(Credit:
Disney)
Disney and Asus have teamed up to do something others have been doing wrong for a long time: they've developed an affordable and functional portable kids' PC, according to USA Today. It comes in the form of a Netbook with an Intel Atom processor; a small, 8.9-inch screen; parental control options; and desktops with customizable themes that revolve around the likes of Cars, Toy Story, WALL-E, and Hannah Montana.
The Netpal Netbooks will have an unknown clock speed (our guess would be 1.6GHz-2GHz) and will have a 16GB SSD or 160GB HD based on parental preference. They'll come preloaded with Windows XP. But they'll have another IO layer over XP so the kids can't break too much. We'd guess a locked-down Windows theme of some sort.
This means the computers can run actual commercial software, as well as access the Internet via Wi-Fi. Consumers can get one decked out in Mickey Mouse's "Magic Blue" or Ariel's flowery "Princess Pink" for $350 at Amazon or Toys R Us. I'd wager, given that Asus' Eee PCs based on the Atom are decent platforms for OS X "HackBooks," that the Princess Pink will be a popular choice for girl hackers.
There are girl hackers, right? Really hot ones, like in Transformers?
No, this isn't one of those items about how your cell phone irradiates your brain--there's been plenty of research in the U.S. and Europe looking at that fear. A Danish health study has concluded cell phones are not killing us large mammals.
But if you're still worried about cell phone radiation, CNET has the chart for you, and the key word is "Chocolate" because that phone has the lowest radiation of any phone tested in the States. (It should be noted that this story is coming out of Europe, where the EU allows nearly 30 percent more radiation from cell phones sold.)
The latest scare: mobile phones are killing the honey bees. Many of the developed world's nations have recently reported Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which apparently results from phone radiation confusing the innate GPS of bees, those swarming critters responsible for pollinating many of the world's food crops. And let me tell you, that's not a sweet thing to think about. No fruit, no honey, no nuts, and a lot less food all around. We do know that bee hives are failing in North America and across Europe in numbers large enough--up to a 70 percent loss in some U.S. states--to alarm beekeepers and officials. No wonder the press is buzzing. (Apologies.)
Forget the Navy bar. This is what I call a "target rich environment"...for puns.
(Credit:
Maverick Jets)
The Trend Hunter blog has dubbed Maverick Jets' new SoloJet the Top Gun of executive aircraft. (What an original pop culture reference.) Considering the glaring irony that Tom "Maverick" Cruise has traded in his F-14 Tomcat to become TomKat, one can't blame the Top Gun references from jumping into the blogosphere.
The single engine jet holds a 3,190-pound Pratt & Whitney JT-15-5 engine, enabling the jet to climb 8,000 feet per minute. It flies at 472 knots--that is about 543 mph, or 874 kilometers per hour for our friends across the pond, and Mach .72 at 31,000 feet if your name happens to be Iceman. The cabin is about 9 feet long and seats five.
So, if you "feel the need for speed" and have an extra $1.25 million lying around, the SoloJet is just the thing for that special pilot in your life.
Personally, I am partial to the slower 252 knots max speed SeaJet from Maverick Jets that can land on and take off from the water. (There is also my dream of owning a Grumman Albatross, but that's definitely not a jet.) No matter which jet you choose, be careful up there.
As a wiseman once warned me, it's all fun and games 'til Goose bumps his head.
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