I just ran across possibly the most awesome Star Wars item ever. Nikko America has a special edition remote controlR2-D2 home theater audio/video projector that does just about everything. It has a ton of features, including being able to project on the ceiling (not sure I’d ever use that), official sounds, and a ton of inputs including an iPod dock. The tech specs are pretty good, but I’m sure you can build your own home theater that is better with less than the $2900 price tag. It won’t have the massive geek factor that R2-D2 has though. Be sure to check out the video to see it in action.
2 thoughts on “R2-D2 Limited Edition Home Theater Projector by Nikko”
Oh, wow, and I thought the alarm clock was super cool. This is amazing!
Odd, looks like the website is down. It was a pretty good concept, but I think it was more of a gimmick than anything else. I vaguely remember that it was very expensive.
I’m not a big fan of rehashing old game shows, but I will have to make an exception very soon. Deal or No Deal will be having a Star Wars theme on Monday April 28th at 8PM Eastern Time. The highlight for me will be the dozens of models in Slave Leia outfits. Hopefully my wife will understand when I tell her this episode can’t be missed. Aside from the Slave Leia outfits, Darth Vader will be the banker and Chewbacca and R2D2 are supposed to show up some time as well. Carrie Fisher (the original Leia) will even play some type of role. I think that Lucas is trying to drum up some more PR in preparation of the new Clone Wars series and theater premier. Found via TVGuide
This news story reminded me of a website I ran across a few years back. If dozens of models on TV in Slave Leia costumes isn’t enough for you, head over to the Leia’s Metal Bikini homepage. The link has some PG-13 pictures, nothing you wouldn’t be able to see on broadcast TV. There are links to plans for making the costume or even ordering it pre-made. Off of the video page I noticed the Slave Leia girls had a massive photo shoot at Star Wars Celebration IV last year. How did I miss this? Check out the video at GameTrailers.
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Well, the episode aired and I noticed the folks at Collider updated their post with video from the episode. Head over there and check it out.
In 1992, the year of his death, Isaac Asimov was awarded the Hugo Award for best novella for writing Gold. This story, along with many others was published in 1995. Along with 14 other short stories, there are collections of essays called “On Science Fiction,” and “Writing Science Fiction.” Interestingly enough, I found the essays much more interesting than the stories themselves. I think this is partly because I have read a TON of his fiction, but haven’t got around to reading his non-fiction. I’ll give a brief overview of the essays, saving the stories for later. (more…)
Everyone knows (or should!) that Honda has tipped their hat to Isaac Asimov by naming their robot line Asimo. For those that have been living in caves for the past 50 years, he inadvertently invented the word ‘robotics’ in his story Runaround. He assumed it already was a word, but he is attributed for the first use of it in a publication. I remember seeing a YouTube video of these little robots a few years ago which caught my eye. This commercial tries to show the ‘human’ side of robots. I highly doubt that all of the actions in the commercial were autonomous, but I can’t see why it won’t be possible in the near future. Considering I am just a few days away from finishing my huge book project in Asimov’s Robot & Foundation Universe I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this.
A quick look to related videos on YouTube showcased a technical demo of some new abilities in the new Asimo robot version. I’m very impressed to see the progress that has been made. Many of the tasks they show are fairly simple, but I think if they can make the robots use power efficiently they will be useful. It’s amazing that probably within 100 years of Asimov’s robot stories there might be a working model similar to his creations. Of course we are a bit behind robot production, since US Robotics and Mechanical Men had positronic robots in production in the 1990s.
Of course there are several videos of failed demonstrations with the Asimo prototypes taking spills while trying to do something as simple as walking up and down stairs. I’m confident that Honda will work out the bugs with the programming and balancing servos sooner or later. I know I will be keeping an eye on development in robotics.
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Wow, looks like I’ve had quite a few hits from StumbleUpon. Hopefully I can get some interesting feedback with this nice spike in visitors.
So, do any of you think that Robots can or will ever become self aware? If so, how soon do you think it could happen given the rapid development of technology? Would humans revolt and ban such machines? Asimov covers that last question in his science fiction, which is one of my favorite themes. Are there any authors you might recommend that focus on human/robot relations?
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Oh, wow, and I thought the alarm clock was super cool. This is amazing!
Odd, looks like the website is down. It was a pretty good concept, but I think it was more of a gimmick than anything else. I vaguely remember that it was very expensive.