This is hilarious, this bar owner, Rufus Terrill of Atlanta, decided to take matter into his own hands and built a robotic security guard. He calls it the ‘Bum-bot,’ while the rest of the neighborhood calls it ‘Robocop,’ because he uses it to deter homeless from trespassing on his property.

He made use of an old barbecue smoker and mounted it on a three-wheeled scooter. The bot is equipped with an infrared camera, loudspearker, spotlight and an aluminum water cannon. He uses the camera to watch his property, the loudspeaker to yell at people from his walkie-talkie and the water cannon to shoot a stream of icy water about 20 feet.

On this night, as Terrill and his robot make their way to the street corner, he shines the robot’s spotlight on the parking lot of the daycare center. One by one, the shadowy figures stand up, walk away and saunter down the street.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, when I go up there and once I turn the spotlight on and I talk to them through the speaker, they leave,” he says.

Link

On Instructables there is an article on how to build your own Steampunk Chicken-Walker costume.

This guy designed this costume on his own and let me say, it definitely something different. There are six legs involved; two legs are the chicken-walker legs, two legs are seated and two legs to power the costume. No the instructions do not teach you to make a real chicken-walker, this is just a costume and you power it with your own two legs.

While not fast enough to keep up with 6-year-old trick-or-treaters as they went from house to house, I was still able to walk down the street and show off to passers by. The most common reaction was along the lines of “Wow! That’s the coolest costume I’ve ever seen — what the heck are you?!? I also got little kids (and some older kids, who really should know better) asking me how the thing was powered, several adults admitting they couldn’t figure out how the thing worked, and at least one little girl bursting into tears as she saw me ambling towards her. All in all, I’d say it was a big success :).

So if you want a cool costume that makes little kids cry and adults look like idiots then go check out how to make your very own steampunk chicken-walker.

This is a dream come true for many of my geekier friends. Two loves at odds, who will win…and how fast…10 seconds…20 seconds…

How in the hell did I miss this one from Johnnie Walker:

Thanks Karina for the link.

I had not seen this clip, if you have not it’s an amazing. The time-lapsed view of large scale robotics and how they make them move and look so real really is somethign to see.

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This is so real looking, it’s kind of freaky. I just feel bad for the prof when his robot twin gets dates and he is left with his tools trying to make a fembot.

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I’m not sure if this is funny or sad. Either way it’s entertaining and shows what a percentage of the population does for fun. Albeit a small percentage.

BTW- That’s a College Humor headline, beautiful.

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Dig Robots, check it.

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According to a speech given by Ray Kurzweil at last week’s SCO6 supercomputing conference, humans will have the technology to live forever in about 15-30 years. 

Quite a bold claim.  And as much as I want to live for a millenium or so, I usually disregard such claims as just kinda stupid.  Don’t get me wrong, we’re going to get there, but it just doesn’t seem likely that it’s 15 years away.  However, Kurzweil isn’t exactly a nut job.  And his new book that documents how our biologies will seemlessly merge with GNR*, , has been endorsed by MIT profs, physicists.. even Bill Gates.

Kurzweil says he measured the progress of computing and tech over the past 25 years and projected it into the future.  A couple of his predictions:

- Doctors will be doing a backup of our memories by the late 2030s

- By the late 2020s, doctors will be sending intelligent bots, or nanobots, into our bloodstreams to keep us healthy, and into our brains to keep us young

- Scientists will be able to rejuvenate all of someone’s body tissues and organs by transforming their skin cells into youthful versions of other cell types

So, I guess what I’m driving at is this - you better make peace with all those annoying family members you’re sitting across the Thanksgiving table from today, because you may be dealing with them for a loooong time.

* For you Trailer Park denizens that happen to be reading this, I regret to inform you that “GNR” stands for “genetics, nanotechnology, robotics”.  I am afraid you will not have the opportunity to merge with Guns ‘n’ Roses anytime in the near future.  So please put away your Bic, cover your tits, and get off your boyfriend’s shoulders.  —Thanks, Dhadmin

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ThinkGeek is a great place to shop for the geek in your life. Here is one of those gadgets that will certainly keep your geek locked up and giddy for days.

More from ThinkGeek: Explore the dangerous terrain of your home or office with the SRV-1 Mobile Robot. 

This palm sized bot packs tank-like treads, a 32-bit ARM processor and a mini video camera.



The included wireless transmitter interfaces via USB with any PC up to 300 feet away. The Java based host software supports Windows, Mac or Linux OS and features a built-in web server to monitor and control the SRV-1 Robot with a web browser anywhere in the world. Live video from the robot updates at a few frames per second and runs at resolutions of up to 320 x 240. The built in proximity sensors can be toggled on or off to assist when driving the robot manually.

An autonomous roving mode allows the SRV-1 to explore independently while avoiding obstacles. Video surveillance recording can be scheduled based on time or date and saved as an AVI video file. Built in web based user-management controls who has access to pilot the robot or change settings.

Multiple users can watch the live video feed from the robot without having access to control it. The included software is completely open source on both the host computer end and the robot firmware.

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