True story: the making of the Terminator's laser-sighted .45 pistol

True story: the making of the Terminator's laser-sighted .45 pistol
March 9, 2010 11:30 PM - by Ben Kuchera | Posted in: Gear & Gadgets
feature

There are multiple iconic weapons in science fiction history, but few are as cool as the Terminator's side arm: the .45 Long Slide with a laser sighting. Ars tracked down the man who created the legendary prop, and we talked about the early days of lasers on weapons.

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HTC lawsuit came after warning by Apple to handset makers

HTC lawsuit came after warning by Apple to handset makers
March 9, 2010 9:25 PM - by Chris Foresman | Posted in: Infinite Loop

Apple supposedly contacted executives at "tier-1" handset makers in January saying it was ready to go to the mat over its iPhone-related IP. Those warnings, coupled with Apple's complaints against HTC, may have a chilling effect on smartphone makers for the indefinite future.

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MRI's successes put the brain on trial

MRI's successes put the brain on trial
March 9, 2010 7:24 PM - by John Timmer | Posted in: Nobel Intent

As we obtain a finer-grained understanding of the brain structures that perform specific functions, the use of MRI to probe an individual's mental capacity may be ready to take a starring turn in the courtroom.

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Facebook's location feature expected to launch next month

March 9, 2010 5:10 PM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: The Web

Location-based postings may soon come to Facebook: the latest buzz says the company plans to launch this feature as soon as April.

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Microsoft browser ballot gives Opera, Firefox a boost

March 9, 2010 4:22 PM - by Emil Protalinski | Posted in: One Microsoft Way

Both Opera and Mozilla are seeing progress in the download numbers of their browsers. Google and Apple are keeping quiet, but they're also likely to be getting a bump.

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The Internet of tomorrow: 100Gbps to your house by 2030

The Internet of tomorrow: 100Gbps to your house by 2030
March 9, 2010 3:33 PM - by Nate Anderson | Posted in: Law & Disorder

Unbelievable download speeds can soon be yours—if you have a fiber-to-the-home connection. By 2030, fiber lines will be capable of supporting 100Gbps, per user.

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FileMaker Pro goes to 11, admits people like spreadsheets

FileMaker Pro goes to 11, admits people like spreadsheets
March 9, 2010 2:06 PM - by Chris Foresman | Posted in: Infinite Loop

FileMaker has released an upgrade to its stable of professional, cross-platform database products, intended to make setting up and using databases even easier for the average office worker. The improvements also include spreadsheet-like table views and charting features.

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European Parliament unites against 3 strikes, ACTA secrecy

European Parliament unites against 3 strikes, ACTA secrecy
March 9, 2010 12:38 PM - by Nate Anderson | Posted in: Law & Disorder

All major political parties in the European Parliament have agreed on a resolution demanding that "three strikes" be stricken from the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and that Parliament get access to all negotiating documents. The Pirate Party MEP couldn't be happier.

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Microsoft begins rolling out redesigned MSN homepage

March 9, 2010 11:51 AM - by Emil Protalinski | Posted in: One Microsoft Way

Microsoft has begun rolling out a new version of its MSN webpage, which includes a cleaner interface as well as many new features.

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Plans for .xxx top-level domain pop up again

Plans for .xxx top-level domain pop up again
March 9, 2010 11:07 AM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: Law & Disorder

It's baaaaaaack. The controversial .XXX domain will be discussed at this week's ICANN meeting in Kenya after an independent panel determined that the domain's previous rejection was made in error.

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"PowerPoint is evil" author to monitor stimulus spending

"PowerPoint is evil" author to monitor stimulus spending
March 9, 2010 9:35 AM - by Matthew Lasar | Posted in: Law & Disorder

The man who says that "PowerPoint is evil" is heading for the PowerPoint capital of the world, Washington, DC. There, Edward Tufte will advise the White House on how to keep stimulus spending on the up and up.

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Mozilla borrows from WebKit to build fast new JS engine

Mozilla borrows from WebKit to build fast new JS engine
March 9, 2010 8:11 AM - by Ryan Paul | Posted in: Open Ended

Mozilla is building a fast new JavaScript engine called JägerMonkey. It will use a combination of tracing optimization and the native code generator from WebKit's JavaScript engine.

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Engineering a parasite to tell you where it has been

March 9, 2010 7:05 AM - by John Timmer | Posted in: Nobel Intent

Researchers insert a gene into a parasite that ensures that cells it infects can switch genes on or off, permanently marking infected cells.

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Mozilla previews new feature to guard against Flash crashes

Mozilla previews new feature to guard against Flash crashes
March 8, 2010 9:35 PM - by Ryan Paul | Posted in: Open Ended

Mozilla has released preview builds of Firefox that allow users to start testing a new feature that will prevent plug-ins (we're looking at you, Flash) from crashing the rest of the browser.

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Amazon kills affiliate program in Colorado thanks to taxes

Amazon kills affiliate program in Colorado thanks to taxes
March 8, 2010 7:25 PM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: Law & Disorder

Colorado residents who use Amazon's affiliate program to make money from referral links won't be able to do so anymore: the company has closed the program, citing a new Colorado law that it thinks is unconstitutional.

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Low-metal star suggests Milky Way grew by gobbling dwarfs

March 8, 2010 6:20 PM - by Matt Ford | Posted in: Nobel Intent

We've found a low-metal star, similar to some in the Milky Way's halo, in a nearby dwarf galaxy, lending support to a "growth by merger" model of galactic origins

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Cisco: Internet to change forever Tuesday (place your bets!)

March 8, 2010 5:40 PM - by Ken Fisher | Posted in: Uptime

Cisco today said that after the close of markets on Tuesday, they will make a big announcement about something which "will forever change the Internet and its impact on consumers, businesses and governments." We invite you, dear reader, to predict the future!

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US eases restrictions on Web services exports to Iran, Cuba

US eases restrictions on Web services exports to Iran, Cuba
March 8, 2010 5:10 PM - by Nate Anderson | Posted in: Law & Disorder

The US government today relaxed export restrictions on Iran, Sudan, and Cuba. Web companies can now legally offer e-mail, chat, IM, and browsing downloads.

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Valve: full "Steam" ahead on Mac OS X with free syncing

March 8, 2010 4:15 PM - by Chris Foresman | Posted in: Infinite Loop

Valve is bringing its online service to the Mac in April and plans to make its Source engine cross-platform. Along with the new cross-platform strategy, Portal 2 will be the first simultaneous release for Mac and Windows.

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reMail iPhone app re-released under Apache 2 license

March 8, 2010 3:38 PM - by Jeff Smykil | Posted in: Infinite Loop

reMail may still be gone for good from the App Store, but Google has released the iPhone app's code into the wild under the Apache 2 license. This is good news for others looking to create third party mail apps for the iPhone.

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Europe outsourcing CO2 emissions to developing economies

Europe outsourcing CO<sub>2</sub> emissions to developing economies
March 8, 2010 2:50 PM - by John Timmer | Posted in: Nobel Intent

A new study tracks CO2 emissions using data while accounting for imported and exported goods, and finds that some European countries are outsourcing up to half of their emissions.

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The best electronic key is the one you always have with you

March 8, 2010 2:02 PM - by Chris Foresman | Posted in: Infinite Loop

Apple has applied for a patent to turn the iPhone into a universal combination lock for your house, your car, or anything else that needs locking. Though there's no guarantee it will make its way into our hands anytime soon, the method is a fun one to think about.

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MeeGo code coming in March, will run on Atom boards and N900

MeeGo code coming in March, will run on Atom boards and N900
March 8, 2010 1:25 PM - by Ryan Paul | Posted in: Open Ended

Intel and Nokia are planning to release the source code for their new Linux-based MeeGo platform later this month. MeeGo brings together Nokia's Maemo project and Intel's Moblin project into a combined effort.

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Ubisoft on DRM snafu: servers attacked, pirates locked out

March 8, 2010 12:45 PM - by Ben Kuchera | Posted in: Opposable Thumbs

The servers needed to play Assassin's Creed 2 went down over the weekend, when Ubisoft became the victim of a denial of service attack. With a connection needed to download the complete version of the game, Ubisoft claims that not even pirates were able to play the game.

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80% say 'Net access fundamental right, split on regulation

80% say 'Net access fundamental right, split on regulation
March 8, 2010 12:10 PM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: Telecom

A majority of the world believes that all people should have access to the Internet due to its usefulness in information discovery, though some are concerned about being able to express their opinions safely while others worry about fraud and privacy. Certain areas of the world disagree on government regulation as well.

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