German robot hand takes a licking, apparently keeps on ticking (video)

Sadists at the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics are showing off their latest development in anthropomorphic appendages: a robotic hand that can take a beating from a baseball bat and still give you the middle finger (or a thumbs-up, we suppose).

Researchers apparently designed the limb to function like only a human hand can, and it seems they’ve done a decent job: it’s got five independently functioning fingers, sports 19 degrees of freedom (one less than the real deal), and can even snap them phalanges — oh no they didn’t! It’s also got the ability to exert a force of 30 newtons from its fingertips.

Shogun Bros. Chameleon X-1 review: the mouse that’s a gamepad, too

Peanut butter and jelly. Gin and tonic. Peaches and cream. Some strange combinations make perfect sense paired, but how about the mouse and the PC gamepad?

Those two items are what a Hong Kong peripheral manufacturer decided to combine, and the result was the Shogun Bros. Chameleon X-1 — a gaming mouse you can flip to find twelve buttons and two miniature analog sticks on the bottom.

Larry Page taking over as Google CEO, Eric Schmidt will remain as Executive Chairman

Google’s Q4 financial results press release contains a bombshell: as of April 4, co-founder Larry Page (on the far right, above) will replace Eric Schmidt as CEO and assume responsibility for day-to-day operations and product development and strategy.

That doesn’t mean Schmidt is leaving — he’ll carry on as Executive Chairman and serve as an advisor to Page and co-founder Sergey Brin, focused on external things like “deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership.”

As for Sergey, he’ll now “devote his energy to strategic projects, in particular working on new products,” with the simple title of Co-Founder.

Schmidt’s clarified and explained the change in a blog post, saying that the idea is to make leading Google as efficient as possible, and that “Larry, in my clear opinion, is ready to lead.”

It’s clear the idea is to frame this as a simple organizational shuffle — Schmidt says that he, Brin, and Page “anticipate working together for a long time to come” — but there’s no question that Schmidt’s reign as CEO set a clear tone for Google as the company expanded beyond search and into new markets like smartphones, connected televisions, and operating systems, and we’re curious to see what Page’s style is like.

We’re also very curious to hear more about why the change was made — although Schmidt, Page, and Brin have worked together for over 10 years, there’s always been some tension between the co-founders and their CEO, particularly over user privacy. In any event, this is a momentous change both for Google and the industry — we’ll see what happens next.

Top 10 Gifts for the Guy who has Everything

With Christmas fast approaching, I present our second gift related list. Everyone has to buy for at least one guy who has everything so I have pored over the Amazon catalog to bring you a bunch of gifts that I think most men would enjoy.

I have tried to select items that are varied in price to cater for all budgets. Remember – you only have 5 more shopping days before Amazon won’t be able to deliver in time for Christmas.

10. Apple Airport Express $90.72