Crave

Play him off to hell, Kitty Cat.

(Credit: Hello Kitty Hell)

This Hello Kitty Taser Gun was brought to my attention by Hello Kitty Hell, a blog with the tagline, "One Man's Life With Cute Overload." This poor man's online existence has been reduced to his hatred of a tiny cartoon cat, and who could blame him? The existence of this Hello Kitty taser gun makes me want to open it up and point it at my head.

You have to question the intentions of these designers...is the gun supposed to make little girls less fearful about attacking their in-store competition? Maybe it's meant to fool criminals into thinking their victims are unarmed, only to be met with 50,000 volts of adorable electricity. The device is a custom version of the Taser C2, a unique weapon that uses "propelled wires to conduct energy to affect the sensory and motor functions of the nervous system." The gun can shoot out 15 feet of insulated conductive wire, but it can also be used as a direct contact stun device. Double the fun!

(Credit: Thrustmaster)

I'm no Wii gamer, but I've watched people play on the console many times. It's pretty easy to see how silly it looks when you try to "shoot" or "slice" your opponents with the mundane-looking Wii controller during an action game.

For this reason, I think it's good news that Thrustmaster showed off on Thursday its newest Wii fighting game accessories, including the Glow Saber Duo Pack NW and the Dual Trigger Gun NW.

The Glow Saber Duo Pack NW is designed to house the Wii's controller for existing and upcoming laser-saber battle games. The pack consists of two 17-LED glowing sabers, one blue and one red. Each requires three AAA batteries.

These sabers are made of plastic with rounded edges for safety. They are compatible with all Wii titles that offer laser-saber-battle gameplay.

The Dual Trigger Gun NW, on the other hand, is a single wireless pistol that features double trigger and double hand grip position. The former allows players to manipulate the A and B button of the Wii controller via the gun's triggers and the latter is designed to enhance realism for Wii shooting games by offering better precision.

The Glow Saber Duo Pack NW and the The Dual Trigger Gun NW are now available for purchase, costing $34.99 and $17.99, respectively.

Now let the games seriously begin.

Toronto police launched an innovative gun amnesty program on Wednesday. It's dubbed Pixels for Pistols, and through it, police are offering to give out a Nikon digital camera to anyone turning in a firearm.

Hand over your gun, get a camera--and photography classes.

(Credit: Nikon)

A handgun or assault rifle is worth a $400 Nikon Coolpix S52 and a shotgun nets a $250 Nikon Coolpix P60. The deal includes free photography lessons.

The amnesty program will run for four weeks, according to Henry's camera store, which is providing the cameras.

This might be a good idea for U.S. cities with a lot of street crime. Other amnesty programs offer cash ($100 assault rifles, $50 for shot guns in Washington, D.C. last year) but cameras of much greater value might be just the enhanced financial incentive, and possible artistic motivator, that some gun owners need.

(Thanks to Byron Ng)

(Credit: Spyderco)

Even if they are banned in your country, you've probably seen a balisong (butterfly knife) brandished in some movie or other. Such scenes usually show a villain deftly waving such a knife centimeters away from someone's face in threatening manner. If you want to learn how to do that and not get arrested by your local police, the BaliYo from Spyderco could be for you.

This product is essentially a pen shaped like a balisong. Where you'd usually expect a blade is a Fisher Space pen, the writing instrument famously used in space since the 1960s and capable of operating in freezing conditions and even underwater.

With this, instead of doing pen-twirling tricks during classes, you will be (with some practice, of course) able to execute some crazy moves like those movie villains. Spyderco even provides an instructional DVD to get you started out with some tricks. Check out the videos on the official Web site for more details.

(Via Crave Asia)

Laser technology may yet yield the weapons of the not-so-distant future, but the future is certainly not now.

For the moment, it's all R&D business as usual. Earlier this week, both Boeing and Northrop Grumman put out statements about their ongoing work on U.S. Army's High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator, or HEL TD. And for Boeing, it was also a chance to crow about a contract win: $36 million to continue its work on a HEL TD design.

The work on the HEL TD is intended to lead eventually to a truck-mounted laser weapon that could shoot down rockets and artillery shells.

(Credit: Boeing)

With that money, Boeing says it will first finish its design work, and then move on to building and testing a ruggedized beam control system on a heavy-duty truck (specifically, the Army's Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck). The defense contractor finished the preliminary design of the beam control system earlier this summer. Boeing also plans to develop the systems-engineering requirements for the complete HEL TD laser weapon system.

Northrop Grumman, for its part, this week said that it has completed all preliminary design review requirements for a rugged beam control subsystem for the HEL TD.

Testing of the beam control systems, with low-power lasers, is expected to take place somewhere around 2010.

Eventually, the HEL TD work will be joined up with the work being done separately on a high-energy solid-state laser--the namesake element of the laser weapon system. The SSL is expected to be in the 100-kilowatt class.

But the lead times are long on projects like this. "Due to resource constraints, we are targeting somewhere in 2016 time frame for a limited deployable system," said Bill Gnacek, HEL TD program manager for the U.S. Army.

The laser weapons platform that emerges from the HEL TD program is intended to target rockets, artillery shells, and mortar rounds.

Boeing is also working on a similar project called the Laser Avenger--a Humvee-mounted laser weapon system that would direct its light beam at more Earth-bound targets such as roadside bombs and other unexploded ordnance. The Laser Avenger, a variation on the existing, Stinger-missile-equipped Avenger air defense system, is internally funded by Boeing.

August has been something of a landmark occasion for Boeing and its laser weapons projects, which have been notable for their slow progress. Earlier this month, the company said it had done the first ground test of the entire weapon system in its Airborne Tactical Laser aircraft, which fired its high-energy chemical laser through its beam control system. Boeing expects to fire the laser in flight at a ground target before the end of this year.

Bulletproof and fashion-forward coats are among the products by designer Miguel Caballero.

(Credit: Miguel Caballero)

Bulletproof vests are so 1990s. Sure the vests save lives, but sometimes police, diplomats, and general targets of gunfire and knife fights need something a little more fashion forward. That's why Miguel Caballero's bullet-resistant clothing line exists at the crossroads of style and security.

The Colombia-based designer boasts actor Steven Seagal and the president of Colombia as wearers of his designs, which started selling in London's upscale Harrods department store this month. His products include polo shirts, blazers, raincoats, and suede jackets for women and men. Unlike bulky vests, Caballero says the attire is light, flexible, and comfortable. Some of the garments also come with stab-resistant lining.

But, as should be expected with any designer dress, the shirts and coats come at a high price. Some items start at about $2,000, though Time magazine said the clothing can cost as much as $9,800. Customers can choose from three levels of protection, and the highest level is claimed to resist shots from 9mm handguns up to mini Uzis.

Though the clothing is not yet available in the U.S., celebrities can probably get a hold of some of Caballero's life-saving garments. And if they have any doubts about the products' integrity, Caballero may offer to shoot or stab them just to prove his point.

(Credit: Wasp Injection Systems)

Looking at the 5 1/4-inch blade on the Wasp Injector Knife, it quickly becomes apparent that despite its name, this tool is not made for stabbing pesky insects. No, it's for much, much peskier creatures.

The $379.95 weapon--which would most logically be used for diving, hunting, or self defense--instantly injects a freezing-cold ball of compressed gas, approximately the size of a basketball, into the unlucky recipient.

The injection freezes all tissues and organs surrounding the point of entry and will drop many of the world's largest land predators, according to Wasp Injection Systems, creator of the knife. The 13.5-ounce tool reloads quickly on land or underwater.

When used underwater, the injected gas carries the predator to the surface before blood is released into the water. That gives the diver additional protection by diverting other potential predators to the surface, the company says.

Not surprisingly, we spotted the Wasp Injector Knife on Uncrate, a macho-ish Web magazine for guys.

(Credit: RifleGear.com)

This was sent to us by a tipster. I don't normally spend my time reading RifleGear.com, but from the likes of this item, maybe I should.

Awhile back we were treated to a hilarious Photoshop job called the HK-47--an assault rifle decorated with images of everybody's favorite nonpornographic, nontentacled Japanese import, Hello Kitty. We were sad to learn that it was, well, Photoshopped.

But now, out of nowhere, here's a real one. As a protest against assault weapons bans, one rifle enthusiast in California decided to create a weapon that would "alleviate the fears of (his) fellow citizens and gun-banning legislators when (he) put together a new AR-15 for (his) wife." So he modded the AR-15 to make it baby-pink with an image of Hello Kitty holding a weapon, as well as some extra-cute cartoon flowers! Brilliant!

Unfortunately, according to certain other people who write for this blog, Hello Kitty won't make an assault rifle any less terrifying. Apparently, that cat is trying to take over the world.

(Credit: Metal Storm)

After years of development, a new class of weapon that uses computer-controlled electronic ignition instead of primers to fire projectiles may be finally taking its much coveted place in the U.S. military inventory.

Brisbane, Australia-based Metal Storm has delivered a four-barrel weapon to the Naval Surface Warfare Center for testing that uses a small electrical current instead a conventional firing pin to deliver stacked rounds at an astounding rate.

How astounding? Try 1 million rounds per minute. That's the rate, by the way, not the volume; still, there's no way you want to be anywhere near the wrong end of one of these puppies.

One version, the Redback, features a remotely operated 40mm that can automatically track targets by slewing around at almost 2 complete revolutions per second, according to the company. "The employment of Metal Storm's stacked round technology for a U.S. military weapon system is a huge step for us," Metal Storm CEO Lee Finniear said in the company's press release.

Electronically fired weapons and the general concept have been around for awhile--Austrian company Voere offers an electric, bolt-action hunting rifle--but nothing has approached Metal Storm (PDF). Metal Storm weapons use multiple, "lightweight, economical barrels" mounted in pods on a variety of platforms that can fire a wide selection of munitions.

The projectiles are stacked in-line in the barrel--nose to tail--so there are no magazines, no shell casings, and no mechanical components. This makes them ideal for unattended area denial or picket duty. They are also easily adapted to light vehicles and robot platforms. In fact, the company just signed an MOU with iRobot Government & Industrial Robots to combine its robot platforms with Metal Storm's scalable systems.

"Together with Metal Storm, we aim to develop a superior next-generation weapons platform that ensures absolute safety and always places a human in the decision loop," iRobot's Joe Dyer promised in announcing the agreement. "When you are talking about weaponizing robots, there is no margin for error."

Especially at a million rounds per minute.