Wired For War

I highly recommend the Jan. 22 episode of NPR's Fresh Air, in which Terry Gross interviews the author of Wired For War.

Here's how Terry opens the show:

"We're entering the era of robots at war. Robots with names like Predator, Global Hawk, TALON, SWORDS, and PackBot. The American military is getting ready for a battlefield where it sends out fewer humans and more robots."

Terry Gross has never sounded more badass, and I have never been more excited about the times we are living in.

One of the most interesting parts of her interview with the author of Wired For War is when they discuss how the robot controls are consciously being modeled after popular video game controllers, since most young soldiers already have experience using this kind of interface.

It's a great interview, and gives a great glimpse into how technology is changing the way we fight wars, and leading us closer and closer to this:

The Robot Ghost Of Christmas Past

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Embarrassing Moments In Robot History

This entry into the Robot Hall of Shame features one of the most embarrassing robot movies of all time: Transformers.

Transformers was awesome, you say? You talkin' 'bout this movie?


Perhaps you were thinking of the beloved animated film of our youth, Transformers: The Movie. Nothing embarrassing about that masterpiece, right? Oh...yeah.


Not only is the Weird Al song horribly miss-matched to the scene, but things quickly degenerate further when the universal greeting is first uttered. "Ba weep granna weep ninny bong?" And then the dancing. Oh, and the "Me Grimlock not kisser" line. And Eric Idle's annoying, distorted television announcer voice. And--
*sigh*

Guess you can't blame Michael Bay for everything.

Beware Of Turkatron!