.::REALITYRECALL::.

The United States Navy has been working on next-gen weaponry ever since the last-gen was present-gen, and if the next next-gen ever actually arrives, well… we don’t stand a chance at lasting very long. According to Wired, the Navy’s Office of Naval Research is expecting laser technology (as it relates to weaponry) to mature in the next score, and if all goes well, a free-electron laser could be mounted on a ship during the 2020s. As of now, FELs produce a 14-kilowatt beam, but that figure needs to hit 100+ in order to seriously defend a ship; unfortunately for those who adore peace, it seems we’re well on our way to having just that. When it’s complete, these outrageous pieces of artillery will be capable of “burning incoming missiles out of the sky [and] zapping through an enemy vessel’s hull.” Something tells us that whole “You Sunk My Battleship” meme is just years from reappearing in grand fashion.

Future Navy lasers will ‘burn incoming missiles,’ blast through ominous vessels originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Conservative leader Stephen Harper brought his campaign to Saskatchewan Tuesday and said he won’t be satisfied holding 13 out of the province’s 14 ridings.

Acer’s had its fair share of Iconia’s land in the past few months, but none are as breathtaking (and potentially world-changing) as the Iconia-6120. Said machine was priced at €1,499 earlier in the year, but that doesn’t mean an awful lot to folks situated in America and the Great White North. As of today, consumers in both of those nations have a price and release date to ponder, with $1,199.99 (both US and CAD) netting you a touchbook with two 14-inch Gorilla Glass touchpanels, a Core i5 CPU, 4GB of memory, integrated Intel HD graphics and a 64-bit copy of Windows 7 Home Premium. You’ll also get USB 3.0 support, a 640GB hard drive, a 1.3 megapixel camera, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, an HDMI output, gigabit Ethernet, a chassis that weighs in at 5.95 pounds and a battery that’ll probably sputter along for nine or ten minutes (on a good day). Lookin’ to dive right in? Amazon, as well as “other” fine e-tailers, should be taking orders momentarily.

Continue reading Acer slaps $1,200 price tag on dual-screen Iconia-6120 touchbook, lets US and Canada pre-order

Acer slaps $1,200 price tag on dual-screen Iconia-6120 touchbook, lets US and Canada pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Switching tracks suddenly in your audio/video projects can be really jarring for the audience. Crossfades can help make natural-sounding transitions between audio tracks, and you can really take advantage of them if you know a little about how sound works.

Angry Birds: Video Cheats for Every Level	How To Use Clipping Masks (And Not Layer Masks) in Photoshop	How to Remotely Control Your PC (Even When it Crashes)

From the dark ages to this day.

Via: WinBeta
Source: TechKing

The second bit of news for Canadian Netflixers in less than 24 hours deals with the other pressing issue facing the service in the Great White North: bandwidth caps. While they exist in the U.S., many Canadian ISPs have set the max amount of data allowed at much lower levels and they may cut further if a recent CRTC decision on usage-based billing stands. In response, starting today Netflix.ca accounts all have a new Manage Video Quality setting that lets users select Good / Better / Best bitrates as defaults for their video streams. According to CPO Neil Hunt’s blog post, previously watching 30 hours of Netflix would typically consume up to 30GB of data, while now it can be as low as 9GB under the “Good” setting. Of course, dropping bitrate means lowering picture quality accordingly, despite promises that “the experience continues to be great.” Even with HD and 5.1 audio available, PQ probably isn’t your highest priority if you’ve turned to streaming, but it remains to be seen if customers find the compromise suitable, and whether a similar option comes to U.S. users facing similarly limited connections.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Netflix Canada announces new bandwidth management settings for capped users originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Telecom giant Bell Canada has pulled its plan to impose usage-based billing to wholesale internet clients, following a widespread public outcry.

New pools of radioactive water have been detected around Japan’s earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear complex, officials said Monday, as workers continued racing to contain leaks from the facility.

Oh spring, come quick! It’s a lifelong dream of mine to be in Holland during tulip season which is now just seconds away. The countryside all swathed in color as far as the eye can see, the air thick with the scent of spring. And then, all of a sudden it’s harvest time and they’re all cut down, packed up and exported worldwide. My Dad tried to go see them once and he was a day too late, he said it was a like floral massacre, bereft of color, the fields barren with random decapitated tulip heads & bulbs left behind. Oops, sadface Daddio. Nice try, better luck next time!

Image credits: 1, 2, 3, 4.

The most intense forms of rejection create a physical response in the brain, research shows.

Being able to remotely control your computer is an age old geek trick. But what about changing BIOS settings or installing an operating system remotely? With Intel AMT KMS this is within reach for any geek with the right hardware.

Intel vPro is a management platform built into Intel processors and other hardware that allows companies to manage their desktops and laptops out-of-band (OOB). That means the computers can be managed no matter if the computer in on or off, and even if the operating system has failed or there is no hard drive present.

With Core processors Intel introduced Active Management Technology (AMT) 6.0 which introduced a slew of new features including Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) Remote Control. This means that with the right hardware configuration you have full remote access to your computer no matter what state it’s in.

Most geeks are familiar with VNC software that runs inside your operating system, but Intel AMT KVM runs at a hardware level which allows you to go remote with your computer in the case of a total system failure or even without an operating system installed. Let’s get started and set up Intel AMT KVM so you can go remote with your computer.

How To Use Clipping Masks (And Not Layer Masks) in Photoshop	How to Remotely Control Your PC (Even When it Crashes)	Use Windows 7’s Previous Versions to Go Back in Time and Save Your Files

Previous Versions is an incredibly useful feature built into Windows 7, which allows the OS to record and view earlier versions of files without a flux capacitor. Here’s a detailed guide to using this excellent feature.

This feature goes beyond the functionality of the Recycle Bin as it allows you to:

• Recover files you may have permanently deleted.
• View or restore a version of a file which you have saved over.
• Allow you to compare current and/or previous versions of a file side by side.

With a little bit of dedicated hard drive space, an automation script and scheduled task, you can leverage this feature to guard against inadvertent file deletions and overwrites which traditional backups may not adequately cover.

How To Use Clipping Masks (And Not Layer Masks) in Photoshop	How to Remotely Control Your PC (Even When it Crashes)	Use Windows 7’s Previous Versions to Go Back in Time and Save Your Files