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Robotics

How Do People Respond To Being Touched By a Robot? 137

An anonymous reader writes "You know it's coming, and for the forever-alone crowd, not soon enough: robots that physically interact with humans. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found in a study that people generally had a positive response toward being touched by a benevolent robotic nurse, but that their perception of the robot's intent made a significant difference. 'Even though the robot touched people in the same way,' said a team lead, 'if people thought the robot was doing that to clean them, versus doing that to comfort them, it made a significant difference in ... whether they found that contact favorable or not.'"

Comment Pinouts.ru (Score 1) 262

Check out the Videogame Connector Pinouts at Pinouts.ru. Many of them include suggestions for connecting them directly to a PC.

You could also get something like the Ultimarc U-HID or I-PAC. Many MAME users have been using these for years to adapt the controls in their arcade cabinets to work with PCs. You'll have to wire up a connector to let you plug in whatever kind of joystick you want but the flexibility means you can use it with several different controller types.

Comment Re:Free Market (Score 1) 324

I suggest you go reread that booklet. Andersen Consulting completed its spin-off from Arthur Andersen in mid-2000 after a two-year legal battle. The Accenture name became official later that year (I happen to have a copy of both their original Indian Certificate of Incorporation and their "Fresh Certificate of Incorporation Consequent on Change of Name" which is dated December 5th, 2000). The Enron scandal surfaced in October 2001, 3 years after Accenture began its separation from Arthur Andersen.

Comment Re:Let it begin (Score 1) 324

The only point of your post that I take issue with is the first part. H1B resources are SUPPOSED to be paid the same as an American worker would be paid and this is certainly the case for many of them. I'm an American currently working in India and India has a similar rule for granting employment visas.

Since I've been here, however, I've heard many stories about people who have been "hired" by contract firms who sponsor them for an H1B visa. I put "hired" in quotation marks because the employees actually pay the contract firm for the privilege. They are told that it's much easier for them to seek citizenship or, at least, another employer who will take over their H1B visa sponsorship once they're in the US.

Movies

Anti-Technology Themes in James Cameron's Avatar 870

ThousandStars writes "'The anti-technological aspect [in James Cameron's Avatar] is strange because the movie is among most technically sophisticated ever: it uses a crazy 2D and 3D camera, harnesses the most advanced computer animation techniques imaginable, and has apparently improved the state-of-the-art when it comes to cinema. But Avatar’s story argues that technology is bad. Humans destroyed their home world through environmental disaster and use military might to annihilate the locals and steal their resources.' The question is two-fold: why have a technically sophisticated, anti-technical movie, and why are we drawn to it? Part of the answer lies in Neal Stephenson's Turn On, Tune In, Veg Out."

Comment Hillary privately wants to extend it for a decade. (Score 0) 572

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton secretly wants to extend the troop presence (and hence conflict) in Iraq through 'her second term', NPR recently revealed HERE ahref=http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/The_New_Pr ince_Hillary_Clinton_s_Duty_to_Mislead_One_More_De cade_in_Iraqrel=url2html-6277http://digg.com/2008_ us_elections/The_New_Prince_Hillary_Clinton_s_Duty _to_Mislead_One_More_Decade_in_Iraq>

This is the most disgusting thing i've read in ... well hours to be honest. The Lizard Queen publically speaks about bringing the troops home, but secretly will continue the occupation and 'wars without end'. Truly an Orwellian, or Machiavellian stepford candidate.

Let's see what will the republicans bring to the table? An *ACTOR* Thompson perhaps? (Who will be the director, hmmm?)

The only candidate who will keep his promise to stop the wars without end, and who has the financial acumen to heal our national maladies is Ron Paul.

No comparison. No question.

Input Devices

Submission + - Do-It-Yourself Steampunk Keyboard

An anonymous reader writes: Who said there's no use for your old IBM "M Series" keyboards anymore? This

creative fellow shows us step by step how to convert the keyboards of yesteryear into keyboards of an even further distant, fictional time. H. G. Wells would be proud.

The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Dow Jones Plunge Fueled by Overwhelmed Computers

cloudscout writes: "The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 400 points today. While there were various valid financial reasons for such a decline, some of the blame is being placed on computer systems that couldn't keep up with the abnormally high volume at the New York Stock Exchange and the resulting tremor as they switched over to a backup system. In other words, Dow Jones got Slashdotted."
Music

Submission + - Music execs: Apple and DRM are the problem

EMB Numbers writes: C-Net says last year saw a 131 percent jump in digital sales, but overall the industry still saw about a 4 percent decline in revenue. http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-6162729.html?part= rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news At the opening of the conference, some of the panel members lashed out at Jobs. Members said Jobs' call three weeks ago for DRM-free music was "insincere" and a "red herring." Apple has maintained a stranglehold on the digital music industry by locking up iTunes music with DRM......and "it's causing everybody else who is participating in the marketplace — the other service providers, the labels, the users — a lot of pain. If they could simply open it up, everybody would love them."

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