Vapymid

Flying requires high power-to-weight ratio and you can't very well do this with wheels or tracks uSoYM-JQjXQ Legs are more versatile, wheeled or tracked vehicles will bog down hopelessly where a legged device of the same weight can possibly pass. Regards

I can easily see these things being able to scramble up mountains, jump over small obstacles, run up and down stairs, operate in packs and have a variety of surveillance payloads and/or weapons attached to them. They can flush out snipers, then chase and kill them, they can pursue a person of interest across terrain or in a building and shoot him with a tranquiliser gun for the troops/police to capture and interrogate him, they can ambush someone on a mountain trek, kill and chew off his head to bring it back as evidence of target elimination, they can terrorise and round up a bunch of "insurgents" and make them ready for apprehension or execution in one go. Basically, manhacks on foot. And the most worrying is that I'm sure that right now generals and special forces colonels are sitting and drooling over plans how they could deploy these creatures in precisely those ways. However, even knowing that this technology will be abused by military and governments I am still impressed by the achievement of the engineers. There are many way how it may be used other than for destruction or killings. A pack of these runners + a few Dogs of burden accompanying a manned Mars expedition would be a good example. Regards

Well, that kind of was my point - that no one is going to start an all-out war with the US even if they have enough men, tanks and the US would lose their briefcase with the nuclear codes (as they already did at least once, during Clinton administration, I seem to remember). In general, it is pointless to invade a country which owes you money, it's like shooting oneself in the foot. Now, if *you* owe a lot of money to another country, that may be a different matter Regards P.S. There is a great novel by Philip K Dick about the universe where Germany and Japan have won the WW2 and occupied the US, it's called "The Man in the High Castle". A very good read.

OK, I looked around and it is called "post-punk". I don't know what's the difference - maybe there are fewer obscenities in "post-" ? I like NP, whatever the style is called, maybe there is a bit of nostalgic longing for my student years in it but so what... "Progressive" is something of a vague definition. I heard people calling Deep Purple and Uriah Heep progressive, for example. For me they are not, but it does not in anyway stop me from enjoying that music. I share your regrets about the obscurity of prog rock acts. I guess it's a reminder that the majority of population has very simple taste (in music, but also in just about everything)... Regards Good bye America-o...... [disappears in the distance, humming Nautilus Pompilius to himself]

Boston Dynamics have done it again... Robot runs faster than Bolt (with video): Cheetah Can you imagine a pack of these things chasing you across a rough field with black helicopter drones circling above your head? Regards

Always found it difficult to categorise Russian rock-music. I personally do not consider NP prog-rock, rather punk with progressive elements. Regards

Only 40 years or so after its prime time but still better late than never: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19492677 Don't know though - is this signals a new start or is it just a wake ceremony for the things long gone? Hope it's the former... Regards

I, for one, do not find anything ridiculous in Ross having not been accused of sexual crimes! Regards

Oh, no. It may not be a crime but it is relevant because he is accused of a sex crime and this goes straight to the accused person's character and the shower problem is on file as part of the "victim's" complaint. Ross has not ever been accused of any sexual misbehaviour, to the best of my knowledge, so this is not an issue. Regards

I absolutely don't care about what he does or does not do. And it has nothing to do with the case, not directly, anyway. The man may be a complete egotistic pig (and he probably is, by the look of it) but that does not mean that he should be falsely accused and then persecuted for political purposes. Regards P.S. But not taking showers? That's gross! Just imagine the stink...

A bot post in the Civilisation Problems section today, must be a clear winner (and portends the rise of the Machines, no doubt)... Regards

The whole thing is getting a bit farcical now. Assange is an idiot (to get caught like he has been, with his pants down) and also seems to have some disgusting habits (like not having shower before going to bed with a woman and probably not having shower in between going to bed with 2 different women!). I am quite convinced that he was set up and framed by the US as far as the "rape" accusations are concerned and I am quite sure that Sweden was leaned upon, again by the US, to press ahead with the prosecution. However, that is where the clarity ends for me. OK, he has made a point by appealing the extradition on the grounds that the Swedes are acting out of political considerations, as they obviously are. Yet, having lost the appeals, his best course of action would have been to go to Sweden and fight it out in court, protected somewhat by the high public profile he has generated for the case. His worst case would have been a Swedish custodial sentence (and lots of appeals), the best case - acquittal. Instead, he runs. WTF? The idea that he was trying to avoid extradition to the US from Sweden by staying in the UK is laughable. It is far easier for the US to extradite him from here, with the corrupt extradition treaty made by Blair. The talk about the death penalty is also silly. Now, he is a banal bail jumper instead of being a persecuted freedom-fighter. The UK will not do anything (they will not storm the embassy or shoot him through the window) - there is no point. He is not the UK problem now, time is on their side, they can wait for decades, if need be. He is the Ecuadorian PITA now and he has got himself cornered (and with a lot of pissed off supporters who stand to lose their bail deposits they put on his behalf). Not very wise move. I was and still am generally sympathetic to his cause and his case (no matter how much he disgusts me as an individual) but he is not doing much to help himself. Having said all this, I am not going to judge him. It is easy to be a wise-ass, commenting from an arm-chair. It is totally different when you have to decide what to do with your *own* freedom at stake. If he got scared and run - well, how many of us would have done the same in his place? Regards

Long time no hear, Pro'... welcome back! Regards

Even made it to BBC news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19463712 Regards

DcEAI5p-wUg Regards

Sad, but so is life. RIP. Hope there will soon be time when more than 12 people will have ever walked on the Moon... Regards

Tentacle porn??? Regards

OK, I'll try to clarify. Whether or not to have sex with someone you are not biologically attracted to (i.e. action) is a choice. Sexuality (i.e. sexual orientation) is not. Same here. Unless he is trying to make a pass at me Regards

What you say actually illustrates how sexuality is NOT a choice. Doing something that goes against your instinctive feelings is a choice, yes, but it cannot change your instincts. A strictly heterosexual man can override the instinctive disgust and have sex with another man using his will power (and perhaps imagining that he is doing it with a woman to keep his wedding tackle up) but it will not make him homosexual. I suspect, it is the same with fully homosexual people. There may be some middle ground with bi-sexual but again, being bi-sexual is not something they chose - it's who they are. I believe it has now been accepted in scientific circles that people are born with their sexuality already predetermined. There is still a debate going about how much of that is determined genetically and how much through hormonal influence during fetal development in the womb but once you're out, you're pretty much all set... Regards

Or take a crowbar, AR2 and the Gravity Gun come up you Citadel and kick you into an exploding portal Regards

I don't know what Equilibrium is in original but that piece of machinima looks very nice. Reminds me of one of the very first Source machinimas ever made - a remake of a scene from "A Few Good Men". Regards

I needed to clean my ears after listening to a dose of modern muzak (who let those people touch musical instruments???) in an HMV store yesterday, so I remembered about this one. And it helped. i7zcOlnEoRo "Bells chime three times, naked dancers enter slowly Smoky room, scented gloom, audience eating, fat men drinking Candles burn, a dull red light illuminates the breasts of four young girls Dancing, prancing, provoking - dreams are always ending far too soon Life's too short to be sad, wishing things you'll never have You're better off not dreaming of the things to come Dreams are always ending far too soon" Regards

Or maybe they are scared of telling anyone *because* it is unusual? But does unusual equal abnormal? It is both normal and natural for heterosexual people to feel discomfort about homosexual people of the same sex as them. But it is equally normal and natural for there being a percentage of homosexual people at any given time. However, it is also normal and natural for the homosexual people to be a minority. So, if you are a normal heterosexual man, it is normal for you to feel slightly anxious about a homosexual passenger next to you on a bus, but it is normal for a homosexual man to be on a bus with you even though he is a minority, and so is unusual, but it is also normal for him to be a minority, so it is normal for you to feel anxious on a bus... oh, wait. No wonder, this causes so much confusion, especially, among the more simple-minded people (who are, unfortunately, the majority and so are perfectly usual) Regards

The patent system (the US one, in particular, as it gladly embraced things like software, method, gene patents etc in its desire to keep the revenue flows for its bunch of bureaucrats) is now nothing more than a Tommy gun for the modern IP gangsters. Regards

How can turning the whole world into a bunch of miserable wankers solve any problem? Regards