Toy trains 'Star Wars' fans to use The Force
By Mike
Snider, USA TODAY
Could The Force be with you? A toy due in stores this fall will let you
test and hone your Jedi-like abilities.
The Force Trainer (expected to be
priced at $90 to $100) comes with a headset that uses brain waves to allow
players to manipulate a sphere within a clear 10-inch-tall training tower,
analogous to Yoda and Luke Skywalker's abilities in the Star Wars films.
No,
you're not tapping into some "all-powerful force controlling everything," as Han
Solo said in the movies. But you are reaching out with mind power via one of the
first mass-market brain-to-computer products. "It's been a fantasy everyone has
had, using The Force," says Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing.
Mind-control games may be the coming thing: Mattel plans to demonstrate a
Mind Flex game (also due this fall), which uses brain-wave activity to move a
ball through a tabletop obstacle course, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas on Thursday.
In the Force Trainer, a wireless headset reads your brain
activity, in a simplified version of EEG medical tests, and the circuitry
translates it to physical action. If you focus well enough, the training sphere,
which looks like a ping-pong ball, will rise in the tower.
A state of deep
concentration is needed to achieve a Force-full effect. "When you concentrate,
it activates the training remote," says Frank Adler of toymaker Uncle Milton
Industries, which is creating the Trainer. "There is a flow of air that will
move the (ball). You can actually feel like you are in a zone."
Star Wars
sound effects and audio clips emitted from the base unit "cue you in to progress
to the next level (from Padawan to Jedi) or when to move the sphere up or down
to keep challenging yourself," Adler says.
"Until today, EEG technology has
been designed for rigorous medical and clinical applications with little regard
to price (and) ease of use," says Greg Hyver of NeuroSky, which developed the
brain-wave technology for both games. "We are putting this exciting technology
into everyone's living room."
By Frances Fragos Townsend
CNN Contributor
Editor's note: Frances Fragos Townsend, a
CNN contributor on national security issues, formerly served as President George
W. Bush's chief anti-terrorism and homeland security adviser. Townsend has spent
more than two decades in the fields of intelligence and criminal justice and has
served during the past three administrations. Townsend is currently a consultant
to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a member of President Bush's Intelligence
Advisory Board, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Institute
Homeland Security Program.
Frances Townsend says the director of the CIA
is not a post for on-the-job training.
(CNN) -- Leon Panetta is an
impressive man with many laudable achievements to his credit.
Mr. Panetta
served eight terms in Congress and worked in the Clinton White House as chief of
staff to the president and director of the Office of Management and
Budget.
But his impressive credentials are insufficient to allay the
well-founded concerns of senior Democrats and Republicans that he is the wrong
man to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mr. Panetta is a seasoned political operative and a proven
manager -- both of which would be useful to him as CIA director -- but more is
required.
Accurate and actionable intelligence is among our most effective
tools in fighting against terror threats. The nation has gone more than seven
years without a terrorist attack and much of the credit for that lies with the
men and women of the intelligence community: in the CIA, FBI, and Defense and
Homeland Security departments, among others.
Career intelligence officials
need a leader they can count on to protect their mission from inappropriate
political interference and who would be willing to defend their efforts when, as
is often the case, they are attacked based on less than accurate or complete
facts.
Because of the critical role the intelligence community plays in
protecting our nation, the director of the CIA is not a position for on-the-job
training. President-elect Barack Obama had a competent, qualified career
intelligence official to nominate.
John Brennan served for decades at the
CIA under numerous directors and in both Democratic and Republican
administrations.
Just prior to his retirement, Mr. Brennan served as the
director of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, the predecessor to the
current National Counterterrorism Center. John Brennan had no loyalty to the
policies of the Bush administration and in fact at times voiced his
disagreement.
Mr. Brennan's loyalty was to the mission and role of the
intelligence community in protecting our nation. Unfortunately, the incoming
administration permitted the vicissitudes of party politics and special
interests to derail this nomination.
[In a letter to Obama obtained by CNN
in early December, Brennan said he was dropping out of consideration for the job
because of strong criticism by people who associated his work at the CIA with
controversial Bush administration policies on interrogation techniques and the
pre-emptive war in Iraq.]
The next CIA director has many important issues to
confront. He or she must continue to ensure adequate resources for the
intelligence community and continue to build our human and technical
intelligence capabilities.
The new director will necessarily review
detention, interrogation and rendition policies. And at the same time, the CIA
director must seek new ways to gain the intelligence advantage on crucial
priorities such as terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and a
host of regional issues in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Regardless of
who becomes the next CIA director, the nation is fortunate that from the deputy
director on down, the CIA is run by career officials who will continue to do the
nation's business. But they will continue to require the tools necessary to do
the job.
Before abrogating Bush Administration policies on interrogation and
detention, the new CIA director must learn: what is legal; what is effective;
and how have these policies been implemented.
A new administration may choose
to make more limited use of these tools or add additional procedural safeguards.
But any decision must be made with caution.
Tools that the Justice
Department deem legal and the intelligence community determines are effective
must not be taken away because they are politically unpopular. The nation and
the intelligence community deserve better and must be led with the same courage
that they have displayed.
President-elect Obama is
off to a strong start, taking daily intelligence briefings and asking probing
questions. If Mr. Panetta is to be the next CIA director, he will need to earn
the trust, confidence and respect of career intelligence officials.
Mr.
Panetta will need these career intelligence officers to best advise the new
president on the CIA capabilities at his disposal to support critical foreign
policy and national security objectives.
The most important objective will
remain protecting American lives. Mr. Panetta is smart and no doubt a quick
study. Let's pray if he is confirmed that he is up to the difficult job ahead of
him.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frances
Townsend.
At this point I'm convinced Gumby could run the damn CIA and it wouldn't matter too much.
Dear Jeremy,
There are no plans on producing this caliber in the foreseeable future.
Sincerely,
WOLF Ammunition
Small Amounts Of Pot No Longer Criminal
New Law Takes Effect
Friday
POSTED: 10:13 am EST January 2, 2009
UPDATED: 6:19 pm EST January
2, 2009
BOSTON -- A new state law that says it is no longer a
criminal offense in Massachusetts to possess a small amount of marijuana went
into effect on Friday.
Survey: Agree With
Pot Decriminalization Law? Discuss: New Pot Law
A referendum, approved by voters in November,
makes possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a civil offense with a $100
fine.
Existing laws that prohibit distributing marijuana or operating a
motor vehicle under its influence remain unchanged.
Supporters of the law
say it will spare thousands from having a criminal record, which can make it
harder to get a job, student loan or gain access to public housing. They also
said it will save taxpayers $30 million in costs associated with marijuana
arrests.
But critics said marijuana is a gateway drug and the law could lead
to more drug use among young people.
Under the new law, anyone under 18
caught with an ounce or less of marijuana must complete a drug awareness course
or face a $1,000 fine. Parents or legal guardians will also be notified.
As
the law takes effect, state officials are urging cities and towns to ban public
pot smoking, similar to public drinking ordinances.
Massachusetts is the
12th state in the country to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of
marijuana.
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