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Zombie Survival Kit features real tactical ax and a spork

You have options when it comes to zombie-slaying weapons. Loud guns may attract unwanted zombie attention. Baseballs bats can require several swats to work. Chainsaws need gas. A tactical ax, however, is portable and effective.

ThinkGeek's Zombie Survival Kit features a stainless-steel SOG Tactical Tomahawk, suitable for close combat or hurling from a distance at the undead. Zombie crime scene tape helps you alert other survivors to danger zones.… Read more

Futuristic X-51A fails in hypersonic bid

No one ever said it would be easy going Mach 6.

The U.S. Air Force's experimental X-51A Waverider failed yesterday in its bid to hit that hypersonic speed. Although the aircraft did separate as planned from its B-52 mother ship in midair, things quickly went wrong. Today's official Air Force statement, issued just minutes ago, describes things this way:

The X-51 safely separated from the B-52 and the rocket booster fired as planned. However after 16 seconds, a fault was identified with one of the cruiser control fins. Once the X-51 separated from the rocket booster, approximately … Read more

Security on the road with AxCrypt2Go

Axantum's AxCrypt is a free, open-source file encryption utility that offers strong symmetric encryption combined with compression, Windows shell integration, and other features. AxCrypt2Go is a portable version of AxCrypt. Since it's a portable tool, it doesn't offer all of the full version's integrated features. Axantum recommends using the fully installed version of AxCrypt as your daily driver and running AxCrypt2Go from your USB flash drive when you need to encrypt or decrypt files when you're away from your main system.

Once you've extracted and saved the program, you can drag it anywhere and … Read more

Right-click to encrypt

Axantum's AxCrypt (64-bit) is a powerful encryption utility for 64-bit editions of Windows. It not only encrypts and decrypts files but also adds file renaming, password protection, key-file generation, and secure delete. AxCrypt integrates with Explorer, so you only need to right-click a file and select AxCrypt from the file's context menu. Better still, it's freeware.

Since AxCrypt runs automatically with Windows and integrates with Explorer, there's no separate program interface, though a Start Menu folder offers links to documentation and registration pages as well as an uninstallation utility. We right-clicked a random folder and selected … Read more

Multiple consoles and gaming headsets: Ask the Editors

Hi Jeff,

I've read almost all your reviews about the gaming headsets that give you wireless surround sound, but there's a problem for us gamers who own more than one console. How do I hook up both my Xbox 360 and PS3 to one wireless gaming headset? Is it even possible?

Thanks, Paul, Chicago

Hi Paul,

Thanks for writing. Accomplishing this isn't impossible, but it's certainly an issue we think gaming headset manufacturers need to become more aware of. We've received dozens of similar questions with gamers anxious about having to finagle a way to get more than one source into a wireless gaming headset transmitter.

We'd love to see a device that allows for more than one digital input, though we are fans of Logitech's F540 system, which accepts up to three analog sources. However, if you're using something like the Turtle Beach X41s, Astro A40s, or Tritton AX 720s, you'll have to manually swap out the digital audio cables each time you want to switch consoles. Not only is this an arduous process, but if you're like me, most of these ports and wires are not conveniently accessible without some serious furniture moving.… Read more

Just the basics: Fujifilm FinePix AV100, AX200

Though it's certainly hard to get excited about entry-level point-and-shoot cameras, the manufacturers generally sell a lot of them simply because they're cheap. The FinePix AV100 and AX200 from Fujifilm are no different, priced at $99.95 and $109.95, respectively, with just a lens differentiating them.

There's almost nothing to get worked up about as far as features go. I say almost nothing because Fujifilm has decided not to use HD video capture as an upsell feature in its compacts, so even these two get 720p movie modes.

FinePix AV100

12 megapixels Fujinon 3x optical zoom … Read more

Alltel launches the LG AX310

The LG AX310 is a new basic phone for Alltel. It has a simple clamshell shape and features voice calls, speakerphone, Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and text and multimedia messaging.

Available in either black or red, the LG AX310 is available for $29.99 after a $30 mail-in rebate with a one-year service agreement. This one-year contract option is only available to customers within the 91 cellular market areas that Verizon Wireless is required to divest.

Microsoft updates Dynamics AX

Microsoft on Monday announced broad availability for Dynamics AX 2009, one of its four products for enterprise resource planning.

The new version adds tools to help businesses manage compliance issues, as well as a "role center," which customizes information views for 30 different job functions so workers can find information based on their particular job. The new version also borrows some of its look and feel from Microsoft's latest Office version.

"Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 signals a new chapter in enterprise resource planning user productivity," Mogens Elsberg, general manager for Microsoft Dynamics ERP, sad in … Read more