Published: Jan 24, 2012
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Even as Google tests its small fleet of self-driving vehicles on California highways, legal scholars and government officials are warning that society has only begun wrestling with the changes that would be required in a system created a century ago to meet the challenge of horseless carriages. What happens if a police
Read original article Topics: Consumer-Robots
Published: Jan 13, 2012
NEW YORK -- The Internet is, of course, old hat. We are all getting used to social media, too -- your grandmother probably has a Facebook account, and every C.E.O. worth his salt, along with all the world's would-be revolutionaries, is on Twitter. Mobile, once the new thing, is now taken for granted as part of the world's hardware. In 2010, more
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Published: Nov 25, 2011
Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign-language films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases: nytimes.com/movies. 'Anonymous' (PG-13, 2:10) Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare's plays? Did Roland Emmerich direct this film? The answer to the second question is not in dispute, though the movie pretends that
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Published: Aug 30, 2011
AFTER PROSTATE CANCER A What-Comes-Next Guide to a Safe and Informed Recovery. By Arnold Melman, M.D., and Rosemary E. Newnham. Oxford University Press. 256 pages. $19.95. DOCTOR, YOUR PATIENT WILL SEE YOU NOW Gaining the Upper Hand in Your Medical Care. By Steven Z. Kussin, M.D. Rowman & Littlefield. 314 pages. $34.95. There is no shortage of
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Published: Aug 28, 2011
You can drive almost anywhere in the state of Michigan -- pick a point at random and start moving -- and you will soon come upon the wreckage of American industry. If you happen to be driving on the outer edge of Midland, you'll also come upon a cavern of steel beams and ductwork, 400,000 square feet in all. When this plant, which is being
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Published: Aug 15, 2011
Workers in China's export heartland of Guangdong make $200 a month assembling the consumer goods Americans hold so dear. In Jiangsu, they make $175. It seems that isn't cheap enough. Terry Gou, the founder and chairman of Foxconn, which employs one million workers in China making Apple iPads, H.P. computers and other electronic devices, announced
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Published: Jun 22, 2011
LOS ANGELES -- Michael Bay, the king of the summer movie spectacle, is not afraid of getting in the audience's face. But on the eve of the release of his ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon,'' he is on a charm offensive with reporters, bloggers and even theater owners. Specifically, Mr. Bay, the director, and Paramount Pictures, which will release
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Published: Jun 16, 2011
In describing itself, the iRobot Corporation says it ''designs and builds robots that make a difference in people's lives.'' And that is true -- in more ways than one. The company's consumer products, which include the Roomba vacuum cleaner robot and the Scooba robotic mop, certainly make a difference by taking care of household chores. But iRobot
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Published: May 16, 2011
BOULDER, Colo. -- A father of five and a professed geek, Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired magazine, is always looking for child-friendly activities that could, he hopes, inculcate his children with techie sensibilities. So one weekend in 2007, Mr. Anderson brought home a model radio-controlled airplane and a Lego Mindstorms robotics kit.
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Published: Mar 13, 2011
A. O. SCOTT The movie world now finds itself in limbo between the Academy Awards and the summer movie season, which starts on the first Friday in May. These are the months of an annual mood swing from euphoria (or at least mild satisfaction) to despair (or at least mild dyspepsia). The Oscar broadcast may have been dreary and barren of surprise,
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