Build Date: Thu Aug 27 01:50:13 2026 UTC
The day is my enemy. The night is my friend.
-- Ella Fitzgerald
Here Is Your Jet Pack
2003-01-09 13:53:56
It may be a few years late, but your jet pack has finally arrived. The SoloTrek XFV (Exoskeleton Flying Vehicle) strap-on aircraft goes up for auction on eBay tomorrow. Bidding begins at $50,000 but the final sale is expected to exceed $1 million, according to Michael Moshier, chief executive of defense contractor Trek Aerospace. Just ignore that part about how the company is going out of business due to lack of money, a missed milestone and a test-flight accident, and let the bidding begin! There is only one.
The Proof-of-Concept Prototype accomplished its maiden flight in December 2001. The new second generation SoloTrek XFV First-Article aircraft has been built since then, completing its first flight on December 16, 2002. It can hover quietly over 2 hours at speeds up to 69 mph for over 100 miles carrying a person weighing up to 180 lbs. Simply step in, strap on and take off. The compact aircraft operates with readily available fuel, launches and lands vertically, and can land literally anywhere on a site the size of a dining room table. Never mind the promising applications in the military, paramilitary and civilian markets. Imagine what YOU could do with such a transportation device.
Leap tall buildings in a single bound. Drop in on your friends when they least expect it. Freak out plane passengers during airplane takeoff. Shorten your commute by hours. Hover around your boss's office window. Swoop down and steal peoples' hats. Become a high-rise Peeping Tom. Hmmmm, I wonder if you can have sex on it?
T O P S T O R I E S
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America's National Recording Registry Inducts Culturally Significant Artist - Weezer!
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The Crossroads are real and The Blues is a place; The enduring myth of Robert Johnson (More...)
California Glory Hole attracts huge crowds
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Republican State Senator busted after soliciting a teenage girl
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Parents claim measles is not that bad after having only one child die
The parents of a Texas girl who died from the measles are defending their decision not to vaccinate their daughter. "She says they would still say 'Don't do the shots,'" an unidentified translator for the parents said. "They think it’s not as bad as the media is making it out to be." (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
It’s election night. My wife and I are holed-up in this hotel that my political party has rented out for the evening. Outside, people are being violently beaten for whom they voted for. Is this South Africa? Perhaps we’re in Haiti or some Southern state during the 60’s. Of all the places where this sort of thing happens, it’s mind-boggling that we are in Portland, Maine. (More...)
The Ancient and Correct Sake Ceremony
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High Availability Guinness Stress Test
All too often we forget the incredible depth of technology behind the weekly ritual of TNiPN@*. We tend to only become aware of the strategy of High Available Guinness (HAG) when it rises to the forefront during a complete and utter venue failure. Yet we should all be super grateful that this system exists. (More...)
The Deep Dark Underbelly of the Star Wars Myth, or Ramayana Remembered
It's a fact: Star Wars is a blatant plagiarism of an ancient Asian legend, and the long lines of devout Star Wars freaks are really unscrupulous Asian copyright busters. From Indonesia to Thailand to Nepal, videos are available for sale or rent before they're even released in the US and UK due to this nerdy camcorder-clutching bunch. (More...)
Australian Troops Set for Days of Debauchery to the Tunes of Kylie Minogue
This weekend Australian troops in East Timor will be able to put their feet up and push all the images of mass graves and charred remains from their minds as they relax to the giddy melodies of Kylie Minogue - including exclusive unplugged performances in the militia-ravaged and blood-spattered border towns of Balibo and Suai. (More...)
Canadians Not So Different After All
Nobody wants to be prejudiced. But sometimes you can be biased and not even realize it. I think many Americans are biased in this way against Canadians. I never really stopped to think about it, but I myself used to be this way. I guess I thought that Canadians were "stuck-up" — you know, smarter and better cultured than us. But then I got educated about Canadia. (More...)
