For a country who doesn’t really do April Fools’ Day, you know China means business when it lays the smackdown on its weibo services. Here’s the background story: about a week ago there was a rumor on the Chinese web about a military coup on one of the main streets in Beijing, and coincidentally I was in town around the time (for the Windows Phone launch). Funnily enough, I wasn’t aware of this at all until my taxi driver in Hong Kong asked me about my visit, as he claimed that the passenger he picked up beforehand was actually a Chinese military officer who had several intense phone calls about said coup.
But of course, nothing actually happened. In fact, the guards at Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City were pretty relaxed when I visited on that very day. As for the rumormongers, the Chinese government announced through Xinhua that 16 websites have been shut down and six people have been detained, while local microblogging platforms Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo have been “criticized and punished accordingly,” though it didn’t elaborate on the details. All we know is that comments under each weibo post are now disabled until local time 8pm on April 3rd, during which these two companies can, in their own words, clean up the mess. Well, at least we now know where to draw the line for China’s April Fools’.
Weibo services ‘punished’ for Beijing coup rumors, comments temporarily disabled originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 22:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Exoskeleton helping disabled to walk 6 (UPI) — Progress in robotics, including the first generation of wearable robotic skeletons, is helping paralyzed people become more independent, US scientists say. One example is the Ekso Bionics exoskeleton being tested at the Rehabilitation … Read more on UPI.com
Robotics Industry Poised for Another Banner Year in 2012 by Bennett Brumson , Contributing Editor “2012 will be a great year for the robotics industry. All industries are up and new market areas are growing. Food, assembly, and automotive took off during 2010 and continued into 2011. … Read more on Robotics Online (press release)
The Instigators The Sault High Robotics Team (Team 1596 — The Instigators) held a pancake breakfast on Saturday to kick-off their 2012 FIRST Robotics season. Here, (inset) Ryan Dettloff and John Savoie steer the robot to pick up an inflatable inner tube to try and … Read more on Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
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Xbox LIVE
Microsoft’s Xbox.com update has brought with it a change to Xbox LIVE accounts.
The software giant has made it possible to disable auto Xbox LIVE renewal on accounts. The change, noted by posters at Reddit, allows Xbox LIVE users to simply disable automatic renewal, to prevent an unexpected renewal of an account. Long Zheng originally picked up on the change in late October after an anonymous Microsoft employee promised that the feature would be enabled soon:
“I’m a developer that works on Xbox Live. You are correct to be upset, this is purely an account retention feature. They figured people would either forget about their accounts and continue to pay, or that they could be swayed with discounts if they called to ask for it to be cancelled. Rest assured there are plenty of people at MS that agree that this attitude is bullshit.”
The update is part of Microsoft’s broad set of xbox.com and dashboard changes during November. The software maker has refreshed its Xbox.com homepage with a new social section that shows what Xbox friends are doing and provides access to the beacons feature in the next Xbox 360 dashboard. The feature allows users to mark games they want to play with others, making it easier for friends to find time to game with each other. Microsoft has also added search ability to the Zune video catalog and buy/rent movies and TV shows from Xbox.com.
Microsoft started to push beta copies of the Xbox 360 fall dashboard update out to testers on Thursday. The November dashboard update will bring Microsoft’s Metro style interface to the Xbox. Microsoft is expected to start distributing the beta dashboard to participants at 1PM PST. Microsoft is also preparing to include YouTube and Bing on the Xbox. Bing users will be able to use Kinect’s voice recognition feature to search for movies, music and other content on their consoles. The new dashboard will also enable Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone integration with Xbox, see a video demonstration here.
Auto-renewal can now be disabled on Xbox LIVE accounts originally appeared at WinRumors.com.
That crafty Ben Heck is always up to something, like whipping up an Xbox 360 disk changer for the laziest of gamers. But, on the latest episode of his hacking and modding show, Mr. Heck is back to helping those in need and crafting accessible controllers for the disabled. During the 15-minute hackathon, the modder extraordinaire creates two different Xbox 360 remotes — a split model for those with limited arm motion, and a one-handed version for people with use of only one set of digits. If you’ve got a smidgen of soldering experience (and ideally access to a CNC) these projects are probably even simple enough to tackle yourself. Check out the entire episode and full PR after the break.
Continue reading Ben Heck splits and condenses a pair of Xbox 360 controllers for the disabled
Ben Heck splits and condenses a pair of Xbox 360 controllers for the disabled originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 04:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Cybernics — it’s not a typo, it’s a completely new field that mixes cybernetics, mechatronics, and informatics with an all-human core. Pioneered by Tsukuba Univeristy designer Yoshiyuki Sankai, the Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) exosuit originally created to aid Japan’s eldery has now found an even nobler mission — assisting disabled tourists. Through detection of weak muscular bioelectrical impulses in the legs, this RoboCop-like lower body suit boosts its wearer’s load-bearing abilities by a whopping 176 pounds. The exoskeleton tech first helped paralyzed Seiji Uchida nearly tackle Switzerland’s Breithorn peak in 2006 and is now getting another go at the disabled traveler’s bucket list. This time ’round, Uchida hopes his ride atop a HAL-outfitted human will successfully carry him to the top of Normandy’s rugged Mont Saint-Michel, paving the way for other similarly handicapped travelers to do the same. Although the robotics in question here is more mech suit than say, dental training real doll, it’s still a huge leg up for the nascent research industry that got its kick-start making a wish come true.
HAL exosuit takes a Cybernic approach to disabled tourism originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microsoft’s Kinect is the gift that keeps on giving for hackers, spawning everything from glasses-free teleconferencing to Tesla coil manipulation to uh, well, Android dance parties. But Luis de Matos’s wi-Go project is one of the most socially conscious we’ve seen: it adds a laptop and (despite its name) a Kinect to a shopping cart, enabling the cart to follow a wheelchair user. Improving on the B.O.S.S. bot we saw a half-decade ago, the wi-Go could allow anyone — including the disabled or elderly — to shop independently, regardless of physical capability. De Matos doesn’t offer many technical details, but see the video above for a before-and-after demonstration.
Newest Kinect hack: a grocery cart that loyally follows disabled shoppers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jun 2011 02:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This video will walk you through on how to restore your disabled iPod/iPhone! (PLEASE IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS REREAD THE INSTRUCTION AND TRY ALL THE METHODS ————————– —- IF YOU STILL HAVE PROBLEMS AND DECIDE TO ASK ME FOR HELP, GIVE ME AS MUCH INFO AS POSSIBLE, SUCH AS A DESCRIPTION ON WHAT WENT WRONG, ANY ERROR CODES/MESSAGES, !!!!!!!!TELL ME WHAT IS ON YOUR DEVICE’S SCREEN!!!!!!!! ————————– —- YOU DID NOT DO IT RIGHT IF YOU SO CALLED RESTORED IT AND THE PASSCODE IS STILL ON THE DEVICE, TRY IT AGAIN, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS OVER, YOU DIDNT RESTORE IT IF THE PASSCODE IS STILL ON THE DEVICE!!! (WARNING: This method will delete everything on you device, there is no other way to un-disable a iPhone/iPod without restoring) (ATTENTION: If you know the pass code to the disabled device but you can’t enter it in because you device is disabled then all you have to do is connect the device to the computer that it was first set up with, the disabled screen will disappear and you will be able to enter the pass code!!!) Make sure your iPod/iPhone is completely turned off and plugged in this is very important! (Then Follow These Steps)(I Demonstrated In The Video) This Will Put Your Phone In DFU Mode (Recovery Mode) DFU & RECOVERY DOESNT MATTER WHICH ONE How to put your iPhone in recovery mode : 1. Turn the device completely off and disconnect it from cable/dock. 2. Hold down the home button. 3. While holding down the home button connect to a computer …
Related Posts:So this is what those zombies need our brains for: to turn on the lights! This prototype system allows the severely disabled to perform simple tasks like making a phone call and turn on the lights simply by thinking about commands. This is a proof of concept and uses the Emotiv EPOC headset to control a set of telekinetic applications that can perform various tasks.
Why is this better than, say, a suck-blow straw interface or an eye-tracking system? Well, for one it’s much cheaper than any of those well-established technologies and most of the processing is performed on the computer, thereby making the actual electronics a bit less complex.
There is a much longer and deeper interview over at Singularity Hub but this project seems to be progressing impressively and could soon give the severely disabled a second chance at controlling their physical environment.
Product Page via SingularityHub
While we figure that giant, tread-wielding wheelchairs have no trouble selling themselves, a disabled man named Jim Starr is helping them along their merry way — a story about his TankChair being rejected for street use by UK authorities is giving the company plenty of free advertising. That’s not to say that we don’t feel for the disabled father of two, and hope he gets to use his snow-crushing, beach-mashing wheelchair in peace — it’s just not particularly surprising that a non-standard vehicle would be illegal to use on public roadways, and as you’ll see in the video after the break, the law doesn’t seem to be restraining him any.
Continue reading TankChair deemed too heavy to use on UK streets, disabled man becomes marketing boon (video)
TankChair deemed too heavy to use on UK streets, disabled man becomes marketing boon (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Engadget
There are many robots which are able to walk and to climb stairs but why no company creates a robot for disabled people who can’t walk?
Imagine a diabled person walking on his feet with the help of a robot, instead of being on a weelchair. That’s not impossible.
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