New
Re-Writable Printer Paper Demonstrated
Shinsho Corp and
Majima Laboratory showed off a prototype of their
recyclable, rewritable paper at CEATEC in Japan last week.
The paper should be available by spring of next year. Called
"Thermo-Mag," the paper can be printed on using a special
printer, then erased and reused. The paper uses magnetic
particles embedded in wax, and is erased at the
same time it's printed upon by melting the wax and
re-arranging the suspended particles. The paper is perfect
for, er, driving up printing costs and lowering quality.
Honda Creates A.I. Helicopter
Robot
Honda scientists
say they have created the world's first helicopter flown
entirely by artificial intelligence. The hovering robot can
detect and negotiate obstacles, and even learn new information
during a flight that can be applied during the next flight.
Bad Robots
Asia's
largest electronics and computing fair in Tokyo -- CEATEC 2003
(Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies) -- was kicked off
Saturday with the unveiling of
robots that can do martial arts. A robot called Morph3 has
138 pressure sensors, 30 different onboard motors, 14
computer chips and special programming that enables it to do
karate. A Fujitsu robot called HOAP-2 does a Chinese martial art
called taijiquan and Sumo stances.
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Unanticipated
Convergence
A Chinese company called Xian Konghong Information & Technology
Co., Ltd, makes a USB-powered negative-ion air purifier. Just
plug it into any available USB port, and it cleans the air in
your office using
electricity from your PC.
Hollywood Spy
The 1974 TV
series, "The Six
Million Dollar Man," which featured astronaut Steve Austin
as a re-built cyborg ("We can rebuild him. We have the
technology.") will be made into a movie by Dimension Films and
directed by Todd Phillips (director of "Road Trip" and "Old
School"). Best of all, the title role will be played by none
other than -- brace yourself -- Jim Carrey.
Cell Phone Follies
LG
Electronics has come out with a mobile phone for Muslims. It has
a built-in compass that, after users input their current locations,
points to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (Muslims who pray do so
facing Mecca, so the cell phone should be a big hit among the
devout.) Combined with free
SMS prayer alerts, the LG Muslim phone can
become an indispensable device for Muslims worldwide. The Muslim
phone and SMS prayer alerts service give the Muslim "call to
prayer" a whole new meaning!
In response to
Nokia's new
Imagewear line of cell-phone compatible jewelry accessories,
Sprint has added a necklace strap to a regular cell phone,
condescendingly
believing that teenagers are so idiotic that they'll wear a cell
phone as a necklace.
Samsung's latest e700 camera phone
features a
night-shot capability, as well as up to 15 frames of
rapid-fire snapshots. Best of all, the phone's web site
is packed with hilarious "Korenglish" -- really bad translations
from Korean into English. Here's one gem from the site: "The
darkness brings a mysterious night power. And it becomes loyal
to my extreme silhouette, such a temple in the flash..." Now
what the hell does THAT mean? Still, the phone is cool.
Mike's List on
the Radio
Craig Crossman's
Computer America features Mike Elgan every
Thursday night. The show runs from 7pm to 9pm SVT (Silicon Valley Time). Listen
to Computer America on your local Business TalkRadio station or
over
the Internet every weeknight. Don't miss Computer
America!
Proof You Can Buy Anything on the
Web
How about a "s'more" maker
for your office?
Or how about the
craziest Japanese
wristwatches ever created?
Reader Web Site o'
the Week
American Digest: Dispatches from the New America, is a blog
created by Mike's List reader Gerard Van der Leun and packed with an
eclectic mix of political observation and commentary, social and
cultural items and technology stuff. Check out
American Digest!
Get YOUR web site on the high-traffic Mike's
List Reader Links page. HERE'S
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The Ultimate Gadget: the Treo
600 on Verizon
The Treo 600, which will probably
be the
greatest gadget ever,
may tragically be available
only through the world's worst wireless phone carriers: Sprint (bad),
T-Mobile (worse), AT&T (terrible), Cingular (bottom of the
barrel). A petition was formed and is promoted by Verizon
customer and Mike's List reader Robert J. Varipapa, who sent a letter to Verizon CEO Dennis Strigl,
and received a reply today. Strigl said that Verizon is
"considering adding the Treo 600 to our lineup," and that the
device is currently being tested by Verizon engineers. That
sounds promising, but let's keep the pressure on.
Sign the Verizon Handspring Treo 600 Petition to push for
Verizon support of the Treo 600!
Wacky
Web Sites
Explore the wonders and mysteries
of the "Asian Squat" -- and even learn how to do it at the
How To Do The
Asian Squat web site.
The Joe Camel character was
banned by the courts in the U.S. because, it was argued, cartoon
characters pitch to kids. But that didn't bother anyone in the
1960s. Check out this
Video Vault:
Cigarette Advertising on TV page. The Flintstones cartoon
show was "brought to you by" Winston cigarettes -- and even
featured Fred and Barney going on and on about how good the
cigarettes were.
Ever hear a song on the radio,
but don't know what it's called? The
YES web site will tell you.
Just enter the city, then choose from local radio stations. It
will list all the songs that were played on that station in the
past 24 hours.
Twisted Game
Hover Bump
Mystery Pic o'
the Week
What is it? Send YOUR guess to [email protected] (be sure to say where you live).
If you're first with the right answer, I'll print your name in the
next issue of Mike's List!
 LAST WEEK'S
MYSTERY PIC:
No, it's not a "drunk-driving
simulator," an "automated Dominos pizza delivery system" or even
"David Hasselhoff's car, K.I.T.T. from the series 'Knight
Rider'," as suggested by some readers. In fact, it's the cab of
a U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration Toyota 4Runner test vehicle about to
perform new dynamic rollover tests, which are controlled by a
computer for accuracy. Major Mike's List congratulations to Neil
Miller of Bellevue, Washington, for being first with the right
answer.
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