The LandShark UGV robot.
(Credit: Black-I Robotics)A robotics company founded by a father who lost his son to the Iraq war has garnered an $800,000 contract with the U.S. military.
Black-I Robotics makes an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) called the LandShark that can be used as a platform to disable bombs, provide reconnaissance, and carry wounded soldiers from the battlefield. The LandShark robot can also be used at home in the U.S. as an aid to first responders for search-and-rescue, firefighting, Hazmat, and SWAT efforts, and even in agriculture, according to a company statement.
"We believe UGV chassis should be thought of as Jeeps which can then be modified for specific missions," the company said in a statement.
The Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) , a group funded mostly by the Department of Defense, awarded a contract to Black-I Robotics on July 1 to provide two working versions of the robot to be tested out by the military and one version to be used in a Homeland Security capacity at Logan Airport in Boston, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The Tyngsboro, Mass.-based company was founded in 2006 by Brian Hart, whose son, John Daniel Hart, was killed in an unarmored Humvee near Taza, Iraq, in 2003.
The tragedy catalyzed Hart to speak out publicly about the lack of proper body armor and other defensive equipment available to military men and women in Iraq. Since 2005, Hart has also maintained a blog chronicling the failures and successes of the Iraq war, as well as injustices going on elsewhere in the world.
But he took his concern one step further by trying to develop a robust robot that can be made cheaply and thus be provided to more soldiers for protection.
To that end, Black-I Robotics uses some open-source software and off-the-shelf hardware in conjunction with its own proprietary technology. The different modules that customers can have added to the LandShark platform include plows, radios, arms, and trailers (demonstrated in this company video).
This is not a mirror image
(Credit: Anything Left-Handed)Just to be clear, we don't have anything against specialty mice--quite the contrary, actually. We just like to see features that make sense, such as this model made specifically for lefties.
It's obviously not the first mouse of its kind, but most of the ones we've seen are made to be used by the ambidextrous. And we think that's a two-handed slap in the face to natural southpaws. On the other hand (OK, we'll stop), the awesomely named "Cherry Ergo-Shark" is made for only for left-handed mousers, a wireless navigator with seven buttons, four-way scrolling, and a Teflon sliding surface, according to SlashGear.
Thumbs up and high fives all around.
While the battle to access your music and video files on the go continues both of the software front with services like Qloud, Orb and Simplify Media, there's also the hardware side of things with placeshifting technology from Sling Media, SanDisk and others. Ultimately people want a really simple way to enjoy their stuff elsewhere with a soft or Webware experience that's easy to use.
rVibe is an interesting piece of Windows software that opened up its doors to the public last month. It's half jukebox, half social music marketplace that's taken a new approach to music pricing and sharing by giving users a sizable array of songs that can be both streamed and downloaded using two different price points. While the music comes from a combination of sources, the actual transfer of the songs is handled via p2p in a similar fashion to Napster in the days or yore.
Listen to tracks on your hard drive and get recommendations on tracks for sale from your friends with rVibe.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Streaming a song will cost you $.03 a pop, while downloading an entire copy (sans-DRM and at a audiophile-friendly 320 kbps) runs $.99. RVibe has a built-in recommendation service that lets you suggest a track you've purchased to one of your friends. If they end up buying it, you get $.05 back, which can either be spent on more music or donated to charity. It's also worth noting that every time you pay for a streamed song, it will reduce the price of purchasing the track by subtracting the price of a streaming session, all the way down to $.78 a track (or seven streamed plays). While there's a preview portion of the service called "auditions" I wouldn't mind seeing a super low cost streaming option in other popular online music stores to avoid purchasing songs with deceptively good preview clips.
Today they're launching "rVibe Anywhere" which is their personal streaming component. Assuming you've got a copy of rVibe running on the machine with your music library, you can get full access to all your tracks, along with the capability to share any purchased songs with others with an embeddable player widget. While the incredibly popular iTunes software from Apple can accomplish similar feats locally (and across the Web by fooling it with plug-ins), rVibe's solution is a little more extensible from the get go when it comes to making music sharing a social experience. Despite Apple launching their own set of Widgets earlier this year, clicking on a song still requires firing up iTunes, which everyone might not have.
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(Credit:
Wooster Collective)
I don't think I really need to stress that sharks are pretty hot right now on Crave. That's why we're loving this piece of street art photographed in the Russian city of Petrozavodsk--a telephone booth decorated to look like a hungry shark that wants to eat you for a tasty snack. Jabberjaw would be proud.
Unfortunately, telephone booths here in the States don't tend to be designed in that cool shape that accommodates shark-ifying so well. Besides, when was the last time you actually used one?
(Via Wooster Collective)
Cliff (left) and Pat show off their Battle Blast Hammerheads.
(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)Why are these two pasty shirtless dudes showing off inflatable sharks? Well, I'll tell you...you'll just have to read on.
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(Credit:
Discovery Channel Store)
I'm going to say it up front: this remote-controlled hammerhead shark does not serve any useful purpose whatsoever. It's only two feet long, so it's not very scary. It can only be controlled from up to 50 feet away, so it's not like you could really hide from it. And it can only dive in up to 8 feet of water.
So, basically, it's a glorified pool toy.
Nevertheless, I think this is awesome. I mean, a remote-controlled shark that swims around? And his eyes light up! And at $80, he only costs as much as an iPod Shuffle! Folks, sometimes you don't need a reason.
But I still wish he had a laser beam on his head.
(Via Uber-Review)
(Credit:
Red Ferret)
After all these years, it's amazing that those infuriating plastic "bubble packs" are still around. By now, we'd have thought for sure that there would have been a major class action over bodily injury caused by the sharp edges of this horrible stuff.
Until that day, we may have to try out something called the "Package Shark" that supposedly opens the hated material cleanly and, more important, safely. If it works as easily as it appears to in the company's video, we're getting one for sure. We totally agree with Red Ferret's clarion call: "Death to blister packs."
(Credit:
Shark Shield)
Surfing in shark-infested waters isn't exactly our idea of fun, but we feel obligated to mention this item for all the California Cravers out there. Australia-based Shark Shield (gotta love that name) has released the board-mounted "Surf," which it describes as "the first electronic shark-deterrent system specifically designed for surfers."
Creating a "shark-safe zone" that's about 26 feet in diameter, the system supposedly generates an electrical field that the offending shark senses through receptors in its snout. (We're not making this up.) The fish then goes into "muscular spasms" that renders it incapable of attack or probably much of anything else--but, according to Spluch, sharky will suffer no lasting ill effects so PETA won't get on your case.
It costs nearly $700, but that seems like a reasonable price considering the alternatives (missing limbs, etc.). Just be sure to keep an eye on the time: If you go past seven hours, the battery may run out--and probably right at feeding time.
(Credit:
WetSand)
Now this item should prove Crave's dedication, given that it's so foreign to us on so many fronts. Among them: surfing (no), frigid water (sorry) and physical exertion in general (sounds vaguely familiar).
But if you're into that sort of thing, you might well be interested in the "Hangair Wetsuit Drying System" (and probably from California--just a wild guess). Popgadget says this state-of-the-art technology employs "a two-speed, high-powered waterproof fan to ensure ventilation for your wetsuit or other sports apparel and is constructed out of Nylon 66 for durability." As for us, we'd prefer to save the $70 it costs and enjoy the surf from a nearby pub.
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