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Angry Birds fans anxiously awaiting the new Star Wars version can grab a quick look at the action in a new 57-second trailer.

The first half of the trailer teases you with scenes of Angry Bird Luke trying to impress Angry Bird Leia with his light saber skills. But after Leia yawns in boredom, the galactic action finally revs up.

We're first taken to Luke's home world of Tatooine where he attacks the Empire's evil pigges with his light sabre. Next we travel to the ice world of Hoth where Leia takes down one of the giant … Read more

Some people watch the Wampa cave scene from "Star Wars" and think, "Look out! Wampa attack!" Others watch it and think, "I could make a dress out of that!"

Nerd Alert Designs falls into the latter camp. The geeky Etsy store is full of custom dresses with "Star Wars" themes.

One of the most impressive of the lot is the $130 Wampa dress crafted of fake white fur with a bomber-style horned hat and clawed boot covers. A little touch of blood on the chest really makes it pop.… Read more

Hans Reiser, a noted Linux programmer convicted in 2008 of murdering his estranged wife, was ordered in a civil lawsuit today to pay his two children a total of $60 million for killing their mother.

Attorneys for Rory and Niorline Reiser, now 12 and 11, respectively, had asked jurors in the wrongful death case to order Hans Reiser to pay $10 million in compensatory damages to each child and an additional $5 million in punitive damages.

However, following the week-long trial, in which Reiser reportedly represented himself in the same rambling and oddball fashion he defended himself in his murder trial, … Read more

Thank you, Etsy, for bringing us such gems as a Zelda fireplace insert, Wonder Woman running gear, and, now, Han Solo and Princess Leia matching rings.

When I first heard about these rings, my imagination thought they might have images of the two "Star Wars" lovebirds emblazoned on them somehow. When I actually saw the design, I smacked my forehead and exclaimed, "Of course!"

The adjustable aluminum his-and-hers rings each sport an inscription. One says, "I love you." The other says, "I know." … Read more

We're believers: WINTER IS COMING. Technically I guess it arrived a year ago, but Jeff and I are finally catching up to the "Game of Thrones" hype and spend the first few minutes of today's episode discussing the George R. R. Martin books and the anachronisms of the show.

The reviews are in for Microsoft Kinect Star Wars and nobody is impressed with the glitchy gameplay and a story that seems to appeal more to kids than fans of the original movies. With years of anticipation in the making, Jeff echoes the fans in the galaxy … Read more

Released over the last decade, the Lego Star Wars ultimate collector series contains many elaborate sets, including "the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs." This "hunk of junk," officially known as set #10179, sold for $500 when it launched in 2007.

Over the course of three years, Francisco Prieto created a 3D stop-motion video of the Lego-ized Falcon being born. … Read more

Hans Reiser, the jailed Linux programmer convicted in 2008 of killing his estranged wife, is going to federal court to demand a new trial, according to a 117-page handwritten filing posted by Wired reporter David Kravets, who covered the bizarre courtroom drama gavel to gavel in Oakland, Calif.

Reiser--known to the technology world as the founder of the ReiserFS file system software, claims, among other things, that his attorney forced him to take the stand against his will.

"My court appointed lawyers, the judges, the DDA, the police, C.P.S., County Counsel, the Public Defender, in short the … Read more

Global Gaming Factory X, a Swedish company that operates Internet cafes but became far more noteworthy for attempting to acquire The Pirate Bay last year, is facing possible bankruptcy. In addition, the company is the subject of a police investigation in Sweden.

Two of GGF's creditors claim the company owes them the combined equivalent of $220,000 and want authorities to put the company into bankruptcy, according to reports in numerous Swedish newspapers. A bankruptcy isn't very exciting, but GGF's owner-operator, the mercurial Hans Pandeya, has a long track record of generating controversy--so things may perk up. … Read more

When it comes to the future of technology, Jeff Han literally has his finger on the pulse.

Han, best known for creating the giant touch-screen "Magic Wall" used by CNN, has been a pioneer in touch technology since his days at NYU. His 40-person company, Perceptive Pixel, is hardly a household name, but the company has carved out a niche for itself selling the kinds of touch wall systems used in defense, government, and medical-research markets.

"We're trying to understand how multitouch is useful to the knowledge worker (to) get real work done," Han told CNET. His comments come just as Perceptive Pixel has landed a new wave of funding, including an investment from products giant 3M. It's the second round of funding for the start-up, which now has offices in New York, Palo Alto, Portland, and Washington, D.C.

While Apple and Microsoft focus on the consumer and retail end, Han has zeroed in on the upper echelon of the business. His only real consumer play was a brief appearance in the Neiman Marcus holiday catalog back in 2007.

Although Han is focused largely on large-screen touch interfaces, one area he is also eyeing is the intersection between touch screens and "Minority Report"-style in-air gestures. On their own, he said, the in-air stuff is fairly imprecise, largely useful for games and entertainment--much the way Microsoft is using it for Kinect. Combine those gestures with a touch screen, though, and things get a bit more interesting, he said.… Read more