Off topic fun

Friday special: Groovy Video Coat video I found on Internet: More details on electronics can be found on Groovy Video Coat pictures and this Video Coat Prototype video: →

Ever worry that robots are getting a little too smart? Thankfully, some people are dedicated to keeping our metal friends dumb. Bacarobo, the Stupid Robot Championship, is a showcase for just such robots. The contest originated in Japan (running in 2007 and 2008) before moving to Hungary in 2010. The competition has three main rules: →

I visited Denmark in summer. This is normal grounded mains outlet I saw there. It looks just like a smiling face. →

See Girl Talk, Lady Gaga Performed on Tesla Coils article tells about Open Spark Project that plays music with Tesla coils. Watch the videos. Tesla Orchestra performing Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”: →

I have earlier written about 555 timer design contest. The contest is over and winning circuits have been found. Here is one very interesting contest entry (got second place in Minimalist category): AM radio receiver built around 555 timer IC. Look at the following video that presents the circuit. →

You can now play Angry Birds on the web! If you did not know earlier, let’s tell you now that Angry Birds is a puzzle video game developed by Finland-based Rovio Mobile. In the game, players use a slingshot to launch birds at pigs stationed on or within various structures, with the intent of destroying →

A fractal is a figure with a self-similar pattern. Usually the fractals are calculated with a computer, but is is possible to produce Fractals without a Computer! It’s very cool – partly because it looks neat, but also partly because it shows you something important about fractals. Optical video feedback is a well-known phenomenon. If →

I getting certification for your software far too challenging? This is a brilliant idea for a new application certification program The “Works on My Machine” Certification Program. Participating in this innovative new application certification program is as simple as pressing the F5 key on your keyboard. Just few easy steps… Brand your app with your →

URL Hunter is an experimental keyboard-character based game played entirely in your browser’s URL bar. Go to URL hunter web page at http://probablyinteractive.com/url-hunter to see yourself. Is it a good game? Not really. The gameplay is pretty awful, and the concept is naturally pretty limited. But it’s clever and unusual. Great misuse of technology. Another →

Here are two interesting to look at robotics articles with video for this Friday: Basketball-Playing Robot Seals Will Rule Us All One Day shows a basketball-playing robot sea. This is a robot seal that can sink baskets at a 99 percent clip to a moving target basket. Google’s self-driving cars take TED attendees for a →