Japanese Robot Babies: because not enough people think robots are going to take over the world

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Check this little guy out! A group of scientists at Osaka University designed him to make realilistic human expressions in an attempt to study human social development between parents and children. There’s some scientist who is totally marking off a graph being really pissed off that he can’t find a suitable control model for his experiments because some babies are happier than others, and dreaming up this little abomination. They tried using robots in the past, but the robots didn’t work “in a natural way” and therefore the parents didn’t interact properly with them.  Video of them in action:

I don’t know about you, but look at those eyes. I’d totally name him “Shifty.” He needs some servos adjusted, stat!

Here he is, without the “realilistic” skin! :

Look! The full range of emotions!:

I hope they never show this infographic to “parents” in the study:

Totally creepy, but I think it could be viable. For all of those people out there who are stuck in their phones updating facebook and think that social interaction in over 140 characters is taxing- there’s a companion for you! The maternal/paternal instinct in humans is huge! Make this thing Wi-fi, be able to download a playlist from iTunes and have a wireless charging platform (it already looks like it’s an Apple product) and make a billion dollars! Isn’t a new “Chucky” movie in production?

AT&T: Please Don’t Go

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AT&T really wants you to stick around.

If you text “yes” to 11113020 they will give you 1000 free rollover minutes with no strings attached.  But maybe, just maybe, this little gesture will make you stay.

From Engadget.

Photo Phriday: Collectibles with Crassitude

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Baubles. Tchotchkes. “Family heirlooms.” Whatever you call ’em, we’ve all got ’em in our bedrooms, parents’ living rooms, basements, backyards, and bathrooms. You pretty much take them for granted until you’re older, about to move, and out of boxes. We’re all hoarders on the inside, and that’s what makes us special.

So for this week’s Photo Phriday, SHOW US YOUR KNICK-KNACKS! What sort of crazy crap is cluttering your nightstand (or desk, or dresser, or kitchen table, or spooky attic, wherever)??

Of course, for many of us, this is our first week at this ol’ WordPress here, and unfortunately, there’s no “insert photo” button in the comments. But don’t worry! It’s so easy, you guys, it’s just the simplest thing in the whole wide world, to upload these photos and share your kickshaw. Just follow these helpful tips:

  • This is the magic computer code you use to make pictures appear: <img src=”PHOTO URL HERE“>
  • And it’s “photo URL“, not “photo file.” See, Crasstalk is a stubborn mistress, and she doesn’t accept gifts from your hard drive–only from the internet. Upload your photo to Facebook, Flickr, TinyPic, or any other online photo hosting site.
  • Or, if it’s something of which there’s more than one in the world, you might wanna just see if there’s a picture of your chosen knickknack online somewhere.
  • So for instance, let’s say I want to share with you all a photo of, oh, I dunno, my stepdad. But I don’t have any photos on my computer of him, and he’s out getting wasted again at the Applebee’s bar. Luckily, I find a picture of him online and insert it like so:

<img src=”http://www.stepdadsgettingitonwitheachother.com/passed-out/shirt_unbuttoned.jpg“>

  • I go to the site in question, browse new pics for about a half hour (optional), subscribe to the site’s RSS feed (also optional), and then find the image of my dad. I right-click the picture (Ctrl-click, if I’m on a Mac) and select “View Image.” A new page appears, with just my photo on it! Oh boy.  Now all I do is copy-and-paste the URL and plug it into the img src html code. Voilà!

I’ll go first. What you’re looking at (above) is a fake-gold genie lamp. My grandma owned two antique stores once upon a time, so when I was younger I’d sometimes hang out there for hours, just gazing upon all the brooches and vintage pins, examining Depression-era dolls, flipping through first-edition Mark Twain paperbacks, and other stuff like that. It was all very cute and lovely and, now that I think about it, maybe the first clear sign that I was gay. My grandma gave this to me one Passover, and it’s been in my bedroom ever since.

Would a scrotum by any other name smell as sweet?

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What’s in a name? A lot, if you are a resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and have a stake in the naming of a government building. Apparently, the people have spoken – and they want the building to be named after esteemed former Mayor Harry Baals.

Not everyone is so enthused. Enter curmudgeons:

I’m guessing Richard Fuchs shouldn’t run for office in Indiana.

[Boingboing]

A Horrible Confession

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I like The New Radicals and Fall Out Boy.

I have a degree in sound design from CalArts (technically, I have a BFA in theater, but CalArts has a sound design program that I studied). I spent a lot of time in college hanging out with the music school students. Were I more talented, my days would be spent creating masterpieces on the guitar and synth (the big analogue ones with the patch cables and such. My work has an original Moog Modular that I restored and constantly play with). My music collection runs from Phoenix to Aphex Twin to Brian Eno to Penderecki to Mozart. I consider myself a music snob. I don’t listen to terrestrial radio because I can’t stand the repetitive playlist. I get my music from the underground station on Sirius, and blogs, and the What.CD staff picks, and Becomes Eclectic on KCRW (everyone who doesn’t know about this show, it’s run on Los Angeles’ NPR station every weekday morning, and is amazing. They stream it online.). I am the insufferable prick who points out that the Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” is a ripoff of “You Never Can Tell” by Chuck Berry.
Back in the nineties, when I was in college (class of 2000), I was watching MTV. The video for “You Get What You Give” came on. The video was fairly innocuous: a bunch of kids take over a mall and let the pets out and something and I think Robin Sparkles is there. I don’t know. I’ve had a lot to drink since then. The point is, the song was pretty good. I went out and bought the CD. There were songs about ODing, I think some stuff about suicide, altogether some pretty subversive material coated in catchy pop hooks. I love this album. I am the only one of my friends that does. Well, except for one, but he loves it in the way I love the Breakin’ movies and Snakes On A Plane – because they’re shit.
Fall Out Boy is a band with a great name. They also have some really fun songs. “Sugar, We’re Going Down” is on my playlist for when I shower in the morning. Altogether, these guys write solid songs, and divorce the Simpson girl without the boobs. The second part would usually make me not even want to try their music, but I didn’t know about that when I first heard them. I am the only one of my friends that likes this band as well.
I don’t want you to think that all of my friends are a bunch of hipster music snobs like me. My best friends, who I have known since I started high school, love Matchbox 20 and Blessid Union Of Souls. If that name isn’t enough to drive you away, they’re the guys responsible for that “Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For Me)” piece of shit that was mildly popular back around 2000. These guys have horrible taste in music, and they don’t like either of these bands.
In college, a buddy of mine who was getting his Master’s in sound design went out and bought Blink 182’s big album. This guy was a music major at Oberlin, and a huge fan of Wendy Carlos’ work in “A Clockwork Orange.” Wendy Carlos is the one who made “Switched On Bach,” which, as a big analogue synth fan, I listen to pretty regularly. Anyway, this guy who had a degree in music from a pretty serious school, and could wax philosophical about classical music reworked on a Moog, loved Blink 182. He sat in the sound studio at school and listened to that album for three hours with headphones on. He heard a band that was tailor-made for that day’s youth. I heard a band that couldn’t play their instruments, and whose mastery of the English language paled in comparison to a third grader. I opened up to him about my love for The New Radicals, and he laughed at me.
These are my guilty pleasures. Now I only listen to them in my house, or through earphones so no one will laugh at me.
These are my guilty pleasures. I know I shouldn’t like them, but I do

BREAKING: Details Of Mubarak’s Resignation

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Reports are coming out that the CIA intercepted emails between former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and an unnamed 34 year-old middle-aged woman from suburban Maryland, purporting to show Mubarak shirtless and posing.  These yet-unreleased photos, described by one CIA analyst as “racy” show a topless dictator posing in the mirror, taking a self-portrait with smartphone of unknown manufacture.

The CIA has yet to confirm the exact nature of the emails but it is believed that Mubarak had been sending emails to the woman for some time.  Reports differ as to whether Mubarak and she connected via Craigslist or through the back pages of The Village Voice.

It is now believed that President Mubarak’s resignation was not caused by growing civil unrest but, rather, the impending release of the photos and emails.

Photo Phriday

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GOT JUNK??? Maybe it’s not junk, maybe it’s a cherished heirloom or a valuable antique. Or maybe it’s just a bunch of plastic necklaces and bracelets from your otherwise lost-in-a-closet Pretty Pretty Princess board game.
So take a picture of your favorite (or weirdest, most disturbing, etc.) tchotchkes and get ready to show ’em to us starting at 8pm EST.

Please do not post any pictures of your genitalia. Perv.

To our left is not one of my tchotchkes. That’ll come at 8. But this lil ‘guy gives you the general idea.

Ode to the Savior of Misbehavior

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Many, many years ago, when I was a young, impressionable girl, I fell into a ditch where I was ravaged by the music of the Afghan Whigs.

*ahem*

It only seems appropriate to start off a post/appreciation of Greg Dulli with a bit of drama.

The Whigs (fuck that other band who are attempting to use that name) were on Subpop with other late 80s/90s grunge mainstays, but they clearly were not cut from the same cloth. The band was heavily influenced by old soul and R&B records as much as The Replacements and Hüsker Dü. Plain and simple, these guys had swagger to spare.

The band’s live shows were epic. I was fortunate to see the band in all their live glory where they took performing a cover song to a new level. Lead singer Greg Dulli was part-master of ceremonies, part-preacher with a lot of sin in his past.

“Gentlemen” by the Afghan Whigs

Following the split of the Afghan Whigs back in February, 2001, Dulli’s Twilight Singers project emerged, featuring a variety of musicians, including Mark Lanegan, Joseph Arthur, Petra Haden, and Ani DiFranco, over the years. Their newest release, Dynamite Steps, is dark, sweeping, and feels like a soundtrack to a film yet to be made.  In short, it’s absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend picking up the album on February 15.

“On the Corner” by the Twilight Singers

You’d think one band would keep Dulli busy considering he also owns a few bars in L.A. and New Orleans. Oh no. Dulli’s vocals can be heard all over the place from DJ Muggs to Lo Fidelity Allstars.

Then there’s the Gutter Twins, a group in which Dulli shares vocals with the amazing Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, collaborator with Isobel Campbell as well as his own solo career). Saturnalia, the Twins’ debut album, feels like you’re in a broken handbasket on the way to Hell. Even if you don’t drink, you may pick up a whiskey habit after listening to the album.

“All Misery/Flowers” by the Gutter Twins

Oh, and since it’s Friday, I’ll end this appreciation with a rumpshaker and possibly a song that I may or may not have used in a poledance routine.

“Southside Lowdown” by Lo Fidelity AllStars featuring Greg Dulli.