iRobot has been working in robotics for the military since the early 90’s. They are commercially known more for their Roomba robots.

Reuters put out a great human interest story detailing the attachment and sentiment that has reportedly been built up by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan using robots as tools to perform tasks such as sniffing out bombs and improvise explosive devices.

“‘Please fix Scooby Doo because he saved my life,’ a soldier told repair technicians”

Its not hard to understand the attachment someone could develop for a machine. Naming a rifle was glorified a bit in the movie ‘Full Metal Jacket’ and to an extent this is an extension. In the military, personnell are trained to take care of their equipment as their lives depend on the equipment. A robot that can check to see if a potential object is a bomb, can literally save their life time and time again.

iRobot is hoping to leverage this perception of this attachment into future robotics devices as well. How much could your average consumer appreciate a robot that can actually mow the grass, fold and separate laundry, pick up around the house or diagnose and service your car?

(Uh wait, you’ve got a Mazda 3? Sorry too technical for us, was the words I heard over and over again by quick change oil places when I was on a short business trip in Illinois last month and needed an oil change. If I had a robot to service the car, it might be as simple as downloading an update to the robot overnight, while I’m drinking a beer and watching TV - or more realistically, programming a web page or reading some archane book to teach me how to program something.)

I’ll be up front with my audience here. I’m an Isaac Asimov fan, have been for almost 25 years now. I’ve had the future laid out for me in fiction for a long time coming and Will Smith only gave us a tiny glimpse.

I can’t wait to see what strikes up next.

Soldiers bond with iRobot machine; CEO dreams big

Page Popularity for Site: 16% [?]

Gridlock News provides links to source documents published today by Wired Magazine. The documents detail (down to the wiring detail) how the NSA & AT&T rigged up a ’secret room’ in multiple locations around the country to read internet traffic including messages, emails and surfing activity.

Whistleblower Mark Klein, not covered by the Gag order impacting the EFF, AT&T and the NSA provided copies of the evidence he gave to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which can be read by you now!

click here ->Gridlock News: Read NSA Spying Documents from Whistleblower

here’s a picture of one of the previously secret rooms

Page Popularity for Site: 25% [?]

In a concept straight out of Neil Stephenson’s 1992 book “Snow Crash” real night clubs like the Pussycat Dolls Lounge are setting up virtual clubs on the net.

Visitors can set up an avatar of themselves and listen to the music sets playing, interact with other guests and even some of the celebrities that happen through.

Many other entertainment based clubs and areas are pushing virtual, interactive aspects into their line up. They might not make as much from watered down mixed drinks, but they don’t have to worry about the local fire marshall shutting down the place if it gets too crowded.

For those of you interested in the new trend, watch out for sword packing avatars dressed in black named Hiro Protagonist.
Net nightclubs, virtual venues generate real dollars - Yahoo! News

Page Popularity for Site: 9% [?]

Microsoft has identified the minimum operating requirements for PC’s that might run Microsoft’s future Operating system ‘Windows Vista’ due out next January (2007).

“A ‘Vista Capable’ PC will require at least an 800MHz processor, 512MB of system memory, a DirectX 9 capable graphics card, a 40GB hard drive with at least 15GB of free space, a DVD drive, and audio and internet capabilities.
The only extra requirements for a ‘Vista Premium Ready’ PC are a 1GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 1GB of Ram and a graphics card with 128MB of onboard memory capable of supporting Windows Aero2.”
Several beta testers have indicated that these requirements for even the Premium Ready levels are currently not enough to prevent the OS from operating ’sluggishly’.

If history is a lesson, it will probably be necessary to read between the lines of these guidelines. Typically the minimum levels Microsoft has recommended in the past, would work with a stripped down machine and system, and were more useful for technology enthusiasts that were interested in trying it as an experiment, ‘just to see if it could be done.’ Therefore, these minimum recommendations will probably not be for everyone.
For the higher end recommendations, it has been typical for users to at least consider doubling up on memory and processor per the MS recommendations.
So if MS is recommending 512MB, users probably will need at least 1GB, If MS is recommending at least 1.32Ghz, then shoot for 2.6GHz. If the video card needs 128mb of on board memory, better bet that you’ll need and want 256 or better.

don’t get me wrong, people get lucky and sometimes can cram something into an old machine. I ran office 2000 on a 6 year old laptop with 16mb of ram, running a 1994 version of Windows. Strange things can be done, but don’t bet your job, business, education or career on it. Better safe than sorry, and from what I’ve seen of the new OS, you’ll probably be much happier if you upgrade when the time comes.

Side Note. Vista is due out in January 2007. Preloaded machines from Xmas won’t have the new OS unless a MS Christmas miracle occurs. Therefore, many of the retailers are probably going to go thin on PC/laptop inventory through Christmas expecting a big reset in the spring of 2007. I wouldn’t expect to many bundling options in January or February that make good bargains. However, once all those unsold and returned machines from Christmas get refurbed and put back on the market in February and March of 2007, there could be some interesting hard ware options that will show up.

Microsoft surprises with Vista hardware specs - vnunet.com

Page Popularity for Site: 12% [?]

The RIAA is going after one of its largest paying customers, XM Radio. The RIAA claims that XM’s new product under the Inno name is too much like an MP3 player or an MP3 recorder and therefore is not covered under XM’s current arrangement whereby XM pays to broadcast music. The music industry wanted XM to pay a similar rate such as is imposed on Apple and Sirius (XM’s largest competitor) for the download of music in addition to the broadcast. XM feels that the recording industry is trying to double charge its customers, who pay $12.95 per month and under XM’s vision would not have to pay for a download.

“The lawsuit seeks $150,000 in damages for every song copied by XM Satellite customers using the devices, which went on sale weeks ago. The company said it played 160,000 different songs every month.” This quote out of the New York Times is slightly out of context as XM does state that it broadcasts 160,000 songs each month, but does not say how many songs are being recorded onto these devices.

XM has apparently ruffled some feathers with one of its most important partners, the RIAA. XM had attempted to play nice with the RIAA, this lawsuit seems to indicate a severe breakdown between the partners. Maven Mapper’s next line of inquiry will be to review XM’s financials and compare them to Sirius who by recent accounts has agreed to pay the RIAA the fees they seek.

Its curious that Sirius has accepted this and XM has fought it now all the way to court.

Recording Industry Sues XM Satellite Radio - New York Times

Page Popularity for Site: 18% [?]