Spice Up Your Dinner Conversation With ACTUAL Conversation, Courtesy "Pepper Hacker"

Sometimes, it doesn’t take Wikileaks or the Russians to make a hack that changes everything.  Even a small-scale rerouting of the information superhighway can have an impact on everyday humans, and possibly even work in everyone’s best interests.  That was the thought behind this one unassuming new invention…

The Internet of Things?
How about the NON-Internet of Things?
(Image courtesy news.co.au.)

Would You Like Microchips With That? Wendy's Unveils Touch-Screen Ordering At Many Locations

Well, it's been at least a week since our last robot report, detailing which jobs are now going to be outsourced to non-humans.  Clearly manufacturing was headed this way since mechanization proved how woefully weak humans are at churning out cheap goods without the need for rest of any kind, but what about the service industry?

Robot bartenders may not be able to talk about your problems, robot hoteliers may not be able to score you the best drugs on the DL...will robot fast-food workers really improve things so humans can "have it our way"?

Fast, good, cheap...pick two.
Guess which ones Wendy's owners are going with?
(Image courtesy vocativ.com.)

New "Robot Kingdom" Theme Park Set To Open In...Where Else?...Japan

A while back, we told you about the smart hotel that featured a staff comprised mostly of robots.  This all-automaton enclave seemed an interesting way to kick off what will surely be a swath of service-bots interacting with humans of the future for their comfort and entertainment, and now, in partnership with their host park, the game has been stepped up.  Welcome to the Robot Kingdom.

All this, plus robo-raptors.
Wait, what?
(Image courtesy classicarcadegaming.com.)

Screen Cuisine: New MMMojis Make Eatery Choices Easy

Are you lazy, or just hungover?  Hey, we don't discriminate, are you both?  If you find your state of lushness and/or lackadaisicality is impeding your most base efforts at communication - not even speech, we're talking an inability to text properly - well, now technology has an answer for you.

This is also ideal for when your SO claims they don't care what they want to eat.
Scroll and randomly hit an icon, problem solved!
(Image courtesy dailymail.co.uk.)

Pizza Delivery Bots: Dominos' Autonomous Awesomeness

You may have heard that robots are coming to take your jobs.  While we'll still require human brain-meat to calculate and create certain amazing things (like cool blog articles, amiright?), it's getting more and more clear that many menial gigs are about to go extinct.  This week's sacrifice to the Singularity?  Pizza delivery people.

Aww, it's so cute, you almost don't want to crush it for stealing your livelihood.
(Image courtesy engadget.com.)

Butter, But Better: New Device Mists Dairy Deliciousness At The Touch Of A Butter-Button

Kitchen gadgets have held fascination ever since the first caveman discovered that meat would taste better when twirled on a stick over the fire.  Now, your kitchen of the future might feature robot bartenders, an automated chef, and even super-locally grown ingredients...but technology knows, what you really thirst for is the sweet, sweet spritz of freshly-liquified butter.

"And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death,
and Hell followed with him."
-Revelations 6:8, and/or Paula Deen's cookbook.
(Image courtesy crossfitenvy.com.)

Impersonal Shopper: New Robo-Stockboy Tallies Up Inventory

It's time once again for the Robot Replacement Roundup, in which we assess the viability of a seemingly-harmless robot taking over your job.  Bartenders, pizza cooks, fast food folks, factory workers, personal chefs, and hotel staff have already been considered candidates for replacement, and now, the 'bots are taking their style to the aisles...

The Terminators arrived not with a bang, but with a whisper.
Namely, "You need to order more Pop-Tarts."
(Image courtesy zamazingodergi.com.)

Cultivate This: New Indoor Garden "The Grove" Gives You A Mini Ecosystem

Want a garden, but you're stuck in a postmodern (or pre-modern) cube/tomb of an apartment with no sunlight and certainly no arable land?  Worry not, for a new invention called The Grove can bring you a relative abundance of plant life, all in the comfort of your own home...

If you traded all your bookshelves for e-reading, here's your perfect futuristic home furnishing.
(Image courtesy treehugger.com.)

Bullets, Bomb Blasts, and Barbeque: Top Tech For Independence Day!

Alright, look.  It's the 4th of July weekend in America right now, and we are gonna celebrate some freedom in the manner that befits us best...mayhem.

America the Beautiful...bless it with fire!
(Image courtesy pinterest.com.)

Know Your Joe: New App For Coffee Connoisseurs

In today's busy, bustling world, few things fuel you faster than a nice cup (or carafe) of coffee.  Iced, spiced, black, blonde, it doesn't matter as long as it does the job.  Now, there's a new app to help you learn more about the world's greatest caffeinated creation...

This may be true, but you can still do a damned decent home-brew...
(Image courtesy funnysigns.net.)

Screen Cuisine: New App To Count Calories Via Food Photos

If you're like most of the cyber-connected world, chances are that you've photographed and shared an image of some interesting food at one point or another.  Don't worry, it's normal, especially when you encounter a turducken in the wild.  Now, a new app may be able to not only show off your culinary crusades, but also inform you of just how many calories that triple-decker bacon cake contains...

"According to Im2Calories, you should probably only eat the letter 'A' today."  -your phone, soon.
(Image courtesy negharfonooni.com.)

Brew News: Innovative "Induction Kettle" Boils Via Electromagnetism

Teatime is a tradition that's been around for centuries, but now, it has a revamped look and a whole new way to get your cuppa cooking...

Tea parties just got high-tech.
(Image courtesy dezeen.com.)

Pan-droids: Futuristic "Automated Kitchen" Robo-Chef To Debut In 2017

Many classically-popular visions of the future are starting to pick up steam, but one in particular is really cooking.  No, seriously, it's a robot that cooks...

Just don't let it drink too much of that wine as it works.
(Image courtesy digitaltrends.com.)

Caffeine Fiends And Chocoholics, The Holy Grail Has Been Found

Sustainable energy is pretty sweet.  Soon, for at least one innovation, that will be literally true...

This is about to be real.  Deal with it.
(Image courtesy unilad.com.)

Mars (Salad) Bars: Fresh Greens On The Red Planet

Mars has been an attractive interplanetary target since the dawn of spaceflight, but now that the travel technology is nearly ready, how are we going to fully attend to the human elements of colonization?  Researchers in England have made one small step (well, bite) for mankind by planning to launch a crop of self-initiating lettuce to Mars.

Learn more at #LettuceOnMars.
(Image courtesy bis-space.com.)

The tasty terraforming is planned to work like this:  during the slated Mars One robotic mission in 2018, a self-sustaining greenhouse will be launched from Earth (as part of an array of other science experiments.)  The garden will "hibernate" during the long travel to Mars, with lettuce seeds safely frozen and equipment powered down.

Upon arrival on Mars, the lander will provide a small amount of energy to help power and aid the heating elements of the garden, keeping the temperature between 21C and 24C.  The lettuce seeds will be fed with carbon dioxide extracted from the Martian atmosphere (which is rich with the gas), and given other nutrients via aeroponic sprayers.  This eliminates the need for the plants to be grown in conventional soil, and if successful, could prove to be viable for a host of other food flora to be grown on the red planet.

Image is not scientifically accurate, but you get the idea.
(Image courtesy cdn.studentmoneysaver.co.uk.)

Photographs sent back of the space salad will inform the scientists of success.  As any prospective human colonists on Mars as currently considered to be making a one-way trip, the need for a constant on-planet food supply will be of critical importance.

Project leader Suzanna Lucarotti, from the University of Southhampton, explained the many diverse elements of the idea, telling the Metro, "We have tackled diverse sets of engineering challenges, including aeroponic systems, bio filters, low-power gas pressurisation systems and fail-safe planetary protection systems and then integrated them all into one payload on a tight mass, power and cost budget."

It might not be filet mignon, but it's a good first step in sustaining our next generation of astro-adventurers.

After a while, anything is better than the usual space paste.  Here, two astronauts "enjoy" tubes of beet soup...wrapped in vodka labels.  Maybe if an experiment can grow potatoes, some distilling can take place...
(Image courtesy wikimedia.org.)

Go To The Dough: "Doughbot" App Finds Donut Shops For You

In such confusing and complex times, it can be difficult to find places in which to take solace.  Which is why it's very important that there is a new app geared exclusively to helping you find donuts.

Full of woe?  Look to the dough.
(Image courtesy mynorth.com.)

Known as (what else?) Doughbot, the pastry-seeking program will provide the nearest donut-slinging shop with a simple swipe.  More thorough directions including GPS, as well as reviews and photos, can be had with merely a tap.  Sweet sugary goodness is closer than you think.

Doughbot is available for iPod and iPad, and is not responsible for any excessive donut-based weight the user acquires.

First mission: locate this donut Valhalla.
(Image courtesy affotd.files.wordpress.com.)

Homebrew With No Hassle: Meet The All-Automated "Brewie" Machine

Beer.  If you're an enthusiast, you know the sky is the limit for the variety of flavors that can be brewed up in your favorite cold barley soup.  But what about trying to create a brew that's entirely yours?  Now, you can get crafty in the comfort of your own home, thanks to Brewie.

Brewie, according to Shortlist.com, is the world's first automated homebrewing setup.  Just pop in some hops, malt, yeast, water, and whatever else you feel your drinkable masterpiece will taste good containing.  Swipe your specialized ID card (because you don't want random people fiddling with your brew), tweak the settings to your desired attempt at alcohol greatness, and some time later, a smartphone alarm tells you it's time to tap.

Brew it yourself with Brewie!
(Image courtesy cnet.com.)

Recipes are included but can be modified, and 23 different flavor characteristic parameters serve as options for the alcoholically adventurous inventors.

If this sounds like your cup of tea (well, glass of beer), Brewie is still collecting on Indiegogo to reach a $100,000 goal.  Brewie will sell for $999 but when you really break it down, that's only like ten craft beer benders at a bar, right?  Brewie might be the home-base wingman you've always wanted.  Cheers to self-empowerment!

Maybe, just maybe, the art of homebrewing will get you to consume beer in a respectable manner.
(Image courtesy omega-level.net.)

Tech And Good Taste: Could An "E-Tongue" Be Used To Lick Pollution?

We have devices that mimic all of our major senses...cameras can capture things we see, microphones listen to us, tablets and other gadgets respond to touch, and bomb detectors "sniff" out explosive devices by detecting their particles in the air.  But what about taste?  Now, a new invention serves to recreate that popular sense...and for some good reasons.

It's complicated, trying to replicate human physiology.
(Image courtesy pubs.rsc.org.)

According to nanowerk.com, an electronic tongue is in development by scientists from the American Chemical Society.  Its uses could range from sampling food that may have gone disastrously bad to testing for water pollution or blood disease (stuff you wouldn't want your real tongue to have to endure.)  Sensors in the silicone-based "e-tongue" pick up traces of different "flavors" of things, much as tastebuds would, and the data is sent to a computer for assessment.

The e-tongue has already been critically tested on a very important distinction:  the difference between Armagnac, cognac, whiskey and water.  Proving successful at identifying the various "signatures" for each, the e-tongue can now undergo further tests to assess its adeptness at more nuanced (if gross) "flavors" of pollutants and bio-contaminants.  For a safe and smart means of testing a spectrum of such signatures, the e-tongue just makes sense.

Their prototype setup regarding testing for bio-contaminants is a little weird, though.
(Image courtesy mtvhive.com.)

Become An Instant Connoisseur With "Vivino" Wine App

Want to imbibe wine like you're fancy, but have no idea where to begin?  No worries, with the new Vivino app, you'll be able to find the greatest of the grapes, using only your smartphone.

Simply upload a photo of any wine label that strikes your fancy, and you'll be able to immediately access pertinent information, reviews, ratings, and price guides.  With over 6 million users contributing feedback using a 1 to 5 star ratings scale, you can get a good feel for what's smooth sipping versus swill.

While the old-fashioned way of just trying everything also works, with Vivino there's a way to help you accurately REMEMBER your favorites.
(Image courtesy wikimedia.org.)

As reported by winderlusting.com, Vivino can also sync with your social media.  Linking with Facebook, Twitter, Google, and more, you can interact with other oenophiles who may share your same tastes.  This also enables the casual drinker to follow more seasoned sommeliers who can offer a wide variety of personal experience.

The Vivino app is free and works on all iPhone, Android, and Windows smartphones.  A $4.99 upgrade is also available for those who want to track sizeable selections for their cellar.  So whether you're a collector or just wondering about what you're housing down at happy hour, Vivino can help you perfect your palate.

Seriously, you can do better than this.
(Image courtesy iwishilikedflan.com.)

The Brewer Of The Future: App-Controlled Coffee Machine To Brew For You

Do you ever have one of those days when it's so hard to get out of bed you just wish Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks would deliver coffee straight to you?  Hate getting up, even though it's the only way you'll get your delicious coffee a'roasting?  Now, a new invention may make it easier to lure you to the land of the living with the scent of freshly-brewed coffee, just the way you like it.  All it takes is this fancy new coffee machine and the attendant app!

According to engadget.com, the Bruvelo is a new high-end coffee maker currently under development with kickstarter.  Not just a simple mud-slinger, the Bruvelo operates by app to grind beans to your specs, mix them with your preferred ratio of in-machine filtered water, and deliver a beautifully-brewed cup after cooking to precisely 199 degrees Fahrenheit.  All you have to do is hit a few icons on your smartphone, presumably the ones immediately after your fifth swipe at the snooze button.

This machine is way more capable of complex tasks in the morning than you are.  Let it handle things.
(Image courtesy crowdfundinsider.com.)

Brew strength can be programmed into the caffeine computer, or decided from your preconfigured "flavor profiles" of Robust, Balanced, or Delicate (hahaha, that's adorable.  Hurry up with a custom Double Robust, coffee robot.)  All you need to do is remember to leave your mug under the nozzle the night before, and you can be a barista from your bed.  Voila!  Your good day is merely a stagger to the kitchen away.

Bruvelo needs $150,000 on kickstarter to make this caffeine dream a reality.  If you pledge $300, your sweet dreams could be waking up to brewed beans by as early as next June.  A little computerized coffee concierge seems like a good start to the next level of the future.

Now if only technology can get the mug to walk to your bedside...
(Image courtesy jayce-o.blogspot.com.)