I eagerly await Disney’s newest animated feature called Wall-E , due for release on June 27. This is a tale of a maintenance robot left to fend for himself for 500 years after a mass human evacuation of Earth. And then the aliens come… what could possibly be more fun? Read more

Note: This is an advertised position not affiliated with Robot in the Woods

Description: RobotSnob

We’re looking for a robot obsessed freak who can carry Robot Snob into the 23rd century. Read more

The folks over at Tips Tech have a story about robot wind fan named Daisy. Robot in the Woods recently published Michael Ugulini’s Days on the Wind about giant robot wind fans.

A Cryptozoological Behavioral Specialist, Virgil Smackey, captured a series of blurry, but unmistakable, photographs of a bigfoot, near Buffalo, NY. According to a nonchalant Smackey, “I don’t think I have ever seen a robot fight a bigfoot. Wow! A rare treat.” Scientists from the National Cryptozoological Service and The International Society of Roboticists are examining these photos for authenticity but are otherwise detecting clues into the socio-dynamics and history of the robot and Bigfoot feud. Territoriality is the most widely assumed cause for these decades long battles for supremacy.

Yuri’s Night is a celebration of the first man in space, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Art Whino, in Alexandria, is throwing a party in his honor and will have and Art Exhibit, Space Burlesque, Bands, Stoli Vodka, and Costume Contests. April 12 @ 8:00PM. Tickets are $20. Should be fun!!

April 12, 1961 Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin embarked on the historic first manned space flight. Twenty years later on 12 April 1981, the US launched the first space shuttle flight. We think that’s something worth celebrating! Every year on April 12th Yuri’s Night parties are held all around the world; it’s like the St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo for nerds.

Visit Yuri’s Night for a list of worldwide parties.

FYI: I came across this contest today for a short story (2000-6000 words) contest sponsored by The National Space Society (NSS) and Hadley Rille Books. They are looking for science fiction stories that show the adventure of lunar settlement and accepting submissions for stories that deal with humanity’s return to, and colonization of the Moon. Visit www.nss.org or www.hadleyrillebooks.com for updates story guidelines and rules. The deadline for submissions is June 15, 2008.

I love some of the ideas posed by the editors:

• How have we set about establishing a lunar base, and then a colony?
• What are living conditions like?
• What is the lunar wilderness like? What kind of exploring to settlers do?
• What are the buildings like and how do people get around the lunar surface?
• What kinds of transportation do they use to travel to and from the Moon?
• What kind of society lives there? What are the challenges to human social structures?
• Are lunar colonies self-sufficient or do they depend on Earth?
• What kind of industries exist and how do the colonists make use of lunar resources?
• Does the colony resemble Las Vegas or is it more like a science outpost?
• Will there be settlements on the far side — a radio telescope array, perhaps?
• Is the colony located near one of the poles where miners extract ice from the permanently shadowed areas?
• Why have we established a colony on the Moon?

Ever read “The 9 Billion Names of God” by Arthur C. Clarke? In this story, Clarke imagines a number-crunching supercomputer generating all possible combinations of letters/symbols in which God can be named. The story can be found here.

Artists and authors of any age, level of expertise, medium, and style are encouraged to participate in a similar project. Its a fun new portfolio development and art commissioning project called Robot in the Woods.

I am developing a website where all images are renderings of the phrase “Robot in the Woods” by different artists/styles. I have been conducting little experiments and when I mention to friends, everybody conjures up something different in their mind (what did you think of?) I envision this as a tool for the self-representing artist to display and promote thier portfolio.