You might want to sign up for retina transplant surgey or speed away in your computer-driven car, because Minority Report technology is real. Ok, so not really. But remember the scene with Tom Cruise working a computer with just his hands? That my friend, was based on work being done at MIT. The G-Speak Gestural Technology System is a reality and will change the way you think of “point and click”.

The team developing the G-Speak is currently being financed by military contractor Raytheon. The system works by infared cameras monitoring light bouncing off the gloves reflective beads.

From the site:

Raytheon and g-speak are developing “gesture-technology” systems, which use infrared cameras and reflective gloves rather than a mouse or trackball to manipulate video, text, and other information. Showcased in the 2002 sci-fi film “Minority Report,” gesture technology could be commercially available within five years.

Read more about it.

Microsoft has signed a deal with two movie studios to create a movie based on the popular Xbox series, Halo. Microsoft will received $5 million plus a percentage of the box office.

No word yet on whether we get to see Master Chief’s face.

In other, not completely unrelated news, August 30th 2005 will mark the first time Xbox Live subscribers can download the entire Halo 2 map pack for free. Initially only two of the maps were free, the remainder had to be purchased either on Xbox Live or in stores. At the end of the month everyone will be able to download the maps.

Except you are going to suck at them, since early adopters have been practicing for 3 months.

Numerous news sources are reporting that the Department of Defense has completed testing of a new laser weapon. While conventional laser were very large due to the amount of cooling systems needed, these weapons will be the size of a refrigerator weighing just 1,600 lbs. This would allow the weapons to be mounted on a fighter jet. It is estimated by 2007 a 150kW laser will be in use, which will allow an aircraft to shoot down a missile.

The Google Talk site is now live. It was reported yesterday that Google would unleash it’s IM client some time this week. It turns out that you can download Google Talk beta today. (isn’t every Google service beta?)

Google Talk requires a Gmail account as this is how you authenticate. So if you been holding out and don’t have a Gmail account you are out of luck. If you need an GMail invite post a comment to this thread. Between Derek and I, we have a hundred.

Google also went the extra step of not forcing their proprietery client on you. According to their site you can use any client that supports Jabber/XMPP. They even give a list of alternate IM clients. Since I use Trillian for everything, including Sametime, this is great.

The Google Talk client itself is very clean looking and lightweight. Cheers to Google!

From the site:

They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free. Google Talk enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free–anytime, anywhere in the world. Google Talk offers you:

* Choice: Get in touch how and when you want to–over email, IM or a call

* Quality: Talk through your computer but hear your friends as if they were in the same room

* Convenience: Your Gmail contacts are pre-loaded into Google Talk so inviting or talking to your friends is just a click away

UPDATE:
Google Talk Articles and Hacks:
How to Broadcast MP3’s, Podcasts and other audio over Google Talk
Google Talk and Gizmo Project interoperable
Game in Google Talk
HOW TO use Google Talk (now) with iChat

In making preparations to return to the real world, sorry Canada doesn’t count, Call for Help has a polished new web site.

The show will debut on Monday, August 29th 2005. It airs at 11 AM EST on weekdays, so get your Tivos ready.

My only complaint is this show will be airing on G4. Isn’t this the lame ass channel that brought us Attack of the Show? They don’t deserve CFH. I guess I will have to unblock G4 on my DirecTV again. Oh well, at least now we get to see more of Amber *drool*, and Leo of course.

It seems Stewie’s plan for World domination is working. Family Guy is currently the number 1 recorded show by Tivo. Followed by Medium and House, huh? Hard to believe CSI did not make the list.

I am glad to see that two of my favorite shows help round out the the top 10, Battlestar Galactica, #8, (which is probably the most downloaded show) and Over There, #9.

Again this is only by Tivo users, but it still probably more accurate than Neilsons.*

See the entire list of the top 25 recorded shows. You may find something new to watch.

But how the hell did Big Brother 6 make the list?

*Baseless claim.

Google is having a busy week. First they release Google Desktop 2 which has the same searching power but now indexes your Gmail and Outlook email. The new side bar shows you news, email, weather, stocks, photos, web links, and more at a glance.

• Get all your personalized info in one place with Sidebar
• Launch applications and search instantly with Quick Find
• Find all your email, files, photos, web history, Gmail, and more
• Search conveniently in Outlook with the Outlook Toolbar
• Developers: Write plug-ins for Sidebar

And today we get wind that the rumors of a Google IM client are true. Google plans to unleash a instant-messaging with (a rumored) VoIP service. Google Talk will be the name of this new service. In fact talk.google.com resolves and redirects you to an 404. Google is expected to release Google Talk as soon as Wednesday.

It’s currently unknown whether Google Talk will compete with Skype’s SkyOut and SkypeIn services. But this seems to be a lot of effort to go through to simply release another Yahoo! Instant Messenger clone.

With Firefox threatening the reign of Internet Explorer, one man is not taking it lying down. Spread Internet Explorer is a humorous jab at the browser wars and is a parody of Spread FIrefox.

Caution, this site contains profanity and worse, anti-open source comments. But it’s all in good fun.

What’s next? SpreadHepatitis.com?

The summer may be coming to an end, but HDTV is about to heat up. This fall, the networks and the TV providers will launch several new shows and channels that are guaranteed to excite any high-def owner. For instance:

1. David Letterman Goes High-Def
The CBS late night talk show will broadcast in HDTV starting Monday, August 29, some five years after NBC launched a high-def version of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Is the 58-year-old Letterman ready for high-def? Well, he doesn’t look that good in analog so get ready to hide the kids.

2. DIRECTV to Launch ESPN HD 2
Some nine months after it was first announced, DIRECTV is expected to launch the high-def version of ESPN 2 HD next month. The tentative start date is September 8, but don’t be surprised if that’s pushed back a few days. Still, with the Major League Baseball playoffs coming up in October, DIRECTV HDTV owners will be happy with the addition at any time in September.

3. The NFL Kicks Off In September
CBS, Fox and ESPN will begin airing the NFL 2005 season in high-def on September 4. Only selected games will be broadcast in HDTV in your area. But, if you’re a DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket subscriber — and you’re willing to pay an extra $99 — you can get more than 100 games this season in HDTV.

4. Good Morning America Goes High-Def
The ABC morning show will begin airing in HDTV this fall, probably as early as next month. The launch could encourage other news shows and networks, such as CNN, to accelerate their high-def plans. Which, of course, means more business for the Botox industry.

5. National Hockey League Goes High-Def
Starting in October, The Outdoor Life Network will begin airing high-def broadcasts of the National Hockey League. As a partner in the deal between OLN and the NHL, Comcast is likely to carry the high-def games, but look for coverage from the satcasters and other cable operators as well.

6. Saturday Night Live Goes High-Def
On October 1, the first episode of the 2005-2006 season, the Saturday night comedy show will broadcast in HDTV for the first time. Just think: In HDTV, you will be able to tell that Ashlee Simpson is lip-synching even before she begins her hoe-down.

If you listened to TWIT episode 18 then you know that Roger Chang started two days ago and can’t stop using it. While it sounds like a cry for help, and probably is, he was referring to UCmore. Yeah, I never heard of it either. He was apparently on a episode of Call for Help, hosted by The Locker Gnome, where he uttered the phrase heard round the world.

I started using it two days ago, and can’t stop using it.

Now if he would just give me a good quote about Yelling Lizard that I can use for the next 5 years.