Remote Controlled Black Widow Spider

Created by London’s Natural History Museum, the larger-than-life (appx 12″ long by 10″ wide) mechanical arachnid can creep forward, backwards, left, right, or even spin itself around on a dime. The remote control works from up to 30 feet away, letting you stalk your unwitting victims from around a corner or hiding in their closet.

Ready to unleash havoc? Head on over to UK gadget retailer Play.com and plunk down your £17.99 (appx. $28 USD). Venom not included.

Article Link (Technalob)

To Buy Children’s Gifts, Mothers Do Without

In September and October, sales of women’s apparel fell precipitously compared with the same months the year before. They were down 18.2 percent in October, for instance, compared with a decrease of 8.3 percent for men’s apparel, according to SpendingPulse, a report by MasterCard Advisors. The downturn, analysts said, is being exacerbated by unexciting fashions in stores.

And a survey of shoppers’ intentions by the NPD Group, a consultant firm, suggests that such cutbacks may continue through the holiday season. Some 61 percent of mothers said they would shop less for themselves this year, compared with 56 percent of all women and 45 percent of men.

Reyne Rice, who studies toy trends for the Toy Industry Association, said mothers do at least 80 percent of the holiday shopping in a family, and in past recessions they have been the first to do without. They tend not to get a new coat for themselves, Ms. Rice said, so they can provide for their children.

Despite all these efforts, many mothers will nonetheless end up cutting back, at least a bit, on spending for their children. Historically, the toy industry has been more immune to economic downturns than other industries, but this year, analysts expect it to feel the pinch.

“While times are difficult, the last thing parents are going to cut from their budget is the Christmas present for their child,” said Gerald L. Storch, chairman and chief executive of Toys “R” Us. “We are not seeing price resistance for the hot toys.”

Article Link (NY Times)

USB Stake Helps Brown Thumbs Turn Green, Monitors Soil Conditions

Those cacti on your windowsill don't deserve to die. Even if you
regularly fail at horticulture, the EasyBloom can help. Just leave it
in your proposed planting area for 24 hours, either stuck in the dirt
or propped up in its cradle, then plug it into your computer's USB
port. The gizmo measures soil conditions, sunlight, temperature, and
humidity, comparing the results with an online database to recommend
species that will thrive there. And should the weather be wacky that
day, the EasyBloom is smart enough to check the National Weather
Service for local averages. Your data is stored online for quick
reference. If you've already killed everything in the garden, plunk the
sensor down in your little Death Valley, set it to Monitor mode, and
let it tell you what you're doing wrong. But here's a tip: If you find
yourself running the autopsy repeatedly, it could be something basic.
You do have to water the crops, you know. The EasyBloom can't do
everything for you

Article Link

Hiring for Emotional Intelligence

There are multiple aspects to emotional intelligence, but homing in
on these three in the interview process will go a long way toward
identifying candidates with high EQ--and eliminating those likely to
destroy more value than they create:

1. Self-awareness and self-regulation. The
   candidate understands the needs and wishes that drive him and how they
   affect his behavior. He regulates his emotions so that any fear, anger,
   or anxiety he experiences doesn't spread to his colleagues or make him
   lose control.
2. Reading others and recognizing the impact of his behavior on them.
   The candidate has well-developed emotional and social "radar" and can
   sense how his words and actions influence his colleagues.

The ability to learn from mistakes. He can acknowledge his mistakes, reflect critically upon them, and learn from them.




Article Link

Tinker Bell appears in act of marketing magic

New toys called "Clickables" that link to the online world are hitting
store shelves for the holidays, and some 7.5 million fairy avatars that
children have created can will now be allowed to become privileged
members of the world for $5.95 a month.

Steve Parkis, the senior vice president of Disney Online Studios,
said makers of virtual worlds generally convert 5 to 20 percent of
visitors into paying customers with monthly subscriptions — which
enable users to buy better gags or weapons, pursue more interesting
quests or, in Pixie Hollow, make and buy outfits.

"Ten to 12 percent is where you want to be, 20 percent is very
successful," Parkis said of the conversion rate. "We would be in the
more successful range across the majority of our products."

Disney does not make its online revenue public. But, with a 10 percent
conversion rate and monthly fees from $5.95 to $9.95, Disney's online
worlds rake in an estimated $7 million a month, or $85 million a year —
on par with one low-budget hit movie.

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Holiday spending slashed

A little more than half, or 55%, of the 1,000 respondents said they planned to reduce holiday spending at least "somewhat," and a full 27% said they planned to spend "much less than last year," according to the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) survey.

The top two reasons cited by those planning to spend less were the economy and related economic uncertainty (36%), and less money (22%). From 2003 to 2007, the survey showed just 30% to 35% of consumers cutting back on holiday spending.

"Since data collecting began in 1992, we haven't seen a year-over-year decline." "This year, I'd guess spending could be 2% to 5% less than last year," said Hampel.

Record numbers of all age and income groups intend to reduce spending in 2008, according to the survey. Sixty-two percent of women and 61% of households with children said they would tighten the purse strings, compared with only 48% of men and 51% of childless households.

Article Link (CNN)

MIT's Huggable Robotic Bear

Huggable is another smart robot companion, a bit like Paro meets Teddy Ruxpin. Its body is covered in sensors and motors, including webcams behind his eyes and a speaker in his nose, and its designed to respond to you and react like an electronic pet. But it's a little smarter than Paro: it can act as a telepresence device, echoing the movements of a remotely-manipulated Huggable.


And the remote bear can also be moved by you, which opens up the chance for the possibility of remote-controlled cuddles. It may, at this point, help to remember the bear's intended for uses in places like hospitals, and in early-learning applications.

It's the latest version of a device that MIT's Personal Robots Group has been working on for a while, and as you can see it's a research device so it's not exactly wonderfully cuddly at the mo. Still, the group's working on a refined version that'll be used in real-life human-computer interaction experiments.
Article Link (Gizmodo)