Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I've been gone on a trip in Japan.

Anyway, thought this was really interesting: In Japan, as you probably already know, we already use bar codes that are a lot different from the ones in the US that stores put on their products to record SKU numbers and punkers tattoo on the backs of their necks to decry corporate oppression or some such thinking.

Anyway, ours are smaller, square, and contain lots more data. (You can read about the ones we already use here: http://www.denso-wave.com/qrcode/qrfeature-e.html).

Well now a Japanese company has developed 3-dimensional color bar codes that can contain so much data, they can even hold video clips!

So here's the use: You print the bar code on any magazine advertisement or on any product. Someone with a standard cell phone scans the barcode using their camera. And voila! A video commercial instantly appears on your cell phone screen. No waiting. No download time. No fuss.

When you think about it, it kind of redefines what "data" really is, how it's stored, and how it can be transmitted. Here's the company that makes the new kind: http://www.ci-a.com/cl/var.html

He can already see, hear, smell and carry things. Pretty soon it should be able to monitor human health signs just by being in the same room.

And best of all, he's soft and cuddly like a plush toy and has a face somewhere between the Pillsbury Doughboy and those block-headed guys Gumby used to get chased by.

So what's he for? Taking care of the elderly. Japan has an aging population, and robots currently figure large into their plans for future domestic service.

We started naming our robots and treating them like members of the family long ago. Even the old fashioned robots in car factories that don't look like anything other than machines are named by the workers and treated like they're alive. I guess the first robot creators wanted us to grow up without being scared of them. Maybe it's a plot, I don't know.

Anyway, the creators of this little guy (named RI-MAN) can be found here: They even have some videos on their site. http://www.bmc.riken.jp/~RI-MAN/index_us.html