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Flying drones inside burning buildings while looking for disaster survivors is incredibly hard, but it's also one of the most promising applications of the machines. That's why the Gimball search and rescue drone, billed as the world's first collision-proof drone, was just awarded $1 million in the United Arab Emirates' Drones for Good competition.

Read more...

KREMLIN: DON'T ISSUE ULTIMATUMS TO PUTIN...


(Third column, 15th story, link)

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Related stories:

World leaders scramble to avert 'dramatic spiral' in Ukraine...
Tense Moments as Fireball Erupts Into Night Sky...

DARPA has funded the development of all kinds of crazy killer robots and some of them are pretty impressive, but as far as doing delicate tasks, we are still at the point where they work best if a human is controlling them. RE2 Robotics thinks this is the best approach too, so they made some robot arms that can make balloon animals.

The Highly Dexterous Manipulation System (HDMS) is only half the weight of most robotic torsos, but it doubles the strength of its human operator, making it perfect for military and rescue work. The robot can go into a dangerous situation and do things like disarm a bomb, dig out a survivor and even make balloon animals at kids’ parties. When it tires of that, it can twist us all up like pretzels.

Joking aside, it is truly amazing how this robot can handle such delicate tasks.

[IEEE Spectrum via Gizmodo]

This weekend, I was thumbing through my highlighted copy of David Stockman's The Great Deformation (about which I wrote a lengthy and over-the-top laudatory review last September here) when this passage caught my eye:

In case you've been helping Elon Musk establish the new Martian Colony over the past nine months, you might have missed what's been going on with black tea:

(Incidentally, I wouldn't get too excited about the bounce we've seen over the past couple of weeks; unlike Cramer, I don't think this "smells like a bottom" - - but that's probably a field of study about which he's better acquainted than me. But I digress..........).

On the one hand, oil has indeed fallen to $50 (and well below it) as Stockman anticipated; on the other, if there's a worldwide recession going on (and perhaps there is, the very beginnings of one), it sure isn't yet apparent from the mass media.

Perhaps, as in 2008, commodities are a very large canary in a very crowded coalmine. I am highly confident Mr. Stockman's prediction about North Dakota is going to come all too true. And, as a parting shot, I must suggest (nay, insist) to those who haven't bought and read the book - please do so. It is excellent, from beginning to end. There are many other predictions in the book which will probably unfold much as the one regarding crude oil has.

Looks pretty cold in Walmart today. Better toss on a really thin shirt and no bra.

South Carolina

The post Cutting Glass appeared first on People Of Walmart.

I’d pretty much say that it is.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Shiro & Friends

Samsung is taking some heat for the fact their newest "smart" TVs may record, store and distribute recorded conversations in the home. Over the last few years Microsoft, Comcast and Verizon have all filed patents for DVR technology that would monitor people in your living room to deliver more suitable ads. LG similarly took some heat in 2013 because their "smart" TV transmitted user viewing habits.

Now it's Samsung that's taking heat for the fact the company's smart TV privacy policy contains this little nugget of information:

quote:

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Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party, the policy reads.

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The effort appears more innocent than previous efforts to embed living room monitoring technology in TVs and set tops. Still, Samsung is sending home conversations out into the world; that could be trouble given some studies suggest the security embedded in most of these televisions is little more than a joke. Samsung offered up this statement on the matter:

quote:

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"Samsung takes consumer privacy very seriously. In all of our Smart TVs we employ industry-standard security safeguards and practices, including data encryption, to secure consumers personal information and prevent unauthorized collection or use. Voice recognition, which allows the user to control the TV using voice commands, is a Samsung Smart TV feature, which can be activated or deactivated by the user. The TV owner can also disconnect the TV from the Wi-Fi network."

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I personally like my televisions as dumb as possible. Not so much because I care about my television watching me, but because I tend to keep my televisions for ten years or so. I'd rather save money on a television without internal components that will be obsolete in three years, and make my own choices in terms of what kind of third party streaming and entertainment hardware I connect to it.
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Didga (short for didgeridoo) the cat performs an impressive roll-over trick with her two rottweiler housemates, Lucy and Phoenix.

Previously: Didga Jumps Over Dog While Riding Skateboard

[catmantoo]

Funny one we got in the email today. Is there a non-grainy version of this pic out there?

11 girls in yoga pants in airports »

via

 

The post Reasons I upgrade my software… appeared first on Bits and Pieces.