“Live Long and Prosper….Hello…Anyone there?”

By Mark O’Neill

There’s an interesting discussion over at Universe Today about whether we would be told by governments if aliens were to contact us via SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence).

Maybe I’ve watched too many science-fiction movies but I’ve always had the impression that if an alien race were to pop in for a chat, we would know about it pretty much right away. I mean, look at that movie with Mel Gibson when he found an alien in his kitchen. Try covering that one up!

But Universe Today raises an interesting question – if an alien species were to contact Earth, would governments choose to tell us or would they keep it secret for the sake of their economies and political agendas? Would an alien message unite the world or cause absolute mayhem?

In this day and age of technology, can an alien transmission really be kept secret or can anyone with a transmitter pick it up?



Introducing the world’s tiniest 8GB USB flash drive

Pico Series USB drive

American memory manufacturer Super Talent has just unveiled a new line of cheap, tiny micro USB flash drives that weigh less than 6 grams! the Pico Series USB drives offer a lifetime warranty and come in 1 to 8 GB varieties. Some models are even water resistant, for those of you who feel like taking a bath with their beloved drive.

[Product Page] via [OhGizmo]



Who owns the Imperial Stormtroopers’ clothes?

By Mark O’Neill

You have to feel sorry for the Imperial Stormtroopers.   When they’re not getting their butts kicked by the Jedi Knights, they’re getting caught in the middle of a legal battle over who owns their clothes.

Andrew Ainsworth, the British prop designer who designed and made the original stormtrooper outfits for George Lucas in 1976, is now being sued by Emperor Lucas after he started making new stormtrooper outfits from the original moulds and then selling them for 1,800 British pounds each ($3,600).

Ainsworth’s justification for doing this is that he is the original designer, he owns the original moulds and therefore, he owns the legal copyrights to the uniforms.   Because of this, he thinks he can do as he pleases.

But Lucasfilm obviously thinks differently and a US court agrees.    But since Ainsworth lives in Britain, Lucasfilm now has to hire British lawyers and take the prop designer to the High Court in London to get a British court order to uphold the US court’s decision.

Lucasfilm later told the media : “Anyone who tries to profit from using our copyrights and trademarks without authorisation … we will go after them.”

The Beamz – A laser music system that makes you look like an idiot

The Beamz is a laser-based musical system that allows you to play hundreds of different musical instruments by breaking laser beams with your hands. Theoretically, this kind of device could be very cool (like this one), but after seeing the infomercial that was made to promote it, the “coolness” factor surrounding the thing quickly came crashing down, at least for me. If you guys want to see how an infomercial should NOT be done, then check this out.

Tag songs on HD radio for later listening on your iPod

By Mark O’Neill

Have you heard a song on the radio and wished you could later remember it so you could buy it on iTunes? Well this may no longer be a problem. Polk Audio’s High Definition (HD) Radio is introducing an iTunes Tagging feature which may be the answer to all your musical needs.

Using the feature, your iPod is connected to the HD radio and if you hear a song that you like, you just have to hit the “tag” button. The radio will then transfer the song information to a “tagged” playlist in your iPod and you can then buy it from iTunes the next time you connect your iPod to the computer.

As Eric Cartman would say, “sweeeet!”

An introduction to object oriented languages

An introduction to object oriented languages

By Sterling “Chip” Camden
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Object-orientation can refer to a set of design principles, a programming style, or features of programming languages that support that style. Continuing from an earlier post on the history of programming languages, let’s next concentrate on the purpose and history of the languages that support OOP.

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