tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499405906433997752024-03-08T16:08:54.787-08:00WaitsVilleRandom musings and Potentially Cool things.TWaitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06572234158147415202noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49940590643399775.post-51500665519037772102010-09-21T13:42:00.000-07:002010-09-21T13:44:14.102-07:00Japanese Moon Base!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I read about this months ago, but having recently started this blog I figure what better place to discuss it?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">So the basic idea is Japan hopes to have large humanoid robots on the moon by 2015, 660 pound behemoth bots with tracks instead of legs, But humanoid none the less. These bots will be equipped with seismographs and humanoid arms for gathering and collecting sample</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> that will be returned to Earth via rocket. The robots will be controlled from Earth, but they'll also be imbued with their own kind of machine intelligence, making decisions on their own and operating with a high degree of autonomy. These will be surveyor bots designed to pave the way for base construction. They hope to finish construction by 2020.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050228/moonbase.grid-6x2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050228/moonbase.grid-6x2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>above:</i> Artists conception of partial base.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>below:</i> Official concept design for initial robots</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.technovelgy.com/graphics/content10/japan-robot-moon-base.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.technovelgy.com/graphics/content10/japan-robot-moon-base.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><i>"</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><i>Those initial surveyor bots will pave the way for the construction of the unmanned moon base near the lunar south pole, which the robots will construct for themselves. That base will be solar powered and provide a working/living space future robot colonizers, as well as -- presumably -- a jumping off point for future human moon dwellers."</i> - popsci.com</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Japan_moon_base.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Japan_moon_base.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>above:</i> Officially released concept</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Any thoughts or opinions on this subject? Discussion is highly encouraged :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>TWaitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06572234158147415202noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49940590643399775.post-48162292027071353342010-09-20T15:54:00.000-07:002010-09-20T15:54:59.943-07:00SNES The right way.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">So while surfing the web I came across this amazing little mod.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/snes-in-a-controller.jpg?w=470&h=176" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="119" src="http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/snes-in-a-controller.jpg?w=470&h=176" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">That, My friends is an SNES controller with an SNES emulator built into it, Plug it in Via USB and you can bring your Super Nintendo anywhere USB is available. Now I think that nintendo should hop on this band wagon and release all of its older systems in this fashion, or at least something similar, thoughts?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
Quote from Hack a Day:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i>"Want to take your SNES emulation to your friend’s house? [Chris] worked out a way to fit</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><a href="http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?t=35526" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i>the important parts inside of an original Super Nintendo controller</i></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i>. He removed the case from a 4GB thumb drive as well as a USB hub. Using a</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><a href="http://www.retrousb.com/index.php?cPath=25" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i>RetroZone kit</i></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i>he gave the controller a USB interface. By soldering the thumb drive and RetroZone board directly to the hub he’s reduced the package down to just one cable. Everything fits inside the controller case and now when you plug it into the computer you can fire up the</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><a href="http://hackaday.com/2009/06/19/usb-reader-for-snes-game-carts/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i>ROMs you copied from your original cartridges</i></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><i>that are stored on the thumb drive."</i></span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Original Link:</span></div><div><a href="http://hackaday.com/2009/12/22/snes-system-in-the-controller/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">http://hackaday.com/2009/12/22/snes-system-in-the-controller/</span></a></div>TWaitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06572234158147415202noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49940590643399775.post-77938113257873605932010-09-20T12:32:00.001-07:002010-09-20T14:21:44.283-07:00Simple Truths<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #252525; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">People seem to be getting dumber and dumber. You know, I mean we have all this amazing technology and yet computers have turned into basically four figure wank machines. The internet was supposed to set us free, democratize us, but all it’s really given us is Howard Dean’s aborted candidacy and 24 hour a day access to kiddie porn. People…they don’t write anymore - they blog. Instead of talking, they text, no punctuation, no grammar: LOL this and LMFAO that. You know, it just seems to me it’s just a bunch of stupid people pseudo-communicating with a bunch of other stupid people at a proto-language that resembles more what cavemen used to speak than the King’s English.</span><br />
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