Archive for August, 2008

The experimental Hiller X-18 tiltwing aircraft was lucky enough to get its own article this earlier this month, however there were several more experimental aircraft from the 1950’s that we thought were worth a mention.

Bell X-2

The Bell X-2 was damaged in a rough landing on its first glide test in 1952, however the aircraft did manage to complete its task of evaluating flight characteristics at Mach 2 -3 speeds.

Bell X-5

The Bell X-5 was based on a German wartime design by Messerschmitt. The X-5 was able to change its wing alignment using electric motors.

Bell X-14

The Bell X-14 was another 1950’s aircraft to use vertical takeoff, hovering ability and vertical landing technology.

Douglas X-3 Stiletto

The Douglas X-3 Stiletto’s was all but a failure. Whilst the sleek tapered nose gave the appearance of a supersonic jet, the X-3 was unable to reach Mach 1 levels at which it was supposed to evaluate flight characteristics.

Goodyear Inflatoplane

This inflatable aircraft was designed and built but the Goodyear Aircraft Company, in 1956. The aircraft was capable enough to fly however the project was discontinued after the Army were unable to find a suitable use, remarking that,

“[It] could be brought down by a well-aimed bow and arrow.”

Ryan X-13A-RY Vertijet

Another vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, the Ryan X-13A-RY Vertijet was used by the Air Force.

Vertol VZ-2

Yet another tiltwing aircraft designed with the hope of improving vertical take off and landing technology.

Hiller VZ-1 Pawnee

This somewhat unorthodox aircraft got its lift by using a counter-rotating ducted fan located underneath the platform. The pilot maneuvered the aircraft by shifting their weight to “encourage” the platform to move in the direction he wanted. Hmmm….

North American X-15

The North American X-15 set records for both speed and altitude. The data collected by the test pilots was then applied to more advanced aircraft and space program. Until the development of SpaceShipOne, the X-15 was the highest flying piloted, suborbital aircraft.

Lockheed X-7

The Lockheed X-7 was an unmanned jet rocket which could be launched from the belly of a mothership, usually a B-29 bomber. Nicknamed the “flying stove pipe”, the X-7 was able to reach speeds in excess of 2,000 mph and set the records for air-breathing aircraft with a top speed of 2,880 mph.

Convair XF-92A

The Convair XF-92A powered by and Allison J33-A turbojet engine, was America’s first delta-wing aircraft. The delta wing’s large area, thin airfoil cross-section, low weight and structural strength gave this design a great potential for a supersonic airplane.

800HighTech are always striving to deliver the best articles in military related news, computer and gaming, hacks, tips, tutorials, plus any other random news that we think would interest our readers.

So when we found this great post on how to build your own DIY flamethrower, there was no question that it would get a mention on our blog.

NOTE: 800Hightech in no way condone the use of this or any DIY weapon for destructive or illegal purposes. We can not be held responsible for your actions, so if you do wish to build yourself a homebrew flamethrower, do so with proper care and attention. Bases and Military Installation Ban Activities like this for obvious reason.

Designed and built by Roland Tower, this DIY flamethrower was rigged up using $100 worth of random bits from a hardware store. A very temping project for any testosterone fueled male. Keep reading to view a video clip of the homemade flamethrower.

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Whether it’s action, adventure, cards, puzzle, role-playing, simulation, sports, strategy, or kids games you seek, the Mac offers an incredibly rich and compelling entertainment experience. Macs are often associated with incompatibility issues, since most of your friends probably own PCs. However, Macs stable platform allows gamers to download safe Mac Games direct from the internet.

PCs are often labeled as the open-source and programmer ideal system, but Apple offers software from independent sources as well. Although it is not often publicized, there are many independent Mac developers, who rarely get noticed creating Apple Games of various genres.

Playing Mac shareware games and using shareware software in general, allows you to first-hand see the work innovative and imaginative programmers. This shareware is accessible and affordable, with easy download ability. This prevents you from making an unnecessary trip to the store - which ultimately adds to the cost.

Another positive about shareware is better customer service that is usually non-existent from most manufactures. Generally, if you have a problem or question, you can contact the developer directly and usually get a response immediately as well as other helpful tips and tricks.

An ACTUAL human being will contact you and not a annoying automated robotic answering machine – Dial a Human! Customer service is second to none with great shareware companies. Their work is a labor of love, and if you have a pulse and you’re a fairly reasonable and intelligent person, you’ll notice this in their work.

Visit invite list of popular games with easy and safe access to Download Mac Games with a simple click of the mouse. One Link – One Click, and the game is yours to master! Not sure which games you want to download? Check out our list of the popular games below.

Top Ten Mac Game Downloads

1. Sparkle
2. Monte Cristo
3. Burger Shop
4. Summer Session
5. Build a Lot
6. Chuzzle
7. Solitaire for Mac
8. Airport Mania
9. Warblade
10. Risk: Lux

Music CDs can be burned from MP3, WAV, WMA, and OGG files to an audio CD that can be played in any standard CD player with ease. Not only can you burn to back-up your data or music files, but you can also USE them! You can then simply add the files from which you wish to burn CDs in one simple click.

A CD burning software has never been so easy to use and offer so many options. Even though discs have storage limits, you can create multi-session discs; and reuse disc with writable disc support to optimized burning and take advantage of the drive’s highest writing speed. Video DVDs and VCD/SVCD discs can also be burned and backed up effortlessly.

The process to burn CDs is very fast and easy to do with the assistance of the right software.

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Super Mario Bros has recently been voted the best computer game ever in an Internet poll conducted by www.onepoll.com. The brothers, Mario and Luigi, who conquer the Mushroom Kingdom to save Princess Peach took first place in the internet poll of over 2000 gamers.

The classic platform game was released in 1985 and has since sold more then 40 million copies worldwide. Nintendo later released Super Mario Bros 2 in 1988 and Super Mario Bros 3 in 1990. The third installment of the series is often considered to be the best, however sales have not quite caught up with the first, tilling up to around 18 million copies sold to date.

The results clearly proved that old skool games are still the most popular amongst Britain’s gaming nation.

Pac-Man, the classic arcade game which was released in 1980; took second place and Tetris, also an 80’s game; took third.

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John Sewell, spokesman for www.onepoll.com, said:

“Games which were invented years ago, like Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Super Mario and Pac Man all appear in the top ten.
“This shows that classic games will live on forever in the hearts of computer game fans.
“The gaming industry is getting more and more competitive, releasing more and more innovative games by the minute - but this survey proves that sometimes the most simple formats work well to keep game players hooked.”

A slightly more modern game, Simms, took forth place and another classic, Sonic the Hedgehog took fifth. And apart from Grand Theft Auto which took seventh and tenth, the rest of the top ten are all computer game classics. Full list of the top 20 below.

The Best 20 Video Games Ever

1. Super Mario Bros
2. Pac-Man
3. Tetris
4. The Sims
5. Sonic the Hedgehog
6. Space Invaders
7. Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas
8. 8. Donkey Kong
9. Mario Kart 64
10. Grand Theft Auto - Vice City
11. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
12. Wii Sports
13. Final Fantasy
14. Gran Turismo
15. Lemmings
16. Frogger
17. Pokemon, Red, Blue and Green
18. Street Fighter II
19. Wii Play
20. Guitar Hero

The 1950’s was a memorable decade for aviation technology, with the cold war driving the US and Soviet arsenals like never before, experimental aircraft like the Hiller X-18 were granted funds for development.

Design work was started by by Stanley Hiller Jr in 1995 when the Hiller Aircraft Corporation received a contract from the U.S. Air Force.

The X-18 was designed as a cargo transport aircraft and was the first testbed for tiltwing and STOVL (short take off and vertical landing) technology.

Hiller’s X-18 was able to cruise at speeds of up to 253 mph (407 km/h) and measured 63ft in length, 24ft in height and the tri-bladed contra-rotating propellers were a giant 16 ft (4.8 m) across.

In an effort to speed up construction and cut costs, the plane was constructed from scavenged parts including a fuselage from the Chase C-122 Avitruc and turboprops from the Lockheed XFV-1 and Convair XFY-1 Pogo.

The first test flight was recorded on November 24, 1959 however a number of problems plagued the aircraft during its next 19 flights.

The X-18 was susceptible to wind gusts when the wings rotated, the turboprop engines were not linked, so if one engine failed the airplane would crash.

On the 20th July 1961, the X-18 developed problems with the propellers pitch control whilst attempting to hover at 10,000 ft. The aircraft then went into a spin. The crew managed to regained control and fortunately landed with no loss of life, but the X-18 was never to fly again.

Ground testing the X-18’s tiltwing technology still continued, but eventually a test stand the plane had been mounted on failed and the plane was severely damaged in the fall.

The program was then finally canceled on January 18, 1964 and the X-18 was cut up for scrap.

Aircraft Spec’s

• Crew: 2-3
• Length: 63 ft 0 in (19.2 m)
• Wingspan: 48 ft 0 in (14.6 m)
• Height: 24 ft 7 in (7.5 m)
• Empty weight: 26,786 lb (12,150 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 33,000 lb (14,850 kg)
• Maximum speed: 253 mph (407 km/h)
• Service ceiling 35,300 ft (10,800 m)

This great video has been gaining some attention on the Internet recently. The concept is believable and to be honest, the implications that we already created an artificial form of life aren’t far off either.

But for anyone with some tech know how, or for those who never believe any to-good-to-be-true video clip, it was never a reality, more of a great piece of CGI.

Although the human race has yet to come up with something quite so technological advanced, it is clear that in this day and age, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between the computer-generated material and the real footage.

Even though the Tetra Vaal seemed a little far-fetched, I had to watch the clip a couple of times before logic got the better of my amazement! Perhaps if I hadn’t been aware of the standards of todays CGI and video editing, I may have even thought this clip was real….I’m sure some people out there did!

And although the idea of a law enforcing military robot is certainly not original, the clip is surely the best and most realistic vision on the future of artificial intelligence we have seen so far.

The video was created by the folks over at The Embassy Visual Effects Inc. and was directed by Neill Blomkamp.

This short video clip is possibly one of the best sniper shots ever caught on camera. The guy in the clip is threatening to kill himself and wants his girlfriend to watch. When negotiations turn sour, the command is given and veteran shooter Mike Plum shoots the pistol clean out of the suspects hand.

The video was extremely popular and was aired on several TV shows across the globe. Just in case you missed out on the this clip, we featured it below…….so sit back and be amazed.

When the Pentagon announced that it adjusted its future Combat Systems Initiative, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates voiced his concerns regarding the slow pace of fielding weapons to infantrymen who needed them now.

When the Pentagon recently tweaked its Future Combat Systems initiative, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made noise about fielding weapons to infantrymen who need them now, rather than planning for hypothetical dogfights and sea battles.

So, what are currently the most innovative systems available to our soldiers? Here are five of the best weapons either in use on the battlefield or in development stages to be issued in the near future.

SCAR-Light

• Developer - FNH USA (USA)
• Caliber – 5.56mm
• Features – More accuracy and less prone to jamming than an M-16 or M4 rifle. SCAR barrels can be change with ease on the battle filed using a minimal number of tools.
• Progress – The original release of the SCAR was planned for 2006, but after a limited production run last year, there’s hope for the SCAR.

Replacing the M-16 as well as the compact variant, the M-4 has been a largely tragic tale. One attempt was the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW), which came with an integrated grenade launcher and laser-rangefinder.

Unfortunately the OIWC was scrapped due to excessive weight adding to the list of non contenders against the M-16 and M4.

In an effort to over come the seemingly impossible task of replacing these two assault rifles, the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) held a competition to aid the development of a new rifle to be deployed with Special Forces personnel.

The competition led to the development of the SCAR, and after having passed rigorous test to ensure the weapon was more accurate and reliable than the M-16 and M4, FHN USA landed the contract to mass-produce the FN SCAR.

The SCAR comes in two calibers—5.56 for the SCAR-Light, and 7.62 for the SCAR-Heavy. The weapon also meets SOCOM’s requirements for quick changes in the field. Using a minimal amount of tools the SCAR’s 18 inch barrel can be replaced with a standard 14 inch or shorter 10 inch barrel within minutes.

Although the SCAR-Light is likely to be more common than the more powerful SCAR-Heavy, both two weapons share 99 percent of the same parts, making field repairs easier and streamlining the overall logistics.

XM-25

• Developer - Alliance Techsystems (USA)
• Caliber – 25mm
• Features – Computer-aided targeting system which allows the user to aim quickly to adjust the range of the air-bursting round.
• Progress - The XM-25 is still in development, but in this industry—and particularly for a system that survived the OICW debacle—that amounts to very good news.

The grenade launcher is often envisioned as an under-the-barrel weapon attached to an assault rifle; however the self-contained XM-25 is an entirely new concept.

Using the onboard ballistic computer and laser rangefinder, the user can set the exact range at which the 25mm round will explode. This feature allows the Xm-25 to negotiate almost any kind of cover a target could find, especially in an urban environment.

For example, rounds could be set to go off, in midair, just past the corner of building, just inside a sniper’s window, or directly above a group of hostiles hunched behind a concrete barrier.

The company behind the development of the XM-25, Alliance Techsystems credits the overhead airbursts with the potential for five time greater lethality, compared to other grenade launchers such as the M203. This is because the shrapnel will be more likely to drop on the targets head.

While this may seem like a gruesome point of pride, more direct strike means less civilian casualties.

SAR 21

• Developer - Singapore Technologies Kinetics (Singapore)
• Caliber – 5.56mm
• Features - Integrated visible/ infrared laser sight and 1.5x optical scope, translucent ammo magazines.
• Progress - The SAR 21 became standard issue for Singapore’s armed forces in 1999, but there are no plans for adoption elsewhere.

While the United States has had trouble replacing the M-16, Singapore have been using a newer and perhaps better performing assault rifle since 1999.

The SAR 21 replaced Singapore’s licensed version of the M-16, and has since gained a reputation among gun experts as one of the best “bullpup” (where the action and magazine are behind the trigger) assault rifles on the market.

While the SAR 21 has a smaller profile than the M-16, it doesn’t sacrifice barrel length (shorter barrels have less accuracy over longer distances). It also has a more manageable recoil due to the weapons center of gravity, the recoil tends to kick directly back toward to firer, instead of pushing upwards.

The SAR 21 has a Kevlar cheek plate to deal with chamber explosions occurring next to the user’s face (a regular safety issue for bullpup weapons). It’s also one of the few assault rifles in the world equipped with an integrated laser aiming device.

Corner Shot Launcher

• Developer - Corner Shot (Israel), Dynamit Nobel Defence (Germany)
• Caliber – 60mm
• Features - A collapsible firing-post, which is fitted with a camera and video screen, attaches to a disposable, one-shot 60 mm grenade launcher. Rounds can be fired at a 90 degree angle—other Corner Shot devices fire at up to 60 degrees.
• Progress – Unveiled in 2004, the Corner Shot is still awaiting deployment.

To read our original post on the Corner Shot Assault Rifle, Click Here>>>

Thanks to a hinged frame, an under-the-barrel camera and a video screen, the Corner Shot can basically shoot around corners. There are currently three different versions available; a pistol, a compact assault rifle or a 40mm and 60mm grenade launcher.

Designed for urban combat, where the ability to see around corners and open fire while behind cover is a huge advantage.

FMG9 Folding Machine Gun

• Developer - Magpul Industries (USA)
• Caliber – 9mm
• Features - Spring-loaded design transitions from a box to a gun, with a 31-round Glock 18 magazine loaded and ready to fire, at the press of a button.
• Progress - Nonfiring semiautomatic prototype shown in March 2008. Unfortunately no word yet on when a firing model—much less a fully automatic one—might be available.

The concept of folding guns is not entirely new, legendary gun designer Eugene Stoner developed one in the 1980s, but Magpul Industries still made news earlier this year when it unveiled a prototype model of its FMG9 (short for Folding Machine Gun).

The folded gun resembles a small tool box with a flash light mounted on the top but with one push of a button the box suddenly transforms into a fully loaded, ready to fire 9mm submachine gun.

The gun also has an integrated laser sight, and can be carried without the handle and flashlight, for a sleeker, more pocketable profile.

If you have been digging the social news over the last month, then you have probably come across an article explaining how to reveal blocked caller ID info. The original post was comprehensive and gained a lot of attention with internet geeks and IT technicians, but being as it was a little over my head, I have to admit finding the video version made it a lot easier to share this news with you all!

The video shows how you can use an enterprise-spec asterisk box and a SIP trunk provider to reveal a blocked caller ID. Whilst this hack may infringe on certain security laws, we though it would be interesting to share. However 800HighTech can not be held responsible for your actions and in no way condone the use of this hack for any reason which may be considered damaging or illegal.

There is a lot to talk about when reviewing AMD’s ATI Radeon HD 4800 graphics card. With the addition of a new Custom Filtering AA technology, AMD have brought the “power of graphics super computing to gamers,” setting a new standard in visual computing with break though technology that doesn’t compromise performance.

The new ATI HD 4800 boasts more than twice the power of previous generation AMD graphics cards, allowing the user to take HD gaming to the extreme.

So how does the HD 4800 manage its super powerful processing? With a new TeraScale graphics engine, combined with one teraflops of power, 800 stream processors and a next gen’ GDDR5 memory, AMD’s new HD 4800 is able to propel you deep into a new world of gameplay with seamless frame rates and high resolutions.

One of the key features behind the ATI HD 4800’s high quality graphics is the inclusion of a new Edge-detect Custom Filtering AntiAliasing (CFAA). Previous generations of Edge-detecting filters taxed memory bandwidth, and previous support filters “Narrow-Tent” and “Wide-Tent,” actually had a negative impact on the overall image quality. With a new Edge-detect filter, the ATI HD 4800 is able to increase sample rates to produce better moving images without blurring.

Not only can the ATI HD 4800 play Blu-ray movies and HD content with incredible visual fidelity, it can actually upscale HD resolutions above the highest quality 1080p, and with AMD’s new break-through platform-independent intelligent power management, the ATI HD 4800 does all of this whilst using less power then ever before.

With all these top-notch specifications and break through technologies, the ATI HD 4800 is able to deliver the freedom and flexibility to edit videos quickly, converting raw data to H.264 and MPEG-2 formats around 1.8x faster than real-time.

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The Nintendo Wii Fit has had its fair share of press over the recent months, “selling out almost as quickly as it hits the retail shelves,” it’s not surprising that the world’s first and only virtual console is becoming so popular.

However there is one phenomenon spawning from the Wii, which the bods over at Nintendo may not have expected (or maybe they did?)……the ‘Wii Fit Bikini Girl’ videos. Whilst there may not be a rival competitor console wise, the bikini clad Wii Fit girl concept has a new challenger, the Guitar Hero Bikini Girl.

Ever since the very kind uploading of “Why ever guy should buy their girlfriend Wii Fit,” guys (and possibly girls) worldwide have been going crazy over the internet video sensation known as the Wii Fit Bikini Girls.

Playboy soon caught on too, quickly releasing several videos featuring Playboy’s ‘Cyber Girl Of The Year’ Joe Garcia playing Wii Fit in next to nothing.

Click here to watch videos >>> Sexy Playboy Model Uses Wii Fit : Why Every Guy Should Buy Their Girlfriend Wii Fit.

But now, the Wii Fit faces a new competitor…some have said, “better game, better console, better body and better underwear”, now it’s up to the public to decide.

Regardless of the console or game being played, it’s certainly a possibility that this bikini wearing game playing trend is here to stay. So in our efforts to keep the trend alive, we have gathered up a few of the best bikini clad Wii Fit girls for your viewing pleasure.

Note: Not sure if the last video really helps keep the trend alive, but it’s worth a watch if you’ve been deprived from feminine contact for a long period of time!

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Since the release of the famed Eee PC there has been ample time for enthusiasts to dig deeper inside the machine and as a result, there are a number of useful hacks emerging.

We picked out three of the best hacks that can transform your Eee PC into a top-of-the range-Laptop.

Install Ubuntu

If you’re a Linux user at heart, there is probably going to be time when you want to try out Ubuntu’s familiar desktop.

To do this you will need to download Ubuntu Eee, a community driven derivative of Ubuntu which is specifically designed for Eee Laptops; you must also configure the Eee PC to boot from flash media.

This is probably the hardest part of the process; first you will need a small application which burns ISO images to flash drives. A popular program for doing this is called UNetbootin which is available along with the latest version of Ubuntu Eee installation from the Ubuntu website.

Then you must format the Eee Pc’s SD card using a machine running Ubuntu. This is where it gets a little tricky; you can use the dd command to fix the SD card’s MBR.

• dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=[type the correct device path within these brackets]

Next you must erase the existing partitions on the SD card and create a new one that is formatted with FAT32 and set with the bootable flag. A tool called gparted can you help you complete this.

Now all that is left to do is burn the ISO image to the SD card; if you have to manually select the location do so with extreme care because the target drive can be overwritten.

Then boot from SD; hold ‘Escape’ during the startup screen and select ‘USB 2.0 Card Reader SD0’ from the menu.

Once you’re up and running follow the installation process, this may take a while but there are no special setting you must configure. Once the install is complete, your machine should be running Ubuntu with no problems.

Note: 800HighTech can not be held responsible for your actions. This process can cause serious system problems and loss of data, so please proceed with caution.

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