Someone has unearthed a truly remarkable piece of animation history: the first animated short connected with the now infamous PIXAR animation studio. My first reaction was “Hey this isn’t that bad.” My second, after reading the text: “Holy crap, 1984!?”

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The Adventures of André and Wally B. is almost 2 minutes of very technical computer animation from 1984. Animated by John Lasseter, in conjunction with Lucasfilm, who would later become a huge player in the development of PIXAR and Disney, the short is reported to have been the first use of manipulatable shapes (stretching and squishing) that gives computer animation the life needed to appear real.

With Wall-E just released and breaking the box office wide open, it’s amazing to revisit the roots of such a creative company.

Via Digg.com and Experience Project.

Ok. I’ll admit it. I’m a smoker. And like many smokers, I enjoy the act of smoking, but I dislike the effects it can have on my health.

So when I was browsing Wired.com’s gadget blog and saw the electronic cigarette made by NJOY, I wanted to know more.

Apparently electronic cigarettes have been in development for quite sometime. I won’t go into the technology of it, but the idea is — instead of using fire to burn tobacco (and nicotine!) for you to inhale, the device atomizes a liquid solution containing nicotine and tobacco flavorings and the vapor is then inhaled. The entire process very closely resembles a real “smoke.”

NJOY ships cigarette and cigar style devices. The cartridges come in a variety of flavors and strengths including Menthol and strawberry.

Seeing the product in action is pretty amazing since it resembles all the psychological actions of smoking, but none of the lung-destroying tar and chemicals of a cigarette.

On NJOY’s Web site, the company points out that the devices are not meant to be used as a stop-smoking solution, as in “kicking the habit.” However, the FAQs they present are a pretty interesting read.

Head over to Wired.com this morning and you’ll see an amazing article. Inventor of the Segway has dedicated the last two years to research and development with the Department of Defense. The agenda: develop a robotic prosthetic arm that is strong enough to hold heavy objects, light enough to weigh as much as a real arm, delicate enough to pick up a grape without crushing it.

The amazing part is they did just that. The even bigger part is the arm is fully controllable by the person wearing it. Click on the link for videos and more info on this wonder of modern day technology.

Dean Kamen’s Robot Arm Grabs More Publicity