[From Singularity Hub (“The Future Is Here Today…Robots, Genetics, AI, Longevity, Singularity”)]   Willow Garage Shares Specs for TeleRobot, Takes It To Show and Tell at School March 14th, 2010 by Aaron Saenz Wouldn’t you have loved to be the kid who brought a real life working robot to school for show and tell? Willow Garage delighted students at a Cupertino, California elementary school for their “Discovery Day” – an opportunity for children to learn about local careers – by sending one of their new telepresence robots (the Texai) to make a presentation. Among the firefighters, doctors, and business executives…

[From PC World’s Game On blog] 3D Nintendo DS Rumble, Motion Control Specs Emerge Matt Peckham Mar 23, 2010 6:30 pm Nintendo says it’ll release a 3D version of its DS handheld gaming portable. We learned that much from Nintendo’s official press teaser this morning. But according to Japanese newshound Adriansang, several mainstream Japanese sources are weighing in with claims of tantalizing supplemental specs.

[From NextGov (“Technology And The Business Of Government”)] Defense readies system to treat PTSD, brain injuries remotely By Bob Brewin 03/22/2010 Thousands of miles and a lack of facilities have kept the Army from providing treatment to soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. But the Defense Department plans to deploy a solution soon that relies on a transportable telehealth system that will virtually bring doctors to patients.

[From New Scientist; a :30 video is here] HDTV reveals brainy octopus has no personality 12 March 2010 by Shanta Barley Octopuses make for discerning TV viewers: it seems they prefer high-definition to traditional cathode ray images (CRT). What’s more, the first study using video to trick octopuses, finds that they may be the Jekyll and Hydes of the oceans: aggressive one day, shrinking violets the next. “People have been trying for over a decade to get proper behavioural responses from octopuses and other cephalopods using videos,” says Roger Hanlon, an octopus researcher at the Marine Resources Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts,…

[From Gizmag] Power Gig game uses real guitar controller By Paul Ridden March 11, 2010 There’s a Battle of the Bands scenario brewing now that a new contender has arrived on the “play along to your favorite tunes with a game controller instrument” scene. Seven45 Studios has just released details of its new gaming system called PowerGig where the buttoned and plunger interface of the familiar Guitar Hero and Rock Band gaming interface has been tossed out in favor of a real six-string guitar. Seven45 Studios has taken a more hands-on approach to its game and interface development than most…

[From The New York Review of Books] Volume 57, Number 5 · March 25, 2010 The Wizard By Daniel Mendelsohn Avatar a film directed by James Cameron [snip] What’s striking is that so many critiques of Avatar ‘s political shortcomings often go out of their way to elide or belittle the movie’s overwhelming successes as a work of cinema—its enormous visual power, the thrilling imaginative originality, the excitingly effective use of the 3-D technology that seems bound to change permanently the nature of cinematic experience henceforth—as if to acknowledge how dazzling it is would be an admission of critical weakness.[2]…