Business in the backroom

Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks announced exclusive support (sort of) for HD DVD. Turns out they are rumored to be receiving about $150 million from some unknown HD DVD backer (Microsoft says it’s not them, so maybe it’s the HD DVD coalition spearheaded by Toshiba) for this 18 month deal. It’s bad because it prolongs the […]

Back to steam power

Scientists at Vanderbilt University have come up with a prosthetic/robotic arm (I can’t decide which) powered by hydrogen peroxide (essentially steam) instead of batteries. It has a number of advantages: power, speed, smaller size.

It gave me this immediate image of Steam Boy, which I thought was a wonderful anime movie.

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Control system instability

Remember the Dukes of Hazard? No, I mean the General Lee, not Daisy Duke! The General Lee was a 1969 Dodge Charger with a Hemi Orange paint scheme. I bought a brand new 1970 Charger R/T 440 in the same color (no, that’s not a photo of my Charger). Of course I got rid of […]