Army tests of Land Warrior high-tech uniform successful, soldiers request more

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We knew the Army's supposedly-dead Land Warrior high-tech uniform program still had some life in it, but now it appears that good marks from tests in the field might mean it's going to make a full recovery. The Army sent the 4/9 Infantry (aka the "Manchus") off to war loaded down with the 16-pound Land Warrior kit, and after some on-the-fly adjustments that made the gear lighter and more functional, the soldiers had talked Land Warrior up to the point where the 2nd Infantry Division's 5th Combat Brigade Team has now officially requested 1,000 more Land Warrior rigs. The main change is the removal of six pounds of inessential gear, but the crew in the 4/9 also requested and added in a "digital chem light," which allows buildings and waypoints to be marked in green on an electronic map, and restricted Land Warrior deployment to team leaders and above. There's still some tricky funding problems to solve -- some $102M needs to be set aside for the request -- but the Land Warrior project managers say it's looking promising. Now if we could only get some of that HUD monocle action on the civilian side, our morning coffee run would be a lot more interesting.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

Aptera to make cameo in next Star Trek film?

Filed under: Transportation

For those unaware, "veiled in secrecy" is an extreme understatement when it comes to the next Star Trek flick -- if there actually is a next Star Trek flick, that is. Nevertheless, an undercover photographer managed to grab some recent shots of a film production operating under the title "Corporate Headquarters," and a few snaps caught a vehicle that looks awfully similar to the 300MPG Aptera. Coincidentally enough, said craft was also missing from last week's New York Auto Show. Look, we aren't piecing together clues in a valiant attempt to get you stoked about seeing a space aged automobile in a movie that may or may not even be real (okay, it's real), but then again, it's hard to shake the evidence.

[Via AutoblogGreen]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

Surface to hit consumerdom in 2011, maybe sooner

Filed under: Desktops

The last we heard about a consumer-oriented version of Microsoft Surface, Steve Ballmer was saying that the company was trying to get it out ASAP -- which is apparently three years, we've just learned. That's the word from Tom Gibbons, the MS VP in charge of Specialized Devices and Applications, who says Microsoft can "absolutely see how" to get Surface to consumers by 2011, but that it'll try to beat that deadline if possible. Of course, the $10,000 commercial version of Surface still hasn't been released to high-profile customers like T-Mobile and Harrah's, although it's starting to make semi-random promo appearances here and there. Still, though, 2011? We're getting pretty sick of old-school Hungry Hungry Hippos here, people -- let's make this happen.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

USB Interface

 

 
The Doktor has hacked together a cool way of controlling something on your computer via USB. Looks to be a USB joystick that has been re-purposed to interface with new buttons. This looks to be the ‘new parallel port’. In the days when computers had parallel ports interfacing with the real world usually meant connecting [...]

Bicycle Rim Antenna

 
There are all kinds of antenna designs floating around the net and many of them use found parts for their construction. I have never seen a Bicycle Rim Antenna before though! Alan Yates is the creative designer of this antenna.
"Several months ago I was walking home from the post office, nearing my place I saw [...]

Plasma Tweeter - Audio with no Speaker

 
Martin Grebe tipped us about this cool plasma tweeter in the comment section of this article. Timetec did a fantastic job on building this unit! His musical selection isn’t my favorite but the great operation sure makes up for that.
"Now built the completed circuit on a single PCB. Made vertical electrode setup from tungsten [...]

New Segway

 
Here is a Segway with tires that are two feet wide! Cool hack that is sure to turn heads, but I still have a thing for the Segway Centaur (video below).
 

PicOx - Open Source Motor Controller for Electric Bike

 Have a look at the construction details of this Open Source Electric Bike Motor Controller. There are good circuit construction details and diagrams on the creators site.
More details are available on these pages:
http://www.theworkshop.ca/energy/picox/2/picox2.htm
http://www.theworkshop.ca/energy/picox/3/picox3.htm
http://www.theworkshop.ca/energy/picox/4/picox4.htm
"In brief the PicOx is a PicAxe 08M based digital Controller that performs an ADC of a Hall-effect throttle and [...]

Ball Throwing Machine that a Dog can load

 
If you have a dog this Ball Throwing Machine could provide hours of fun for him when you are out. It looks overkill for what is needed (just the way we like it).
"I built the ball machine because I thought my dog Jerry, might like it and that it would be something fun for me [...]

Name the Thing Contest - 43

 
Congratulations to the last contest winner.
The prize this week will help you use your computer and look stylish while you are doing it. (It’s a finger mouse)
This contest will run for one week (March 22 - 28, 2008) . Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item pictured above and [...]

Happy birthday: take a trip in America's largest flying gadget (part 5)

Filed under: Transportation

Sometimes even the plugged-in Engadget reader needs to pick up and head out for more relaxing climes. Well, for our fourth birthday this month we're treating six lucky people to two round trip tickets destined for anywhere Virgin America flies. We wouldn't want you traveling in something that doesn't have power, network, and a seatback terminal, though, so you don't have to sweat about completely unplugging to get from point A to point B. Check out the rules below, and good luck!

• Leave a comment below. It is in honor of our fourth birthday, after all, so we wouldn't mind a bit of adulation -- but it's up to you.
  


• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. Although you can enter up to six times through the course of this six part giveaway, if you enter this specific giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)


• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine.
  


• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
  


• Winner will be chosen randomly. That winner will get two round trip tickets anywhere Virgin America flies. Tickets are valid through May 31st, 2008, and are blacked out May 22-26. Approximate value is $599 per pair. You can only win once.


• Entries can be submitted until Friday, March 28th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!


• Full rules can be found here.

Oh, and be sure to enter part 1, part 2, part 3, or part 4 for another chance!

 

Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

NVIDIA drivers responsible for nearly 30% of Vista crashes in 2007

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

That huge bundle of damning emails and documents Microsoft produced as part of the Vista-capable lawsuit is full of fascinating information about how the company developed, planned, and launched Vista, but the latest juicy nugget to come out if it suggests that a lot of problems faced by the troubled operating system are actually NVIDIA's fault -- nearly 30% of logged Vista crashes were due to NVIDIA driver problems, according to Microsoft data included in the bundle. That's some 479,326 hung systems, if you're keeping score at home, and it's in first place by a large margin -- Microsoft clocks in at number two at 17.9 percent, and ATI is fourth with 9.3 percent. Now, the chart doesn't contain a ton of additional information that would help put it in context -- a specific time period in 2007 would be nice, as would and driver and OS versions -- but we've been hearing about NVIDIA issues with Vista from the start, and this seems to confirm it. So that's pressure by Intel to support incompatible chipsets, outrage by Dell and Wal-Mart that the Vista Capable program was confusing customers, Microsoft executives saying they had been "personally burnt" by Vista, and now what looks like a huge NVIDIA driver problem -- who knows what else is going to come out of this lawsuit? At this point we're half expecting a photo of Gates signing a Save XP petition.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---