Appreciating beach bomb VW Kombis
June 27, 2008
The rear loading 1969 Beach Bomb Kombi is one of the most valuable Hot Wheels collectors cars in the world.
When it was released back in 1969 you could get a Hot Wheels VW Kombi for under $1.
Due to only a few being released by Mattel, there are believed to be only about 25 in existence around the world and they have significantly appreciated in value, becoming a hot collector’s item.
Now you would be forking out $1300 per millimeter, with the value of the above car estimated at $100K.
Intel’s vision for cars with eyes, brains and touch
June 27, 2008
Who could forget the lovable robotic VW Junior?
How much easier would life be out there with a car that could park itself, suss out other cars, and make decisions for the driver? Once part of the popular imagination it is slowly coming closer to reality. Perhaps not in the form of walking , talking intelligent humanoids, but certainly the robotic devices that assist us in our daily living and in industry. Robotic vacuum machines and lawn mowers are commonplace. In fact the world of personal robotics for technology companies is big business!! There is a global race to develop smart machines based on robotic concepts.
Just like Victoria has a 2030 plan for sustainable development, the Korean Government’s target is that every household have a robot by the year 2020.
Intel have released details of their visionary products having various applications from self navigating cars with multicore processor based computers as a brain to futuristic projects in the field of health care, the environment and wireless networks.
Having foreseen the inevitable, that robots will continue to feature more and more in out daily lives, Intel is focusing on their utility, in particular building sensors so that robots have a better sense of touch. Just as a shark uses electromagnetic fields to sense what is in their midst, Intel figure that using electromagnetic fields with robotic hands will enable machines to judge the optimum amount of pressure to pick up items without breaking them.
Concrete examples Intel give are a robotic bartender who knows how to handle glasses without breaking them and robots that are gentle enough to give grandma a helping hand out of the couch.
Intel’s innovative research is focusing on the way to multiply the number of cores in processing, by building tiny chips and adding customised core engines which are task specific, for example for encryption.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=development&articleId=9097218&taxonomyId=11&intsrc=kc_top
Autonomous Robotic vehicles to enter war business
June 27, 2008
The Mule (a multifunctional utility/logistics and equipment), an armed robot the size of a Humvee, is Lockheed Martins machine which is capable of firing Javelin anti-tank missiles, featuring a turret-mounted machine gun, coupled with a digital eyeball with laser heat recognising and target acquisition systems in order to aim it’s weaponry with precision.
It uses GPS to navigate, has localised perception to enable it to avoid obstacles like buildings, and it’s versatility is enhanced by it’s six wheels on pneumatic legs to scale cars and barriers.
The Mule is destined to be shipped to conflict hotspots and the US government also plans to use them to clear minefields.
The military use of robotic systems is now widespread with thousands having been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, to conduct renaissance and disarm explosives, whilst also engaging in a futuristic kind of warfare. These uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) are reportedly being used to fire on insurgents. Clearly this kind of technology has the ability to outmaneovre and overpower enemy combatants.
Autonomous robot vehicles are however still by and large in the experimental phase with tactical decision making still requiring a human factor posing obvious challenges.
Body scanning machines installed in major airports across America are revealing their most intimate body parts. These new security devices to be installed at 38 major airports are set to replace metal detectors and pat downs at airport checkpoints.
As pointed out by the ACLU the controversial machines can see through a person’s clothes and this form of electronic strip search has enormous potential for abuse. Everytime you need to jump on a plane you face the spectre of having your nude body inspected at random. It has provoked an outcry from troubled women who feel that they are being assaulted by this invasive new technology.
As Barry Steinhardt, Director of Technology and Liberty Group at the ACLU has pointed out abuse of photographic technology under the pretext of security has been a reality in the past and it is invariable that the device will be misused. As Steinhardt pointed out that the ‘active millimeter wave body scanners’ was justified given that there are less invasive technologies around and that the experts don’t seem to have successfully tackled cargo screening.
The efficacy of the technology must also be questioned as although the scanners can see items under clothing, it doesn’t look under the skin, so won’t be able to detect items surgically implanted or within body cavities. Neither can it see through rubber or plastic or items that resemble skin.
There are questions of informed consent and those who have refused to take the scans have been subjected to pat down searches. Based on previous experience, it is conceivable that there will be warehouses of photos collected by employees for their circulation. There have been no details released on how tightly regulated and monitored the system will be to avoid this temptation.
Before long to get into the footy stadium or your employer’s building you might face this kind of test.
It is just as much the perception that you might be exposed to prying eyes than the reality of this occurring that is frightening and demonstrates that the Foucauldian panopticon is very much alive and well in this surveillance society. What if the security camera picks up something innocuous? It is forseeable that pat down searches would quickly follow. It evokes images of the abusive and degrading interrogation that Donald Rumsfeld allowed at Guantanamo Bay with prisoners being interrogated naked.
The move signals just the latest of incursions into the civil rights and privacy of domestic citizens in the name of national security. We know that without court permission the administration has been spying on groups from animal liberationists, Quaker peace activists and anti war protesters, whilst the National Security Agency has been intercepting our emails, phone calls and snooping into the hard drives of our computers.
Kitty power – Hello Kitty Solar Powered Charger
May 8, 2008
The pink feline overlord keeps clawing her way to the top, and has embraced the eco-friendly cultured. Introducing the Hello Kitty Solar Power Charger
Who would have thought that Hello Kitty was eco-friendly? You can power up any hand held device or gadget with this cute pop style pocket sized accessory. If the sun stops shining you can plug it into DC outlet for 6 hours of power to use from soaking up the sun. Hello Kitty is embracing the green lifestyle in a quest to conquer the planet or capture the sun. Next on the agenda will be the moon.
Once you have the Hello Kitty solar powered charger, go invest in one of these Hello Kitty power tools called the Hello Kitty Power Sander
Hello Kitty is getting into the construction industry. 
Hello Kitty Slender Shaper
March 14, 2008
The Hello Kitty Slender Shaper promises to burn fat off your midriff with the push of a button.
I have three “geriatric cats”. My not so little chub, pictured below, has had some work done. Look closely and you can see she had her ears done as they were pre-cancerous. She looks a little like a puma, although as she knows you can only tell from certain angles, and not as much from her best side.
Recently she had everything from a blood work up to an MRI and spinal tap to try to find the cause of her ‘minor seizures’. They couldn’t find anything and were stunned by how healthy she was. They called her brain “beautiful” with symmetrical smooth lobes, and looked at it admiringly on the CD they showed me for my $2000 I had parted with to find out what ailed Chubb.
But Chubb does have a serious fat pad. Having asked whether it was prolapse the vet assured me it was a fat pad. It literally drags along the ground. Chubb is otherwise a healthy 7kg cat, healthy in every way particularly for a 15 year old feline, and since being on a mild dose of phenobarbitone to prevent her having seizures has become a bit sedentary in the barbituate zone.
The Hello Kitty Slender Shaper would be perfect for a cat like Chubb.
Move over Hello Kitty, here comes Chubb, right behind you.
She is a merchandiser’s dream.
Would you pimp your cat??
Pink Poodle car
December 9, 2007
If you have always wanted a pink night light with a white poodle in the driver’s seat check out the Cavanagh Pink Black and White Poodles Pink Car Night Light
Apparently it even matches the “Pink Poodle Car” Salt & Pepper!!!
It has a high glaze ceramic finish with chrome accents and would make a nifty little Christmas gift.
Hot Pink Holden Commodore VL 1998
December 1, 2007
$2,200 neg no RWC
Pink purple pearl Commodore VS 1995 $3,000 ono in Heidelberg
Or perhaps wise_man_pete’s $2000 Pink VL Commodore Sedan with personalised number plates, playboy bunny seat covers, custom console, and monster tacho appeals.
Return of the Ford Mustang Bullitt 2008
September 20, 2007
A mean ‘Highland Green’ 1968 Mustang GT 390 Fastback was the car of choice for Steve McQueen’s character in the 1968 Warner Brothers movie Bullitt. Bullitt
Whilst Steve McQueen was at the peak of his popularity, the Bullitt has made it’s way into automotive folklore and arguably represents the real star of the 40 year old film.
Owned by character Lieutenant Frank Bullitt in the movie, the Mustang engaged in some of the best movie car chase scenes as it pursued the bad guys, suspected hitmen, behind the wheel of a black Dodge Charger R/T.
It was no secret that McQueen loved racing cars and even wanted to engage in the pursuits himself and is also reputed to have tried to buy back one of the Bullitts used in the film without success.
In 2001 Ford released a limited edition Bullitt Mustang more closely aligned in style and appearance to the modern Mustang GT than the 1968 movie icon.
The Ford Mustang Bullitt is back in 2008, as reported by Autoblog. http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/19/spy-shots-ford-mustang-bullitt-caught/
Sanrio Hello Kitty Pink USB Optical Mouse
August 27, 2007
Kitty is starting to monopolise the PC workspace.
Team one of these Hello Kitty Pink Optical Mouses
with a set of Hello Kitty speakers (pictured above…if you are discerning enough to note the distinctive cat ears and paw shaped remote)
