Amazing 7-foot-tall Halo Elite costume is uncannily realistic

Amazing 7-foot-tall Halo Elite costume is uncannily realistic

The creatures in Halo are pretty terrifying. Big, hulking aliens, outfitted with futuristic armor and weaponry, trying to take your squad of human space marines down. And man, in person? Even more terrifying!
I mean, just look at this stunning animatronic Halo Elite costume created by effects artist Pete Mander. It looks good enough to be used in a movie. It stands over seven feet tall when fully put together, and it took many, many hours of labor to make it as incredible as it is. I salute you, Pete Mander. Check out how the costume was made in the video below.

The Navy's plan to blow up IEDs with microwaves

The Navy's plan to blow up IEDs with microwaves
Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs, are a huge problem in Iraq and Afghanistan. How should the military take care of them without damaging any people or equipment? The new strategy: microwaves.
Yes, the same microwaves that made the Hot Pocket you had for lunch so piping-hot can also be used to detonate bombs from afar. By aiming a high-powered beam of microwave radiation at a bomb, it should be possible, in theory, to cause a bomb to explode.
Of course, this would require a pretty serious amount of energy, and they'd need to know where the bombs were ahead of time. Still, any way they have of taking care of these things without anyone getting hurt is OK with me.

How to fix the iPhone 4 'holding' problem

Image of the Day: How to fix the iPhone 4 'holding' problem 
If you're following the iPhone 4, you've probably heard about its issues with left-handed calling. Since the antenna is built into the edge of the phone, it's a seemingly tough problem to tackle. But as one Photoshopper shows, the solution is actually pretty simple.

Triple-layered solar panels soak up double the energy

Solar panels are a great technology, yanking free energy out of the air in non-polluting way. But unfortunately, they generally only catch about 15% of the suns rays, making them painfully inefficient. Now a new kind of panel aims to bump that up. [Read more...]

Bids start at $35,000 for this street-legal Tron lightcycle


No need to wait for the release of Tron Legacy in December — now you can turn science fiction into science fact with a street-legal Tron Legacy lightcycle. Built from the exact specs of the movie props, there will only be five of these in existence, all lit up with LEDs and neon that will certainly be the envy of all the other motorcyclists.

Powered by the buyer's choice of a 1000cc gasoline engine or high-powered electric motor, the bikes will have custom-built 22-inch hubless wheels, and the builder even promises to include an authentic Tron helmet. You'll have to put together that lit-up fire suit yourself, a small price to pay for this dazzling authenticity. [Read more...]

Who is SALT ? a hotty NY femme fatale - accused Russian spy

Anna Chapman
Anna Chapman has been called the femme fatale of a spy case with Cold War-style intrigue — a striking redhead and self-styled entrepreneur who dabbled in real estate and mused on her Facebook page, "if you can dream, you can become it."
Chapman's American dream, U.S. authorities say, was a ruse.
The 28-year-old Chapman, they say, was a savvy Russian secret agent who worked with a network of other operatives before an FBI undercover agent lured her into an elaborate trap at a coffee shop in lower Manhattan.
Though the U.S. has branded the operatives as living covertly, at least in Chapman's case, she had taken care to brand herself publicly as a striver of the digital age, passionately embracing online social networking by posting information and images of herself for the world to see. [Read more...]

Tiny flying robots hang on any wall, the better to spy on you

Tiny flying robots hang on any wall, the better to spy on you
Mirko Kovac's micro air vehicles (or MAVs) could literally be a fly on the wall thanks to his addition of a pair of barbed legs. These legs flip out and allow lightweight, autonomous aircraft to dig into any surface and hang there — even concrete. It could revolutionize the way MAVs behave.
Kovac, an engineering student at Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, pictures the wall-grabbing MAVs as working best in swarms, but for good rather than evil. During a natural disaster or, worse, a man-made one, Kovac's agile 'bots would be able to perch themselves all over the rubble and destroyed walls, acting as a thousand pairs of eyes for the rescuers. Of course, a technology such as this would undoubtedly find surveillance and even military applications.
The spear-tipped arms do more than just allow the diminutive aircraft to stick to walls, too. The force of the arms deploying is actually enough to slow a MAV down, meaning that no further augmentations to the robot would be necessary. That's pretty key as a cost-saving measure, but it also helps keep an already small MAV from being too complicated and heavy.
See the system in action for yourself in the video below.

NASA hands down a secret mission to… three high schoolers?

NASA hands down a secret mission to… three high schoolers?

Large Hadron Collider serves up slick beats alongside physics

Large Hadron Collider serves up slick beats alongside physics
What will the end of the world sound like? Surprisingly musical, considering the tunes are being cranked out by a 17-mile ring nearly 600 feet underground. That's right, the Large Hadron Collider is adding "musician" to a resume that includes "world's most powerful particle accelerator."
The music itself — really no more than a series of beeps — isn't random. It's a byproduct of the many scans performed by the LHC's Atlas detector, which functions a little bit like radar under the right conditions.
"The detector is divided up into very thin wedges and a note is played if there is a track or cluster within the wedge," reads a description from LHC researchers. "The pitch is determined by how much transverse momentum (for tracks) or energy (for clusters) is deposited in each wedge."
The result speaks for itself. The LHC could have its own record deal in the ambient techno scene. Check it out for yourself here.

Your green energy car of the future is an egg with wheels

Your green energy car of the future is an egg with wheels
Making its debut at the Automotive Next Industry Fair in Tokyo, the egg-like ULV (Ultra Lightweight Vehicle), one-person electric car offers us a rather comical view of what sustainable city transportation may look like in the near future.
Developed by Waseda University's Nagata Laboratory, the vehicle has a 400 watt motor and can reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. According to the creators of the ULV, the car was designed to show us what a motorized vehicle design would look like if approached from a biker's low-carbon footprint point of view. You can see video of the ULV on display here.

Google scrambles to save Internet license in China

China is threatening to revoke Google's business license over the company's decision to redirect Chinese traffic to computers in Hong Kong that are not governed by the communist government's censorship practices.
The latest skirmish between Beijing and the Internet search leader threatens to cripple the company in one of the Web's biggest markets.
Google agreed Tuesday to dismantle the virtual bridge to its Hong site that was created in March, but it was unclear whether that will be enough to stay in business in China. The license is required for the company to continue providing its mapping and music services in China. [Read more...]

Airport scanners are totally going to kill us

More doctors are sounding the alarm over the new full-body scanners becoming popular in airports.
Several doctors are expressing concerns that full-body scanners may indeed deliver a low level of energy as advertised — reportedly this is why they’re “safe” compared to X-ray machines — but they worry that all the energy becomes dangerously concentrated on and directly beneath the skin, particularly at the face and neck, delivering much more radiation to the traveler than previously thought.

The upshot: You may not get lung cancer from the machines, but your risk of skin cancer — particularly basal-cell carcinoma — could be significantly higher. In children, the impact may likely be even worse. [Read more...]

MIT shows how to take an eye exam right on your cellphone



If you're like me, finding time to go to the eye doctor is near impossible. But since an exam amounts to looking at a bunch of symbols of various sizes on a screen, might it be possible to perform an eye exam on your cellphone? Some clever folks at MIT say yes.
The idea of performing an eye exam on your phone comes with a couple of caveats: The test requires you to clamp on a plastic peephole accessory in front of your phone's screen, and it's not exactly comprehensive — obviously there's no way to, say, look for retina damage (yet). But for a basic vision test it gets the job done. From the MIT researchers:
The test can be carried out using a small, plastic device clipped onto the front of a cellphone's screen. The patient looks into a small lens, and presses the phone's arrow keys until sets of parallel green and red lines just overlap. This is repeated eight times, with the lines at different angles, for each eye. The whole process takes less than two minutes, at which point software loaded onto the phone provides the prescription data.

Sounds awesomely efficient. Then if I could email that data right from the phone to an optician and have my glasses sent to me, even better. If this ever becomes an actual app, it pretty much names itself: iExam.

gigantic supersonic wind tunnel

Where do you test out scramjets, transatmospheric space planes and wave riders? In the supersonic wind tunnel at Tennessee's Arnold Air Force Base, that's where.
You can see just how epically large this thing is by the little man standing next to one of the fan blades, a place you wouldn't want to be anywhere near once this thing is set in motion. I sort of half-expect a portal to another dimension to open up when it hits full speed.
Image of the Day: gigantic supersonic wind tunnel

Which ISP is fastest?


Internet service providers get a pretty bad rap. Everyone seems to be convinced that his Internet provider is the worst, and that everyone else in America has a dreamily fast connection to the Web.
The results of PC Magazine’s new tests of ISPs across the nation are in, and they're hardly what you’d expect. When it comes to Internet performance, in the aggregate, none of us are exactly living it up. The fastest throughput in America clocks in, on average, at a measly 1.22Mbps [Read more...]

21 Things You Should Never Buy New

If you're looking to get the most value for your dollar, it would do your wallet good to check out secondhand options. Many used goods still have plenty of life left in them even years after the original purchase, and they're usually resold at a fraction of the retail price, to boot. Here's a list of 21 things that make for a better deal when you buy them used. [Read more...]

Windows 8 leaks show Microsoft's eyes on Apple



Although still early in the process, newly leaked documents about Windows 8 offer some keen insight into where Microsoft wants to head with the next version of the operating system.
One thing that is made abundantly clear is that Microsoft has been paying attention to Apple. In the documents, which appear to come from an April meeting with computer makers, Microsoft discusses its Cupertino, Calif.-based rival and outlines plans to offer a Windows Store similar to the way Apple distributes software on its iPhone. The documents, which Microsoft has declined to comment on or authenticate, also talk about plans to give Windows a more iPad-like response time through new power management settings. [Read more...]

Tent-like solar fabric could charge cars, help with disaster relief

solar-tent
A new tensile solar fabric from FTL Solar could be used in variety of ways and, as a bonus, it isn't an eyesore either. [Read more...]

Solar Aero's bladeless wind turbine

Solaraero-tesla
A research company in New Hampshire recently announced the patent of their bladeless wind turbine, which is based on a patent issued to Nikola Tesla in 1913. The Fuller Wind Turbine developed by Solar Aero has only one rotating part, the turbine-drives [Read more...]

Vertical farming that does work

parabienta
Although we've been sceptical about the financial viability of vertical farming schemes, that doesn't mean we are opposed to bringing more greenery into urban areas in any way, and systems that merge vegetation with buildings can be both beneficial. [Read more...]

The shrinking American home


hese tiny, but luxurious houses are proof that you don't need a giant McMansion to live the American home-owning dream. [Read more...]

Eight of the world's strangest houses

free spirit sphere treehouse
With innovative designs, experimental technology, and advanced green building techniques, these homes think way outside the box. [Read more...]

Going greener by going bigger: Does it work?

giantcruiseship
Buses are greener than cars, and apartment buildings are greener than houses. But is a 747 greener than a Cessna? Is an interstate greener than Route 66? Is a 55 inch flat screen greener than a 20 inch tube television? [Read more...]

Living large in 65 square feet


Homes are shrinking in America. After doubling in size since 1960, the national average dropped for the first time in nearly 15 years (by 9%, the size of one average room). But far from this new average of 2,000 plus square feet are the so-cal. [Read more...]

Minority Report tech is here: smile-detecting vending machine

<i>Minority Report</i> tech is here: smile-detecting vending machine

Our world is getting to be more like Minority Report every day. Now Unilever, international conglomerate that makes about a half-dozen brands of ice cream, created a vending machine that gives the stuff away, but there's a catch.
This benevolent machine is called Share Happy. It first entices you to position your face atop a graphic of a cartoon character, and once it's detected your face, it promises to give you free ice cream if you'll just smile at it.
Its sophisticated face detection system discerns your age and gender, and then figures out your state of mind by reading your facial expression. With its 3G connectivity, it offers you the chance to upload a pic of your smiling face to Facebook. If your facial expression registers big enough on its Smile-O-Meter, it rewards you with some tasty free ice cream.
What a great way to bribe people into advertising your product on Facebook! Still, for some of that tasty Ben & Jerry's ice cream, it might be a worthy exchange.

Researchers create a working human lung on a microchip

Researchers create a working human lung on a microchip

Sometimes, scientists create something that is so amazing, my puny brain has trouble wrapping itself around the news. This is one of those times: researchers at Harvard have created a functional, respirating human lung on a chip.
The little chip, which is coated in blood and lung cells, acts just like our lungs do: it exchanges gas between said lung cells and blood cells, allowing for oxygen to get into the bloodstream and keep us, you know, alive. It's tiny, and but a fraction of the size of a real lung, but it's a big step towards repairing and replacing faulty organs in people withlab-made functional organs.
So I guess it's officially the future, eh?

NASA re-imagines the supersonic jet, and it's beautiful

NASA re-imagines the supersonic jet, and it's beautiful

The two main reasons supersonic flight hasn't caught on (other than the late, greatConcorde) are the amount of fuel it takes to achieve such high speeds and the deafening, potentially destructive sonic boom that occurs when crossing the sound barrier. Well, NASA has a gorgeous new concept plane that addresses both issues.
The Supersonic Green Machine, designed by NASA and Lockheed Martin, features a new inverted-V "wing" over the tail section that's meant to both increase energy efficiency and decrease the noise created by a sonic boom. So could this be the plane that lets us fly from New York to L.A. in an hour? It's certainly an exciting thought.

Here's a 3D photo frame for all those 3D pictures you don't have

Here's a 3D photo frame for all those 3D pictures you don't have

Aiptek has the perfect companion to the i2, its 3D camcorder: a seven-inch 3D photo frame. You won't need to wear glasses to see the 3D effect, either. What you will need, of course, is 3D pictures. You got some of those, right? No?
You have to wonder if 3D isn't being pushed out in a way that's too much, too soon. First you had your 3D movies. Then you got your 3D televisions and video games. Now you've got 3D cameras, camcorders and even photo frames to tie it all together.
This frame, though? The 3D effect won't work unless you're looking at it from a specific angle. That's not really how we typically use digital frames, though, so it's begs the question, what's the point of this thing? Just to capitalize on labeling something 3D, hoping that people enamored with emerging technology who don't read very closely will snap it up? Maybe as this whole 3D fad progresses we'll see some more practical applications when it comes to more than one viewer, without the glasses. (Holograms, please!)
If you do happen to have some 3D shots lying around, look for the frame on shelves August 15 for $200.

Justices extend gun owner rights nationwide


The Supreme Court held Monday that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live, expanding the conservative court's embrace of gun rights since John Roberts became Chief Justice.
By a 5-4 vote, the justices cast doubt on handgun bans in the Chicago area, but signaled that some limitations on the Constitution's "right to keep and bear arms" could survive legal challenges.
On its busy final day before a three-month recess, the court also ruled that a public law school can legally deny recognition to a Christian student group that won't let gays join, jumped into the nation's charged immigration debate by agreeing to review an employer sanctions lawfrom Arizona and said farewell to Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring after more than 34 years. [Read more...]

10 alleged Russian secret agents arrested in US


The FBI has arrested 10 people for allegedly serving for years as secret agents of Russia's intelligence service, the SVR, with the goal of penetrating U.S. government policymaking circles.
According to court papers unsealed Monday, the FBI intercepted a message from SVR headquarters, Moscow Center, to two of the defendants describing their main mission as "to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US." Intercepted messages showed they were asked to learn about a broad swath of topics including nuclear weapons, U.S. arms control positions, Iran, White House rumors, CIA leadership turnover, the last presidential election, the Congress and political parties.
After a secret multiyear investigation, the Justice Department announced the arrests Monday in a blockbuster spy case that could rival the capture of Soviet Col. Rudolf Abel in 1957 in New York.
There was no clue in initial court papers how successful the agents had been, but they were alleged to have been long-term, deep cover spies, some living as couples. These deep-cover agents are the hardest spies for the FBI to catch because they take civilian jobs with no visible connection to a foreign government, rather than operating from government jobs inside Russian embassies and military missions. Abel was just such a deep cover agent; he was ultimately swapped to the Soviet Union for downed U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers in 1962. [Read more...]

First HD music video shot on an iPhone 4


Just a few minutes after members of the band The Anix got their hands on an iPhone 4, they were shooting this HD music video using its 720p camcorder. So if you're wondering if that onboard camera is capable of serious video production, here's your evidence. Besides the raw creativity brought to bear, one reason this video looks so good: they taped their new iPhone onto a tripod.

At first, we thought this video was also edited on an iPhone 4, fulfilling that longtime fantasy of a complete production studio in the palm of one's hand. Except for a few lens flares and a bit of color correction, this video could have been edited using the iPhone version of iMovie. But the band says it was done on a MacBook Pro, probably with the industry-standard professional video editing application, Final Cut Pro.

We've been experimenting with the $4.99 iMovie app on iPhone 4, and although its tools are crude, it would be possible to create a high-quality music video with it. Just add talent, good lighting, a stable shooting platform and pretty visuals. It won't be long before HD videos created on iPhones proliferate, signifying the dawn of a whole new art form. This first effort certainly shows the possibilities.

Day in the life of a pet AT-AT


I can see the "Pet AT-AT" being the top-selling toy from Neo Kenner at some point after 2050. Patrick Boivin's video makes me wish I was living in that time right now, but we'll have to wait until robots and AI progress a bit more to have pet bots this awesome. At least we have this.

iPhone marriage app harnesses your geek powers for romance

iPhone marriage app harnesses your geek powers for romance

Now there's an easy way to justify that new iPhone 4 purchase "and" win points with your device-phobic girlfriend thanks to the new Ring Finder app from Tiffany & Co.
Assuming you do manage to pull yourself away from your PC, smartphone, and other assorted wireless gear and actually make contact with a willing prospect, the iPhone makes the process of choosing an engagement ring a breeze even for the most inexperienced would-be geek-turned-romantic. The app allows you to choose the metal, diamond type, setting and design all on your iPhone. Once your design is finished, the free app gives you a price for the finished design and a number through which you can call a Tiffany ring consultant to complete your purchase. You can download the app here.

An iPad arcade cabinet that really works


Back during April Fool's Day, ThinkGeek — as the company is wont to do — dropped the iCade iPad arcade cabinet on us, an idea so cool that the Internet cried out for it to be real. Well, ThinkGeek is still making moves for that to happen, we imagine, but this modder already beat 'em to it.

Say hello to YouTube user Freekade's stab at the concept, which is, according to the video information, directly inspired by ThinkGeek's offering. Maybe all these great minds thinking alike should join forces! Check it out in action in the video below.

Ferrari opens 37th global retail store in New York City

ferrari opens 37th global retail store in new york city
Wherever Ferrari decides to go, you know that they’re going to attract a strong presence. So it only seems fitting that the Italian automaker, and arguably one of the most sought-after brands in the world, would set up shop in one of the finest cities in the world, New York City.

Ferrari
recently launched and opened its new retail store at the heart of Manhattan - the corner of 55th and Park Avenue, to exact - setting up shop in a city known for its high-end luxury and taste for the good life. The grand opening also didn’t disappoint in terms of starpower as a host of celebrities, including Zach Braff, Olivia Palermo, Mathew Settle, Justin Theroux, and Kiera Chaplin all showed up to partake in the festivities.

Ferrari also didn’t waste the opportunity to show New Yorkers exactly what makes the Prancing Horse such an iconic brand, displaying a bevy of classic Ferraris along the streets of New York, including that of a 1959 250 California, a 1984 GTO, as well as some of the brand’s recent supercars, including the 458 Italia, the 612 Scaglietti, and a limited-edition of their latest powerhouse, the 599 GTO.

Supercar Showdown: Porsche 911 Turbo Switzer takes on a Porsche 911 GT2 9ff, BMW M3 V10 & Lamborghini LP550-2


You think a supercharged 750 horsepower Russian Porsche 997 Turbo SPI750 by Switzer Performace Innovation can hold its own against its supercar brethren in a good ol’ fashion drag race?

If you’re having trouble answering that question, you’re in luck because somebody’s going to answer it for you. That ’somebody’ - or some bodies - happens to be the folks from Dragtimes.info and the drag race-addicted members of GT-Board happen to have a number of supercars ready to meet the challenge that is the SWI-tuned Porsche 997 Turbo.

Lining up against the superpowered Stuttgart machine includes one of its cousins, a 9ff-tuned Porshce 911 GT2, a Lamborghini LP550-2 Valentino Balboni Edition, and a V10 engine-powered, 560 horsepower BMW M3 E30.

We’re not spoiling the results for any of you, but one thing that you guys can be absolutely certain of is that these cars are no lightweights by any stretch of the imagination. So you better gear yourself up for a slobberknocker of a race - or three.

The scariest pool in the world, 55 stories above ground

The scariest pool in the world, 55 stories above ground
The "Sands Skypark" in Singapore is a pool, greenway and casino with an usual location. The whole thing sits atop not one, but three skyscrapers that make up the Marina Bay Sands hotel. The infinity pool itself is nearly 500 feet in length and features no discernible edge. So what would happen if you swam over?

Don't worry, you wouldn't just plummet to the streets below. Instead, you'd fall where the rest of the water does: a basin that also acts as a filter for the water and sends it back up to the pool. Sounds pleasant, right? We haven't see a picture of it, but we imagine you just get right out of that basin yourself, rather than get forced around in tubes Willy Wonka-style.

The skypark, designed by architect Moshe Sadie, is itself is nearly 1,250 feet long, and is a new addition to the $6 billion dollar hotel. An interesting note: the hotel-topping casino is free for visitors, but residents of Singapore have to pay a $70 entrance fee as the government there is trying to discourage gambling.

Down below is a picture of the Marina Bay Sands in all its glory.
 The scariest pool in the world, 55 stories above ground

Asteroid headed for Earth? Scientists say nuke it!

Asteroid headed for Earth? Scientists say nuke it!
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In the unlikely event of a gigantic asteroid threatening mass extinction on our planet, scientists are now confident such a disaster could be averted using nuclear weapons. Researchers running new and sophisticated simulators conclude it would take as little as 5 to 10 kilotons of energy to divert an asteroid. That's a relatively small nuclear weapon.

"The nice thing about any kind of intervention is that you only have to make it miss the Earth," said David Dearborn, a research physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "A very small change in its orbital period will do that." [Read more...]

ROLLS-ROYCE OPENS LATEST SHOWROOM IN CHINA

Photo: Rolls-Royce opens latest showroom in China
Rolls Royce has announced the opening of its eighth showroom in China – and its first in Ningbo. Rolls Royce says the addition was fueled by strong growth in China, as seen by the luxury brand enjoying a 300 percent increase in sales during the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
“The new showroom reflects our commitment to the Chinese market, already our third largest in the world. Greater China continues its rapid growth and with a healthy order bank for both Phantom and Ghost models, I am confident this will be a record year for the market. As a result, we are already considering further dealer expansion into other areas of China,” said Paul Harris, Rolls-Royce Asia Pacific regional director.
The new showroom is located in the heart of the commercial district in Ningbo, featuring a two-car showroom, the latest car configurators and the levels or luxury and customer experience people have come to expect from Rolls-Royce. The showroom will offer potential buyers the ability to purchase the entire five-model lineup, including the Phantom, Phantom Extended Wheelbase, Phantom Drophead Coupé, Phantom Coupé and Ghost.
Rolls-Royce says that the bump in demand from its Chinese market is being fueled largely by young buyers, ranging from buyers in their 20s to 30s.

A device for disappearing at sea

A device for disappearing at sea
Sometimes, you just want to disappear. You know, crawl into a hole and become invisible from everyone. I understand!

Well, Andrew Friend has designed "The Device for Disappearing at Sea," a floating hiding place that lets you hide below the surface of the water, making you plum impossible to see from the shore.

It's basically a floating hole that you can crawl into, surrounded and supported by a floating fiberglass ring. Once inside, you'll just have a view of the sky and the sun and your own solitude to keep you company. Ready to face the world again? Just grab the rope and climb out.

Sure, you could do this on dry land with a shovel, but where's the whimsy in that?

Brilliant solar strap charges your camera as you shoot

Brilliant solar strap charges your camera as you shoot

The best gadget designs make you slap your forehead and wonder why you didn't think of it first. That's exactly the case with this solar camera strap, something that would charge your camera by just hanging around your neck while you're out taking pictures.

I mean, how simple and obvious is this? Of course the strap should charge your phone. Sure, this would be more expensive than a standard canvas strap, but hopefully not prohibitively expensive. Let's see this concept become a reality, shall we, manufacturers?

Hulu may fire up its fee-supported service next week

Hulu may fire up its fee-supported service next week
Rumor has it that Hulu could begin quietly testing out its fee-supported service, called Hulu Plus, as early as next week. (If all the various content partners can agree to a mutually beneficial plan, that is.) For a service that we all know and love as essentially free, ad-supported television, what's in it for us to start ponying up cash?

In short, you're going to get two things out of the $10 Hulu wants you to toss down monthly. One of them is really cool, the other is a little worrying.

Let's start with cool, first: Hulu on mobile devices — think iPad — and possibly even on video game consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. That means you'll have access to a pretty decent selection of movies, cartoons, anime and TV shows on the go. The downside? Channels such as CBS and ABC — the latter of which is, along with DVICE parent's company NBC Universal, a content provider for Hulu — have already pushed forth into the mobile realm with free apps of their own.

So, here's the worrying bit. The paid-for service is going to offer a deeper catalog that what you'll see for free. One has to wonder, though, if the free service will continue to be an equal focus, or even remain in the state it's in now. Right now, Hulu let's you watch the five preceding episodes of popular shows such as House and The Office, usually posted with some kind of delay. The point is, for most of us that's more than enough. To entice people to start paying for the service, wouldn't the current free offerings need to be slimmed down?

We'll have to wait and see what shape Hulu Plus takes once all the details are hammered out. We'd definitely like to see Hulu stick around, though asking for $10 a month — especially when we already give that to other comparable services such as Netflix — may be a bit too much.

Will space shuttle end up in this fancy glass box?

Will space shuttle end up in this fancy glass box?
Officials at the Museum of Flight in Seattle must be pretty cocky. Even though NASA hasn't agreed to sell them one of the retired space shuttles yet, they're about to start building a magnificent glass case to show it off. Will the mothballed Enterprise, Endeavor or Atlantis find a final resting place in this gorgeous, lit-up jewel box case?

Whether it will contain a shuttle or not, the groundbreaking for this $12 million Space Gallery happens next Tuesday, June 29th. The climate-controlled glass building will be brilliantly illuminated at night to dazzle all that pass by with visions of that space truck that went nowhere. if they don't have a shuttle, well, they'll put a bunch of other space artifacts in there. One thing's for sure, they'll have to finish building this structure by 2011 to be considered by NASA for a shuttle.

The $12 million building sounds costly, but that's dwarfed by the $28.8 million price NASA is asking for each of the retired shuttles (well, except for Discovery, already promised to the Smithsonian). That's not too bad of a deal, though, considering that the space shuttle Endeavor cost about $1.7 billion to build.

The lucky buyers will have to plunk down another few million to transport their shuttle to its final destination, making this an expensive undertaking. We're hoping whoever buys them, they'll let us sit in the left seat and pretend to be a shuttle pilot.

eMachines Mini-e: a wee PC for less than half the price of a Mac Mini

eMachines Mini-e: a wee PC for less than half the price of a Mac Mini
Apple's Mac Mini is popular as a home theater PC, but its starting price of $700 makes it far too expensive for someone looking for a casual upgrade. Luckily, other manufacturers realize that the small form factor is a big selling point and are rolling out some competing models.

eMachines' Mini-e is a tiny computer, measuring 7.1 inches across and 1.2 inches deep. Inside is a 1.7GHz AMD Athlon II Neo, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and a GeForce 9200 video card, all running Windows 7 Home Premium. Hook it up to your HDTV via HDMI, and you've got a perfectly capable little home theater PC. And the price? A mere $300, less than half of the base price of the Mac Mini.

Versatile towel with built-in speakers folds into a backpack

Versatile towel with built-in speakers folds into a backpack
This must be the fanciest beach towel ever invented. With its amplified speakers situated right next to your ears, you can bother everybody on the beach with your chosen iPod/iPhone/music player racket. Then when you're done, fold up the whole shebang into a backpack, and in no time flat, you're on your way toward ruining someone's day elsewhere.

Good thing you can remove those speakers when it's time to wash this $72 beach blanket. The speakers are powered by a lithium battery that's also removable. Or you could save the money and just use earphones, keeping that music to yourself. Unfortunately guys, that gorgeous model isn't included. [Read more...]

Hyundai Sonata Turbo Is Mighty Impressive

hyundai sonata turbo is mighty impressive
So, we all know by now that the Hyundai Sonata is very good and better than most of the competition. It looks brilliant and can turn heads like a topless woman walking down the street. It has never lacked power, but Hyundai wanted to offer up something fun, for those of us who are speed freaks.

The Hyundai Sonata Turbo is coming and we simply can’t wait. Hyundai say that under the hood of the Turbo will be a 274-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged motor that will allow the car to hit 60 miles per hour in just 6.5 seconds. Nissan Altima 3.5 SR, watch your back.

The power is great, but so is fuel economy. And like the base Sonata, the new Turbo version doesn’t disappoint. The Sonata Turbo, with its turbocharged motor, will be able to get 22 miles per gallon city and 34 on the highway. Mind you, that is on regular-grade fuel, not the premium nonsense that some turbocharged cars have to use. That is mighty impressive if you ask us. Hyundai claims that the fuel economy figures are 16 percent better than the 3.5-liter V6.

Driving impressions should be coming soon and we can’t wait to take this new Hyundai out on the back roads.

Lamborghini Commemorates Building 10,000th Gallardo

lamborghini commemorates building 10 000th gallardo

In a market where reaching 5,000 supercars built is a milestone in itself, the Lamborghini Gallardo somehow has reached twice that number, rolling the 10,000th Gallardo off of the production line. By reaching 10,000 units built, the Gallardo becomes the most successful Lamborghini model in the company’s illustrious history.

Stephan Winkelmann, a Lamborghini top executive, commented on the unprecedented success of the Gallardo, saying that it’s a testament to the brand’s uncompromising style of Italian automotive craftsmanship. "The Lamborghini Gallardo has also played an exemplary role in defining and delivering our brand reputation into our worldwide markets," he adds. "The strength and presence of the Gallardo product has played a significant role in the growth and recognition of our brand."

Launched in 2003, the Gallardo became a household Lamborghini supercar model, spurning off-shoots with a number of different styles including, the Superleggera, the SE, the Nera, and, the most successful of all, the Spyder. Recently, Lamborghini has also paid tribute to its long-time test driver, Valentino Balboni, by building a special-edition Gallardo in his name, the LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni Edition.

And now, after seven years, and 10,000 models built later, the Gallardo remains strong as ever, further slamming home the point that the model is, without question, one of the most successful supercars to ever be produced.

Congratulations on the milestone, Lamborghini! And to the Chinese client who scooped up the Midas-colored, 10,000th Gallardo, you better take good care of your new ride, buddy. That’s no ordinary Gallardo you’ll be driving soon.

Next Generation Audi Q7 Will Go Smaller

next generation audi q7 will go smaller
It seems that Audi has learned a very important lesson: big cars are no longer the future! An Ingolstadt source has reported that the new Audi A8 will be the last model to come out larger than the vehicle that precedes it. Starting with the next generation Q7, Audi will focus on a smaller, less aggressively styled SUV.

The Q7 sales have seen a significant drop in 2009 and, lets face it with the price of gasoline lately, no one needs a gas guzzler! In Europe, more than anywhere else, the Q7 has had no success among customers. The trend where the size of your car was everything is no longer relevant. Clients are now interested in fuel economy. So Audi is planning on offering two versions for the future Q7: an XXL seven-seater for China, the Middle East, and North America and a relatively compact five-seater for Europe and the rest of the world. Will these plans help out with sales? Audi isn’t sure so concrete plans are being held off until the company has a better idea for potential sales.

Audi is currently analyzing two options. Their first option is using a high-strength steel platform that would reduce the Q7’s weight by a maximum of 550 pounds. Unfortunately, this is not enough to reduce fuel consumption. Their second option is using an all-new aluminum space frame architecture that will reduce weight by almost 1100 pounds, but this is very expensive. So, what will they finally do? We’ll have to wait and see!

Lake Michigan shipwreck found after 112 years

 
MILWAUKEE – A great wooden steamship that sank more than a century ago in a violent Lake Michigan storm has been found off the Milwaukee-area shoreline, and divers say the intact vessel appears to have been perfectly preserved by the cold fresh waters.
Finding the 300-foot-long L.R. Doty was important because it was the largest wooden ship that remained unaccounted for, said Brendon Baillod, the president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association.
"It's the biggest one I've been involved with," said Baillod, who has taken part in about a dozen such finds. "It was really exhilarating." [Read more...]

These glasses track where you're looking, for better or worse

These glasses track where you're looking, for better or worse
These Tobii Glasses could shield your eyes from the sun or clear up your astigmatism, sure. But that would make them just a boring old pair of glasses. The feature that makes them stand out? The ability to track exactly where you're looking at all times. Wandering eyes begone! [Read more...]

FaceTime video quality sucks, but the experience still rocks

FaceTime video quality sucks, but the experience still rocks
With its new front-facing camera, the iPhone 4 brings videoconferencing to the masses. The idea is compelling. Those heartrending, fancy demo videos of FaceTime, Apple's application that goes with that camera, make it look like something out of a sci-fi movie. And you know what? It feels like that.

It's a thrill to talk with each other with video on a cellphone. Some of us here at DVICE had a delightful time using it, talking, mugging, spinning around, making each other dizzy, giving ourselves tours of our various offices over video, and generally having a ball. [Read more...]

iPhone 4 gyroscope adds extra dimension to killing games


The iPhone 4's new internal gyroscope not only measures acceleration or deceleration, but tracks orientation. That's going to make games a lot more fun, and here's one of the first, Gun Range. As you can see in the video above, you can spin yourself or your hands around 180 degrees, picking off moving targets as you go.

At first glance, this 99-cent game looks similar to games that have been available for years, but there is this eerie extra feeling along with it, tracking where you're moving. It's an odd sensation, and a bit difficult to get used to at first. This is only the first attempt at employing this futuristic hardware. Just imagine the possibilities with this gyroscope. Mind-boggling.

YouTube-Viacom Ruling Is a Victory for Web Providers

Google has gained a victory in its long-standing $1 billion copyright battle with Viacom. A federal judge granted Google's motion for a summary judgment in Viacom's lawsuit involving YouTube.

The judge's ruling Wednesday means the court has decided YouTube is protected by the safe-harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) against claims of copyright infringement. This is in line with the established judicial consensus that online services are protected when they work cooperatively with copyright holders to help manage their rights online.

"This is an important victory not just for us, but also for the billions of people around the world who use the web to communicate and share experiences with each other," said Kent Walker, vice president and general counsel at Google. [Read more...]

Internet bosses set to approve .xxx for porn sites

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The company that oversees Web addresses is expected to give the go-ahead on Friday for the creation of a .xxx suffix for websites with pornographic content, company officials indicated on Thursday.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees the Internet on behalf of the U.S. government, has in the past resisted creating a .xxx generic domain name system akin to those for .com and .net.

It has in recent years repeatedly rejected a request by U.S. company ICM Registry Inc. to sign off on the .xxx domain.

But members of ICANN's board have argued that in order to maintain neutrality in dealing with domain name assignations, it should create .xxx and allow websites with sexually explicit content to start using the suffix on a voluntary basis.

"If expedited due diligence results are successful, then staff will proceed into contract negotiations with ICM (over .xxx)," ICANN's general counsel John Jeffrey told delegates at a week-long ICANN meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

Online pornography is a vast industry. Figures collated by Internet Pornography Statistics suggest more than $3,000 is spent on Internet pornography every second, with "sex" the number one search term in the world, accounting for 25 percent of all Internet searches.

With an estimated 370 million pornographic websites on the Internet, .xxx could become one of the largest domain name repositories, as big if not bigger than .com. [Read more...]

New laser TVs deliver four times the resolution of HD

New laser TVs deliver four times the resolution of HD
A Californian company called Prysm is showing off what it considers to be the next generation of television, thanks to its low power consumption and ability to display in quad HD and 3D HD. Called a laser phosphor display, or LPD, the sets bounces laser beams off of phosphor pixels embedded in screens made of glass and plastic.

The tech was actually invented by one Roger Hajjar five years ago, but he's been hammering out the kinks on the LPDs at Prsym ever since. The screen's crispness works in big and small sizes, and to prove it the company will be using LPDs to make up jumbo-trons in Europe next month, bringing the displays to the living room sometime after that.

The lower power consumption — described as using a tenth of what a plasma screen consumes (less impressive when you consider that plasma TVs are the worst energy hogs) — is thanks to the fact that the lasers don't need to actively stimulate the dark regions of the set, leaving an LPD cool to the touch as it sips energy. The processor managing the laser varies its intensity, meaning only the brightest, most vibrant areas of an image will be hit by a high-energy beam.

The one big downside we see? Right now, it looks like LPDs have quite the back-end on them. We've certainly gotten used to having razor-thin TVs that we can hang on walls like pictures. The rear of these televisions jut out like an old CRT television.

Check out a news broadcast about the new display down below.