Asides

1983 Mobile Multi-Function Computerized Robot

Aside Markozen.com History, Technology

Hubot by Hubotics, Carlsbad, Ca. 1983

Hubot is 44-inch tall, 110 pound battery- operated personal robot and when programmed, Hubot will remember how to get around the house without bumping into walls. Hubot includes a complete mobile work station, an Entertainment package and robotic functions. The entertainment package included a voice synthesizer with a 1200-word vocabulary, a 12″ black and white television, and AM/FM stereo cassette player, an Atari 2600 video game set and a digital clock that displayed time and temperature. Inside is a complete proprietary SysCon computer with B&W monitor, Detachable keyboard and optional printer which is used to do computing task and control the robotic functions. There was an optional voice command module that included a microphone to command Hubot verbally. Hubot could be preprogrammed to follow a programmed path or driven with a joystick. Once taught a path, Hubot could be command to follow it again with the touch of a button.

Features:
full-featured computer “brain” with CP/M 2.212-inch combination TV/monitor64-key detachable ASCII keyboard5¼” DS/DD floppy disk drivesonic and infrared obstacle avoidancebuilt-in Atari video game systembuilt-in AM/FM stereo w/ cassette, equalizer and speakersphonetic voice synthesizer for unlimited vocabularyfull-direction movement		Options:
removable serving tray40 column dot matrix printer ($300)additional 5¼” floppy disk drive ($395)plastic “home base” (similar to Omnibot 2000) for programming referencevoice recognition for vocal command controlfully articulated arm ($700)heat/smoke/intrusion sentry package (< $300)automatic battery recharge with charger locatorvacuum cleaner attachment ($300)remote control300 baud modem

Killer Condom “Ouch!”

Aside Markozen.com Crime, Movies, Sex

Killer Condom (German: Kondom des Grauens, lit. ’Condom of Horror’) is a 1996 action comedy horror film directed by Martin Walz [de] from a screenplay he co-wrote with Ralf König, based on the comic books Kondom des Grauens and Bis auf die Knochen (Down to the Bones) by König.

It was distributed in the United States by Troma Entertainment, which promoted the film at the Cannes Film Festival with the help of “a six-foot-long fanged condom”.

In the seedy parts of New York City, gay NYPD detective Luigi Mackeroni is investigating a series of bizarre attacks at the Hotel Quickie in which male guests have all had their penises mysteriously bitten off. While at the hotel, he enlists the services of a gigolo named Billy and invites him up to the crime scene. When the two men are about to engage in sex, a carnivorous living condom interrupts them and bites off Mackeroni’s right testicle.

Now on a personal vendetta, Mackeroni begins his lone quest to not only bring a stop to the rash of condom attacks, but also to face his true feelings toward Billy the gigolo.

Polar Bear goes for a big swim, a very big swim!  

Aside Markozen.com Animals

A polar bear swam continuously for over nine days, covering 687km (426 miles), a new study has revealed.

Scientists studying bears around the Beaufort sea, north of Alaska, claim this endurance feat could be a result of climate change.

Polar bears are known to swim between land and sea ice floes to hunt seals.

But the researchers say that increased sea ice melts push polar bears to swim greater distances, risking their own health and future generations.

In their findings, published in Polar Biology, researchers from the US Geological Survey reveal the first evidence of long distance swimming by polar bears (Ursus maritimus).

“This bear swam continuously for 232 hours and 687 km and through waters that were 2-6 degrees C,” says research zoologist George M. Durner.

“We are in awe that an animal that spends most of its time on the surface of sea ice could swim constantly for so long in water so cold. It is truly an amazing feat.”

Although bears have been observed in open water in the past, this is the first time one’s entire journey has been followed.

By fitting a GPS collar to a female bear, researchers were able to accurately plot its movements for two months as it sought out hunting grounds.

The polar bear is the largest terrestrial carnivore, being more than twice as big as the Siberian Tiger.  It shares the title of largest land predator (and largest bear species) with the Kodiak bear.  Adult males weigh 350–680 kg (770–1500 lbs) and measure 2.4–3 m (7.9–9.8 ft) in length.   Adult females are roughly half the size of males and normally weigh 150–249 kg (330–550 lb), measuring 1.8–2.4 metres (5.9–7.9 ft) in length. When pregnant, however, they can weigh as much as 499 kg (1,100 lb).

Polar Bear swimming underwater at San Diego Zoo.

As of 2018, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) reports that the global population of polar bears is 15,000 to 20,000, and is declining.  In 2006, the IUCN upgraded the polar bear from a species of least concern to a vulnerable species.  It cited a “suspected population reduction of >30% within three generations (45 years)”, due primarily to global warming. Other risks to the polar bear include pollution in the form of toxic contaminants, conflicts with shipping, stresses from recreational polar-bear watching, and oil and gas exploration and development.  The IUCN also cited a “potential risk of over-harvest” through legal and illegal hunting.

Ouija Board Lesson Spells Trouble for Michigan Elementary School Teacher

Aside Markozen.com Offbeat, Paranormal

A substitute teacher at a Michigan elementary school has been fired after she gave a lesson on the Ouija Board to her class of second graders. The eyebrow-raising incident reportedly occurred last week at Freeman Elementary in the city of Flint. For reasons unexplained, the unnamed teacher showed the youngsters a video on the infamous divination device and promised to bring one of the ‘talking boards’ to class the following day. As one might imagine, the misguided discussion of the proverbial dark arts did not sit well with parents when they learned about the lesson.

Billie Deville Mitchell, the mother of one of the students, told a local TV station that the video was particularly traumatizing for her daughter. “She has not been able to sleep at night,” the mom lamented, “it is the same for me knowing that she is still having reactions to whatever she learned in the classroom.” After Mitchell and other parents took their concerns to the school district, administrators issued a swift response wherein they apologized for the unfortunate incident that, they stressed, was not a part of the official curriculum.

As for the teacher at the center of the strange scandal, she was subsequently dismissed by the company responsible for providing substitute staffing to the school district. Oddly enough, the incident in Flint is not the first time that a Ouija Board has spelled trouble at an elementary school. In March of 2017, a Milwaukee teacher was placed on administrative leave after she used the divination device with her class of kindergartners.

Top 5 World’s Biggest Mining Excavators

Aside Markozen.com Engineering

1 – Caterpillar 6090 FS Excavator

caterpillar-6090-FS

At an operating weight of an astounding 1,000 tonnes, the 6090 FS is the world’s largest excavator. With twin Cummins QSK60 engines, it boasts and total engine rating of 3360 kW / 4500 HP. When Caterpillar expanded their mining capabilities with a purchase of Bucyrus in 2011, they based the 6090 FS on the Bucyrus RH400, which was originally launched in 1997. It can fill the largest Caterpillar dump truck (the 797) in only four passes based on its 52 m3 bucket with 93.6 tonne payload.

2 – Bucyrus RH 400 Excavator

bucyrus-RH-400

Originally launched as the Terex RH 400 and rebranded when Bucyrus purchased the Terex mining division in 2010, this model has an operating weight of 980 tonnes. With identical engine capacity to the Caterpillar 6090 RS, it requires six car batteries to simply start the engines. It has previously set the hydraulic mining excavator world record for the ability to move up to 9,900 tonnes of material in a single hour. It previously held the title of world’s largest excavator, prior to the release of the Cat 6090 FS.

3 – Hitachi EX8000-6 Excavator

hitachi-EX8000-6

The largest excavator in the Hitachi fleet, the EX8000-6 offers the versatility of being fitted with either a 43.3 m3 backhoe bucket or a 40 m3 loading shovel. Boasting an operating weight up to 837 tonnes, it can fill the largest Hitachi dump truck (EH4000AC-3) in just five passes. The twin Cummins engines give a combined capacity of 2900 kW / 3888 HP. For perspective Hitachi’s flagship mining excavator the EX1200-6, has an engine capacity one sixth the size of this!

4 – Liebherr R9800 Excavator

liebherr-R9800

With an operating weight up to 810 tonnes, the R9800 from Liebherr comes with the option of either MTU or Cummins diesel engines, or an electric drive version. The electric version is rated up to 2984 kW / 4000 HP. It’s 42 m3 shovel capacity or 47.5 m# backhoe capacity are designed to pair with the Liebherr T 264 or T 284 dump trucks for maximum efficiency.

5 – Komatsu PC8000-11 Excavator

komatsu-PC8000-11

Weighing up to 773 tonnes, this is the largest excavator in the Japanese manufacturers portfolio. Komatsu’s most frequently used model in the Australian/New Zealand market is the PC200-8 and it weighs over 36 times less than this behemoth. Its twin diesel engines give it a rating to 3000 kW / 4020 HP and it has shovel and backhoe capacity of 42 m3 (designed to integrate with trucks between 240 – 400 tonnes). 

Dirty Harry has a bigger gun  

Aside Markozen.com Weapons

Dirty Harry can now upgrade to a bigger handgun.  The .44 Magnum that Harry used was very powerful.  It could take down a punk rapist at 150 meters and if it hit the punk in the head, it would take it clean off.  Even if it winged a slimy street robber it would take out such a big chunk, that the robber punk would be neutralized.

But now there is a bigger cannon on the block.  The Model 500 from Smith & Wesson is the biggest, heaviest, most powerful factory-production double-action revolver in the world. It’s built on an entirely new and massive S&W frame size. It fires the new .500 S&W Magnum cartridge, which is the most powerful factory load ever developed specifically for handgun use. The gun and the cartridge are both impressive product accomplishments, beyond the industry norm, and both moved together from concept to reality in less than a year.

This gun is 34 percent more powerful than the .44 Magnum.  If Dirty Harry used this weapon he could take down a rogue elephant at 200 meters.  Or splatter bad boy punk street slime all over the side of a building at 250 meters.  This bazooka fires a 50 caliber cartridge.  The .500 Magnum would very definitely make Dirty Harry’s day.

 The .500 Magnum (top) compared to the .44 Magnum.

The Trojan Touch

Aside Markozen.com Sex, Toys

Watching late night TV a commercial came on that caught my attention.  A female battery operated masturbation vibrator.  Made for a female finger.  The Christian church leaders will love this!

Trojan Vibrating Touch Massager

If your clitoris is mad, if it’s tired of being ignored and treated poorly or if it’s not getting enough of the right kind of attention, help is here.

Trojan has answered many women’s prayers with the Trojan Vibratin Touch Massager. It’s a small yet powerful massager that provides thrilling sensations and vibrations right at your fingertips.

It comes with a storage pouch, a Trojan Her Pleasure condom, and two batteries since the Trojan Vibrating Touch can be reused. Get this ladies – it lasts up to 30 minutes! Now that’s $19.95 well spent!