Popular Mechanics articles from February 2004

Popular Mechanics archives from February 2004

Winning.(Editor's Notes)(Editorial)
February 1, 2004... Awards are nice. They recognize excellence, the top, the best, in a particular field. Awards are great to present, and of course, it's always wonderful to receive. In recent weeks, we had the chance to be on both ends--giving and receiving. At...

Centennial of flight.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2004... The article by Walter J. Boyne and the paintings by Keith Ferris were fabulous and very special. Thank you for one of the best issues you've ever done. MICHAEL FUSCO VIA INTERNET Your article left out many of the great historical...

Lifesavers.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2004... As a longtime reader, I want to commend you on your article "How To Survive A Riptide." U.S. lifeguards rescue 50,000 to 80,000 people each year from rip currents. There is more information at www.usla.org. ERIC A. BAUER LIFEGUARD...

Sick machines.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2004... In response to your computer column on e-mail, yes, e-mail makes me sick. But what really gets my blood pressure going is when the media give out bad information about computers. Think your Macintosh is immune to viruses? Better check again....

Reader project of the month.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2004... I bought this dilapidated 1945 Farmall A at age 16.1 spent a year restoring the tractor mechanically while using it for logging. One of its finest features is a Pneumatic Lift-All system, which was an early attempt at hydraulic controls. This...

Red Tide.(Time Machine)
February 1, 2004... 100 Years Ago: February 1904 Russia had added a "new and mysterious craft" to its fleet of destroyers. The secret Perr Kochka, a submarine, was the "queerest looking craft ever put into the ocean." Russia was relying on this sub, and...

Sound ideas.(Time Machine)
February 1, 2004... Reproducing the squeaking of a train's brakes from offstage, by drawing a pair of tumblers across a sheet of plate glass, was one of the sound effects in a German play. It was all part of the art of noisemakinq. Other train sounds were made by...

Head of the class.(Time Machine)
February 1, 2004... 50 Years Ago: February 1954 PM honored the 12 finest American classic automobiles produced between 1925 and 1942. Ranked in order of their selection, the top nine were the: Duesenberg 1931-J Roadster-Murphy, Duesenberg 1931-J...

Time machine.(Time Machine)
February 1, 2004... 25 Years Ago: February 1979 NASA's orbiting Space Telescope (ST) was expected to be able to peer back billions of years to the beginnings of the universe. Scientists hoped the telescope would provide answers regarding the age, size and...

Repairing shuttle tiles in space.(Technology watch)
February 1, 2004... By dusting off a procedure it had shelved in the 1980s, NASA found a way to fix space shuttle tiles damaged during launch or while on orbit. The silicon-based tiles protect the shuttle's underside from the intense heat created as the orbiter...

Trading silicon for plastic.(Tech Watch)
February 1, 2004... While silicon is the perfect material for microprocessors and computer memories, it has two limitations: It is stiff and expensive. Germany's Siemens and coatings specialist Kurz have launched a new company to mass-produce plastic circuits....

Ultimate built-in electronics.(Tech Watch)
February 1, 2004... Whether they play DVDs or shift an automatic transmission, digital control systems share one common feature: They reside on a circuit board that is separate from the mechanisms they control. In the next few years, digital brains and...

Museum fosters sound thinking.(Tech Watch)(Marian Koshland Science Museum)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has helped presidents and top government leaders since Abraham Lincoln grapple with complex scientific issues. In April, NAS goes public. Its Marian Koshland Science Museum will be the only museum in the...

Rapid radiation identification.(Tech Watch)(The Detective radiation detector)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... A new type of handheld radiation detector will tell bomb squads if an unmarked box contains a nuclear weapon or a radium-face wristwatch. Current portable detectors announce the presence of radiation, but cannot identify the type of material...

Digital upgrade for cars.(Tech Watch)(by Motorola Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Motorola wants your next car to be smarter than your PC. To achieve this, the semiconductor manufacturer has launched a major initiative to convince automakers to make extensive use of its new generation of 32-bit microprocessors. The chip is...

Fast bikes and 300 extras.(Tech Watch)(motorcycle movie "Torque")(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... If you like fast bikes as much as we do, the new Warner Bros. film "Torque" could be worth the ride. The star is a 300-hp jet-powered machine called Y2K, one of only 10 in existence. Costars include an Aprilia Mille RSV, a Triumph Daytona 955i...

Improved heatshield.(Tech Watch)
February 1, 2004... An ultrahigh-temperature ceramic material that can withstand repeated exposure to temperatures up to 3800[degrees]F has been developed by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. During PM's recent visit to his lab,...

World's tallest building.(Tech Watch)(Taipei 101)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... It is acceleration, not speed, that makes people feel queasy inside tall buildings swaying on windy days. For those inside Taipei 101--now the world's tallest building--riding out Taiwan's typhoon season will be a breeze. How Thornton-Tomasetti...

Mechanical crawler climbs out of bed.(Tech Watch)(crawling robot)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... A mechanism originally designed to massage bedridden hospital patients will provide the drivetrain for crawling robots. The drive consists of a cam-and-beam mechanism that drives three crossbeams, creating a sine-wave motion in a flexible...

Transmitting voices through rock.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The Earth plays havoc with electromagnetic signals. It is impossible to send messages through it by radio without using massive amounts of power and ultralow frequencies. During a visit to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico,...

Giant rats find mines.(Tech Watch)(land mines)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Scientists in Tanzania say that giant African pouched rats make the perfect landmine detectors. The 30-in.-long, 3-pound rats have a sense of smell acute enough to detect the odor given off by explosives, which is imperceptible to humans. By...

Tech jobs flee.(Tech Watch)(high technology jobs go oversees)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Nearly 750,000 high-paying jobs in high-tech industries have fled the United States in the past two years, says the American Electronics Association (AEA).The lost jobs paid salaries averaging $66,300. Foreign workers receive far less. India...

Planet watch.(Tech Watch)(natural disasters)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... * CALIFORNIA A state of emergency was declared after a freak hailstorm pummeled southern Los Angeles. In 2 hours, the accompanying rain totaled 5.9 in., nearly the record for a single day in the city of Angels, according to the National Weather...

Seeing boundary layers.(Tech Watch)(PumpLab)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Seeing is believing. It also helps engineering students make the hard-to-visualize connection between the equations that explain hydraulic flow, and what happens when liquids flow through pumps and pipelines. The new transparent PumpLab from...

Laser weapons for the navy.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... A successful experiment conducted at the Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Va., may lead the way to a laser weapon for the U.S. Navy. "The free electron laser (FEL) has been shown to generate...

Russians revive the triwing.(Tech Watch)(Molniya-1000 Heracles)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... A giant freight or passenger-carrying twin-body airliner is on the drawing board at the Russian research and industrial company NPO Molniya. Displayed in model form at the 2003 Paris Air Show, the Molniya-1000 Heracles sports an...

A perfect storm on the sun.(Space Shots)(solar flare)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Despite a brush with the most powerful solar flare in recorded history, the Earth escaped with little damage. The flare was one of about a dozen spawned by large sunspots over a 2-week period in October and November. The image shown here...

Double-wide DNA glows in the dark.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Stretched and straightened DNA resembles a ladder. Each rung consists of two "base pairs." There are about 3 billion in human DNA. A flaw on any rung can cause problems. At Stanford University in California, researchers added a benzene...

Enola Gay: writing history but ignoring a critical fact.(Following Up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The Smithsonian Institution has once again found itself at the center of a dispute over the Enola Gay. The B-29 bomber is known the world over as the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, ending World War II. However, you would not...

Bacteria battle cry.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Scientists have long known that bacteria form clusters to protect themselves against antibiotics. Clusters have less surface area. This protects the group at the expense of the individual cells. What causes clusters to form and remain stable...

Ocean launches expand to land.(Following Up)(Sea Launch Co. creates Land Launch)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The commercial space industry is hurting. Launch costs are going up, microelectronics has enabled telecommunications to service customers with fewer satellites, and international travelers have found pocket-size cellphones more convenient, and...

Calling the tunes.(Computers)
February 1, 2004... Music fans, prepare to take up arms. The online music battles are here and, as usual, consumers are in danger of becoming lost in the fog of war. What's the problem this time? The multitude of formats--MP3, AAC, WMA--and the selection of...

How suite it is.(Electronics)(Virgin Atlantic Airways Upper Class Suite)
February 1, 2004... These days "fun" and "flying" are not often used in the same sentence. But Virgin Atlantic Airways, the hip London-based airline owned by billionaire Richard Branson, is about to change that. Virgin has introduced a new level of...

The mystery of dark energy.(Space)
February 1, 2004... Judging from the enthusiasm the scientists and graduate students jostling to get into the packed University of Chicago lecture hall, you would think Albert Einstein was about to take the podium and tie up the loose ends in his mind-twisting...

Where's the beef?(Grilling)(Jack Daniel's Invitational Barbecue)
February 1, 2004... Like meat? Then you should have been with us at the 15th, Annual Jack Daniel's Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg Tenn., organized and run by the Kansas City Barbecue Society. What? You weren't invited? Well, maybe that's because you didn't win...

Smallest laser.(Photonics)
February 1, 2004... Let there be light--everywhere, it seems, for the laser has become a ubiquitous part of modern life. Though they are not as common as the light bulb, lasers power your DVD and CD burners, as well as supermarket checkout scanners. They're...

2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.(New Cars)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
February 1, 2004... Contributing Editor Jay Leno reported on his first drive of the SLR in our November issue. Mercedes-Benz had invited him and other future owners to drive prototypes at a test track. That way, the people paying for the cars could give their...

2004 Kia Amanti.(New Cars)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... All automakers know that more money is made on larger, more expensive models than on small, inexpensive ones. That's why, sooner or later, most companies that entered the market selling economical cars slide upscale. The most recent carmaker to...

2004 Infiniti QX56.(New Cars)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Infiniti is jumping into the luxury full-size SUV pool with its own version of Nissan's Pathfinder Armada. That means the 2004 QX56 has a robust 5.6-liter VS, which makes 315 hp and 390 ft.-lb., compliments of an increase in compression. Behind...

2004 Saturn Red Line.(New Cars)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Executives at Saturn are serious about offering fun-to-drive vehicles-something that the brand has never been known for. To that end, they've introduced the Saturn Red Line series. There is a Vue Red Line and an Ion Red Line. These are...

2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution RS.(New Cars)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Just in case the Lancer Evolution isn't fast or furious enough for you, Mitsubishi has added a stripped-down, lighter-weight RS model to the lineup. The RS is like the coolest muscle-cars of the 1960s. You know, the ones that deleted the heavy...

2004 BMW X5.(New Cars)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... After four years of being the sportiest of all the sport utilities, the BMW X5 has started to feel some heat from the likes of Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti. In response, the Bimmer now boasts some new features. Most notable is the xDrive...

2004 Porsche Cayenne.(New Cars)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Since it was already sitting at the pinnacle of the SUV potency heap, the logical place for the Porsche Cayenne to go was down-market. Enter a V6 version of the Cayenne. This entry model, below the V8 Cayenne S and 450-hp Cayenne Turbo, borrows...

2005 Lincoln pickup.(Detroit Spy Report)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Lincoln will have another try at building a pickup truck, this one slated for the 2005 model year. The new pickup will not be another Lincoln Blackwood, the highly publicized but unsuccessful attempt of a few years ago. Rather, this will be a...

2005 PT Cruiser.(Detroit Spy Report)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Chrysler plans major changes in the front-end styling of the next PT Cruiser. Gone are the drooping hoodline and arched front fenders. The new car, scheduled for introduction late this year as an '05 model, will offer a wide hood that won't...

2006 Chevrolet Tahoe.(Detroit Spy Report)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Here's a first look at what GM has in store for future buyers of large SUVs. This is the Tahoe for 2006, instantly apparent as a GM vehicle, but changed in many ways from the current model. Start with the grille: Its bold, in-your-face design...

2005 Infiniti M45.(Asia Spy Report)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Nissan unveiled this stylish new Fuga sedan concept at the recent Tokyo Motor Show. The car is built on a lengthened version of the chassis found under the Infiniti G35 and Nissan 350Z. And our sources say this concept car will make it to...

2006 Acura NSX.(Asia Spy Report)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Acura's flagship sports car, the NSX, has been in dealerships relatively unchanged since its debut in 1990. And the car's die-hard fans have been champing at the bit for a new model. This Honda concept, dubbed the HSC, is a thinly disguised...

2005 Mitsubishi Evolution MR.(Asia Spy Report)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Fueled by a generation of drivers who expect and demand rapid change, the sport compact car market segment is constantly seeing new and revised models. One of the segment's premier cars, Mitsubishi's Evolution, won't remain untouched for long....

2005 Hyundai Tucson.(Asia Spy Report)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Korean automaker Hyundai is making ready its second SUV. The new Tucson will be smaller in every dimension than the company's current model, the Santa Fe. The new vehicle will be based on the Elantra car platform, and power for the lower-priced...

When UFOs arrive: the U.S. and other world governments already have detailed secret plans for first contact.(Exobiology)(Cover Story)
February 1, 2004... Within the scientific community, the question is no longer whether extraterrestrial life exists, but if ET is smart enough to do long division. Scientists are of two minds regarding the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Skeptics...

Celebrating the original: Mercedes-Benz, the world's first carmaker, is still on a roll.(Honored Marque)(Company Profile)
February 1, 2004... The annual POPULAR MECHANICS Honored Marque Award was created by our auto editors to recognize the great auto manufacturers that have had a significant and lasting impact on the American motoring scene, in a meaningful and an enduring way. ...

Laptop astronomy: the merger of the telescope with the personal computer ignites a new golden age for amateur astronomers.(Astronomy)
February 1, 2004... Digital technology, which transformed the way professional astronomers work, has found its way into the backyard of amateur astronomers. Nights spent in the chilly open domes of mountain-top observatories are passing into history. Atop the...

The churning: a 650-mile adventure on the Tennessee River tests the big new 4-strokes from Suzuki and Yamaha.(Boating)
February 1, 2004... Inspired by the Darryl Worley hit "Tennessee River Run," we decided it was high time we blasted full throttle from Knoxville, Tenn., to Paducah, Ky., 652 miles down the Tennessee River. To legitimize our adventure, we borrowed two nearly...

All that digital Jazz: now, carry bigger chunks of music with the new digital audio players.(Audio)
February 1, 2004... Portable music players used to be defined by the shape of the media they played. You know, portable CD players were round, cassette players were rectangular. But thanks to miniaturized hard disks and flash memory, industrial engineers are...

Success in sin city: amid the neon and the noise, we find the winners at Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week.(Automotive)
February 1, 2004... Popular Mechanics EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARDS Bright lights. Big city. And more custom cars, chrome, carbon fiber, flamed paint jobs and spandex than you can wrap your brain around. It's Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week in Las Vegas, one of...

Simple pleasures: a Shaker console table for any room in the house.(Shop Project)
February 1, 2004... Our Shaker console table is a very versatile piece of furniture. Its simple lines make it appropriate in any decor and in any room. You can use it in the dining room as a serving table, in the living room behind a sofa, or place it in the entry...

First patented dish antenna brings in broadcast signals other antennas can't find: the XiumAir's [TM]Spilateral technology conquers ghosts, fuzzy pictures and rooftop monstrosities.(Antenna Technology Breakthrough)
February 1, 2004... If you live in an area where TV reception is weak, 'rabbit cars' and ugly rooftop antennas may only bring in fuzzy signals that aren't worth watching. Enter the XiumAir Antenna--the world's first spilateral antenna designed to bring in strong...

Replacing a garbage disposer: what to do when your old unit bites the dust.(Home Improvement)
February 1, 2004... Replacing a failed garbage disposer can seem daunting. There's the usual trepidation about electricity and water, the unfamiliar sink connection and enough drain fittings to make leaks a real possibility. Then there are the hassles of...

Report card: new tools and more from Sears Craftsman.(Tools)
February 1, 2004... Anybody who likes tools would like the annual Sears Craftsman Editor's Conference. That's where Sears shows off the fruits of its research and product development from the previous year. It unveils tools and other products for eager editors to...

Dishwasher air gap.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... I replaced the air breather on my dishwasher less than a year ago when the washer did not drain properly. This week it failed again. I use the garbage disposer regularly. Is there an easier way to fix this problem rather than replacing the air...

Review: help with paint.(Homeowners Clinic)
February 1, 2004... If you've ever wondered how to paint a material other than wood, here's information. This free booklet's source is the Paint Quality Institute, the public-information division of Rohm and Haas, a manufacturer of acrylic paint resin. There's no...

Dropcloths that stick.(Service tip: painting)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... One of the most time-consuming tasks when preparing a room for painting is covering what you don't want painted. Pretaped plastic dropcloth is becoming a popular product because it speeds the process. In the past, covering large areas meant...

Radiator air blockage.(Homeowners Clinic)
February 1, 2004... There is a 1-pipe baseboard hot-water heating system in my home. I had a new boiler installed, but now one of the rooms gets cold due to an air blockage in the radiator. I bleed the radiator to restore proper hot-water flow. How can I prevent...

Waterlogged storage tank.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... My water is supplied by a well, and I've noticed that the flow from the faucets pulses between a strong and weak flow. What causes this, and how can it be corrected? PETER SUMMERFIELD OWINGS MILLS, MD It's likely that a...

Water drips from bath fan.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The bathroom ceiling fan has water dripping from it after I use the shower during cold weather. How can this be prevented? HOWARD BOSMA EAGAN, MN It's likely that your bathroom fan's duct passes through the attic to the outside....

Hot on HDTV.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)(High Definition Television)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... What's the newest rage in televisions? HDTV (High Definition Television) is slowly but surely making its way into more and more mainstream living rooms. What makes it so special? Three features: (1) Higher Resolution, Better Picture Quality...

American steel span arch-style steel buildings.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)
February 1, 2004... American Steel Span is the world's largest manufacturer of pre-engineered, freestanding, arch-style steel buildings. Backed by a 25-year rust-through warranty, these 100% made in the USA buildings are remarkably affordable for a wide range of...

Over Normandy an exhilarating new game.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)
February 1, 2004... Do your part for the war effort! Join a secret squad of pilots dedicated to thwarting the most heinous plans of the Third Reich. Fly over twenty authentic aircraft across thirty daring missions in this new WWII flight-action adventure. Lawrence...

Wrangler Five Star jeans. Stronger. More comfortable. Guaranteed.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)
February 1, 2004... Looking for a long-lasting, comfortable pair of jeans? Wrangler Five Star Premium Quality Denim is designed for comfort and durability for work or leisure. Wrangler Five Star jeans have more room in the seat and thigh for added comfort and are...

Backdoor man.(Auto Clinic)(voltmeters)
February 1, 2004... I was trying to diagnose an electrical fault on my car with the trusty tach-dwell meter that I've had since the '60s. I was pulling connectors apart and probing with the leads supplied with the meter. The high-school kid next door told me I was...

They call me the wanderer.(Auto Clinic)(Ford Explorer steering)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... My '91 Ford Explorer has almost 2 in. of free-play in the steering, which seems like a lot. It pulls to the right most of the time. Also, it pulls to the right more after I accelerate hard, which I don't understand. I know an alignment will fix...

Service tips.(Auto Clinic)(Saturn)(General Motors)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... * Saturn owners who feel there may be oil contaminating the coolant because they see a brown substance in the coolant reservoir bottle should see Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 97-T-04. The brown stuff isn't oil--it's undissolved engine...

Painted into a corner.(Car Care Tip)(battery replacement)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... It was a late-model luxury car, but even the best European iron needs a little help when you leave the door open and the radio on in the garage for a couple of weeks. In fact, the battery was cooked--weeks of deep discharge had killed it beyond...

Lights out.(Auto Clinic)(automotive sensors)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... I have a 1997 Buick with the Check Engine light on. I cleaned the [O.sub.2] sensors and now I would like to turn off the Check Engine light, Can I do this without a code reader? JIM KOESTER VIA INTERNET If you don't have access to a...

Oil crisis.(Auto Clinic)(crankcase oil)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... I own a 1994 Cadillac Seville with the Northstar V8 engine. I was told it could run 50 miles without any oil in the crankcase. Will you tell me how this is possible? RICHARD HINDS MIAMI, FL It's not. Whoever told you this has been...

Wiring your trailer hitch.(Saturday Mechanic)
February 1, 2004... The rental yard is busy. The utility trailer you want is inexpensive, and the yard help assists you in hooking up the trailer hitch and safety chains. Now to drive home and load the trailer with the entirety of a teenager's life, then ship her...

GreatStuff: from fun to functional, here are the coolest gadgets and gear on the planet.
February 1, 2004... 1. Bank On It Gale Banks has been cranking out twin-turbo Chevy small blocks for some 20 years. The company's new line of twin turbos generates 800to 1600 hp and elevates the level of street performance to new heights. The systems are...

Soak up a movie.(Great Stuff: from fun to functional, here are the coolest gadgets and gear on the planet.)
February 1, 2004... It's our job here to report on all kinds of products. Having said that, here are the straight facts on this $29,000 spa: It has a DVD system, a CD player, an AM/FM radio, a floating remote control, 10 fully adjustable jets, underwater lighting...

Grab bag.(Great Stuff: from fun to functional, here are the coolest gadgets and gear on the planet.)
February 1, 2004... Tripping over life vests strewed about your boat is irritating--not to mention dangerous. T-Bags are storage packs designed to hold your Type II life vests and other gear. They attach to all T-tops and many pontoon tops. Each pack has two...

Keep the home fire burning.(GreatStuff: from fun to functional, here are the coolest gadgets and gear on the planet.)
February 1, 2004... We love masonry fireplaces, but if you want to burn wood and you don't want to go the brick-and-mortar route, consider Lennox's Brentwood, a 55,000-BTU woodburning fireplace with a 72 percent heat-efficiency rating. Its 36-in.-wide cast-iron...

One good turn.(Great Stuff: from fun to functional, here are the coolest gadgets and gear on the planet.)
February 1, 2004... Stanley has come out with its own brand of professional-grade mechanics tools. Each tool is forged from high-quality steel and features smooth edges and a full polish. All sockets and box-end wrenches use Maxi-Drive for 15 percent more torque,...

Color-conscious.(Great Stuff: from fun to functional, here are the coolest gadgets and gear on the planet.)
February 1, 2004... For a midpriced color laser printer, Canon's new i960 gives you both value and speed--it can print a photo in less than 38 seconds. Easy to hook up, the i960 provides a resolution of up to 4800 x 1200 dpi. It also includes the Canon Think Tank...

Risky business.(Great Stuff: from fun to functional, here are the coolest gadgets and gear on the planet.)
February 1, 2004... If you've ever spent a night plotting global domination over a game of Risk, you know how addictive this board game can be. Atari has taken it a step further. That's right, the board has become a screen and you can now send your armies to...