high school student Lyndon Baty from Knox City, Texas is now using one to particularly great effect. He has a weakened immune system that prevents him from actually attending school, so he's using a remotely-controlled Vgo telepresence "robot" that allows him to move from class to class and interact with teachers and other students using nothing more than his laptop and webcam at home.

Which is all well and good until some bully takes the robot and locks it in a locker. :)

The bot itself is four-feet tall, self-balancing, and simply packs a basic video conferencing system up top that allows its operator to interact with their surroundings -- at $5,000, it's also considerably cheaper than some other similar options.

Click on the words "similar options" for a picture of the creepy thing that will be keeping an eye on you at work in the near future.

Texas student sends robot to school in his place, can't get it to do his homework -- Engadget

The least likely thing to happen is a long-term reformist democratic government.

Agenda: With George Friedman on Egypt | STRATFOR

Confirming what a few have reported this evening: in an action unprecedented in Internet history, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet.

Egypt Leaves the Internet - Renesys Blog

Probably the most important thing going on right now is a series of popular uprisings in North Africa.

In one respect its sort of like the Rodney King riots. An act of police brutality resulted in a self immolation that prompted a mass protest. But what are the root causes of the underlying tension? Police brutality, and poverty, but also corruption, illuminated by Wikileaks:

I asked our experts at Human Rights Watch to canvass their sources in the country, and the consensus was that while Tunisians didn't need American diplomats to tell them how bad their government was, the cables did have an impact.

What does the future hold? Will the government of Egypt topple? If so, will other governments follow?

The wild card here is that all this chaos presents long term opportunities for islamists. I think the rise of radical islamist power sources is far more likely than the rise of a more benevolent government that polices corruption and engages in genuine efforts at long term economic development. A certain enlightened self interest is required to achieve the later. Perhaps they ought to try using religion.

Wikileaks Real Impact in Tunisia - Alexis Madrigal - Technology - The Atlantic

Rep. Sanchez has introduced a very modest bill -- H.R. 216 -- requiring Homeland Security to issue rules governing these searches and seizures so that they are no longer able to operate completely in the dark and without standards.

Homeland Security's laptop seizures: Interview with Rep. Sanchez - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

In either case, the rainbow-like coloring system is ending come April. (As you might infer from the title of this blog, we’re more than a little sad to report the death of the silly system.)

Color-Coded Terrorism ‘Threat Level’ Advisory System Ending | Threat Level | Wired.com

Yellowstone National Park's supervolcano just took a deep "breath," causing miles of ground to rise dramatically, scientists report.

The information about Yellowstone in National Geographic is extremely interesting. In particular:

(See "When Yellowstone Explodes" in National Geographic magazine.)

Yellowstone Has Bulged as Magma Pocket Swells

Last October, former Bush NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden gushed with praise for Obama: "there's been a powerful continuity between the 43rd and the 44th president."

James Jay Carafano, a homeland-security expert at the Heritage Foundation, told The New York Times' Peter Baker last January: "I don’t think it's even fair to call it Bush Lite. It's Bush. It's really, really hard to find a difference that's meaningful and not atmospheric."

In an interview last night with NBC News, Cheney praised Obama for continuing his and Bush's core approach to Terrorism.

Glenn Greenwald has had some moments of considerable clarity lately.

Right wing figures lavishing praise on Obama

Friday, December 17, 2010 at 5:00 PM EST, the... CN Tower [was] illuminated in a custom shade of TRON Blue[.]

Saw this tonight - visually stunning - go see it in IMAX while you still can - its really pretty.

A certain light heartedness of the original was missing. For example, the bit, a sort of comical side kick which could only say yes or no, was eliminated from this version but for two metal ornaments, their coldness a symbol of the overall feel of this sequel. This is definitely entertainment for adult fans of the original film and not a children's movie.

THE CN TOWER PAYS TRIBUTE TO DISNEY'S TRON:LEGACY

A very pleasing flash game.

Windosill