If the DV8 Sniper works half as well as claimed, then these guys ought to start selling them on the open market. ‘The DV8 Sniper unit, featuring our unique PulseGate Technology, was custom designed and fabricated in our shop to create super 8 and regular 8mm transfers that offer the breathtaking clarity that can only come from frame by frame scanning. Every super 8mm or regular 8mm frame of your footage is individually scanned directly to the 3-CCD, 700+ line…

The RoboProbe company ‘…specializes in remotely operated television and robotic systems.’ Like this bomb disposal robot, or the teeny version below which uses a water cannon to ‘disrupt’ the offending device. More from ZZZ here.

The new MUDDA organisation – or the Magnificent Union of Digitally Downloading Artists – has been formed by Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno as a ‘a provocative new musicians’ alliance that would cut against the industry grain by letting artists sell their music online instead of only through record labels.’ More here. Pendulum. Swinging. Slowly. Back. Starts. Part I.

The Small Linux Machine is….ahem…a very small Linux computer. ‘It really is small – small enough for a truly wearable computer or a distributed robotics controller. Without a battery it weighs 12g (less than a tablespoon of water) and can fit in a collar undetected.’

Overlawyered.com ‘explores an American legal system that too often turns litigation into a weapon against guilty and innocent alike, erodes individual responsibility, rewards sharp practice, enriches its participants at the public’s expense, and resists even modest efforts at reform and accountability.’ Pendulum. Swinging. Slowly. Back. Starts. Part II.

Mmm, WhirlyBall looks like a cross between dodgems and lacrosse. Or something. According to the Metafilter thread this comes from it appears to be quite big with geeks in Seattle.

Don Klipstein has a thing about lights and lighting. A big thing. The result is his Lighting Info Center. Including the Great Internet Light Bulb Book…Part 1. ‘It is fairly well known that Thomas Alva Edison invented the first reasonably practical incandescent lamp, using a carbon filament in a bulb containing a vacuum. Since that time, the incandescent lamp has been improved by using tantalum and later tungsten filaments, which evaporate more slowly than carbon. Nowadays, incandescent lamps are still…

The rather strangely named Z Corporation has developed a 3D printing system which uses a clever powder and binder technology to build up a three dimensional item on demand. It’s being used for prototyping, as well as concept work in design and manufacturing and the price of the entry level ZPrinter 310 is around $29,900.00. Check out the animated demo for a clearer idea of how it works.

The Plum Keyboard is billed as ‘the easiest keyboard ever…’ Really? At $130.00 per, it’s easier to ask…er… why? ‘The PLUM keyboard is so easy! The letters are arranged into easy words and sequences for fast recall. The most frequently used letters are on the home row (�READ ON THIS�).’

I’m sure that we featured this a lotta years ago, but it seems like they’ve got serious about it now (although I do have a sneaking suspicion that this is one gi-normouse hoax). The Airplane Home people, folks. ‘We are offering a B727-200 aircraft for reuse as a home. It is our intention to deliver and set the airplane up on a column and bearing arrangement so it weathervanes.’

Composer Planet. ‘Help create a community of people who make music. A community based on shared experience, shared knowledge, and a willingness to help each other grow. A place where people can hear your music, be heard, learn from each other and gather a community who’s goal is to find the music inside themselves. No corporations, no sponsors, just people who know and love making music.’

The Stun Radio. A combination stun-gun and FM Radio. That make sense to you? Nope, me neither. $69.95. But then again, neither does a rechargeable flashlight stun gun, although I have to say that a stun gun and baton combo unfortunately does.

The LilyPond notation product is a free of charge…er…notation program for music. Unlike commercial alternatives like Sibelius, you don’t enter notes into staves and all that stuff, but instead use a standard text editor. Kinda weird, but it has a strange sort of logic to it, especially when the price is taken into account.

For those who have wondered why I repeatedly refer to the BBC as auntie, here’s the official reason. Apparently she doesn’t like it much, but who cares? ‘Increasingly used in 1950s to contrast BBC�s prudish, cosy, puritanical “refained” image with that of the much brasher ITV.’

Mmm, a longish Register thought piece on the competition between video on demand and DVD delivery services like Netflix. Er…folks…there is no competition. Once VOD comes of age, as it surely will once the pipes into the home get fat enough (read 2Mbps and up), then DVD rental in all forms is toast. To date I’ve tested out the Homechoice VOD, Screenselect DVD by mail and the Sky+ PVR services. Homechoice is great but with a pitifully small choice of…