With a BlackBerry, two mobile phones, three office computers and wireless Internet for his car, Greg Shenkman is never far from his work. But recently the CEO of San Francisco-based Exigen Group eked out more productivity by wiring the final frontier: his bathroom. When Mr. Shenkman answers the speaker-phone in his shower, the water automatically shuts off. He can open the front door for deliveries while shaving. He's also put the finishing touches on a waterproof computer that will let him answer emails from his sauna. "I took Gates a little too literally," he says. "The flow of information never stops."

So it's come to this. The humble bathroom, long a place of refuge and solitude, is playing quiet host to more workplace transactions. Bathroom business has gone way beyond tapping out furtive emails on a BlackBerry. Lately, more hard-driving homeowners have converted their loos into virtual satellite workspaces, with retractable desks or waterproof touch-screen monitors. Manufacturer Acquinox of New York says sales of its steam shower/whirlpool units -- a hands-free phone is standard in each -- nearly tripled last year to 14,800 modules. Wisconsin-based Seura, meanwhile, reports rising sales of its vanity mirrors, which feature LCD screens in the glass. The mirrors, starting at $2,400, let users check their tie-knot, then flip a switch to watch the embedded TV.

*****

Working in the bathroom, of course, brings old workaholic conflicts (spousal discord, late nights) even closer to home. There's also Warren Struhl's worry -- that he'll be outed when making a call from there. Mr. Struhl lives in Boca Raton, Fla., but he's the CEO of snack-food maker Dale & Thomas Popcorn, which is based in Teaneck, N.J., so he conducts much of his business by remote. In the morning, he spends his first quiet moments in the bathroom reviewing his overnight emails. He often dials into work calls on his BlackBerry, and he figures that if he happens into the bathroom, the acoustics may give him away. To avoid embarrassment, he says, he'll cough to cover noises, or press the mute button. "They know by the echo," he says.

Another emerging hazard: the BlackBerry dunk. "There's something magnetic about a BlackBerry and a toilet," says Paul Normand, president of BlackBerry Repair Shop, a Houston company that specializes in fixing the devices. He says he gets about 100 broken units a day, and estimates five to 10 have fizzled out after customers dropped them in a sink, tub or worse. "They get leery when we ask them, 'Was the water clean?'"

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The Brain Spa Head Massager

Here's a nice new product to relieve some of that stress: the Brain Spa Head Massager from Gadget Universe. Here's the ad copy:

This patented Italian design incorporates Japanese engineering and utilizes acupressure to relax and soothe your problems away. It’s like thousands of tiny fingers simultaneously massaging your scalp. Simply place our Brain Spa Head Massager on your head and feel the tension miraculously leave your body. Suitable for any age, this massager stimulates blood circulation and helps to relieve stress. Use it at your desk at work. You can use it on your morning commute in traffic. Use it while relaxing at home in front of the TV after a long day. Its rechargeable battery makes it totally portable and easy to use anytime and anywhere. It’s like a Spa for your brain and your soul.

Oh, please. We watch Alias. This is exactly the kind of thing that Sloane would give you for your birthday -- then every time you used it, your brain would be sucked dry of all valuable intel. (Hat tip to Gadgetizer.)

Posted on January 17, 2006
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iTunes and Privacy Issues

The BBC reports on the iTunes controversy: bloggers discovered that a feature on iTunes was tracking user information without disclosing the info to users.

The row arose following the update to the iTunes software released by Apple on 10 January. The new version includes a MiniStore feature that recommends tracks to buy similar to those a user is listening to. MiniStore looks for similar tracks when a user clicks on a tune in a playlist. It even makes recommendations about songs that were not bought via the hugely popular online music store. iTunes sends data about the song selected in your library to the iTunes Music Store to provide relevant recommendations. When the MiniStore is hidden, this data is not sent to the iTunes Music Store.

Soon after the update was released, blogger Marc Garrett wrote a journal entry about MiniStore and the data it passes back to Apple. Further work by other bloggers such as Kirk McElhearn found that the data being sent back to Apple to make the recommendations included artist, title, genre as well as unique identifiers for a computer and iTunes account.

Privacy advocates complained that Apple had not done enough to warn people about the information that was being collected, nor what was being done with the collected data. By contrast Apple does mention in the licence agreement for iTunes that it contacts the Gracenote music database to work out which album is being played via the program. "Apple should be clear about its information gathering practices," wrote Mr Garrett on his blog.

Apple said in response to a request for comment: "Apple does not save or store any information used to create recommendations for the MiniStore". On its support website, the company has posted and updated information about how to turn the MiniStore feature off. Information on the page has been updated since the row about iTunes blew up. "iTunes sends data about the song selected in your library to the iTunes Music Store to provide relevant recommendations," says the entry on its support website. "When the MiniStore is hidden, this data is not sent to the iTunes Music Store." Digital detective work by bloggers has confirmed that no data is passed to Apple when MiniStore is turned off.

The bottom line is that every service that recommends personalized products to you is tracking your preferences. We have no problem with that so long as everything is disclosed to the customer: otherwise, Amazon.com would have trouble recommending cool new books and CDs to us. But the problem arises when the company does something else with the information it has collected: like sell it to a third party. And that we do have a problem with.

Posted on January 16, 2006
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MIT Scientists Create Robot Snail

Scientists are making progress on the ultimate goal of having a robot match for every creature on Earth. The latest invention comes from scientists at MIT. It is the robosnail, a robotic gastropod that can climbs walls and stick to the ceiling. The scientists tried to make the robot snail as realistic as possible. A Nature article says the scientists even recreated snail slime trails using Laponite.

The team tested out their snail on a tilting platform, covered with a 1.5-millimetre-thick layer of slime made from Laponite, a type of clay that forms a clear, sticky gel when mixed with water.

As the engineers increased the incline, they saw that the snail took the hill in its stride, continuing to plod along even when the surface was vertical. When the platform was flipped over so that the robot was upside down, it still made steady progress.

The secret to this gravity-defying stunt is apparently to keep the snail as light as possible (just 31.6 grams), while ensuring that the Laponite has just the right stickiness. They publish their findings in the November issue of Physics of Fluids.

Slime made from Laponite with "just the right stickiness"? Well if there is goo or slime involved then the commercial possibilities are endless. Just turn the Laponite slime purple and Nickelodeon will order a few thousand robosnails and kids at home will probably want one too. (Via Robots.net)

Posted on December 14, 2005
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Give the Gift of the Remote Control Toilet

MSNBC reports on a hot new gift idea for the home: the remote control toilet.

For a mere $5,000, the Neorest toilet from Japanese company Toto automatically lifts its lid when you approach it, and automatically flushes and lowers the lid upon completion. (We can hear wives and girlfriends applauding everywhere.)

A remote control sets the temperature of the seat and also activates a gentle cleansing process with a wand that extends from the back of the rim and sprays water upward, followed by an air dryer. Who needs paper? The Arizona Republic reported that sales of the Neorest have been slow at a local retailer, possibly because it costs more than a low-mileage used car.

But the costly commode reportedly has found some converts among Hollywood celebrities, including actor Will Smith, who gushed about it during an interview on Access Hollywood. The high-tech toilets are also installed in the main headquarters of Google, possibly the end result of the $400-a-share company being flush with cash.

Last we checked, you could pick up the toilet on Ebay for a mere $2,987, although that price could rise as the bidding gets fast and furious. Question: what happens if the remote control unit malfunctions? Or if the "cleaning" function goes awry? We're just asking.

Posted on December 12, 2005
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Don't Look Down

Now here's a new tourist attraction for the adrenaline junkie in you: the Grand Canyon is about to get it's first glass-bottomed viewing platform.

An American Indian tribe with land along the Grand Canyon is planning to build a glass-bottomed walkway that will jut out 70 feet from the canyon's edge. The horseshoe-shaped skywalk, expected to open in January, is part of the Hualapai Tribe's $40 million effort to turn 1,000 acres of reservation land into a tourist destination that will also feature an Indian village and Western-themed town.

The tribe's reservation is some 200 miles by road to the west of the section of the Grand Canyon National Park that most tourists visit. The walkway, with a glass bottom and sides, will be supported by steel beams and will accommodate 120 people, though it is designed to hold 72 million pounds, said Sheri Yellowhawk, chief executive officer of the Grand Canyon Resort Corp., the tribal-owned company that is overseeing the project. "You're basically looking 4,000 feet down. It's a whole new way to experience the Grand Canyon," Yellowhawk said.

Admission will be $25. The project is still seeking an insurer, said architect David Jin, who said he came up with the skywalk idea while visiting the canyon in 1996.

Still seeking an insurer? That's so weird...why in the world would any insurer be wary of insuring a glass platform hanging off the side of the Grand Canyon? What could possibly happen?

Posted on August 29, 2005
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The Jerk-O-Meter is Live

The researchers at MIT are at it again: this time, they've developed a Jerk-O-Meter which measures the attentiveness of whoever you're talking to on the phone.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing software for cell phones that would analyze speech patterns and voice tones to rate people — on a scale of 0 to 100% — on how engaged they are in a conversation.

Anmol Madan, who led the project while he pursued a master's degree at MIT, sees the Jerk-O-Meter as a tool for improving relationships, not ending them. Or it might assist telephone sales and marketing efforts. "Think of a situation where you could actually prevent an argument," he said. "Just having this device can make people more attentive because they know they're being monitored."

The program, which Madan said is nearing completion, uses mathematical algorithms to measure levels of stress and empathy in a person's voice. It also keeps track of how often someone is speaking.

"It's an academically proven thing," Madan said of the math behind those measurements. "There are a bunch of academic papers published about this."

For now, the Jerk-O-Meter is set up to monitor the user's end of the conversation. If his attention is straying, a message pops up on the phone that warns, "Don't be a jerk!" or "Be a little nicer now." A score closer to 100% would prompt, "Wow, you're a smooth talker."

However, the Jerk-O-Meter also could be set up to test the voice on the other end of the line. Then it could send the tester such reports as: "This person is acting like a jerk. Do you want to hang up?"

It would probably be terribly unkind of us to point out that socially adept people don't actually need algorithms to tell them when someone is being a jerk. And besides, we love a good argument.

Posted on August 24, 2005
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Female Androids Hit Japan

The BBC reports that Japanese scientists are once again leaving the U.S. in the dust with their cool robot research. The new female android is the most human-looking robot ever invented. Her name is Repliee Q1, which isn't the catchiest name we've ever heard, but hey, they're scientists, not writers. Repliee has skin made of flexible silicone, as well as sensors and motors to allow her to turn and react like a human.

She can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She even appears to breathe. Professor Hiroshi Ishiguru of Osaka University says one day robots could fool us into believing they are human. Repliee Q1 is not like any robot you will have seen before, at least outside of science-fiction movies. She is designed to look human and although she can only sit at present, she has 31 actuators in her upper body, powered by a nearby air compressor, programmed to allow her to move like a human.

"I have developed many robots before," Repliee Q1's designer, Professor Ishiguru, told the BBC News website, "but I soon realised the importance of its appearance. A human-like appearance gives a robot a strong feeling of presence." "Repliee Q1 can interact with people. It can respond to people touching it. It's very satisfying, although we obviously have a long way to go yet."

Professor Ishiguru believes that it may prove possible to build an android that could pass for a human, if only for a brief period. "An android could get away with it for a short time, 5-10 seconds. However, if we carefully select the situation, we could extend that, to perhaps 10 minutes," he said. "More importantly, we have found that people forget she is an android while interacting with her. Consciously, it is easy to see that she is an android, but unconsciously, we react to the android as if she were a woman."

Except for those giant gorilla hands, she looks pretty human to us. We're reminded of that Star Trek original series episode where Kirk and the Enterprise crew found a brilliant scientist on another planet who turned out to have been Leonardo da Vinci and a bunch of other Earth geniuses. He built the perfect female android too, but she didn't love him. We hope things go better for Professor Ishiguru.

Posted on July 28, 2005
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Harry Potter and the Special Effects Complexion

If only Dumbledore could do something about teenage acne. Harry Potter film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are growing up, which means good news and bad news for the films' producers. The good news? They are growing up attractive, thank heavens. The bad news? Here comes the acne, which is exacerbated by long hours under hot lights with heavy makeup. Luckily, the special effects guys are here to save the day.

The special-effects wizards working on the Harry Potter movies made something disappear: the stars' pimples. The teenage actors are plagued by the bane of many adolescents, according to IrelandonLine, which quotes a source as saying, "We have had to employ a special effects man to go through every frame clearing up their complexions."

Digital alteration is becoming more and more common: remember all that retouching of Drew Barrymore's bum in Charlie's Angels? Sounds like a growth industry to us.

Posted on July 27, 2005
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The Alarm Clock that Runs Away

There may soon be an alternative for those of you who abuse the snooze button on your alarm clock. An alarm clock called Clocky won't stand for any repetitive hitting of the the snooze button. Instead, Clocky will run away and hide making noise as it goes.

Clocky is an alarm clock that runs and hides when you presse the snooze. The alarm sounds, you press the snooze, and he will roll off of the beside table, fall to the floor, and wheel away, bumping mindlessly into objects until he eventually finds a spot to rest. When the alarm sounds again, the sleeper must awaken to search for Clocky. Clocky is programmed to find new resting spots everyday, creating a hide- and-seek game with the offending over-sleeper. Clocky alarm clocks were designed to reinterpret the common alarm clock into something that is not stressful and obnoxious but playful, meaningful, and a better fit between humans and technology. Clocky is patent pending.

You will have to be patient if you want your own Clocky. Clocky was a research project by MIT student Gauri Nanda. The project received lots of web coverage and recently appeared on Good Morning America. An explanation of the science behind the unusual alarm clock can be found here. The project now has a new website at Clocky.net that says "patent pending" so there appears to be a commericial version of Clocky is in the works.

Posted on June 27, 2005
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The Robotic Super Suit

Japan just won't stop with the robot revolution. Now they've invented a robot suit that makes humans stronger.

"Humans may be able to mutate into supermen in the near future," said Yoshiyuki Sankai, professor and engineer at Tsukuba University who led the project.

The 15-kilogram (33-pound) battery-powered suit, code-named HAL-5, detects muscle movements through electrical-signal flows on the skin surface and then amplifies them. It can also move on its own accord, enabling it to help elderly or handicapped people walk, developers said.

The prototype suit will be displayed at the World Exposition that is currently taking place in Aichi prefecture, central Japan. Japan has seen a growing market for technology geared toward the elderly, who are making up an increasing chunk of the population as fewer younger Japanese choose to start families.

Note to the Robot Marketing Department: In the demonstration photo, a young, apparently healthy young guy is using the robot super-suit to lift a girl who couldn't possibly weigh more than 100 lbs., soaking wet. Perhaps it would be more impressive if the photo showed a 90 year old man lifting a car, or maybe even a sumo wrestler. Now that would be impressive.

Posted on June 13, 2005
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The Singing Park Benches

A new art project in England is placing seemingly intelligent bins and benches in a public area in The Junction at Cambridge University. The benches and trash bins, which are solar-powered, appear to move around, sing, avoid bad weather and head for the shade if they get too hot.

Bins and benches will be free to roam independently within the piazza. The Bins and benches are solar powered but, to passers-by, they will look like ordinary metal bins and standard wooden park benches. Each bench will drift slowly around the square and all bins and benches are equipped with sensors to detect the presence of objects in their immediate vicinity, coming to a complete halt when any object is closer than two meters. To guard against loss by theft, Bins and Benches have tilt alarms fitted and global positioning technology inside. Occasionally, when the weather is good, small clusters will gather and sing a harmony with the bins joining in with their sweet soprano voices.

The creators of the exhibit claim to have created the singing and dancing benches to give people some entertainment during the day. One might ask: who really wants to chase after a park bench?

Posted on June 12, 2005
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High Def TV: A Movie Star's Nightmare?

About 18 million people in the U.S. have High Definition TVs. Although most major shows are filmed in Hi Def, most Americans aren't really seeing what's there: wrinkles, acne scars and much worse are all now horrifically visible on the super-huge screens, which magnify every pore, scar and wrinkle. And that's got onscreen talent and makeup artists very, very worried.

"I'm seeing people in a whole new way," says Phillip Swann, president of OnHD.TV, an online magazine. "If somebody's aging or if they've got any old acne damage, it just jumps out at you. They've got no chance." The editors of OnHD.TV examined several dozen stars and compiled a list of heartthrobs who (they claim) wither under the unblinking gaze of high-def, including Cameron Diaz ("littered with unfortunate pockmarks"), Jewel (whose makeup "looks like it was done by Ringling Brothers") and Bill Maher ("scary"). I've seen the effect myself: when I recently watched a high-def close-up of Bradley Whitford -- a handsome star of The West Wing -- a normally insignificant mark on his forehead suddenly stood out like a third eye. I couldn't stop staring.

The high-def format's merciless gaze isn't solely a matter of screen resolution. Color is a factor, too. For years, government standards have limited the range of colors available to broadcasters, based on the technological limits of the time. With high-def, more colors can be used, including some formerly forbidden shades of red -- which means that blotches, zits and tiny nose-veins can be presented with the brutal clarity of a surgery textbook.

"It's almost too realistic, too digital and computery," complains Alexis Vogel, a veteran celebrity makeup artist who recently worked on Stacked, a high-def show starring Pamela Anderson. "We'd all like to go back to the old days." Makeup artists are now engaged in an arms race with the new medium. But they face a paradox: while makeup is more necessary than ever, its artifice is more obvious. You can't slather on powder when every grain looks like a boulder on your client's face. And interestingly, many cosmeticians predict that high-def could actually reduce the amount of plastic surgery in Hollywood, because the tiny seams look Frankensteinian at such high resolution. High-def is, in essence, a medium peculiarly unsuited to dissembling. "It's harder to change people from their natural form," Vogel adds.

So what does this mean? Some makeup artists are working on makeup that works with hi-def, but people who look stunning with no makeup will do best: anyone under 18 will flawless skin will look just fine. But there are a few stars who are said to actually look better in hi-def: Anna Kournikova, George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones "glow like supernovas." And Vogel tells The New York Times that "in high-def, Halle Berry's skin is so beautiful and flawless, she's almost a genetic freak." What a lovely compliment.

Posted on June 11, 2005
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Lindsay Lohan and the Computer Generated Plastic Surgery

The Times takes a break from reporting on world affairs to make fun of uptight American movie-goers who apparently were highly offended by the generous size of Lindsay Lohan's bustline at the screenings of Herbie Fully Loaded. The answer: digital plastic surgery.

Lohan, 18, had finished work on the fourth sequel to the 1968 film The Love Bug, about a sentient Volkswagen Beetle, when reports from test screenings indicated that some parents felt she came across as somewhat sensual for a family-oriented film. Disney technicians went though scenes showing the actress jumping up and down at a motor racing track and altered them with a computer program — reducing her bust by up to two cup sizes and raising the necklines on her T-shirts. Lohan is said to have been amused by what technicians call her "digital boob job." "I don’t know how Renée Zellweger kept swelling and shrinking for Bridget Jones: it’s no fun," she said recently. "Bring on the computer guys."

Lohan is not the only actress to have had her body shape altered by Hollywood’s computer wizards. Angelina Jolie was "trimmed" in a scene from the forthcoming film, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in which she slides down a rope.

"She did her own stunts, but that meant there was a bit of loose bosomry we had to tidy up and flatten down," said a technician on the film, which opens next month. "Maybe the original shot will turn up on the DVD."

Don't you just love the British newspapers? "Loose bosomry" indeed....

Posted on June 10, 2005
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Advertisers Hope Neuromarketing Answers Their Dreams

Wired reports that scientists are scanning the brain to find more effective ways to influence your purchasing decisions:

Scientists are scanning brain activity in the hopes of catching sight of the physical mechanisms that determine whether you prefer Coke over Pepsi.

The nascent research, known as "neuromarketing," could one day lead to new advertising strategies that directly stimulate hard-wired mental reflexes rather than appealing to fuzzy consumer attitudes.

  "The hope in neuromarketing is that there's some process in the brain that is a better predictor of whether people will actually buy things than what we already have," said Colin Camerer, professor of business economics at the California Institute of Technology.

Oh Wow!! We consumers sure hope that's what the advertisers will soon be able to do! Please tap right into our primal neural centers so that we go into a psychotic induced state just to get the "right kind" of deodorant or paper towels!  We want to knock other consumers out of the way as we rampage towards the cereal section desperate for a box of corn flakes. We don't want to make our own decisions any more! Please advertisers help us decide what to buy by tapping right into our cerebral cortex.

Posted on June 6, 2005
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Robot Doctors Are Here

Apparently, England is miles ahead of the U.S. when it comes to technology and robots. And don't even get us started about Japan. Reuters reports that robot nurses named nicknamed "Sister Mary" and "Doctor Robbie" started work at a London hospital today.

The pair allow doctors to visually examine and communicate with patients, whether they are in another part of the hospital or even another part of the world.

"This is a revolutionary concept which opens new avenues in telemedicine research and integrates technology with healthcare," said Professor Sir Ara Darzi in a statement. Darzi, head of surgery, anesthetics and intensive care at London's prestigious Imperial College is also a practicing surgeon at St Mary's hospital in Paddington, west London.

The 5-foot (1.5 meter) high robots are controlled remotely by a doctor via a joystick. Doctors can look at patients thanks to a camera mounted on top of the robot while patients can see their doctors via a screen on the robots' "face." Patients can be asked questions and medical records -- such as X-rays and test results -- can be read.

After a trial period, some egghead will tabulate the results to see if the patients liked the robots and if they worked well or not. No word on how many patients required psychiatric treatment due to trauma sustained from waking in a hospital bed, only to find a robot "doctor" treating them, causing delusions of time travel to the future.

Posted on May 19, 2005
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Earn Your Way to Being a Couch Potato

Health experts in Britain think that British children are way too fat and watch too much TV. But one enterprising grad student thinks he has the solution.

A special insole called Square-eyes that fits inside a child's shoe and tracks his exercise activity. This recorded activity can then be exchanged for sedentary hours watching the telly. It's a simple concept: you run, you get to lounge in front of the TV.

One button on the shoe -- the brainchild of a student at west London's Brunel University -- records the amount of steps taken by the child over the day. Another transmits this information to a base station connected to the TV. It calculates the time earned and once it runs out, the TV automatically switches itself off.

This sounds like it will work great -- until kids figure out how to hack the insole. So how far will little Sally or Tommy be willing to run in order to earn some good couch potato time? The shoe is not on the market yet, so parents will have to wait a bit longer before they can make kids "run for TV."

Posted on May 18, 2005
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The Replicators Are Coming

The Independent reports on the invention of robots that can reproduce themselves:

It has been the dream -- and nightmare -- of science fiction writers for decades. Now a team of engineers has conjured up a robot that can reproduce itself.

The robot can self-replicate in much the same way that some living organisms are able to reproduce by cloning themselves.

Modular cubes called "molecubes", each of which contains the machinery and computer program necessary for replication, are at the heart of the robot's ability to self-replicate. Electromagnets on each of the cubes' facesallow them to attach and detach themselves to another cube according to the computer's instructions. This allows a damaged robot to jettison defective cubes and replace them by working ones or for it to construct a separate robot from scratch by building a stack of individual cubes.

When the newly-formed robot reaches a certain height it helps to finish off its own replication by adding the last molecubes to its own body.

Oh, no! We've seen this before...on Stargate SG-1. This article is talking about those horrible Replicators that took over Stargate Command, eating all the technology in site and replicating like crazy! They're unstoppable! They've wiped out entire civilizations!

Why can't they invent something useful for a change? They need to put a woman in charge of this kind of research, clearly. I just want Rosie, the Robot Maid from The Jetsons. Now she was a robot worth having. And she didn't have any evil plans for world domination. As far as we know, anyway.

Posted on May 13, 2005
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