Mr. Morden's Rants

A story of triumph in the face of adversity

2012-01-29T22:02:00.000-06:00

How to root Droid Razr on a Mac!

2012-01-26T15:48:00.000-06:00

2012-01-26T12:35:00.002-06:00

How to jail break your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 with the A5 Processor running iOS 5.0.1

For the latest version of the software please visit the dev site @ http://greenpois0n.com/

In the mist

2012-01-26T12:06:00.001-06:00

In the mist by Corbleau Nik

Motorola files new suit against Apple

2012-01-26T11:49:00.001-06:00

Motorola files new suit against Apple http://goo.gl/mag/F0UJf

HowTo Jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 (Unthered) without SHSH blobs w/ GreenPois0n R...

2011-02-09T07:16:00.000-06:00

Why I have a 50" plasma

2010-12-13T21:12:00.001-06:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Woodchucks - GEICO Commercial

2010-11-02T20:24:00.000-05:00

How to turn "water" into marbles

2010-10-25T18:04:00.000-05:00

Trace Lee (Eric Peter DeWolff) Take My Wife... Instead vol. 3

2010-10-11T02:20:00.000-05:00

Penn & Teller - Patriotism

2010-09-27T03:08:00.000-05:00

Penn & Teller Investigate Mount Rushmore & Blind Patriotism

2010-09-27T03:02:00.000-05:00

True Blood Tweets

2010-09-18T19:47:00.001-05:00

Mr Morden (@MrMorden) has shared a Tweet with you:

"TrueBloodHBO: Jason: “Sometimes the right thing to do is the wrong thing, and I know I did the right thing.” #truebloodquotes #trueblood"
--http://www.twitter.com/TrueBloodHBO/status/24891652527

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Xbox 360 Moron on FOX News

2008-04-01T00:57:00.002-05:00

Are People really this stupid.

read more | digg story

2008-03-29T16:00:00.001-05:00

My Home Page

Hot Comics
A Comic Book site I have been working on.

My Testing grounds for new code and stuff

Dragon Consulting
My Consulting company, I haven't done any thing with it yet but I like the name.

DrAgOnGrAPhIcS.OrG

Dragon studio
Again this just sounded cool
Robert Wagner.com
Still Can't believe this was still not taken yet so I grab it, no clue what I'll do with it.

Steel Dragon
This name just sounded cool, I was thinking about using it for W.O.W

Torchwood Cardiff.co.uk
My 1st .co.uk domain... yes i know Cardiff has two ff

TorchwoodCartiff.com
I'm Thinking of starting a fan club with these.
TorchwoodOnLine.net

TRACYLWAGNER.COM

WAGNERSWOODWORKING.COM
These were going to be for my dad's online store, until he died.
WAGNERSWOODWORKING.NET

Google's New Ad Tool: What Exactly Does It Mean For Industry

2008-03-26T03:52:00.002-05:00

Online advertising is the fastest-growing segment of the ad industry. Standard offerings like TV commercial and print ads are all trying to keep advertisers interested, but it's online ads that are measurable, offering complete accountability.

read more | digg story

Top 10 most inaccurate movies.

2008-03-26T03:44:00.002-05:00

Top 10 list of the most inaccurate movies including Gladiatior, Braveheart, 300, and more.

read more | digg story

Sci-Fi vs. Reality: Lost's Black Box Story Holds True

2008-03-26T03:41:00.002-05:00

So why does Widmore want Ben? And what use is the black box to him? Would the thing even spit out anything useful after four months in salt water? While we can’t answer the first question, we talked to James Cash, chief of the vehicle recorders division at the National Transportation Safety Board, to get some answers to the latter two.

read more | digg story

Hot ... Naked .... and blue!

2008-03-26T03:37:00.002-05:00

Gentlemen, make sure you are breathing during this gallery viewing. Ladies, don’t hate her TOO much! :)

read more | digg story

Xbox Live takes serious action against gamerscore cheaters

2008-03-26T03:31:00.002-05:00

Microsoft has taken action against numerous cheaters on Xbox Live who have been manipulating their gamerscore. The actions include resetting the gamerscore of these people to zero, removing their ability to regain all previously gained achievements, and labeling them as a cheater on Xbox.com and in the Xbox dashboard.

read more | digg story

MonsterCable vs.CoatHanger, Audiophiles can't see difference

2008-03-26T03:30:00.002-05:00

We've always believed that the perceived quality boost that comes from using high-end cables is really just a trick of the mind (read: justifying the ridiculous cost of premium cables to yourself) -- if you've dropped enough cash, you can probably hear anything you want....

read more | digg story

Lack of competition sends Blu-ray player prices upward

2008-03-26T03:27:00.002-05:00

Blu-ray prices go up w/out HD-DVD

read more | digg story

How to hack RFID-enabled credit cards for $8 Goes BoingBoing

2008-03-26T03:25:00.002-05:00

A number of credit card companies now issue credit cards with embedded RFIDs (radio frequency ID tags), with promises of enhanced security and speedy transactions.

read more | digg story

Sony gives option to build your laptop crapware-free

2008-03-26T03:22:00.002-05:00

Sony is finally seeing the error of its ways, but instead of removing the crapware altogether, Sony has the nerve to offer a $50 "Fresh Start" option, which "scrubs" the machine clean before shipping it your way. At the moment you can only configure the TZ2000 crapware-free, but hopefully Sony will be rolling out the choice to the rest of its lapto

read more | digg story

Is the USA Patriot Act haunting Gmail and Google Apps?

2008-03-26T03:21:00.002-05:00

Lakehead University in Canada was one of the first to adopt Google's software model of the future. An administrator boasts the move was the right thing, saving the school hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual operating costs. But he notes one trade-off: The faculty was told not to transmit any private data over the system, including grades.

read more | digg story

Vista SP1: Threat or Menace?

2008-03-26T03:20:00.002-05:00

But given how customers who have upgraded from XP have struggled with driver and application incompatibilities, it's no surprise that many are gun-shy of the latest update.

read more | digg story

SlySoft on Blu-ray BD+ crack: next time it will be easier

2008-03-26T01:58:00.002-05:00

Blu-ray's BD+ was supposed to take "10 years" to crack, but it didn't take 10 months. Yet, even though the scheme can be dynamically updated, SlySoft is extremely confident that they'll crack whatever the BDA sends our way. (Updated.)

read more | digg story

So, what are you HD DVD early adopters going to do?

2008-02-18T10:04:00.001-06:00

We know there are hordes of folks out there now stuck with an HD DVD player -- not to mention the corresponding media -- that is quickly becoming a tainted collector's item. So, what are you to do? Move on and side with the Blu camp? Revolt and pick up a VUDU? We know it's a touchy subject, so feel free to let loose in comments below.

read more | digg story

The G Phone FACT or Fiction ?

2007-11-09T09:28:00.001-06:00

Where's my Gphone?

11/05/2007 08:09:00 AM

Posted by Andy Rubin, Director of Mobile Platforms

Despite all of the very interesting speculation over the last few months, we're not announcing a Gphone. However, we think what we are announcing -- the Open Handset Alliance and Android -- is more significant and ambitious than a single phone. In fact, through the joint efforts of the members of the Open Handset Alliance, we hope Android will be the foundation for many new phones and will create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities we can’t imagine today.

Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications -- all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation. We have developed Android in cooperation with the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of more than 30 technology and mobile leaders including Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile. Through deep partnerships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, we hope to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. We think the result will ultimately be a better and faster pace for innovation that will give mobile customers unforeseen applications and capabilities.

We see Android as an important part of our strategy of furthering Google's goal of providing access to information to users wherever they are. We recognize that many among the multitude of mobile users around the world do not and may never have an Android-based phone. Our goals must be independent of device or even platform. For this reason, Android will complement, but not replace, our longstanding mobile strategy of developing useful and compelling mobile services and driving adoption of these products through partnerships with handset manufacturers and mobile operators around the world.

It's important to recognize that the Open Handset Alliance and Android have the potential to be major changes from the status quo -- one which will take patience and much investment by the various players before you'll see the first benefits. But we feel the potential gains for mobile customers around the world are worth the effort. If you’re a developer and this approach sounds exciting, give us a week or so and we’ll have an SDK available. If you’re a mobile user, you’ll have to wait a little longer, but some of our partners are targeting the second half of 2008 to ship phones based on the Android platform. And if you already have a phone you know and love, check out mobile.google.com and make sure you have Google Maps for mobile, Gmail and our other great applications on your phone. We'll continue to make these services better and add plenty of exciting new features, applications and services, too.

What would your phone do?

Digg This: 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0

2007-05-02T13:18:00.001-05:00

"But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you’ve made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be."

read more | digg story

Army Forbids Troops From Blogging

2007-05-02T13:17:00.001-05:00

The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer.

read more | digg story

Optical Illusions

2007-05-02T11:22:00.000-05:00

Rates of Non-Theism around the World

2007-05-01T14:39:00.001-05:00

"25% of those in Australia do not believe in God...as many as 44% of those in Britain...44% in France...64% in Sweden...48% in Denmark...24% in Russia...31% Norway...28% in Finland...42% in the Netherlands...18% in Austria...34% in Bulgaria...61% in the Czech Republic...35% in Slovenia...32% in Hungary...49% in Estonia......6% in the United States"

read more | digg story

HD-DVD Processing Key

2007-05-01T13:28:00.001-05:00

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0. That's the so-called "Processing Key" that unlocks the heart of every HD-DVD disk to date.

read more | digg story

Army to EO Reps: “Discrimination Against Atheists OK”

2007-04-30T13:31:00.001-05:00

"They are using my formal EO complaint as a training scenario...The Sergeant Major who conducted the EO training for Ohio’s unit level EO reps told them that “since atheism is not a religion, atheists are not protected by the regulation and it is acceptable for officers and chaplains to disparage their own soldiers.”

read more | digg story

White House Rediscovers Constitution, Admits Congress Has Oversight Role

2007-04-26T10:58:00.001-05:00

(W/video). Last month, the White House adopted talking points that reflected a truly radical interpretation of the Constitution: that Congress has no oversight responsibility over the White House. But today, the WH spokesperson admitted, "Congress has a role to play, which is oversight over the executive branch."

read more | digg story

Cabbies Ordered To Pick Up All Riders - Muslim Drivers Can't Discriminate

2007-04-17T11:29:00.001-05:00

On an 11-0 vote Monday, Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) members voted to crack down on drivers refusing service, making Minnesota the first place in the country to decide how to treat Muslim cabbies who decline to transport alcohol-toting riders on religious grounds. Drivers who refuse riders will face 30-day to two year suspensions.

read more | digg story

Ctrl Alt Del Creater Owns Bill Gates

2007-04-16T16:12:00.001-05:00

The person who created the widely used Ctrl Alt Del tell his story with Bill Gates in the Room. Bill can't take a joke!

read more | digg story

Google's CEO Eric Schmidt Talks, Microsoft, Apple, and New Ventures

2007-04-10T21:44:00.001-05:00

On March 23 I spent an hour interviewing Google CEO Eric Schmidt. We talked about everything from Google's competition with Microsoft and its partnership with Apple to all those data centers it is building.

read more | digg story

Microsoft: Beware of bogus Service Pack and hotfix sites

2007-04-09T16:34:00.001-05:00

With Vista freshly launched and company executives on record as saying that Vista is "high quality right out of the gate", Microsoft appears less than thrilled with web site owner Ethan Allen's decision to distribute Vista's hotfixes and patches, rolling them into what he calls an SP1 Preview.

read more | digg story

Princeton Law Prof Added to Terrorist Watch List after Criticizing Bush

2007-04-09T16:32:00.001-05:00

A top Constitutional scholar from Princeton who gave a speech that slammed Bush's executive overreach has been added to the TSA's terrorist watch list. "I was denied a boarding pass because I was on the Terrorist Watch list," he said. When he asked why, the clerk asked if he had been at any peace marches. We ban a lot of those people.

read more | digg story

Speedup Windows XP in Minutes!

2007-04-09T09:39:00.001-05:00

A useful guide to speedup Windows XP without upgrading your hardware.

read more | digg story

Sanctuary Web site fully online

2007-04-02T16:24:00.001-05:00

The next evolution in entertainment has been unveiled at SanctuaryForAll.com, where a fully-interactive Web site is gearing to usher fans into a unique viewing experience. In anticipation of Sanctuary's premiere, starring Amanda Tapping and Christopher Heyerdahl (among other Stargate greats), fans the Web over now have a glimpse into what the full

read more | digg story

EVDO Rev. B promises more than 9Mbps download speed!

2007-03-27T14:27:00.001-05:00

The son of EVDO is on his way, and when he arrives, he'll bring faster wireless downloads, even for some lucky people who already have older EVDO equipment. Here's one tech that we could see in the market sooner rather than later.

read more | digg story

Digg.com Founder Kevin Rose Talks User-Controlled News, TV — And Vomit

2007-03-23T16:29:00.003-05:00

MTV News recently caught up with Rose during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. We sat with him in a renovated warehouse which was serving as Digg's offices and talked about everything from "digital Maoism" to vomiting on a webisode.

read more | digg story

Digg.com Founder Kevin Rose Talks User-Controlled News, TV — And Vomit

2007-03-23T16:29:00.001-05:00

According to Novell ads, Linux is a cute girl who needs a haircut

2007-03-23T16:13:00.001-05:00

Apple VS PC.... VS Linux ?

read more | digg story

LifeHackers Top 10: Must-have Firefox extensions

2007-03-23T15:51:00.001-05:00

If ever a software application was built to be more than itself, it's Mozilla Firefox. Over the past 2 years we've tried, loved and posted dozens of feature-adding extensions for our favorite web browser. But today we have the master, grand daddy list of 10 must-haves.

read more | digg story

MythBusters - Shot Right Through a Sniper's Scope

2007-03-23T15:48:00.001-05:00

MythBusters find out the possibility of shooting trough sniper's eye.

read more | digg story

Xbox Crashes French PS3 Launch

2007-03-23T08:35:00.001-05:00

At the PLAYSTATION 3 launch event in Paris, Microsoft found an opportunity to do a little guerrilla marketing by sending French gamers queuing up for a PS3 a kind reminder via boat. You can check the video here, but don't forget to view the... splendor of the midnight launch event over at Jeux-France. They have loads of shots of the, um...

read more | digg story

Top Ten Reasons You Don't Need Apple TV (Yet)

2007-03-22T13:23:00.001-05:00

A balanced look at 10 legitimate reasons people don't need to rush out and buy Apple's latest "must-have" invention, Apple TV, plus 10 counterpoints. Apple fanatic or hold-out: whichever side are you on, you'll feel smarter for having read this.

read more | digg story

Unnecessary Censorship on iTunes: "Cartman S***s"?

2007-03-22T13:19:00.001-05:00

When people censor things, sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. A funny example of censorship on iTunes.

read more | digg story

Judge's decision leaves RIAA with lose-lose situation

2007-03-22T13:17:00.001-05:00

A federal judge has ruled that one file-sharing defendant is entitled to a shot at vindication in the courts, either via dismissal with prejudice or a jury trial.

read more | digg story

PICTURE: Geeky Girlfriend Makes A World Of Warcraft Themed B-Day Cake

2007-03-17T13:55:00.001-05:00

"My a good friend makes kick-ass cakes as a hobby. Last year she started dating my old roomate who plays World of Warcraft a fair amount around his job; for christmas she aquired a "WoW stole my boyfriend" t-shirt. She is good-natured about his love of Warcraft, however, as shown by the birthday cake she made him three weeks ago"

read more | digg story

Target is transferring cashiers who avoid pork

2007-03-17T13:55:00.000-05:00

In the wake of community criticism, Target Corp. is reassigning its Muslim cashiers who refuse to ring up pork products for religious reasons to other jobs at the stores.

read more | digg story

US: Muslim Cashiers Refuse to Handle Pork Products...

2007-03-17T13:54:00.001-05:00

MINNEAPOLIS - Beryl Dsouza was late and in no mood for delays when she stopped at a Target store after work two weeks ago for milk, bread and bacon.

read more | digg story

US: Muslim Cashiers Refuse to Handle Pork Products...

2007-03-17T13:54:00.000-05:00

MINNEAPOLIS - Beryl Dsouza was late and in no mood for delays when she stopped at a Target store after work two weeks ago for milk, bread and bacon.

read more | digg story

Geek Squad .. SUCKS!

2006-12-09T13:06:00.000-06:00

Proof that the Geek Squad are Idiots.
An undercover operation in which folks from this news channel, simply took out the IDE cable and guess what the Geek Squads tell them, ITS A POWER SUPPLE ISSUE. Way to go Geeks! Even compusa/circuit city correctly diagnosed the issue. whew!

read more | digg story

BEST BUY HOLDING Wii's, LYING TO CUSTOMERS

2006-11-21T21:17:00.000-06:00

Best Buys have received their second shipment of Nintendo Wii's. They're telling employees to lie about any knowledge of them and to deny they can even up any information on order qty's+

read more | digg story

Stargate SG-1 Cancelled !!!

2006-08-22T16:14:00.000-05:00

The future of Stargate is in question today, as SCI FI Channel has cancelled the long-running Stargate SG-1, Multichannel News reported today and a GateWorld source has confirmed. The news regrettably follows the airing of the show's milestone two-hundredth episode on Friday.

read more | digg story

Stargate arrives on iTunes

2006-08-22T16:13:00.000-05:00

Stargate enters the world of legal downloading, with new episodes of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis now available for download on iTunes!

read more | digg story

Cooper: SG-1 will go on

2006-08-22T16:12:00.000-05:00

Stargate's producers are looking for another outlet for SG-1 and asks viewers to maintain their ratings and keep watching stargate

read more | digg story

The TRUTH about the RIAA

2006-08-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

Some very interesting information on the RIAA and their practices.

read more | digg story

AT&T rewrites rules: Your data isn't yours

2006-06-21T13:44:00.000-05:00

AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it "to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."

read more | digg story

Coffee could provide shield from radiation

2006-06-15T12:18:00.000-05:00

Researchers at India's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) discovered mice injected with caffeine survived high doses of normally lethal radiation. Although the study was limited to animals, Kachadpillill George, the head of the research team, believes the findings could have implications for humans.

read more | digg story

GOVT to PayPal: Give us your users information

2006-04-12T12:10:00.000-05:00

A ruling today allows the government to subpeona PayPal's records for your banking information. Apparantly, many of PayPal's users are suspected of having offshore accounts and the government wants to know about them.

read more | digg story

Apple releases bootcamp

2006-04-05T22:42:00.000-05:00

This software allows macs to run windows using Apples next generation operating system code named "leopard". We finally are going to have good support for Windows on a mac.

read more | digg story

FCC Chief: AT&T Can Limit Net Bandwidth

2006-03-23T21:51:00.000-06:00

FCC Chief Kevin Martin yesterday gave his support to AT&T and other telcos who want to be able to limit bandwidth to sites like Google, unless those sites pay extortion fees. Martin made it clear in a speech yesterday that he supports such a a "tiered" Internet.

read more | digg story

France forcing Apple Co. to make itunes compatible with all mp3 players

2006-03-22T06:37:00.000-06:00

Yeah France!

read more | digg story

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Music Industry

2006-03-13T23:05:00.000-06:00

It's finally happened, people have gotten fed up enough that proper legal action is being taken. The suit covers price fixing...it also alleges that major labels were conspiring to first take down Napster and then build online music services that purposely stunted their service to drive people away from the idea of online music...

read more | digg story

Sony loses another round in PlayStation DualShock lawsuit

2006-03-13T22:59:00.000-06:00

An expert witness in Sony's battle with Immersion Corporation is deemed unreliable as Sony loses another round in its desperate fight to avoid millions in licensing fees for its DualShock controllers. If Sony loses again, they could be in trouble.

read more | digg story

Senator wants to ban 'fast lane' for Web

2006-03-03T16:58:00.000-06:00

Network operators would be barred from blocking or degrading Internet connections and favoring those you would offer them sweeter deals.

read more | digg story

Homeland Security official suggests outlawing rootkits

2006-02-17T15:12:00.000-06:00

"The recent Sony experience shows us that we need to be thinking about how we ensure that consumers are not surprised by what their software programs do," Jonathan Frenkel, director of law enforcement policy at the U.S Department of Homeland Security said in a speech here at the RSA Conference 2006.

read more | digg story

Gates sees end to passwords in sight

2006-02-14T16:28:00.000-06:00

With Windows Vista, Gates feels he finally has the right weapons to supplant the password as a means of verifying who is who on computers and over the Internet.

read more | digg story

Bad Tivo Bad PT 2

2006-02-09T22:16:00.000-06:00

Tivo final releases a software driver for the new USB200M v.2 Ethernet adapter. As I said here on this Blog in December Tivo does not support the new usb200m USB network adapter. But they will on the next software release see http://research.tivo.com/wired/ but as you can see from there web site. You will only get the update within 3 days of signing up IF you buy the adapter from them, otherwise you will have to wait until late February to receive the update. This only goes to support my early theory that Tivo was trying to force people to buy only form them. I say to Tivo you should have put an Ethernet adapter in the series 2 to begin with

The End of the Internet?

2006-02-02T11:59:00.000-06:00

"Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received."

Mrmorden- We need to stop this before is get off the ground.
I urge you to call you sentor and congressmen and tell them not to listen to the lobbist.

read more | digg story

iTunes Now Selling TV Shows Before Network Premiere

2006-01-29T22:03:00.000-06:00

The iTunes Music Store is now starting to add television shows before they have made their network television premieres. The first two shows to do this are from Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. It looks like downloadable television shows have a great future ahead as they result in more profits for networks than traditional advertising.

read more | digg story

Double Phone Dipping: Free 411 and Free Skype calling.

2006-01-29T22:00:00.000-06:00

Don't pay for your Skype calls and don't pay for your 411 on your cell or home phone!

read more | digg story

Dual-Booting Windows XP on a MacBook instructions

2006-01-29T21:58:00.000-06:00

This person has listed instructions how to dual-boot Windows XP on a Macbook. The instructions have not been tested by the author but he believes his theory will work. Someone with an Intel Mac might want to give it a try.

read more | digg story

Are the stars closer then we think ?

2006-01-12T11:25:00.000-06:00

A leap into hyperspace

Fancy a trip to Mars but don't want to spend six months or more holed up in a rocket? Soon you may be able to leave Earth at lunch time and reach the red Planet in time for dinner, thanks to an astonishing new type of engine which apparently would propel a craft through another dimension at enormous speeds. There's just one catch: the machine relies on an obscure and largely unheard of kind of physics. If the experiment gets the go-ahead and works, it could reveal new interactions between the fundamental forces of nature that would change the future of space travel...

EVERY year, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics awards prizes for the best papers presented at its annual conference. Last year's winner in the nuclear and future flight category went to a paper calling for experimental tests of an astonishing new type of engine. According to the paper, this hyperdrive motor would propel a craft through another dimension at enormous speeds. It could leave Earth at lunchtime and get to the moon in time for dinner. There's just one catch: the idea relies on an obscure and largely unrecognised kind of physics. Can they possibly be serious?

The AIAA is certainly not embarrassed. What's more, the US military has begun to cast its eyes over the hyperdrive concept, and a space propulsion researcher at the US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories has said he would be interested in putting the idea to the test. And despite the bafflement of most physicists at the theory that supposedly underpins it, Pavlos Mikellides, an aerospace engineer at the Arizona State University in Tempe who reviewed the winning paper, stands by the committee's choice. "Even though such features have been explored before, this particular approach is quite unique," he says.

Unique it certainly is. If the experiment gets the go-ahead and works, it could reveal new interactions between the fundamental forces of nature that would change the future of space travel. Forget spending six months or more holed up in a rocket on the way to Mars, a round trip on the hyperdrive could take as little as 5 hours. All our worries about astronauts' muscles wasting away or their DNA being irreparably damaged by cosmic radiation would disappear overnight. What's more the device would put travel to the stars within reach for the first time. But can the hyperdrive really get off the ground?

"A hyperdrive craft would put the stars within reach for the first time"
The answer to that question hinges on the work of a little-known German physicist. Burkhard Heim began to explore the hyperdrive propulsion concept in the 1950s as a spin-off from his attempts to heal the biggest divide in physics: the rift between quantum mechanics and Einstein's general theory of relativity.

Quantum theory describes the realm of the very small - atoms, electrons and elementary particles - while general relativity deals with gravity. The two theories are immensely successful in their separate spheres. The clash arises when it comes to describing the basic structure of space. In general relativity, space-time is an active, malleable fabric. It has four dimensions - three of space and one of time - that deform when masses are placed in them. In Einstein's formulation, the force of gravity is a result of the deformation of these dimensions. Quantum theory, on the other hand, demands that space is a fixed and passive stage, something simply there for particles to exist on. It also suggests that space itself must somehow be made up of discrete, quantum elements.

In the early 1950s, Heim began to rewrite the equations of general relativity in a quantum framework. He drew on Einstein's idea that the gravitational force emerges from the dimensions of space and time, but suggested that all fundamental forces, including electromagnetism, might emerge from a new, different set of dimensions. Originally he had four extra dimensions, but he discarded two of them believing that they did not produce any forces, and settled for adding a new two-dimensional "sub-space" onto Einstein's four-dimensional space-time.

In Heim's six-dimensional world, the forces of gravity and electromagnetism are coupled together. Even in our familiar four-dimensional world, we can see a link between the two forces through the behaviour of fundamental particles such as the electron. An electron has both mass and charge. When an electron falls under the pull of gravity its moving electric charge creates a magnetic field. And if you use an electromagnetic field to accelerate an electron you move the gravitational field associated with its mass. But in the four dimensions we know, you cannot change the strength of gravity simply by cranking up the electromagnetic field.

In Heim's view of space and time, this limitation disappears. He claimed it is possible to convert electromagnetic energy into gravitational and back again, and speculated that a rotating magnetic field could reduce the influence of gravity on a spacecraft enough for it to take off.

When he presented his idea in public in 1957, he became an instant celebrity. Wernher von Braun, the German engineer who at the time was leading the Saturn rocket programme that later launched astronauts to the moon, approached Heim about his work and asked whether the expensive Saturn rockets were worthwhile. And in a letter in 1964, the German relativity theorist Pascual Jordan, who had worked with the distinguished physicists Max Born and Werner Heisenberg and was a member of the Nobel committee, told Heim that his plan was so important "that its successful experimental treatment would without doubt make the researcher a candidate for the Nobel prize".

But all this attention only led Heim to retreat from the public eye. This was partly because of his severe multiple disabilities, caused by a lab accident when he was still in his teens. But Heim was also reluctant to disclose his theory without an experiment to prove it. He never learned English because he did not want his work to leave the country. As a result, very few people knew about his work and no one came up with the necessary research funding. In 1958 the aerospace company Bölkow did offer some money, but not enough to do the proposed experiment.

While Heim waited for more money to come in, the company's director, Ludwig Bölkow, encouraged him to develop his theory further. Heim took his advice, and one of the results was a theorem that led to a series of formulae for calculating the masses of the fundamental particles - something conventional theories have conspicuously failed to achieve. He outlined this work in 1977 in the Max Planck Institute's journal Zeitschrift für Naturforschung, his only peer-reviewed paper. In an abstruse way that few physicists even claim to understand, the formulae work out a particle's mass starting from physical characteristics, such as its charge and angular momentum.

Yet the theorem has proved surprisingly powerful. The standard model of physics, which is generally accepted as the best available theory of elementary particles, is incapable of predicting a particle's mass. Even the accepted means of estimating mass theoretically, known as lattice quantum chromodynamics, only gets to between 1 and 10 per cent of the experimental values.

Gravity reduction
But in 1982, when researchers at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg implemented Heim's mass theorem in a computer program, it predicted masses of fundamental particles that matched the measured values to within the accuracy of experimental error. If they are let down by anything, it is the precision to which we know the values of the fundamental constants. Two years after Heim's death in 2001, his long-term collaborator Illobrand von Ludwiger calculated the mass formula using a more accurate gravitational constant. "The masses came out even more precise," he says.

After publishing the mass formulae, Heim never really looked at hyperspace propulsion again. Instead, in response to requests for more information about the theory behind the mass predictions, he spent all his time detailing his ideas in three books published in German. It was only in 1980, when the first of his books came to the attention of a retired Austrian patent officer called Walter Dröscher, that the hyperspace propulsion idea came back to life. Dröscher looked again at Heim's ideas and produced an "extended" version, resurrecting the dimensions that Heim originally discarded. The result is "Heim-Dröscher space", a mathematical description of an eight-dimensional universe.

From this, Dröscher claims, you can derive the four forces known in physics: the gravitational and electromagnetic forces, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. But there's more to it than that. "If Heim's picture is to make sense," Dröscher says, "we are forced to postulate two more fundamental forces." These are, Dröscher claims, related to the familiar gravitational force: one is a repulsive anti-gravity similar to the dark energy that appears to be causing the universe's expansion to accelerate. And the other might be used to accelerate a spacecraft without any rocket fuel.

This force is a result of the interaction of Heim's fifth and sixth dimensions and the extra dimensions that Dröscher introduced. It produces pairs of "gravitophotons", particles that mediate the interconversion of electromagnetic and gravitational energy. Dröscher teamed up with Jochem Häuser, a physicist and professor of computer science at the University of Applied Sciences in Salzgitter, Germany, to turn the theoretical framework into a proposal for an experimental test. The paper they produced, "Guidelines for a space propulsion device based on Heim's quantum theory", is what won the AIAA's award last year.

Claims of the possibility of "gravity reduction" or "anti-gravity" induced by magnetic fields have been investigated by NASA before (New Scientist, 12 January 2002, p 24). But this one, Dröscher insists, is different. "Our theory is not about anti-gravity. It's about completely new fields with new properties," he says. And he and Häuser have suggested an experiment to prove it.

This will require a huge rotating ring placed above a superconducting coil to create an intense magnetic field. With a large enough current in the coil, and a large enough magnetic field, Dröscher claims the electromagnetic force can reduce the gravitational pull on the ring to the point where it floats free. Dröscher and Häuser say that to completely counter Earth's pull on a 150-tonne spacecraft a magnetic field of around 25 tesla would be needed. While that's 500,000 times the strength of Earth's magnetic field, pulsed magnets briefly reach field strengths up to 80 tesla. And Dröscher and Häuser go further. With a faster-spinning ring and an even stronger magnetic field, gravitophotons would interact with conventional gravity to produce a repulsive anti-gravity force, they suggest.

"A spinning ring and a strong magnetic field could produce a repulsive anti-gravity force"
Dröscher is hazy about the details, but he suggests that a spacecraft fitted with a coil and ring could be propelled into a multidimensional hyperspace. Here the constants of nature could be different, and even the speed of light could be several times faster than we experience. If this happens, it would be possible to reach Mars in less than 3 hours and a star 11 light years away in only 80 days, Dröscher and Häuser say.

So is this all fanciful nonsense, or a revolution in the making? The majority of physicists have never heard of Heim theory, and most of those contacted by New Scientist said they couldn't make sense of Dröscher and Häuser's description of the theory behind their proposed experiment. Following Heim theory is hard work even without Dröscher's extension, says Markus Pössel, a theoretical physicist at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, Germany. Several years ago, while an undergraduate at the University of Hamburg, he took a careful look at Heim theory. He says he finds it "largely incomprehensible", and difficult to tie in with today's physics. "What is needed is a step-by-step introduction, beginning at modern physical concepts," he says.

The general consensus seems to be that Dröscher and Häuser's theory is incomplete at best, and certainly extremely difficult to follow. And it has not passed any normal form of peer review, a fact that surprised the AIAA prize reviewers when they made their decision. "It seemed to be quite developed and ready for such publication," Mikellides told New Scientist.

At the moment, the main reason for taking the proposal seriously must be Heim theory's uncannily successful prediction of particle masses. Maybe, just maybe, Heim theory really does have something to contribute to modern physics. "As far as I understand it, Heim theory is ingenious," says Hans Theodor Auerbach, a theoretical physicist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich who worked with Heim. "I think that physics will take this direction in the future."

It may be a long while before we find out if he's right. In its present design, Dröscher and Häuser's experiment requires a magnetic coil several metres in diameter capable of sustaining an enormous current density. Most engineers say that this is not feasible with existing materials and technology, but Roger Lenard, a space propulsion researcher at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico thinks it might just be possible. Sandia runs an X-ray generator known as the Z machine which "could probably generate the necessary field intensities and gradients".

For now, though, Lenard considers the theory too shaky to justify the use of the Z machine. "I would be very interested in getting Sandia interested if we could get a more perspicacious introduction to the mathematics behind the proposed experiment," he says. "Even if the results are negative, that, in my mind, is a successful experiment."

From issue 2533 of New Scientist magazine, 05 January 2006, page 24

RIAA's Worst Nightmare: Automatic Wireless MP3 Sharing

2006-01-05T20:51:00.000-06:00

The Viktoria Institute in Gothenburg, Sweden, is working on a concept they call Push Music, which is software that enables peer-to-peer connections between music players, enabling people to "browse" the music collections of others and take a copy of whatever they like.

Mrmorden: This is the coolest thing since sliced bread. :)

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1 In 10 Now Use Mozilla's Firefox

2006-01-05T10:24:00.000-06:00

"Firefox is very close to hitting a critical mass of 10 percent, which could mean a more rapid adoption rate," said Vince Vizzaccaro, vice president of marketing at NetApplications, in a statement.

Mrmorden: A 9.6 market share, way to go Firefox.

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RIAA Accused Of Coaching 15-Year-Old Witness In File Sharing Suit

2005-12-30T15:39:00.000-06:00

Apparently, the lawyers for the RIAA had contacted her [15 year old girl], urging her to testify against the defendants, her employers. Combined with the fact that no other person who testified could recall the defendants ever using the computer to listen to music, it certainly seems to support the story that they did not do so.

Mrmmorden: This is just one more nail in the coffin of the RIAA

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New WOW Alliance Race Leaked by Feb. 06 Computer Gaming Magazine

2005-12-30T13:22:00.000-06:00

According to some scans of what appears to be the Computer Games Magazine February 2006 Issue the Draenei have been confirmed as the new Alliance race. Read the full article for the rest of the info.

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Apple stock skyrocketed 128% thanks to the iPod!

2005-12-30T13:21:00.000-06:00

It even outgrew Google in the last year and accounted for almost 4% of growth on the S&P500. What an amazing turnaround for a company.. all because of a trendy MP3 player.

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U.S. vs. the world on file-sharing

2005-12-23T14:54:00.000-06:00

Is the United States getting increasingly out of touch with the rest of the world where technology matters are concerned? This week, members of the French Parliament voted to allow free downloads of copyrighted material, a move with provisions similar to a ruling last year by a Canadian judge.

Philosophical differences between the U.S. government and other countries have become abundantly clear in technology-related business matters, as seen in the European Commission's antitrust actions against Microsoft. And other nations have become frustrated with the United States' influence over accepted behavior on the Internet, a medium that ostensibly has no geographic boundaries.

Hollywood's powerful lobbying machine has managed to hold sway in Congress, but its influence wanes quickly beyond U.S. borders. Will an international backlash eventually force fundamental changes in long-held concepts of copyright protections?

BAD Tivo BAD

2005-12-23T11:42:00.000-06:00

I thought that you should all know the tivo SEEMS to be forcing people to buy the wired USB adapter that would allow you connect to your tivo to your LAN from them. the adapter that I am speaking of is the Linksys USB200M which tvio says will work with Tivo, BUT, and here the catch Tvio does not mention that they do not support the new version 2 of this adapter and to my knowledge there is no information on the box that tells you that 200m has chagned.it version and there does not seem to be any change to the drivers download site @ linksys they still only show the drivers for version 1 So Here is what happen to me and how i found this out I have the two tivo's and one uses

The Netgear WG111 wireless 802.11g on one and usb200m on the other. The issues was that i was have problem with the wireless adapter and just decided that I had had enough with that adapter and was going to buy the wired one. So I went to BestBuy and bought the usb200m got home and plug it and too my surprise tvio came up saying that the adapter is not supported I tried it on my other tvio and got the same thing then i saw the adapter was version 2 i called tivo and they said that the device was not supported and i will have to order one from them. I returned the adapter and went out looking for a version 1 adapter and was not able to fine one any were in the city I should say that the only way I was able tell the difference between the two was that the version 2 is slightly smaller then version 1. so now any stuck using the crappy wireless adapter that does not work all the time I have to restart the tivo ant least twice a week.