Random links
- Needy robotic toaster sells itself if neglected
- "As a connected toaster, he's in constant contact with other connected toasters like him -- and thus keenly aware of how much action they're getting. If he's not being used as much as his friends, Brad gets upset. He'll wiggle his little handle to get your attention, begging you to make some toast or at least to give him a reassuring pat on the side. Ignore him long enough, and he'll take a more drastic measure: pinging a network of potential owners to find a new home."
- Tale of the Teletank: The Brief Rise and Long Fall of Russia’s Military Robots
- It's seems that the current generation of military drones piloted aren't the first to be used in combat. Seems the Soviets already used remote-controlled vehicles in WW2.
- Lack of exercise kills roughly as many as smoking, study says
- "The results are fatal. Lack of exercise is tied to worldwide killers such as heart disease, diabetes and breast and colon cancer. If just a quarter of inactive adults got enough exercise, more than 1.3 million deaths could be prevented worldwide annually, researchers said. Half an hour of brisk walking five times a week would do the trick." On a related note the average obese woman gets just 1 hour of exercise a year (vs. 3.6 hours/year for obese men).
- A Countertop Composter That Zaps Your Food Scraps Into Healthy Soil Fertilizer
- "This is all the reason for a new kitchen device called the Food Cycler Home that aims to make it much easier for people to compost their scraps, even in cities that don't offer composting services (which is most cities). In three hours, it can sterilize and deodorize anything and everything from orange rinds to meat and convert it to a soil amendment that can be safely sprinkled on plants."