Watch in awe as they “Twist, endforge, scroll, emboss, texture, hammer tube, make baskets, and press belly pickets, and much more. ”

via Gizmodo

They are using  “Implosive Connectors” to make power line connections on the new towers along I-94 in Minnesota. A small explosive charge is evenly distributed around an aluminum sleeve and when it is detonated it uniformly compresses the sleeve down onto the cable inside.

How cool is that? And they don’t want you to watch? oh come on, it is like a frikkin James Bond movie along the interstate!

I never did see any helicopters on the day I drove by, but the company does have a video of the process, and other helicopter line work on their website :

Implosive connectors and helicopter line work

One day he printed out a high resolution image on photo paper and left it on the coffee table. He noticed his toddler come up to up and try to unpinch the photo to make it larger, like you do on an iPad. She tried it a few times, without success, and looked over to him and said “broken.”

Find the rest at Born Digital

UPDATE: Over at the Kids.Woot blog Jason Toon responds. He wonders if maybe it is not such a good idea for very young children to have interact with these virtual environments so much when they are still struggling to understand the physical reality around them.

What happens to the human mind when, during the most crucial period in its cognitive and motor development, it encounters technologies like the iPad? We have no idea. I hate to pee in the virtual punchbowl, but it seems wise to at least consider the possibilities now. iPad-type devices are still only used by a relatively tiny number of people. If introducing children to iPads at an early age can harm their development, that’s a lesson we’d hate to learn after the devices have become as ubiquitous as TV.

Are iPads Good For Kids?

Simon Ramo’s concept of “polymorphic” computing is laid out in stop-motion animation, accompanied by acoustic guitar.
The film anticipates parallel, distributed processing and the architecture of ARPANET and the Internet.

[BoingBoing]

It 2008 the intrepid little robot climbed out of the Grand Canyon. In 2009 he completed the 24 hours of LeMans on a tricycle. This time Panasonic is going to showcase their battery technology with a 500KM journey for their little robot that could. His journey from Kyoto to Tokyo is set to begin on September 23. Apparently details (page in japanese) are still thin, and some recharging will be involved, but still it should be interesting to see what they manage to pull off.

CrunchGear

[Engadget]

After you finish getting fleeced making unwise bets at the robotic air hockey table, you can move on to losing more money to a robot at the pool table. This project from the computer Vision lab in Queens University consists of an impressive combination of an overhead gantry robot and vision system that is already at a “better-than-amateur level”. It is named “Deep Green“, after the IBM Deep Blue chess playing computer. As it is sure to only improve over time, not only would it be unwise to bet against this robotic pool shark, but I would stay out of the way while it lines up its shot also. Another very cool branch of this project is an “augmented reality” pool system that allows you to line up you shots with real time laser projections that predict where your ball will roll and rebound. Looks awesome, though there is already some grumbling about it being “cheating”. Mute the sound and watch the video for a demonstration, it is particularly cool how the robot racks up the balls in perfect formation, without the use of a rack.

Deep Green

[Gizmodo] [TechCrunch]

After busting my back shoveling Minnesota snow for the last 12 years I finally broke down and bought a used snowblower this summer. But my old Snapper 10hp blower just doesn’t seem as mighty after seeing the above photo of Klimov VK-1 engines from Mig-15 jets mounted on the front of trucks to clear snow from airport runways in Russia. Now that’s a snowblower! I wonder how my neighbors would feel about one of these in the driveway?

And here is a Mig-17 powered ice melting machine:

I would think you would have to be careful not to torch the whole plane with one of those beasts.

[Gizmodo via TechEBlog]

A fun stunt to be sure, and it does even make me consider trying some Evolta batteries, but like so many Guinness attempts I wonder how exactly the record is defined. It must be more than just “remote control car” since a full size gas vehicle fitted with an extra tank could easily complete such a trial under remote control, or for that matter a vehicle carrying more batteries could probably also make the trek. Either way, I am rooting for the little guy!

DigitalArts via Gizmodo

Update:

The little guy was successful! Evolta set a new Guiness world record for “the longest distance covered by a battery-operated remote-controlled model car” completing 5.6 laps of the circuit, which equates to 14.82 miles, over the 24-hour period. [Gizmag]

ohm-my, I find you so irresistible,
I just don’t know watt to do,
Currently I ampere in your power.
You act so coil,
to induce me into your field,
its beyond my capacity to avoid.
please integrate me into your circuit,
I won’t be a load.
don’t leave me feeling like a dip.
Without you I could just diode
I know I am biased,
but you look so farad to me.
I just want to volt you all night,
and cuddle you in my armature.
You complete my circuit.
I’m not interested in your transistor,
don’t even want to meter,
I only have polarize for you.
How can I cell you on the idea,
the potential is there.
I need to switch you over.
Please don’t tune me out.
I can’t stand your impedance,
you know we were meant tube.
How can I bridge the gap?
How can I amplify my signal?
Help me rectify the situation.
There is nothing to sine,
just a wave will do.

A pun poem by ObserveTheBanana. Inspired by Breakfast Blues, by Trout Fishing in America.