Defcon, The Game

DEFCON PC 

Funny how this comes only a few days after I forced my kids to watch the classic movie "Dr. Strangelove". Defcon is a game where both sides are going to lose, it’s just a question of who loses first (or the worst). It reminds me of the classic DOS game ‘Scorched Earth‘ (or the updated 3D version called ‘Scorched 3D‘) where your trying to kill the other tank with tactical nuclear weapons. Perfect relaxation on a Sunday afternoon if you ask me. The graphics are right out of ‘War Games‘!

Taking the role of our favorite Cold War nations, players duke it out on a retro style vector display. They begin with the careful placement of radar dishes and silos, then move on to feeling out each other’s defenses with subs, aircraft, and warships. Tensions rise, conventional warfare erupts, and it eventually escalates into a full scale nuclear exchange. Meanwhile, the computer calmly reports the death toll in terms of millions of lives lost. In a nuclear holocaust everyone loses, but through clever tactics, alliances, and well timed backstabbing, it may be possible to "lose the least."

Oh yeah, it’s a networked game so you can play with your friends. 

This is a game that needs to be played on the biggest screen TV you can find, in the dark, and after you’ve spent a day in a cold war movie marathon. ‘Multiple inbound targets are being tracked… Suggest counter measures immediately.’ 

Defcon PC Preview

(A toot of the civil defense siren to Keven for this one)

Friefighting Robots

 

 

 

This reminds me of the robot fire fighters from the anime movie Metropolis. This machine will move into a fire and spray water on it for up to three hours (battery runs flat). If water isn’t doing the trick, it can also use foam. I can see this as being very handy for oil well fires and metal fires. Or just about any fire where the heat or danger of explosion is too great to risk humans.

[via Robot Gossip]

ARMTEC – Firefighting Robot SACI 2.0 

The Utilikilt

Utilikilt

 

 

 

A few days ago I was gassing my car up over at Costco (they sell gas at a low price but it’s members only) and I saw that the driver of the van on the other side of the pump was wearing a Utilikilt. I had seen them on the old TechTv show so I knew what he was wering. I commented on his unusual form of ‘pants’ and told him I knew a guy that had a few and wore them when the went to the Burning Man events. He said that they were very comfortable and he owned 11 of them. Wow, I don’t even own 11 pairs of pants. Anyway, I’ll let you decide if something like this is for you.

UTILIKILTS : We Sell Freedom