DailyDirt: Weapons Of Some Destruction

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Projectile weapons are so old school. There are so many other kinds of weapons to choose from nowadays. Some are non-lethal, but others are just as lethal -- even though they only send out electromagnetic waves. Here are some examples of new weapons under development that could cause some damage (temporary or permanent).

• Set your flashlight to "stun" your enemies -- there's a stun ray gun that incapacitates with a really really bright light. It's not even a laser, but it causes "the inverse of blindness" -- disorienting a person from 200 feet away. Just hope that your attackers aren't wearing sunglasses..? [url]
• A green laser can be used to temporarily blind pirates on the open water. Sunglasses won't stop these lasers, but maybe more pirates will start wearing an eye patch to save one eye from this laser-induced blindness. [url]
• The US Navy is testing a new high energy laser that can destroy small boats at sea. Now they just need to put these lasers on sharks... [url]
• Apparently, a cyber-army could be built with just $100 million in 2 years. But an experienced spammer could probably take down that cyber army with a fraction of those resources. [url]
• To discover more interesting war-related stuff, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: cyber-army, lasers, navy, stun ray

DailyDirt: Spaceships On The Drawing Board

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Getting into space isn't cheap or easy. However, the technology to get into orbit is making some awesome progress and getting more reliable -- and getting a little cheaper, bit by bit. There are lots of designs for rockets and spaceships, and some are more like science fiction than anything that'll actually fly. Here are a few more spaceships that might have a shot at taking off.

• As an alternative propulsion technology, lasers could help boost payloads into space. The nice part is that such a system could be safer since there wouldn't necessarily need to be explosive fuels on board, but on the downside, it would be limited to cargo that weighs about 200 pounds. [url]
• NASA's Nautilus-X plans would create a re-usable deep-space vehicle with inflatable components. It would be constructed in space over about 5 years and cost at least $3.7 billion... and it was designed to be affordable. [url]
• The Russians are developing a re-usable space plane that might match the US Air Force's X-37B. Is there really a need for a nationalistic space race nowadays? [url]
• To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: lasers, nasa, russia, space

The Force Is Strong In Public Ridicule: Lucas Backs Down From Threats Against Wicked Lasers

from the your-skills-are-now-complete dept

A month ago, we covered the news that Lucasfilm was threatening Wicked Lasers over one of their recent lasers. The problem wasn't anything the company had done specifically, but the fact that various blogs, in talking about the laser, had compared it to the infamous lightsaber from Star Wars. That didn't make much sense. It's not like if you make a fictional product that you get control over anything remotely like it in the real world. Lucasfilm was widely ridiculed for the C&D, and Wicked Lasers ended up auctioning off the C&D to raise funds for a legal fight. However, after seeing all the negative publicity, Lucasfilm backed down, amusingly pretending that Wicked Lasers had helped set the record straight:

"We are aware that, during this time you have made several statements to the media insisting that your product is not intended to resemble a lightsaber and is not marketed by your company as either a lightsaber or as having any connection with 'Star Wars' or Lucasfilm."

Yes, but it's also true that before the media storm Wicked Lasers still hadn't made any statements suggesting its laser resembled a lightsaber, and it was never marketed as being a lightsaber or having any connection to Star Wars or Lucasfilm. This is just Lucasfilm's attempt at gracefully admitting it made a mistake, while pretending something had "changed." Either way, chalk one up for public ridicule getting a company to back down on a questionable legal attack.

Filed Under: lasers, lightsabers, trademark
Companies: lucasfilm, wicked lasers

Can Laser Maker Be Blamed For Blogs Comparing Laser To Star Wars Lightsabers?

from the the-force-is-not-strong-with-this-one dept

Consumerist points us to an odd story, where George Lucas has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Wicked Lasers, saying that the company's Pro Arctic Laser is too similar in design to the infamous lightsaber from the Star Wars flicks. But here's where it gets a little odd. Wicked Lasers claims that it doesn't market the product as a toy and has never suggested or marketed it as being anything like a lightsaber. In fact, it appears that Lucas' complaint is that blogs like Gizmodo and DailyTech have referred to it as some form of "real life lightsaber," and that this is somehow the company's fault. As for the similarities, well, below is a marketing photo of the Pro Arctic alongside a photo from someone who's apparently collecting all of the lightsabers used in the Star Wars movies. There may be some loose similarities, but does this mean that no similar handles could ever be used on a laser-like device? The Pro Arctic (not a toy) laser from Wicked Lasers


Some lightsabers from various Star Wars movies (courtesy of OohYeah Zone)
I guess the argument is that if blogs are calling it a "lightsaber," that many people will make the similar leap. But that reasoning also seems to lead to troubling conclusions. Would it mean that no one could actually create a "lightsaber-like" device in reality without getting approval from George Lucas? That doesn't seem right...

Filed Under: george lucas, lasers, lightsabers
Companies: lucasefilm, wicked lasers

Columbia Professor Latest To Go On The Patent Offensive

from the very-offensive dept

Over the last year or so, we've seen two disturbing trends in enforcing patents. The first, is seeing patent holders suing a bunch of companies at once rather than just one or two, as used to be standard. They do this because they fear that some type of patent reform is coming, either via Congress or the courts. So they want to get as many patent suits in as quickly as possible. The second trend is that, rather than taking patent infringement cases through the court system (which is bound by the recent precedents set by the Supreme Court that loosen patent rules), they use a loophole: taking patent infringement claims to the US International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC has the authority, if it believes that infringement occurs, to block the import of infringing goods. The ITC doesn't need to pay attention to what the courts say, and doesn't need to wait for the USPTO to review a patent. It can simply decide infringement occurred and ban the import of the goods. This is, effectively, the equivalent of an injunction against the product (just the sort of thing the Supreme Court said should be used more cautiously).

A Columbia professor has now picked up on both of these trends, getting the ITC to investigate 30 companies for violating her patents on LED and laser technologies. Among the companies investigated: Sony, LG Electronics, Hitachi, Toshiba, Panasonic, Motorola, Nokia, Pioneer, and Samsung. Whether or not these patents turn out to be valid, it's a cheap tactic to use the ITC rather than going to the courts to fight this battle.

Filed Under: itc, lasers, lawsuits, leds, loophole, patents
Companies: hitachi, lg, motorola, nokia, panasonic, pioneer, samsung, sony, toshiba