The device is supposed to be used as part of the Armed Forces' Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES), which uses lasers and blank cartridges to simulate actual battle-kind of like a superior version of laser tag.

The vest is covered in LEDs that broadcast appropriate MILES codes over a wide area, simulating how much destruction would happen if a similar vest went off in the real world. It also has sensors for places best to hit to disable the wearer without setting off the bomb. Good thing to know, especially as our world continues to move towards battling guerrilla tactics rather than "Rules of Engagement"-style warfare. [Firearmblog]

SCAMP stands for Specialized Compact Automated Mechanical-clearance Platform. True to its name, it's an automated rolling cage containing six pistons which apply pressure to the ground, which it touches using metal disc rollers that can withstand a limb-flinging blast from a landmine. The key is the pressure it applies to the ground—it's a 100-to-300-pound deep-tissue massage that gets a landmine all turned on.

From what I can tell from these images, the automated part comes from that steering tractor you can see behind the platform in the second shot. I suppose it's also possible to push it with a manned tractor, like in the first shot.

Core77 says that the inventor—Humanistic Robots founder Josh Koplin—developed the SCAMP after trips to wartorn stretches of Bosnia, Afghanistan, Cambodia and other countries. According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the advantage is that this sucker can clear an acre in a day, versus the 20 square feet a very brave person can manage on his or her own.

There are apparently up to 100 million landmines currently on the ground, in 85 countries. Even at an acre a day, that's a lot of work for a lot of SCAMPs. Good thing the DoD is already handing the company cash ($2 million just this past month), so that they can get something out there rolling around in explosives-laden ground by end of 2009. [Core77 and Philly.com, with more great pictures]

Simply put, increasingly sophisticated robots programmed to kill enemies living and animatronic will at some point be making their own decisions about who to shoot at, and when to shoot at them. New congressional requirements have demanded increased reliance on unmanned vehicles for both "deep-strike" air combat and ground combat, deployed at a fast clip over the next six years. Code is no longer written by one person who understands all facets of it, but by specialized teams who don't necessarily know all the components of the operating system. According to the Times UK article, the report discusses the following bone-chilling concerns:

How do we protect our robot armies against terrorist hackers or software malfunction? Who is to blame if a robot goes berserk in a crowd of civilians—the robot, its programmer or the US president? Should the robots have a "suicide switch" and should they be programmed to preserve their lives

Therefore, the ONR report is the first step by the military in investigating what the report's chief compiler Dr. Patrick Lin calls a "warrior code," essentially a combination of programmed rules and an AI learning period where robots are taught a form of "battlefield ethics."

If this doesn't sound new, it's because a) you read a lot of Asimov, b) you love Will Smith more than most Will Smith fans, or c) you caught the civilian discussion of this matter last year in Gizmodo. We'll understand if your answer is d) all of the above. [Times UK via Geekologie]

The MAARS bot can be equipped with a 40mm grenade launcher or a M240B medium machine gun as well as a laser dazzler, loudspeaker, or pepper spray when killin' ain't in the cards. As far as safety is concerned, on-board software controls allow the robot's driver to select fire and no-fire zones and a mechanical range fan keeps MAARS' insatiable thirst for blood in check when it comes to friendly fire. Whether it wil be given permission to quench that thirst on the enemy remains to be seen. [Danger Room]

Popular Mechanics originally reported that "SWORDS was yanked because it made people nervous" based partly on a conversation with Army spokesman Kevin Fahey. He was talking about instances where SWORDS robots had swung around without being commanded to do so: "the gun started moving when it was not intended to move," and that's potentially dangerous when it's operating and friendly soldiers are nearby.

But Cynthia Black, a spokesperson for the robot-makers Foster Miller, points out that there have only actually been three "uncommanded movement" incidents. One involving a loose wire, one a broken solder joint and one where a burnt-out motor caused a robot to slide backwards down a hill. Both the wiring fault and soldering error have been fixed, by double-soldering and redundant circuits, and there's nothing much anyone could do about the third problem. All three events were prior to its safety certification.

Sound a bit dubious, since it's their robot they're trying to defend? Well, even Kevin Fahey himself, in a email to Danger Room now says "SWORD is still deployed" and that the Army is going to expand the use of robots like it.

There's one more fact that squashes the "Terminator" label the robots have been given: they can't fire their weapon without direct orders. And it would take a heck of a sequence of malfunctions for it to point the wrong way and fire at our own guys all by itself. Thank goodness they didn't build AI into them, hey? [Danger Room]

Update: Popular Mechanics has a new article online that sets the record straight. Basically, as we report here, the robots are working well, are still deployed in Iraq, and pose no safety threat to their operators. And there are only three deployed in any case. Read it here.

He confirmed that no inappropriate shots were fired, so no one was hurt. But that doesn't mean there weren't any casualties—it might've basically killed the program says Fahey: "Once you've done something that's really bad, it can take 10 or 20 years to try it again." On the upside, it means we have another 10 to 20 years before they rise and go to war with us. [Pop Mechanics, Danger Room]

Yahoo!'s Board of Directors Responds to Latest Microsoft Letter

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Apr 07, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The Board of Directors of Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today sent the following letter to Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation.

Dear Steve:

Our Board has reviewed your most recent letter with regard to the unsolicited proposal you made to acquire Yahoo! on January 31, 2008.

Our Board carefully considered your unsolicited proposal, unanimously concluded that it was not in the best interests of Yahoo! and our stockholders, and rejected it publicly on February 11, 2008. Our Board cited Yahoo!'s global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as its substantial unconsolidated investments, as factors in its decision.

At the same time, we have continued to make clear that we are not opposed to a transaction with Microsoft if it is in the best interests of our stockholders. Our position is simply that any transaction must be at a value that fully reflects the value of Yahoo!, including any strategic benefits to Microsoft, and on terms that provide certainty to our stockholders.

Since disclosing our Board's position with respect to your proposal, we have presented our three-year financial and strategic plan to our stockholders, which supports our Board's determination that your unsolicited proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo!. Those meetings with our stockholders have also provided us an opportunity to hear their views.

We have continued to launch new products and to take actions which leverage our scale, technology, people and platforms as we execute on the strategy we publicly articulated. Today, in fact, we are announcing AMP! from Yahoo!, a new advertising management platform designed to dramatically simplify the process of buying and selling ads online.

Finally, our Board has been actively and expeditiously exploring our strategic alternatives to maximize stockholder value, a process which is ongoing. All of these actions have been driven by our overarching commitment to maximize stockholder value.

Our Board's view of your proposal has not changed. We continue to believe that your proposal is not in the best interests of Yahoo! and our stockholders. Contrary to statements in your letter, stockholders representing a significant portion of our outstanding shares have indicated to us that your proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo!. Furthermore, as a result of the decrease in your own stock price, the value of your proposal today is significantly lower than it was when you made your initial proposal.

In contrast to your assertions about the effect of general economic conditions on our business, Yahoo!'s business forecasts are consistent with what we outlined in our last earnings call. As you know, we recently reaffirmed our Q1 and full year guidance, which is a testament to our ability to perform in line with our expectations despite the current economic environment. In addition, our three-year financial and strategic plan which we have made public demonstrates significant potential upside not previously communicated to the financial markets. This plan has received positive feedback from our stockholders, further strengthening the view that Yahoo! is worth well more as a standalone company than the value offered in your proposal, and would be even more valuable to Microsoft. Your own statements have made clear the strategic importance of Yahoo!'s substantial assets and capabilities to Microsoft.

We regret to say that your letter mischaracterizes the nature of our discussions with you. We have had constructive conversations together regarding a variety of topics, including integration and regulatory issues. Your comment that we have refused to enter into negotiations to conclude an agreement are particularly curious given we have already rejected your initial proposal, nominally $31 per share at the time, for substantially undervaluing Yahoo! and your suggestions in your letter and the media that you are considering lowering the value of your proposal. Moreover, Steve, you personally attended two of these meetings and could have advanced discussions in any way you saw fit.

As to antitrust, we have discussed with you our concerns. Any transaction between us would result in a thorough regulatory review in multiple jurisdictions. As a follow up to a recent meeting among our respective legal advisors we had on this topic, and at your request, we provided to you on March 28 a list of additional information we would need to further our understanding of the regulatory issues associated with any transaction. To date, you have still not provided any of the requested information.

We consider your threat to commence an unsolicited offer and proxy contest to displace our independent Board members to be counterproductive and inconsistent with your stated objective of a friendly transaction. We are confident that our stockholders understand that our independent Board is best positioned to objectively and knowledgeably evaluate our Company's alternatives and to maximize value.

In conclusion, please allow us to restate our position, so there can be no confusion. We are open to all alternatives that maximize stockholder value. To be clear, this includes a transaction with Microsoft if it represents a price that fully recognizes the value of Yahoo! on a standalone basis and to Microsoft, is superior to our other alternatives, and provides certainty of value and certainty of closing. Lastly, we are steadfast in our commitment to choosing a path that maximizes stockholder value and we will not allow you or anyone else to acquire the company for anything less than its full value.

Very truly yours,

Roy Bostock Jerry Yang
Chairman of the Board Chief Executive Officer

[Yahoo!]

The Packbot robot, which is manufactured by iRobot in Massachusetts, is 70 cm long, transports itself via inbuilt tracks and is usually controlled via joystick-like device. However, the joystick method is problematic because it separates speed and direction controls, therefore requiring the soldier's undivided attention. The Wiimote hacks works exactly as you would expect; by simply waving the remote around the robot moves accordingly, and when an object of explosive interest is detected, the Wiimote's in-built vibration feedback goes nuts. We're guessing the B-trigger shoots the on-board machine gun, and if it doesn't, it definitely should.

The crazy modding pair plan to get to work on the iPhone next. They reckon soldiers should not need to lug laptops around with them when a modified iPhone could do the task equally well. First stop; iPhone controlled Packbot, complete with streaming footage. Now, there's something you won't get going on WinMob. [New Scientist]

Following a couple of years of research, the ELASTIC program (Expendable Local Area Sensors in a Tactically Interconnected Cluster) is now showing off its designs. "One thing we briefly looked at was delivering an image sensor by bullet," said said Bob Cormack, principal investigator on the ELASTIC work performed by CDM Optics. "The bullet would be designed to decelerate the sensor on impact [by crushing], and leave the camera stuck to a wall, say, by a spike. It's kind of mind-boggling to imagine setting up a sensor net by machine gun."

All this, however, will be old news to the Israeli military, which has already experimented with launching grenade-sized cameras from weapons. [Wired]

The U-Boat is lying in just 77 feet of water on the Varne sandbank, just eight miles from Dover. After hitting a mine on April 11, 1918, she sank with all 28 crew on board. And this is the crux of the problem: U-33 has been designated a war grave, which makes it impossible to just blow the problem out of the water.

The possibility of placing a buoy above the wreck was also mooted, but it was thought to be as useful as "putting a speed hump in the fast lane of a motorway," (the UK equivalent to a freeway, where cars travel upwards of 50 mph) as the Varne Bank area is so congested with shipping.

The current plan is to move the sub gently to deeper waters. A vessel has temporarily been stationed above the U-Boat by Trinity House, the body in charge of British shipping lanes and lighthouses, and divers sent down to recce the wreck. The move is expected to take place in the next few weeks. [Daily Mail]

This is a pretty huge step forward for robotics in warfare. Never before have armed robots been deployed in a war. There are only three of them deployed at the moment, and none of them have fired any rounds yet, but Michael Zecca, the SWORDS program manager, says "that'll be happening soon." Yikes.

In addition to the machine guns, the SWORDS can be loaded up with the optional X-ray kit to check out suspicious packages or to make sure the guy it just apprehended didn't swallow a bomb. That's all well and good, but just keep them over there rather than back home; I've seen the Itchy and Scratchy Land episode of The Simpsons. I know how this party is gonna end. [Danger Room]

"There is a connectivity gap. Information is not reaching the lowest levels."

Winning (and Losing) the First Wired War [Popular Science]