I noticed today on my RSS feed for TheForce.net there was a news blurb about Luke’s prosthetic hand from Star Wars might soon become a reality. I tried clicking on the full article located at MSN but for some reason it didn’t come up for me. After a google search I found an article located on the IEEE Spectrum site that had more information. The prosthetic arm was nicknamed “Luke Arm” by Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway. An interesting video found via Engadget shows the arm in use and explains the modular approach used in manufacturing. It looks like the project’s fate lies in the hands of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) which has funded the first two phases. If clinical trials are approved, it is possible that veterans could have access to these as early as next year.
Luke Skywalker bionic arm waiting on green light for clinical trials.
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Willow Garage to make domestic robot development open sourceWillow Garage to make domestic robot development open source
I found this C|Net news article via Slashdot talking about a company named Willow Garage that hopes to develop domestic robots, autonomous boats, and autonomous cars. I’m especially interested in this development since I’m such a fan of Asimov, who is attributed to first using the term ‘robotics’. I’m not sure that there will be any sentient robots any time soon, but I’m glad to see that the development information will be open source. I think that keeping the design specifications open will be a good thing, rather then keep them secret which could lead to a monopoly like US Robotics and Mechanical Men in Asimov’s writing.
How far do you think robotics will have progressed 10, 20, or even 50 years from now? I’m interested in reading your comments about this.
Star Wars – The Original Trilogy Bonus Discs – Widescreen DVDStar Wars – The Original Trilogy Bonus Discs – Widescreen DVD
Released September 12, 2006
I can’t tell you how sad I was when George Lucas said that the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars Trilogy would never be released on DVD. This statement was the only reason I purchased the SE DVD box set. I figured I could ignore most of the stupid changes that were made. Low and behold George Lucas changed his mind and decided to release it this year. I was ready to buy them until I realized it would only be released as a “Bonus” disk to the Re-Release of the SE DVDs. Not only would I have to re-purchase DVDs I already owned, I would be getting a sub-par Laserdisc transfer that was only 4×3 Letterboxed (non-anamorphic). I personally hate the SE version. I thought Lucas had lost his mind when he took away Han Solo shooting first and removing my favorite Ewok song just to name a few things. There was no way in hell I was going to buy those again just to get the bonus disks. Luckily, I noticed Netflix was offering them as rentals so I popped them in my queue and did a visual comparison and was surprised by the results. I didn’t really compare the audio. (more…)
Contact by Carl SaganContact by Carl Sagan
If I remember correctly, I saw Contact (the movie) in the theater when it came out. I enjoyed it and always wondered how it compared to the book. It turned out that my future wife owned the book, but I didn’t get around reading it until now. Of course movies rarely ever measure up to the novels they are based on, and this was no exception. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was good, however it just scratched upon the surface of what the novel contains. (more…)