Filed under: Robots

Yeah, as in, it actually wants a “psychologically inspired object recognition system.” What’s that, you ask? It’s giving robots and mechanical creatures the ability to see objects the way humans do and make reasonable judgments based on those sights. Essentially, the military would love to see bots have something similar to spatial memory, which would enable ‘em to “mentally rotate objects in order to match the object to different representations.” When looking at the main objective of this here endeavor, however, we can’t help but have mixed feelings. We’re kosher with increasing “robotic control,” but creating “exponential expansion of robotic capabilities and intelligence” might not be the smartest thing to do in the long run.

[Via Wired, image courtesy of ACM]

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Via [Engadget]

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Method devised for pwning first-gen iPhones running 2.0 via Windows

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Feeling a little left out after yesterday’s Mac-based Pwnage Tool festivities, Windows users? Fret not, because the ever-vigilant, ever-studious hacking community has managed to come up with a series of steps to get you back on your feet again with a fully pwned first-gen handset. The whole shebang isn’t necessarily for the most casual jailbreakers — let’s just say it isn’t quite as straightforward as the Mac procedure yet — but it’ll allegedly get you going if you’re starting with an iPhone running 1.1.4 (there are additional steps if you jumped the gun on 2.0, you impatient son of a gun, you — think of it as penance). As always, exercise extreme caution, understand that this could cause your iPhone to spontaneously combust into a useless pile of metal, plastic, and ash, and let us know how it goes in comments.

[Thanks, Z-]

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Eee PC 1000H Price Drops, Now $549 [Asus Eee Pc 1000h]

Looks like Asus listened to us when we complained about the price of their biggest and best Eee PC yet, the Eee PC 1000H. It’s been on sale for less than a week, but Newegg’s already dropped the price by $100. In case that was the only thing preventing you from taking a bite out of Eee, go pick it up now for $549. [Mobile Stylus]

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Psystar HQ Up for Sale, Buy It Now for $4.6 Million [Psystar]

Not looking so good on the Psystar front. Following Apple’s inevitable lawsuit and demand that every Mac clone be recalled, apparently their HQ is on the market and “priced for quick sale” by owners Constructora Canahuati. “Find new headquarters” is a hell of an addition to an already busy to-do list. [Yahoo!, Thanks Sean!]

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What the Hell is Going On in Potters Field? [Crash Landings]

These photos, taken from a Flickr set, show what appears to be some sort of crashed spacecraft in London’s Potters Field. They offer no explanation as to what’s going on over there across the pond. Do any of you know what this is? Movie shoot? Publicity stunt? Photoshoppery? Actual alien invasion? Let’s hear your guesses, both educated and uneducated, in the comments. Update: It’s an ad for a new car. Boo.
[Flickr via NotCot]

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Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle for $3000 [DIY]

For DIYers with a lot more technical know-how than cash, an Instructables user has put up a really interesting tutorial on building an electric motorcycle using just $3000. The vehicle has a 70mph top speed, but can only go about 10 miles before it needs to be recharged. It’s great for a quick trip to the store, if you don’t make any unexpected stops along the way. With gas prices being what they are, you should probably try to make it so everything you would normally need to get to is less than 10 miles away anyhow. [Instructables via Uberreview]

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Apple apologizes for its MobileMe mess, admits bungle on “push,” offers 30-days free

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops

After six long days, Apple has issued an official statement on the debacle that was / is the MobileMe transition, and has offered a 30-day extension to contracts as an olive branch to disgruntled users. According to a form letter being sent to subscribers, the company openly admits that the switch to MobileMe was “a lot rockier than hoped,” and claims that the service is now running smoothly. Additionally (and somewhat surprisingly) Apple rescinded its use of the word “push” to cover all of its services, conceding that while there is indeed push to-and-from iPhones and the “cloud,” computers are still being polled every 15 minutes… which is the same as .Mac (and honestly Apple, you didn’t know that wasn’t technically push?). We suppose this would be all well and good provided that MobileMe was actually functioning as advertised, but indications from readers — and our own testing — suggest otherwise. Customers are still having difficulties with email and syncing between iPhones and the cloud (duplicate messages, deleted messages that don’t leave the inbox, etc.), the advertised “auto-complete” on mail addressing doesn’t function at all, and calendars are plagued with small moving / deletion problems, as well as being unable to sync subscriptions… and that’s just off the top of our head (see the company’s support forums for more). The 30-day extension is a nice gesture Apple, but we’re thinking customers would prefer a service that works as advertised.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Birdcage Backpack Will Get Both You and Your Bird Beat Up [What]

This is a backpack that doubles as a birdcage. You can carry your bird around with you. On your back. In the birdcage backpack. TGIF, am I right, guys?? [Designboom via Coolest Gadgets]

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Eee PC 1000H gets a $100 price drop

Filed under: Laptops

It’s only been on sale for six days, but the pricetag on the Eee PC 1000H just dropped by $100, down to $549. We’re not sure if early buyers will get that extra Benny back, but it certainly can’t hurt to ask — and ASUS, while you’re at it, how about taking a little off the 901 as well?

[Via Mobile Stylus; thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Robots

Yeah, as in, it actually wants a “psychologically inspired object recognition system.” What’s that, you ask? It’s giving robots and mechanical creatures the ability to see objects the way humans do and make reasonable judgments based on those sights. Essentially, the military would love to see bots have something similar to spatial memory, which would enable ‘em to “mentally rotate objects in order to match the object to different representations.” When looking at the main objective of this here endeavor, however, we can’t help but have mixed feelings. We’re kosher with increasing “robotic control,” but creating “exponential expansion of robotic capabilities and intelligence” might not be the smartest thing to do in the long run.

[Via Wired, image courtesy of ACM]

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Via [Engadget]

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