ROBOTICS News, Jan 10, 2012

ROBOTICS AVRTHS Robotics Team starts 2012 season Community Advocate Wyatt Doyle, Clinton, holds a foam basketball from the FIRST competition as he watches a video outlining this year's challenge. photo/Submitted Marlborough – Dozens of students and mentors crowded into the Assabet Valley Regional Technical High ... See all stories on this topic » Community Advocate

Coroware Announces CoroBot Upgrades and Options Sacramento Bee Headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, CoroWare is a solutions integrator with expertise in open mobile robotics platforms, business class HD video conferencing, and business intelligence. For more information on CoroWare's products and services,... See all stories on this topic »

Dean Kamen Unveils New Robotics Game at 2012 FIRST RoboticsCompetition AZoRobotics By Andy Choi Dean Kamen, founder of For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), was joined by former Presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and other celebrities through video to begin the 21st FIRST Robotics Competition ... See all stories on this topic » AZoRobotics

Soon, you'll be able to use the Sphero robotic ball as a game controller [Video] The Next Web (blog) There is really little we like more than robotics and mobile phones working together in harmony. That's why the Sphero robotic ball from Orbotix is such a fascinating device for us. The device is a smooth white ball that takes commands wirelessly from ... See all stories on this topic »

Did Chris Christie make a crude, sexist joke? Salon From Skype to robotics, our basest instincts have given us our greatest innovations. An expert explains why By Thomas Rogers Our lives today are more defined by technology than ever before. Thanks to Skype and Google, we can video chat with our family ... See all stories on this topic »

HEXBUG(R) Creator Partners with Global Kids Hit Moshi Monsters(TM) to Launch ... MarketWatch (press release) Based on the hugely popular and collectible Moshling characters of Monstro City, the cute and cuddly bobble-head mini robotic pets and customizable playsets leverage the patented HEXBUG Nano vibration technology. The range will see Moshi Monsters ... See all stories on this topic »

SNHU Launches an Online MBA in Internet Marketing PR Web (press release) Southern New Hampshire University's online Robotics degree gives students firsthand experience in artificial intelligence applications. The online, social and mobile channels have changed the landscape for marketers. Gone are the days where online ... See all stories on this topic » PR Web (press release)

TI's OMAP platform transforms ordinary houses into smart, interactive homes MarketWatch (press release) ... empowering some of the hottest smartphones and tablets, TI today demonstrates its OMAP smart multicore processor capabilities in four smart home categories: big-screen displays, family video chat, handy household applications, and in-home robotics. ... See all stories on this topic »

Changes on tap at Burchell High School Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman Another group huddles around a computer, puzzling out programming glitches for making a servo motor raise a robotic arm. Yet another pod of teenagers is clustered at the interactive whiteboard watching an instructional video. ... See all stories on this topic »

The story of the Apollo 11 moon landing, as told through data (video) Boing Boing The project comes from the MIT Laboratory for Automation, Robotics, and Society, and was directed by David Mindell. Via Maria Popova. As noted on Flowing Data, my only disappointment is that they didn't get to the "One small step for [a] man" part! ... See all stories on this topic »

AT&T Unveils 4G Windows Phones, New Android Devices Wired News AppCenter is available for Android devices as a beta starting today, and other platforms — possibly including iOS — will follow later this year. Christina is a Wired.com staff writer covering Apple, robotics, and everything in between. ... See all stories on this topic » Wired News

App-Controlled RC Toys Make You Feel Like Ethan Hunt Wired (blog) ... the car can record video with sound. The Wi-Spi Helicopter will run you $120 while the Wi-Spi Intruder race car will cost $100. Both models debut fall 2012. Christina is a Wired.com staff writer covering Apple, robotics, and everything in between. ... See all stories on this topic »

RemoteReality Scores $1M, New Digs Connecticut Business News Journal The cameras and video systems are used by crews in combat vehicles, Navy surface warships and submarines, and robotics operators. The devices can cover a 360-degree scene with no moving parts. The company holds five patents, as well as one patent ... See all stories on this topic »

Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design Bellingham Herald By scrutinizing slow-motion video of a redheaded African lizard, the Berkeley team saw how the creature gyrated its tail to right itself after stumbling off a slippery surface. Despite the faltering start, it nailed a four-footed landing on a wall. ... See all stories on this topic »

Ben Heck transforms Apple iPhone into the ultimate hand-held gaming device in ... Your-Story.org (press release) TV, Geoff Keighley on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 2:15 pm PST. Directly following the interview, Ben will go up against “Men's Health” contributor Matt Bean in a live debate on the benefits of robotics. Check out the live stream. See all stories on this topic »

Video Friday: Giant Robotic Eggs Dance a Tango - IEEE Spectrum IEEE Spectrum's robotics blog, featuring news, articles, and videos on robots, humanoids, automation, mechatronics, artificial intelligence, robot kits, and more. ... spectrum.ieee.org/.../video-friday-giant-robotic-eggs-dance-a-t...

Meet Tailbot: A Robotics Breakthrough Inspired by Dinosaurs [VIDEO] Could the future of robotics actually lie somewhere in the ancient age of ... graduate student in mechanical engineering, told the campus news center. ... mashable.com/2012/01/05/berkeley-dinosaur-lizard-robots/

Taylor Veltrop's Robot Avatar Project Complete - ROS robotics news A year ago I released my first video of Kinect robotics when I loosely controlled a KHR (mini humanoid). Now I have "completed" the robot avatar project. ... www.ros.org/.../taylor-veltrops-robot-avatar-project-complete...

Teens Build Robots | WEEK News 25 - News, Sports, Weather ... PEORIA, Ill. -- Some future engineers gathered at Bradley University on Saturday and received their assignment to build a robot. But they got no instructions and ... www.centralillinoisnewscenter.com/.../Teens-Build-Robots-13...

Close encounters: When Daniel123 met Jane234 (w/ video) – Robot ... Close encounters: When Daniel123 met Jane234 (w/ video). Jan04 2012 Written by PHYSorg.com: Robotics News. (PhysOrg.com) -- Qbo robots created a stir ... www.robotplatform.com/.../close-encounters-when-daniel123-...

NASA Helps Kick Off 2012 First Robotics Competition - Yahoo! News For more information about the FIRST Robotics Competition and a listing of competing teams, visit: http://www.usfirst.org. For NASA TV streaming video and ... news.yahoo.com/nasa-helps-kick-off-2012-first-robotics-com...

Seeing The World As Your Robot Sees It (Video) | Robots Dreams While other robot researchers have demonstrated interesting ... The Robots Dreamsvideo channel on YouTube includes new robot product news, exclusive ... www.robots-dreams.com/.../seeing-the-world-as-your-robot-se...

Human Gets Immersed In Remote Robot's Actions : Discovery News These kinds of robots could represent us in faraway places, letting us interact ... “ You just sit in the chair and see the video,” he said. ... Discovery News Video ... news.discovery.com/.../telepresence-robot-navigoid-111228.ht...

Beekays Tech News: Confucius Comes to Life as Robotic Art ... Confucius Comes to Life as Robotic Art Installation [VIDEO]. The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius has returned. Artist Zhang Huan opened a new art ... www.beekays.com/.../confucius_comes_to_life_as_robotic_art...

The Times Herald - Local students compete in Robotics Tournament National News Video ... National Sports Video ... Robotics tournaments challenge students to take the robots they've been constructing all year an

  

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IRELAND, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece News, Jan 10, 2012

Agency predicts January downgrades for Europe CBS News Italy has a debt burden of around 1.9 trillion euros ($2.4 trillion), way more than the backstop the eurozone has so far provided and more than the debt levels of Greece,Ireland and Portugal. Those three countries eventually had to be bailed out by ... See all stories on this topic »

FINANCIAL News, Money, Banks, Economic and Financial Crisis, Jan 10, 2012

The Economic and Financial Legerdemain of the Obama & Bush Administrations OpEdNews This means that it's already taken a tremendous amount of new money to keep ourfinancial system from collapsing. Yet despite this huge sum being pumped into thebanking system, once again the banks are still regarded as weak and troubled. ... See all stories on this topic »

G20's FSB targets insurers, domestic banks Reuters The FSB is the regulatory task force of the world's group of top 20 economies (G20) and is charged with implementing pledges to reform banks and markets after thefinancial crisis. It has already completed work on new capital and liquidity rules from... See all stories on this topic »

Fed Returns $77 Billion in Profits to Treasury New York Times Through those purchases, the central bank has become the largest single holder of federal debt, and of securities issued by the government-owned mortgage financecompanies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As a consequence, most of the moneyflowing into the ... See all stories on this topic »

Carmen Reinhart and financial repression The Economist (blog) In Britain, the inflation target has been repeatedly missed while rates have been held at 0.5% because the Bank of England has decided (probably correctly) that the economy and financial system are too fragile to withstand higher rates. ... See all stories on this topic »

Hungary's IMF negotiator to start talks Sky News Australia Hungary avoided bankruptcy in 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis thanks to a E20 billion ($A25.03 billion) bailout from the European Union, the IMF and the World Bank. After Orban came to power in May 2010 he quickly turned his back on ... See all stories on this topic »

Turkish experts say euro crisis likely to deepen, spread in 2012 Today's Zaman The coming months will be decisive in determining whether European leaders can hold their increasingly fragile currency bloc together, or stumble in the face of a daunting set of political, economic and financial obstacles lined up in their path at the ... See all stories on this topic »

Agency predicts January downgrades for Europe CBS News France's rating faces stress from the exposure of its banks to the European debt crisisand its position as a major contributor to Europe's bailout fund, the European FinancialStability Facility, Riley said. He noted that the country has to constantly ... See all stories on this topic »

Analysts: ECB likely to hold rates steady The Associated Press That means buying financial assets across the eurozone as a way of pushing newly created money into the economy and promoting growth. It is an additional tool that central banks can use when interest rates are about as low as they can go. ... See all stories on this topic »

RBS Pay and Bonuses, Newedge USA Fined, Hildebrand Quits, PLDT: Compliance Bloomberg Criticism of the profession came to the fore after the 2010 release of “Inside Job,” an Academy Award-winning documentary about the financial crisis that features economists being interviewed about their links to the financial industry. ... See all stories on this topic »

Gambia: Fused in Finance AllAfrica.com Few people know this, but there's a process through which banks and trading houses are leveraging your money to increase their profits - just like they did in the run-up to the last financial crisis. Only this time, things may be worse, as hard as that ... See all stories on this topic »

Debt crisis: as it happened, January 9, 2011 Telegraph.co.uk The live blog will be back tomorrow and in the meantime you can read the latest business and economic news on our main finance page. 21.31 US markets have closed. The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 0.27pc at 12392.69, while the broader S&P ... See all stories on this topic » Telegraph.co.uk

QNB Last Credible Buyer for Denizbank as Bank Sales Founder BusinessWeek The agency has given the region's lenders until June 30 to increase core Tier 1 capital, a measure of banks' financial resilience, to 9 percent as a buffer against the sovereign-debt crisis. The EBA set a Jan. 20 deadline for banks to submit ... See all stories on this topic »

CBI-PwC report: Banks could squeeze more out of spreads between mortgages and ... This is Money Today's report found UK banks and insurers enjoyed their strongest quarter since before the financial crisis — but thousands of job cuts loom. Fees and commissions for the financial services industry grew for a seventh quarter in a row and at the ... See all stories on this topic » This is Money

Australia's biggest economic threat is China MarketWatch WSJ 'Money & Investing' editor Francesco Guerrera joins Mean Street to discuss. Photo: AP. The global financial crisis also boosted investment in commodities. As traditional investments fared poorly (stocks, interest rates and property prices all fell) ... See all stories on this topic »

Europe Crisis Wipes Out Covered Bond Savings: Australia Credit BusinessWeek “While access to wholesale funding markets in the 2012 financial year has commenced with better momentum, funding costs for new issuance remain very elevated,” Rick Moscati, ANZ's group treasurer, said by e-mail. The bank's covered bond sale provides ... See all stories on this topic »

Murky politics behind fall of Swiss banker BBC News He began his job just as the Swiss financial sector looked to be recovering from a major financial crisis. Over-exposure to sub-prime mortgages had brought Switzerland's biggest bank, UBS, to the brink of ruin; it was only rescued by a government ... See all stories on this topic » BBC News

Hungary: The newest problem for the eurozone MindfulMoney The original talks with the IMF and EU broke down in December over concerns on new laws that hurt the independence of Hungary's central bank and Fitch commented on the Hungarian government's 'unorthadox' economic policies. ... See all stories on this topic »

UniCredit's Weak Share Offering a Poor Omen in Europe New York Times It is a bad omen for struggling European banks. At the behest of regulators, the region's financial institutions must raise a combined $145 billion by June. But banks may have a tough time convincing investors to plow more money into the beleaguered ... See all stories on this topic » New York Times

Quit Fooling Around And End The 'Great Recession' Seeking Alpha And many hundreds of billions of “stimulus” and "rescue" dollars have been authorized for the relief of a few banks and financial industry giants represented by a handful of powerful lobbyists and cronies. It all started when the housing market crashed ... See all stories on this topic »

How China and India are developing their financial markets San Francisco Luxury News AFP / PAL PILLAI global economy, China is still very far indeed from Western countries in the financial system. Similarly for India, which seeks to make grow flows of new money in s to foreign investors. “delay” due to a choice quite similar for the ... See all stories on this topic »

Promises that proved ultimately empty Financial Times Nor will it address the need to restructure, which is being driven by a basic economic force – the financial pressure that banks now face. Institutions such as UBS and Citigroup are struggling to recover from their losses during the crisis and the ... See all stories on this topic » Financial Times

China promises to boost business without creating a bubble USA TODAY The weekend conference, held to make plans for financial industries for the next five years, ended with no major reform initiatives announced. Analysts say China's state-owned banking industry, which lends mostly to government companies, has to be more ... See all stories on this topic » USA TODAY

Financial Repression Resource Investor Instead, our systemic and economic problems are leading to yet more deterioration in government finances. No amount of financial repression can fix that. Alasdair Macleod runs FinanceAndEconomics.org, a website dedicated to sound money and demystifying ... See all stories on this topic »

Cabinet approves 4 financial decrees Bangkok Post 1) An executive decree to transfer 1.14 trillion baht in debt from the 1997crisis to the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF), an institution set up under the Bank of Thailand to manage the bank crises. 2) An executive decree to seek loans ... See all stories on this topic » Bangkok Post

Troika begin two-strand mission to Dublin RTE.ie Officials from the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission have begun the fifth review of the loan programme to Ireland. The development comes as scrutiny of the euro zone crisis will intensify over the coming days with a series of key bond ... See all stories on this topic »

Capitalism in Crisis: The Code That Forms a Bar to Harmony truthout Efforts to re-regulate the banking system, meantime, have failed to convince many experts that an even larger financial crisis can be avoided. If Hyman Minsky, the expert on financial market fragility, provided the best route map for understanding ... See all stories on this topic »

Where's the Money? Asset Allocation a Pension Challenge for 2012 MarketWatch (press release) With pension reform in the air, funding relief in 2012 may be easier sought in the legislatures than in financial returns. Towers Watson's 31st Annual Canadian Survey ofEconomic Expectations provides forecasts from leading business economists, ... See all stories on this topic »

US Stocks Advance to Five-Month High Amid China Easing Bets BusinessWeek All 10 groups in the S&P 500 advanced as commodity, financial and industrial shares had the biggest gains. Bank of America Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. added at least 2.5 percent. The Dow Jones Transportation Average jumped 1.3 percent. ... See all stories on this topic »

Money Trail Triggered Real Estate Collapse Housing Predictor Despite the moribund economy, financial industries are enjoying relatively little new regulation and they are pouring money into election campaigns. Follow the money trail and you find Wall Street is wooing candidates and bankrolling their campaigns, ... See all stories on this topic »

Europe's Crisis Is Germany's Blessing Spiegel Online Even the German Finance Agency was stunned. "This has never happened before," a spokesperson said. The Finance Ministry should be pleased. In the last four years, they've had to shell out around 1.8 percent in interest for such bonds. ... See all stories on this topic » Spiegel Online

Ex-Bank of America Deal Maker Sets Up in Indonesia Wall Street Journal (blog) But the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s has also left a residue of unsavory views of foreign investors. “After 1998, any investment vehicle in Indonesia must overcome a stigma of hot money,” said Mr. Holm, who has also previously worked at ... See all stories on this topic »

Analysis: Window may be opening for China to widen yuan band Reuters Beijing's sensitivity to external conditions was clear in mid-2008 when it effectively re-tied the yuan to the dollar as the global financial crisis menaced China's economy. But as once rampant speculation about a move to widen the yuan's trading band ... See all stories on this topic »

How Banks' Reluctance To Make Small-Business Loans Is a Major Driver of ... Slate Magazine In particular, they find that during the recession, workers were more likely to lose their jobs if they worked in a sector characterized by a high level of external finance. For a recession associated with a banking crisis, that's not so surprising. ... See all stories on this topic » Slate Magazine

Odds of a 600 to 1000-Point Surge in DJIA Improving Equities.com The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF): created by eurozone members to safeguard financial stability in Europe. Authority includes loans to countries in need, intervention in primary and secondary markets pursuant to ECB analysis, finance ... See all stories on this topic »

Visions for a healthier West Bank economy Gant Daily Economists and businessmen warn that the PA's dependency on aid and vulnerability to external shocks could lead the entire West Bank economy to collapse, provoking a humanitarian crisis. Among the most vulnerable are the owners of small businesses and ... See all stories on this topic »

Secondary Sources: Economic Confidence Up, Coin Demand, Insourcing Wall Street Journal (blog) “You can also find what looks like good news for the US economy in the Mint's report — demand for quarter, dimes, nickels, and pennies was up this year. During thefinancial crisis, demand had plunged. “People went into their piggy banks and their ... See all stories on this topic »

What's the Deal with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? And How Can It ... Learnvest Living (blog) In a blog post, the new director said, “Most of the nonbank financial companies had no regular federal oversight in the run up to the financial crisis. They led a race to the bottom that pushed aside responsible businesses, including community banks ... See all stories on this topic »

The ONLY Way to Make Serious Money in 2012 Jutia Group In 2009, long after the banking crisis had struck in full force, Wall Street finally decided it was time to dump financial stocks. But that's also when Weiss Ratings identified the few strong banks and insurance companies in the United States. ... See all stories on this topic » Jutia Group

Will the Iran Sanctions Spark an International Oil Crisis? The Atlantic On December 31, President Obama signed into law the toughest American sanctions yet against Tehran, which aim to cut off the country's petroleum revenue by penalizing financial institutions that do business with the country's central bank. ... See all stories on this topic » The Atlantic

People Want More Coins, That's A Good Sign For The Economy NPR (blog) You can also find what looks like good news for the US economy in the Mint's report — demand for quarter, dimes, nickels, and pennies was up this year. During thefinancial crisis, demand had plunged. "People went into their piggy banks and theircoin ... See all stories on this topic »

So how much is more than ever? Palm Beach Daily News (blog) According to a September study by The Clearing House Association, our financialinstitutions have come out of the global financial crisis with over $1.5 trillion in capital—- the highest capital level in history. But it's bad news, too. ... See all stories on this topic »

Huntsman: 'I Will Break Up The Big Banks' ThinkProgress By Pat Garofalo on Jan 9, 2012 at 4:30 pm Across the board, the GOP's 2012 presidential candidates have denounced the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, enacted to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. However, none of them has come up with a ... See all stories on this topic »

The Trading Deck MarketWatch (blog) Just as the economy shows echoes of the financial crisis while income inequality grows, Chicago has echoes of financial crises of the past still visible in the old Continental Illinois Bank headquarters alongside the glitz and glamor of the Gold Coast... See all stories on this topic »

Fed reports payment of $76.9 billion to government Sacramento Bee The Fed began buying Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities during the recession and 2008 financial crisis to try to lower long-term interest rates. Fed officials say such unconventional efforts are necessary until economic growth becomes ... See all stories on this topic »

Turkey - Factors to Watch on Jan 10 Reuters GLOBAL MARKETS Asian shares and the euro rose on Tuesday, but concerns over funding of euro zone sovereigns ahead of key auctions this week and of the debt crisisspilling into the wider financial system kept investors cautious about taking riskier ... See all stories on this topic »

  

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