First Supersonic Flight with Synthetic Fuel Shows Air Force's True Treehugging Hippy Nature [Synthetic Fuel]

This week the US Air Force achieved the first supersonic flight using alternative synthetic fuel, booming a B-1B Lancer over the White Sands Missile Range airspace in New Mexico without any problems. The supersonic strategic bomber, designed to deliver atomic weapons, will be able to start Armageddon at $30 to $50 less per barrel while helping the environment and without depending on foreign oil. You read that well, you commie hippie treehuggers: war is getting cheaper, and it will help climate change, nuclear winter excluded. Looking at its composition, however, the synthetic fuel is certainly not as harmless as other alternatives.

Unlike other aircraft fuel efforts, like hydrogen-fueled planes or vodka with Red Bull, the synthetic fuel used in the B-1B is actually derived from natural gas using the Fischer-Tropsch process. The 50% synthetic fuel and 50% petroleum gases mixture, however, is as capable as regular fuel, feeding with ease the B-1B's four General Electric F101-GE-102 augmented turbofans and pushing the variable sweep-winged bomber at Mach 1.25 to its objective, where it can launch AGM-69A short-range nuclear missiles, drop 24 Mk84 bombs or spread a lot of good will and clean air.

According to the USAF, the fuel is still under test after testing it successfully in this B-1B and the subsonic B-52 Stratofortress. They are aiming "to have every aircraft using synthetic fuel blends by 2011," according to Maj. Don Rhymer from the Air Force Alternative Fuels Certification Office. My favorite quote, however, comes from Captain Rick Fournier, the B-1B commander:

It's great to be part of an Air Force initiative that is also helping the environment, Captain Fournier said. "Using a fuel that is cheaper and cleaner ... what could be better?"

Rick, if Senator McCarthy was still around, you would be in jail by now. Damn you hippies in the military! Damn you! [Military.com, Boeing and Wikipedia]

Tear a Page One Day At a Time [Time]

Here's a nifty idea. Take a Page-A-Day Calendar, bore a hole in the middle and place a clock in it. That's basically what designer Henk Stallinga did when constructing this Clock Calendar. With 365 pages we would suggest that if anyone were to start using this thing, start sometime around January to avoid a massive page rip off. [apartment therapy]

How To Shoot Fireballs [DIY]

It's the weekend. You should either be consuming alcohol or playing with fire. Or better yet, both! (That was not an official endorsement by Gawker Media—so if you do this project trashed and rocket a ball of fire up your nose, don't sue us.) Anyways, making a fireball shooter is a wee bit complicated and requires quite a few parts you won't find at Wal-Mart, so you're going to want get started Saturday morning if you wanna impress your buddies and burn your eyebrows off Saturday night. Not convinced? I'll repeat: Fireball. Shooter. [MAKE]

BusinessWeek: Apple Doesn't Give a Flying F$#! About All-You-Can-Eat iTunes [Rumor Revenge]

BusinessWeek can't leave a juicy rumor—that Apple's finally considering going down the iTunes subscription path—untouched. Whereas the NYT and FT seem to be getting their info from label execs, BW claims their sources on the Apple side of the things say "no such talks are under way." So, what's really going on? Here's how we're digesting this specu-flustercuck.

The labels, particularly Universal, are known to be hot on a subscription deal, since it'd provide more reliable revenue from iPods—BW notes the average iPod owner buyers "fewer than 30 than songs" and rips or steals the rest. Apple, on the other hand, is already balling with iTunes just the way it is—now the no. 2 music retailer in the country—and it's really just money icing on the wildly profitable hardware cake. And if it's not busted, why tinker with it?

Since the labels really want a subscription model, it makes sense that label sources would play it up to the press, giving them more leverage at the negotiating table by showing the heavy buzz/demand the rumor is generating. Apple-side sources would spin the opposite way, since—if they really were considering a subscription model—it would give them weight to push down the price, both what they'd give labels and what they'd charge us. And as both the FT and NYT have noted, price is likely to be the major sticking point.

Conclusion? Be hopeful, not wistful. [Businewss]

Desktop Bat-Signal For Cubicle Crime Fighters [Holy Ripoff]

With this limited edition Justice League of America bat-signal prop replica you can summon the caped crusader from the comfort of your desk. According to the product page, this 12-inch tall "metal-encased device projects a light-up Bat-Signal an impressive 16 feet." Whoa—16 feet you say? For $309.99 this dammed thing should project into space. Plus, it should have interchangeable filters with signals to summon secretaries and interns. With its limited functionality, I don't know if these things will be flying off the shelves—but you can pre-order one now for a November release. [BigBadToyStore]

Reports of Mac mini Demise Greatly Exaggerated [Apple]

Contrary to earlier reports, Kasper at AppleInsider is now saying that the Mac mini has a long life ahead of it. Well, at least 12 months worth. According to his sources, "A small team of engineers have recently been tasked with gutting the diminutive desktop and applying fresh internals." Such as...?

The current 65nm chips will be tossed in favor of 45nm Core 2 Duos, starting with 2.1GHz, 3MB of shared L2 cache, 800MHz front-side bus and a better integrated graphics processor, namely the same Intel GMA X3100 found in today's 13" MacBooks. (Kasper is also reporting rumors of a similar bump up for iMacs, which would get pimp Penryns as nice as the 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme.)

We have to ask, though, who still wants a mini? And more importantly, will the price ever drop below $500? I'd probably rather take an older $400 mini than a brand new Intel-awesome-o-fied $700 one. [AppleInsider]

Broken ATM Doubles Withdrawals (While Supplies Last) [Atm]

It didn't last long, but we're surprised it happened at all: An ATM located in northern England was paying out double when users went for the maximum £300 withdrawal, netting £600 in spending cash. Needless to say, everyone who benefitted called their mothers, fathers, cousins and dog sitters, so that the overly generous cash machine was plumb out of bills within hours.

Ever wonder what the legal repercussions would be if this actually happened to you? Says the article:

Police said those who had benefited could face charges but only if the operator complained.

The question is, what exactly would be the nature of the operator's complaint? Of course, they do have a record of everyone who might have benefitted, so it's not exactly the perfect crime.

Regardless, you know there are probably dudes in northern England going around taking the max amount out of every other ATM they can find, hoping that the magical malfunction will return. By the way, doesn't this makes you wonder why governments look to ATM makers to build electronic voting machines? [Reuters]