anti-missile laser beams?

well, they're starting to install (a test batch) of missile defense system on airliners.

basically, it's a little pod with lasers to interfere with the missiles' guidance system. at least, that's what they're saying. two questions that hop immediately into my mind are what types of guidance systems the anti-missile device will handle (and what about non-guided rockets?) and also, what happens to the miq (missile in question) when it's steered safely away from the plane?

*shrugs*

don't get me wrong, here--i'm all about cool new technology (and let's face it, missile-defense laser pods on the front of jets are pretty cool) but since we live in a world where money runs everything, should this really be a priority (simply because this is almost certainly going to be very, _very_ expensive and that money could go to other more productive uses).

also, depending on the answers to my above questions, how effective is this actually going to be in it's current incarnation? well, we'll just have to keep our eyes open, won't we?

--cid

0wn your anti-missile laser pods

drm--the love child between satan and osama bin laden

people are getting it. strong words? sure, but they're not too far of a stretch. drm (and all the other forms of intentionally _breaking_ technology to protect someone else's interests) is (are, and will be) very bad (for almost everyone).

--cid

0wn your media

wiimote + looking glass = just what i've been waiting for

nintendo's wiimote (or wii remote as they insist on calling it) has been hacked. that's right i said hacked. it's nothing new. now i want to see it in conjunction with things like project looking glass.

whether people end up using the third accelerometer for controlling the z axis in a three d environment or not, i don't see this just blowing over. this is frickin' cool, and i think it's gonna continue to get better and more commonplace (as in like possibly maybe replacing or competing with the mouse?).

okay, maybe i'm overestimating the mean dorkiness of the overall internet/nerdy kid/hacker/gamer demographic slice of people who know about this whole wii hacking phenomenon don't know about it yet.

it's a very intuitive method of input as well as being very open ended and robust. bluetooth from across the room and drag, drop, gesture. i think that teh homebrew wii mote thing is going to continue to advance, and we'll probably see some wiimote inspired products aimed specifically at the pc pretty soon, too.

now, granted, the wii remote may not be as useful as a mouse is for more detailed work like image editing in gimp (though, that could be interesting...) but a lot of the detail work is better accomplished with a digital pen/pad setup anyhow. i can think of several powerful command methods that would be perfect for browsing the web or your media collection, reading, file manipulation, etc.

and then like i said--having the third axis in regards to a 3d desktop environment would be terrific. and i think hardware has matured enough to make this possible (i mean, just look at aero). and then, if you _really_ wanted to get crazy, you could track two of them (one in each hand) and you could stretch windows from both sides simultaneously, push them out of your way, and even flip through stacks of them (and, yes, i know these things can all be done with a mouse (or two of them in some cases), but i think in a lot of instances, it would be more comfortable to do with a wiimote-style hid).

i dunno, i think i might be just ranting at this point, so i'll stop, but the possibilities that are here are really exciting. lemme know what you think.

--cid

0wn your human interface device