Sony's new AIBO robot pet is selling well. Over 40K people in Japan have paid US$1,334 for one. [SJM, 20Dec00. NewsScan.]

Business Week says the new AIBO looks more like a lion cub than a dog. Sony sold 45K of the original AIBO and is gearing up to make 60K/month of the new model. Future plans include various entertainment robots, including dragons. Sony will be courting VCs and outside suppliers to help build this into a PlayStation-sized market (currently earning $5B/year). [BW, 27Nov00, p. 170.]

Sony's new SDR-3X humanoid walking robot can be seen at . Read more about it at . [Desmyter Yves, RCFoC, 08Jan01.]

Mobility may be less of a problem in space. NASA has a Personal Satellite Assistant ball with video camera -- something like Luke Skywalker's "target droid" -- that can float around a space station to monitor operations or provide mobile videoconferencing. and . [John Breyer, RCFoC, 08Jan01.]

You can use a "robot constructor" to build and move a simulated robot at . It's a kids' game, with some built-in AI. [Jorge , comp.ai.genetic, 02Jan01.]

Applying robotics to state-of-the-art fortune telling, Jim Studt's Lego Mindstorms robot will shake a Mattel 8-ball for you and show you the results via WebCam. . [, RCFoC, 08Jan01.]

Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing is IFAC's international journal of manufacturing, and product and process development. . [A. Sharon , newjour, 23Aug00.]

----- "How we feel about the evolving future tells us who we are as individuals and as a civilization: Do we search for "stasis" -- a regulated, engineered world? Or do we embrace "dynamism" -- a world of constant creation, discovery, and competition? Do we value stability and control, or evolution and learning? Do we declare that 'we're scared of the future,' decrying technology as 'a killing thing'? Or do we see technology as an expression of human creativity and the future as inviting? Do we think that progress required a central blueprint, or do we see it as a decentralized, evolutionary process? Do we consider mistakes permanent disasters, or the correctable by-products of experimentation? Do we crave predictability, or relish surprise? These two poles, stasis and dynamism, increasingly define our political, intellectual, and cultural landscape." -- Virginia Postrel, "The Future and Its Enemies," . [NewsScan, 20Dec00.] -----