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Submission + - Rocket-Powered 21-Foot Long X-Wing Actually Flies (gizmodo.com) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Andy Woerner and his crazy rocketeer friends have built a 21-foot long X-Wing model that can actually fly. Yes, this is a real X-Wing powered by four solid-fuel rocket engines complete with radio-controlled moving wings. It blasts off in California next week, and we talked with Andy about the project, and how they expect it will do. Look at the pictures of the construction. It even has an R2-D2. I can't wait for this fly and/or blown-up.
The Internet

How Burmese Dissidents Crack Censorship 154

Posted by samzenpus from the monks-and-the-net dept.
s-orbital writes "According to a BBC News article, "Images of saffron-robed monks leading throngs of people along the streets of Rangoon have been seeping out of a country famed for its totalitarian regime and repressive control of information. The pictures, sometimes grainy and the video footage shaky, are captured at great personal risk on mobile phones — but each represents a powerful statement of political dissent." The article goes on to tell the stories of how Burma's bloggers use proxy servers, free hosting services, and other technologies to overcome Burma's "pervasive" filtering of internet access and news."
The Courts

Jack Thompson Includes Gay Porn With Court Filing 333

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the master-of-free-publicity dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Jack Thompson has done it again, now by making available gay porn for unlimited viewing on public records. Judge Jordan wrote on an issued order: 'The attached exhibit, which includes several graphic images of oral and genital sex between adult males, was filed electronically in the docket in this case, without prior permission from the court... To the extent that the other attorney's alleged conduct is in any way relevant... there was no need for Mr. Thompson to file these graphic images in the public record. A simple reference to the website and its alleged links would have sufficed...'" I'm usually not a fan of giving Thompson continued free publicity, but some of the things he does are just too outlandish not to share.
Censorship

MMO Bans Men Playing As Women 616

Posted by CmdrTaco from the nice-legs-bob dept.
jkcity writes "In a bizarre move Aurora Technology the owners of the King of the World MMORPG has taken the unusual step of banning men who play women characters but the ban itself does not stretch to women playing men. If you want to play as a woman now in game you have to prove you are a women via web cam. This is something that people ask for in many mmorpgs I myself have seen people say people who play women in EVE online as being some kind of degenerate but how long can a policy of verification by web cam last since its so easy to get around it doesn't seem to solve much and is an insult to many."
The Almighty Buck

Internet Service Tax Moritorium Set To Expire 163

Posted by kdawson from the one-of-two-things-we-have-always-with-us dept.
nelsonjs writes "On November 1, the ban on taxing Internet service is set to expire. The ban was originally implemented in 1998 in order to encourage the proliferation of Net access. The Senate is considering two competing bills to extend the ban: one would extend it for four years and the other would make the ban permanent. Verizon and Google, usually to be found on opposite sides of any question of Net access, are united in lobbying for the permanent tax ban. If neither passes by November 1, prices for Internet service nationwide could jump by as much as 17 percent, according to ISPs."
Censorship

Bloggers Versus Billionaire 207

Posted by kdawson from the nailing-jello-to-a-tree dept.
Roger Whittaker writes "An interesting case in England is pitting the combined power of multiple bloggers against an Uzbek billionaire. The bloggers are supporting the former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, who has written a book about what happened there after the fall of Communism. The book is apparently unflattering in the extreme to oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who has engaged the law firm Schillings (which seems to specialize in getting unfavorable Web content removed for rich clients). Their threats have led to the removal of Murray's blog site by his hosting company Fasthosts. But a large number of bloggers have taken up Murray's cause, and the content that caused the original complaint, and links to it, have now sprung up in a very large number of places. The Internet still seems to regard censorship as damage and route around it."
Businesses

Why AnywhereCD Failed 184

Posted by kdawson from the unblinking-look-at-the-business dept.
An anonymous reader writes "In an obituary for AnywhereCD, which closes in one week, founder (and MP3.com founder) Michael Robertson chronicles how at least one record label wanted him to embed credit card numbers of buyers into songs. A fascinating story about how at least some of the labels still don't get it and why AnywhereCD is about to be buried."

Feed Engadget: How would you change the Nintendo Wii? (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Features, Gaming


Since we've already sent both of the other major consoles through the wringer -- along with the two most popular handheld units -- it wouldn't really be fair if we didn't come together as a family and give Nintendo's Wii the most bitter critiquing of its young life, now would it? There's no real debating the fact that this innovative gaming platform has not only become a success in and of itself but fundamentally influenced the way we interact with our devices as well, yet it's certainly far from the perfect product, and there are a number of things we're sure you'd like to see added / changed / removed. For instance, it would pretty sweet if I could use this thing as my DVD player too. Or, why is it so dang hard to befriend someone? And of course, this being 2007 and all, where's that HD already?

Bonus: While no one really complains about this much anymore, as we recall, the name "Wii" wasn't all that well received among haters and fanboys alike when it was first revealed. Since this post is all about changes, we also want to know: if you could go back in time, how would you have branded Nintendo's worldwide hit?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Privacy

Submission + - Bush Orders No Cruel Treatment of Terror Suspects (foxnews.com)

Submitted by ArcherB
ArcherB writes: President Bush signed an executive order Friday prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment, including humiliation or denigration of religious beliefs, in the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects.

Read the whole executive order HERE.
Linux Business

Submission + - Too Many Linux Distros Make For Open Source Mess (informationweek.com)

Submitted by
AlexGr
AlexGr writes: "By Alexander Wolfe (InformationWeek): Remember the 1980s worries about how the "forking" of Unix could hurt that operating system's chances for adoption? That was nothing compared to the mess we've got today with Linux, where upwards of 300 distributions vie for the attention of computer users seeking an alternative to Windows. http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/ 2007/07/too_many_linux.html"
Windows

Submission + - New $298 Wal-Mart PC with OO.org, no crapware (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by cristarol
cristarol writes: Wal-Mart has begun selling a $298 Everex IMPACT GC3502 PC. It comes with Windows Vista Home Basic and OpenOffice.org 2.2, as well as a complete lack of crapware: 'Users accustomed to being bombarded with trialware offers and seeing their would-be pristine Windows desktops littered with shortcuts to AOL and other applications will likely be pleased at their absence from the GC3502. "In creating the eco-friendly GC3602, our main focus was to build a no-compromise, back-to-school PC with all the software applications a typical student would require, without resorting to bundling frivolous trial versions or increasing prices 30 percent," said Everex product manager Eugene Chang.' The hardware is nothing to write home about: a 1.5GHz Via C7 with 1GB of RAM and integrated graphics, but as Ars points out, it should be more than capable of performing basic tasks.
Communications

Submission + - Six Multi-Service IM Clients Reviewed (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
mikemuch
mikemuch writes: "It's been a while since AOL stopped trying to jam third-party IM clients like Cerulean Studios' Trillian. ExtremeTech has posted a roundup of free alternatives to the standard IM software from the big boys — AIM, Yahoo Messenger, and MSN (now Windows Live) Messenger. The products are a mixed bag, some of them Web 2.0-based, like the excellent meebo and the ad-heavy eBuddy. Most give you combined message windows with tabs. GAIM is now Pidgin, Meetro tries to get you chatting with locals, and Trillian, now at version 3.1, remains the client to beat."

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