Though it seems like the weather's warming up now, think back to February when Mother Nature was piling on the snow with callous indifference. Feel that bitter cold on your face, that strain in your lower back. Now meet RoboPlow.

This is the idea that every geek has had, but the guys at IdeaLaboratories were just fed up enough to actually see it through. The RoboPlow sports a 50" blade, six wheel drive, and a bad attitude when it comes to all things snow.

In fact, watching this formidable machine slice its way through snowbanks, I'm wondering if the RoboPlow isn't a little too powerful, if we didn't let this arms race with Mother Nature push us to create a technology that should never have been created. Watching this video and seeing the RoboPlow barrel down the driveway, I felt a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach that it was just going to keep going into the street, plowing straight on through the traffic.

RoboPlow, like RoboCop before him, has a singular directive. In this case it's to annihilate snow. But I'm sure somewhere in one of those RoboCop sequels there was a lesson to be learned about the dangers of giving robots too much power.

You can't help but wonder: in a post-snowpocalyptic world, will the RoboPlows have any reason not to plow us? [Reddit]

In his hundred-word inquiry to Steve Jobs as to whether or not the iPad will tether to the iPhone, Jezper Söderlund started by saying, "I'll keep it short." Steve's response kept it really short: "No." Updated: Is Jobs wrong?

OK, Steve's answer hardly comes as a surprise, but I'm always tickled when there's a report of Steve Jobs responding personally to someone's e-mail. I imagine him sitting on the can, flicking idly on his iPhone, and finally deciding to open that massive folder of his inbox where all the e-mail from the plebs gets redirected. Oh, what's this?

I'll keep it short.

I'm Jezper from Sweden, a long time Apple fan, currently about to replace the very last computer at home with a brand spanking new iMac i7. I'm also awaiting the release of the iPad. However, I have one question:

Will the wifi-only version somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?

Two devices, based on the same OS, with already built-in technology to share one data plan suggests a secondary contract could possibly be redundant.

From the look of your keynote, where the iPad sits well between my MacBook Pro and my iPhone, I was hoping the three of them could interact as seamless as possible.

All the best,
Jezper Söderlund

Whether or not he knew that Jezper was a Swedish DJ of some acclaim (he didn't), King Steve couldn't be bothered to type more than a single word before he rose up off his throne.

No.

Sent from my iPhone

What do we learn from this? 1. You won't be able to skimp on an iPad data plan by tethering to your iPhone. 2. There's still the outside chance that someday "sjobs@apple.com" will pop up before your eyes, delivering a disappointingly terse (but change of pants-requiring nonetheless) message directly to your inbox. [9 to 5 Mac]

Update: Assuming his response is the real deal, we're wondering if Steve might be a little bit confused about how his precious gadgets actually work. The iPhone officially supports tethering, just not in the United States. But we can't see any reason why the iPhone shouldn't be able to share its connection with the iPad on international carriers that do support tethering (seeing as DJ Jezper is from Sweden, he could well be a costumer of one of them). In any event, it seems like Steve's answer isn't only short but perhaps just plain wrong.

Learning to play the piano has lingered on my to-do list for a long time. But watching this video of the Clavilux 2000 keyboard generating a spectacular light show in real time, I might have to make it a priority.

The Clavilux is a digital keyboard rigged up to a projector, letting the audience see the music they're hearing. And it really is the music they're seeing: each stripe of light corresponds directly to a key that is struck, the individual bands representing the velocity and length of each note played.

The notes are assigned colors, as well, giving a visual overview of the harmony of the piece. Play a note that's out of key and its color will contrast with the bigger picture.

The player can switch between two types of visualization. A 2D view results in the colorful barcode seen above while a 3D view resembles the cockpit view of some spaceship jumping into hyperdrive.

The Clavilux 2000 is the brainchild of Jonas Heuer, the same guy who put together the Noteput, an awesome interactive musical table. Music has always been a joy to listen to, but Heuer's work lets the other senses get in on the action, to spectacular effect. [Infosthetics]

Feeling shame in the shower can arrive for many reasons, but here's a new one that centers on water conservation. It's called the Waterpebble, and the LED illuminates red, yellow or green depending on the amount of water used. Simple!

So simple, in fact, that even a crying, shame-ridden man in the shower could use it to accurately gauge whether or not he's using just enough, or too much water. Hey, it's better than wrinkly gingers telling you that you've been in there too long. [Waterpebble via Design Blog]

Kojiro here is the work of Tokyo's JSK Robotics Laboratory. With his 60 degrees of motion, provided by a network of Super Effective! artificial muscles and tendons, he'll utterly destroy Asimo in the inevitable slow-motion robot battle in their future.

I say slow motion because, I mean, look at this thing. He's getting more hand holding help than grandpa at the retirement home. Hell, even grandpa doesn't need someone fiddling with an original PlayStation controller and a UI to get him to perform basic tasks. Like turning at the waist (see video).

Geezer speed aside, it's the musculature that's the takeaway here. Modeled after human muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments, the system is incredibly flexible for a robot, and its 60 degrees of motion bests the aforementioned Asimo by a good 26 degrees. It's also lighter than your traditional humanoid robot, which designers content will make it more friendly when humans have to interact with it.

Mental note: Lighter materials also mean one can chuck it farther, perhaps off a cliff, should "more friendly" actually be "more deadly" if and when it goes haywire. [IEEE Spectrum via Engadget]

Things I thought of while viewing the solar eclipse-inspired Nissyoku lamp: GLaDOS, a glowing tennis ball and, oh yeah, a solar eclipse:

The designer says that unlike those fleeting solar eclipses we see in the sky, this lamp lasts for up to 10 years.

It's also capable of morphing from one simple shape to the next, and can be suspended from the ceiling, a la a chandelier, or placed on a table, where it will neither burn out your eyes nor damage your table.

The light source, sadly, is not fusion or even fission, but a 5W LED in each of the two panels. [Igendesign via Design Blog]

If Matt had to change his pants over the Valve Apple teasers the other day, what will today's wardrobe malfunction be? I only ask because the latest GameInformer confirms Portal 2 is coming to Mac.

Scheduled for a fall release, Portal 2 will be a full-fledged Portal experience distributed to the Mac, presumably, by an all-but-confirmed Steam service for that platform. [MacRumors]

It was only a matter of time before some compulsive texter found a way to get text messaging and driving together again. Called the Road Train, it's mean to save fuel, but we know it's true purpose, don't we? [BBC]

The Road Train is based on drafting, that age-old technique that NASCAR drivers use to make passing easier and that those suicidal Mythbusters proved was legit when they coasted 10 feet behind a big rig at constant velocity.

In this case, however, the system is automated. Cars opt in and opt out at the driver's convenience, forming a moving, amorphous "train" of vehicles that maintain constant speed and distance form one another thanks to software.

Unlike many cool ideas/concepts, this one is actually being tested, right now, in Europe by Ricardo UK.

The three-year trial will see seven wireless-linked vehicles traveling the continent as part of an attempt to achieve a 20% fuel consumption reduction per vehicle. Reduced travel times and congestion are also goals.

And don't forget texting. We may soon return to a world where texting while driving is just obnoxious, not deadly, as it is today. [BBC via Treehugger]

This fully-functional wheelchair comes complete with, well, everything I could possibly think of that's necessary for something to be called a Steampunk Professor X chair. Vodka cranberry dispenser? Yes. Booming Arduino/Adafruit sound effects? Sure! Working smokestack? Why, yes!

Better still, there's video of the creator tooling around a model railroad museum, confusing and fascinating bystanders with his booze-dealing contraption of wonder. And yes, builder Daniel Valdez looks like Professor X:

Says Valdez on some of the specifics:

What you get when you mix an 1875 Eastlake Victorian platform rocking chair with a Permobil C300 Power wheelchair and a few trips to an antique store. Toss in screaming digital amped sound system, an event triggered sound processor, oh and a portable smoke machine!

Indeed. As for my thoughts on the chair, I'm just half-glad something called "steampunk" actually does...something, for once. [Flickr via Adafruit - Thanks, Philip]

This mod turns the PSP into a pretty cool looking little VU Meter (that's volume meter, to you non-audiophiles). So dust off that PSP kiddo, it's time to breathe life into that fledgling portable once again!

The hack is the work of "foo foo" and it works as advertised. Spin up an audio track, and watch the little lights pump up in down with the levels.

It's no Korg DS-10, but then again few things are. At the very least this hack would provide you with literally minutes of fun as you wait for Sony to get its act together and release the mythical PSPad, PSP Phone, or whatever it ends up being. [Foo foo via Engadget]

Normally a phone like the Motorola Backflip wouldn't get much fanfare when it appears on a retail web site, but this is AT&T's first Android phone (of many), so let's give it, say, 40 words or so, shall we? [AT&T]

We saw some renders and stock photography shots of the new Panasonic DMC-G2 and G10 earlier this morning, and right on the heels of that coverage are these real-deal hands-on shots. Ogle at your convenience, courtesy the Photography Blog:

[Photography Blog - Thanks, Mark]

Will the next iPhone have video conferencing or won't it? Does anyone really care? If you do, then feast on this, the latest rumor: European mobile provide O2 lists "video calls" as a "key feature" in the "iPhone 4G."

Why all the quotation marks? Because, to coin a UK term, it's more than likely "bollocks." Most likely.

You see, as is the case with all but confirmed, but still technically unconfirmed products—especially Apple products—there's a degree of white lying that goes on in the retail space. Feature sets are often printed on web sites as best guesses or wishful thinking, at which point they are dutifully taken down by stenographers like myself and others, and posted here. Then it's your job, as the reader, to call me a rumor monger. So true! And, a living.

Nevertheless, there's presently a long list of video conferencing rumors floating around in the Internet ether right now, so it's worth considering and debating and flaming, up until Steve Jobs takes that stage over the summer and confirms or denies...something.

Then again, just because a gadget can do something doesn't mean Apple will let it. [TUAW]