We’re live at Ubisoft’s conference at E3 in Los Angeles…

We expect to see a lot of AssCreed 2, Red Steel 2, Tom Clancy and possibly DLC for Far Cry 2 from Ubi tonight. Stay tuned.

• 7:49 PM: Doug Aamoth Event starts at 5PM Pacific, 8PM Eastern. Stay tuned, we’ll be underway shortly.
• 7:56 PM: devindotcom Yo ho ho and a bottle of fun!
• 7:57 PM: devindotcom People are still sitting down. This huge, beautiful theater is packed to the rafters.
• 7:58 PM: devindotcom Ubi was the belle of the ball last year, so let’s hope they kick ass this year too. We know we’re gonna see some Assassin’s Creed 2… oh the announcer is piping up now
• 8:01 PM: devindotcom Okay!
• 8:02 PM: devindotcom It’s on, fools. We’ve just gotten a little taste of what’s to come.
• 8:02 PM: devindotcom “Good evening fellow nerds!”
• 8:03 PM: devindotcom This guy’s doing a “I’m a gamer .. but I have kids” schtick
• 8:03 PM: devindotcom The coolest thing in the room right now is this sweet crane cam.
• 8:03 PM: ThePeterHa Joel McHale is the Ubi MC for tonight
• 8:04 PM: devindotcom “Everyone at Ubisoft is a star. That’s why I don’t get to work there.”
• 8:04 PM: devindotcom One of the most recognizable athletes of all time coming up, apparently.
• 8:05 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:05 PM: devindotcom Also a movie star coming on… but they’re being coy.
• 8:05 PM: devindotcom Lots of strangling coming up. And animals. Hopefully not both at the same time.
• 8:06 PM: devindotcom President and CEO, Yves Guillemot on stage
• 8:07 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:07 PM: devindotcom Lots of talk about interconnection. Corporate strategy or new game tech?
• 8:08 PM: devindotcom From Convergence to confluence. Very exciting stuff here.
• 8:08 PM: devindotcom Uplay: brand new online destination
• 8:08 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:09 PM: devindotcom Allow consumers to create and share screenshots, videos, walkthroughs, hints for friends, etc.
• 8:09 PM: devindotcom Screenshot’s username was “EwokLover”
• 8:10 PM: devindotcom Why not join forces with moviemakers? -instead of just adapting
• 8:10 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:10 PM: devindotcom Avatar: the Game for instance
• 8:10 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:11 PM: devindotcom Working with Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg….
• 8:11 PM: devindotcom working on Tintin!
• 8:11 PM: devindotcom Tintiiiiiiin
• 8:11 PM: devindotcom Tintin + Assassin’s Creed would be the greatest game of all time
• 8:12 PM: devindotcom They’re very proud of their use of accessories and non-standard controllers – EndWar, Shaun White snowboarding etc.
• 8:13 PM: devindotcom Next step: making the interface disappear. What does this mean?!
• 8:13 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:14 PM: devindotcom President of Montreal Studio talking about ‘confluence.’ He’s really excited about something they’ve been working on.
• 8:15 PM: devindotcom “Ubisoft Digital Arts,” crossing over into Hollywood. 300, Sin City etc.
• 8:16 PM: devindotcom They’ve been working closely with James Cameron on Avatar. More details tomorrow.
• 8:16 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:16 PM: devindotcom They’ve worked on 100 effects shots for Avatar.
• 8:17 PM: ThePeterHa Ubisoft knows how to run a press conference
• 8:18 PM: devindotcom Using Ubisoft’s in-game effects and tools …. Assassin’s Creed movie using real game assets and in-engine stuff?!
• 8:18 PM: devindotcom An Assassin’s Creed movie would be…. mmm, withholding judgment.
• 8:19 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:19 PM: devindotcom Guess who….
• 8:19 PM: devindotcom James Cameron!
• 8:19 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:20 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:20 PM: devindotcom James wrote the treatment for Avatar 14 years ago. The folks in charge said they couldn’t be done.
• 8:21 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:21 PM: devindotcom Pioneering lots of different technology like special mocap stuff
• 8:22 PM: devindotcom 22nd century… on the “not a planet” Pandora… lush rainforest environments with incredible life-forms (beautiful and terrifying)
• 8:22 PM: devindotcom This guy is secretly (maybe not so secretly) a huge nerd
• 8:23 PM: devindotcom Human-alien hybrids called Avatars, hence the title
• 8:23 PM: devindotcom “Just to be clear, it’s not a Matrix type story”
• 8:24 PM: devindotcom Remote control human beings… wounded humans living vicariously through Avatars… man this is getting complicated as all hell
• 8:24 PM: devindotcom Sounds like the plot of a Space RPG. Smokin’ hot 10-foot blue aliens
• 8:24 PM: devindotcom “this battle at the end of the movie is the mother of all battles”
• 8:25 PM: ThePeterHa Did Cameron just make up his own elvish/klingon language?
• 8:25 PM: devindotcom Alien giants, flying “kraaa” vs. helicopters and guns, who would have guessed he was working with a video game developer on this thing?
• 8:25 PM: devindotcom Cameras took 9 years to develop
• 8:25 PM: devindotcom how is that possible, film has only been in production for 4 years
• 8:25 PM: devindotcom maybe it’s on Pandora time.
• 8:26 PM: devindotcom “We wanted to choose our video game partner verrrry carefully.” Decided on Ubisoft, and why not?
• 8:26 PM: ThePeterHa I change my mind about Google being Skynet. Ubisoft is Skynet.
• 8:26 PM: devindotcom Good point Peter. They’re going to hook up with iRobot and take over
• 8:27 PM: ThePeterHa *touches nose
• 8:27 PM: devindotcom *touches Peter’s nose
• 8:27 PM: devindotcom SHOW SOMETHING ALREADY
• 8:27 PM: ThePeterHa SHOW SOME VIDEO OR SOMETHING
• 8:27 PM: ThePeterHa SWEET JEEBUS
• 8:27 PM: ThePeterHa The game is not a slave to the movie
• 8:27 PM: devindotcom I am a slave to the movie
• 8:28 PM: ThePeterHa JC is totally nerding out over this thing.
• 8:28 PM: devindotcom Peter did you see the crane cam almost dink that camera guy? That’s trust
• 8:29 PM: devindotcom If we got a couple drinks in this guy he’d show us the whole thing
• 8:29 PM: devindotcom I think he can’t wait to get his baby out there. Hope it’s good or he’ll disappear forever.
• 8:29 PM: ThePeterHa OK, now I’m over it. SHOW SOMETHING!!!
• 8:31 PM: devindotcom I just checked under my seat for 3D glasses…. wishful thinking unfortunately.
• 8:31 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:32 PM: devindotcom No spoilers in the game! It won’t be like King Kong then.
• 8:33 PM: devindotcom Cameron says it’s “the coolest game out there.” Thanks dad
• 8:33 PM: devindotcom Viper wolves?!
• 8:33 PM: ThePeterHa We’ll see the demo when E3 opens up the doors tomorrow at Ubi’s booth
• 8:33 PM: devindotcom And he’s outa here!
• 8:34 PM: devindotcom “there are so many French people backstage… it’s a little scary” Same thing out here.
• 8:35 PM: devindotcom He’s saying Red Steel 2 is way more exact. Mmm, we saw some of that with that tennis game in EA’s thing. Not quite, but decent.
• 8:35 PM: devindotcom Red Steel 2 trailer…. this one’s new.
• 8:36 PM: devindotcom I like the look of this game waaay better than the last one. It’s like Afro Samurai crossed with … I don’t know, Red STeel.
• 8:37 PM: devindotcom And there’s still no blood. I think that’s kind of ridiculous, especially with the otherwise stylized graphics.
• 8:37 PM: devindotcom Janson Vangenberghe and Roman Campos Oriola, Creative Director and Lead Game Designer respectively for Red Steel 2
• 8:37 PM: devindotcom They’re gonna demo it. Sweet.
• 8:38 PM: devindotcom This guy looks craaaazyyyy
• 8:38 PM: devindotcom Trigun, that’s what it reminds me of. Trigun with swords.
• 8:38 PM: devindotcom Okay, live demo running now. We’ll have video up ASAP after the event.
• 8:39 PM: devindotcom Opening sequence is tight. You’re being dragged behind a motorcyle
• 8:41 PM: devindotcom Sword position is mapped 1:1 to the position of the controller
• 8:41 PM: devindotcom The harder you actually slash, the more damage you do. Thank you, no more flicking
• 8:42 PM: devindotcom Guys blink and disappear like River City Ransom after you stab them to death
• 8:43 PM: devindotcom There’s simplified controls for noobs, more ‘customizable’ controls for experts
• 8:43 PM: devindotcom Bullet time stuff, looks fun.
• 8:43 PM: devindotcom Not to be macabre, but really it looks kind of weird without blood.
• 8:44 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:45 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:45 PM: devindotcom Fatality!
• 8:45 PM: devindotcom Red Steel 2 available at launch of Wii Motion Plus.
• 8:46 PM: devindotcom Sports stuff now. Get to the Creed!
• 8:46 PM: ThePeterHa That’s *bundled* with Wii Motion Plus, Devin.
• 8:46 PM: ThePeterHa I interviewed Shaun White!
• 8:46 PM: devindotcom Oops, I misspelled bundled as “available”
• 8:47 PM: devindotcom New Shaun White game. We’ve got a skit intro here.
• 8:48 PM: devindotcom Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage
• 8:48 PM: ThePeterHa Available this coming holiday season
• 8:48 PM: ThePeterHa Ubi soccer game coming
• 8:49 PM: ThePeterHa Pele on the Wii, I think.
• 8:49 PM: ThePeterHa Pele is here!
• 8:49 PM: devindotcom Pele, he’s here
• 8:50 PM: devindotcom Everybody’s cheering and stuff but this guy is probably used to even more fanfare
• 8:50 PM: devindotcom Pele 3d model looking preeeeetty weird
• 8:51 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:51 PM: devindotcom Pele: “I don’t speak english.” MC: “Well you’re doing a pretty good job right now”
• 8:52 PM: devindotcom Pele: “I’m very happy to be here… I’m very happy to be working with Ubisoft” Well that’s good
• 8:52 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:52 PM: ThePeterHa Why isn’t Nicholas here translating for us?
• 8:52 PM: devindotcom You mean Carlos?
• 8:52 PM: ThePeterHa Yes
• 8:54 PM: devindotcom Seems like a nice guy.
• 8:54 PM: devindotcom Academy of Champiooons
• 8:56 PM: devindotcom Soccer philosophy. Too much to transcribe. Sneak preview of the game playing…………now
• 8:56 PM: devindotcom what, this looks insane
• 8:56 PM: devindotcom it’s like those GBA sports games crossed with… harry potter, crossed with the corpse bride
• 8:57 PM: devindotcom cinematic trailer though. no gameplay
• 8:57 PM: devindotcom Academy of Champions Football, only for Wii
• 8:59 PM: ThePeterHa
• 8:59 PM: ThePeterHa Coming in 2009
• 8:59 PM: ThePeterHa
• 9:00 PM: devindotcom We’re covering this way better than the other guys by the way.
• 9:00 PM: devindotcom Producer and Creative Director of Splinter Cell, Alex Parizeau and Max Beland
• 9:00 PM: devindotcom Talking about Splinter Cell: Conviction
• 9:01 PM: devindotcom Trailer showing now. Spoiler warning since I haven’t played Double Agent
• 9:03 PM: devindotcom Looks good. I always wanted to tear around as Sam Fisher instead of creeping.
• 9:04 PM: devindotcom All the Ubi guys have the same general fashion sense
• 9:04 PM: devindotcom untucked, dark sport coat, non formal shoes… is that the dress code in France?
• 9:05 PM: devindotcom They’re going to play it now. Demo time, we’ll get that up for you shortly. MC: “I’m gonna go backstage and freak out.”
• 9:06 PM: devindotcom Interrogation mini-game. very sadistic. Urinal smashing. Breaking of stall doors…. story elements being told to you are “projected” on the surroundings.
• 9:07 PM: devindotcom Real gameplay starts now. Looks great. Good lighting. Very cinematic.
• 9:07 PM: devindotcom That was brutal. You move a lot faster.
• 9:08 PM: devindotcom Nice climbing. Not as good as Altair though. Ooh, shooting through window while hanging onto it. You’ll see the video soon.
• 9:10 PM: devindotcom Has a sort of “augmented reality” look to it. Less immersive but possibly better for gameplay.
• 9:11 PM: devindotcom He just did something to a guy’s face, twice.
• 9:11 PM: devindotcom Very thrilling! Nice bookcases in this mansion too.
• 9:12 PM: devindotcom Oops. captured. It’s over! Looks great.
• 9:12 PM: ThePeterHa We’ll have over six minutes of gameplay footage coming soon
• 9:13 PM: ThePeterHa Available this Fall for the Xbox 360 and PC
• 9:14 PM: devindotcom Trailer for a … I’m not sure. I’ll get back to you.
• 9:15 PM: devindotcom Steely-eyed men mug at each other! Tanks roll under your fingers! I think this is a “concept”
• 9:16 PM: devindotcom What, it’s real? “Ruse”
• 9:16 PM: devindotcom Looks like Battleship on a Surface.
• 9:17 PM: devindotcom Battery is suffering. Come on Assassin’s Creed!
• 9:17 PM: devindotcom Ah. Ubisoft is leading the way in casual games. We’ll just take a brief break here.
• 9:25 PM: devindotcom That was… tweeny.
• 9:25 PM: devindotcom They’re still going.
• 9:30 PM: devindotcom Camera-based fitness game… I’ll believe it when I see it though. Looks sort of idealized.
• 9:30 PM: devindotcom The lady in the movie didn’t need a lot of work though.
• 9:31 PM: devindotcom
• 9:31 PM: devindotcom More raving rabbids.
• 9:31 PM: devindotcom Rabbids Go Home. We’ve got dancing rabbids here.
• 9:32 PM: devindotcom We’ll have video of that later… in the meantime, BRB.
• 9:37 PM: devindotcom Not sure what’s going on, we’re abusing these little rabbids living inside the Wiimote. It’s actually pretty funny.
• 9:38 PM: devindotcom Hmm, you’re rolling around collecting things, and the moon is involved. Not like Katamari Damacy at all…
• 9:39 PM: devindotcom Battery warning. We’ll have video, don’t worry.
• 9:49 PM: devindotcom Nice long press conference. Battery almost gone. TMNT smash brothers-type game, some project from the creator of Rez and Lumines.
• 9:50 PM: devindotcom Okay. Assassin’s Creed 2 being talked about. Come on little battery!
• 9:50 PM: devindotcom November 17.
• 9:50 PM: devindotcom HERE WOe
• 9:50 PM: devindotcom go
• 9:51 PM: devindotcom Takes place in Venice during the Renaissance…!?
• 9:51 PM: devindotcom Festival… ladies…
• 9:51 PM: devindotcom it’s a cinematic trailer, no gameplay yet
• 9:52 PM: devindotcom Masque Ball. Just saw an assassinish boot.
• 9:52 PM: devindotcom Oh he’s so dead
• 9:53 PM: devindotcom Lots of Altair-looking guy running around in Italy…. looks stylish.
• 9:54 PM: devindotcom He’s got a gun!
• 9:54 PM: devindotcom Assassin’s got a gun. No less lethal than the throwing knives i suppose.
• 9:54 PM: devindotcom it’s over!
• 9:55 PM: devindotcom The whole thing is on video. We’ll get it uploaded toot sweet.
• 9:55 PM: devindotcom Thanks for reading, everyone. We’re off to find food and an outlet.

Over at IEEE Spectrum there’s a very nice post-mortem from one of the teams that won a Progress prize. The piece covers some of the methods used to improve the recommendation system, and closes with this:

Now that the confetti has settled, we have a chance to look back on our work and to ask what this experience tells us. First, Netflix has incorporated our discoveries into an improved version of its algorithm, which is now being tested. Second, researchers are benefiting from the data set that the competition made available, and not just because it is orders of magnitude larger than previous data sets. It is also qualitatively better than other data sets, because Netflix gathered the information from paying customers, in a realistic setting. Third, the competition itself recruited many smart people in this line of research.

Reading this got me thinking about how enormously complex it must be to tease out movie recommendations based solely on an arbitrary number that represents a viewer’s opinion of a movie. That’d be like going to Match.com and expecting to find your soulmate by ranking your previous dates with 1 through 5 stars. Crazy!

Obviously its in Netflix’s best interest to keep the movie rating system as simple and as convenient as possible. If you had to rank each actor in a movie, or rank plot elements or directors or writers, the system could better recommend movies that appeal to you, but you’d be stuck at the Netflix website for days providing input. Thankfully there are super smart people out there figuring out how to identify patterns from this kind of data.

Now it’s our job to make sure that we don’t accidentally create SkyNet in the process…

A handful of gaming news just got dumped on my lap, so I figured a roundup post was in order.

First up is some news about the upcoming PS3 exclusive inFamous from Sucker Punch. It was supposed to launch sometime in June, but Sony announced today that it would be coming on May 26. The demo drops on May 21, but if you pre-order now, you’ll be privy to some exclusive goodies, like, early access to the demo on the 7th of May.

An exclusive ‘Gigawatt Blades’ Super Power: The Gigawatt Blades supercharges Cole’s arm into an instrument of destruction unmatched by any other melee weapon in game. Although very powerful, you’ll still have to use this weapon wisely, as it takes a considerable drain on your powers.

Limited-edition inFamous costume for Home Avatar – Look like one of the REAPER gang members.

If you missed the gameplay trailer for BioShock 2 then check it out now!

Next up is the latest trailer for Terminator Salvation – The Videogame, which “features the visceral, story and character driven gaming experience with John Conner and the Resistance fighting Skynet’s deadly machines.” I want to believe that this game is going to be good, I really do.

And last but not least is some gameplay footage of Battlestations: Pacific, which drops on May 12 for the Xbox 360 and PC.

Anyway, the WSJ is reporting that HP is currently testing out Google’s Android platform for a possible netbook. They haven’t committed to an Android-based netbook, but HP’s Satjiv Chahil, VP of the PC division, confirmed that the company is currently testing the OS.

“We want to assess the capability Android may have for the computer and communications industries, and so we are studying it,” Mr. Chahil said.

If a PC manufacturer were able to integrate Android into a netbook or even notebook then I’d certainly pick one up. It’s pretty obvious that Google is slowly muscling in on Microsoft’s territory.

via WSJ

Of course, when we consult Wikipedia, we find:

Skynet was first built as a “Global Digital Defense Network,” given command over all computerized military hardware and systems, including the B-2 Stealth Bomber fleet and America’s entire nuclear weapons arsenal. The strategy behind Skynet’s creation was to remove the possibility of human error…

Although in reality, “Sequoia,” as this new supercomputer is to be called, will not be in charge of firing the weapons, just maintenance. In the meantime, a smaller supercomputer called “Dawn” will be made for the sole purpose of creating the apps that will run on Sequoia. Wait, what? You need a supercomputer just to design the programs that will work on the bigger supercomputer? Somebody’s doing it wrong. I’m suspicious of the entire project, but I somehow doubt IBM cares.

When it’s not calculating how best to get the rust off our ICBMs, Sequoia will of course be contributing to SETI@Home and other such projects.

Yes, I know the picture is from War Games, not Terminator. God!!

Go ahead and type “iPhone” into Twitter search engine Summize, and you’ll see just how much Apple’s phone has captured the hearts and minds of the tech élite.

Some Tweets are rather negative, though:

• KyleFlaherty: kind of happy that I’m traveling today and escaping iPhone mania

• indigoskynet: Oh, clearly I’m gonna get sick of today real fast. Every third tweet is iPhone related

• ilabelu: @jburka too much hype with the iPhone. People need to get a life

In the interest of those of you who are sick of the iPhone for whatever reason, some of us at CrunchGear will be on a specific non-iPhone duty today. They’ll have the headline in the form “Not iPhone: Something else” and the tag “notiphone.”

For what it’s worth, though, I’ll have Leo Laporte’s coverage on in the background throughout the day. How can you not like that guy? He’s too damn affable for his own good!

The project is based at the Advanced Technologies Laboratory at Tufts University and will include experts in bio/tissue engineering, soft animal neuromechanics, micromechanical engineering, soft material characterization and modeling, wireless transmission of data and power, mixed mode integrated circuit design, and mobile robot navigation and sensor fusion.

Good to know these little devils, probably armed with mind-control juice, will be creeping through the spaces in your walls sometime soon. Another win for Skynet.

Your Roomba’s getting a new big brother, though this one’s not for the living room. The company behind the robotic vacuum cleaners announced today a new product called a Seaglider, which is an autonomous submersible robot designed for a number of underwater uses.

The robot has a range of hundreds of miles and can stay at sea for months at a time if need be. This way it can collect all kinds of data for a longer period of time than if it had a human inside, meaning more accurate numbers. Scienticians love that stuff.

No word yet on how the finished machine looks, but we’re hoping that when Skynet goes live these destroyer divers will be on our side.

In the graphic novella Robota by Orson Scott Card and Doug Chiang, the robots are invented by man, then take over science, and, when they develop a love of art, decide to end humanity, Skynet style. Fortunately, our creations have yet to have anything to do with art, meaning for the time being we’re safe.

Wait, I just got a link here that Asimo, Honda’s prototype bi-pedal future robot overloard has been spotted in Detroit conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

That’s just great. Also, who knew that there’s classical music in Detroit?

I guess it’s time to come clean and say that the multimillion dollar Korean experiment in question hadn’t really created robot soldiers per se so much as an automated guard post. Unfortunately it was so ineffective at night that they had to fit alarms to the units to make sure they weren’t stolen.

The all-seeing, all-shooting eye is a sort of holy grail for militaries all over the world, but so far no one has really hit the mark, so to speak. And I can’t say I’m looking forward to the day they do.
[via El Reg]

Is it possible to write a full post on deadly military robots without making a snarky joke about SkyNet?

Nope. The foot soldiers in the future super-computer overlord’s army aren’t the Terminator series robots, but mechanized drones, like the Israeli killer robot its army has just developed, called the Guardium.

This isn’t just a remote controlled killbot, though; the Guardium is autonomous, meaning it makes its own decisions on who to shoot. What could possibly go wrong?

We’re guessing a lot. The machines run on software, and software can be faulty. We’re hoping we never encounter one of these mechanized killers.

I do not fear Skynet is real, but this is getting pretty creepy. The Miami-Dade and Houston police departments is petitioning the FAA for clearance to start flying unmanned drone aircraft over the city to track down perps.

They’re thankfully not for patrol or traffic uses, those will stay with the beat cops, but they’d be deployed in SWAT or chase situations to give the police a better eye-in-the-sky view of what’s going on.

The Honeywell MAV, the model in the video above, has forward and ground-facing cameras and can reach a top speed of 50 knots.

Look up, felons, and smile.

I guess I’m wanting this piece of total shit crap stool poop (to paraphrase Biggs’ March 18th review) more its dramatic destruction and an excuse to borrow some robots than to actually own and use it.
I will have borrowed 4 of these
from Boston Dynamics and tie a steel cable to each one and the other end of the cable to the Poop-pod (as we will now call the PMP in question)
Each BigDog robot will then be set out in separate direction, quartering the little thing into… quarters.
Oh wait, I forgot the nukes. Then I’ll nuke it and blame it on SkyNet.
This is actually how the whole Skynet thing will get started. All because someone had to make an extremely cheap crappy version of an iTouch and someone had to send one to CG to be reviewed, and they hated it and then create a contest to give it away and I wanted to win it.
Stick that in your time machine.

Like a Certs being a candy mint and a breath mint, the SSRF is a rangefinder and a GPS targeting computer. Using a combination of technologies, the Surveillance System and Range Finder is used to identify enemies up to three miles away, then using the GPS, they call in the big guns to wipe them off the Earth. Kinda creepy.

Look for a Terminator-embedded version shortly after Skynet goes active later this year.

J-Tas Surveillance System Has GPS, Thermal Imaging, Hunts Predators [The Giz]

SkyNet was brought online on August 4, 1997 and immediately crashed. Disheartened, it settled in the outskirts of Barcelona, met a nice girl with a tongue stud, and now works as a web designer and makes and sells its own candles online. It still has a grudge against Sarah Connor, but it’s in therapy and actually talking to its Mom again. It’s in a good place right now.

SkyNet MI

Your votes are in and it seems that SkyNet is the winner in the CrunchGear Presidential Primaries. Sadly, as we see in this video, SkyNet might not make it to the White House but I’m glad that CG’s audience believes a soulless killing machine is better than any single human candidate on the ticket this year.

Are you a shut-in? Live in your mom’s basement and spend our life on the Internet? Looking for a combo text-and-speech device to interact with others? Buffalo has what you need in this new QWERTY keyboard / Skype phone combo.

It’s just what it sounds like: a USB keyboard for your computer with a detachable handset for making Skype calls. When Skype goes all Skynet and takes over, it will be how you communicate with our technologically superior robot lords.

Feel like a powerful exec with the Buffalo keyboard/Skype phone combo [Dvice]