Honda's Exoskeletons Help You Walk Like Asimo 135
kkleiner writes "Honda has created two walking exoskeletons based on Asimo research that assist humans in walking. The Bodyweight Support Assist exoskeleton is a set of thin legs attached to a seat. Users sit on the seat and slip their feet into shoes on the robotic legs. This system supports bodyweight to assist people in walking and moving up and down steps. The other, Stride Management Assist, is a brace worn around the hips and thighs that provides added strength when flexing that joint. It's currently under development and being tested by 130 patients in the field. Both devices may prove to be valuable tools in helping the elderly maintain their mobility, assisting the disabled, and easing the stress on physical laborers."
Eek! (Score:5, Funny)
Any dude who has ever had a bike seat interact harshly with their crotch area will likely cringe when they think a little bit about this one. It's a powered crutch... that uses your crotch instead of your armpits.
Ryan Fenton
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Is this some sort of racial slur?
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It's a typo. It should read "walk like a Sim"
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Haha, I actually read the title as "Honda's Exoskeletons Help You Walk Like Asian" and thought it was wildly inappropriate.
If anime has taught me anything most Asians use mechs for transport so I think it's a very accurate title!
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Nope, it's an advertisement for the undead - 'Skeletons help you walk like Asimov'.
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Well its a fairly large, comfy seat. I have an expensive titanium railed leather seat on my commuting bike (160 AUD: I was single when I bought it). Once I slipped off a pedal and came down right on the sharp bit at the front. Christ that hurt.
At least you can't slip off this. I wonder if they have actually tried it out with somebody who can barely walk? I would hate them to fall and break half their bones.
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"It's a powered crutch... that uses your crotch instead of your armpits."
I, for one, find the idea vaguely arousing.
Ugly (Score:1)
Re:Ugly (Score:4, Funny)
Its like they've got the Wrong Trousers.
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Looks like you have a two legged spider between your legs ...
If not exciting, it is at least intriguing !
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Not even if you're 20 and unable to walk without assistance. MS sufferers will be some of the ones to benefit from this; there are two young women I know of with this condition who can barely walk even with crutches. There are a lot more conditions than being elderly that will make you need this. I would imagine a lot of men and women coming back rom Iraq and Afghanistan will need it, too.
As to the "70" thing, my dad will be 80 next year, and he still goes square dancing every Saturday night. This isn't for
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Reaction time (Score:4, Interesting)
When they mention physical laborers, I start wondering if these type of exoskeletons will restrict us in some areas too. Would I for example be able to run as fast with one as without one? What about jumping or dodging to avoid a fast moving object?
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Yeah, I figured carrying heavy objects around. But where there are heavy objects there might be falling heavy objects too.
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The solution to heavy falling objects is not "make sure all your workers can run", it's "make sure that no heavy objects are above people in the first place". Besides, if the workers are much more at risk of repetitive strain from lifting heavy things around all day, something like this is overall beneficial by reducing the main risk even if it increases other types of risk slightly.
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Now, make sure no heavy objects are generally above people at all ever in a job that involves loading trucks with an overhead crane, or pulling materials off of a pallet rack with a forklift (these racks usually go 3-5 levels high at several feet of height per level), etc, etc, etc.
In a lot of cases, "Make sure your employees are aware of their environment and know how to GTFO if something starts going wrong" is the best that can be done.
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I have worked in these environments (Pallet racks, forklifts) , and I agree that this is the best policy by far. (Except you missed the "if you like having toes, wear your safety boots, if you like having a head, wear your hard hat).
PHBs unfortunately don't agree with us. they think its more important you _sign_ that "you have watched a video, and
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If something truly heavy drops on you then steel toes and a hard hat aren't going to do much.. suppose it may be better to have your toes crimped off than to have them trapped/crushed under a container though.
I've worked with forklifts too and massive cranes moving 20 ton containers around our yard, I prefer just to not stand under the heavy things than hope a hardhat is somehow going to save me if they fall.
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Of course there's always something that the protective measure won't protect you from. The point of them is to protect you within the specified limits. Nobody ever claimed that a hard hat is going to miraculously save you from a 20-ton container to the noggin.
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If something truly heavy drops on you then steel toes and a hard hat aren't going to do much.. suppose it may be better to have your toes crimped off than to have them trapped/crushed under a container though.
Never worked around shipping containers but I did work in a hardware/ lumber yard with forklifts and heavy (enough) objects. Most people showed up day one with steel toed boots. First word of advice they got was to buy some regular, non-steel toed boots. No point in losing the whole toe when you could just have a few broken toes. We even had someone run over a steel toed boot with hot dogs in it once, sliced them pretty clean, considering the tool.
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There's a pretty broad "in between" area though, which is where a pretty large number of people work. Where something might be heavy enough to injure but not so heavy as to break neck/crimp off toes.
I work at a pipe fabrication shop (as the IT guy / part time draftsman / CIC bender programmer / etc). Owner doesn't require hardhats because there's more or less nothing high enough that it could reasonably fall on your head that isn't going to kill you outright but does require steel toes as the opposite is
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quote from one of the videos: "no jumping". obviously, the things are based on moving within some strict parameters.
however, I think they can be constructed so that it's easy to get out of them (if you need them). until they have the direct to brain interface available...
I wonder what happens if you jump (Score:2)
Does the machine start flailing your legs around uncontrollably and doing the splits?
I'd be very worried about tripping over wearing one of those things...
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I think with about 6 million dollars all of this should be faster, better, stronger, etc. You should at least be able to run 60mh, have the strength of an elephant, and best of all x-ray vision.
WTH? (Score:3, Interesting)
http://singularityhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/honda-exoskeleton-walker.jpg [singularityhub.com]
Did they really need to put a man there? I feel the pain in my nuts already.
Re:WTH? (Score:4, Interesting)
My guess is that half the target audience won't have nuts at all, while the other half may be drooping down quite a bit and so will be able to find a comfortable position for said components.
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Maybe it has an optional vibrator feature? The Walk & Wank model?
Gee you think they thought of that already? (Score:1, Insightful)
I'm amazed at some of the comments posted so far.
What happens when it gets a virus. Most likely a closed system that doesn't allow you that type of access. I highly doubt the system runs on windows. More likely a low power computer based system with little access to the programming. Doubt they would want you tinkering with that for safety reasons.
Crotch issues... the device maintains constant support when using the device. You are not bouncing up and down on it. So no, there are no crotch issues any mor
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Say this thing is widely integrated and alot of people use it, because (as shown in the clip) going up stairs is such an incomfortable task that might make you sweat and give up going upstairs. While you sit down, feeling like a failure because you were defeated by a stairway.
I do realize, this is thought for less mobile people or perhaps revalidation, but with a "cool"-factor like the segway, just imagine people not using their bodies anymore, no muscle-development
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That's just not going to happen. You can get a Segway for a few grand. My dad was in power wheelchairs for the last 12 years of his life. His last two cost $25,000. Each. These exoskeletons will be a lot more. No one is going to buy them just because "They're cool." Insurance companies are going to buy them for people who actually need them.
Does it make you do that weird Asimo walk? (Score:3, Funny)
The one with the legs a bit too bent and like you have no calf muscles?
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Humor. Lost on some people.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASoCJTYgYB0&feature=youtube_gdata_player [youtube.com]
Honda? Meh. (Score:1, Interesting)
Honda is quite far behind in this technology.
http://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/robotsuithal/
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Perhaps Honda is late to the party with this one, but you'll note that the link you've provided points to a suit called HAL, made by Cyberdyne.
You think that the ball-cupping of the Honda suit is bad?
- Alrighty, let's pick up this heavy box.
- I'm sorry John, I can't let you do that.
- Wait, what? Why? Hold on, my name isn't John.
- Target acquired.
*Bend* *Bend* *Fold* CRRRRUNCH! Aaaiiirrrghh!!
-Terminated.
Excellent (Score:4, Funny)
I've always wanted to walk through a sim city as a sim.
Only old people (Score:1)
become crazy mechas in Japan
That's all fine and good... (Score:5, Funny)
But can you toss an alien queen out an airlock with it??? Inquiring minds want to know!
Lazy Fat People..... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Lazy Fat People..... (Score:4, Funny)
Well it is a Japanese product and I doubt they have the same issues. What they do have is a huge number of really old people. If it gets used by obese people in western countries then we can take comfort from the short battery life. Maybe it should come with a complaining voice. Load limit exceeded...
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What they do have is a huge number of really old people...
Er, not as many as they thought they had... [guardian.co.uk]
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The most interesting thing from that article I think is the last line: "The government said the findings would have a minimal impact on longevity figures, which are based on census data collated during home visits. In addition, men over 98 and women over 103 are not factored into life expectancy calculations."
Would it really skew the averages that much to include everybody?
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Not to sound to cruel, but I see this being overused more by people who are simply lazy. Every time to goto a store, I see overweight folks using the electric karts to scoot them selves around so they can fill their baskets with oreos and ice cream
Those fat people really need those scooters. Carrying around 300-400 pounds every day for a decade will ruin the leg's various joints. It isn't laziness, it's freedom from pain. But I guess you're all for making people suffer.
That and old people..... I always tell
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I'm genetically thin; I can eat anything I want and not gain an ounce. I'm not particularly athletic; the most exercizse I get is walking (I like to walk), and I do damned little of that when it's wintertime or in the blazing heat of the summer. When I went on Paxil years ago I gained forty pounds, which promptly disappeared when I stopped taking them. Hell, I had Burger King for lunch today, and they brag about how obesity inducing their "food" is.
I know people who exercise more than me and eat far less wh
Cyberpunk Solo of Fortune. (Score:3, Funny)
This reminds me a lot of an advertisement in the Solo of Fortune magazine released for the Cyberpunk pen & paper RPG.
"Russian cyberleg not pretty, but no matter when kick hole in tank, yes?"
http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showbook&bookid=1106 [pen-paper.net] This one. Very funny read.
Is it just me? (Score:2)
It seems like with this machine, you are just one software bug away from castration.
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It seems like with this machine, you are just one software bug away from castration.
Yes, it's just you.
Well.... (Score:3, Funny)
...that's all fine and well, but can it make you walk like Awesom-o? [wikipedia.org]
I can already walk like Asimo. (Score:1, Funny)
By myself, without any add-on.
What I cannot do is walk like Michael Jackson.
When he was alive, I mean.
CP etc. (Score:2)
I can see applications for these kind of devices in physio/therapeutic settings, where for example kids with cerebral palsy, spasticity, and incoherent/underdeveloped motor skills in general can learn how to move properly. The device can provide a restrictive function (prevent limbs or torso flailing around uncontrolled...passive devices like braces are already used for that) and simultaneously provide an external "correct" way of moving about. Basically teach the body/brain the proper way of moving (such a
Walk like an Egyptian... (Score:2)
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And Honda spelled Dr. Asimov's name wrong!
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And Honda spelled Dr. Asimov's name wrong!
Advanced Step in Innovative MObility
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Yes, I know what the backronym stands for. If it were a true acronym it would be ASIM rather than ASIMO. But when the fifth generation comes out I guess it will be AsimoV.
If it helps me walking... (Score:2, Funny)
...like that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASoCJTYgYB0 [youtube.com]
No thanks ;)
Wrong trousers, Grommit! (Score:1)
Well, well. (Score:2)
I can see the use in many areas (Score:1)
I'd use it differently (Score:5, Interesting)
As a person with some mobility issues due to nerve damage, I can certainly see myself using such a device as this. After watching the selected movies of it in action, I could visualize how the forces that this machine exerts, would assist cases like mine. I have difficulty controlling my legs. I know this machine doesn't actually make the decisions about muscle control, but it still would help a segment of people with some nerve damage that affects the force and feedback required for steady motion. If some of the forces required to walk were reduced with an aid, then control would be improved. You see, as you exert more force you become more unstable because the nerves to fire the muscles aren't firing strong enough, no do they react or give feedback the same way, as those loads increase. Lighter loads are easier. Remove some of that muscular force required to stand and walk and you would become more stable. It's not just about simply removing dead weight from the legs. With this I would focus less about how hard I need to exert those forces and far more on the control for balance and movement if half the strength needed was removed. It would make a big improvement to stability control. That makes a huge difference for people with some level of nerve damage in getting around safely without stumbling etc. I don't think most people see it this way when they look at this device in action. It's not all about strength.
I wouldn't want to experiment w my own exoskeleton (Score:2)
Imagine if you made it so if you pull the arm to one side. Then instead of stopping, the device kept moving you arm around your body, and ripped off a limb. You can't dismember yourself doing code. Exoskeleton development could be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.
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"Imagine if you made it so if you pull the arm to one side. Then instead of stopping, the device kept moving you arm around your body, and ripped off a limb. "
That's why you design in adjustable POSITIVE MECHANICAL STOPS.
Analogy: Cars are complex, guardrails less so, for appropriate reasons.
Acrobatics (Score:1)
not new (Score:1)
this came out about a year ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp4XUvgqkbU [youtube.com], and the hip robot a year before.
Well... (Score:2)
Who wants to bet that the largest client will be (Score:1)
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The military. I for one don't welcome our new robot overlords.
These contraptions are nothing more than proof of concept. The military as well as police and rescue will be the largest sector to purchase man amplification rigs. Read the book Starship Troopers by Heinlein. This is where it's headed.
Firefighters and rescue workers can bring the equipment with them, jaws of life, fire retardant, medical supplies, stretcher and be able to move in relative safety.
The videos showed two different versions of walking machines, yet how many people realize that they are separate
Walk like asimo??? (Score:3, Funny)
Is this a joke?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTlV0Y5yAww [youtube.com]
What's next?
Swim like an Anvil(tm)?
Fly like a Potato Sack(tm)?
Extreme Motorcycle (Score:2)
I immediately thought of what it would look like with a pair of thin bicycle tires between the ankles, and additional tires (and supporting enhanced robotic arms) strapped to my forearms. Make the exo suit into a full body resting couch, then skitter across concrete like a water bug in a pond.
I hope... (Score:2)
...they've improved it, because I wouldn't want to fall like Asimo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASoCJTYgYB0 [youtube.com]
Althought the seat isn't polished aluminum (Score:2)
What I really want to know (Score:2)
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Well, I wonder what will happen when the exoskeleton will be infected by a virus. Same question with the pacemakers and other stuff assisting life.
Given that all the stupid computers in hospitals are running windows, this threat is actually already there, and does not seem to have caused many problems so far. Yet, I'm still very anxious to see these things more and more popular.
Re:First exosceleton post (Score:5, Interesting)
My X-Rays were delayed once because a virus got into the radiology systems. The images came on CD with handy DLLs which I would not have touched even if I used windows.
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My X-Rays were delayed once because a virus got into the radiology systems. The images came on CD with handy DLLs which I would not have touched even if I used windows.
Another reason to NEVER use Windows for anything even remotely important.
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"Well, I wonder what will happen when the exoskeleton will be infected by a virus"
Just something like this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrong_Trousers
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Given that all the stupid computers in hospitals are running windows, this threat is actually already there, and does not seem to have caused many problems so far. Yet, I'm still very anxious to see these things more and more popular.
With a year's experience working in a public hospital purchasing office I found (without searching) many critical security flaws in the processes. For example, the European Procurement Announcement agency regularly sends catalogs of EU-wide procurements in CD's that require Windows and autorun to function. The CD would start a web server off the disk and launch Internet Explorer to interface with the server. In other words, we regularly executed programs from CD's we got by mail in a very simple (and easy t
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Well, I wonder what will happen when the exoskeleton will be infected by a virus.
The user will be like the proverbial spastic who walked past a magnet factory and kicked himself to death.
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Most of the people I see here in the States with "mobility problems" are grotesquely fat.
What load capacity will these things have?
The movie Wall-E predicts the future of the human race pretty well, IMO.
We already have a million big blobs on little scooters riding around Wal-Mart buying Twinkies.
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I don't think you're going to see lardasses using exoskeletons within your lifetime, at least.
Exoskeletons are not going to be cheap, and insurance (of any sort) isn't going to pay for them just because you're too slovenly to lay off the Ho-Hos [wikipedia.org]. In fact, I think that's part of the problem with devices like these: Insurance companies want to be convinced of "medical necessity" before they pony up the money for medical devices. It would not surprise me at all if insurance companies denied claims for the ex
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With more and more devices allowing and requiring firmware updates, it wouldn't be so surprising to have to hook up these legs to a computer occasionally to upgrade the control software. This would leave it open to attack in many ways. Many people who bought the movie Avatar complained about the need for a firmware update just to watch the movie, when you have software controlling your leg movement (or assisting, whatever) what is to say that there won't be bug fixes, or even modifications to the software
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With more and more devices allowing and requiring firmware updates, it wouldn't be so surprising to have to hook up these legs to a computer occasionally to upgrade the control software. This would leave it open to attack in many ways. Many people who bought the movie Avatar complained about the need for a firmware update just to watch the movie, when you have software controlling your leg movement (or assisting, whatever) what is to say that there won't be bug fixes, or even modifications to the software for a persons personal leg gait.
I think you're looking at this like it's an electronic device. For purposes of testing, it's not. It's a medical device. If there's some bug in the controls, they're most likely going to be found and fixed in clinical trials. This isn't like a drug, where different people might have unpredictable (or at least, difficult to predict) adverse events. All this skeleton has to do is a) hold the patient's weight, and b) walk. I could foresee a desire to make the exoskeleton walk faster, but that's a mechani
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How do you suppose they program the unit for people with different length legs? Or people with limited range of motion?
There are many uses for software updates, unfortunately, there are still also reasons against. I was just mentioning that it is entirely possible for there to need to be updates, and some reasons why. Why would you make everyone buy a new exoskeleton when a simple firmware update would fix the issue? These legs could cost near $10k, think of it more like a car, you don't throw away your
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How do you suppose they program the unit for people with different length legs? Or people with limited range of motion?
They would be pre-programmed, just as wheelchairs are custom-designed for different sizes, shapes, and range of motion for people. Different lengths of legs isn't a programmatic problem, anyway. That's a design issue. Naturally, the exoskeleton is going to have to be fitted for each person.
Why would you make everyone buy a new exoskeleton when a simple firmware update would fix the issue?
Personally, I wouldn't force anyone to buy a new exoskeleton for an update. But it's not an uncommon practice to make someone buy new software if they want the new features. And there's more than enough examples in t
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Which, as the mess regarding medical tubes shows [unreasonable.org], does not mean that it is subject to meaningful safety regulations.
I think the medical tubing issue is a red herring, in terms of safety. Plugging the wrong tube into the wrong device is user error, not a problem with the safety of the tubes. The nurse in question needs to be paying attention. If you look at the original article [nytimes.com], the mix-up highlighted was truly moronic. Even a nurse on his/her first day of work should be alert enough not to connect a feeding tube to an IV.
In the case of the exoskeleton, all the legs need to do is support the patient's weight, and walk
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A design that allows such a user error to occur is indeed a safety issue with the equipment. Even skilled people in perfect environments have lapses, and nurses are rarely working in perfect environments. If you don't account for that, your human factors work is flawed -- in this case, quite literally fatally flawed.
There have been cases where surgeons have accidentally left an implement inside a patient after surgery. Is that a safety problem with the implement involved? I wouldn't think so.
I am just speculating here, but I would not be surprised if some para-athletes are doing some pretty heavy adjustments on their chairs.
Maybe so -- but it's not like everyone takes their car to the dealer, or even to an ASE certified mechanic. I wouldn't want to buy a exoskeleton that could only be dealer-serviced any more than I'd want to buy a car whose hood was locked and could only be opened by the dealer.
Yes, but this isn't a car. A wheelchair is the equivalent of your legs. Would you want just anyone tinkering with them? You might not wan to take them to a specific dealer, but you'd want them to at least go to a qualified mechanic. It would be a very serious design flaw if your roommate could prank your firmware while you sl
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Agreed.
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Obligatory webcomic links:
http://www.vanvonhunter.com/vvh124.html [vanvonhunter.com]
http://www.vanvonhunter.com/vvh125.html [vanvonhunter.com]
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