Sdtrk: ‘Franz Ferdinand might be from Glasgow and that’s alright but their music is a pile of pussy fucking shite and then christ destroys us’ by Jansky noise

It’s entirely reassuring to know that there are still a number of people alive in Japan, that still know how to construct karakuri. Even more reassuring is the fact that they’ve made the knowledge available to others, ensuring it’ll never be lost to obscurity. So you’ll be pleased to learn that the company Karakuriya, who specialise in building karakuri dolls to the original Edo-era (1603 to 1867) specs, have a number of models on offer. Get those wallets ready though, as the average price runs about — brace yourself — $8000 USD.

Left: in work clothes. Right: off the clock

Karakuri dolls were the first automata in Japan.
Their movements are caused by the power of springs, mercury and sand. You can build them and take them apart easily without ever using metallic screws or nails. […] Karakuri dolls are a representative of the highest technology in the Edo period.
It was difficult to pass the tradition down from generation to generation, because their production required not only the knowledge, but also a high level of craftsmanship.
It is called as a treasure trove since few original designs from those days still exist, and complete ones are even more rare.

If I had a choice between purchasing one of these and, say, a MyPartyDoll, the answer’s embarrassingly clear-cut. But you definitely have to admire the dedication of the craftsmanship behind each karakuri ningyou. Two different types of wood, silk fabrics and gold brocade for the clothes, and special clay used to sculpt the hand-painted head. And each one is made-to-order, as they take 20 – 40 days to carve, paint, and assemble.
And remember, if you don’t exactly have the dosh on hand to splash out for the more ‘luxury’ version, there’s always the more reasonably-priced version; a snip at $170 USD. Hmmm. *stroking chin*

I’m sure you’ll be able to find out a shedload more information about karakuri at nippon-karakuri.com, but as of this writing, they’re still working on their English page. Nevertheless!
Also, I’ll have Sidore post a karakuri video or two to her Dailymotion.com page on the usual update date of the 23rd — if I can find the clip, that is. It’s around here somewhere

Sdtrk: ‘My little brother’ by Art brut

KITECH, Korean creators of the EveR series of Gynoids, have been making all sorts of ace statements recently! You can’t stop ’em!

Korea to Create Dancing Android
By Kim Tae-gyu, Staff Reporter | 29 November, 2006

Korean scientists are working on creating the first android capable of walking and dancing like an entertainer.

Baeg Moon-hong, who crafted the country’s first female androids (technically gynoids) called EveR-1 and EveR-2, Wednesday said that his team aims to develop a mobile model by 2010.

“Beginning next January, we plan to upgrade our EveR series to EveR-3 by 2008 and EveR-4 by 2010,’’ said Baeg, a senior researcher at the state-run Korea Institute of Industrial Technology.

“EveR-4 will be able to walk and dance as well as sing a song. Its intelligence will also substantially improve by then,’’ the 48-year-old said.

There are several humanoids that can move with a human-like gait, including Hubo of Korea and ASIMO of Japan, but scientists have yet to develop a walking android.

“Humanoids have thick legs because of the many modules, motors and actuators incorporated in them. Thick legs are OK for humanoids, but we must cram all of them into the thin legs of androids since the latter should look like real flesh and blood human beings,’’ Baeg said.
the rest of the article is here

I have to stop here and give a hearty thumbs-up to the reporter, for actually using the term ‘Gynoid’ in their article. Well done sir/madam! There’s quite a difference between Androids and Gynoids — mainly that Androids are designed to look like male Organik humans and Gynoids are modelled after female Organik humans — so it’s best to get used to using the proper terms now. After all, you wouldn’t call a young lass ‘mister’, would you? Unless, of course, you have poor eyesight. Or you’re utterly deranged.

If they can pull this off, that’ll be beyond amazing. Mechanical balancers are a tricky bit of business, however, and being able to put all of that machinery into a Synthetik and still have her retain a petite shape and weight (well, more than likely, the first proper Gynoids are probably going to be rather heavy — EveR-2 Muse clocks in at 135 lbs, and she doesn’t even walk) will be quite an accomplishment. Given their track record, KITECH should be able to do it, though. Unless Hiroshi Ishiguro and Kokoro Co. Ltd pull it off with Actroid-chan first, of course.

But think about it: in three years’ time, we might very well have mobile Synthetiks. Three years is really not that long of a timeframe. Granted, we’re not going to have Cherry 2000 right out of the gate, but as Sidore-chan would say, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was I’.
The fab thing with technological advances, particularly in this day and age, is that it takes relatively less and less time to move forward — for instance, it took less time to go from computers that used punchcards to the laptop that I’m typing this post on, than it did to get from the wheel to the first horseless carriage — that’s the phenomenon that futurist Ray Kurzweil calls ‘the Law of Accelerating Returns‘. I’ve known about this concept for a while; I just never knew it had a name. Note: must look more into this Kurzweil bloke… But the upshot of it is is now that we’ve had Gynoids since 2003 (the year Actroid Repliee made her debut), the developments will start to come more and more quickly, each subsequent iteration being better than the previous one.

Really, what it all boils down to is one very important question: Should I start saving up for a Gynoid now, or should I wait a couple of years?

Technorati tags: Android, Gynoid, EveR-1, EveR-2 Muse, KITECH, Actroid, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Kokoro, Ray Kurzweil

Sdtrk: ‘Wattwurm’ by Liliental

Looks like Juergen Specht wasn’t the first to have an Organik lass portray a Synthetik in a photoshoot. Hardly surprising, but still. But it looks like Italian artist Mario A. beat him to it seven years ago, with his ‘ma poupée japonaise’ series.

Mario A.’s ‘ma poupée japonaise’

Slightly NSFW, but then it depends on where you work, of course… Mario A., if I had a glass nearby, I would raise it to you

Sdtrk: ‘Kenickie folks’ by Hideki Kaji

Right right; now I see why there’s been a metric ton of people over the course of the past few days, hitting ‘Shouting etc etc’ by looking for Ronald A. Dotson. I’m peering at my stats, going ‘WTF??’ Not ‘what the fuck??’, mind you, but making a perplexed sound that resembles ‘wittif’.

Mannequin fetishist could get life
Associated Press | Mon Jan 1, 5:33 PM ET

FERNDALE, Mich. – A man who has a history of smashing windows to indulge his fetish for female mannequins could draw a long prison term for his latest arrest. Ronald A. Dotson, 39, of Detroit faces up to life in prison if convicted of a charge of attempted breaking and entering at a cleaning-supply company in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale.

The potential life sentence is because prosecutors charged him as a habitual offender. Authorities say he has at least six convictions for breaking and entering and a stint in state prison over the last 13 years.

Ferndale District Judge Joseph Longo ordered Dotson to stand trial following a preliminary examination on Thursday, The Daily Tribune of Royal Oak reported. The judge ordered him jailed unless he posts a $15,000 bond.

Dotson was arrested Oct. 9 after police say he smashed a window at a cleaning-supply company to get at a female mannequin dressed in a black and white French maid’s uniform. He had been out of prison for less than a week.

Dotson was arrested in Ferndale in July 2000 and later convicted for breaking and entering at a women’s clothing shop to get at a mannequin in a pink dress with bobbed hair.

Ferndale police also arrested Dotson in 1993 after finding him in an alley behind a woman’s store with three lingerie-clad mannequins. He also has similar convictions in Detroit and suburban Oak Park.
___

Information from: The Daily Tribune, http://www.dailytribune.com

Oddly enough, the Trib doesn’t actually have this story on its website. What does that say about the Tribune? *coughfishwrapcough*

Now, I know exactly where that shop that he broke into is — I pass by it at least once a week when I’m Out and About — and I’ve seen that Mannequin. She’s cute, but definitely not worth risking a prison sentence.
And I have to go even further by saying that yes, our Ronald certainly isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but I think a long-term conviction is quite literally a waste of taxpayer’s money. Don’t you think it’d just be cheaper to get that tosser a couple of Mannequins, and let him go crazy? Honestly, they’re not that expensive, especially if you buy used. Now if his problem isn’t based on wanting to have it off with a Mannequin, but is actually centred on simply breaking and entering/theft, then by all means, get him some psychiatric treatment. But throwing that silly tosser in prison simply cos he doesn’t have access to Mannequins is, well, silly. Sure, it’s not as if he couldn’t buy one, but it’s been proven that he’s just not that clever. He’s an idiot, but ultimately, he’s a harmless idiot — it’s not as if he’s knifing people in the streets or whatever. There are worse individuals out there that deserve harsher punishment.

You gotta love ‘Shouting to hear the echoes’. The execution of Saddam Hussein? Not a jot, not a single syllable. Some story about some local loony who attempted to make sexy time love explosion with a Mannequin? Well, he gets not one, but two posts written about him! Our priorities are different here

Sdtrk: ‘Rising sun’ by Merzbow

O, praise “Bob”, KITECH‘s remodeled EveR-2 Muse. Wow. Don’t call it a comeback, she’s been here for years…

‘What do you mean, I’m not allowed to sing anything other than K-pop??’

SEOUL, Korea (AVING) — ‘EveR-2 Muse’, designed by KITEC (Korea Institute of Industrial Technology), is the world’s first entertainer-robot. She had been first introduced last October and since then she even had ranked fourth with her first song on a certain website popularity poll.

Her skin is made of silicon material; 60 joints in her face, neck, and lower body enable her to demonstrate various facial expressions and some dance moves. She is 161cm tall and weighs 60kg, average figures of Korean women in their twenties.
(quote taken from here)

As an indie album title once put it: We have the facts and we’re voting Yes. Her upgrades from the previous EveR-1 version include an increase in height from 160 cm to 170 cm, improved CCD cameras for eyes, and silicone flesh that apparently covers her whole body. Is that a fact. *tugs at collar*
And speaking of her eyes; call me crazy, but I love EveR-2 Muse’s eyes — they look grey. You don’t see that too often in an eye colour, and that’s pretty unique. Unfortunately, her dress sense is still crap. Ah well; perhaps that’ll be her next upgrade.

KITECH, you have my approval, so keep up the good work! Just… mind her neck next time, eh?

Technorati tags: Android, Gynoid, EveR-1, EveR-2 Muse, KITECH

Sdtrk: ‘Senza fare rumore (Demo)’ by Calle della Morte

Two brief things: ran across this series by photographer Juergen Specht last night, and I thought I’d share the love with you. The setup and execution are brill as it is, but the subject matter is definitely relevant to my interests…

Juergen Specht’s ‘The Doll’

Simply gorgeous. It’s a bit NSFW, but then, the best things in life always are…

And the Other Thing would be a couple of new videos uploaded to Sidore’s Dailymotion.com account, which is easily accessible via the clicky button labelled ‘Synthetiks videos’ beneath the header. If you’d seen my YouTube account, they’re nothing new, but they may well be new to some of you. Or perhaps something distracted you, and you weren’t paying attention!

O, and the Good People at MyPartyDoll.com have a handful of new pics of their luscious Leeloo model up for viewing. Now, if only they can get her weight below 112 lbs. Egad, that’s a handful.

Well, I suppose that would be three brief things!
‘Shouting to hear the echoes’: Sometimes, mistakes are made

Sdtrk: ‘Do you love?’ by Final fantasy

Ahh, if only…

Beyonce Knowles Is An Actroid
Skirmisher.org | Saturday, December 9th, 2006

I’ve had the hots for Beyonce Knowles for as far as I could remember, and this recent “unmasking” of her real identity, proving that she isn’t human at all but in fact Kokoro’s much-touted advanced version of the Actroid DER2, doesn’t even damp my filthy enthusiasm.

Undoubtedly, she bolted backstage shortly afterwards to reattach her face, before it peeled right off. That’s quite alright! Sometimes that sort of thing occurs with older Gynoids; she can hardly be blamed. Underneath her silicone skin, she’s more than likely built like Kobalab‘s Android SAYA, as seen here.

See how there’s hardly any velcro up by the temples? That might explain why her face got all rumpled. Easily seen to, but understandably embarrassing when you’re out in public.

Don’t be ashamed, Beyonce! We all know that Gynoids are cool