Qualcomm sparked a ”Lost in Space” moment to the CTIA wireless conference on Tuesday, with “RP7″ — perhaps the new face of remote heath care — with its high-speed wireless connection and flat screen big enough to display what looks eerily like a disembodied head. 
Soon, for doctors, it may be the next best thing to being there, suggests Yulun Wang, CEO of the California-based developer of the product, Intouch Health. 
     
“You can immediately put the physician by the patients bedside wherever they’re at.” The physician “can be at the golf course and instantly be at their patients bedside.” 
     
In a demonstration, a doctor from Shawnee Mission Medical Center in Kansas, used a joystick linked to his laptop to control a robot back at the hospital. He virtually visited an ailing patient via “RP7″, asking about symptoms and suggesting a diagnosis to medical staff at the patient’s bedside. 
     
But if the surprise in Qualcomm’s audience’s reaction to the device is any indication, its not clear what effect the robot would have on patients with a nervous disposition. 
The doctor did not say whether his patients prefered the “live” presence of the hulking robot over the aura of their caring doctor. Some will have to get used to it: his hospital has bought several of the digital doctors. 
Wang said the company has sold about 100 of the robots in the last few years. Next up: corporations seeking to keep an eye on offshore manufacturing plants. 
“People would like to be able to walk the assembly line,” with the robot, he said. 

Monster cane toad found in Australia

SYDNEY, March 27 (Reuters) - A huge cane toad the size of a small dog has been captured in the Australian tropical city of Darwin, startling environmentalists who are fighting to stop the poisonous reptiles from spread across the country.

The people who wrote, subbed, and published this intro each need a slap. Seven year olds know that a toad is an amphibian, not a reptile. Embarrassing.

C.W.

We corrected, but not before readers noticed: GBU Editor

White House aides face more potential subpoenas     

Unless a compromise can be reached, a lengthy court fight could ensue, possibly lasting until after Bush leaves office in January 2005.

January 2005? Surely not!

Careful Reader

We corrected: GBU Editor

A web-slinging toy by Hasbro Inc. and a racing timer featuring a digital LCD screen by Mattel Inc. should be two of the hottest selling toys this summer, according to the Spring 2007 Hot Dozen list by Toy Wishes Magazine.

Hasbro’s Deluxe Spinning Web Blaster lets children sling silly-string webs with a flick of the wrist just like Spiderman. The device looks like it was cut from Spiderman’s costume and straps onto the wrist.

Mattel’s Hot Wheels Racing Timer is meant to time foot or bike races and applauds competitors when they cross the finish line. The racers hear an announcer declare the winner while a digital LCD screen displays the time and speed for two racers.

Mattel’s Rainbow Adventure Elina Doll and DVD game, which are part of the company’s plan to revitalize its sagging Barbie line also made the list. The doll functions as an interactive controller for the game. 

The most expensive item to make the list is the $399.99 Banzai Double Drop Raceway by ToyQuest, an inflatable backyard waterslide featuring a waterfall.

Here’s the Spring 2007 Hot Dozen List in alpabetical order:

1. Baby Alive Sip ‘N Slurp by Hasbro;

2. Banzai Double Drop Raceway by ToyQuest;

3. Barbie FairyTopia Magic of the Rainbow: Rainbow Adventure Elina Doll and DVD Game;

4. Ben 10 Alien Voice Changer with Glasses by Bandai;

5. Crayola Sidewalk Paint Sprayer by Crayola;

6. Deluxe Spinning Web Blaster by Hasbro;

7. Dora Make A Splash Sprinkler by Imperial;

8. Hot Wheels Racing Timer by Mattel;

9. Moon Sand by Spin Master;

10. Pokemon Basic Figures and Deluxe Figures by Jakks Pacific;

11. Spiderman 3 Action Figures; and

12. Tamagotchi Connection V4 by Bandai.

Newspaper editors may be grumpy in general, but most are upbeat about the industry’s prospects, according to a new survey of newsroom trends.

Some 85 percent of editors are very or somewhat optimistic about the future of their papers, said the survey, which was commissioned by the Paris-based World Editors Forum and Reuters.

That may strike you as a surprise. After all, newspapers are everyone’s example No. 1 of old media trying to remain prosperous as its lunch gets eaten by free news on the Internet, mobile phones and blogs.

Other results:

- 35 percent of editors believe print will be the most common medium for news over the next decade

- Nearly 60 percent believe news will be produced via digital media such as online (40 percent), mobile telephones (11 percent) and e-papers (7 percent).
 
The survey, which was conducted by Zogby International, sampled a spread of regional and national editors, with around half from Europe and a smaller number from Asia and the United States.

(Reporting by Gavin Haycock in London; Editing by Robert MacMillan in New York)

Celery! Celery! So Chelsea have banned three fans for throwing the crunchy vegetable about, and put one of English football’s more obscure traditions in the limelight.

Chelsea were so bad in the 1980s they nearly fell into England’s third division, and supporters soon found other ways of keeping themselves amused at matches. Out of nowhere the (unprintable) celery song became a favourite, especially at away games when the blue and white army would smuggle in pounds of the stuff to the delight of greengrocers all over the country.

Sticks of it would fly around, occasionally landing around players from other teams as they prepared to take a corner, but not hurled in malice.

Celery went out of fashion at Stamford Bridge, replaced by fake Ruud Gullit dreadlocks and Russian fur hats as the team were transformed into champions.

The Tottenham fan who ran onto the pitch to throw a punch at Chelsea’s Frank Lampard
– at the same recent game as the latest celery outbreak — is a reminder of the violence no one wants to see back in football.

But the celery revival perhaps points to a nostalgia for the wilder, more unpredictable days of the terraces that make English football now, for all its world-class players and state-of-the-art stadia, seem a little boring.

William Schomberg is a Reuters correspondent based in Brussels

Call it haute catoure. Designers are starting to realize what some of us have known all along, that many folks buy their clothes for the same reason they do everything else: to entertain their cats.

Now, you take this creation from Moscow Fashion Week. Sure, guys may hate it. “Here, just let me cut a hole in my BMW roof so your wacky wig can stick through.” But your cat will go wild.

Note the hairpiece crafted from 400 miles of yarn - a rough estimate - marinated in catnip, with a tantalizing single strand hanging over one shoulder. Check out the dangly earrings and the forehead light reflectors, to mesmerize your kittens for hours.

Of course, maybe something altogether different is going on here, so feel free to offer alternative captions via Post a Comment.

Oddly Enough Blog

A model presents a creation by Kazakh designer Kuralai during Fashion Week in Moscow March 26, 2007. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin

Lawmakers in New Jersey are considering a bill to outlaw text messaging while driving. Yes. A survey found a hefty percentage of drivers actually do this, so now people need to be told they can no longer type with their thumbs while navigating a honking big mass of iron at 40 miles an hour.

Doesn’t it seem like if Darwin was right, these guys should have lost their opposable thumbs long ago? What’s going wrong with evolution?

I suppose now we’ll need laws saying drivers can’t lie on top of their cars tanning themselves while steering with their feet through the sunroof? What is more, we will need to create a new government agency, The Department of Finding Out What Imbeciles are Doing and Quickly Banning It. Jon Hurdle reports:

Oddly Enough Blog

Woman sends a text message outside a shop in central Sydney January 25, 2007. REUTERS/Will Burgess

Dear Blog Guy,
I know you’re exposed to all kinds of bizarre and absurd stuff. What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen this month?
Wondering

Well, Wondering, there’s really no contest. It’s definitely this clip of zoo officials showing a panda sex tape to a panda who hasn’t shown much interest in that particular activity. You read about the plan months ago in this blog, and now here’s the video.

As if this whole thing isn’t strange enough, the kicker is that we’re told zoo officials believe their panda will be motivated by the SOUND in the video. Oh yeah? Then why not just load it onto a panda iPod instead of wheeling a big TV up to his cage? Paul Chapman reports:

If Scotland beat Italy in Bari on Wednesday don’t be surprised if you start hearing that the Scots have become football’s undisputed world champions.

Italy are, of course, the World Cup holders after beating France in the final in Berlin last year. It is less well known that for some fans Scotland are the unofficial world champions after beating Georgia in their last game in Group B.

How on earth did they work that one out?

It is all admirably explained here, the official unofficial website and clearly home to some of the most obsessive statisticians in the business.

It goes like this. England became the first unofficial world champions back in 1873 when they beat Scotland in what was only the second full international match (the first had ended in a goalless draw the year before).

Since then, whenever the holders have faced another country in a full international, the winners have taken over the honorary title. After a route too convoluted to go down here, it passed to Georgia when they beat Uruguay last year and Scotland’s 2-1 win on Saturday saw them take over.

So does that make Wednesday’s date with Italy a world title unification bout?