, space itself rips open, revealing a gateway to another universe. But what lies beyond? Horror? Love? Or maybe both, if it happens to contain a repulsive, planet-sized monster with romantic intentions! Nothing less than the fate of human and robot-kind is at stake as the Futurama crew takes on The Beast with a Billion Backs.

The Beast With A Billion Backs will be presented in widescreen format with English Dolby Surround 5.1, along with French and Spanish subtitles. Bonus features include:

-Commentary By Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Billy West, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Michael Rowe, Claudia Katz, Peter Avanzino and Lee Supercinski
-Futurama The Lost Adventure – a long-lost full-length adventure produced for the video game with audio commentary by Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Billy West, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Michael Rowe, J. Stewart Burns and Lee Supercinski
-Meet Yivo! Featurette with David Cross
-A Brief History Of Deathball Featurette
-Blooperama: The Futurama Cast At
-3D Models With Animator Discussion
-Storyboard Animatic: The Beast With A Billion Backs, Part One
-A Sneak Peek at the Next Futurama Epic! -Deleted Scenes/Storyboards: Original Opening, Fry and Colleen Meeting, St. Asimov Parade, Zapp and Scientists, Amy Fry and Leela, Scruffy the Janitor
-Futurama: Bender’s Game – a sneak peek at the next Futurama epic!

That should keep you busy.

Firefox 3 Easter Egg

Friday, June 20th, 2008

We’re computer nerds. We’re FireFox web browser nerds. We’re robot nerds. So obviously this little Easter Egg found in FireFox 3 got us all a flitter. Type “about:robots” into the address bar and you get the image your see below.
FireFox3

Source – Laughing Squid