2 Robots

So, SpaceX launched their Falcon 1 rocket one day after my previous post. The Falcon 1 is a 2-stage, completely reusable rocket. On launch, the first stage worked flawlessly, getting the Falcon above the atmosphere. Unfortunately, The second stage was not able to completely get the Falcon 1′s payload into orbit.

So, last October I build a Robotic Lamb. With the help of motion sensors, a servo and a Basic Stamp, this ordinary stuffed animal was able to amuse guests (and my wife) by turning it’s head to watch them as they move around the room. Since then, it has been given a name, Lamby, and has both amused and frightened many visitors.

Yet, lately, I’ve been feeling that it just isn’t enough to have a subtle, animatronic children’s toy following you wistfully with it’s eyes. Yes, it’s time for Lamby to get an upgrade. Read on for the details!

Think Starbucks is trying to tell me something?

I watched the Space X Falcon 1 live webcast yesterday evening. I still think there is nothing cooler than watching space ships take off. This is their second launch since their first crashed into the ocean last year. Yesterday, the launch was aborted with less than 3 minutes left in the countdown — it sounded like due to an unreliable telemetry data feed. They are planning on attempting a launch today instead.

There are lots of people out there who have been collecting music for some time. Personally, for example, I have had a collection of LP’s (There’s nothing like The Who in vinyl!), cassette tapes, and probably hundreds of CD’s. In the past few years, I’ve also built up a respectable amount of MP3’s and AAC music.

While having plenty of music is great, the problem starts to become that I can only listen to CD’s on my cdplayer, LP’s on my record player, and MP3’s on my IPod. If this sounds familiar, then Roxio’s “Record Now Music Lab” is targeted just for you.