INTO TECH

The web will be at the heart of the big changes that loom in 2007, say a trio of hi-tech veterans.

Those two Mars rovers, named Spirit and Opportunity, landed on the red planet in January 2004 and are still going strong, twelve times longer than their originally-planned mission of 90 Martian days. Together they’ve sent more than 160,000 images back to Earth and have driven a combined 10.4 miles.

The two rovers were pretty much chowderheads when they first landed, but now they’re quite a bit smarter because of their newly-uploaded software. Now they can be more picky about their choice of snapshots, recognizing that, for example, a rock they’re looking at is the same one they saw earlier, but just from a different angle. This keeps the little robots from taking multiple pictures of the same thing.

Perhaps scientists will teach them how to reproduce, and then an entire population of the little droids will be there to meet their earthling overlords if we ever arrive. – Charlie White

Old Rovers Learn New Tricks to Kick Off Year Four [Red Orbit]

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You kids just can’t get enough of the Adrianne Curry. So we’ve got two more video for you regarding the Most Important NVIDIA technology of all time. The first is a demo of the model in full, glorious YouTube compressed detail. The second is newsreportish, but has a nice clip of Adrianne critiquing her digital body. Jump now

Is it me, or is it totally hot when Adrianne (yes, we are on a first name basis) talks about how hot she is in digital? – Mark Wilson

Thanks Lee!

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Godzilla showed up at my parents’ house in Tokyo today. But he wasn’t here to destroy buildings or scare innocent citizens like me. He just wanted to show off his mad can-opening skillz. Now, every time I tilt him, beer spews out his mouth and he lets out a mighty roar. Sexy.
–Lisa Katayama

Spotted in Shibuya: Godzilla Drink Dispenser [TokyoMango]

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Fatboy Slim’s New Year’s Day party sees 20,000 people gather on Brighton seafront.

Brain scans have given US scientists a clue about how we create a mental image of our future.

DJ Fatboy Slim pays tribute to the 20,000 fans who partied on Brighton seafront in torrential rain.

Millions of computers built for the One Laptop Per Child project could reach users by July this year.

Action film star Jackie Chan sets up a new film company in China with plans to produce 10 films.

Britney Spears’ manager plays down reports she had to be carried from a nightclub’s New Year event.