|
Tips Tweaks & Hints NEW Privacy Security & Environment
DT Archives Ask Rick & Houston We have a Problem
Boot Camp |
|
Psst...looking for cheap nuclear stuff? |
Freeware & Shareware
Odds & Sodds
|
Did you know that you can use the Amazon Kindle
for reading Word and text documents and displaying pdfs and images? It’s true,
but getting stuff from your PC to your Kindle can be a bit of a faff, at least
it used to be.
Gun-toting villains, footpads and
ne’er-do-wells take heed. The constabulary may soon have the technology to
detect your firearms while you are walking down the street, without frisking
you, from a distance of almost 5 metres or 16 feet. The device, reported in the
New York Times, works by detecting distortions in the natural radiation field
that all living things generate. This radiation is electromagnetic in nature
and in what’s known as the terrahertz region. It passes through cloths but is
blocked by dense objects, like guns. The scanner is currently being tested by
the New York Police Department, in collaboration with the Pentagon. It was
developed by the US Department of Defense and is still in prototype form and is
currently about the size of a large flat-screen TV, but it is bound get smaller
and the NYPD reckons the range could eventually be extended to 25 metres (80
feet). It’s not going to be deployed just yet, though, and there will be the
inevitable invasion of privacy claims, not to mention possible health concerns
as some long-range terrahertz imaging devices – and it’s not clear if this is
one of them – also emit radiation.
The big question is why has it taken 45 years
for someone to come up with a Star Trek themed door chime? Well, the long wait
is over and now you can have your very own Enterprise wall panel. It’s suitably
futuristic and incorporates a motion sensor, that makes the classic ‘swoosh’
door sound, or if you like, the strident Red Alert sound to warn you if those
pesky Klingons are dropping by to borrow yet another cup of sugar. It’s the
real deal too, officially licensed by the Federation, or at least the people
who give the nod to these sorts of things, and the bad news, well it doesn’t
run on Dilithium crystals or anti-matter, just 6 rather boring, and decidedly
old fashioned AA cells. Not sure when we in the UK will be fortunate enough to
get our hands on one but if you’re in a hurry you could try ordering one from
the US online store at 
It's been around for more than 10 years but the
time has finally come to say goodbye (and good riddance) to Internet Explorer
6. It's current share of the world browser market has dropped to 7.7 percent,
down from 12 percent last year, but the aim is to get it to below 1 percent,
which come as a great relief to web designers everywhere. They waste an
enormous amount of time ensuring that sites remain compatible with the old
browser, and you won't need reminding that it had its fair share of security
loopholes and bugs. The move to wean users away from IE6 and on to more
advanced, and safer browsers began in earnest last year. Now there's a website
dedicated to tracking its demise, called