US Navy ship-mounted railgun closer to reality, Raytheon and others to make it happen

Ah, the railgun. Previously a flight of fancy fit only for wars in works of science fiction, the ultimate in electromagnetic weaponry is one step closer to becoming a reality for the US Navy. We've seen the system working well in the lab, but Raytheon has just gotten $10 million to create the pulse-forming network needed to get a railgun flinging projectiles off the deck of a Naval warship. Making such a network isn't easy, as it must store massive amounts of energy in a small enough package that it can be "used in a modular and versatile way for multiple platforms" -- so that some day, even dinghies will have 33-megajoule stopping power on board. In addition to Raytheon's pulse-forming framework project, the Navy has already tasked BAE and General Atomics to design tactical technologies that'll get future railguns firing up to ten rounds per minute. When can we expect to see kinetic weapons on the high seas? The goal is 2025, but naturally, finances and politics will dictate its date of deployment, so keep your fingers crossed it's sooner, rather than later.

US Navy ship-mounted railgun closer to reality, Raytheon and others to make it happen originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/30/us-navy-ship-mounted-railgun-built-by-raytheon/

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Exclusive Preview: OK Go's New Thousand-Instrument Music Video [Video]

OK Go's new music video for "Needing/Getting" is going to debut on Super Bowl Sunday, and we've got an exclusive preview for you in the leadup. There isn't too much to go on: just 288 guitars, 55 pianos, 1157 homemade instruments, the band in crayon-colored jumpsuits, and all the pomp and circumstance surrounding a new OK Go video. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Qe5XLNIkr0E/exclusive-preview-ok-gos-new-thousand+instrument-music-video

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GNOME 3 released, ushers in an interesting amalgam of iOS and OS X

GNOME 3 desktop manager
GNOME 3, after more than two years of development, has been released into the wild. GNOME 3 is not merely the logical successor of GNOME 2: it is an entirely new project, started from scratch, to create a "completely new, modern desktop designed for today's users and technologies."

The best way to check out GNOME 3's new features -- and it has lots of new features -- is to run a live version of openSUSE or Fedora, or simply head over to the GNOME 3 website and watch the (rather pretty) introductory videos. If you want a synopsis, though, here it is: GNOME 3 looks a lot like Mac OS X, with a healthy dollop of iOSesqueness for good measure, but yet it still somehow retains an underlying feel of Linux.

The overall aesthetic is very simple, very elegant, and despite being slightly out of fashion, there are plenty of rounded corners, too. The main addition, workflow-wise, is the addition of an app-launcher-cum-alt-tab screen, where you can launch apps, or flip through your open windows. For a complete list of the new features and changes, check the GNOME 3 release notes.

Despite GNOME 3 being officially launched, there aren't actually any releases for existing, stable Linux distros -- it's the live CD/USB images, or Ubuntu users will have to wait for the launch of 11.04 for a GNOME 3 PPA, but it will break Unity in the process. Fedora users will have to wait for for the May 24 release of Fedora 15. Of course, if you're feeling crazy, you can always build GNOME 3 from source.

GNOME 3 released, ushers in an interesting amalgam of iOS and OS X originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 06:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/gnome-3-released-ushers-in-an-interesting-amalgam-of-ios-and-os/

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Awesome World War II Dogfighting Filmed On Zero Budget [Video]

One of the things I love computers for is how they have democratized the access to things that once were only attainable by a very few. This World War II short film called The German is a perfect example. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ldxDgneOE1M/this-awesome-world-war-ii-dogfighting-was-filmed-on-zero-budget

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Google tells Android devs to kick the menu button to the curb, seriously you guys

Android Actions
If you've seen Ice Cream Sandwich and the Galaxy Nexus in action, then it should be clear that the menu button has no future in the Android ecosystem. In order to drive that point home, Google has posted over at the Android Developer blog urging app creators to "say goodbye to the menu button." With the until now standard key getting the boot, big G wants devs to start designing interfaces that focus on the ActionBar introduced with Honeycomb. Of course, there's only so much room on the screen, and that's where the "action overflow" button comes in handy. Those vertical elipsis hide useful, but perhaps secondary options, that don't fit in the action bar. It also pops up on the far right of the navigation bar as a replacement to the menu button... basically because it behaves the same as menu, just in a different location. If nothing else at least Google is pushing Android and its apps towards a more uniform design. Check out the source for more details.

Google tells Android devs to kick the menu button to the curb, seriously you guys originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/2f7wFKKKGms/

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Trade Whatever You've Got for Whatever You Want with the Swap-O-Matic [Video]

Vending machines would be a lot more user friendly if they didn't always demand money. Maybe I don't have $1.25 for that can of soda. Maybe I've got a seventy-five cents and four cigarettes. That seems like like a fair trade, right? Well, with the Swap-O-Matic, I can now find out. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/YOqxGDCH6ZQ/trade-whatever-youve-got-for-whatever-you-want-with-the-swap+o+matic

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The Spice Grinder Improved With Grade School Science [Cooking]

Remember when you first learned about the power of levers? And how (in theory) you could even use one to move a mountain? Well Kuhn Rikon has applied the same principles to a spice grinder, but on a smaller scale. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/d6qF8wxweC8/kuhn-rikon-improves-their-spice-grinder-with-grade-school-science

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First Firefox 6 build next week, Firefox 7 by May, and aurora channel introduced

Firefox 5, 6, 7 and release channels
Mozilla's Engineering Project Manager, Christian Legnitto, has detailed the release schedule for Firefox 5, 6 and 7. If all goes to plan, Firefox 6.0a1 will be released next week, April 12, and Firefox 7.0a1 in the middle of May. The final build of Firefox 5 should be released on June 21, exactly three months after the release of Firefox 4.

Along with the faster 6-week release cadence, Firefox's new Chrome-like release channels have also been given names and anticipated update frequencies. The most notable change is the introduction of a new alpha channel -- which is analogous to Chrome Canary -- that will be called 'aurora' and will update nightly. Aurora will be where fixes and features are tested, and either approved for Beta, or backed out to Central. Aurora will have a new icon, too.

The Nightly (mozilla-central) channel will remain unchanged in name and frequency, but it will gain a new 'nightly icon.' The Beta (mozilla-beta) channel will remain as-is, with new builds rolling out weekly. The Release (mozilla-release) channel will also remain as-is, with security and stability updates coming every 6 to 12 weeks.

It should be noted that the names (including 'aurora') are not necessarily final, but it's unlikely that they'll change. We're also awaiting the arrival of the new 'channel switching' technology, which should arrive in the next few days -- in time for the release of Firefox 6 aurora!

First Firefox 6 build next week, Firefox 7 by May, and aurora channel introduced originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/first-firefox-6-build-next-week-firefox-7-by-may-and-aurora-ch/

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Tasty Planet is a fun flash game where you eat everything in sight

tastyplanet
So this professor comes up with a new toilet cleaner that works by "eating" the dirt; or so he thinks. That's how the plot starts for Tasty Planet. You play the role of the toilet cleaner, but you're not really a toilet cleaner after all -- you're a blob of gray goo that can eat anything that's smaller than yourself.

As you chomp away, you grow -- and as you grow, you can eat bigger and bigger stuff. The first level pits you against microscopic particles; by the time I stopped playing, I got all the way to eating cats and dogs. I know that sounds disturbing, but it's a really cute game, and there's no gore or anything like that.

Supposedly you keep growing and growing until you're able to eat whole planets (hence the name). The challenge factor comes when you realize you can't touch any critter larger than yourself - you'll get "bitten" and become smaller. In the beginning you're so small, that a single touch can kill you. Later on, you're big enough that touching larger animals doesn't kill you on the spot, but it does reduce your size. Each level is timed, so if you're not large enough by the time your clock runs out, you need to start again. As long as you don't touch the larger animals, you should be fine.

All in all, a fun, addictive little game. It's available for iOS, too.

Tasty Planet is a fun flash game where you eat everything in sight originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/08/tasty-planet-is-a-fun-flash-game-where-you-eat-everything-in-sight/

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