Bud Battle Bots

I'm not sure why Budweiser has some of the best commercials; perhaps the creative staff is under the influence of the product.



No mercy!!

Posted By: gdanea - Tue Jul 07, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Robots

A Third Helping of Food Related Weirdness

A UK school has banned students from including bananas in their lunchboxes, because one teacher has a severe allergy to them. The teacher from the Plymouth school is said to have a "potentially fatal" reaction to bananas (so is presumably also unable to visit supermarkets or parks), causing her council employers to recommend the fruit be excluded from her work environment (Mirror)

Somewhere that teacher may want to cross off her list of holiday destinations is Wilmington, Ohio as the town has just held its 15th annual Banana Split Festival in honour of the supposed invention of the dish, in Wilmington, in 1907. The festival also features the "Banana Split Master’s Competition", now in it's 5th year, won this year by Pete Kramme for his "Sweet and Salty Banana Split", which adds cream cheese and pretzels to the traditional recipe (Wilmington News Journal).

Speaking of odd flavours, here's a two-fer. First up, the Double-Down Saloon is offering two-for-the-price-of-one on it's 'eye watering' bacon-vodka martini on Jun 19th, in celebration of National Martini Day (Examiner). Also, a UK barman hopes to beat the credit-crisis this summer by selling beer flavoured ice-cream. The barman, David Wardleworth, is keeping the exact recipe a secret beyond saying that is does include "Thwaites Original" British cask ale. Despite a historic reputation for liking their beer warm, the ice-cream is apparently proving popular with the British public (Burnley Express).

And it turns out weird flavours are not the only way the recession is impacting the world of ice-cream. The poor economy, combined with lower gas prices, has apparently fuelled a boom in ice-cream trucks, whose drivers stand to make from $100 to $200 a day. And it's not just the money and the lure of being your own boss that drivers find rewarding, according to driver John Jones "You get to see a lot of happy people, you get a lot of smiles." (Wichita Eagle).

And the ice-cream business certainly looks about to boom in Linden, NJ, where police are preparing to hand out tickets for free ice-cream to any kids they see wearing a helmet when cycling; the tickets will also include information about a recent law change, that makes helmets compulsory for under-17s. Even better, no child will be left out as the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey is supplying free cycling helmets for children, also available from those friendly boys in blue (My Central Jersey).



More in extended >>

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Tue Jun 16, 2009 - Comments (7)
Category: Food, Health, Jobs and Occupations, Politics, Robots

Transformers Are Real! ... Well, Sort Of

A few years ago, a neighbor of my parents, a man who owned a construction company, parked a backhoe in his driveway. The surrounding neighbors nearly had a riot over how the machine was lowering the value of their property just by being there. So you can imagine how this guy's neighbors might feel. Carlos Owens of Wasilla, Alaska, a former Army mechanic, had a dream. His dream was to create a giant metal robot that could mirror the movements of its human pilot. Now the "mecha", as he calls it, has become a reality. It has taken him four years and cost approximately $25,000, but just think of all the fun you could have with one of these.

Posted By: Nethie - Mon Jun 08, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Inventions, Motor Vehicles, Puppets and Automatons, Robots

Eyeborg

Rob Spence, a filmmaker in Canada, who lost his right eye has now replaced that eye with a camera. Engineer Kosta Grammatis designed a video camera and transmitter that would fit into a prosthetic eye. Just think of all the possibilities. Waring: video does contain a very brief scene of eye surgery in the beginning. Eyeborg

Eyeborg Phase II from eyeborg on Vimeo.

Posted By: mdb777 - Tue Jun 02, 2009 - Comments (1)
Category: Body Modifications, Robots, Video, Experiments

So, We Taste Like Bacon?

Ever wondered what human flesh would taste like but you've never been trapped in the Andes due to a horrific plane crash? Then this cute little robot has the answer. Designed by researchers in Japan, the Winebot is supposed to be for sorting different types of wine, cheese and hors d'oeuvres. But when a reporter placed his hand against the sensor, he was declared to be "bacon". Anyone care to confirm?

Posted By: Nethie - Mon May 04, 2009 - Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Body, Cannibalism, Inventions, Robots

The Hopkins Beast

Back in the early 1960s, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab created one of the first autonomous robots. They called it "The Beast." From Popular Science, Sep 1964:


The picture of "The Beast" comes from frc.ri.cmu.edu.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 22, 2008 - Comments (3)
Category: Robots, Technology

The Killer Robots

Those for whom GWAR no longer is sufficient might like to check out The Killer Robots. Here is their MySpace Page.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 21, 2008 - Comments (9)
Category: Costumes and Masks, Music, Robots