Yeetle Box - We, Robots

2009 is upon us, and what better way to celebrate the upcoming year than to witness the enslavement of humankind. Enjoy!

The situational awareness mast (or Zippermast) from Geosystems Inc. is a telescoping linear actuator that can vertically translate a robot's sensor suite for better visibility. In this video, a Zippermast is affixed to an I-Robot Packbot.

Using a Persistence of Vision (POV) as a human-robot interface, this bot brings a sense of perspective hitherto unknown to our species.

Troody is a 16 DOF autonomously powered and controlled biped robot built to resemble a Troodon, a small carnivorous dinosaur that lived in the Cretaceous period. There is no practical need for a Troodon.

This robot sports two DLR-III lightweight arms and two DLR-II hands. This makes it a powerful research platform for bi-manual manipulation - something I think everyone can get behind.

PR 1 Robot Feeding Person. Well, the Matrix has to start somewhere. It's just a matter of time.

The YeetleMaster

Yeetle Box - Virginity Takes a Dive

A new study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Pubic Health found that teens who take virginity pledges are just as likely to have sex as teens who don't make such promises -- and they're less likely to practice safe sex to prevent disease or pregnancy. The findings were authored by Janet E. Rosembaum and were published in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics.

"Previous studies found that pledgers were more likely to delay having sex than non-pledgers," said Dr. Rosenbaum. "I used the same data as previous studies but a different statistical method - the less reliable Euclidean method which forms data into geometric shapes."

This method allowed Rosenbaum to compare those who had taken a virginity pledge with similar teens who hadn't taken a pledge but were likely to delay having sex, she said. She added that she didn't include teens who were unlikely to take a pledge because they were less likely to be virgins anyway.

"Virginity pledgers and similar non-pledgers don't differ in the rates of vaginal, oral or anal sex or any other sexual behavior," Rosenbaum said. "Strikingly, pledgers are less likely than similar non-pledgers to use condoms and also less likely to use any form of birth control. Oddly enough, it was the pledgers who went for the really kinky sex - bestiality especially."

Teens who had taken a pledge had a statistically insignificant 0.1 fewer sex partners during the past year, but the same number of partners overall as those who had not pledged. "A 0.1 sex partner is really just masturbation," she noted.

The study also found that, five years after taking a virginity pledge, more than 80 percent of pledgers denied ever making such a promise. Said one pledger, "My Dad made me pledge. That doesn't count."

Dr. Rosenbaum said teens who are religious tend to delay having sex, but that has nothing to do with virginity pledges or abstinence-only sex education programs. "Religious teens fear more demonic possession and virginal sacrifices than sex," said Dr. Rosenbaum.

In a related study, funded by the government, it was found that the primary cause for teenage pregnancy was sex.

YeetleMaster

Yeetle Box - It's A Wonderful Life

After receiving billions in aid from U.S. taxpayers, the nation's largest banks say they can't track exactly how they're spending the money or they simply refuse to discuss it.

"We've lent some of it. We've not lent some of it. We've not given any accounting of, 'Here's how we're doing it,'" said Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, which received $25 billion in emergency bailout money. "We have not disclosed that to the public. We're declining to."

The Associated Press contacted 21 banks that received at least $1 billion in government money and asked four questions:

How much has been spent?
What was it spent on?
How much is being held in savings?
What's the plan for the rest?

None of the banks provided specific answers.

"We're not providing dollar-in, dollar-out tracking," said Barry Koling, a spokesman for Atlanta, Ga.-based SunTrust Banks Inc., which got $3.5 billion in taxpayer dollars. "Why would we do that?"

Some banks said they simply didn't know where the money was going.

"We manage our capital in its aggregate," said Regions Financial Corp. spokesman Tim Deighton, who said the Birmingham, Ala.-based company is not tracking how it is spending the $3.5 billion it received as part of the financial bailout. "By aggregate we mean we manage our capital as we see fit. Duh!"

There are no consequences for banks who don't comply.

"It is entirely appropriate for the American people to know how their taxpayer dollars are being spent in private industry," said Elizabeth Warren, the top congressional watchdog overseeing the financial bailout. "Unless, of course, it involves this bailout money. Most Americans can't balance a checkbook anyway!"

Nearly every bank, including Citibank and Bank of America, two of the largest recipients of bailout money have issued generic public relations statements explaining that the money was being used to strengthen balance sheets and continue making loans to ease the credit crisis.

"As one of the largest financial institutions in the world, Citibank believes our customers rely on our privacy practices."

Other banks, such as Morgan Stanley spokeswoman Carissa Ramirez, offered to discuss the matter with reporters on condition of anonymity. Ramirez sent an e-mail saying: "Yea, we're gonna have to decline to comment on your story. If you could just let it go, that would be great."

Further, most banks wouldn't say why they were keeping the details secret.

"We're not sharing any other details. We're just not at this time," said Wendy Walker, a spokeswoman for Dallas-based Comerica Inc., which received $2.25 billion from the government. "If you have a secret, you don't share anything. That's the nature of a secret."

Heine, the New York Mellon Corp. spokesman who said he wouldn't share spending specifics, added: "I just would prefer if you wouldn't say that we're not going to discuss those details. I just would prefer that we not talk about it at all. I would prefer not to."

Warren, the congressional watchdog appointed by Democrats, said her oversight panel will try to force the banks to say where they've spent the money. "We're not hopeful they will release any information. We're just the government. We're the little guy in this thing."

The YeetleMaster