bullets

Is there a design school somewhere that instructs students on creating goofy USB flash drives?

We've seen drives shaped in the form of engagement rings, bones, lighters, car keys, and skulls. We now get a drive in the shape of a silver .22 caliber bullet.

The tech trinket comes from Active Media Products and is presumably marketed for the NRA crowd or those people who, maybe as a result of the glut of bad teen-horror TV programming, fear werewolf attacks.

"The Bullet-2 drive is the ultimate USB drive because it is rugged, reliable, waterproof, dust-proof," Active Media … Read more

Earlier this week, an Illinois man managed to leave his cell phone in his back pocket, a choice that ended up, thanks to his rolling bottom, with his wife calling the police, who sent a SWAT team to the man's place of work.

John Garber, a valet from an Atlanta nightclub might now be dead if he'd kept his cell phone in the same place.

According to the Associated Press, Garber was working at Club Halo when two men were thrown out of the club. Police say that the men allegedly ventured over to a car, grabbed some weapons and began to shoot indiscriminately in the direction of the club.

One of the bullets went through Garber's coat and was about to do him severe damage. Suddenly, it was intercepted by his HTC phone (yes, it was a Droid Incredible), which he had put into the chest pocket of his jacket.

Garber's coat is now adorned with a bullet hole. The top left corner of his red cell phone battery now enjoys a dent that signifies it wouldn't let the bullet through.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--How often does a journalist fire a real gun in the line of duty? Let me tell you, not often. But that's just what I did today. And no, I wasn't taking an anger management class.

It was just another demo by IoSafe, maker of disaster-proof storage solutions like the IoSafe SoloPro. These are extreme types of devices and, it seems, their maker believes they deserve some over-the-top demonstrations.

For that reason, it's now somewhat of a tradition that IoSafe stages grandiose product demos during CES. The company did a crazy fire and water demo during CES 2009 for the IoSafe Solo and an even crazier one during CES 2010, which included a 35,000-pound excavator, for the Solo SSD.

This year, the demo of the IoSafe Rugged Portable, while smaller in scale, was much louder, literally. It involved firing live rounds to prove just how rugged the Rugged Portable is.

According to Robb Moore, CEO of IoSafe, the Rugged Portable isn't designed to be bulletproof but just to withstand a significant amount of impact. "There are types of bullets that can go through any electronic devices we make," he says. "I believe, however, the Rugged Portable can survive multiple rounds of shotgun. Still, I keep my fingers crossed."… Read more

If you like big and green, NASA's Ames Research Center will soon have something for you: the world's largest and greenest airship.

The space agency announced today that the Mountain View, Calif., research center's Moffett Field will soon play host to a mammoth 265-foot-long and 65-foot-diameter airship from Kellyton, Ala.'s E-Green Technologies. The Bullet Class 580 will be developed and tested at Ames in 24,000 square feet of Ames' famous Hangar 2.

The new airship, which has a planned first flight date of early 2011, is expected to run on algae-based biofuel, and fly at … Read more

If you're a kid growing up in Japan, chances are you dig comic books and trains. In the western Tokyo city of Akishima, you can indulge in both by reading manga in a vintage bullet train that's now a kids' library.

The converted 0 series Shinkansen has been drawing kids to the Akishima Library since 1992. Little tykes can kick back on the carriage's 25 seats and read from a collection of some 10,000 books.

As seen in the video below, kids can also play engineer in the train driver's compartment. The library is popular … Read more

Or to the ear, to be more specific. Any takers? What if I pay you $100 you pay me $250? Actually, Munitio, maker of the Teknines Nine Millimeter Earphones, is really hoping you'd be willing to pay it that chunk of change for the privilege of sporting the ridiculous copper alloy 'buds. And in case it wasn't already abundantly clear: yes, they are modeled after bullets, and yes, they really do cost $250. But, hey, at least they're gold-plated, and the cable is coated in Kevlar, right?

OK, that last part is pretty sweet, actually. With the … Read more

No, we don't have the new iPad/iSlate/iFail just yet, but we're crossing our fingers hoping for good news at tomorrow's Apple Event. CNET correspondent Natali Del Conte is already in San Francisco ready to cover the big announcement, and we're stoked that Jeff hosted Loaded today in her absence. Also, be sure to check out PRE-GAME, Jeff's newest video game show on CNETV starting next Tuesday, February 2.

Lost in the flurry of Apple rumors circling the Internet (will someone please tell Regis about the Internet??) is the distinct possibility that AT&T will lose iPhone exclusivity tomorrow. According to "industry insiders" (sounds legit to me) other carriers will begin to offer the popular smartphone starting tomorrow due to networking troubles clogging the AT&T pipes. AT&T will make up for the loss of sole ownership by offering a series of Windows Mobile, Android, and WebOS-based handsets as consolation prizes to wayward shoppers.

If you already own an iPhone but fear the prying eyes and fingers of your paranoid better half, we recommend checking out iTrust, a 99-cent app that fools would-be spies by displaying a dummy image of your iPhone home screen and recording any attempts to access private information.

Alternatives to shelling out a buck for this app: 1.) If you know your bf/gf is nuts enough to check your phone for naughty pictures and texts, you can always set a passcode and keep it private, or 2.) download The 404's forthcoming "girlfriend app" that immediately hides your cache with a simple dice-shaking motion. Hey, don't steal that idea, for real.

Finally, be sure to stick around in the second half to hear our explanation of THAT ^ in addition to a few more stories and a hilarious Calls From The Public segment! We'd love to hear from you as well, so just give us a call at 1-866-404-CNET and tell us what's on your mind! We're also still accepting Self-Addressed Stamped Envelopes (SASE) for sticker requests, so check out this fan-made tutorial and get it over to us ASAP!

The U.S. Department of Defense has contracted for the development of bullet resistant windows that dim instantly with a touch of a button, providing "on-demand" light control, privacy, and protection from heat, glare, and ultraviolet rays.

GKN Aerospace was awarded the $425,000 contract by the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office's VIP Protection Subgroup to incorporate dimmable films with armored glass to provide a "SmartShade" that conceals the location and identity of VIPs traveling in armored vehicles.

The Redditch, U.K.-based company will wed its bullet resistant glazing expertise with a "suspended … Read more

'Change you can believe in'. 'A new era of responsibility'. 'I will be a President who will do things that actually make sense'.

These were kinds of phrases lifting my spirits when I came across a new iPod touch application that made me feel I'd just walked into a very large road sign. You see, this new application is called BulletFlight. And it will help you, well, shoot things better.

You know, things like tin cans on a ledge. And partridges in a pear tree. And, well, I don't know, annoying varmints or neighbors, I suppose. Although I … Read more