News

TASER Point of View Camera Patented, Could Bring an End to Excessive Tasings

C.S. Magor — Sat, 17 May 2008 07:56:38 -0700

The folks over at TASER have a new patent on their hands that it looks like they will be putting into their stun guns before too long. It is an embedded camera, designed to capture the circumstances under which the less-lethal device is used.

After watching the Don't Tase Me Bro video and countless others like it, most of us have the sense that the TASER is being overused. If you ask me, voicing an opinion or being visibly upset is not a reason to be tased. These are less-lethal weapons that should be used to prevent the use of deadly force. In other words they are weapons that can be pulled out in place of guns, not because reasoning with a person is too inconvenient.

While I doubt that an onboard camera will bring unwarranted tasings to a complete stop, it is likely that it will decrease them, which makes this a very nice patent. [The Danger Room via DVICE]

Dell Not Shelving the XPS

C.S. Magor — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:58:20 -0700

Being the geek that I am I once considered purchasing an Alienware ALX notebook. Sure, you pay a lot for what you get, but so do people buying Mac Book Pros. The trouble was, no matter how much I wanted one, I couldn't get one. You can't get Alienware in Japan. When Dell assimilated the Alienware brand, I hoped that things would change; they didn't. Dell, on the other hand, has an awesome reach here; particularly in the education sector.

If you put the two together, it is quite obvious that it would be a bad move on the part of Dell to eliminate the XPS range entirely. The time should come some time in the future, but right now, they are not ready. The XPS range will not disappear until Alienware has the same reach as Dell and that is not coming for a while yet, at least.

According to Anne B. Camden of Dell:

"XPS remains an important Dell
brand with its heritage of premium performance. While closely
associated with gaming, in the last year XPS has expanded well beyond a
gaming brand – look at the XPS One, our first entry into the all-in-one
market, the XPS M1330, an industry leading ultraportable or the XPS
420 desktop, designed for multi-media activities. How the WSJ missed
all this is a little beyond us."

So there you have it, straight from the mouth of a Dell PR flunky, XPS is not going anywhere, not for the time being at least. The Wall Street Journal got it wrong. [Your Blog (DELL) via Blorge]

Oh Jimmy, Say it Ain't So!

C.S. Magor — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:50:53 -0700

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has landed himself in a whole lot of trouble. It would appear that Jimbeau attempted to take the non-profit organization for an expensive ride that included a trip to a Russian massage parlor (note that it says massage parlor not masseuse, there is a significant difference between the two) and expensive bottles of wine. In 2006, Wales had his credit card taken away, such was the frequency of his misuse.

His character has also been called into question over a number of other issues, including:

Using Wikipedia to end a relationship with someone that he made through Wikipedia.
Editing entries that his estranged ex-girlfriend Rachel Marsden made in relation to him on the site.
Improperly using his influence to make changes to Ms. Marsden's Wikipedia biography.

To add insult to injury, Rachel Marsden has released transcripts of some of their chats which are nothing if not saucy. These certainly are tough times for Jimbeau.

Source: The Age