Robot Uprising Update: Technology Bringing Us Closer to the End.

Over the past month I've collected a few articles that I've been meaning to report on that clearly demonstrate the rise and rise of the machines which began with a rogue juicer, moved on to robot floor cleaners with internet access and their army of quadroters mounted with lasers.

The following things are all real and I'm sure if you attached lasers to any one of them the floor cleaning robots would put out the signal for your internet connect fridge to begin attacking our food source by turning up the thermostat. It's all part of the plan...

Magnetic Microbot

Micro Robot Builders

Apparently SRI International has invented micro magnetic robots that can build mini superstructures (think truss bridges etc.). These little puppies can move around anywhere a magnetic field can be created - even along curved circuits. Working in unison they can be program to perform tasks like a mini robot automated factory. Watch them in action in the video below.

Now your average robot fighting machine contains a lot of circuitry. Imagine a dose of these little fu... err... workers springing into action and making repairs on the fly. That's right machines that can repair themselves!

ASIMO

Honda's ASIMO is More Human...

ASMIO has been around for a while and is essentially one of the first proof of concept that a humanoid robot is physically possible. All that's needed is to give it proper Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a laser gun. It'll be hunting down humans for sport in no time!

The latest ASMIO robot moves more naturally than it's predecessors prompting some audience members (in another video of the same presentation) to question if it actually isn't just a tiny person in a robot suit. See him do a lot more things in the video below more autonomously than ever before.

Is anyone else concerned that his battery life is 40 minutes? That's more than enough time to get up to all kinds of world domination schemes.

And if a more human-like ASIMO wasn't scary enough now there's...

Pepper
(the one on the left!)

A Robot That Knows How You Feel

Softbank has created a robot that can read human emotions. I just know that if I owned one of these too cute, feel good robots it would be creepily saying "What are you doing Dave?" all HAL like as I fearfully reached for the off switch. The robot's name is 'Pepper'...

Pepper has a 'cloud' based AI (probably secretly controlled by internet connected floor cleaners), has a multitude of sensors and even has lasers built in. Fortunately the lasers aren't turned up to eleven and are non lethal (just waiting for the word from those floor cleaners) as part of Pepper's navigation system.

With a 12 hour battery life this robot will have plenty of time kill everyone with kindness as it tries to put a smile on your face and continues to wonder 'why so serious?'

The consumer
version of Jimmy

Print Your Own Robot Army

As 3D printers are ramping up to be the next big consumer item, robot floor cleaners everywhere are seeing a key part of robot domination fall into place. Intel is making it possible for you to 3D print your own robot.

21st Century Robot is the company behind the printable robot. You can see them demonstrate and talk about their first Robot 'Jimmy' in the video below. Jimmy is not the actual printable robot you will buy but he was 3D printed. They're working on a smaller consumer version that will retail for around US$1600.00.

Jimmy is very cool and he's completely open source as his smaller consumer cousin's will be. Making it all the more easy for those floor cleaners to install and program death ray lasers for their 3D printed army.

Robotic limbs
concept sketch

Fight Back with Robotic Limbs

Obviously MIT has realized the only way to fight back is to strap-on robotic limbs to people that augment their existing limbs. Currently these limbs aren't powered by the wearer's mind but hopefully there's still time.

So long as no one gets any bright ideas of connecting them to the internet where those floor cleaners will no doubt have them turn against the wearer we should be fine.

HEXO+... Ominous?

Autonomous Camera Drones

If you think the machines don't have a plan then how do you explain robot HEXO+ copter drones that autonomously can track and follow you everywhere, filming your every move... playing into our selfie filming fascination.

These drones can be programed from your phone. Once set up they require no further human interaction to film you running through the park, skateboarding or doing somersaults on your motorbike at the end of your driveway (who doesn't do that?).

That makes them a perfect candidate for those floor cleaners to seize control of these devices, attach lasers and start tracking and shooting everyone coming into view of the camera.

If seeing one of these HEXO+ drones chasing a person through the park isn't a glimpse of our robot attack prone future I don't know what is.

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de

Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths! Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard. Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's Ollie North tutorial. I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned. Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board. The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your

Rock'n'Rolls and My Driveway Skateboard Ramp Building tips

TET Rock'n'Roll attempt on a driveway quarter pipe. Whenever we have a fine sunny day during Winter in Australia I always try to take advantage of it by getting in some skateboarding, even if it's only in the driveway (not that I really skate anywhere else at the moment). In this driveway skateboard session video I didn't really have a plan for what I wanted to try so I started out by revisiting manuals on the world's smallest manual pad. From there I felt like skating my small quarter pipe, which I don't skate often on account of not being able to do anything on it beyond drop-ins and BS 50-50 stalls. However I do kind of feel Rock'n'Rolls are the trick I'm most likely to relearn next so today was the day to give them a real go. As I explain in the video I don't like people who half ass Rock'n'rolls by tapping the middle of the deck on the coping and turning back in. The trick looks super cool when done right with the back trucks pushed

Elon Musk Buys Twitter, Launches Twitter Blue... FaceBook Probably Watching Very Closely

Elon Musk in a spaceship sending out a Tweet. Image by David Arandle + Mage.AI Most people who follow the news cycle are probably aware that tech billionaire, Elon Musk, bought the social media giant Twitter . While his overall goal is to make the platform a better experience with fewer bots, he's also invested in turning it into a network that actually makes rather than loses money. After firing a large part of Twitter's workforce, which former CEO, Jack Dorsey, has taken responsibility for by saying he grew the company too fast too soon, Elon launched Twitter Blue . The initial rumored price for Twitter Blue was US$20.00 per month but this has since been revised and set at US$7.99/per month. Though on my own account in Australia the cost is AU$6.99 per month, which at the current conversion rate means I'm getting a considerable discount. The point of Twitter Blue, aside from offering a number of features not available to those on 'free' accounts, like longer twe

Review: FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes

FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes I first saw FP's FINO skate shoes in a video by YouTube channel, Braille Skateboarding, titled, THE FIRST EVER NON NEWTONIAN FLUID SKATE SHOES!? As someone whose feet hurt and bruise relatively easily just from the basic tricks of skateboarding (Ollies, Pop Shuv-its etc.) the 90% absorption of impact energy selling point seemed like an ideal solution for minimizing my injuries. A day later I placed an order through FP's website . Ordinarily I wouldn't mention Customer Service but I can't let the lack of communication on my order slide. FP's website says to expect delivery within 7-14 days of your order. After close to two weeks, my order was still marked as being processed. I sent an email asking for any kind of update, to no response. A day or two later my order was marked as completed but still no signs of shoes in my mail? About two weeks later (just over a full month of placing my order) the shoes arrived. I'm sur

Gosnells, Murals and the Agonis.

Road Trip Day 21: 12th June 2007 My Mum wanted to show me around the town centre of Gosnells (the main suburb of Perth that I grew up in) so Rose and I spent the day with her, walking around the shopping precinct. I was last here in 2004. Back then there was a lot of development work getting under way. Three years later much of the work has been finished for some time. There is a brand new railway/bus station right in the middle of town - much less out of the way than the old platform. One of the old shopping complexes, where we used to buy groceries, looks nothing like it used to. It's been renovated to the point where you wouldn't even know that the underlying base structure was built more than forty years ago. You'd swear the whole thing was built within the last couple of years. The changes are a real improvement too. The centre piece of the town is the 'Agonis' centre. This was being built in 2003. Now it is open and is home to the 'Knowledge Centre

Course Review: YouTube for Bosses - Sunny Lenarduzzi. How to grow your YouTube Channel into a Business

YouTube for Bosses Free Mug... or the most expensive mug you'll ever buy? I've been subscribed to Sunny Lenarduzzi's YouTube channel for a few years, learning a lot on how to grow a following on sites like YouTube and Instagram. If you have any interest in growing your own YouTube channel I'd highly recommend watching some of Sunny's videos on the subject. Definitely explore her 2019 back catalogue for the most useful information. This year she's been on a bit of a 'being authentic' pivot that, personally, doesn't resonate all that much with me (but probably speaks volumes to anyone with similar experience). I'm not saying she shouldn't or isn't being authentic, it's just I didn't subscribe to hear stories about her life journey. To get back on track, Sunny runs a successful online business with her flagship course, YouTube for Bosses , a stand alone paid course that does act as something of a gateway to further paid (but opt

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

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