Steamer closets, flying cars, robot boxers, smart-mock-cock ban hypocrisy – yes, it's the worst of CES this year It's this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week – and you know what that means… Yes, lots of new laptops and TVs that are a little bit more powerful and slightly shinier than last year but with a higher price tag. If that doesn't sound exciting, it's because it's not. Which is why CES always makes room …
Since it substitutes for what mouth and hands can do (*), it ought to be able to participate in business meetings on your behalf. Particularly if you already have to treat your boss n the way this wonder machine is designed to.
(*) It seems to me that it should look much more like an excited squid. Maybe it does when you take the cap off?
... will be exactly the same as the problem with regular cars: it's really cool and exciting to imagine having one, until you realise that when that happens, there's no way to stop every other bugger from having them as well.
What we need is more inventions that don't suffer from this kind of reverse network effect. Where's my Orgasmatron?
There is one other thing that isn't showing that the article didn't mention because in other news, a robot that was supposed to be shown at CES suffered major damage when it was run over by a Tesla in autopilot mode. Granted, it is suspected that this was a publicity stunt. But still, robot on robot crime? We don't have laws for that here in the U.S.A (Surprise!). You can read about it here:
judging by the photos displayed proudly (not prudishly, hurrah!) by the beeb, the above statement is factually incorrent, as it surely can't mimick the sensation of a human tongue rolled into a tube (like so). Unless, this is a babushka vibrator?
No.
Someone with more intelligence lower down the hierarchy awarded the prize, then someone with less intelligence higher up the hierarchy noticed and thought, without actually thinking, "OooErr...can't have that! It's too naughty. Men and Mary Whitehouses will disapprove." and retracted it.
I'd assumed it would be like the computer chess programs that always beat you*, and I had a delightful mental picture of idiots paying thousands of dollars for a machine that beats them up.
* YMMV - they always beat me because I hardly know how to play chess and I lack the patience to learn.
Seems less relevant each year. Hasn't CeBit or something in Europe closed?
Was Peak Tech show and Gadget web site about 2007 or 2008?
The roll up TV sounds interesting, but we don't need CES for that.
Meanwhile tech stuff gets less repairable, less reliable, shorter life and worse software often obviously barely tested.
Corporations outdoing NSA, CIA, China, Russia, GCHQ on spying.
I don't really see the user demand for a roll-up TV, considering the amount of times I've thought "I just wish I could roll up my TV and place it into a tube" (0).
Possibly for example for people using rented conference rooms etc, to be able to easily transport a large screen there and back, and various other odd examples I can't think of but still must be a very small market space.
immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with CTA’s image
Profane just means not religious or respectful of religion, so while iThings are probably OK there are surely many other gadgets that should be banned under that ruling?
And to rehash a relevant old joke, there are four types of orgasm:
Postive: Oh yes, Oh Yes, Oh YES.
Negative: Oh no, Oh No, Oh NO.
Religious: Oh god, Oh God, OH GOD.
Fake: Oh john, Oh John, Oh JOHN.
You can make electricity "work like that" but it'd have to be a really tiny house. When my wife was wanting to lose weight but still watch TV all day, I fixed her up an exercise bike with a generator and used that to drive a small portable TV that would run on 12 volts. Vacuum tube type, minimal power for that sort, though, around a 6" screen.
When she found out how hard it was to pedal - and that the tiny battery I'd added would only keep the TV up for about 1 minute breaks...she lost her taste for western re-runs real quick. Total win...
1 Hp (about 3 times what a human in decent shape _can_ sustain, but probably won't like) = 745 watts with 100% conversion efficiency (yeah, right).
An efficient house with nothing spurious electric (like HVAC, cooking, water heat etc) might draw 300 or so watts...
Now let the Reg Standards guys have some fun with this! In pounds-feet/second how many busses would you need to drop from how far to keep your house running for a day?
"how many busses would you need to drop"
Enough to cover 3 football pitches? Or fill 6 Olympic sized swimming pools? Or cover the length of the Thames? And it depends: are you dropping form the height of 2.5x Big Ben*.
*You CAN drop from the height of Big Ben: it's height is about 0.93 QEII Commemorative Clock Towers.
You can make electricity "work like that" but it'd have to be a really tiny house. When my wife was wanting to lose weight but still watch TV all day, I fixed her up an exercise bike with a generator and used that to drive a small portable TV that would run on 12 volts. Vacuum tube type, minimal power for that sort, though, around a 6" screen.
When she found out how hard it was to pedal - and that the tiny battery I'd added would only keep the TV up for about 1 minute breaks...she lost her taste for western re-runs real quick. Total win...
I've thought of the same sort of thing, except it would be for your kids' gaming console (or their computer). So long as they can keep pedaling they can keep playing. Unfortunate that Fisher-Price's equivalent (Think & Learn Smart Cycle) only uses the pedals for interaction in the game, and not powering it.
OTOH, the US Army managed to make a hand-crank version (https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/military_hand_generator_gn_58_gn58.html)
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