Cody Taylor

Hugh Pickens writes “The Governator revealed this week that he may appear in the upcoming “Terminator Salvation” but when he said he didn’t want to act, he left many fans scratching their heads. Turns out Schwarzenegger has been secretly working with helmer McG and the effects team to reprise his signature role … without lifting a finger. ‘I made it very clear that I don’t have the time to do the movie,’ says Schwarzenegger. ‘I said that I would be willing to be in the movie if they get the technology together, and so they are working on that right now.’ A body-cast mold of Schwarzenegger, created when he first appeared as the muscle-ripped cyborg, provided the basis for a digital-effects version of his famous character so the figure can appear in “Terminator Salvation” as a living, breathing actor. Warners first screens the movie in early May and opens it May 21. ‘I think it’s cool to continue on with the franchise . . . in case I want to jump over again and get into the acting after I’m through here,’ adds Schwarzenegger.”

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Kaliann writes “Toys that respond to brainwaves are the next generation of unique user interfaces. The Washington Post looks at the current market appeal and future uses of technology that can meaningfully respond to the thoughts of a user. Currently the toys have a fairly simple basic idea: the harder you concentrate the more the object moves. A sensor on the forehead picks up brain waves that are associated with concentration, then levitates a ball in response: basic biofeedback. While this may seem to be a rather humble beginning, progress in this field could have astounding consequences in the advancement of technologies devoted to thought-controlled devices. As the author points out, Jedi Beer Pong is within our grasp.”

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Hugh Pickens writes “NPR reports that owners of ships that ply the dangerous waters near Somalia are looking at options to repel pirates including slippery foam, lasers, electric fences, water cannons and high-intensity sound — almost anything except guns. One defense is the Force 80 squirt gun with a 3-inch nozzle that can send 1,400 gallons a minute 100 yards in any direction. ‘It is a tremendous force of water that will knock over anything in its path and will also flood a pirate’s ship very quickly,’ says Roger Barrett James of the the Swedish company Unifire. Next is the Mobility Denial System, a slippery nontoxic foam that can be sprayed on just about any surface making it impossible to walk or climb even with the aid of a harness. The idea would be to spray the pirate’s vessel as it approached, or to coat ropes, ladders, steps and the hull of the ship that’s under attack. The Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, a high-powered directional loudspeaker allows a ship to hail an approaching vessel more than a mile away. ‘Knowing that they’ve lost the element of surprise is half the battle,’ says Robert Putnam of American Technology Corp. The LRAD has another feature — a piercing “deterrent tone” that sounds a bit like a smoke detector alarm with enough intensity to cause extreme pain and even permanent hearing loss for anyone directly in the beam that comes from the device. But Capt. John Konrad, who blogs for the Web site Gcaptain.com, says no anti-pirate device is perfect. ‘The best case scenario is that you find these vessels early enough that you can get a Navy ship detached to your location and let them handle the situation.'”

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alphadogg writes “Security researchers demonstrated how to take control of a computer running Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 7 operating system at the Hack In The Box Security Conference (HITB) in Dubai on Thursday. Researchers Vipin Kumar and Nitin Kumar used proof-of-concept code they developed, called VBootkit 2.0, to take control of a Windows 7 virtual machine while it was booting up. ‘There’s no fix for this. It cannot be fixed. It’s a design problem,’ Vipin Kumar said, explaining the software exploits the Windows 7 assumption that the boot process is safe from attack. While VBootkit 2.0 shows how an attacker can take control of a Windows 7 computer, it’s not necessarily a serious threat. For the attack to work, an attacker must have physical access to the victim’s computer. The attack can not be done remotely.” Which makes me wonder why I’m posting this :)

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narramissic writes “The good people of Wilson, NC pay /month for 10/10 Mbps internet service, 81 TV channels and telephone service. How’d they manage that, you ask? Well, the city-owned and operated cable service called Greenlight came into being when the City of Wilson approached TWC and local DSL provider Embarq and requested faster service for the area. ‘TWC refused the request. And so Greenlight was born,’ says blogger Peter Smith. ‘Now Time Warner Cable and Embarq are upset that they’ve got competition, and rather than try to go head to head with Greenlight on price and service, they’ve instead been lobbying the state government of NC to pass laws to put Greenlight out of business. Apparently they’re having some success, as the NC State Senate has proposed bills that would do TWC’s bidding.'”

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brumgrunt writes “Friday marks the 50th day on general release for what was the long-awaited Watchmen movie. But how much money has it made, and how has it measured up to Warner Bros’ expectations? Has it, bluntly, been worth the gamble, expense and hassle? “

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