Hasta La Gadget!

Despite the increasing number of robotic musical acts, I’m still always tickled by the idea of a band that does away with the human element, and puts robots in their rightful place – to entertain their masters. The latest robot musician – a mechanical bass-playing ‘bot.

Engineering student James McVay created the MechBass as his honors project at New Zealand’s Victoria University. The robot uses a set of four individual bass strings along with a motorized pick wheel to jam out its tunes.

A linear-motion system moves a pitch-shifter that frets the strings by applying pressure to them, and a servo-controlled damper mechanism can stop the strings from vibrating quickly. Optical pickups then capture the sounds, and send them to an audio circuit and amplifier.

The whole system is controlled using MIDI signals and an audio programming language called ChucK, so it can play pretty much any tune that can be played on a bass. A custom controller board using an ATMega328 processor acts as the bridge between the software and the hardware.

But don’t just take my word for how cool this thing is. Here’s a video clip of MechBass pounding out the intense bassline of Muse’s Hysteria.

While I don’t know if it’ll be replacing Flea in the Red Hot Chili Peppers anytime soon, I’m still totally impressed by MechBass’ musical talents.

Check out complete details on the build here (PDF).

[via Wimp]

Back in July, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus announced that the company was pursuing a gambling license in Nevada that would see Zynga offering real-money gambling games online. The company made its first move yesterday by filing the initial application with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Previously, Zynga only allowed betting with virtual currency in games like Zynga Poker.

Now, the only thing left to do is wait for the board to make a decision on whether Zynga will be allowed to hold a gaming license in the state or not. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Nevada Gaming Control Board will make its decision sometime in 12 to 18 months from now, and even if the decision passes, Zynga will most likely have to go through more approval processes.

Currently, Zynga Poker allows players to use real money to buy extra chips, but players are only able to cash out with virtual currency. Zynga has long been interested in offering real money games to players, but obviously, legal hurdles in the United States have led to delays. Even while Zynga is making progress with the approval process, it’ll still take at least a year before they receive a decision from the board.

At this point, Zynga seems to be scrambling for new revenue streams. The game developer’s stock tumbled to a new all-time low, and the company lost $52 million during the third quarter that ended on September 30. The company has announced major layoffs and even completely shut down some of their studios, and ended several of its games.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

Zynga applies for Nevada gambling license to bring real-money gambling online is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Let’s face the facts – no one likes having dry skin, and you can more or less say that this is anathema to those who are of the female gender. After all, dry skin looks ugly, and when the condition gets really bad, you start to itch all over the affected area. Well, perhaps it is time to slap on plenty of moisturizer, but that can end up being extremely expensive in the long run, so why not settle for something that is slightly different, albeit it might cost you a wee bit more as an initial investment? I am referring to the $149.95 Aesthetician’s Ultrasonic Hand Moisturizer, which is an at-home hand moisturizer that relies on similar technology which professional aestheticians use to rejuvenate dry, chapped skin.

It will make use of distilled or fresh tap water (your choice), where the moisturizer’s ultrasonic transducer will get to work by emitting an oxygenated warm or cool hydrating mist that is seven times smaller compared to water droplets, penetrating deep into moisture-starved skin, ensuring that your hands remain smooth and supple along the way. All you need to do is insert your hands into the front of the unit, and the moisturizer will get to work immediately, where control knobs let you adjust mist output and temperature from about 62° F to 92 F° in a precise manner.

[ The Aesthetician’s Ultrasonic Hand Moisturizer copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

For those of you who have visited Sin City (Las Vegas), you would know that glitz, excess and entertainment is all part of the package. The thing is, with so many different hotels to choose from, you can be spoilt for choice. Most folks would know of the iconic Bellagio with its water fountain show, and here is your chance to bring home a little bit of Bellagio’s magic to your home – thanks to the $39.99 Light Show Fountain Speakers.

Compatible with all USB-friendly devices, this particular lights & water show has been specially timed to your tunes, ensuring that it will not miss a beat or put a foot wrongly. Plug it into your iPod, a MP3 player (who uses those these days), or a computer/notebook using the included USB cable and you are good to go. Of course, what is the whole point of a fountain when there are no lights for that added touch of glamor? This is where the quartet of multi-colored LEDs come in handy, bringing your tunes to a literally new level.

[ Light Show Fountain Speakers copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Having a human swim across an expanse of water like the English Channel is surely an achievement not to be trifled with, but rather, to be celebrated by the rest of the world, but do we do the same when it comes to robots? After all, robots do not have emotions, and they certainly are not out to chase records and all. The thing is, behind each robot is a human (at least that is the way things are at the moment, not until the robot apocalypse happens ala Terminator and we see robots start to make robots…), and certainly the human behind the robot’s conception and creation must be pretty darn proud if said robot was able to perform amazing tasks. Case in point, this particular self-controlled swimming robot which actually completed a journey from San Francisco all the way to Australia, covering a record-breaking 9,000 nautical miles (that would be 16,668km just in case you were wondering), a trip that required the PacX Wave Glider to spend more than a year in water to achieve.

Liquid Robotics is the US-based company behind the project, where the PacX Wave Glider’s main role is to collect data concerning the Pacific Ocean’s temperature, salinity and ecosystem from the drone itself. The company claimed that the success with PacX Wave Glider’s Herculean attempt is proof that such technology could actually “survive the high seas”, in their own words.

With a name like Papa Mau, this robot takes on a far more personal character, where it was so named in honour of the late Micronesian navigator Pius “Mau” Piailug, whose claim to fame was his innate ability to look out for ways to navigate through the seas without the need for traditional equipment.

Liquid Robotics said, “During Papa Mau’s journey, [it] weathered gale-force storms, fended off sharks, spent more than 365 days at sea, skirted around the Great Barrier Reef, and finally battled and surfed the east Australian current to reach his final destination in Hervey Bay, near Bundaberg, Queensland.” What other record breaking feats from robots that you would like to see?

Source
[ Swimming robot arrives at Australia, breaks record in the process copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]