For people who are wound up too tight, it’s a great way to release the stress and pent-up energy. And for the interns at  Open University’s computer science department, it’s something that has been programmed to take punches and turn them into different forms of stimulus and feedback.

The characteristics of each punch are detected using impact sensors and an accelerometer. These signals are then processed in an Arduino processor, which provides sounds, lights, images, and other information. In addition to playing music, this particular punching bag can also emit laughter, or even a sigh when hugged.

The interactive punching bag was intended investigate the impact of feedback and stimulus on the users (or the punchers), as well as observe what effects impact interactive design might make on the user (or puncher) experience over time.

Pretty cool, huh?

[via Dvice]

How will Twine make objects talk? There are two crucial elements. First, the sensors – aside from the Wi-Fi module that it uses to communicate, there is a vibration sensor and temperature sensor inside the 2.5″ module. Its maker, Supermechanical also has additional sensors in the works, such as a magnetic switch (for detecting moving objects) and a moisture sensor.

The sensors are important – this means that you don’t have to cut wires, solder or even mess with a circuit board to set up a project. For example, in the video below the module is shown on top of a washing machine, presumably to detect when the machine starts or stops. Or you can just leave it in a room to detect temperature changes. Dead simple.

The second crucial element is Spool, Twine’s complementary web app. It lets you set up simple “when x, then y” conditions. It’s programming in plain English, with four possible outputs – a text message, a tweet, an email or an HTTP request. So for instance, continuing our previous example, you can set up a system wherein you’ll receive a text when your washing machine is done.

You can also set up added conditions, which Spool calls filters, turning your condition into “when x while y then z.” But Twine is not just for newbies. It has additional options for more advanced tinkerers, such as support for a breakout board. Inventors David Carr and John Kestner talk more about Twine below:

Head to Supermechanical’s website to pre-order Twine. Prices start at $99 (USD). If you think that Twine will only let your gadgets talk, take a minute to look at the Harry Potter clock, the Siri Beer Bot and the Siri home automation hack. All three involve detecting either a text or Twitter message – things that Twine produces – which is then used as a signal to activate additional hardware. That’s just off the top off my head.

So really, the possibilities are endless with Twine. At the very least, it’s a great gateway to the wonderful world of hardware tinkering. It’s no wonder that Supermechanical raised more than half a million dollars on Kickstarter despite their modest goal of $35,000.

[via Wired]

Designed by Matt Raw, Code Cards are holiday cards with messages written in programming languages. Currently Raw has three models, one for the New Year, one for Valentine’s Day and one for uhm, Eggnog Day. The latter comes in a set of four cards, with each card displaying the message in a different language – Python, Ruby, PHP and Javascript.

So write yourself a web browser and head to Code Cards to order; $14 (USD) gets you a pack of four cards. Of course, Raw has implicitly made the code for Code Cards open source, so if you’re strapped for cash I guess there’s no harm in appropriating his idea for personal use.

[via Laughing Squid]

The app is hidden in the code, and you can actually extract it. It’s also executable, meaning that you can run the app without too many hitches. MG has been using the app for a few hours and he has confirmed that this will be the app that Facebook will launch shortly. The navigation system is good, better than the one on the iPhone app.

Can you use try it out? Probably, if you don’t mind tinkering with some code and jailbreaking your iPad so that you can run the app. It won’t take long to pop up over torrent sites as well. A Canadian engineering student, Marvin Bernal, first caught this and tweeted about it.

[via TechCrunch]

da Silva promises that Minibloq will be easy to use but still sophisticated, fast, portable, modular and free. Here’s Minibloq being used to work on a DuinoBot.kids on an Intel ClassMate convertible:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I think the best thing about Minibloq is that it can show the equivalent code of the blocks used in real time, which is a pretty effective way of weaning beginners from the interface. *UPDATE: da Silva has already set up a Kickstarter fund for the project, so check it out and donate if you want to help him complete it. As with all Kickstarter projects, those who give significant donations will be entitled to certain privileges, such as access to pre-alpha versions of Minibloq and even the full source code. You can also check out the Minibloq blog for more info.

[via Hack a Day]

As you will notice, the reports are results-oriented and focused mainly on – surprise – stats, so don’t expect jokes or rants here. Not that those things matter to the target market of the StatSheet Network, but that should still give some comfort to fleshy sports bloggers. After all, that’s the main advantage of blogs over standard news outlets – the informal chit chat. I am curious though if these algorithms could work for other topics, like, I don’t know, gadgets, or video games.

[via TechCrunch via Slashdot]

You can really imagine all of the cool drawing programs you could create if you could detect the pressure applied with a stylus, and the guys at Ten One Design have figured out a way to do this, even though it’s not officially supported by Apple.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And therein lies the rub… Since they had to build a private function call to make this work, it’s not something they can make available in the App Store. Ten One hopes Apple will see what they’ve done and roll the capability into the UIKit framework, but for now we’ll just have to admire their programming prowess from afar.

Apple, please check out what Ten One has achieved, and roll it into UIKit so we can all enjoy it! Thanks.

The PR2 from Willow Garage might look pleasant enough, but it’s a serious pool-playing machine. It doesn’t use any fancy human remote-control cameras to play its perfect game of pool. Instead, it uses a set of high-resolution cameras with a “color blob tracker”, and special software to plan its shots.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Sure, at the end of the day, if PR2 doesn’t win, it could beat your brains out. After all, it probably doesn’t like losing to us puny humans. Thankfully, PR2 appears to be a good sport at this point.

[via Plastic Pals]

The video below shows Higgins and one of his Wi-Fi Warthogs at last year’s Professional Developers’ Conference. Unfortunately there’s more coding talk than Warthog fun in the video.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I think the man behind the camera vacillated between boredom and confusion as he interviewed Higgins. I kept hoping that Higgins would stop explaining and use his toy some more. Programmers and Powerwheels modders can check out the Coding4Fun blog for more details on both the software and hardware aspects of the Wi-Fi Warthogs.

[via Oh Gizmo!]

ClearView makes a list of rules based on a program’s “normal” behavior. When something causes the program to deviate from those rules, ClearView “comes up with several potential patches designed to force the software to follow the violated rules… If additional rules are violated, or if a patch causes the system to crash, ClearView rejects it and tries another.” And it does all of that without any human intervention. As a test, ClearView was tasked to babysit Firefox while the browser was attacked via ten different methods. On average, ClearView came up with a patch within 5 minutes of exposure to an attack. How’s that for customer service. If you’re tired of having programs die on you, read the full article at Technology Review. It may just make your day.

[via Slashdot]

This simplistic 4-bit microcomputer kit from Gakken is really designed as a retro educational plaything, and not any sort of computer you’d ever want to be stuck using. Ever. The GMC-4 computer features a 20-key keyboard with hexadecimal characters, a single red 7-segment LED display, and 7 additional LEDs. That’s it. No big-screen, no Blu-ray drive (same as that iMac), and it doesn’t run any operating system.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Still, it somehow manages to play simplistic games like “whac-a-mole” and tennis, and also offers a basic sound generator for playing monotonous music. Keep in mind that this kit does require assembly, and the instructions are entirely in Japanese – and they show pictures of components that don’t come with the GMC-4, So that should increase the challenge a little bit.

You can get your hands on the GMC-4 microcomputer kit over at the MakerSHED for $39.95 (USD).

[photo via HobbyMedia]

The machine takes advantage of the fact that patents often refer to other (or earlier) patents to connect the words that it got from the book. I’m not 100% sure but I think this is how it works: if for example the first two words that the machine got from a book are “fox” and then “dog”, the machine will first look for a patent with a drawing of a fox. But before looking for a drawing of a dog, it looks for a third patent drawing that will connect the fox-patent to the dog-patent. Then it draws the fox, then the connection between the fox and the dog – a patent for a foxdog? – and then the dog.

In essence, it turns a text-based story into a technological history of sorts. Here’s the Perpetual Storytelling Apparatus in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Honestly I found it to be a bit boring. Maybe if I knew exactly which “recent best-selling book” it started from I could appreciate the drawings more. Or maybe I should see it live. As it is, I don’t have context, and the drawings make little to no sense to me. Definitely weird though.

[via likecool]

Here’s iDriver and Spirit of Berlin in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Praise Apple and the iPhone! Well, not really. Upon reading about iDriver at 8bitfix, commenter Solidsnake72 took time off from sneaking about and shared the video below. It starts small, but an insane turn of events comes about 2 minutes into the clip:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Blackberry FTW! Although RIM’s smartphone loses points for using Bluetooth, which of course has a limited range, I think we can all agree that controlling a real F1 car is infinitely more fun than controlling a station wagon, even if said station wagon has lasers onboard.

Update: as nobbi points out in the comments, the Blackberry video is (almost) certainly a viral marketing stunt. Can anyone confirm this? At least no kids on balloons  were involved. And thanks to gusto for the tip!

YouTube user macjonesnz MacGyvered a baby rocker using his baby’s car seat, a piece of string, his PC’s CD drive and a bit of code.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I’m calling it the medium-tech baby rocker. If macjonesnz made a robot rocker, now that would be high tech. Still, the man ordered his computer to rock his child to sleep. Programming ftw.

[via Neatorama]

John Freeborn’s CODE Stickers are perfect for building geek cred with the guy in your rear-view mirror. For just $5 bucks, you’ll get a set of 5 vinyl stickers, including .NET, PHP, CSS, AJAX and good old HTML to cover your bumper or tailgate with. But they look best slapped onto the basket on the front of your Segway.

Java, Python, Ruby and Perl developers need not apply.

[via geekadelphia]

Just plug the WiiChuck into to bottom of your Wii Nunchuck controller, and you’ll have access to all of the wonderful data the controller can generate. No more cable cutting! The teensy adapter board provides quick access to the Nunchuck’s interface, letting you use data sent from the controller’s 2-axis joystick, two buttons and a 3 axis ±2g accelerometer.

And if you’re into Arduino build projects, you can head on over to TodBot’s site and grab some open source libraries to get you started with reading the data from the Nunchuck and using it in your own programs. The best part is that each WiiChuck costs just $2.95 (USD). Head on over to SparkFun and grab one if you have any interest in hacking your Nunchuck.

No seriously it’s not just about having fun. Here’s what the organizers say about the contest: “One of the main purposes of this competition is to be able to compare different controller development methodologies against each other, both those based on learning techniques such as artificial evolution and those that are completely hand-coded.” Pardon the screenshot; the algorithm-controlled Mario is just too fast for may screen cap skills. Here’s the AI in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Wow. I didn’t even know you could wall jump your way out of a hole.

[via TechEBlog]

The return-oriented programming approach is a “powerful systems security exploit that generates malicious behavior by combining short snippets of benign code already present in the system.” It was first described in 2007 by Shacham himself. While I have no doubt that it takes brilliant minds to achieve what Checkoway and his peeps achieved, we should instead focus on the implication of the achievement. And it’s quite unsettling: evil dudes “would need just a few minutes of access to the machine the night before the election in order to take it over and steal votes the following day.”

So how should governments react to this turn of events? Schacham recommends that the voting process should be as computer-free as possible. It may sound like a stupid idea – it’s certainly ironic – but if there’s anything we’ve learned from the history of Windows and video game consoles, and now this, it’s that anything can be hacked. Shacham is proposing the use of optical scanners, which would simply read paper ballots. If the scanner is compromised, then the ballots will be a fallback. It’ll take more time to process the votes, but that’s a small price for the truth.

Check out PhysOrg for the full story, plus a video interview with Hovav Shacham.

The head-to-head serves as a reminder of just how much technology has changed over the years, as well as a rough idea of how freakin’ rich Apple must be: while the old breadbox has a colossal lead in terms of total units sold at 32 million (it was first released in 1982),  a head esploding 1 million iPhone 3GS units were sold on its first 3 days on sale alone. That’s just insane.

That’s the start of the list. Funny how the C64 is almost all keyboard while the iPhone has no real keyboard at all. Other interesting facts: there are a total of 50,000 apps for the iPhone. McCracken(!) goes by the official number of C64 apps which is more or less 10,000, but several commenters are claiming that there are up to 100,000 programs for the C64. That seems like a huge advantage, until you realize that the iPhone is only less than 3 years old while the C64 is 27.

Of course the iPhone sweeps the tech specs trophies, but the C64 won lots of love because it offered… FREEDOM! The William Wallace of gadgets had neither carrier tie-ins nor app approval jujitsu. As one commenter said, if there was an iPhone emulator for the C64 it would’ve been warmly welcomed and immediately approved, no questions asked, except maybe “Would you like some cookies?”

Head on to Technologizer for the full list and the flame war. The C64 fanboys (fangrandfathers?) are winning. McCracken! Sorry.

[via Download Squad]

Arkin argues that “not only can robots be programmed to behave more ethically on the battlefield, they may actually be able to respond better than human soldiers.” Now I know that if we do end up having autonomous armed robots, their decision-making must be equally good, if not better, than ours. Surely coming up with such a software is no mean feat, but I’m more worried about the possibility of evildoers coming up with an evil program, which is much easier to write (i.e. a program that instructs robots to kill everything they see).

[via Discovery via BotJunkie]