Curious George prefers eating bananas, but playing with robots will do to pass the time. A team of scientists at Duke University took the world by surprise in 2003 when it successfully used monkeys to control robotic arms with only their brains. Don’t be surprised, but the Duke team just one-upped itself.

Implanting electrodes into the monkeys’ brains, the researchers were able to train the primates to move robotic legs in this iteration of their experiments. Nothing special there, right? Well, the new wrinkle that they presented at this year’s Neuroscience Conference was the monkeys’ ability to movethe robotic legs from thousands of miles away, with the primates and robotic limbs linked only by the Internet! While the monkeys were at the conference in San Diego, they moved the legs, which happened to across the Pacific at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International in Kyoto, Japan.

In 2005, the Duke scientists announced that their original work caused the monkeys’ brain cells to adapt. Even though the 2003 experiment showed that the monkeys could control the robotic arms as if they were moving their own limbs, it was inconclusive as to whether the monkeys’ brain cells were changing in response to the task. The study two years later definitively proved that the primate brain is very adaptable, which suggests that the human brain is much the same.

If the human brain can adapt to using similar technology, then its significance for the disabled is unparalleled. Should the brain be as adaptable as the 2005 work intimates, it would allow the handicapped to experience greater independence and self-sufficiency by using these brain-operated devices to control robotic assistants or limbs. Want to know more? Check out back issues of the journal Neuroscience. Until then, let’s hope these monkeys have a less mischievous inner child than George.

From New Scientist (via Engadget)

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• iRobot Create
• Gibson’s Robot Guitar Tunes Itself

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McAfee’s new report on typosquatting details how 1 in 5 typo-squatted domain names is being funded by Google AdSense.

For their report, McAfee studied 1.9 million typographical variations of 2,771 of the most popular and well known Web sites. Of these, nearly 7% were suspected typo-squatters, defined as domain names registered for the sole purpose of generating advertising revenue from people who mistyped URLs.

The five most highly squatted categories are game sites (14.0%), airlines (11.4%), main stream media company sites (10.8%), adult sites (10.2%) and technology and Web 2.0 related sites (9.6%).

Besides the scale of the problem and its effect on legitimate business, what disgusts me the most is that Google AdWords have no way to opt out of having their advertising displayed on parked domain names.

Addendum: While there are legal routes for trademark owners to recover domain names that are owned by typosquatters, the process is long and expensive. Typosquatting would a much smaller industry if AdSense and other networks took a strong stance against the practice and stopped making it so lucrative.

This article provided by sitepoint.com.

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Filed under: Action, Comedy, Thrillers, Sundance, Trailers and Clips

I have to be honest, I have always had a soft-spot for Colin Farrell and was convinced he could be great in the right role. After watching the trailer for In Bruges, I think this could be the one. Just last week, Peter gave us the heads up that the black comedy had been chosen as the opening night selection for Sundance 2008. Now, a trailer has surfaced and unless you have some headphones at your desk there’s no way you’re going to be able to watch this one at work … sorry. Bruges stars Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two hit-men who are awaiting their contact in a hotel room in Bruges, Belgium. Also starring is Ralph Fiennes, playing very against type as a gangster, and Elizabeth Barrington.

Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, the film is a black comedy with a capital B. Original reports had our two hapless hit-men knocking off a kiddie by mistake and then having to go on the run. By the looks of the trailer though, it seems like there might have been some minor changes. Now, there is no mention of a kid and it looks like the target is a man of the cloth — which I guess is funnier depending on your sense of humor. So even with my aforementioned bias, I still think this looks like a pretty funny flick. I don’t even know all that much about Bruges, but there is one joke that had me almost snorting coffee on the keyboard. Not to mention there are some pretty creative uses of the “F-word” — and that’s just for the trailer. In Bruges will premier at Sundance this January and then a limited release will follow in February. Hopefully the movie will get a wide release sometime in ‘08.

[via The Movie Blog]

*Update: You can now catch the trailer at the Alliance Films website.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Of course the 3G iPhone is coming, that’s clearly in the evolution plan. As Jobs said himself, it’s only a matter of time until improved batteries allow for it. Still, when AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson says, “You’ll have it next year,” well, our ears tend to perk up. The remark was made at a meeting of the Churchill Club in Santa Clara. He didn’t say how much it could cost admitting that Jobs and Apple “will dictate what the price of the phone is.” However, it wouldn’t surprise us if fits back into the $599 slot vacated by the 8GB iPhone while toting a full 16GB of flash like the iPod touch.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Blu-ray, News

In the second most senseless war this century, it appears the tide of battle is still firmly on Blu-ray’s side as movie sales have topped one million units in Europe. That milestone gives Blu-Ray a 73 percent share of all HD movies, with HD DVD only responsible for 27 percent of sales.

Adding PlayStation 3 Blu-ray discs into the mix puts total units produced in excess of 21 million in the region, according to the Blu-ray Disc Association.

With sales so much in favor of Blu-Ray, could we see this war ending before the Forrester Research’s predicted 18 months?

[Via Gamasutra]

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Filed under: Internet, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Small business

Many top players, such as Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), want to get a piece of the local online sector. But it hasn’t been easy.

There are a myriad of smaller players trying to get an edge as well. One up and comer is Yodle, which recently announced that it has raised $12 million in venture capital. The investors include Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Yodle offers a platform that allows small businesses to purchase local online ads. Keep in mind that roughly 63% of consumers now use the internet to search for local businesses.

So what makes Yodle different? Well, the company has made it possible to measure the return on investment for ad campaigns. For small businesses, this is certainly a big deal. For example, Yodle claims that a $1 ad spend can result in an $8 return.

If true, I can see why a small business wouldn’t pass on this kind of thing.

Interested in more cool venture capital deals? Visit DealProfiles.com.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

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LG’s L227WT LCD monitor is yet another monitor in LG’s vaunted 5,000:1 contrast ratio range, bringing 1,680 x 1,050 nativel resolution, a response time of 2ms, a brightness level of 300 mits and a viewing angle of 170 degrees to the table. This 22″ LCD monitor also features DVI-D and D-Sub inputs and comes in a glossy black finish accompanied by ‘ez-zooming’ technology that allows users to change the screen resolution at the touch of a button. The L227WT certainly isn’t meant for those who are new to the world of computers are it requires a reasonable amount of tech savvy to use it. You will be able to pick up the L227WT in shops for between £250 and £275 in December.

Permalink | Comment | Uberbargain | Uberphones

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It’s safe to say the video game community is infatuated with WOW. GamerMag says “WOW is the massively multiplayer online role-playing game that nearly everybody can enjoy, and is a shining example of the game developer’s art.” And GamerMag said: “No game has done more to make MMORPG a household word in North America than WOW.”

There’s a whole language and culture involved in WOW, which might make the beginner a bit squeamish when he or she decides to take their first trip to the war-torn world of Azeroth. With that in mind, avid WOW fan Hunter Crowell has created the new website Wow Gold  Price List, an oasis for players. This site is complete with all the required WOW gold information and analysis.The site breaks down the facts with WOW guides and articles on gold purchasing. The home page also includes links to movies, power leveling providers and, most importantly for the beginner, the Wow guides. This page breaks down the the game’s basics.

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Filed under: Video Games

You’ve probably seen the silly little additions various companies are producing for Nintendo’s Wii that make it look like a tennis racket or golf club. But, we’re guessing you’ve never seen one quite like this before. Some intrepid Wii gamers have found a way to get themselves into the game in a super immersive way. The father-son team turned a toy horse mounted on springs into a sort of giant motion-sensing controller. It’s the ultimate in DIY innovative gaming, and all it requires is some duct tape.

Now, if only there was a real horse racing game for the Wii.

From CollegeHumor.com

Related Links:

• Nintendo Ends Up On Bottom of Green Electronics List
• Study of Studies Shows No Link Between Video Games and Violence
• Study Shows Video Games Make Senior Citizens’ Brains Sharper

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Filed under: Television/Film, On the Blogs, Holidays

Have you ever watched a cooking show and thought, “I think I could do that!” If that sounds like you, then there’s a contest you should really check out. Epicurious is hosting a video contest this holiday season in which they are searching for terrific videos about holiday cooking and entertaining.

The winning video will receive nearly $600 in Michael Chiarello cookware and autographed copy of his book. Three runners-up will receive Epicurious editors’ favorite cookbooks, and the first 25 people to submit a video will receive a TasteBook cookbook that will include recipes from Epicurious as well as some of their own. All videos must be submitted by January 2, 2008 so get out those cameras and start rolling. Because you never know, you could be the next internet food sensation.

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