Auto Show Results

Jacob Javits Center, New York

The Auto Show at the Jacob Javits Center was, for lack of a better word, awesome. I feel like no matter what car I have right now, I'll always walk in there feeling like my car rocks and walk out thinking "Damn, my ride sucks.".

The selection was pretty good. Companies like Chevy, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac had a whole north wing dedicated to themselves and their set up was absolutely superb (shown left). Other companies like Ford, Toyota, and Jeep had a more modest display but still pretty good none the less.
What confused me, however, was why come companies had such a boring set up and an even less amusing line up of vehicles on display. Companies like Lexus and Mazda were a real let down for me. But you'll read more about that in the days to come.
For now, all you need know is that more posts are dropping starting tomorrow with what I saw, what I thought of it, and any specifications I was able to get my hands on. This will all be complete with pictures to match. I'm also working on getting a new page set up with the gallery of all pictures taken by me and my associate at the show.

Check back tomorrow afternoon for the juicey stuff guys! See you then.

Weekly Flash: Madness Combat 3!

Madness Combat 3

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Where I've Been and What's to Come

So, as if you couldn't tell, I've been away from this blog for about a month. BUT! We certainly are not dead! I, personally, have just been far too busy to update regularly but as of tomorrow, all that changes. With the Car Show going on at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC, you can bet you'll be reading and seeing a lot from it. I'll be there personally tomorrow, investigating and such to find you all the newest and coolest of things out there and pretty much anything else that catches my eye. Got anything in particularly you'd like me to look into while there? Contact me at sicktechondeck@gmail.com !

Robot of the Week: TOPIO

TOPIO 3.0 Shown at IREX in Tokyo (2009)

Now I know the name TOPIO doesn't sound too intimidating. But be warned, it's pretty scary.

TOPIO is a ping pong playing robot from Vietnam, essentially. It premiered first in IREX (International Robot Exhibition) 2007 with the TOPIO 1.0. Since then it's been stirring up the world of robotics.

This bot stands at a mean 188 centimeters tall (6'1" approx.) and weighs a staggering 264 lbs (120 kg). Combining this with the 39 degrees of mobility you've got an incredibly versatile athlete of a robot with a dominating athletic figure.
But it's not all about looks.

Under the hood, so to speak, TOPIO can recognize incredibly fast object objects, lightning fast reflexes, an advance artificial intelligence designed to mimic that of the average human, AND is capable of balanced walking on two feet. Just try to grasp that for a second, there are animals that can't even do that well.

For more about TOPIO you can check out their official page here, the wikipedia article here, and for a look at TOPIO's early sibling TOPIO 1.0 playing some table tennis, check out the video below.

Weekly Flash: QWOP

Flash Games

Flash Games
Controls: Q- Right Thigh W- Left Thigh O- Left Calf P-Right Calf

If you haven't heard of QWOP, then you must have been under a rock. QWOP is one of the most popular, most funny, most difficult, and POSSIBLY the most annoying game on the internet. However, if you manage to advance at all, it feels so rewarding.

Just a Thought!

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How Does It Work: The Internet

The Internet. We ALL know what it is. We're on it right now actually. You use it to search for stuff you might not know yourself. You use it to buy whatever you want at any hour and have it delivered directly to  your front door. You use it to play games with people half way around the world. You even use it to talk to friends or make friends. Hell, statistics show 1 in 5 couples now even met online. But have you ever stopped to think what exactly you just did? Did you ever try and contemplate what the Internet even is? I'm almost sure you haven't.

The Internet can best be described as a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users world wide. (found using the define: function, Google)

Okay. Pause.

What on earth does that mean? Let me borrow a super common Internet phrase. Basically, you could think of the Internet as a series of tubes. Now, think of each computer having one tube that connects to a main tube. Now picture this main tube going down every road, passing virtually every home in the world. That's just about the magnitude of the Internet.



Try to use this as your tubes. Let each individual tube be the tube to your computer and each collection of tubes be one main tube.



(If my tube explanation doesn't help you, and you're more of a literal person, check this article by Discovery here.)



Homeland Security's Emblem

These 'tubes' are publicly owned. Well, technically their publicly shared. So, they're not owned at all. And when you think about it, that's probably one of the best things about it. It's a publicly shared network controlled by the people who use it. It is, however, monitored by higher powers such as The Internet Society, a nonprofit organization created in 1992 to overlook how Internet protocol is created and how we use the Internet to interact, and Law Enforcement agencies like Cyber Patrol or even Homeland Security.

So, just a quick recap. The Internet is a series of publicly shared tubes which connect to main tubes eventually connecting your tube to the tube of every computer in the world. Sound complicated? It shouldn't. If it does, then you probably wouldn't be able to fathom how complicated the actual Internet is. Now, I could spit out a bunch of acronyms and complex terms but that's not my job here. My job is to make complicated tech simple, and bring it to people like you. For a more in depth look at how the internet functions, check out Discovery Channel's How Stuff Works here or The Internet Society's pages about the Internet here.