The Robot Carer

Many researchers in the US are working to give robots the ability to learn about their environment without the aid of the humans that built them.

Already a robotic pet has been developed which can be fed information about the terrain in front of it by a circle of cameras.

It is not pre-programmed for the task - but makes its own decisions instantly about which route to take.

Once robots can learn they could find a role in many diverse fields.

Japan, for example, hopes to use humanoids as caregivers for an increasingly elderly population.

Alternatively miniature robots might one day crawl through our intestines looking for and fixing medical problems.

One learning robot project at MIT is an ornithopter that has a computer on board. Every time it flies it learns how to fly better. One day this may be the perfect surveillance or search tool.

The Ornithopter

The computer driven ornithopter learns from expereince

MIT PhD student John Roberts said: "There is a lot of computational power which is important because some of the learning algorithms can be relatively intensive.

"We have a number of sensors here that are able to measure the rate it's spinning, the accelerations it is experiencing."

Better batteries, smaller chips and more computing power are helping the project get closer to its ultimate goal which is for the robot bird to mimic the endurance, manoeuvrability and speed of a living creature.

These are the challenges that generations of students and professors at MIT have tackled.

Thousands of hours of painstaking research, hundreds of tiny scientific steps forward slowly creeping in the right direction until eventually, for a lucky few the eureka moment arrives.

Apple reveal updated iPhone 3GS, (Tech, news, report, repair, unlock, Auckland) David Lim

In San Francisco on Monday, Apple unveiled what it calls the "fastest, most powerful iPhone yet" - t

he 3GS. So how does it compare to previous versions?

Some critics say the new incarnation isn't anything that wasn't expected.

They argue that for many iPhone users, the new model may simply do things they expected the original one to be capable of.

It has more speed, more storage, better battery life and a better camera that can record video.

The new model will also be able to send picture messages, allow copy and pasting of text and a full search capability.

Apple is promising the new model will be up to two times faster than the iPhone 3G, and users will be able to take higher resolution photos and capture video using the new 3 megapixel camera.

Video function

But once Apple's marketing boss Phil Schiller had got round to announcing the new iPhone's built-in compass, the audience in California had realised this was not a day that would change the mobile phone market very much.

For many users, the decision whether to buy an iPhone 3GS will come down to its price, regardless of how many new features it has.

Apple has not yet given details of how much the handset will cost in the UK.

In the US it is priced at $199 (£125) for the 16GB model, $299 (£187) for 32GB.

Other tweaks which set the iPhone 3GS apart from previous models include up to 32GB of storage, but that's only the same as the biggest iPod Touch.

Apple said it has sold more than 40m iPhones and iPod Touch devices, but the company is facing competition.

Palm will soon be releasing the new Pre phone in the UK, launched on the 02 network.

Whilst it has not generated as much hype as the iPhone, it has proved popular in the US and is seen as a big rival to Apple's product.

The new iPhone 3GS will be available in the UK from 19 June, 2009.

This post is sponsored by:

David Lim (Apple iPhone 3GS Geek)

SMS: +64211172222

Ask me about Apple iPhone 3GS repair, unlock, jailbreak and support info!

WHO Influenza A (H1N10 update 51, Swine Flue

I have collect some data for your update on the H1N1, see this link

Influenza A(H1N1) - update 51

Laboratory-confirmed cases of new influenza A(H1N1) as officially reported to WHO by States Parties to the International Health Regulations (2005)

19 June 2009 07:00 GMT

Country, territory and area	Cumulative total		Newly confirmed since the last reporting period
	Cases	Deaths	Cases	Deaths
Argentina	918	4	185	3
Australia	2199	0	87	0
Austria	8	0	1	0
Bahamas	2	0	0	0
Bahrain	12	0	0	0
Barbados	4	0	1	0
Belgium	19	0	0	0
Bermuda, UKOT	1	0	0	0
Bolivia	11	0	0	0
Brazil	96	0	17	0
British Virgin Islands, UKOT	1	0	0	0
Bulgaria	2	0	0	0
Canada	4905	12	856	5
Cayman Islands, UKOT	4	0	0	0
Chile	3125	2	790	0
China	519	0	137	0
Colombia	60	1	7	0
Costa Rica	149	1	0	0
Cuba	15	0	8	0
Cyprus	1	0	0	0
Czech Republic	5	0	1	0
Denmark	22	0	7	0
Dominica	1	0	0	0
Dominican Republic	93	1	0	0
Ecuador	86	0	0	0
Egypt	29	0	3	0
El Salvador	160	0	35	0
Estonia	5	0	1	0
Finland	13	0	1	0
France	131	0	13	0
French Polynesia, FOC	1	0	0	0
Martinique, FOC	1	0	0	0
Germany	238	0	43	0
Greece	31	0	8	0
Guatemala	153	1	25	0
Honduras	108	0	8	0
Hungary	7	0	3	0
Iceland	4	0	0	0
India	30	0	0	0
Ireland	16	0	4	0
Israel	219	0	67	0
Italy	88	0	16	0
Jamaica	14	0	2	0
Japan	690	0	24	0
Jordan	2	0	0	0
Korea, Republic of	84	0	19	0
Kuwait	18	0	0	0
Laos	1	0	1	0
Lebanon	12	0	1	0
Luxembourg	2	0	0	0
Malaysia	23	0	6	0
Mexico	7624	113	1383	5
Morocco	8	0	5	0
Netherlands	87	0	19	0
Netherlands Antilles, Curaçao *	3	0	2	0
Netherlands Antilles, Sint Maarten	1	0	1	0
New Zealand	216	0	89	0
Nicaragua	144	0	26	0
Norway	17	0	4	0
Oman	3	0	3	0
Panama	272	0	0	0
Papua New Guinea	1	0	1	0
Paraguay	27	0	2	0
Peru	141	0	29	0
Philippines	311	0	118	0
Poland	7	0	0	0
Portugal	5	0	2	0
Qatar	3	0	0	0
Romania	18	0	2	0
Russia	3	0	0	0
Samoa	1	0	0	0
Saudi Arabia	22	0	5	0
Singapore	77	0	28	0
Slovakia	3	0	0	0
South Africa	1	0	1	0
Spain	512	0	13	0
Sri Lanka	1	0	0	0
Suriname	11	0	11	0
Sweden	43	0	6	0
Switzerland	27	0	0	0
Thailand	518	0	208	0
Trinidad and Tobago	18	0	13	0
Turkey	20	0	4	0
Ukraine	1	0	0	0
United Arab Emirates	2	0	1	0
United Kingdom	1752	1	291	0
Isle of Man, Crown Dependency	1	0	0	0
Jersey, Crown Dependency	1	0	0	0
United States of America	17855	44	0	0
Uruguay	36	0	0	0
Venezuela	60	0	15	0
Viet Nam	27	0	0	0
West Bank and Gaza Strip	5	0	3	0
Yemen	4	0	3	0
Grand Total	44287	180	4667	13

Chinese Taipei has reported 60 confirmed case of influenza A (H1N1) with 0 deaths. Cases from Chinese Taipei are included in the cumulative totals provided in the table above.

Cumulative and new figures are subject to revision

Abbreviations

UKOT: United Kingdom Overseas Territory
FOC: French Overseas Collectivity
OT: Overseas Territory

Serial Animal Molester Gets . . . Only 33 Months In Jail?

Prosecutor Find “Sentence Appropriate”

Animal sex offender gets prison

May 13, 2009

A Hobart man who twice served time for killing animals now will spend nearly three years in federal prison for downloading images of people having sex with animals. Michael Bessigano likely will serve his sentence in a Boston-area facility for male offenders with mental problems.

U.S. Judge Philip Simon on Tuesday sentenced Bessigano to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release, a term at the low end of federal guidelines. Simon two weeks ago threw out a plea agreement that would have seen Bessigano serve only 24 months, stating that Bessigano’s history did not seem to make him a candidate for a below-guidelines sentence.

So, in other words the judge didn’t want him to get a too-lenient sentence, just a lenient sentence. Peachy. That’s sure looking out for the people of Northwest Indiana.

Simon has asked the federal bureau of prisons to place Bessigano at Federal Medical Center Devens, and also that Bessigano participate in therapy for sex offenders.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bernard Van Wormer said the sentence was appropriate for Bessigano, who served time prison for killing a neighbor’s rottweiler in St. John Township in 1993, and was jailed again in 2001 for killing a chicken, and having sex with it. Bessigano was arrested in June 2008 after federal agents found images of bestiality on his computer hard drive after Bessigano’s state parole officers requested a search.

Evil or Satan's Face at 9/11 New York, captured during live coverage

Origins: The images above come from, respectively, CNN's television coverage and a photo snapped by freelance photographer Mark D. Phillips (who subsequently sold his picture to Associated Press) as New York's World Trade Center towers burned after the terrorist attack on 11 September 2001. Neither image was manipulated. Finding demonic images in photographs and other visual representations — especially those depicting scenes of death and disaster — is an age-old human behavior employed to ascribe catastrophes to evil forces beyond our control, or (as in the following example) to fix blame on a target of choice (rather than the real perpetrators):

[Collected on the Internet, 2001] Don't these photos of Satan at the world Trade Center catastrophe tell us that the current seat of Satan's power is the World Trade Center? Don't these photos depict Satan being awakend from his hiding place in the World Trade Center? For it is the international bankers who operate from Fed, the CFR and the World Trade Center who create first, second and third world debt. Usury according to the Bible is Satan's method for enslaving the world under his priesthood, the accountants and bankers of the world (IMF, World Bank Group, WTO).

All of this will usher in 666 which is an economic mark of commerce according to the Book of Revelation (Ch 13,17). This mark will also be a religious affiliation of worship which will damn the soul eternally of all who partake we are told.

And then there are those who take the additional step of deliberately creating such images:

Pygmy Rattlesnake Bites Man At Wal-Mart , Pembroke Pines, Florida, USA

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. -- A man is recovering after he was bitten by a snake inside a garden center at a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

"An individual was at one of the local garden centers and was buying plants and in doing so, picked up a plant and got bitten by this pygmy rattlesnake," paramedic Capt. Ernie Jillson said.

The 42-year-old man was taken to the hospital on Sunday for treatment, where he r More..eceived antivenin for the pygmy rattler bite, according to authorities. His name has not been released.

Jillson said the snake bit the man on the right hand. He said the team was contacted about the bite and responded.

Pygmy rattlers are one of six venomous snakes in Florida.

Officials said bites from pygmy rattlers are painful but rarely fatal.

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Excellent Memory: The man who remembers everything!

A Los Angeles man can recall almost everything he's ever done since the age of five.

TV producer Bob Petrella, 58, remembers up to half the days of his own life in shockingly vivid detail.

He was diagnosed with hyperthymestia, meaning overdeveloped memory, after putting himself forward for a study about memory at the University of California last year.

The rare condition, also known as Super Autobiographical Memory, has been discovered in just four people around the world.

Scientists are still baffled as to how and why it happens and no cases have yet been recorded in the UK.

Mr Petrella recalls the day and date he first met a good friend, and all the conversations he's had on most days throughout the last 53 years.

He first discovered his amazing talent at primary school, when he could pass every test easily without even revising.

Mr Petrella, said: "I always had this amazing memory but I never liked to advertise it or boast to strangers.

"I remember things best when they interest me, whether that's sporting events, or historical or political dates, or just good days I've had in the past."

He added: "I remember everyone's telephone number. I lost my cell phone on September 24, 2006. A lot of people would panic... But I didn't have any numbers in my cell phone because I have them stored in my head."

True Story: Man shoots himself during "Watchmen" movie

Eugene (KMTR) – A man shot himself to death in a Eugene movie theater just after midnight Monday morning.

Police say about 10 patrons were in an auditorium at Regal Cinemas watching the movie “Watchmen.” About midway through the film some of the moviegoers told the manager they heard a “popping” noise like a gunshot. A 24-year-old man was found in the rear of the auditorium with a gunshot wound to the head.

Police say the man shot himself and was dead when they arrived.

The patron closest to the man was sitting two rows away.

5 Things You Didn't Know: The Department Of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is an agency of superlatives: the DOD is the country’s largest government agency and its oldest, and it is the primary occupant of the Pentagon, the biggest office building in the world. Yet for all that, its official statement on what it does is remarkably blunt: “We are war-fighters first and as such, have no peers.” In general, the DOD handles issues related to national security and military affairs, making it the primary target for groups who resent U.S. military involvement overseas. Love it or hate it, we present 5 things you didn’t know about the United States Department of Defense.

1- The DOD's budget equals Exxon and Wal-Mart combined

Just what kind of monstrosity is the DOD? It employs over three million people, 1.3 million of them on active duty in the military, qualifying it as America’s largest employer. It operates on a gargantuan annual budget of $419 billion, a 2006 total that falls just shy of matching the annual budgets of retail behemoth Wal-Mart ($227 billion) and ExxonMobil ($200 billion) combined. Furthermore, the DOD’s three million total employees is more than double that of those two companies put together, a figure that falls shy of 1.5 million.

2- The DOD no longer investigates UFOs

Another thing you didn’t know about the DOD is that it long ago gave up on finding Martians in the skies over the U.S. In 1948, the U.S. Air Force launched Project Sign to look into the rash of reported UFO sightings. Over the next 21 years (and through two name changes -- first Project Grudge, then Project Blue Book), they investigated over 12,618 reports of UFOs and found explanations for 11,917 of them. The remaining 701 went unexplained. In 1969, Blue Book was shut down, having concluded that none of the investigated UFOs presented any threat to national security, none displayed technology any more advanced than what was known at the time and none suggested they might be occupied by little green men.

3- The DOD only commands the Coast Guard in wartime

The U.S. Coast Guard, long the whipping-boy of the military’s five branches, is the one branch that does not ordinarily fall under the authority of the DOD. Rather, during peace time it falls under the authority of Homeland Security (as of 2003). Prior to that, it was part of the Department of Transportation from 1967. As law enforcement officers, the members of the Coast Guard also have the same legal authority as U.S. Customs officers. During war-time, the Coast Guard becomes an agency of the U.S. Navy, although this may only apply to combat units within the Guard. Historically, despite their role to “serve and protect America’s coastlines and waterways”, units of the Guard have seen action in almost every major military conflict in U.S. history over the past 100 years.

4- The DOD's Secretary of Defense does not sign autographs

You might think the mailbox of the head of a military force despised by much of the world would be overrun by death threats, but apparently the problem is autograph requests. Robert Gates, in an evident break from his predecessors, “has decided not to provide what have come to be considered customary autographs for collectors.” The DOD will, on request, send you his photo, but they’re so tight about the whole thing that they inform you of your motives beforehand: “Your request implies respect and support.” In other words, no using Sharpies to give Gates a prison tear tattoo. The Secretary of Defense is a Cabinet post and is likely to change with the new administration, signaling good news for the Cabinet-level autograph-seeking multitudes.

5- The DOD licenses insignia to retailers

The last thing you didn’t know about the DOD is that they’ve got your back. In an effort to boost its image and even land a few new recruits, the DOD -- specifically, the U.S. Army -- is a client of big-time brand licensing firm the Beanstalk Group, whose diverse client list includes Ford Motor Company, Universal Studios, Paris Hilton, and Mary-Kate and Ashley, to name just a few. Beanstalk’s recommendations to the U.S. Army were to establish a “line of Army-inspired clothing… using insignia from the First Infantry Division” since “strong brand identification through retail sales of products potentially can enhance the Army’s recruiting efforts and the public’s general goodwill towards the Army and its activities.”