XEAI: The accident at the crossroads of art and technology

Happy 2008! We skipped December entirely because it’s been busy – not that you care. Regardless of our business, XEAI will be getting some new material up soon!

In other news, to celebrate the New Year, the USDOT has banned spare lithium batteries in carry-on luggage. The question is, are they banning then because they could be used to fire a detonator…or instead, repacked with explosive? Banned as of today.

Effective January 1, 2008, the following rules apply to the spare lithium batteries you carry with you in case the battery in a device runs low:

* Spare batteries are the batteries you carry separately from the devices they power. When batteries are installed in a device, they are not considered spare batteries.

* You may not pack a spare lithium battery in your checked baggage

* You may bring spare lithium batteries with you in carry-on baggage – see our spare battery tips and how-to sections to find out how to pack spare batteries safely!

* Even though we recommend carrying your devices with you in carry-on baggage as well, if you must bring one in checked baggage, you may check it with the batteries installed.

The following quantity limits apply to both your spare and installed batteries. The limits are expressed in grams of “equivalent lithium content.” 8 grams of equivalent lithium content is approximately 100 watt-hours. 25 grams is approximately 300 watt-hours:

* Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.

* You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.

* For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.

* Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!

More: http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html

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Holger Pooten’s stunning photos of exploded objects are sheer beauty. The elements are static in their action as if they will hang comfortably forever in space. Follow the link (after jump) to see Holger Pooten’s other fine photographic work.

See More: Holger Pooten Photography

Original Source: Gizmodo

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From WASEDA University Sugano Laboratory, the research organization that brought you the robot that could handle and crack an egg, comes “Twendy-One” the uniquely dexterous robot that can gently make toast, carry your stuff, and even pick you up and hold you.

Seven years and several million dollars has produced one of the most complex robots ever constructed. Twendy-One has 241 pressure sensors in each hand, can speak Japanese, and has voice recognition. Like most awesome electronic systems, battery-life kills the buzz with a max charge of only 15 minutes (when the pack doesn’t overheat).

While it’s still in the concept phase, you can see from these videos that Twendy-One represents remarkable progress in multiple systems integration. The videos show Twendy making toast, getting ketchup, carrying a tray, helping a man out of bed, and having some terse conversation.

Based on their current success, researchers hope to have a commercially viable robot by 2015.

Twendy One Website

Source: ABC News

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I bought my first HDTV (I’m up to 3 now) at one of the big retailers. I probably didn’t get the best price but they did offer a lot of extras like installation, no-interest financing, etc. I suspected that I needed to buy cables separately but the sales person never mentioned it and in the whirlwind of purchasing an HD DVR, a wall mount, and maybe something else, I promptly forgot.

It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. The store price for an HDMI cable was around $150 bucks! A component cable was $125 (at least those have come down in price at the stores to a mere $70)!

When the installer showed up and asked me if I had cables I could only shrug and ask me if he could provide them. Of course he happily sold them to me for the aforementioned outrageous prices and then ran them through the wall.

I stewed about the cable prices for a few days…especially the component one since I already knew that component cable is little more than an RCA cable with different colored sheathing. I figured that since the signal is digital, this extra expense was not worth it!

Finally, and with steadfast determination, I yanked all the cables from the wall, cleaned the drywall off of them and took them back to the store for a full refund which I happily received. I then went onto eBay and bought similar cables for about $30 each.

The big chains are counting on people being stupid. It seems logical that if you just bought an expensive HDTV it requires a likewise expensive cable. “I just paid 2 grand for my television of course I want the best cable there is…” It’s all baloney!

Since the narrowly-averted gouging, I have been sharing my story of inexpensive cable purchasing with anyone who will listen. Anytime someone mentions they are going to buy a flat screen I can’t help but burst out with my story.

So, to help people out, I decided to make a website which sorts through eBay and finds the best priced HDMI, Component, and DV cables them lists them automatically. You can check it out at http://cheapvidcables.com

Now I can just point people at my site and I don’t have to bore them with my long-winded story…though it’s much more animated and expletive-filled in-person.

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The first skull and skeleton reconstruction of the Nigersaurus was unveiled today by the National Geographic Society. The dinosaur has a unique head that has an uncanny resemblance to a dustpan…or maybe a vacuum cleaner stairs attachment.

From MSNBC: Dinosaur found with vacuum-cleaner mouth

Image from National Geographic Society

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Funny we were just having a conversation in the carpool about why some animals choose to eat their young…then this article appeared on MSNBC: Cannibalism was found to increase the parent’s reproductive rate

We wonder if there are any historical cases of human infanticide/cannibalism?

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All I can say is “Wow!” Check out this blender…it’s much better than your blender.

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James Andrew Smith is a biomechanics researcher whose work on robot locomotion takes robotic cuteness to the next level. The excited gallop of his Scout II robot and his puppy-like PAW robot convey a happiness and sheer joy that other robots can’t compete with. Just look at how adorable they are!

Excited robot puppies are not far now.

Scout II: Look at that happy gallop!

PAW: It’s bounding! The leash is a nice touch.

Read More: James’ Research: Galloping Robots

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CoinOpVideogames.com has a large assortment of live audio recorded at arcades from the period of 1982-1988. The sound quality is what you would expect from a couple of kids in an arcade with a cassette recorder but it’s charming nonetheless.

It’s a fairly comprehensive collection and very impressive considering that while most kids were busy wasting their allowance without any future benefits, two young friends had the forethought to meticulously preserve the audio from almost every game of the era.

Listen up: CoinOpVideogames.com

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Sclerochronologists¹ from The University of Bangor (Wales) dredged a 405-410 year old clam out of the ocean near Iceland in 2006. The creature, a quahog clam, Arctica islandica beat the previous record of 374 years also held by an Artica.

It is believed that the clam would have lived even longer had it not been dredged out of the ocean by scientists seeking long-lived animals.

Read More: 400 Year Clam Found (University of Bangor)

¹ Sclerochronologists count the rings in clam shells to determine age. Imagine the banter at office parties!

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