Hamburg

Robots just became a whole lot more real this week as Japanese sex dolls help dental students perfect their technique and robot armpits assault your senses. We also pay equal time to Star Wars and Star Trek merchandise, and evaluate the forefront of giant hamburger technology and America's contribution.

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HAMBURG, Germany--Sure, Miniatur Wunderland is the world's largest collection of model trains, but to describe it that way would do it a serious injustice. What it really is is a beyond-belief collection of fantastic dioramas depicting scenes from the Swiss and Austrian Alps, Germany, the United States, and Scandinavia throughout which run 900 trains on the more than eight miles of tracks.

I had planned to come here as part of Road Trip 2011, because I'd read that Miniatur Wunderland had recently added a giant scale model of a working airport. And when I looked into that, I … Read more

I had thought this Apple/Microsoft warmongering was largely past. I had thought that the two just looked at each other these days like former lovers who had, as they say, moved on.

And yet here is footage from the site of the new Apple store in Hamburg. Hamburg is one of the world's more civilized cities, one that has turned into an art form the idea of being not very German.

So perhaps this is merely an act of Banskyesque social comment.

The two gentlemen who pose as construction workers seem a trifle young to be trusted with … Read more

Sometimes choice is not a good thing. For example, when presented with the opportunity to have a hot dog or a hamburger, choosing can be difficult. Perhaps location will come into play for the decision: hot dogs at the ballgame, burgers at the backyard party. Or maybe what condiments are on-hand would be the deciding factor. But for those times in the comfort of your own kitchen, with all necessary condiments in the fridge, the best option isn't either/or, but rather, both.

At least the question of how best to prepare hot dogs and hamburgers can finally be … Read more

Casio might be ripe to the world of mobile phones, but it certainly made a splash last night with a unique party for the launch of its Exilim C721, a versatile phone that combines rugged durability and a 5.1-megapixel camera in a stylish handset.

Casio canonized the launch by offering the Exilim mobile to several handpicked photographers with the challenge to use the short-form medium to document a week of their lives. Ricky Powell, Richard Kern, Dave Potes, and 11 other prominent artists were all in attendance at last night's event at the Stephen Weiss Studio in downtown … Read more

Portion control can be a bit of a problem when it comes to shaping hamburger patties. I tend to recommend a patty about the size of the palm of your hand, but when my husband follows my directions, we wind up with hamburgers about double the size I would make.

The Adjust-A-Burger makes turning out hamburgers easier and even a little faster. You just set the measurement to the burger size of your choice: your options include half-pound, one-third pound, quarter-pound, and Store.

The Adjust-A-Burger can come in handy if you want to make up a big batch of hamburger … Read more

Credit: next09

I just came back from the next09 conference in Hamburg, one of Europe's leading digital/creative/marketing forums that stands out in the conference circuit because of its unique German-international focus (bilingual program, 80 percent international attendees, many international speakers). This year's theme was "Share Economy," and the 1,300 attendees comprised of European VCs and angel investors, Web 2.0 entrepreneurs, media, creative agencies, and executives from German corporations (from BMW to Deutsche Bank to Deutsche Telekom).

In talking to many German attendees, my impression was that the German creative community shows no … Read more

There are few foods that stack up against a good ol' hamburger. There are even fewer foods (tuna salad does come to mind) that benefit more from homemade customization. While ordering a burger from your favorite burger joint may be great, there is no comparison to having one made just the way you like it. You get to put in the mix exactly what you want, from onions to green peppers, with only your pantry (and imagination) limiting the type of toppings to pile on to your personal creation.

Whether you enjoy them fried or grilled, first you gotta make '… Read more

It looks like Mark Hamburg, an Adobe Systems Photoshop and Lightroom programming guru, will be leading work to give Microsoft Windows a better user interface.

And given the dramatic user interface differences between earlier and later Adobe projects that Hamburg worked on, that raises some very intriguing possibilities.

Microsoft and Adobe Systems confirmed Hamburg's move on Monday, but at the time, Microsoft wouldn't share details beyond saying Hamburg would work on "user experience" for the company. However, Chicago photographer and Photoshop consultant Jeff Schewe, who caught a plane to California to attend Hamburg's going-away party, … Read more