Two years of work for Carnegie Mellon University’s Paul Rybski and his team of students, the combined minds of 17 other faculty members, and a $20,000 cocktail including a laser navigation system, sonar sensors and stereo camera-eyes all led to one marvelous invention: the Snackbot. Yes, as you’ve no doubt already surmised by the name, we’re talking about a robot that serves snacks. The Snackbot isn’t just a dumb waiter, though — it’s got something of a personality, according to Ian Daly of The New York Times: “Hello, I’m the Snackbot,” it [...]

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My head still continues to have problems comprehending just how wide 16:9 screens are. I’m sure that monitors will gradually evolve to the point where they’re just a single pixel high and 20,000 pixels wide. Iiyama’s latest – the ProLite B2409HDS – is a 16:9 letterbox beastie, and I’ve had to move some of the crap on my desk just to fit it on. Features Compared to other monitors it’s rather pricey for a 24-incher. It doesn’t feature LED backlighting, or an IPS panel, instead it relies on conventional backlighting and a cheapo TN (Twisted Nematic) panel. It [...]

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