It takes a kicking, but keeps on robot-ing

I am a huge fan of robots. My dream-future has plenty of robots in it. Smart robots. We have a long way to go. But in the meantime, there's modular robot.

Go ahead..... kick it. Break it apart. Modular robot will find its pieces and reassemble itself. It is a wee bit clumsy though.....

That's progress

Here's a statistic that made my eyebrows twitch.

We’re likely less than two years away from plug-in hybrids that will run entirely on an electric charge for about 65 kilometres (40 miles), before needing to start the gas engine and start drawing from the fuel tank. The vast majority of drives are within that 65 kilometre range. US Department of Transportation data says that a 65 kilometre range for a car would reduce commuter gasoline requirements by 94% (and 97% if drivers are able to charge up at work).

That's pretty awesome.

Olivia at 9 months old

For anyone who's curious, this is Olivia at 9 months old. Isn't she adorable?

Can you figure out what's happening before the end?

A neat little short (well, around 10 minutes long) about a guy who uses holographic tools to build a world for the woman he loves.

Has prohibition failed? A serious look

Here's a great, balanced article on the drug wars. Guess what it recommends?

Yeah..... legalization.

What is it? Edition 3 - solution

My pal Bernie was very close, but nobody got the answers I was looking for.

The drawing itself is a droodle, a combination doodle and riddle.

This particular droodle is found on a Frank Zappa album cover.

Want treatment? Agree not to bitch online....

Remember back in December when I mentioned that you can now rate your doctor? Well, now some doctors in the US are fighting back. They're asking patients to agree to a waiver (a gag order) where they agree not to post negative comments online.

The creator of Medical Justice, Dr. Jeffrey Segal says, "Patients are hungry for good information" about doctors, but Internet reviews provide just the opposite. Some sites are little more than tabloid journalism without much interest in constructively improving practises, and their comments can unfairly ruin a doctor's reputation."

His company provides doctors with a standardized waiver agreement. Patients who sign agree not to post online comments about the doctor, his expertise and/or treatment. Doctors are notified when a negative rating appears on a Web site, and, if the author's name is known, physicians can use the signed waivers to get the sites to remove offending opinion.

John Swapceinski, co-founder of RateMDs.com, said six doctors have asked him to remove negative online comments based on patients' signed waivers. He refused. "They're basically forcing the patients to choose between health care and their First Amendment rights, and I really find that repulsive." In fact, he's planning to post a "Wall of Shame" listing names of doctors who use patient waivers.

Now some would argue that posting doctor reviews online is not an appropriate way to warn against bad doctors. But in our jurisdiction, where finding a family doctor is extremely difficult; changing doctors once you have a doctor is damned near impossible, what other choices do we have?

More iPhone tricks

Something new iPhone users might find unusual is that with all of its bells and whistles, the iPhone can make it take a few clicks and swipes to get to a regularly used phone number.

There is a trick however, to getting fast access to your most dialled phone numbers. First, set the Home button (if it isn't already) to your phone favourites when you double click the home button. If you go to Settings then navigate to General then Home Button, you’ll find the options. All that's left is to add your most used numbers to the favourites in the phone and you're set.

Journey into the nano world

Have you ever wanted to go on a journey on a nano scale? Now you can. It's more illustration that pictures, but it's still pretty amazing.

There are several journeys to go on at the café. Just choose your language, click the suitcase and start exploring.

Some real zoom-zoom!

Here's some great stunt driving of a slightly tuned-up Subaru WRX.

Sometimes it's better to wear your critics

I don't know if you've heard of Yelp.com, but it's basically a restaurant rating system online that has become rather popular.

One pizzeria in San Francisco decided to put bad reviews from Yelp on their workers' tees rather than ignore them. That's pretty sweet.

"Let's give it a spin and see if it's got any rhythm"

Here's what happens when you put a beat box artist in the kitchen.

911-mcnuggets

Ever been to a fast food joint and they ran out of what you wanted?

Call 911. Latreasa did.

“This is an emergency, If I would have known they didn’t have McNuggets, I wouldn’t have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don’t want one,” Latreasa L. Goodman told police. “This is an emergency.”

McDonald's was still quick to make amends, by offering her a refund and a free meal.

She's still being charged for abusing the 911 system.....

An Ernest contribution.

More fun than my HS electronics class

I took electronics in high school, but nothing was as much fun to watch as this video from Makezine. In this episode, the capacitor's secrets are revealed and in this previous episode, it's all about LEDs.

You know..... if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Good for safety or just another money-grab?

For the most part, what were once just red light cameras at certain intersections have recently been converted to speeding cameras too. What some folks may not realize is that the speeding sensing isn't just done while the light is changing from green to yellow to red. It's monitoring speed at all times, even while the light is green.

The Calgary Police Service posts a FAQ regarding this new capability as well as a list of current locations.

While cutting down on speeding is nice, I wish Calgary's Police Service would concentrate more on playground and school zones in our city. I have a pair of such zones right in front of my house and the way they're treated and enforced, the city may as well just take the signs down.

Some massages get hot

One of the funniest blog posts I've read in a while. I won't spoil the surprise, just go read it already. The whole blog is quite good actually. It won as best Canadian blog for the 2008 Bloggies. I'm not surprised.

Warning - contains sexual content.

Walk in closet

A rather funny Heineken commercial. The hostess shows the girls at the party her walk-in closet, but that's nothing compared to what the guys are about to see.

Then there's this reply by Bavaria beer. Same premise.... slightly different outcome.

A house that really lets the sun shine in

I've always liked architecture, especially radical designs and this house is a great candidate for awesome house of the year.

One look and the house looks rather normal (for a wood clad house), but give the owner 6 minutes and the roof and walls roll back to reveal a glass house. This is so cool.

What is it? Edition 3

Time for a new one. What is this (this is only a partial picture of the full object)?

I'll go easy on this one - you can tell me what kind of object this is, or you can tell me on what this particular one is found on.

TV just can't compete anymore

Over the years, my relationship with TV broadcasts has changed. When I was a kid, there was no such thing as someone who didn't watch TV. At least, I didn't know of anyone fitting that description. TV watching was a privilege in our house - not a right (at least for me), so I think I was shaped by that context. My favourite TV shows were any comedy, science fiction or science fact show and cartoons.

At one point in my life (in my 20s and 30s), I watched a lot of TV - probably at least an hour or two a night on a slow night. News, comedy, prime time hits, ending on nights I could manage to stay up with Letterman.

Now, I only watch a few shows a week and know a lot of folks who don't even bother to watch TV anymore. Most of the TV shows I follow only get seen once they come out on DVD, with the exception of Idol (thanks to Darlene), the original CSI show and any Montreal Canadiens hockey games I can fit in. And that's about it.

It seems I'm not the only person whose life has seen TV slip away as a regular source of entertainment, based on this article Why TV Lost.

"Gotta love mammoth"

Imagine if Twitter existed thousands of years ago.....

Facebook photo spamming

A friend of mine just came up with a new Facebook meme. He gets the credit, I get the glory.

It's called 'photo spamming'. It's where you go onto someone's Facebook page and make obvious or mundane comments on their photos.

I suppose it's a fun way to be annoying without doing any real damage.

So for example, someone could comment on this picture in one of my Facebook photo albums: "Karl taking pictures of snow-capped mountains while driving... yeah!"

Credit to Andrew Phung for the concept.

Would you have bought a Blackberry....

.... if they had called it a LeapFrog? Because they were going to at one point.

A short article about the origins of a few high tech trademark names including Wikipedia, the Blackberry and TiVo.

Travel in groups

I found this funny advertisement featuring penguins.

OJ - not really from Florida anymore

Here's a great Q&A with Alissa Hamilton, who wrote a book about the real story behind orange juice. There's a lot we probably don't know about this beverage. The article is a great read.

Blog broke

My apologies if you couldn't see any posts on this blog since last night. I had a slight blog malfunction which I seem to have corrected using a combination of skill and cunning.

Who am I kidding? I took a wild guess and was right.

Interview with Rob Stefaniuk of Loose Moose

The interviews with members of Loose Moose past and present continue. I have a chat with my friend Rob Stefaniuk. Rob and I met while we were both attending a public improv workshop offered by Loose Moose Theatre around 2 years ago. Rob is a fast talking, funny individual who has a heart of gold. I like to think of him as the friendly giant. He's gonna love that I said that. I hope to do some work with Rob in the future.

Here's the interview.

The photo is a late addition. Rob as Le Hulk. Sorry Rob - you said I could help myself to the Facebook photos......

Remotes....... like.. WTF?

In the realm of technology, nothing has received as little innovation as the remote control. Most remote controls are designed for men. They have a plethora of buttons, 75% of which offer access to features that you'll likely never use. The labels beside the buttons are so small as to require the youthful vision of a 20 year old - I can only read them with glasses, Darlene can't read them at all. Of course, she may just be faking not being able to read them - she doesn't look forward to having to use these remotes at all and has resorted to punishing me by forcing me into writing a step by step guide on how to turn the surround system / TV / cable box / DVD player on and off - complete with device map (seen above), because she couldn't tell a DVD player from a VCR from a PVR if her life depended on it. Nor could any woman who has been given the daunting task of coming into the family room and trying to watch a movie without my assistance.

Why does it have to be this way? We have put rovers on Mars, have robots that build cars and have built phones that are mini computer / phone / PDA combinations with intuitive touch screen interfaces. But we still have clunky, push-button remotes stretching the limits of 1970s technology. Yeah sure, you can buy touch screen universal remotes that supposedly replace every other remote in your house and consolidate the functions on one master world-dominating beast, but the thing typically weighs 3 pounds, costs more than some of the devices it controls and uses up batteries faster than a sex toy in a bawdy house.

Manufacturers are missing the point. We shouldn't even need remotes. If a surround receiver can automatically adjust the volume going to all fifty speakers (yes - I'm exaggerating) using a microphone and a test tone, why can't it listen for our commands and do our bidding?

"System... ON."
"Watch TV... channel 6."
"Set Volume for Karl."

Those voice commands should be enough to turn everything on that needs turning on, select the channel and set the volume at a predetermined rate. For the technologically challenged, the system should sense when the user doesn't understand the command structure and offer assistance.

System: "Do you want to watch TV?"
Darlene: "No."
System: "Do you want to watch a movie?"
Darlene: "Yes."
System: "DVD or pre-recorded PVR program?"
Darlene: "DVD."
System: "Is the DVD inserted in the player?"
Darlene: "Yes."

Done. And done. Is that so hard? I don't think so.

Get paid to put your clothes on

Back in the 1970's, models were lucky if they made $75 a (working) day to be walking clothes hangers. On the other side of the spectrum, Margaux Hemingway signed a plump $1 million contract with Faberge.

Today, salaries are much higher. Gisele Bündchen makes $35 million per year.

Who says it doesn't pay to be pretty?

VCR still has value

Have you got a VCR lying around collecting dust? Don't throw it away!

This video shows you what can be salvaged from an old VCR.

I couldn't replicate what was shown in the video, so I must be doing it wrong.