OGRE: A Lego Tank

Two comments:

Steve Jackson called. He wants his board game back.

Sarah Connor called. She wants your Skynet...er, Lego experiment stopped.

Army AWG unit stripped of HK416s

http://www.militarytimes.com/static/projects/flash/2007_02_20_carbine/2007_02_20_Hnk416.swf

The Army has stripped the Asymmetric Warfare Group of its weapon of choice — the Heckler & Koch 416 — saying that its mission requires the unique outfit to carry the standard issue M4 carbine.

The decision reverses a policy that allowed the AWG to buy 416s instead of carrying M4s when it was established three years ago to help senior Army leaders find new tactics and technologies to make soldiers more lethal in combat.

Members of the AWG have declined to comment on the issue, but sources in the community told Army Times that the unit fought to keep its several hundred 416s, arguing that they outperform the Army’s M4 and require far less maintenance.

In a response to a March 6 Army Times query, the Army acknowledged initial approval of the AWG’s move to the 416.

“The AWG is empowered to procure, on a limited basis, select non-standard equipment to assist in identifying capability gaps and advise on the development of future requirements. To this end, the Asymmetric Warfare Group did purchase H&K 416 rifles,” said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Martin Downie.

“The AWG also advises units on training, tactics and procedures. In this capacity, the use of the standard issue M4 is required. In support of this mission set, the decision was made to transition to the M4 and the AWG is now turning in its H&K rifles.”

This is the latest round of controversy surrounding the M4 since late November, when the weapon finished last in an Army reliability test against several other carbines.

The M4 suffered more stoppages than the combined number of jams by the three other competitors — the Heckler & Koch XM8, FNH USA’s Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) and the H&K 416.

Time Change: Etch-A-Sketch style

Friday Firepower!

In it's closed position, while you're carrying it around, the MagPul FMG9 is designed to look something like a portable radio, and incorporates a detachable tactical white light. Drake Clark, MagPul's resident media/PR manager showed the FMG 9 to DefenseReview at the very beginning of the show, and MagPul's resident designer/engineer Mike Mayberry ended up taking us through the weapon a little later on in the show. The FMG9 mini-SMG is very slickly designed and looks like a fully-developed product, which is particularly impressive considering that, according to our understanding at present, Mayberry and the MagPul team developed the FMG9 on short notice specifically for the show (SHOT Show 2008).

Breast massage robot

http://gizmodo.com/360406/breast-massage-robot-is-the-future-of-breast-massages

Prepare yourselves, dear readers, for the greatest invention of the 21st century so far: the Breast Massage Robot. Yes, this miracle of modern science is designed for all sorts of women, from "girls who are reaching or having reached puberty, hope to improve the growth of breast" to "women who want to improve the quality of their sex activities" to "women who want to have pretty breasts." And it only gets better from there.

The device is the brainchild of one Mr. Wang Wei, founder and proprietor of Beijing BUBBY Robot Technologies CO., LTD. His business proposal for the Breast Massage Robot is the best thing I've ever read in my entire life.

There needs to be a robot for this?!?!?!? Bring me the legal-aged b00bies! Better yet, do it yourself.

The Ultimate Rubber Band Gun

The Ultimate Rubber Band Gun - Watch more free videos

The war is over...

Toshiba said Tuesday it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders, handing a victory to rival Blu-ray disc technology in the format battle for next-generation video.

"We concluded that a swift decision would be best," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told reporters at his company's Tokyo offices.

The move would make Blu-ray — backed by Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products, and five major Hollywood movie studios — the winner in the battle over high-definition DVD formatting that began several years ago.

Nishida said last month's decision by Warner Bros. Entertainment to release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format made the move inevitable.

"That had tremendous impact," he said. "If we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win."

Warner joined Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Co. and News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox in that move.

Toshiba's pulling the plug on the technology is expected to reduce the number of new high-definition movies that people will be able to watch on HD DVD machines. Toshiba Corp. said shipments of HD DVD machines to retailers will be reduced and will stop by end of March.

Friday's decision by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. retailer, to sell only Blu-ray DVDs and hardware appeared to deal a final blow to the Toshiba format. Just five days earlier, Netflix Inc. said it will cease carrying rentals in HD DVD.

Several major American retailers had already made similar decisions, including Target Corp. and Blockbuster Inc.

Also adding to Blu-ray's momentum was the gradual increase in sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 home video-game console, which also works as a Blu-ray player. Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3 machines worldwide since the machine went on sale late 2006.

Guess it is time to shell out for that PS3.

Negative Ghost Rider, pattern is full.

RC Jet Hilariously Bad Take Off - Watch more free videos

Smile, Wait for Flash.

Or, look at the little red birdie....

Happy 50th LEGOs

The 50th birthday of the LEGO brick is in January 2008 and there is plenty to celebrate. Children all over the world have played with LEGO bricks for the past 50 years, and LEGO is still right at the top of many wish lists – just as it always has been. Industry and trade associations also recognize the LEGO success. Just before the turn of the millennium the LEGO brick was voted “Toy of the Century”, one of the highest awards in the toy industry, by both Fortune Magazine in the US and the British Association of Toy Retailers.

The LEGO history began in 1932 in Denmark, when Ole Kirk Christansen founded a small factory for wooden toys in the unknown town of Billund in the south of the country. To find a name for his company he organized a competition among his employees. As fate would have it however, he himself came up with the best name: LEGO – a fusion of the Danish words “LEg” and “GOdt” (“play well”).

Barely 15 years later Christiansen discovered plastic as the ideal material for toy production, and bought the first injection moulding machine in Denmark. His courage, input and investment paid off: in 1949 he developed the LEGO brick prototype, which continues to excite countless children and adults to this very day. Over the years he perfected the brick, which is still the basis of the entire LEGO game and building system today. Of course there have been small adjustments in shape, colour and design from time to time, but today’s LEGO bricks still fit bricks from 1958.

NBC set to ruin a great BBC show

The popular BBC car show "Top Gear" is revving up a U.S. edition.

NBC has ordered a pilot for "Gear," to be produced by BBC Worldwide Prods. Like the original, it will be a mix of cars, humor and celebrities.

Casting is under way for hosts of "Gear," which will be announced at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
The pilot will be filmed at a secret location around Los Angeles equipped with a race track and hangar where the show will be filmed in front of a audience.

"It's a show with a very edgy point of view," BBC Worldwide Prods. topper Paul Telegdy said. "It's a celebration of car ownership but also a celebration of attitude and anti-establishment in every sense of the word."

NBC reality chief Craig Plestis said he is a longtime fan of "Top Gear."

"It all comes down to subject matter -- it's a cool show about cars," he said. "It's very compelling for us because we have a great platform and space on the network to have such a show."

See, this shows that they know nothing about the magic that is Top Gear. Top Gear isn't about the cars, it is about the hosts and their interaction with motoring. Jeremy Clarkson's smart ass remarks, Hamster's nice guy attitude, and May...well, May is just happy to be there. There is no way to replicate that on this side of the states. NBC should have just given up when Clarkson said no. Besides how the hell could they get away with destroying a car wash with a homemade convertible van in America without getting their ass sued.

Just in time for next Christmas

Alienware put on what it termed a "technology statement" in Vegas tonight with the aptly named "curved display." That's its unofficial name. It also has no price yet, and no release date more specific than "second half of 2008." What we can tell you is that after the brief minute or so we spent with this monitor, we think high-end PC gamers are going to be excited for this monitor.

The specifics are that it's a rear-projection DLP screen that can run at a resolution of 2,880 by 900 pixels (wider than a 30-inch LCD, but not quite as tall). Alienware also said it was running off only a single, midrange ATI Radeon HD 3870 graphics card. We only sat down (crouched, really) in front of the curved display for a minute, but we were instantly impressed by the level of immersion. The panoramic screen encompasses your entire line of sight, including your peripheral vision. The effect eliminates almost all visual distractions from your gameplay.

Rock and Scissors have met their match...

For a new art project, the designer Martin Postler has investigated the history, the aesthetics and the lethal seductiveness of the Kalashnikov. He has freed the AK-47 from its terrible capacity to injure and kill by deconstructing it into a paper model construction set. At the end of the construction process each person can decide if they would like to hang their own AK-47 on the wall, paint it, customize it with stickers or simply burn it.

Why burn it? The glue fumes could harm your inner child....

Have remote, will screw with soccer fans.

Remote Control Soccer Prank - Watch more free videos

Remember, it's only a game. Also, keep your TV away from openings that could allow a random (or deliberate) signal through.

Radio frequencies help burn salt water.

John Kanzius happened upon the discovery accidentally when he tried to desalinate seawater with a radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer. He discovered that as long as the salt water was exposed to the radio frequencies, it would burn.

The discovery has scientists excited by the prospect of using salt water, the most abundant resource on earth, as a fuel.

Rustum Roy, a Penn State University chemist, has held demonstrations at his State College lab to confirm his own observations.

The radio frequencies act to weaken the bonds between the elements that make up salt water, releasing the hydrogen, Roy said. Once ignited, the hydrogen will burn as long as it is exposed to the frequencies, he said.

The discovery is "the most remarkable in water science in 100 years," Roy said.

"This is the most abundant element in the world. It is everywhere," Roy said. "Seeing it burn gives me the chills."

Why stop at running machines? Why not build radio weapons that can destroy salt water installations or ships? Why not build one that creates a chain reaction to destroy all of the oceans? Gives me the chills too.

Best...er, most dangerous toys ever.

Last month, Target recalled 10 of its Kool Toyz-brand play sets, citing hazards like "lead paint," "sharp points," and "puncture wound potential." The toys, which included plastic aircraft carriers, dinosaurs, and tanks, all appeared harmless enough. But according to the killjoys at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, children—at least those prone to eating plastic objects as big as their head—were at serious risk. A week later, Mattel recalled 4.4 million Polly Pocket dolls and accessories because kids were swallowing the toy's magnets. The Associated Press reported, "If more than one magnet is swallowed, they can attach to each other and cause intestinal perforation, infection or blockage." Three children required surgery.

In the last year alone, some eight million units of toys were recalled in the U.S., according to W.A.T.C.H., a toy-safety advocacy group. But Kool Toys and Polly Pockets are kids' stuff compared to the hazardous baubles of yesteryear. In the spirit of the holidays, Radar presents the 10 most dangerous toys of all time, those treasured playthings that drew blood, chewed digits, took out eyes, and, in one case, actually irradiated. To keep things interesting, we excluded BB guns, slingshots, throwing stars, and anything else actually intended to inflict harm. Below, our toy box from hell.

1. Lawn Darts
2. Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab
3. Mini-Hammocks from EZ Sales
4. Snacktime Cabbage Patch Dolls
5. Sky Dancers
6. Bat Masterson Derringer Belt Gun
7. Creepy Crawlers
8. Johnny Reb Cannon
9. Battlestar Galactica Missile Launcher
10. Fisher-Price Power Wheels Motorcycle
Honorable Mention: Manley Toys Disco Light (this one has a story).