Finally you can give your drummer his walking papers. Let's be honest, he was the weak link in the band, right? From now on, all your percussive duties can be carried out by this ingenious bot, whose only duty in artificial-life is to roll around, find objects to bang on, and create funky little loops. Basically, the Yellow Drum Machine uses two microphones / sound sensors on its "head" to search out surfaces suitable for rocking, then uses two sticks to play a beat, record it, and accompany the playback. The end result is a surprisingly human -- and wiggle-inducing -- rhythm. Check the video after the break to see just how nasty this robot gets.

[Via Make]

If it wasn't yet clear to you that the age of the DIY mashup is upon us, a new set of toys from a company called BlueBox -- which let even iPod-toting tweens "enhance" their tunes by dropping beats and sound effects -- should remove any lingering doubts. The three members of the new miJam series, which all attach to standard headpone jacks - a guitar, mixing board, and electronic drumsticks -- bear little resemblance to  their non-toy counterparts, as all of the effects are triggered by buttons instead of real drumming or thrashing. Even the mixer sounds like it would be a letdown for budding DJ's, delivering canned scratches that will in no way prepare them for the beat-matching they'll being doing in a few years on their Numarks. Still, kids are pretty easily entertained, so the flashing lights and loud noises should probably hold their interest for a few minutes longer than your average gimmicky accessory. Like so many other pre-release products we bring you, we have no idea when these are coming out nor how much they'll sell for.