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Lightsabres: Lasers Compared To Star Wars Weapon Sold On Web To The UK By Damien Pearse, Sky News Online A handheld laser likened to a Star Wars lightsabre and so powerful it can instantly blind and "set fire to skin and other body parts" can be bought online and shipped to the UK. The device - with a beam 1,000 times stronger than sunlight on the skin - is touted by makers as "the most dangerous laser ever created". Trading standards chiefs said they were "seriously concerned" about the sale of the model and have warned against its use. As well as blinding, burning and causing cancer, its Hong Kong-based maker admits that "a split-second laser light in a plane cockpit (...) can be disastrous". Star Wars fans are among hundreds of people who have already shown an interest in buying the laser, for sale to the general public for £135. Laser safety expert John Colton, director of Lucid Optical Services, told Sky News Online that the lasers were "horrendously dangerous". "Under no circumstances should they be on sale on the internet," he said.

Reinstall Windows and outfit your system with all freeware programs I recently clean installed Windows XP on my laptop, and this meant that I had to re-install all the essential software that I use. It also presented an opportunity to write a posting about how you can outfit your computer with all the essential (and non-essential) software you need using strictly 100% freeware and/or open source titles.This posting could have been titled any of the following: Pre-installation: before reformatting my hard drive, I used the following programs: Installation: re-installed Windows XP on the re-formatted primary partition. Used the CD that came with my laptop to install all the proper drivers without hitch. If you have drivers issues try to find the drivers you need on the internet and, if not 100% successful, use the ones from the DriverMax backup (#4 above). Post installation: now the fun begins.

70 creative Gimp tutorials Gimp Tutorials in this review include a handpicked selection of creative Gimp tutorials for intermediate and advanced users. Gimp is a free multiplatform image editing tool, using Gimp you can achieve pretty much everything what can be done in pricey Photoshop. These Gimp tutorials will help you to learn text, Gimp photo editing, advanced photo manipulations such as changing colors, background, remove objects, proper black and white conversion in Gimp. You’ll also learn by following these Gimp tutorials how to design poster, website, wallpaper, logo and icons with Gimp. Gold Plated Effect Gimp One of the best Gimp tutorials explains how to convert image colors into golden sun color shades. Speed Effect with The GIMP Tutorial Turn a static car photo into a speeding car with this Gimp Tutorial. Vintage look in Gimp Create your own vintage image with one of the best gimp tutorials. Text filled with image Gimp tutorial How to fill in text with image in Gimp you’ll learn using this tutorial.

10 Websites to Watch in 2011 There are more than a trillion URLs in Google's index. Yes, that's a one with twelve zeros after it. And Google crossed that milestone two and a half years ago. With so many sites on the web in 2011, how do you know which to pay attention to? Mashable's editors haven't quite visited a trillion pages, but we've checked out a lot in the past year, and we've compiled a list of 10 websites we think are poised to have big years in 2011. Check out our list below and let us know in the comments which websites you have your eye on for the coming year. 1. Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform for creative endeavors, was founded in April 2009 and had what many would consider a break-out year in 2010. -Josh Catone, Features Editor 2. OpenLeaks may very well be the WikiLeaks alternative in 2011, not as a destination, but as an enabler for media organizations to do the same as WikiLeaks. -Vadim Lavrusik, Community Manager 3. -Jehangir Irani, Multimedia Producer 4. -Ben Parr, Co-Editor 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe Identity theft is on the rise. According to StatisticBrain, there are between 12 and 15 million victims every year with an average loss of about $5,000 per victim. What would you do if you were next? There are so many different ways your identity can be stolen these days. Social security numbers and banking PINs are the obvious methods, but here are a few other methods you may not be aware of: You can’t be in 100% control over all of these potential attack vectors, but it’s in your best interest to cover your tracks as much as possible. In 2014, a SWAT team busted into the house of a well-known gaming streamer (named Kootra) when one of his watchers phoned in a prank claiming that he was holding people hostage. In the most recent election, Trump supporters on social media were heavily “doxed” — their real-life personal details were discovered and released to the public, opening the door for others to abuse that information however they saw fit. 2. Google Voice is also an option. 3. 4. 5.

Top 5 free professional online image editors It is the age of digital photography and image editing has become an important tool. There are many Professional online image editors that are available anytime, anywhere and they do not require any downloading or installation. What do you do when you urgently need to edit a photo and you wished you were at your desktop with your favourite image editing software. Well you can always use an online image editing software that gives you the same freedom and environment. We have gone through and selected the top 5 image editing sites that will help you fix your photo, resize, crop, add effects and virtually do everything that your image editing software can do. 1. pixlr.com This is the most advanced and popular online image editor, free to use. With pixlr you can create a new image from scratch, open an existing image from your computer or from a URL link and can also use the image library to choose from several images at pixlr, Facebook and other library. Launch Pixlr image editor. digg

6 Soldiers Who Survived Shit That Would Kill a Terminator We love us a good badass war story, almost as much as we love a good survival story. But in the overlapping part of that Venn diagram you get these guys, who didn't let what clearly should have been fatal injuries stop them from kicking mind-boggling amounts of ass. Major Robert Cain Kills Many Tanks, While Blind Who? A British army infantryman during the WWII who sported one of the most luxurious mustaches in military history. Devastating Wound(s): At one point during the Battle of Arnhem, Major Robert Cain decided that his days of being pounded into retreat by German tanks had come to an end. At one point, two German tanks came in his direction. Cain fired on the tank with a PIAT (like an old timey bazooka) and eventually destroyed it, but only after being wounded by machine gun fire. The Awesomeness That Followed: About a half hour later, Cain's sight came back, thus beginning a long, slow, painful road to recovery that would see him out of action for well over four years. Non-refundable.

Must Have Web Apps for the Hi-Tech College Student Jul 27, 2011 Find yourself struggling to juggle homework assignments, deadlines, classes and your social life - not to mention organizing all those notes? Don't miss these must-have Web apps that can make your college life a little bit easier. Postica - If you often find your monitor, notebooks and desk covered in sticky notes, then this is the application for you. 15 Words You Won't Believe They Added to the Dictionary The Oxford English Dictionary is constantly updating, adding new words to reflect the vibrant changes in language and culture. Of course, that also means that as said culture spirals toward a frightening and retarded oblivion, the good people at Oxford have to be there to chronicle it. Here are some recent additions that make us fear for our future. n. The people at the Oxford English Dictionary acknowledge that the work of an author entering the dictionary is rare, but the use of "muggle" had become so widespread they had to include it, ensuring that the future will remember us for standing in line at Borders in wizard costumes. Wait, does this mean if we invent a new word right now they'll be forced to include it in a few years, as long as enough readers use it? n. There already is a word for when a group of people blame someone for a mistake. "We're so witty! n. n. Now, remind us, is "grrrl" a word used by "grrrl" types, or the people who make fun of them? What the fuck is that? n. n.

21 Excellent Web Apps For College Students There is no doubt that college students depend heavily on the internet for a lot of their needs. And it’s not only the entertainment quotient of the internet (movies, music, torrents, games) which attracts them. There are also useful web based tools available which helps them immensely in their day to day lives. The following list includes 21 great tools/sites for school and college students. The tools are completely web based and almost all of them are free to use. Wikipedia This has to be the first tool when we talk about web based tools for college students. Zoho Suite Although targeted towards professionals and web workers, Zoho has some very impressive tools which could be used by college students too. Evernote A superior web based note taking app which also provides a desktop software plus you can use it through and sync it to your cell phone. Remember the MilkRTM is an amazing web based task management and reminder app which syncs with your Gmail and Google Calendar too. Cheers,

The 5 Most Terrifying Civilizations In The History of the World They say that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, so pay attention for Christ's sake. It turns out that many of our ancestors achieved levels of violence that take them right out of the realm of "badass" and into the less cool area of ball-shriveling atrocity. These are the civilizations you don't want to face during, say, your next time travel adventure. And yes, the Spartans are down there. History is kind of spotty on the Celts (they never wrote anything down, and many of the witnesses died brutally) but what facts survived confirm one thing: They had gigantic Celtic balls. First of all, they had a thing for severed heads. If they felt that yours was a head of particular importance, they'd embalm it and whip it out at parties to brag about how awesome they were. The reason for all of these head-chopping-good-times was that the Celts believed that the head held the soul, and so if you cut a dead guy's head off before all of that juicy soul leaked out of it, it was yours.

25 Great Travel Sites & Tools To Check Before You Go On Vacation Unless you are hopelessly workaholic, you are one of those people who cherish a nice, long vacation in their favorite destinations. While it's a nice feeling to have, imagining yourself lying lazily on a beach beside sunshade, sometimes vacation planning could turn out to be really cumbersome and if not done properly, could spoil your trip. The following list of sites would help you overcome the pre-vacation planning syndromes. From trip itinerary planner to a travel community, flight delay alerts to cheap apartment hunting, and from locating ATMs worldwide to a guide on sleeping in airports, we've got you all covered. 1. Lonely Planet is a great resource for travelers and has a huge database of information about travel destinations around the world. Apart from general travel information, Lonely Planet offers travel guides and a vibrant community of travelers who are there to answer any question you have. 2. 3. 4. 5. Since this is a new tool, it is far from perfect. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Anthropomorphic + Futuristic = Fantastic Floating Homes Futuristic, yet, but not the far-fetched science-fiction fantasy industrial design you might think – the Oculus by Schoepfer Yachts may not be for sale yet but it is already in pre-production mode with naval architects on board, so to speak. Hardly your typical houseboat, it is a virtual cruise ship for the rich and famous who can afford to buy it when it is fully planned and built. The anthropomorphism of this luxury floating home is of course intentional – the front deck like the gaping mouth of a gigantic sea creature and the sleek curves mimicking streamlined oceanic animals. Complete with a swimming pool on top and a futuristic interior design this is far more like a permanent mobile home than a cruising yacht. The smaller and simpler (both adjectives applied relative to its bigger brother of course) version of this spectacular design is the Infinitas, with a more sleek and streamlined profile and a semi-enclosed on-board swimming pool in the center but underneath the shell.

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