The lamest thing about the Tokyo gag is that a miniscule number of the viewers would realize what it was supposed to be spoofing in the first place. Laaame. The actual big dog robot itself is awesome though.

Here's a much better story about it with a slight Japan connection. [url]http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/11/12/1100227571208.html?from=storyrhs[/url] The album they did wastheir 5th adn they called it Mish Mash which is a good description of all their music lol

We have a couple of washlets but neither is heated :( hubby doesn't care he hates the heated seats but it's getting cold now and I'm jealous of our friends who have them lol.

We have one of these fancy toilets in our house, but in the two years I've been living there, I haven't used the control panel on the wall. Having read this article, I think I'm going to press some random buttons and see what happens. Question: Do I have to actually be sitting on the thing to test the squirty bum washer? I mean, does it shoot up and out of the bowl if you're not sitting down? Guess there's only one way to find out...

A limited amount of time to complete am album with thousands of people watching your every move all day must have been a real trip.

The DARPA folks are a creepy bunch. They have been up to some freaky stuff over the years. I am pretty sure that are also behind the HARP program as well.

oh yes! I saw this guy deomnstrating this several years ago - I guess it's availble-ish now. Come to think of it there is a space for a landing pad of sorts on our roof... lol

It would be lovely Nick but even I am not Polyanna enough to think that's going to happen lol!

Well, what are you waiting for? [url]http://www.moller.com/skycar.htm[/url] ;)

The pdf is from the [url=http://www.darpa.mil/]Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency[/url]: [quote]The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is the central research and development office for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).[/quote] And if you have any doubt whether Big Dog is a true development, watch the [url=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww]original video[/url] that the spoof Japan one is based on. I completely agree it is a fantastic advancement in technology that would benefit the disabled, elderly and so on, but wouldn't it be nice if that was the [i]reason[/i] they were developing it, not just a possible consequence?

So true but not fast enough! I've said it before and I'll say it again - I was promised a flying car by now!

It is kind of like something out of star wars. We are getting closer to having those giant walker things.

The pdf says the same thing, Deas. "LS3 is a technical solution to a most critical challenge for modern dismounted warfare: Weight and equipment burdens imposed on the dismounted squad" There is just some terrain that wheels are not appropriate for - it's really interesting engineering and I can think of some many ways in which it could help people as well. And lets face it, we rarely get the helpful things invented straight out - there is usually a military or commercial use for things first.

there was some discussion about dropping alien from phrases such as "illegal alien" in Australia, too but either way it is the standard bureaucratic term.

It was really fascinating TV. I wasn't particularly into the group but it was great stuff watching them write (well more kind of intuit) the songs and then record them. But they didn't really have the isolation this guy had - they couldn't leave but it was in a main square in Melbourne and thousands of people crowded around it everyday. They also set up a little booth outside but connected to the bubble and other musos came down and recorded guest performances. They said it was pretty freaky at the end - of course having the very small window in which to get an album done was part of the freak out I'm sure!

LOL Nice pick Shane - I think if the intention was to make something look like it's out of war of the worlds they did damn well!

p18 - it's pretty clear they are wearing unitards. Still I'm wondering where the pdf is from - it would be an interesting source. The pic on pg 7 is kinda of funny too - the cylon eye is cool The whole thing FREAKY though!

It is an HDR and a slightly overly-tonemapped one at that. There are lots of light smoothing and contrast settings in the software to merge images and tonemap them when making HDRs. The finesse of the final image - and hence its degree of 'other-worldliness' - is very much down to, a/ personal taste of the person making it and, b/like most processing of anything [images, food etc] knowing when to stop adding things. My personal taste is to use the HDR process to merely make images with a dynamic range that you wouldnt be able to capture in one shot, rather than going for the surreal or more strongly tonemapped result. But it is taste. Nothing particularly right or wrong about any one way of doing it..... before someone lays into me about being a snob, purist or anything else like that :-)

@BigRedDot: "'Alien' is a standard designation for this kind of thing elsewhere too- go to America, you're an alien. There's nothing wrong with the term- with either term, unless you're trying to seek out/create a problem. " Hmm, the term alien was dropped in the UK and tends to be only used in the cases of people in the country illegally and the term is then 'illegal alien'. It may be because of the connotations I am used to in the UK at least are to do with that phrase.

Gaijin does mean foreigner. Outside person. 'Alien' is a standard designation for this kind of thing elsewhere too- go to America, you're an alien. There's nothing wrong with the term- with either term, unless you're trying to seek out/create a problem. Ignorance?

Interesting idea. I wonder how that effects the creative process?

There is not one pic in the pdf. that looks to be two people bent over. At least not from what I saw. The photos on pg.13 show it fully armed and ready for killing.

Let's ask the photographers out there - it looks like an HDR image to me but I could be wrong.

I'd read ages ago that it was just meant to be an advanced pack mule of sorts. But, since I'm a Terminator fan, I enjoy hearing about how the world will end thanks to crazy robots. So don't let me knock you too off-topic! :-P

Okay a couple fo things: 1) the pic on p18 of that pdf is clearly two men bent over as the legs so - where does that pdf come from 2) If it is a true development - what's the problem with it? It looks like a great idea with all sorts of civilian applications for the disabled and elderly.