If you ever watched the Exo Squad cartoon, or loved the alien vs. Sigourney Weaver in huge mech armor fight then you’ll appreciate today’s post.

Lockheed Martin, has developed an exo skeleton set that could greatly impact the duties of US soldiers. LM states the reason behind developing the technology, “Dismounted Soldiers often carry heavy combat loads that increase the stress on the body leading to potential injuries. With a HULC exoskeleton, these loads are transfered to the ground through powered titanium legs without loss of mobility.”

Here are some specs for the exoskeleton suit:

• Range: 1 hour walk at 3 mph per 4 lbs of batteries
• Payload: Can carry up to 200 lbs; can carry front and back loads
• Max Speed: 7 mph for long duration; 10 mph burst speed
• Fits Soldiers between 5’4” and 6’2”
• HULC can be used as the backbone for integrated systems that include armor, heating or cooling systems, sensors and other custom attachments.

The coolest feature the suit has, is the ability to add systems to the suit. I’m thinking dual, shoulder mounted machine guns for those wide spread, and open field battles. But that’s just what I run into on a daily basis.

Here’s a video of the exo skeleton in action. It’s not as sexy as the suits in Exo Squad, or a behemoth as Ripley’s mech but we’re getting there…

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If you visited Circuit City over the weekend, then as you were bargain shopping you were also witness to the last hurrah for electronics retailer. I would say that I’m sad, but with Circuit City’s business practices it’s not a huge surprise to see them go under.

It’s odd to look back through the years and see how Circuit City went from #1 in electronics to filing for bankruptcy. Awful management, and less the competitive prices will do that to a company though. I worked for Best Buy for around two years, and I’ll be the first to say that it wasn’t perfect. However, during my experiences at Circuit City they make Best Buy look like employees of the month.

During Circuit City’s liquidation process, I made a visit to the store a couple of times. Even with their ‘going out of business’ sales, there wasn’t a whole lot to show up for. CD’s, DVD’s, still selling for $10 or more. I could go to Wal-Mart and find movies cheaper than what most were going for at Circuit City’s sale.

I’ve been checking various blogs to see people’s experience at Circuit City in its final hours. Most have said that the stores have been completely emptied. Though the store I visited still had some merchandise left which will undoubtedly bee sent to a processing center for pennies on the pound.

When looking a Circuit City’s failure, I don’t think that online purchasing or the current economy can be blamed. Business’ have to realize that that awful, and inefficient practices just don’t cut it. I’m not sure if it’s where I live, but you really can’t tell we’re in a recession. The mall has been packed, and all the retail stores I’ve been in have been brimming with customers. You just have to make sure you know what you’re doing, if you want to succeed.

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This is a very interesting video of James Kakalios, a physics professor at Minnesota University. In it, he explains some of the science behind the origins, and powers of Dr. Manhattan. The character Dr. Manhattan is a character in the graphic novel The Watchmen, which is getting the big screen treatment this weekend.

Kakalios was also a consultant for the movie, and helped some of the designers with the science aspect behind Jon Osterman turning into Dr. Manhattan. Kakalios is nerd, but hey this is TechDune where everything is nerd. And nerd is cool.

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The climate of digital distribution is going through the equivalent of global warming at the moment. Most of the mainstream, and popular downloading sites are seeing a massive increase of revenue, and downloads. Gameindustry.biz conducted an interesting, and compelling interview with the CEO of Gamersgate, Theodore Bergquist.

The questions, and thoughts raised in the interview will be ones vital in the coming years. How big will digital distribution end up becoming? Will it be a brick-and-mortar killer? If so, how can the job market fluctuate to keep people working?

As I read, and research more on the subject I’ve come to the conclusion that digital distribution is banking on two things. First, and most importantly is the strength, and quality of broadband connection. As it stands now, most people run anywhere between 5mbps - 10mbps. There’s exceptions but that’s par for the course. Within that average, downloading a game around 3-4GB takes around three to four hours to complete. The strength of the content provider is another key issue as well. So, as game sizes continue to rise the strength of broadband needs to as well. Because if someone is having to wait 5+ hours for a download, why not just go to Wal-Mart and pick the game up and have it downloaded within a hour?

Another key component of for the future of digital distribution is the psychology of the consumer. The internet savvy community generally presents a skewed view when talking about the future of online media. To the online community, brick-and-mortar stores should be shaking in their boots as in five years they could become obsolete. I think the more broad market is a different matter. I was at the mall the other day and it was to watch consumers make their way through various stores. I still believe that there’s always going to be a place for the retail world.

I believe there’s something ingrained in us that loves to go out to shop. There’s nothing online that can replace being able to pick up a product and try it out yourself. Plus, there’s a social aspect to shopping. How many times have you called up friends to go to the mall? The different aspects to consumer spending I believe will never go away.

That’s not to say that digital distribution won’t have its place in the world. I think you need only look to music for a look at how the online world has drastically changed things. iTunes is now the #1 distributor of music. Of course those file sizes greatly differ from what you see for movies, and games. Therefore, I think we still have awhile before digital distribution catches on as fast as the tech world believes it will. Like with any industry, predicting the future is nearly impossible.

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