...

 RC>>> Ask him about his furrbie.

 RS>> Furby.

 RS>> And I took it apart, then put it back together, and it works.

 RC> and how many grown men would have actually bothered with
 RC> the typo, much less take one apart and put it back together
 RC> again and admit it?

 Probably quite a few.

 I didn't even remember what a Furby is, so I googled it. It's a
 ROBOT. Yes, it's a toy, but it's the cheapest intro to robotics
 I can see. It's the sort of thing people interested in robotics
 but short on cash could use for a nice start.

 Oh, and from reading further, an intro to elementary AI.

 **************************************************************************

  Furby


      From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 ...

 A *Furby* (plural *Furbys* or *Furbies*, according to Tiger.
 Co.) is an electronic toy, more specifically, a robot
 , made by Tiger Electronics
  which went through a period of being a
 "must-have" toy following its launch in the holiday season ...
 sold over 40 million units, and its speaking capabilities were
 translated into 24 languages. Furbys were the first successful
 attempt to produce and sell a domestically-aimed robot
 . A ... as they learn more English. The
 more English they learn, the more they "grow", thus placing them
 under the autonomous robot  category. In
 2005, new Furbys  were released,
 with voice-recognition and more complex facial movements, among

 ...

 has given birth to a number of Furby-oriented special interest
 groups. These communities seek to integrate aspects of the Furby
 ... The original Furbys were 6 inches (15 cm) tall. The main
 reason for their popularity was because of apparent
 "intelligence", reflected in their ability to develop language
 skills.

 Furbys can communicate with one another via an infrared
  port located between their eyes. ...

 A simple electric motor and a system of cams and gears close
 the Furby's eyes and mouth, raise its ears, and lift it off the
 ground in a /faux/ display of mobility.

 The originals are still popular with many hackers
  as they can be dissected and made to
 do interesting things. In particular, their advanced audio
 capabilities and various sensory interfaces make them popular
 with the circuit bending community.

 **************************************************************************

 RC> Too Much!!!

 Yeah, and if you try to pretend the fact that's from Wikipedia
 is somehow less meaningful I'll point out how anal it is to
 bother worrying about that.

 Actually, the focus on Ross' Furby is pretty anal to begin with.
 IOW, Get over it.

BOB KLAHN bob.klahn{at}sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

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