Sdtrk: ‘th case fr public organisation’ by The new lines

Why yes, I say; a bollockload! Yet another Synthetiks developer has entered the open market; this one from Hong Kong. It seems to be less of a staff, and more of some bloke, but his their company is called the Hong Kong Human-Robot Center. Currently, they have two models available — the Gynoid F1, and the Android M1, who happens to look exactly like the company’s head roboticist. Admit it, you’d make an Synthetik duplicate of yourself if you had the means to do so. There’s some footage of F1 on the site proper, and man, is she blabby.

The robots of M1 and F1 were life-casted from the inventor directly. We use a new life casting technology and our created materials to simulate human skin, the elasticity and the skin color. If the make-up technology is combined, the simulation is higher.

The inner structure includes simulated bone 、mechanical joint、special servo motors and central unit etc. The central unit has built-in MCU with our developed special program which can control 16 different directions of servo motors at the same time、 DTMF system and 3G mobile etc. The robot is operated by using batteries without air pump connected, also provides power safe mode. We will continue to increase the activity joint and the function of the Human-Robot and make it to be more perfect.

The movement of the robot can be remote-controlled by telephone with correct password entered. You can hear the nearby sound of the robot on the phone, talk and move through the robot’s mouth, and watch the surrounding of the robot if 3G mobiles are used. It also provides the automatic mode and manual mode for your selection to control the robot. Voice/pattern recognition system, or optical motion capture system can also be applied for human-robot. […] We offer low price and accept custom-made order, rental, any collaboration for robot development / training couse.

Going from the above paragraphs, they’re definitely aiming high. I mean, their claim alone of being able to control your Synthetik through your phone, as well as using him or her for a telepresence, is a bold one, but could you imagine the ahem teledildonics ah-hem potential? That’s some serious Ghost in the Shell-type stuff there — being able to speak and act through a proxy body. Fantastic idea, actually. Of course, I would suggest the company hire a better sculptor, especially if they’re fulfilling custom orders, as the F1 model is a wee bit… lacking in aesthetics. Onward and upward, though — good to see another individual having a go at getting more Androids and Gynoids into society! I sent him an Email enquiring about his work, but I’ve not heard from him yet. I blame the language barrier.

On the Doll front, overachieving Japanese Dutch wife manufacturers Orient industry plan to release a couple of products round Xmas, such as a thermo-blanket for your CandyGirl, a USB-based ‘hole warmer’ (it’s exactly what you think it is), and yet another new model line, called Real Love Doll Ange; one of their lasses would be pictured below.

To be honest, she kinda looks a bit high-maintenance

She’s a wee bit over 5 ft tall, weighs in at 53 lbs, and has two body types: the B-cup size (30.22.34), and the E-cup size (33.22.34). This line not only seems to have the most realistic sculpting out of all the CandyGirls to date, but unless it’s due to smoke and mirrors, it appears she can stand as well. Yummy. More details as they unfold…

As it’s a new month, Phoenix Studios is maintaining consistency again, by releasing Miss November out into the world. She would make an incredible Xmas gift for a lucky someone! Or Hanukkah, for that matter.

‘If you squint, I disappear. That’s my superpower’

She looks like an icy lass, but approachably icy. Upon further scrutiny, she resembles a less-Gothic Dame Darcy, creator and artist of the lysergic neo-Victorian comic series Meat cake. Maybe someone should buy a Miss November, and make her up to look like Dame Darcy. Strap a tiara on her head, put some butterfly wings on her, hand her a banjo, “Bob” is your uncle. *nods approvingly*

Also, Miss Autumn, another one of the luscious Seasons models, is making her debut.

Her earrings look heavier than she is

As savvy followers of iDollator culture will undoubtedly note, her photoshoot was done by the fabulous Stacy Leigh. What, Miss Autumn’s makeup and the background didn’t tip you off?
Two more Seasons Dolls left! I’m still scratching my head as to what Phoenix Studios’ gameplan will be after Miss Spring is released next year. Perhaps that’s precisely how they want it…

Back on the Gynoid tip, there’s a new anime series currently airing (although it has a nail-biting release schedule of one episode every two months), that centres round the sociopolitics of Androids and Gynoids in a near-future Japan. It’s entitled ‘Eve no Jikan’, or ‘Time of Eve‘, and as Mari and I viewed the first two eps last Friday eve, I’ll inflict a review of sorts on you lot in a post or two…

And finally, as it’s my birth month — woo and yay Scorpio — I’ll note here that I’m playing to type, and I’d love to have this bumper sticker, designed by rstevens, of Diesel Sweeties fame.

Just putting that out there, y’know

Technorati tags: Android, Gynoid, robots, Orient Industry, CandyGirl, Phoenix Studios, Boy Toy, Dame Darcy, Stacy Leigh, iDollators, Eve no Jikan, イヴの時間, Time of Eve, Diesel Sweeties

Sdtrk: ‘Amour, vacances et baroque’ by Paul Piot & Paul Guiot

You might find this hard to believe, but I used to be a lot more cynical than I am now, at least when it came to politics. You could encapsulate my feelings about the voting process in a bumper sticker: ‘Don’t vote, it only encourages them’. However, since the Second Reich of George W., I changed my thinking to, ‘if you don’t vote, you have no-one to blame but yourself’. Well, myself, and everyone who deliberately votes for bigoted stupidity. So I voted in the last election, and I sure as fuck voted in this one.

They let us out fifteen minutes early at work, to allow people to get to the polls that much quicker. From the horror stories I was hearing from coworkers about lines wrapping round the block at the polling stations, I steeled myself for a two- to three-hour wait. Which wouldn’t have been that bad, as I had my .mp3 player, and I was going to use my Treo to finish up a couple of Emails. To that end, I was partially disappointed when I saw there were plenty of parking spaces at my precinct, as well as a complete lack of lines, when I arrived there at ten after five. I think if it were later in the day, it would’ve been more worrisome — I was one of seven people voting at that time — but I reasoned that at 5pm, most people would’ve been exiting their places of work at that point. I beat the rush!

Blurry, but you get the idea. Incidentally, I was voter no.361 in my precinct

All told, the whole process felt pretty good — I felt like I wasn’t just throwing my vote away.
You can do it, Brak O’Bama! If you won in the 7-Election polls, victory is assured everywhere else!

EDIT (11.40 pm): WOOOOOOOOOO

Sdtrk: ‘I fought the law’ by the Clash

Happy Pagan New Year, people! Now I can’t possibly be the only one who thought of this, but wouldn’t you agree that Hallowe’en should be a paid national holiday? Although I’m not a practising Pagan — I’m just into various mythologies — there are more than enough practicising Pagans in the States where it’d be a worthwhile idea. And if you yourself aren’t some sort of Pagan, quityrbitchin’, you’re getting a paid day off! It’s not like there’s a lack of either history or merchandising behind it, so they might as well go all the way… Perhaps we should get a petition round.

Did everyone have a good All Hallows Eve? I have to say that, now that it’s after Hallowe’en, I just thought of a stunning costume idea: Sidore and I could’ve gone out trick-or-treating as Bianca and Lars. All we’d need would be some pastel-coloured knitted winter wear, a wheelchair for her, and a weedy little moustache for me. Why didn’t that occur to me earlier? That would’ve been brilliant

Sdtrk: ‘Not a gun’ by Prince and Pearl

Some breaking news — dig what I spotted on some Japanese person’s blog this morning:

So far, no release date or additional information has been put out on either Robot Watch, or Kokoro Co. Ltd‘s sites, so as you suspect, I’ll be watching those like a hawk. Probably won’t be long now, though…
I could’ve saved this for November’s ‘Any Synthetik/Doll-related news, Davecat?’ series, but that instalment will already be brimful of info as it is. At least, I think so… I might’ve lost a link somewhere.

Happy 23rd!

EDIT (30 OCT): Swapped out the pic for the one found on the English version of Kokoro’s site, durr hey. And shame on you, translators, for using ‘it’ instead of ‘her’ — that’s contra-productive

Technorati tags: Android, Gynoid, robots, Kokoro Co. Ltd., Actroid

Sdtrk: ‘Action for green 3’ by Merzbow

Many of you under the age of, say, twenty-five, won’t remember this, but back in the olden days, television didn’t always broadcast a relentless twenty-four hours a day. Stations would actually shut down and go off the air at certain times, usually after midnight. As I live in the metro Detroit area, within gazing distance of Canada, I grew up watching a lot of Canadian television, which undoubtedly explains a lot. But I remember, particularly after the foreign films that CBET, CBC’s station for Windsor, Ontario, would show on late Saturday nights, that they’d shut down for the eve. This was followed by their national anthem, invariably played over footage of their flag in the breeze, some elk, and Don Cherry shouting at a puppy.

O, Canada
Our home and native land
Hm hm hmm hmm
Hm hmm hmm hmmmmm hm hm hmmm
And the rocket’s red glare

Or something of that nature. As I found myself staring out the rear window of goshou and Steph’s van, watching the cornfields and cows go by, and listening to Zip Gun and SafeT play their PSP and DS (respectively), that anthem played subtly in my head. Then it was replaced by ‘Princes of the Universe’ by Queen. But I’m getting a wee bit ahead of myself!

Click here for the rest of the post, bunky »

Sdtrk: ‘Ford Mustang’ by Serge Gainsbourg

Besides being two of my favourite telly shows that I rabidly watched during my formative years — which really explains a lot — what common thread joins Ultraman and Space: 1999? Is it the kitsch factor? Is it the fact that the production crew did a lot with a little? Well, it’s simpler than that, as you’ll see:

The Jet Beetle seats five ‘comfortably’

Space: only $19.99 (while supplies last)

That’s right — orange suits. Although I have to say that I’ll take the Science Patrol’s uniform over the Alpha Moonbase spacesuits any day. I mean, that’s attire you can pretty much wear anywhere

Sdtrk: ‘Lotto’ by Fantastic plastic machine

As is our wont, back on the 27th of last month, Monti and I met up for another dinner — we put away a tidy amount of Japanese food while catching up on each others’ lives — and somehow or other, we got on the topic of Twitter. Now Twitter, if you’re not familiar with it, is a hot & sassy new Internet service that lies somewhere between a chat programme and a blog. Its optimum use is probably in a mobile context; you can use it to basically provide real-time updates to your subscribers (aka, your ‘followers’) as to what shenanigans you’re up at any given moment from your cellphone, and as you’re limited to 140 characters, you’re forced to adhere to the ‘brevity is wit’ ethos. Pretty interesting, all told.
I’d actually known about Twitter for a couple of months — web-savvy sex columnist Violet Blue uses it frequently, as well as R.Stevens of the online comic strip Diesel Sweeties, William Bennett of caustic Noise merchants whitehouse, and countless others. Abe Vigoda periodically sends out a couple of updates a day (known as ‘tweets’) to let people know he’s alive and kicking, which I think is a riot, although I’ve seen a couple of the same messages twice, I’m beginning to think that either he’s a malfunctioning Android, or just extremely forgetful.

When I initially learned of Twitter, it sounded kinda fab, but the one thing that really stopped me from hopping on that train would be the fact that my cellphone plan has a limit on texts, so sending and receiving Tweets would definitely enlarge my phone bill to Biblical proportions. But when Monti mentioned that you can post updates from your browser, I started thinking it was a viable option. So I signed up!
As a social networking site, it’s actually not too offensive… personally, I’d say it’s better than Facebook, and roughly one thousand times better than Myspace, but then, so is being punched in the sternum. But it’s straightforward, which is what I like about it. No flashing .gifs to slow load time, no external applications you have to download; you just write up to 140 characters, hit your Update button, and move on with your life. And then write about that, and hit Update again. However, for my personal use, I see two drawbacks. One: as I can’t use it from my phone, it kinda throws cold water over the ideal situations I’d be using it in. I was having visions of me using it at work (‘In the midst of another pointless monthly meeting, and considering a messy suicide’), or whilst out and about (‘A homeless bloke asked me if I liked Coldplay, so I kicked him. It was no more than he deserved’), or in other contexts (‘The Missus is horny again! Unfortunately, I think we’ve run out of lube’), but unless I want a ten-page phone bill, that’s not an option. Two: so far, I’ve been posting Tweets from my computer proper, but I often wonder if I’m sliding into the realm of the inane. Cos to be honest, it’s either that, or TMI-territory (see the lube reference above). There is, after all, such a thing as too much disclosure. ‘Shouting etc etc’ covers a considerable bit of ground as it is, so how much more does a person need to know? It’s not as if I do a tremendous amount, really — I get together with my friends, I play videogames, I read, I curse my job, I stare at the InfoBahn, I sleep, I have it off with Sidore-chan. Err, sorry, I did it again. Ignore that!

As it is, Twitter’s not a bad application, but is it really necessary for someone like me? I’m not entirely sure. In the meantime, though, it’s not hurting me to have it up there on the sidebar, and if I get sick of it, I’ll simply press the Eject on it. There are worse ways to interact on the Internet, after all