Sure, watching the most impressive athletes in the world sprint a 500M is probably the most entertaining thing you’ve see in a long while, save for these racing robots from the the annual Robot Athletic Meet in Tokyo’s Akihabara district.

Check out the robot on the left. He’s playing for keeps. It might appear as if it’s falling over due to his unstable infrastructure but, in actuality, it is ready to bulldoze Mr. Goody-two-shoes over on the right. And don’t think he won’t be able to topple him over, either. He’s got those bitchin’ tonfas on his robot arms. Could he be a ninja robot? Inconceivable.

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Editor’s Note: The one on the right looks like Ryan.

After that questionable business China pulled by blocking access to iTunes (due to a pro-Tibet album), their Great Firewall engineers discovered that they’re able to selectively block specific albums from users. That’s right, iTunes is now available in China…again.

COMING THIS SUMMER…

CHINA: PART 2

Say bye-bye to pro-Tibet albums and anything not communist and say hello to a strong friendship with Apple. Does China do this just for publicity or are they really just Mao Zedong worshiping commie nut jobs?

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China hates Tibet. No, China really hates Tibet. That’s why when some 40 Olympic athletes downloaded a pro-Tibet album three days before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, China got pissed off and blocked iTunes behind it’s great firewall. Was it because the album featured 20 songs from artists including Sting, Moby, Damien Rice and Alanis Morissette? Well, sort of. The US-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) pretty much advertised it’s free album, Songs for Tibet, to all the athletes at the Olympics.  They also encouraged people to listen to them during the games and, while they meant well, China took an aggressive notice.

“Certainly, we did intend the downloads to be a subtle form of protest for the athletes, as well as an act of solidarity for the Tibetan people.”

And that is why China no longer likes you. Apple will be lucky if China gives it the opportunity to open up more shops in their country after this deceitful act.  Personally, I think China needs to get the sand out of their vagina. Then again, this China-Tibet feud has been going on for so long, it’s way over my head.

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If you’ve been keeping track of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, then you’ve certainly noticed the amazing camera work detailing every event clearly and at every angle. That is to say if you haven’t been too distracted watching Michael Phelps tear everyone a new asshole. I bet you’re wondering how they cover events such as synchronized diving so thoroughly? The answer is quite simple:

The camera technicians simply drop the camera at the same time the diver begins to fall. If you remember from your high school physics class: all objects fall at the same speed, the speed of gravity. The DiveCam is no exception. This is the camera which follows the diver from the top of the platform all the way into the water without the use of complex pneumatics or motorized tracks, but rather the natural forces of gravity. Newton would be proud.

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Going to Beijing for the upcoming Olympic games? Well, if you weren’t aware, China is not a democracy. Their nation-wide firewall leaves access to certain websites blocked, dulling your internet experience. No worries, thanks to Germany’s Chaos Computer Club’s USB dongle dubbed The Freedom Stick. For just $30, this device is preloaded with software which will secure your connection, routing traffic around the world through anonymous computers. The commies will never know what hit ‘em.

The stick will only be available during the games, which hopefully won’t piss the Chinese government off too much.  It’s not made of LEGOs and it’s not a Bluetooth adapter, but it’ll be more productive at a fraction of the price.  Be warned: if you find yourself in a Chinese prison for messing with their networks, the Chaos Computer Club will not bail you out and neither will your own government.

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A publicity stunt celebrating the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing leaves 2008 needles in Dr. Wei Sheng’s head as well as a few hundred in his shoulder (just for kicks).  When you’re already in the Guinness Book of World Records for sticking needles into your head, there is little you can do besides stick more needles in your head to attempt to break your own record. Dr. Wei Sheng, however, has decided to wear lipstick. What a fag.
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