Buy Your Own Child for Only 300 Bucks!

Well, just kidding. He's almost a child though....

Yesterday at the Wired Nexfest, David Hanson of Hanson Robotics showed off his pride and joy to groups of fascinated kids and adults. The object of all the attention? Zeno, an AI boy that has his own realistic facial expressions and mannerisms and who recognizes and remembers people's faces and names.

Zeno is named after, and based on, David Hanson's 18 month old son but has been in conception for the last 5 years. Zeno is technically still a prototype (he still has to be connected and positioned next to computers that communicate to him what expressions to make) but Hanson is hard at work on the little dude and plans to make Zenos available for people to buy within the next few years for around $200-$300.

Hanson sees robotics as artistic expression, and if you agree, then you'll admit that this is the epitome of art imitating life. The technology is truly fascinating and makes you wonder about what our world will be like in 50 years if everyone is walking around with robot kids (and robot girlfriends and boyfriends and bosses and friends even?) who look like them. Hanson might just be envisioning our future as such because he believes that the market for robot companions will be hot pretty soon. Some of the folks in Steven Spielberg's AI: Artificial Intelligence (rent this film if you haven't seen it. It's one of the best films of 2001) might beg to differ, however.

Check out the full story and video here.

Of course, if you're mildly creeped out by humanoid looking robots but still love technology and the marriage of art and science, and you have just a smidgen of tech geekiness in you, an awesome book to get you started is a brand new title called Making Things Talk: Practical Methods for Connecting Physical Objects.

And if you're majorly creeped out by robots and concerned about your future safety, this book is a must have: How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion.

Moore, Math, & Mouth Foam




Worth Your While to Watch:
Sicko by Michael Moore


Fascinating film and even more fascinating Web site complete with a "rate your insurance company" database of peeved customers. Say what you will about Michael Moore, but he does have an ingenious plan for health care in the United States.

Our boy Kurt Loder over at MTV News, however, isn't as cuckoo for Sicko as many are. In his scathing critique of the film, he brings up some valid points in his assertion that the documentary is somewhat deceptive and rife with half-truths, though Loder's own article is riddled with inaccuracies about some of the stories and people profiled in Moore's film, which suggests that Loder either has a short attention span in regard to watching movies and has poor comprehension skills (odd for a journalist), or he simply can't remember all of the details of a film he's just seen and just fills in the blanks with what seems to be convenient . Nonetheless, he does rightfully point out that the film's presentation of Canadian and European healthcare systems as wonderlands of medicine is not entirely accurate--a fact to which many Canadians and Europeans themselves would attest, even if the majority of them would probably never in their life trade their imperfect systems for our even more imperfect one.

Many other reviews of the film echo Loder's words (and often cite him directly). One review from James Fuller of the Twin Cities Daily Planet, however, is a bit different. He points out that most reviews are rather formulaic and ignore some of the most eloquent and rational parts of the documentary.

What Moore succeeded in doing with Sicko was to put a much needed spotlight on the insanity of American health insurance companies and to villify them to the point that anyone with a conscience who sees this film could not possibly believe that the U.S. insurance industry should be allowed to continue its madness and mayhem, nor that healthcare in this country should stay the way it is, which is sickening. The only question now is....what do we do and where do we begin? If we can spend hundreds of billions of dollars fighting wars in far off lands, why couldn't we instead spend that money securing our own borders and airspace and making sure every person in this country has excellent health care when they need it?





Other Stuff!

• What You Should Be Reading If You're Not Already Reading It, And If You Have Already Read It, You Should Re-read It:
  Secrets of Mental Math by Arthur Benjamin and Michael Shermer
  A very practical book for anyone who wants to get good at math, or anyone who (strangely) just likes it. You don't have to be afraid of math anymore. Math can be fun! Did I just say that? Somebody smack me.
  
• Most Interesting Commentary of the Week:
  Keith Olbermann foams at the mouth over George Bush. Careful, he seems a little bit angry.
  

O.K., now stop thinking for a minute and let your mind have a funny...

• Sadly Funny Story of the Week:

We love how the BBC puts that ultra subtle dry British humor spin on all its silly stories about the ridiculous aspects of life in the U.S.

Drive a Car With Your Mind

The Associated Press recently released a story about Hitachi's development of a device that allows you to control the movement of electronic things by using nothing but your brain. The article also suggests that Honda may be looking to use similar technology to possibly develop cars that people can drive with their brains. How cool would that be? Very. I don't know how practical and safe, though. Imagine driving one of these next generation mindcars while listening to a Linkin Park album in your car or with two screaming kids kicking each other in the backseat. The roads could get quite ugly very fast (oh wait, we're in New Jersey...Fuggedaboutit!).

But seriously, the major focus of this technology seems to be in the direction of entertainment/personal use and also providing ways for people who are disabled to communicate and become more self-sufficient. It seems like something that could be very beneficial and practical to a whole lotta people, and the best thing is they won't have to insert any chips in your head.

Read all about it here.

Starbury, I Scream

No kid (or adult) should ever again become so obsessed with name brand $150 tennis shoes to the point that they would rob at gunpoint or beat someone up for them. Stephon Marbury is doing his part to end the obsession with overpriced shoes and clothing, particularly among those who can't afford the insane prices that sneakers with somebody's name on them cost these days.

Last year, Marbury introduced his line of Starbury tennis shoes that look and feel just as snazzy and wonderful as the platinum priced superstar sneakers selling for hundreds of dollars at your local chain shoe store. Just a few months ago, Marbury introduced the Starbury II, which is hot. The cost for every shoe in the Starbury line is $14.98.

Many people have reacted with praise over the Starburys, but as with anything in life there are always what folks of the trendy persuasion would call "haters" who claim that the shoes are not as high quality as Nike and Adidas's walking dollar signs. Various inspections and analyzations have been done by journalists and labs, some claiming the shoes are just as good as the more expensive ones made by those other companies, others claiming that the materials are not as high quality, but all generally claiming that the shoes are certainly not poor quality and definitely a better value for the money than paying $150 for shoes that you're probably not going to wear for more than 6 months to a year, if that.

Marbury has said that he will wear the shoes in all the games he plays this season, and former ACC (best conference in college basketball) player and Maryland Terrapin Steve Francis even wears them in games. If they're good enough for a professional NBA player to play in, how could they not possibly be good enough for Joe Blow on the municipal court or Joey Blowey at recess at PS 12?

If there is a sports star anywhere who should be commended, cheered, and praised, it's Stephon Marbury-- for shaking up the system and creating socially responsible mindsets in a culture obsessed with image, materialism and greed, for being a good citizen concerned about the welfare of others, and for thinking outside the box. Very cool.

His idea was so innovative that Sarah Jessica Parker heard about it and decided to create a line of quality fashion called "Bitten" for women of all sizes, with much of it being $20 or less. Her philosophy is that "it is every woman's inalienable right to have a pulled-together confident wardrobe with money left over to live."

Starburys and the Bitten line are available exclusively at Steve & Barry's stores across the country. Their only store currently in the New York City area is at Manhattan Mall, on 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) between 32nd and 33rd Streets in Midtown. Yell and tell everyone you know!