spray

It sounds like a particularly suspicious late-night infomercial: Spray your way to a better wireless signal! Improve your range! Save battery! Transmit over great distances under water!

But Chamtech's spray-on antenna is a real product with some impressive claims. It can be sprayed on almost any surface, even trees and orange barrels. It doesn't suck up power. It works in a mysterious nanotech way.

Here's how I imagine the antenna process goes:… Read more

The spray seen 'round the world at the UC Davis "Occupy" protest inspired one of the more awesome memes of the year, but just how dangerous is that police-grade pepper spray?

The infographic team at Online Criminal Justice Degree seized on this moment to answer that question. Turns out the nasty orange spray is 1,000 times spicier than the common jalapeno, and more than twice as potent as the consumer pepper spray you might carry around with you.

Click on the excerpt below to see the full image and find out just how safe (or not) the stuff is, as well as what to do if you ever get sprayed yourself (hint: don't rub, and always carry milk and soap to all acts of civil disobedience).… Read more

Some say that the competitive spirit in America had died.

Those people are surely turning a blind eye to the places where Americans are showing that winning still is truly everything.

Last night, for example, at the Wal-Mart in the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles, there were reportedly many shoppers ready to vie for the finest electronic bargains.

The way the Los Angeles Times disseminates it, one lady shopper showed that she would not be defeated under any circumstances. She allegedly got out her pepper spray and showed the rest of those wusses who was Queen of the Electronic … Read more

week in review In the face of regulatory resistance, AT&T appears to be bracing for the end of its intended $39 billion merger with T-Mobile.

AT&T said this week that it will take a $4 billion accounting charge in the fourth quarter to cover a breakup fee to T-Mobile should the deal fail to gain regulatory approval. AT&T and T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telecom also said they've withdrawn their pending approval applications to the Federal Communications Commission "to facilitate the consideration of all options at the FCC and to focus [the companies'] continuing … Read more

Fame can be a hydra.

One tentacle can lift you up. Then another wraps itself around your throat.

Lt. John Pike of the University of California at Davis police force might be feeling some constriction today, after the online world began to pay him many-tentacled homage.

Yesterday, it was merely touching retouchings of famous photographs and works of art.

Today, though, Lt. Pike has attracted the attention of hacktivist group Anonymous.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the group managed to create a little 10-minute video that happens to be peppered with Lt. Pike's address, home telephone number, and … Read more

There you are, enjoying just another day at the office. There you are, just doing your job as best you can.

How can you possibly know that one little pro forma action of yours will spout hundreds of imitations across the Web?

This must have been a thought of Lt. John Pike, the University of California at Davis policeman who had clearly eschewed paper pushing for finger pushing.

Should you have been suffering from unreasonably stingy eyes of late, you might have missed video of Pike mistaking his pepper spray for his plant food and a group of seated students … Read more

In Sprinkle for Android, its your job to protect the alien inhabitants of Titan, a distant moon being bombarded by flaming asteroids. Armed with a gigantic water cannon, you venture from level to level extinguishing the falling asteroids along with all of the other neighborhood fires they happen to ignite.

Each level challenges you with a number of rampant fires, each on the verge of engulfing a Titanite's home. All you have to do is aim your cannon at each set of flames (sometimes for a few seconds) to make sure that they are completely extinguished. Sound easy? Well, … Read more

The Anonymous activist collective today released personal information about a New York police officer who is believed to have sprayed pepper spray on women protesters on Wall Street.

The group released a phone number, addresses, names of relatives, and other personal data for a New York police officer that numerous Web sites identified as Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, as well as photos that appear to show him at the protest and a close-up of his badge.

Bologna was identified as the officer in a slow-motion video who sprayed pepper spray directly in the faces of a handful of women who … Read more

Some cool new gadgets aren't sold in stores. The D*Face Spray Paint Skateboard Interface took a year to create and won't be found on the shelves of your local skate shop.

Let's break down the D*Face Spray Paint Skateboard Interface. D*Face is a London-based street artist. Spray paint and skateboards are self-evident. The interface part refers to a remote control system that can trigger paints cans attached to the underside of skateboards.

This technology could easily be used for less-than-noble purposes, but D*Face created and harnessed the devices in the name of art. The canvas was a skateboarding pool in Southern California. The pool had previously been a site for a D*Face project that covered it with piles of painted skulls.

According to a behind-the-scenes look in Concrete Disciples skateboarding magazine, the chosen spray paint was a very fast-drying enamel. The cans are strapped under the deck with Velcro and are controlled by wireless remote.… Read more