patrol

Sid Meier is not a fan of "freemium."

The model of giving a game away only to charge for extras such as new levels, features, or power-ups, has swept up the mobile gaming industry, much to the chagrin of gamers who would prefer to pay once for the complete experience.

Meier, a legend in the gaming business thanks to his beloved "Civilization" franchise, couldn't agree more.

"It's about designing unhappiness," Meier told CNET in an interview on Friday. "You have to design a game so not fun that people will pay … Read more

SAN YSIDRO, Calif.--They were hidden in the gas tank -- 17 tightly-wrapped packages of marijuana weighing in at 38.44 pounds.

The car was nondescript, a green 1999 Mazda 626. The driver was a male 50-year-old Mexican national, a resident of Tijuana who had presumably been hoping to make it into California without being stopped.

Instead, the man got caught with the massive haul of pot, snared by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers here at the world's busiest border crossing using several tools in their arsenal -- some high-tech, some very low-tech -- to find … Read more

TUCSON, Ariz.--It's summer in the Southwest, and there may not be a hotter border anywhere in the United States. For one thing, the mercury is easily over a hundred every day. And then there's the steady flow of organized smugglers trying to sneak themselves and their substantial cargo -- of migrants and/or drugs -- across Mexico's long desert frontier with Arizona.

There are nine U.S. Border Patrol sectors stretching across America's southwestern frontier. And back in 2000, the agency was snagging more than 2,000 people a day for crossing illegally into its … Read more

Skylanders Cloud Patrol (99 cents) is a target-shooting game unlike any other at the App Store, with just the right mix of cute graphics and addictive gameplay to keep you coming back for more.

The concept is simple: tap to fire your weapon or touch-and-slide across evil little trolls to create combos as you complete short quick levels. The game is based around the superpopular Skylanders franchise -- toys and videogames about a group of little monster heroes who defend the skies from darkness.… Read more

Given that the builder of the Titanic is said to have famously bragged that his amazing new ship could never be sunk, it's dangerous to argue that an accident like the one that sent the famous vessel to the bottom of the sea 100 years ago could never happen again.

But with the centennial of the April 15, 1912, disaster quickly approaching, there's every indication that modern science and technology in combination with a much greater awareness of seaborne hazards, make such a tragedy -- at least on the scale of Titanic--extremely unlikely today.

It's not, of … Read more

Queue the music: the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is about to get its own reality show.

On Thursday, ABC announced a mid-season replacement show called "Homeland Security USA." From Arnold Shapiro, the Emmy-winning producer of such documentaries as Scared Straight," the network said the series will give viewers an unprecedented look at the work of the men and women at the DHS "while they use the newest technology to safeguard our country and enforce our law."

The 13 hour-long episodes were shot entirely on location throughout the United States.

ABC says the producers … Read more

There's been a lot of speculation lately about whether iTunes is a boon or burden to album sales.

Kid Rock has sold more than 1.7 million copies of his latest album, Rock and Roll Jesus, with no iTunes presence at all. And last week, Warner Bros. pulled Estelle's new album from iTunes in the U.S. in hopes of spurring physical sales. (The plan appears to have failed miserably.)

Apple is striking back before this scattered practice turns into a trend. According to Music Week, the company is working with alternative rock band Snow Patrol on an … Read more

My final ski glove review is also of my favorite. The North Face calls its Patrol Glove "an instant favorite of ski patrollers, because it's the warmest and driest glove around." I can't speak for whether it's ski patrollers' favorite glove, though I've seen plenty wearing it. But I can say that this was the warmest glove that I've ever worn.

Ironically, the North Face Patrol Glove is also the least outwardly "technology-driven" glove we reviewed. The other gloves we reviewed were excellent and made good use of technology. This glove? The technology is all in its materials.

Leather on the outside with padded knuckles (which came in handy when skiing the trees). The shell is made from Gore-Tex XCR. This means it's windproof and waterproof, yet is breathable so your hands stay dry. The insulation is PrimaLoft. It's very soft, lightweight, and water repellent. PrimaLoft synthetic insulation absorbs three times less water, is 15% warmer when dry, and is 24% warmer when wet than other insulation. At least, that's the claim.… Read more

Check out the schnoz on this one. D?sseldorf based Rheinmetall advertises its Gefas (Gesch?tztes Fahrzeugsystem) as the "safest, most future-proof system of its kind anywhere."

The conceptual model shown here was configured for convoy protection. Some options include a high-powered, electromagnetic, counter-IED system, an automated weapons station controlled from safely inside the vehicle, electro-optical sensor systems with downstream image processing for detecting and tracking moving targets, a 12-meter tactical radar, laser-optical sensors for detecting enemy optics, and an "instantaneously activated" smokescreen.

Gefas replaces standard steering and braking with a hybrid-electric Renk "drive … Read more