Image via Failblog

Want to see something odd?  Of course you do!  Who doesn’t?  When it comes to personal mobility devices, the wheelchair quickly gave way to the electric wheelchair.  That became the Rascal scooter, which in turn become the Segway and Segway-type devices.  Well, Honda has just changed the game.  The Japanese arm of Honda has unveiled the UNI-CUB, which combines the Segway’s ease of control with all the fun of driving a motorized stool.

Honestly, I don’t see why they need one of these in that office they use to display it, but I’ve seen a lot of office complexes where you’d need something like this to traverse the distances you have to travel within buildings for distances of miles.  For example, when I went to HP’s office, I saw  a lot of people zooming around on golf carts and whatnot; if they had these kind of personal mobility devices, they’d be able to drive from the warehouse to the fabrication floor without having to walk on feet like some kind of savage!

In the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, General Thunderbolt Ross uses some vehicle-mounted sonic cannons designed by Stark Industries to blast soundwaves at The Incredible Hulk in an attempt to subdue the rampaging monster.  Seems like science fiction, what with the meek scientist turning into a big green rage beast and all, right?  Well, not so fast my friend.  Not only are sonic cannons real, they’re going to be deployed as crowd control at the London Olympics.

The devices, called Long Range Acoustic Device, emit a 150-decibel sound wave designed to cause pain to human ears.  The sound waves are highly directional, which means that they can be pointed at specific groups in crowds to force them to disperse.  You might have seen footage of these brain-scramblers being deployed at the G20 protests here in the United States, to combat pirates in Somalia, or at various other riot zones.  Well, they’re going to be seen pretty much everywhere in London and at the European Football Championships later this year.

Say what you will about the merits of blasting people with sound, but it’s better than pepper spray, billy clubs, and rubber bullets any day.

Apparently the 1984 International Sales Meeting held by Apple was a pretty fun place to be for fans of the company, and not just because it was held in Hawaii.  This is back when Apple was on top of the computer industry and engaged in mortal combat with the entity known as IBM, AKA Big Blue.  Apple then, as Apple does now, emphasized its sense of fun and hipness as sales points, and with every bit of information leaked out from that meeting nearly 30 years ago, you get a glimpse of what the company was like in its  young, wild days.  For example, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and other Apple leading lights participated in a Ghostbusters spoof called Blue Busters, complete with music video.

Tech-Ex has the complete breakdown of the lyrics, which are pretty fun.  The video comes from the file of former Apple employee Craig Elliott, who is now the CEO of cloud computing company Pertino Networks.  Hopefully he learned a thing or two from his time in Cupertino and is producing some epic spoof videos for future generations to laugh at.

One of the weirdest things about home video is the anti-piracy warning.  If I’m watching a DVD I bought in the store, you don’t have to tell me not to pirate the DVD.  I mean… I’m watching it.  I bought it or rented it legally.  If I was watching a bootleg movie, then I wouldn’t be seeing the warning, now would I?

Well, be prepared for a new addition to the warning packages that pop up, unskippable, on your legitimate home video releases.  The FBI warning is still there–joined by a new badge from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, but there’s also a new warning brought to you by the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center.  That’s right, instead of 10 seconds of unskippable threats, there’s now 20 seconds of threats.

According to the organization, which is a joint venture of 20 different government agencies, “Piracy is not a victimless crime.  For more information on how digital theft harms the economy, please visit www.iprcenter.gov.”  Kind of funny how they’re debuting this warming after The Avengers shattered every box office record, isn’t it?

When you want to protect your gadgets, turn to the best.  When the United States military wants to protect weapons, medical supplies, and fragile electronic equipment, they turn to Pelican.  Pelican makes tough cases for delicate products, and their latest new product is something for the iPad.  The iPad is the new wave of computing, and the Pelican i1075 is the new wave of computer protection.  So how good is it?  Well, Pelican products are considered bombproof!

Not only is it drop-rated for three-foot falls, the interior is heavily padded with shock absorbing foam.  It’s waterproof (also up to 3 feet), has a purge valve to equalize pressure without getting dust into the case, and is made of ABS steel, which is some of the most potent steel available.  Incredibly, the case is only $85, and turns the ultra-thin iPad into something slightly bulkier but significantly more impact resistant.

It’s bigger for sure, but it comes with a strap for carrying and looks pretty cool.

Twenty years ago, iD Software released one of the greatest first person shooters of all time when they released Wolfenstein 3D.  While it wasn’t the first game to combine shooting and three dimensions, it was one of the most successful.  Well, just in time for the anniversary, Bethesda has released a free browser version of Wolfenstein 3D to celebrate!  You can play it on any modern browser (Google Chrome 16, Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 11, and Apple Safari 5) at Bethesda’s website.  Shooting Nazis has never been so fun!

What’s the secret to Wolfenstein’s success?  It took a simple idea and executed it in a novel way.  In this case, the third dimension.

“The core essence of taking an experience that used to be done in top-down – we were all familiar at the time with top-down shooters like Gauntlet and things where you would run around and shoot at the enemies there – taking really similar gameplay and projecting it into te 3D environment, adding perspective and the fact that that changed the game experience so much was the real triumph of what we did then,” says John Carmack, founder of iD and one of the game’s designers.

It’s nice to see the company behind such potent modern games as the Elder Scrolls remembers gaming history.

“We have been working hard to create an online world in which players will be able to experience the epic Elder Scrolls universe with their friends, something fans have long said they wanted,” said director Matt Firor of ZeniMax Online Studios.  ”It will be extremely rewarding finally to unveil what we have been developing the last several years.  The entire team is committed to creating the best MMO ever made – and one that is worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise.”

Are you ready for a teaser trailer?  Of course you are!  As much as I like the few Elder Scrolls games I’ve played, I’m hoping this is a trial run for a Fallout MMORGP.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has been on the market for six years now.  It’s probably nearing the end of its lifespan, but the next generation of Xbos isn’t on the market yet, and Microsoft is tight-lipped about the future of its console.  However, there is one interesting rumor that has come forth lately.  Multiple outlets are saying that Microsoft is readying a $99 Xbox 360 and Kindle bundle.  There’s a catch, though:  you have to pony up for a two-year subscription to Xbox Live.

If that seems like a bargain, think back to the old days when AOL was a thing people had.  You paid some cheap price for a new computer and saved a few hundred bucks off the price if you kept a two-year subscription to AOL or Compuserve.  You saved money up front, but you paid more on the back end.  Buying an Xbox off the shelf is $299 with the Kindle bundle; two years of XBL with the $99 bundle is $459!  I bought two years worth of XBL Gold for $30 off of Amazon a few months ago!  Long story short, paying up front ends up being a lot cheaper, but it also requires you to pay up front.

For most people, $99 isn’t a big deal psychologically, but $299 is.  To their credit, Microsoft is playing the game well.

Once upon a time, BlackBerry was the top company when it comes to smartphones, but then Apple got involved in their marketplace.  Then Android came along.  BlackBerry and Research In Motion are still players, but with every iPhone or Android device sold, RIM’s star darkens.  The company itself has been on rocky footing for awhile, but they’re trying to get back on their feet with a bold new plan:  RIM is dropping the keyboard for a touchscreen interface with BlackBerry 10.

Rather than stick with the familiar, RIM has decided to embark on a make it or break it frontal assault on Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS by rolling out a modern phone with a modern operating system.  It may be too little too late; after all, we all remember what happened to Palm and its WebOS.  Still, it’s better than getting moldy on the sidelines, right?  RIM still has a pretty big install base in terms of businesses and whatnot, so why not try to keep the current customers and stay fighting?