* Posts by Medium Aardvark

7 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Feb 2012

El Reg needs you – to help build an automated beer-transporting robot

Medium Aardvark

Specification required!

This needs the discussion of a more detailed spec:

How is the beer contained & served? Draught & glass, bottle or can? Chilled or not?

How many units of how many types of beer? Self-serve or full service?

Is a Cider option required?

Is there a hardware budget? Have you looked at available robot chassis option?

Can you weld?

Do you want to re-invent the wheel or borrow the plans?

Check this automated bartender for example that might be adapted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKa0YGDu1KI

Here at last, our 3D beauty: Vulture 2 spaceplane flies in

Medium Aardvark
Facepalm

Allowance for breakages...

Only the one set of parts? Surely you should have at least 2 sets for WHEN it conducts a freelance impact test on the only rock within a mile.

That Firefox OS mobe: The sorta phone left behind after a mugging

Medium Aardvark
FAIL

fear Google?

If the operators are scared of Google then they should be much more scared of Microsoft given their long record with partners.

It is possible to create a very good mobile phone based on a linux platform - Nokia's N9 for example which is so good that it isn't allowed to compete with Windoze phone in large markets.

Not that most people care what is inside the phone. They just want it to work & have lots of apps including angry birds & facebook.

LOHAN teases with quick flash of spaceplane

Medium Aardvark
Thumb Up

Testing?

Looks great.

Will you be flight testing the airframe & autopilot this time? either dropping it from a balloon or chucking it off a skyscaper / cliff should do the trick.

Everything Everywhere's 4G: Why I'm sitting this one out

Medium Aardvark
Go

I'm looking forward to it

Well, I can get just over 1MB/s ADSL or upto 8MB/s Three 3G right now here on the verges of civilization with the M4 on one side and the main rail line to the west on the other. So "mobile" comms win already.

EE have planing permission for a new tower just the far side of the railway so Three will be losing a customer when that gets 4G if they don't have it by then. I guess BT infinity might reach here one of these decades but I wouldn't bet on it.

4G is the only hope if you are even slightly outside a town.

Apple sued for every touchscreen device by Flatworld prof

Medium Aardvark
WTF?

Re: Prior art

Wouldn't an interesting example of prior art be the Apple Newton? It had gestures for some edit functions as well as the handwriting recognition. The palm Pilot also used gestures I think... although weren't they sued by Xerox over patents for just that? I guess once again the only winners will be the lawyers.

Google goggles with Terminator HUD 'coming soon'

Medium Aardvark
Thumb Up

Are they also Peril Sensitive? Or will there be an App for that ( with optional friendly on-screen panic button!).

And of course they have to do different styles....