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Tokyo Toy Show 2008 - CScoutJapan.com

Sega rolled out creepy insect-dog “Mio”:

Enter The Donut: The Video Game Production Process

Born out of an 1960’s public service budget and an LSD-meets-Grimm’s style One Got Fat is the safety film designed to make bicycling safer by SCARING CHILDREN into eschewing bikes altogether.

Before I get into the nuances of this production, let me just blurt out EVERYONE IS DRESSED LIKE A WEIRD MONKEY PERSON. Using cutting-edge special effects available only to documentarians of the era, each child in this film is wearing a paper mache monkey mask (that looks Wizard of Oz inspired) and each has a long tail. There is no explanation for why the kids are dressed like freaky monkey people but I am guessing that this was done to dehumanize them so that you don’t mind seeing them die.

The film plays out like a classic 1980’s horror film in which a group of young friends get together for a fun outing only to find themselves fighting for their lives as they get picked off one by one. In this case we aren’t really supposed to feel sorry for each of the victims because clearly, they deserve to die because they each neglected to follow one the many rules of bike safety like “Keep Right,” “Always Signal,” “License & Register,” etc.

The stage is set for an afternoon picnic in the park. The monkey-kids are doing things that monkey-kids do like pulling each other’s tails and scratching themselves before heading out on their bikes for the 9-block journey to the park.

As in typical horror films and 1960’s movies with obnoxious children whom get their comeuppance, each death is meted out by in a unique fashion so as to not be too boring. From open manhole covers to steam rollers, there is danger around every corner ready and waiting to claim another victim. After each monkey-kid is dispatched, the narrator offers up a witty remark like “Rooty Left the party” or in the case of a death by lack of night-riding gear, “Stanislaw wasn’t quite bright enough.”

Even as their companions drop off, the caravan to the park picnic continues unabated. These are not the kind of creatures you want to depend on.

The film builds to a dramatic conclusion that finally answers the question “What’s with the title?”

Watch and learn:

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

See More: Holger Pooten Photography

Original Source: Gizmodo

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

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.