The tube-shaped variation of the buckminsterfullerene molecule is dispersed in liquid and then filtered through a fine mesh, creating a very thin but very powerful film, now called buckypaper. The peculiarly shaped molecule has a huge surface area, leading to incredible strength: when stacked to become a composite, it can be 10 times lighter but possibly 500 times stronger than steel, but conducts and disperses heat like copper. It's far from being commercially available, but its uses may be as far-ranging as aviation, computers, batteries, military stealth armor, and fuel cells. Specifically mentioned is the possibility that it might dissipate heat from crotch-burning laptops, so fingers crossed it gets here sooner than later. [AP]

Wingless Takeoff

For example, the videos showed that if the descending swatter—actually, a 14-centimeter-diameter black disk, dropping at a 50-degree angle toward a fly standing at the center of a small platform—comes from in front of the fly, the fly moves its middle legs forward and leans back, then raises and extends its legs to push off backward. When the threat comes from the back, however, the fly (which has a nearly 360-degree field of view and can see behind itself) moves its middle legs a tiny bit backwards. With a threat from the side, the fly keeps its middle legs stationary, but leans its whole body in the opposite direction before it jumps.

Sideways Takeoff

Backward Takeoff

Legless Takeoff

[Caltech—Videos Copyright 2008 by Current Biology, Card & Dickinson. Used with permission. Thanks Kathy]

There are actually open source versions of this I-Doser app (which they might have even taken a few assets from), so you can try it out before you sink some cash into this. Their shady looking site also has a disclaimer that says "I-Doser makes no medical, psychological, physical or otherwise, claims to the effectiveness of the I-Doser application, Simulation CDs, and MP3s," which leads us to believe that it's quite bogus and most likely does nothing. Don't you think that if you could get high from a SOUND, kids would have been all over this years ago? These kids sniff cat pee! [I-Doser via JPostvia T3]

Not only that, new sales of HD DVD players are nonexistent, with Blu-ray being the only things moving now.

The more tech savvy of us rent our stuff on Netflix or Blockbuster Online (which is still supporting both formats for now), but this announcement—covered in many mainstream media sources—had a big impact on people who actually rent at Blockbuster.

Any of you tipsters working at other retail outlets see something similar? Email us if you have. – Jason Chen

Thanks tipster!

What's the point of this? Just to have a richer GUI compared to other home automation solutions thanks to the HD output. Because we all know how inconvenient it is when you meant to wirelessly shut off the TV but turned off the light instead. Boy, that's a problem the average working man can relate to. – Jason Chen

Control4's New HC-300: Faster, Sexier Home Controller [CEpro]

In 802.11g news, the WHR-G125 also has that flip switch, but comes with only one antenna and 10/100 wired networking. These two are on the low end of the router spectrum, offering bare bones features at a bare bones price ($99 for the N, and $49 for the G). If all you need to do is get on the Internet, then Buffalo's got you covered.

– Jason Chen

Press Release [Buffalo]

By Sean Captain

Random routers may give you a crust of bread and such. But god bless the child who's got his own always-on, high-speed connection from a cell phone company. Laptop data cards have been trying the patience of early adopters for years. But three US services now offer bona-fide broadband download speeds in the 400-to-700-kilobits-per-second range. Jump to read about the state of high speed cellular data.

Verizon kicked off wireless broadband in the US about two-and-a-half years ago with Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO). In late 2005, Sprint followed with its own EV-DO service, and Cingular switched on its High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) network. Fast service from T-Mobile is nowhere in sight. So Catherine Zeta-Jones groupies should stick to IM-ing on their SideKicks.

Sporting one of the wireless broadband connections on a laptop feels as liberating as getting a drivers license and no longer having to ask mom and dad for rides to the mall. I've tried out cards from Verizon and Sprint in New York City and had no trouble connecting from anywhere. If you're someone who needs to be connected all the time — say a journalist filing articles from the field — consider a wireless broadband plan.

That's assuming you live someplace that has the service. Cingular currently covers over 60 cities and their burbs with HSDPA. Sprint claims to support about 220 communities, where 153 million people live. Verizon says its broadband reaches half the country.

All three companies charge $80 per month for a standalone, two-year, unlimited data plan. But they lop off $20 monthly for customers who also have all but their cheapest voice plans. Notebook cards cost from $50 to $100.

You can save an extra $20 per month if you forego a laptop card and instead use a broadband-equipped cellphone as a modem, connected via USB cable or Bluetooth. The downside is that most phones can't provide data and voice service at the same time. (But Cingular's LG CU500 can.)

These phones all work as broadband modems:

Cingular
LG CU500


Sprint
LG FUSIC
Palm Treo 700P
Samsung A900
Samsung A920

Verizon
LG VX-8100 LG VX-9800LG Chocolate
Motorola RAZR V3c

You might be thinking you can offset the cost of a wireless plan by dropping your cable or DSL service at home. But if you're more than a casual Web surfer, you'll find this frustrating — especially if your pad isn't in a prime location to get a signal. I tried going wireless-only and went nearly mad waiting for episodes of Battlestar Galactica to download. (Okay, I'm a sci-fi nerd.) And even if you get all five bars, you'll suffer through any sizeable uploads - like sending a card's worth of candid shots from that bachelor party to your Flickr account. Upload speeds are in the paltry 50-70 kbps range.

Relief is in site, though. The next version of EV-DO, called Revision A, will push the upload speeds into the 300-700 kbps range. (Hello video conferencing!) Sprint and Verizon will be rolling it out in early 2007. Then in late 2007 or 2008, Sprint introduces a new technology called WiMax with download speeds between two and four megabits per second. (Yee haw!) Cingular is being mum about upgrades. But Sierra Wireless, which makes a lot of the data cards out there, has already announced an HSDPA model that can handle double the speeds currently offered by Cingular's network.

Sean Captain is a nerdy Manhattan hipster and freelance journalist who covers technology for great outfits including The New York Times, Wired, Slate, Popular Science, Real Simple, and Laptop Magazine. When he has time to spare, he posts to his technology blog at seancaptain.typepad.com.

Here's that ass shot from Earl's Review:

•High Definition TV Output (via HDMI and Component)
•2 Sets of RCA (Red/White/Yellow Outputs) - 1 S-Video
•1 Optical Digital Output
•Dual SAT Tuners
•Dual ATSC Tuners (functionality is disabled at this time, see notes later in the review)
•Wired RJ-45 Ethernet Port
•External SATA Connection
•300gb SATA Internal Hard Drive
•RF Remote Compatible with the Included RC24, and the soon to be released RC32RF

And here's that video of Sports Mix:

Estimated Recording Space (Not a cumulative value)
•30 Hours of MPEG-2 (OTA) HD
•50 Hours of MPEG-4 HD
•200 Hours of Standard Definition (SD)

The set does 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, but no resolution of 1080p is supported. Fine, I guess.

Earl notes that the ATSC over the air HD tuners are in the box, but they've been disabled by DirecTV. That means many people won't be able to watch local HD channels. Boo! They do plan to enable them, but we'll wait til we see it live before we give them the golf clap.– Brian Lam

DirecTV HR20-700 High Definition DVR [DBStalk.com]
DirecTV HR20-700 High Definition DVR [DirecTV]