Wednesday May 15 - Roboexotic-US Closing Night

Rumors of a cocktail hour or two on Wednesday night are thickening to a degree where it seems appropriate to send out an invite -
If you missed the opening, visit us at 360 (!) 5th St. SF, Cocktail Hour(s) starting at Wednesday 9pm.

Anthony Fudd's Horton

Behold Horton the robotic elephant pour one of our plants shots of pure clean water.

If needed Horton could be told to pick up additional ingredients for a well balanced nutritious plant cocktail.
Here's another short vid of a test-run on the floor.

Roboexotic-US - Wired Gallery

The Wired Gallery of our opening is online, 9 great shots each with a witty paragraph of text. Our press department is happy.

Roboexotic-US Exhibition

Firstly, thanks to all who made the grandiose opening on Saturday happening - Simone Davalos, David Calkins, Skot Kuiper of Space, the exhibitors, the helping hands and the crowd who were eagerly embracing cocktail-robotics.
Tonight the exhibit will be open to the public between 8-10pm, at 354 5th St. SF - the entry is different from the party, it's next to the window-room, where you will be able to see the robots from outside.

Roboexotic-US Opening

Yesterday night - finally - I had a chance to see Chassis serving beer (Al Honig, one of the creators informed me it's easily possible to serve pre-mixed cocktails) ... beautiful Chassis! Sprung right out of a 50s science fiction fantasy he rolled about and poured people delicious beer. And communicated via a human operator, who lent the service robot's performance during the evening an even more crowd pleasing quality.

For the bestest photo shots turn to Scott Beale's Laughing Squid blog and follow the links to flickr!

Another novelty for me to see was Anthony Fudd's Lego Shot Bot which served two alternative shot drinks, but could also be made to mix a drink from two ingredients. I talked with Anthony about avenues for the future regarding cooling and mobility and got the impression he might be eager to join the competition of cocktail-roboticists called Annual Cocktail Robot Awards ...

Finally, here's a short notice on yesterday's Wired blog - with promises of more photos today ...

Roboexotic-US preview

We had a couple early birds drop by the venue yesterday night, among them cnet journalist Daniel Terdiman - see his article..

Here's a clip of El Borracho serving his first flaming cocktail this season:


Join us tonight May 10th at 354 5th St. San Francisco to get a glimpse of the strange and wonderful world of cocktail-robotics! Opening 8pm.

Drunken Combots at Maker Faire

Talking of Simone - this video comes via her blog, Suicidebots.com:

... starring a spinning beer keg turned fighting robot - Beer Bash!

Article in June 2008 Servo Magazine by Simone Davalos - Preview

Simone Davalos who built one of the award winning cocktail-robots at Roboex07ica, wrote an article for Servo magazine to appear June 2008, of which I present you an exclusive preview:
"[...] Participants from around the world brought their machines to vie for the top awards, which go to the robots that best fulfill the stringent and exacting standards of the judging categories: Serving, Mixing, Conversation, Fire and Smoke, and Special Achievements. Other sub categories this year included Persistence, Environmental, Most Welcome Off-Topic entry, and Best Swiss Entry, about which more later on.
The Freiraum machine gallery space at the Museumsquartier in Vienna was crowded with old favorites and some promising up-and-comers. David Calkins, founder of RoboGames, showed up for his third RoboExotica with Chapek, the snarky arm-swinging bartender bot with glowing red eyes. Chapek razzed the crowd and made vodka or gin martinis as well as inappropriate comments to young women. Chapek ended up taking home the Cocktail Robot Award for the Conversation category at the Annual Cocktail Robot Awards, which took place the last night of the festival.
Robert Martin brought back RoboMoji, a popular machine and four year veteran of the contest. RoboMoji makes mojitos with a chain-drive conveyor belt, mechanically actuated lime squeezer and mint muddler, and automatic shot pourers. The drinks are tasty, but take a bit of patience while the machine does its thing. Robomoji's parts are handmade out of aluminum for an industrial effect with a sugar-coated ending. Watching the process is fascinating when it's running flawlessly, and even more fascinating when the machine breaks down and the creators swarm over it to find the problem (rule one of robotics, especially cocktail robotics: robots break). For this reason, RoboMoji was awarded Honorable mention in the category of Patience.
Chris Veigl's Mind Reading martini maker, the winner of the Mixing category, collected EEG scans of the drinker's brain to determine how strong a drink the drinker is to receive. The more relaxed alpha waves the machine can detect, the stronger the drink. Since everyone there had been previously relaxed by other offerings, great amounts of gin and vodka flowed from the generous mindreader.
[...]
RoboExotica 2007 was not without its other mishaps. The winner of the Fire and Smoke category, El Espanol Borracho, offered up a stunning display when the flamethrower got stuck in the 'on' position and lit both its creator and the floor on fire. Luckily there were no injuries, as bystanders were laughing too hard to douse the flames effectually.
When it was repaired, ESB made excellent Spanish Coffees. With a press of ESB's Big Red Button, Kahlua and sweetened coffee mixture were poured into a rocks glass, and a small shot of the Austrian liqueur Stroh 80 was floated over top. Many would-be drinkers were warned away from grabbing their drink prematurely, as the final touch is a three second burst of butane/propane flame to add “flavor”. [...]"

And apropos - the publishers of Servo were among the judges for the bartending bots at Robogames 2006 ... and apparently fancied Chris Veigl's Cockbot One.

Simone - thanks for this entertaining and informative write-up!

Roboexotic-US - A Call for Roboticists

ROBOEXOTICA - the festival for Cocktail-Robotics - is inviting you to bring your contraptions to our first US exhibit/cocktail-party/mini-festival, if it shows any of these behavior patterns:
- serving drinks
- mixing drinks
- activities in smoking culture
- bar conversation
- other achievements that fit into the sector of 21st century cocktail culture

Opening: may 10 8pm / 354 5th st. san francisco

For details or to participate please contact
dcalkins[AT]robotics-society.org or magnus[AT]shifz.org

... and if you don't have cocktail-robots to bring ... bring your friends!

PS: Finally I will get to see Chassis by Al Honig and Jon Foote!
And imagine my delight when a guy walked up to the ROBOEXOTICA booth at Maker Faire and asked if he could bring his cocktail-robot to show at Roboexotic-US.
Also showing: David Calkins, Simone Davalos, Anthony Fudd, Chris Veigl, monochrom, CTP, ... and more!

Roboexotic-US - A Call for Drinkers

"What could be better in life than robots and cocktails? Well, nothing! Roboexotica is the premier cocktail making robot event which happens in Vienna each year. This week it comes to San Francisco. Join us for good music, cocktails, and robots that pour you drinks, insult you, and test your BAC. Several different artists from around the Bay Area and Europe will be presenting their work for your imbibing pleasure." (quoting Simone Davalos)

Roboexotic-US - Opening May 10 San Francisco

Next Saturday the first US Robexotica exhibition is opening at Space, 354 5th St. San Francisco.
The Austrian cocktail robots that came to the Bay Area for Maker Faire will be joined by several local creations, ones that have been to Vienna for ROBOEXOTICA before, and some that haven't.
You are invited to join us at the grand opening on Sat. May 10th from 8pm-2am! The show runs for a week after that, information on opening hours will be posted here.

When I inspected the venue this week a lot reminded me of VEKKS, the original location in Vienna in a positive way - so the last minute change of venue seems to turn out to be a great thing.

Maker Faire 2008 Bay Area

Day One has been survived - many pictures wait to be uploaded, but some are ready to be viewed on Flickr.

Maker Faire Bay Area 2008: Cocktailrobots Inside

Does this robot know how you like your martini? Yes it does! Presenting the MindReading MartiniMaker and other award-winning cocktail-robots, the founders of ROBOEXOTICA, the world's leading festival on the matter, announce the American franchise of the cocktail-robotic plot to achieve world-domination meet the MindReadingMartiniMaker and others of the world's best cocktailrobots at the ROBOEXOTICA booth.

The grandiose Maker Faire is returning to the San Mateo Faire Grounds May 3-4, and the MindReading MartiniMaker is too. After it's world-premiere at last year's Faire it won big at the Annual Cocktail Robot Awards in Vienna, and in the meantime it's creator Chris Veigl has implemented some improvements that make it an even more precise and reliable cocktail-robot.

... Oh, and what about that American franchise thingie, you ask? Watch this blog for an upcoming post on the ROBOEXOTIC-US exhibition in San Francisco, May 10-15, organized by multiple ACRA winners David Calkins and Simone "Missy Suicidebots" Davalos!

Robot Soldiers make Human Comrades nervous, get discharged

What would your thoughts be if a lethally armed combat robot started pointing his M249 light machine gun in your direction - when apparently not told to do so?
Seems the US military is just as dastardly - they pulled out the three SWORD units that were deployed to Iraq last year, after "the gun started moving when it was not intended to move."
While the actual incidents happened already last year, so far no reason had been given for the withdrawal and the Army’s Program Executive Officer for Ground Forces, Kevin Fahey, felt obliged to note that the robots had never fired a shot when they weren't supposed to, at the RoboBusiness Conference in Pittsburgh.

(via Popular Mechanics)

Billion Euro Trashcan

Today ESA's first Automated Transfer Vehicle "Jules Verne" will be practicing machine-sex ("docking") with the International Space Station orbiting our lovely planet.
The Vehicle is a step forward in Europe's aspirations in outer space autonomy. It will help supply the ISS with needed goods - and will probably take back part of them as trash when it leaves the station again.
This time the ATV will stay docked for 6 months before it is going to be launched, packed with the space station's wastes, to eventually burn and die down.

Beer Pouring Robot

Chassis, which has actually been announced to participate in ROBOEXOTICA 2007, is officially finished now and Simone of SuicideBots has a nice little presentation video online ...

Hope to see the foaming fellow soon!

Robogames 2008

From June 13-18th 2008, hundreds of robots will descend onto San Francisco's Fort Mason Center, where they will compete for dozens of gold medals inside the Festival Pavilion.
Last year was great fun, and Chris Veigl's Cockbot One returned home with one of those treasured trophies.

Funding Your Robot

Suicidebots has a link to an article on how to fund your robot project on a page called Society of Robots ...
Covering dumpster diving and "begging like a hobo" it also has tips like:
"Yeap, companies are itching to give stuff away for free. Basically if you work at a company, and are working on a prototype, parts manufacturer companies want you to sample their parts in an effort to convince you to use them again for mass production. But I seriously doubt this is your case. But hey, why not apply for free samples, have them shipped to your 'company,' and tell them it is for a 'prototype' robot. Obviously this system can be abused, ruining it for everyone, so I won't tell you which companies are good victims. But it is usually the manufacturer of the part. ..."

The site has also other interesting sections including a forum and countless helpful informations, so have a look for the sake of your robots!

Gracious Living

Gracious Living is the appropriate title of this limited edition "Giclee"-print by Coop. The mail person brought it one early morning this week and since it will take me a while before getting it framed, I am unrolling it daily to admire it!

ROBOEX07ICA Post Scriptum

Three weeks after the festival's over, I am slowly recovering from my annual peak alcohol-consumption (and reckless sleep-deprivation) - simultaneously fighting off the consequences of a snowy winter settling on Vienna (*coughcough*) - and I am starting to try to complete the coverage of this year's cocktail robotics festival #1 ...

- Conference audio: The symposium has been audio-recorded and put online. Link (german AND english)
- eSeL, our official photographer this year, has created the flickr-group roboexotica.
- There has been some (printed) press coverage locally - DerStandard, Wiener Zeitung, Kurier, ... - but so far there seems to be less international stir created than last year.

Upcoming: next year ROBOEXOTICA will be celebrating 10th anniversary, look out for special events right here!
So far the next scheduled big cocktail robot event will be at RoboGames 2008 - and we are trying to raise money to hopefully be able to send Robomoji to win a medal this time.

[ROBOEXOTICA's 2nd Office in Second Life is always open for a visit, of course!]

A Closer Look at the ACRA-Winners

Wired blog has a closer look at some of the ACRA 9.0 winners: Chris Palmer's Brethalyzer Genii, Franz Ablinger's Gesundheit, Robert Martin's Robomoji, Roman Maeder's Holy Golden Milk+Wodcow and Misha á Crest's Explanator.
Oh btw Mr. Dempsey, the Explanator not only is an alcohol-producing musical instrument - it is also an alcoholic vapor dispenser, enabling you to consume Absynth by inhaling plus it is an absynth-filled "water"-pipe!

(Photo above, from Poetina's ROBOEXOTICA-set: Gingerbread replicas of ROBOEXOTICA-logo "Guzman")

ROBOEX07ICA Pictures

eSeL has taken a lot of pictures: Opening - Exhibition ... and has even started uploading them on flickr.

More photos taken by: Chris Thomas Palmer, Simone Davalos, Bre Pettis, Cory Doctorow.

My own camera got "lost" during ROBOEX07ICA, so my flickr-set is smaller than anticipated (and covers more of the build-up than the festival).

ACRA 9.0 Winners

While the cool kids are partying on at Bre Pettis' residence, the only thing keeping me from sleep is the urge to let the world know the winners of the Annual Cocktail Robot Awards 9.0 ...
In a late and dynamic gala there were prizes given away in more categories than ever.
At this point a word or two on the judgment system seems appropriate: The "secret judges" never knew they were judging when they were interviewed and the results of this method had interesting implications. Entries won categories that didn't previously exist.
So there were ten main winners this year who went away with precious gingerbread trophies crafted by poetina - replicas of ROBOEXOTICA's logo Guzman.
5 honorary mentions were formulated.
And there were 5 winners of a new kind of trophy awarded for meager achievments: Limes!

So here it is, the list of outstanding cockail-robotic manifestations shown at ROBOEX07ICA, with short notes on the judges' motivation:

SERVING
Explanator / Misha a Crest - Breathing might be THE future way to ingest herbal/alcoholic beverages
MIXING
MindReading MartiniMaker / Chris Veigl - way of determining ratio & innovative way around shaking/stirring
CONVERSATION
Chapok / David Calkins - the way he inspires drinking is quite authentic
FIRE & SMOKE
El Espanol Borracho / Simone Davalos - a) for not triggering the fire alarm b) only robot that includes flambéing in the preparation process
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
Blow Your Fortune / Chris Thomas Palmer - always knows what u should drink
PERSISTENCE
Gesundheit VI / Franz Ablinger - is hardheadedly trying to find a lasting configuration.
MOST WELCOME OFF-TOPIC ENTRY
Aktionsgruppe LN2.0 / FH Joanneum - good example of why and when humans are still needed in the cocktail environment
BEST SWISS ENTRY
The Holy Golden Milk+Wodcow / Roman Maeder - the milking proved to be a favorite human pastime
ENVIRONMENTAL
Perpetual Popper / Jaques Gallant - feeds people using only corn and sun

HONORARY MENTIONS
PATIENCE: Robomoji / Robert Martin - patiently adds assembling steps year by year (VIDEO)
VISIONARY: Robofriend 2 / Tom Heike first robot that combines mixing and mobile delivery
MOST CUTE AND SIMPLE UI: Rabbit's Revenge / FH Joanneum
MOST ACCURATE DEPICTION OF A ROBOT PENIS: Urinator / FH Joanneum
MOST VERSATILE: Explanator / Misha a Crest

LIMES
The Prisoner's Dilemma / David Fine - installation is a construction site
R.R. Shot-Bot / Bre Pettis- unfinished
Kalkohol / Johannes Grenzfurthner - causing floods is not an achievement
BF Ice Cube Gun / FH Joanneum - Vodka theft and militaristic behaviour
Urinator / FH Joanneum - ghastly impression makes drink undesirable
Bic-o-Mat/ Adrianb Dabrowski - no-show despite anticipated added features

(All other bots were in between so-lala and great and should return next year to try again.)

ROBOEX07ICA Opening

The ninth ROBOEXOTICA opened it's doors yesterday in Vienna's Museumsquartier. Artists and roboticists are showing their creations at the annual Festival for Cocktailrobotics, competing for the Annual Cocktail Robot Awards.

Pictured above is the American Cultural Attache Katherine Perez, admiring the achievements of her fellow citizen David Calkins - by now a ROBOEXOTICA regular - who is holding the world's largest (Guinness approved) robotics competition at home in San Francisco.

ROBOEX07ICA Bloggage

In exactly 19 hours ROBOEXOTICA 2007 will be officially opening, already there is some serious bloggage going on:
SuicideBots
BoingBoing
Gridskipper
Make:blog

ROBOEX07ICA: Nov 22-25, Vienna - Link to Schedule

Robots Abroad

It's the time of the year when robots from all over are traveling abroad to meet up with relatives and celebrate the Annual Cocktail Robot Awards, which are part of the world's first Festival for Cocktailrobotics - ROBOEXOTICA.

The ninth installment is about to start this thursday evening in Vienna - here are some first pics from the build-up at Museumsquartier.

Apropos

BTW, in case you haven't studied the updated schedule thouroughly enough - Comic-Superhero Cory Doctorow is visiting ROBOEXOTICA again.

(Part 5 of "1337" by xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.)

Updated ROBOEX07ICA Program Schedule

Thursday 11/22, 2007
Museumsquartier Wien, Freiraum
7 P.M.: Roboexotica 2007 and AiR Space opening.
Live - GameJew, Mr. Electric
On the turntables - DJ Borka, VJ Ozo

Friday 11/23, 2007
Museumsquartier Wien, Freiraum
10 A.M. - 10 P.M.: Exhibition
5 P.M.: DJ Ossi & Kilian
Museumsquartier Wien, Erste Bank Arena
1 P.M. - 5 P.M.: Symposium (in german language)
Thomas Ballhausen: Geister sehen. - Zur Veränderung der visuellen Kultur und ihrer (Seh)Räume um 1895.
Kerstin Ohler: Generating Ghosts 2.0 - Der phantastische (Erzähl)Raum und seine Bewohner als VR-Mechanismus.
Alexander Edelhofer: "Radio, live transmission."
Psychogeographische Industrielandschaften und Subkultur: Joy Divison, Manchester.
brut Konzerthaus, Lothringerstraße 20, 1030 Wien
8 P.M.: Recording of taugshow #15.

Saturday 11/24, 2007
Museumsquartier Wien, Freiraum
10 A.M. - 10 P.M.: Exhibition
5 P.M.: DJ Funke powered by sonance, DJ phonuel
Museumsquartier Wien, Erste Bank Arena
1 P.M. - 6 P.M.: Symposium
Sean Bonner: The inmates have taken over the asylum... but that's OK because as it turns out they are far more entertaining than all those stuffy doctors.
Jens Ohlig: Monkeys, typewriters, and the Markov chain reaction. Programming machines to write literature so humans don't have to.
Cory Doctorow: A Singular Metaphor - Why consciousness uploading, post-human existence, and life after the Singularity are popular today, and why science fiction is always about the present.
David Fine: The Consciousness Conundrum.
Bre Pettis: Machines: If you can't beat them, join them - The Apocalyptic Utopia.
brut Künstlerhaus, Karlsplatz 5, 1010 Wien
20 Uhr: Gold Extra - Black Box - Theater for eight remote controlled robots (in german language)
brut Konzerthaus, Lothringerstraße 20, 1030 Wien
22 Uhr: Paul Granjon - Reflections and Constructions of a Button Pusher

Sunday 11/25, 2007
Museumsquartier Wien, Freiraum
10 A.M. - 8 P.M.: Exhibition
2 P.M.: Grjasnaya Gallereya - The Inevitable Time Travel (Performance)
3 P.M.: Rainer Tramin
Wir sind wie Roboter? (Lecture in german language)
Museumsquartier Wien, QDK Veranstaltungsraum
11 A.M.: Filmbrunch
brut Künstlerhaus, Karlsplatz 5, 1010 Wien
6 P.M.: Gold Extra
Black Box - Theater for eight remote controlled robots (in german language)
brut Konzerthaus, Lothringerstraße 20, 1030 Wien
8 P.M.: Paul Granjon - Reflections and Constructions of a Button Pusher
Volkstheater Wien, Rote Bar, Neustiftgasse 1, 1070 Wien
10 P.M.: ACRA V9.0 - Gala of the Annual Cocktail Robotics Awards 2007

Since I posted the outlines of ROBOEX07ICA's schedule there have been some corrections and more details have emerged ...
Note the changes of the whens and wheres of Paul Granjon's Reflections and Constructions of a Button Pusher - both performances are at brut Konzerthaus and one has moved from Friday to Saturday!

The symposium's abstract has been posted on roboexotica.org:
Ghost In The Machine

AiR at ROBOEX07ICA

quartier 21's Aritist in Residence program hosts two of this year's participants - monochrom (who rent an office in q21 and are eligible to name a portion of the AiRs) have invited Make: Magazine's Bre Pettis and David Fine, who has had his hands in one of last year's ACRA-winners - the External Combustion Engine.

"What makes the Artist-in-Residence program of quartier21 so unusual is that in keeping with its broad understanding of art and culture it is not limited to fine art, but is also open to artists who often have no other access to studio programs, including media and sound artists, fashion designers, art theorists and critics, DJs, game designers, photographers, and filmmakers."

Coinciding with ROBOEXOTICA's opening on 22nd, the new AiRbase space will be inaugurated - it's the small room behind the bar inside Freiraum, which has been used by ROBOEXOTICA before.

The Humans Are Dead

The Humans Are Dead by Flight Of The Conchords comes without words via Suicidebots - and really, there's not much to say - just: WATCH THIS, MEATBAG!

ROBOEX07ICA Poster Out!

Those of you living in Vienna who
a) want to help us get the 1000pcs. hung
b) want to secure a poster (or 20) for their living room wall
can pick 'em up Tue-Fri 12-7pm and Sat 12-6pm!
... At Motmot Design's shop in Kirchengasse 36, A-1070 Vienna.

Motmot - those are the wonderful people who've printed our lovely ROBOEXOTICA-shirts for the last couple years, Anna designed the poster this year.

Outlines of ROBOEX07ICA Schedule [Updated]

The ninth installment of the world's only Festival for Cocktailrobotics is less than 2 months away!
ROBOEXOTICA 2007 will be held in Vienna, Austria Nov 22-25.
The Annual Cocktail Robot Awards 9.0 will be given away during the ACRA Gala on Sunday 25th at Volkstheater Wien's Rote Bar

THU Nov 22
Opening 7pm (Freiraum q21, MuseumsQuartier)

FRI Nov 23
Exhibition 10am-10pm (Freiraum q21, MQ)
Symposium 1pm-6pm (Ovalhalle ErsteBankArena, MQ) [Updated]
Taugshow 8pm (brut Konzerthaus)
Paul Granjon 10pm (brut Konzerthaus) [Updated]

SAT Nov 24
Exhibition 10am-10pm (Freiraum q21, MQ)
Symposium 1pm-6pm (Ovalhalle ErsteBankArena, MQ) [Updated]
Gold Extra 8pm (brut Künstlerhaus)
Paul Granjon 10pm (brut Konzerthaus) [Updated]

SUN Nov 25
Exhibition 10am-8pm (Freiraum q21, MQ)
Filmbrunch 11am
Grjasnaya Gallereya 2pm (Freiraum) [Updated]
Rainer Tramin 3pm (Freiraum)
Gold Extra 6pm (brut Künstlerhaus)
Paul Granjon 8pm (brut Künstlerhaus brut Konzerthaus) [Updated]
Annual Cocktail Robot Awards Gala 10pm (Rote Bar, Volkstheater)

Details will be added online as they emerge!

Update Nov 15: FINAL SCHEDULE

Cory's Printcrime Available in SL

Cory Doctorow's Printcrime is SL-ized:

"Michael Buckbee, proprietor of a "Fabjectory" (Bruce Sterling's neologism "fabject" + "factory" = Fabjectory) has created a Second Life version of the print-and-fold minicomic of Printcrime, created by talented comics artist Martin Cendreda."

I grabbed a copy at Fabjectory and you can come and make a copy at the not yet officially opened MechaTiki Skyloft.

(via)

Roboat wins Microtransat - Again

Our friends of Innoc have won the Microtransat for the second time in a row - with their autonomous robot-sailboat Roboat.

This time the autonomous boats were competing in a 3km challenge and a 24h "impress the judges" event in Aberystwyth, Wales, Sept. 3rd - 6th, both won by Roboat.

Innoc are already feverishly working on making Roboat ready for the first fully autonomous crossing of the Atlantic next year.

Swarmbots on their way to Burning Man

A video from ABC's web-page showing the Swarmbot-Orbs getting ready to show a synchronized dance at this year's Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert.

When I heard about the project in May, I was somewhat reminded of this rolling robot: Rotundus.

(via)

Second Offices - II

After a few weeks in Second Life, last weekend I (or should I say my avatar) found and bought a piece of aquatic land - a quiet parcel off shore in Marsco.
And named it MechaTiki Space [Marsco(34/30/21)] ... where now ROBOEXOTICA [Marsco(38/18/51)] and SHIFZ [Marsco(41/4/101)] have their Second Offices, free floating in 50m and 100m altitude.
There's video, free cocktails for visitors and a playground for further lessons in building and scripting for me ... one important thing I learned over the weekend was how to offer video - I'm quite glad streaming works with my revver-videos (clicking the ads doesn't work though) - and equally important how to circumvent the limitation of one videostream per parcel: subdivide smaller parcels. So momentarily I have one video playing on several screens around the parcel and two screens on different altitudes on a 32m2 parcel, which I call the SHIFZ-o-Vision Lounge [Marsco(57/4/49)], playing a second video.

Link to my SL-Flickr-set.

Chassis

Ladies and Gentlemen - this looks like a promising entry in the Serving Drinks category of this year's ACRA (Annual Cocktail Robot Awards) ...
Suicidebots blogger Headrotor alias Jon Foote who we met in San Francisco, where he laboured hard in the RoboGames crew - and where he had already expressed his intention to assemble a cocktail-robot for ROBOEX07ICA - has posted a first report on his and co-conspirator Al Honig's efforts.

"Chassis is a fully mobile remote beverage dispensing unit. Chassis will fill your glass from the spigot on his front, provided you flirt with or bribe him.
He ... is looking a little rough after decades without a touch-up; he has an appointment with a powder coater tomorrow. He’ll come back a nice shade of red."

For When The Metal Ones ...

... decide to come for you: Old Glory Insurance

I think it wasn't this insurance company David Calkins was referring to, when making the timeless quote "Our insurance explicitly includes giant killer robots."

(via SuicideBots)

"Second Office"

In the last two weeks, (during which by some strange coincidence I didn't post anything here) I tried to get some orientation in Second Life and get to understand the way objects and avatars can interact.

A week ago I rented a cheap, small space and fitted it out as a kind of temporary SHIFZ office, offering free smokes and drinks and a few pieces of art for sale - some objects I constructed and two Cocktail paintings I couldn't resist buying in a gallery.

If you have a Second Life follow this slurl and have a look: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Boulevard%20City%20/5/69/24/?x=300&y=300&title=SHIFZ%20temporary%20office

Austrian Robogames-Press

The team of FH Wels technical college, who won 3 out of 4 Austrian gold-medals at RoboGames, have done their homepress-work and so we found mention of a Vienniese team in some of the reports in print and online in the previous weeks.

This week's emedia is the most elaborate report so far and the writer took the trouble of getting in touch with me, so there's some background information on Cockbot One in the article and they took some of my photos!

Page 1+2, Page 3 on Flickr.

Nemo Gould at RoboGames