11APRIL2007

'Barbarella' back in action
'Royale' writers to revive character

What happens when you have a bunch of CDs or DVDs that need to be destroyed, for the data contained within is extremely sensitive in nature and could be catastrophic if it falls into the wrong hands? The DiscEraser has the answer, requiring you to just open it up, pop in the disc, close the lid, and drag the slider back and forth in order to create a whole bunch of scratches that renders the data on the disc unreadable. Technically, none of the data is erased, but the cuts made are definitely thicker and deeper than conventional methods (keys, razor blades). The DiscEraser retails for $12.99.

KnocKey laughs at keyholes
Yesterday, April 11, 2007, 11:27:55 AM
The KnocKey offers an alternative to the traditional locking methods use at home by doing away with the standard keyhole. Instead, all you need to do when you want to enter your home would be to punch in the correct code on the KnocKey's keypad and hold it up to the door. The code will be played back with a correct sequence resulting in an unlocked door. The only drawback would be forcing your brain to set some more space for yet another password sequence, something most of us can ill afford these days with the number of e-mail addresses, PIN codes, and user accounts we have.

Mac OS X kernel panic screensaver - let the pranks begin

Schwarzenegger Urges Environmentalists To Shed Past As "Serious Tree Huggers"
"For too long the environmental movement has been powered by guilt," Schwarzenegger said in a keynote speech Wednesday at a global warming conference at Georgetown University.

Monica Goodling resigns.


Senate Backs Embryonic Stem Cell Research
But still shy of votes needed to overrule Bush's promised veto.




Alzheimer's-Friendly Virtual Home





LBJ Ordered Assassination of JFK Says Hunt On Deathbed
E. Howard Hunt, the country's most notorious spook who later served time for his role as one of the plumbers in the bungled burglary that later toppled Richard Nixon, gave a near-deathbed confession to his long-estranged son, naming then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and a handful of CIA spooks as the cabal behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy, according to a story in Rolling Stone.

PC World revealed “The 50 Best Tech Products of All Time” with Netscape Navigator (1994) coming in at number one. Tetris = 10. Yay, Tetris!

for tre: games

Boot Camp beta to expire, support to cease
Users of Apple's Boot Camp beta software could find themselves lacking support and driver updates, once the product ships with the forthcoming Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard this spring. Boot Camp is special software developed by Apple that allows Intel-based Mac owners to create separate partitions on one or more hard drives to support Microsoft's Windows XP and Vista operating systems. The Boot Camp licensing terms however state that the software is only usable until the company releases a commercial version or until the September 30th deadline, whichever comes first. Apple has not revealed whether it will issue a final version of Boot Camp for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger users, according to News.com, but rumors abound that the company will provide standalone copies of Boot Camp for Tiger users when the final product ships.
Apple has also reassured Boot Camp users who have set up Windows partitions that their files will not instantly disappear should they choose not to purchase the final version, but admitted that support will be limited for those users who continue to use the beta.

It looks like China's not content to simply wait for over-eager gamers to find their way to a halfway house, with the government now taking some steps to curb the amount of online gaming kids partake in. It's not imposing a strict limit, however, instead forcing game makers to install so-called "anti-addiction software" in their games, which would ramp up in-game penalties if gamers play more than the government deems to be healthy. Apparently, gamers will only get half the normal amount points if they play more than three hours, with no points awarded at all after the five hour mark. At that point, they'll be presented with the ominous message: "You have entered unhealthy game time, please go offline immediately to rest." Exactly how that system will be applied to various games isn't clear, although it seems that any games that don't comply by July 16th will be shut down. What's more, in order to verify their age, all gamers will also be required to register for games using their real name and identity card number, which at least one analyst speculates could "scare away" adults and young users alike.[Via Slashdot]