USA – NerdBeach

Snake-like robot designed to help rescue people trapped in rubble

What better to snake through a bunch of debris to rescue people than, well, a snake? Researchers at Japan's Tohoku University have created the Active Scope Camera, which is basically a snake-like robot with a camera.

The robot uses a fiber-optic camera and it is covered with tiny cilia bristles which allow it to move rather like a cross between a snake and a millipede, The robot has a length of 8 meters, a diameter of 2.5 cm, and it has the capability of climbing up 20 cm by extending its body.

The university recently tested the device in a collapsed building in the USA, and it passed the challenges. The team hope to have it in action next year.

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Pentax to Offer 10.1 Megapixel E60 Camera for under $140

Greg Chaffins

Megapixels in digital cameras just keep growing, and Pentax has upped the ante once again. Their latest low cost offering, the E60 (and the bigger brother M60) sports a nice 10.1 megapixel image at an even nicer under $140 price tag.

The M60 will be released in Japan August 22 with the E60 being slated to release in the USA in October. Features of the cameras include:

10.1 megapixel sensor (M60 – 10.0)
1/2.3" CCD
3X optical zoom (M60 – 5x)
10 person Face Recognition (M60 – 32 person)
2.4" LCD screen (M60 – 2.5")
SD and SDHC support
6,400 ISO sensitivity
6.3MB Internal Memory (M60 – 36.5MB)
USB port

It is still unclear as to whether the M60 will remain as Japan only or if it will join the E60 and be released in the USA as well. It also suggests that, just as 3 megapixels did a few years back, 10 megapixels are destined to be the next basic digital camera resolution. Which means that those 1GB cards you have been holding on to may have just become obsolete for any serious picture taking sessions.

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Borrow a cup

Greg Chaffins

Well, it has happened. In the USA there are more homes with the internet than not, with more than 60% having some form of internet access. The non-online are now officially in the minority.

Of course, there is a reason that is is so popular, You can shop for bargains and hard to find items. You can see what movies are showing, decide what to wear by checking the weather, manage to eat by finding recipes and ordering groceries. You can communicate with others by email, forums, instant messenger, ip voice calls, video, text messaging, and so much more.

But what happens if you find yourself in the minority, without a connection? This can be especially frustrating if you have grown accustomed to having your data stream on demand.

One possibility is that you can enlist the help of a neighbor or friend. Put together a list of badly needed data, perhaps in the form of emails, saved web pages, pictures, videos, and music. Call up the helpful soul and give them the list, detailing what you need and ask them to save it allto a DVD or flash drive.

When you go to pick up your data, you do not need to explain all the details. Simply tell the neighbor that you are there to borrow a cup of internet.

Aloha from the Beach,
greg