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Wall-E, BigDog, Nao, PackBot break into Robot Hall of Fame

The people have spoken and the machines are immortalized.

More than 17,000 humans voted online for the 2012 inductees to the Robot Hall of Fame, and they chose a mixture of friendly and terrifying bots, depending on your perspective.

Come on down, Wall-E, BigDog, Nao, and PackBot. You've earned a place among the stars.

Although the 12 nominees were selected by robotics experts, it was the first time that popular votes chose the inductees to Carnegie Mellon University's hall of immortal robots. … Read more

The 404 1,152: Where there's no basement in the Alamo (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Katie interviews DC Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee at New York Comic Con.

- Check out Katie's new app Splatrpult, available today for a free download.

- The New Yorker traces emojis back to the beginning.

- Real apples branded with Apple's logo.… Read more

Anonymous: Anti-surveillance protest tomorrow

Anonymous is planning a global protest tomorrow.

In a campaign called Operation Big Brother, the Worldwide Day Of Protest Against Surveillance appears to be plotting action from citizens in over a dozen countries in an organized effort against government use of surveillance systems such as Europe's INDECT and America's Trapwire.

Using a Google Map to pull in and track protesters by location, Operation Big Brother is supposed to visibly demonstrate what's going on during the protest. Yet little is known about how it will be implemented other than the suggestion, "IRL protest (...) unofficial information and defacing.&… Read more

The 404 1,149: Where everyone should get their Big Exit (podcast)

While we all patiently wait for Justin Yu's airline troubles to dissipate, CNET editors David Carnoy and Ty Pendlebury join Jeff on the show to chat about the world of self-publishing, the best places to find FLAC music, Microsoft Surface, Xbox Music, and the places you're most likely to break your iPhone.

Topics from today's show:

- Check out David's new book "The Big Exit." Or, for a chance to win a digital or hardcover copy, send an e-mail with "The Big Exit" in the subject line to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com.

- Microsoft Surface dates and prices

- Don't worry, the iPad Mini will come in just 24 easy-to-understand versions.

- Xbox Music is coming. Don't call it Zune!

- Ty's FLAC music-finding guide

- Where you're most likely to break your iPhone. … Read more

NASA: Cookie Monster is big on other planets

While Big Bird might be feeling a bit vulnerable to winding up on a list of endangered fictional species of late, "Sesame Street" colleague Cookie Monster appears to be expanding its range by at least 48 million miles, showing up recently on Mercury.… Read more

Friday Poll: How much of the debate did you follow on Twitter?

Twitter launched a new star during the presidential debate on Wednesday, but he wasn't wearing a suit and tie. Big Bird from "Sesame Street" was the subject of an explosion of tweets after the topic of cutting funding to PBS came up between President Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney.

There was a point during the debate where the phrase "Big Bird" was tweeted 17,000 times a minute. That's some serious action for a fictional creature. He also spawned a slew of satirical accounts. This all just goes to show how Twitter … Read more

Big brouhaha over Big Bird

Mitt Romney ruffled a few feathers during the first presidential debate with suggestions that days may be numbered for Big Bird of "Sesame Street" fame, hatching a social media backlash and in turn illustrating the power of sites like Twitter in politics.

A number of satirical Big Bird accounts popped up on Twitter after the Republican presidential nominee implied the famed yellow bird would meet an untimely demise, along with PBS subsidies, if he were elected president.

"100 Retweets and I'm going to make my nest outside Romney's bedroom window," read one tweet from … Read more

A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for @FiredBigBird

Twitter memes can come out of nowhere and take the world by storm. Such was the case last night with the creation of @FiredBigBird, an account started in apparent protest of Mitt Romney's promise in the presidential debate to axe PBS' funding.

Quickly rocketing to more than 20,000 followers, @FiredBigBird was the Big Bird-related ID of choice for "Sesame Street" fans upset at the Republican presidential nominee's threat to the TV network and the tall, yellow feathered star of that hit kids show.

But today was not such a good day for @FiredBigBird. Only hours … Read more

On Twitter, PBS stands up to Romney after 'Big Bird' quip

Proving a point that Twitter made yesterday that the microblogging service gives brands a powerful way to build loyalty and find new customers, PBS today purchased a promoted tweet tied to one of the hottest terms to come out of last night's presidential debate, "Big Bird."

According to BuzzFeed, the purchase comes as a response by the network to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's suggestion that he would cut funding to PBS as a way of reducing government spending, despite his personal affinity for Big Bird, one of the main characters on the hit PBS children'… Read more