For only $199, you can now buy Roomba, a small horseshoe crab-like robot that can vacuum a room automatically. The company building this is called irobot and is led by a former head of M.I.T.’s AI lab and two former graduate students, so there is actually sound technology behind this endeavour. I’m still waiting for Rosie The Robot, myself.
In yet another preposterously idiotic step in the ongoing clash of music companies with “music pirates,” new CDs by Tori Amos and Pearl Jam are being distributed to reviewers inside Sony WalkMans that are glued shut and with headphones glued on (NY Times link – free registration required). So according to the letter of the DMCA, “humans are now circumvention devices” if they figure out how to get the players open ;-). How asinine is this?
The Tenacious D video of “Tribute” is pretty damn cool. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Tenacious D, it’s a rock band with Jack Black and Kyle Gass. Jack Black’s somewhat hyperkinetic acting style is pretty well reflected in his music, and the video is hilarious. I also found a Flash animation video they did called “F*ck Her Gently.” This one is also pretty funny, although definitely NSFW.
Follow-up: CNN has picked up the story about Buzz Aldrin that I reported on yesterday and has added some details.
You might remember the horrible TV show that purported that all of the moon landings were elaborately-staged hoaxes. Well, at least one astronaut has taken umbrage with this recently. Earlier this week 72 year-old Buzz Aldrin allegedly “struck a man in the face…after the man asked Aldrin to swear on a Bible that he had been to the moon.” The story is skimpy on details, but I for one will go out on a limb and say the man deserved it. I’d also like to know more about the man so that I can make fun of him for getting beat up by a 72-year old.
Labatt’s has perfected the technology of pouring a perfect draft beer every time with their new “tower” and specially shaped glasses. I think this is pretty damn cool, especially as it comes from the makers of one of my favorite beers. I wonder when (if?) we’ll see this in the States…
Out Of This World is a beautifully done page that chronicles the development of celestial atlases from 1482 to 1851. I’ve always been fascinated with maps, but the lavish illustrations of constellations found here are on another level.
