Already going through sports withdrawal now that the Super Bowl has ended?  Not too excited about the upcoming Winter Olympics?  Well, how about we add one-part thrill of competition, plus one-part agony of defeat mixed with a heaping mess of Robots.  Yeah, you read that right.  Robots.

• Hand-to-hand robot combat?  Check.
• Sumo-wrestling robots?  Check.
• Fire-fighting robots?  Got them, too.
• Dancing Robots? Robots mixing cocktails?   Done and done!
  

What crazy, topsy-turvy alternate universe of coolness is this  where you can watch Robots engage in all manner of competition?  Why, right here via the RoboGames, of course.  You’ll be able to catch all of he action as hundreds of robots compete (and sometimes flat-out destroy each other) via the web April 23rd-25th.

Tech enthusiasts, engineers and people who just like watchin’ stuff get smashed and/or explode should read on to get the full scoop on the 2010 RoboGames competition.

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photo credit: brianbutko

Don’t forget to get in line on Tuesday, Feb. 9, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m, as Denny’s Restaurants once again give away free Original Grand Slams as part of their Super Bowl promotion. You’ll probably want to get there early, as this will likely be a very popular event … again.

But that’s not all. You can also enter to win one free Grand Slam a week for a year by registering February 1 through February 14 online at www.dennys.com or in your local restaurant. If you are one of the first 500,000 people to sign up for the new Denny’s Rewards program online, you’ll receive a free burger and fries, and as a capper – Denny’s is now offering free refills on french fries and pancakes at participating restaurants nationwide. Crazy!

Add this to the Original Grand Slam Denny’s already gives away to customers on their birthdays, and you can see why Denny’s is such a popular all-day breakfast spot.

via Consumerist

At Gear Diary, we aim to serve you, our dedicated readers. So at great risk, with stealth, ninja skills, and a fair amount of hackery, we have here the rough draft of John Sargent’s open letter to Macmillan’s authors and illustrators. The version that ran in “Publishing Lunch” was punched up by the public relations department; the rough draft is FAR more interesting.

The final version is in quotes, and the rough draft is in red below it.

To: Macmillan Authors and Illustrators
cc: Literary Agents
From: John Sargent

I am sorry I have been silent since Saturday. We have been in constant discussions with Amazon since then. Things have moved far enough that hopefully this is the last time I will be writing to you on this subject.

We’ve had Jeff Bezos locked in the basement of our headquarters since Sunday morning. He’s finally starting to see the light, after we smashed a Kindle DX in front of him to prove we mean business.

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We all watch TV.  Its what we do when we aren’t online or going out into the real world.  We just thought it was for watching the Lost premiere or that special episode of Mythbusters, but now, TV has gone and done something different.  In this new world of digital convergence, you can now download an application from your television.  Specifically, you can download the Weather Channel application for Android to your Android phone from the television.  How cool is that?

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My wife and I coach an Odyssey of the Mind team through our kids’ school. Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem solving program focused on teamwork and kid-only solutions of challenged they work on all through the school year. (I coached Destination Imagination back in Massachusetts for several years, and it is very similar).

Our team this year has a problem they are solving, and their solution has led them to events that happened in 1985, and as such they have been looking at the popular culture ‘way back then’. We have plenty of music from the 80’s in our record, tape and CD collections, but I came across a bargain ‘Billboard Top 100 of 1985′ collection when we were shopping, so I grabbed it and ripped it onto my iPod. Now each time the team meets we shuffle up some 80’s music … and they say things like ‘fer shure’ and ‘neo maxie-zoom dweebie …’. So what were the hits of 1985? Read on for a list and a few top videos for the year! Continue Reading

Ok, we all know that logically, texting while driving isn’t a smart thing to do.  It’s too distracting from driving, and one could wind up with some serious repercussions. And, in cases where the state hasn’t enacted the law about requiring a Bluetooth headset while talking on the phone, the same thoughts apply.  This is just common sense.

So, state legislatures have been working hard to put laws in place to ban phone usage and texting while driving to save us from those ’serious repercussions.’  Has it worked?  Well, according to a study put out by the Highway Loss Data Institute, the answer is no.

“The laws aren’t reducing crashes, even though we know that such laws have reduced hand-held phone use, and several studies have established that phoning while driving increases crash risk,” says Adrian Lund, president of HLDI.

The HLDI compared collisions of 100 insured vehicles per year in New York, Washington DC, Connecticut, and California — all states with currently enacted roadway text bans. Despite those laws, monthly fluctuations in crash rates didn’t change after bans were enacted, [although] there were less people using devices while driving. An earlier study conducted by the HLDI reported that cellphone use was directly linked to four-fold increases in crash injuries. Also independent studies done by universities have shown correlation between driving while using a phone and crashes.

So what does all of this REALLY mean?  Well, don’t phone/text and drive. Period.  Will people actually follow this?  No.  Is there any real way to eliminate this problem in the future?  I am thinking auto-pilot in cars (a la Demolition Man).

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

You know the story – every February 2nd at 6AM the alarm goes off and … wait, wrong GroundHog Day! Anyway, each February 2nd in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the world watches as the groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil either sees or doesn’t see his shadow, which will tell us whether we’ll see an early spring … or six more weeks of winter.

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It is hard for me as someone who grew up in Massachusetts to believe that I was born into a time when segregation was widespread throughout the country and that there were actually places that legally and officially disallowed someone service based solely on the color of their skin. So it is amazing to me that it was a mere 50 years ago today that the so-called ’sit in’ movement started at the counter of a Woolworth in Greensboro, N.C.

I read an article about this in my local paper this weekend, and searched out more information, which was readily available at the Greensboro web site, and also covered by many news sites:

The four college freshmen walked quietly into a Greensboro dime store on a breezy Monday afternoon, bought a few items, then sat down at the “whites only” lunch counter – and sparked a wave of civil rights protest that changed America.

Violating a social custom as rigid as law, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr. and David Richmond sat near an older white woman on the silver-backed stools at the F.W. Woolworth. The black students had no need to talk; theirs was no spontaneous act. Their actions on Feb. 1, 1960, were meticulously planned, down to buying a few school supplies and toiletries and keeping their receipts as proof that the lunch counter was the only part of the store where racial segregation still ruled.

So as we think of all of the minor annoyances that plague us all every day, let us also remember that it was within our lifetimes that paying customers were denied the right to sit down in public establishments solely on the color of their skin.

I certainly don’t believe we are in any sort of ‘post racial world’, as I think many of the issues of the past decade merely shifted distrust and hatred to different people … but it is clear that we have certainly advanced quite a bit in terms of tolerance and the public recognition that institutionalized hatred is wrong. Let’s hope the next 50 year see even more progress in that direction.

Source: WVGazette

It’s been a problem since the first winter post-iPhone release: How do you use your smartphone with a capacitive screen during freezing cold weather? There’s always your nose, or a quick “yank glove, interact with phone, throw gloves back on, pray there’s no frostbite.” Etre believes they have a different solution with their Etre Touchy Gloves. I’ve been using them for a few days: do they solve the glove dilemma? Read on to find out!

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When the carnival came to town for our annual Western Days festival in my home town, there were three things I needed to see if it was going to be a great weekend.  The Sizzler, Tilt-A-Whirl and of course Bumper Cars.  My friends and I would ride the bumper cars over and over running back to get in line after each time.  In fact, I always wished I had them set up in my back yard.  Those little cars bring back some really fond memories!

See more after the break…

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Image courtesy of T-post

Usually a magazine subscription gets you 12 issues a year and maybe an extra calendar or special promotional issue. T-post does it a little different by releasing a T-shirt with the monthly themed article every 6 weeks. The article itself is printed on the inside back of the shirt and artist depiction on the front. Each month has only a single topic written and graphically depicted, they also change the artist every month to keep the designs different and fresh. T-post is also environmentally conscious and using organic cotton t-shirts and only printing enough to cover the subscribers. Video after the break.

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All hail Woz!  Steve Wozniak- the co-founder of Apple, has but in his two cents on Apple’s new iPad.  Whenever a new gadget comes out, the press always go to Woz for an opinion.

On a visit to California State University of Chico, audience members had to ask him what he thought of the new iPad. More specifically, what impact the iPad would have on the entertainment industry?  Woz’s response?  He said that it could disrupt the publishing industry and put digital printing on the map, but warned that Hollywood and record labels shouldn’t feel Earth-shattering changes to their business.

Its nice to see Woz giving us a real opinion on all things gadget!

Remember Gordon Gekko?  Well he’s back.  Oliver Stone is set to release the sequel to the popular 80s film “Wall Street.”

The original starred Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, a super rich, super powerful and super dirty Wall Street broker.

Charlie Sheen plays the title role of a young and impatient stockbroker who is willing to do anything to get to the top.

In one scene, Gekko is seen talking to Sheen on a “cell phone” while strolling along his beachfront property.  Of course the cell phone back in 1987 was a little different than what you’re used to now.

Well Gekko’s back in the sequel and so is his old phone.  Watch at around the :39 mark to see for yourself.

Image courtesy of Hummels at a Discount

I remember as a kid when my father bought my mom her first Hummel. At the time they were treasured and very expensive – and the type of expense my parents really couldn’t afford at the time. Through the years they added to the collection, eventually getting a nice little wall display case for them all. The one in the image – Sensitive Hunter – is how my mom always saw me, and therefore was the one she wanted to represent me in her little menagerie.

But today an article at WalletPop talks about how the once treasured collectibles have fallen out of favor and are no longer fetching the prices they used to command:

Prices, Kovel says, have “gone to hell.” “If we have a Hummel whose book value is $325, they are now bringing about $50, sometimes less,” wrote estate liquidator Julie Hall, the author of The Boomer Burden: Dealing with Your Parents’ Lifetime Accumulation of Stuff, in an email. On eBay, ultra-rare Hummels still occasionally fetch big bucks — ‘Adventure Bound’ recently sold for $1,135 on eBay. But that’s the exception. Many other Hummels don’t sell at all — or sell for less than $50, a once unheard of price for Hummels.

So if your mother or grandmother has a collection that you hoped would provide you cash to get yourself an iPad, you might be out of luck. Hopefully there is plenty of sentimental value and memories there, because there likely isn’t much else of value.

Source: WalletPop

Being the gadget freak that I am, I like to have gadgets in the kitchen almost as much as I do in the office or on the go.  I am a big fan of drinking tea (both hot and cold), but often I only want one mug of tea at a time, not a whole pot.  I was looking around at tea flavors I wanted to try when I happened upon the Perfect Teamaker from Teavana.  It seemed like the perfect solution, so I promptly added it to my Christmas list.

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