Tag: ROBOT

Bots -- like the kind which automate IRC rooms and Google Wave -- are a good thing to know about. There are plenty of useful bots worth knowing about, too, including the Google Talk Guru. Just add guru@googlelabs.com to your GTalk buddies, and you can start firing off questions. Lifehacker suggests that the same types of queries supported by Google SMS will work, though we didn't have any luck ...

If you somehow missed it, Google Wave is now a bonafide Labs project: rather than being an invite-only alpha, it's now a public beta test! If you don't already have an account, just head on over to Wave and use your regular Google login details. If you've not seen any of the Google Wave introductory videos, you should check them out -- they explain the whole thing a lot more succinctly than I ever ...

There are already plenty of third-party apps that allow you to leverage the power of Google Translate for hilarity's sake. Translation Party, Google Translate Boomerang. They're always good for a "Mr. Sparkle"-esque chuckle. But now -- thanks to Google rolling out automatic transcripts on YouTube -- you get your insipid translation giggles directly from the source! Just have a look at ...

digg_url = 'http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2009/11/30/the-ultimate-list-of-google-wave-robots/'; This list has been a long time coming, and for that I apologise. But I think it will be worth the wait. In just the last month invites for Google Wave have opened right up with second and third generation testers getting invite codes of their own to distribute. Developers and users are now ...

Little Wheel is a wonderfully-illustrated puzzle game starring a robot in a city where the power is out and everything is broken and needs repairing. The levels are cast in shadow against a slick sunset background that suits the game's collection of machines perfectly. Little Wheel is also one of the only flash games I've played with a soundtrack that didn't drive me nuts after 30 seconds. Sure, ...

Until we can finally allow robots to craft everything via iPhone CAD/CAM apps, you'll have to get your fix of fake tombstones and dress-up robots online. Here's a roundup of some helpful tools -- maybe. Honestly, several are horrendous to use. Others are merely fugly. One frightened my hamster. Still, if you are looking for a way to express yourself on the cover of TIME magazine, this may be ...

Google recently filed for a patent to protect a sophisticated search system designed to find text in images. The most obvious use of the the technology is to find text in pictures through Google Images, but that's just the beginning. Currently, Google uses the technology in Google Maps Street View, but, as usual, the company would like to expand into other areas of money-making. It is currently ...

So it turns out Google Maps Street View is good for finding a lot more than aliens, cats in windows, and guys exiting porn shops. In fact, in the short time since Google launched its new service, finding oddball photos has become an addictive new way to kill time for some. But if you don't have the time to search the country street by street for photos of robots, you might want to check out ...

Microsoft is sponsoring a contest that challenges developers to create chatbots for the MSN/Windows Live Messenger network. The contest, called Invasion of the Robots, promises over $40,000 in prizes, including the grand prize, a sweet Alienware system or US$10,000 in cash. The deadline is September 15, and Judging will presumably be done by a Microsoft panel (the contest rules just say "qualified ...