Halo Team Under Fire for Maddie Ad

Angry bloggers accused the US-based gaming goliaths of mocking the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The image flashes up 37 seconds into the trailer for a new episode for megahit Halo 3 and was spotted by eagle-eyed fans pouring over the video for clues about the release.

A blogger at Games Asylum wrote: "As far as anyone is aware, there are no characters in the Halo universe named Maddie, which has lead many to assume that it refers to missing five year-old Madeleine McCann.

"Personally I see it as a joke at the missing child’s expense - as there is no other way to explain it - and thus completely in poor taste."

Developers Bungie were quick to apologise, saying the reference was an unfortunate coincidence.

A spokesman said: "This is an unfortunate coincidence but there is no connection between Bungie's game and the tragic disappearance of that little girl.

"As always, all of the characters in our games are fictional. Any similarities between real life and the characters in our games are purely coincidental. That said, this is both an unfortunate and unintended coincidence."

It was last night unclear whether the game manufacturers were planning to alter the name of the missing character before the launch of the new episode.

Exclusive: Texas Man Rebuilds $1.5 Million Ferrari Enzo Destroyed By Eddie Griffin

As part of the run-up PR-fest for Redline, a schlock-fest of a movie, actor Eddie Griffin "lost control" (can someone say "publicity stunt?") of a $1.5 million Ferrari Enzo and crashed it in spectacularly excruciating fashion.

The car suffered major front end damage and most considered it totaled due to the delicate carbon fiber bodywork. Not Texan luxury car repair and salesman Matt Groner. No, Groner figured if he could get his hands on the Enzo, it had a fighting chance. As you can see from the picture above, he was right. Jeez, who knew the "Save The Enzos" campaign would actually save one?

Welcome to My Party -- Now Pay Up!

Think twice before accepting an invitation to a party. That's the lesson Tonya Bowman, 39, learned recently after a birthday bash for a newfound acquaintance at a pricey sushi restaurant.

While Bowman ordered economically -- rice, miso soup and tea -- everyone else acted as if money were no object.

"When the bill came," Bowman says, the birthday girl "smiled and made a big production by way of a toast, saying, 'Thank you all so much for my lovely birthday dinner. I really do appreciate it. You guys are great. Here's to you!' Then she just sat there, waiting for us to decide how to split the bill."

The bill for the birthday girl and her seven "guests" came to a whopping $3,450, which someone suggested splitting evenly. That worked out to $500 per person, plus tip.

"I almost started crying," says Bowman, a municipal employee in Oakland, California. "My heart was racing; my face felt hot. I was embarrassed, humiliated and angry for having been put in that position in the first place. I wasn't told that I would be helping to pay for her dinner."

When the bill was being passed around, Bowman panicked. "I simply put down $50 near my plate and excused myself to go to the restroom," she says. "I walked right by the restroom and out the front door."

The acquaintance sent Bowman an angry e-mail.

"She wanted me to know that I totally ruined her birthday dinner because she ended up having to cover the $450 that I was supposed to pay. She said she had planned to use that money on a spa day for her birthday and now she couldn't because of me. She asked if I could please pay her back, and if I didn't have the money right now, that was OK, because she would be willing to make payment arrangements with me.

"I didn't pay ... and she's no longer my friend or acquaintance."

Linnda Durré, Ph.D., an Orlando psychotherapist, says Bowman's story isn't unique.

"It's appalling what people do and how rude and insensitive they can be," she says. "I've heard stories about adults giving their parents an anniversary party and the parents getting stuck with the bill."

Surprise! Now pay up

Rachel Mays, 31, is still shaking her head about a surprise party she attended for a friend's birthday last year.

"We all got there at the determined 8:30 p.m. start time, and there was a fabulous open bar. Then, we were asked whether we preferred chicken or beef for dinner," says Mays, the owner of Bread and Butter Public Relations in Los Angeles.

Mays and her boyfriend were surprised dinner was being served at such a late party. Not wanting to be the odd couple standing in the back, they ordered anyway.

A few days later, however, the host told Mays she owed $120 for dinner and gave her an address to which she could mail a check.

"I ignored his first e-mail," admits Mays, "but when I received the second, I let him know I wasn't working at the time and frankly, thought it was tacky to not mention these details when he sent out the invitations." Mays didn't pay, but says she now avoids gatherings where she knows that person will be present.

Elayne Savage, Ph.D., a communication and relationship coach in Berkeley, California, says such situations leave people feeling disrespected and manipulated. She says an unpleasant surprise "throws us off our center. We expect our friends to treat us with the same consideration and understanding we would show them. It is very disappointing when this does not happen."

BYOF: Bring your own food

Melinda Williams, 48, owner of a public relations and advertising agency in Chester County, Pennsylvania, was thrilled to be invited to a neighbor's pool party cookout soon after moving to the neighborhood. Then she read the invitation's fine print.

"I remember it saying something to the effect of 'We supply the paper goods and pool, you supply the rest,'" she says. So Williams and her husband came prepared: "We brought a cooler with a full London broil and side dishes -- enough for everyone at the party."

When they arrived and saw a row of coolers by the pool, Williams says she and her husband opened one up and helped themselves to beverages, assuming that they were to be shared. "We were quickly chastised by another family (and told) that that cooler and beverages belonged to them," she says. "We couldn't believe it!

"We waited for about two hours and they never started cooking anyone's meat, and we had a small baby at the time, so we just left our food and cooler there and went home."

How to party without hurt feelings

"Situations like this can cause deep rifts in families and friendships that may be irreparable," says Durré. "I suggest being up front from the start. That way people aren't surprised, hurt, angry or resentful, and relationships can be salvaged."

She offers these tips to avoid sticky situations:

• Talk to your host: If costs concern you, talk with the party planner before you RSVP. Durré suggests saying something like, "How generous of you to host so many people at the restaurant," so that when you accept, you're acknowledging that you are guests -- not paying guests.

• Be direct: If it's a family member or a friend you know well, don't beat around the bush, says Durré. "You may just want to be more direct and say, 'Are you covering the expenses by yourself or would you like us to share the expense with you?' That way, there are no surprises."

• Be honest: If unexpectedly faced with a bill, you're under no obligation to pay it. Durré offers this script for people who want to take a stand: "When I'm invited to a party, I assume that the host is paying for it. To learn that I'm responsible for all or part of this is rather unexpected and rather off-putting. I wish you had told me beforehand. I'm really under no obligation to pay for this and I resent that you didn't tell me in advance."

Giant Freezer Can Hold Fighter Jets, Megatron

At two million square feet, this is one of the biggest freezers in the world, capable of holding entire combat airplanes and putting them under extreme conditions. Zoom inside and you will see the effects of putting an F-4 Phantom fighter jet under the snow and freezing rain test, which simulates this kind of weather at 40,000 feet.

Developed with the help of Boeing and located at the aerospace test center in Seosan, South Korea, the state-of-the-art $52 million dollar secret facility has been designed to put these aircraft to the limit.

Too bad they only have old F-4s and F-15s to test it with.

Google Military-Controlled Satellite Reaches Orbit, We Don't Feel Lucky

According to the company, the GeoEye-1 satellite is the highest resolution commercial satellite orbiting the planet right now. It reached orbit yesterday, but in reality, it's not an ordinary commercial satellite: it's fully controlled by the Department of Defense's U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. And two guys named Larry and Sergei.

Part of the US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency NextView program, the SUV-sized GeoEye-1 launched yesterday in a Delta II 7326 rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California—without exploding. Hours later, GeoEye's ground station in Norway confirmed that the rocket had delivered its payload right on target. The satellite was alive, fully armed and operational on its 423-mile orbit above the Earth.

Built by General Dynamics, the GeoEye-1 is equipped with a next-generation camera made by ITT. This camera can easily distinguish objects 16 inches long, with 11-bits per pixel color. In other words: this thing can see the color of your shorts. It will be up there, looking at your pants every single day, the time it takes for it to complete one orbit. And it will keep doing that for more than ten years, its expected life.

Of course, there's nothing new here until you notice the huge Google logo on the rocket, signaling the fact that Sergei and Larry own the exclusive rights to the GeoEye-1 images. Yes, no other company will be able to access this information, only Google. And they will be there, available for the public in Google Maps and Google Earth.

But don't fret, tin-foil hatters, because Google won't be able to access the highest resolution images because of US government regulations. Sure, the other guys will, but then again, their big bad satellites can see closer than this one. Still, you can rest safe that your underpants will be safe from public scrutiny. For now. Unless you do like me and keep flashing them around.

Larry and Sergey Brought Wives to Watch Google Satellite Launch

Google helped pay for this weekend's launch of a satellite which will take high-resolution imagery for its Google Earth service, and founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were on hand to watch the rocket lift off at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Serious business, right? Not when you see our spy photos of the billionaires.

Brin wore bright orange Crocs and Page wore a red windbreaker. More tellingly, Brin brought Anne Wojcicki, his pregnant wife, and Page brought his wife Lucy Soutworth. Both women also dressed informally. Wojcicki carried a plastic water bottle — funny, I thought Larry and Sergey had gotten rid of those at the Googleplex. It all looked like a lark for the billionaire couples, rather than a visit to a high-security military installation — paid for by Google's shareholders and U.S. taxpayers.

At least Larry and Sergey seem to have flown their on their own dime — the photos show a Gulfstream V, one of the models in the Googlers' fleet of party planes. Admit it, you all wish you were Larry and Sergey, Crocs and all.

Google Cuts Personal Data Retention Time in Half, Still Knows Everything About You

Google has just made a change to its privacy policy, cutting the retention time for your personal data from 18 months to 9 months. This means that now Google will only be able to build a frighteningly accurate portrait of you that advertisers will salivate over based on your searches, keywords found in your Gmail, videos viewed on YouTube, feeds subscribed to in Google Reader and surf history in Chrome based on a mere 9 months of information. All together now: thank you, Google overlords, for your benevolence!

USB Drive Loaded with British Military Troop Movements Found on Floor of a Nightclub

It looks as though the UK's Ministry of Defense is about to come down hard on the person responsible for leaving a USB drive loaded with troop movements on the floor of "The Beach" nightclub in Newquay, Cornwall. The drive was picked up by a random clubgoer who promptly turned it over to the most responsible party he could think of—a national newspaper. The MoD is currently investigating the incident, but the fact is that more than 120 sensitive USB drives have been lost by the MoD since 2004—so it seems to me that the most appropriate course of action here is to stop putting classified data on USB drives and handing it to idiots.

The Shocking Inside Story of the Epic Defects That Killed Millions of Xbox 360s

Dean Takahashi, one of the most respected tech journos around, spent years putting together this mind-blowing expose that reveals the truly epic scale of the problems that lead to millions of dead Xbox 360s. It really is one of the most stunning flustercucks in gaming history. According to his account, Microsoft willfully ignored deep, systemic problems in the console's production that reached from chipmakers—initially, only 16 out of every 100 of its IBM-made processors worked—to production lines, where just before launch, an unbelievable 68 percent of consoles made were clunkers.

Here are a couple of the more jaw-dropping excerpts:

Most of the problems pointed to as the cause of the epidemic of Red Rings of Death showed up way before launch, naturally:

In an Aug. 30, 2005 memo, the team reported overheating graphics chip, cracking heat sinks, cosmetic issues with the hard disk drive and the front of the box, under-performing graphics memory chips from Infineon (now Qimonda), a problem with the DVD drive, and other things.

The test machines were not properly debugged, due to an ill-advised cost-cutting initiative that shaved $2 million from $25 million paid to Cimtek, a test machine maker in Canada. The Microsoft team decided not to pay the consulting fee to Cimtek to build, manage and debug the test machines. Sources familiar with the matter said there were only about 500 test machines at the time of launch, a third of the 1,500 needed.

“There were so many problems, you didn’t know what was wrong,” said one source of the machines. “The [test engineers] didn’t have enough time to get up and running.”

The shortages at launch were in fact largely a product of the Xbox 360's low yields—in Spring 2006, this was the situation:

Microsoft had more than 500,000 defective consoles that sat in warehouses. They were either duds coming out of the factory or they were returned boxes, according to inside sources. The yield was climbing, but far too slowly. The company stood by its statement that returns were within “normal rates for consumer electronics products.”

At that time, the yield rate was still only "an abysmal 50 percent on the first pass. When the bad machines were reworked within the factory, the yield went up to 75 percent –- hardly acceptable." It's gotten better now, but still not amazing. As of the beginning of 2008, it's still only 85 percent—meaning for every 100 Xbox 360s produced, 15 don't work.

The Falcon revision, which used smaller 65nm chips and had a bunch of other tweaks, like more expensive, better quality heatsinks, alleviated some of the problems, as well as made them cheaper to produce—as many had suspected with their introduction. The latest, the Jasper board, takes that a step further, which Takahashi reports is what allowed them to steeply cut console prices last week.

All of this is just a small cut of Takahashi's dense, extremely well-reported feature. If you own an Xbox 360, you owe it to yourself to read.

New Honda Insight Hybrid Revealed, Expected $18,500 Price Tag To Make It World's Cheapest

Honda pulled a fast one on us and gave its new Prius-killer a crazy dusted-off name — the 2010 Honda Insight. While certainly not creative, the intent behind this vehicle is. At an expected price tag of $18,500, the new Honda Insight is expected to compete at a much lower price point than any other hybrid on the market. Although it's only a "concept" version, we're told we should expect the final version to show off more than 90% of the same looks as the one pictured here.

We'll find out for sure when we see it officially unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October, with the production-intent tweaks debuting at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Our first take is the Insight looks surprisingly like our rendered speculation, but actually jazzes things up a bit with big flashy wheels, sharp lower lighting and plenty of chrome, all of which are suspect in production form. It does still have the shape of a robot egg, so we're not totally surprised there. The car is primarily powered by the gasoline engine, with standard hybrid electric startup and acceleration duties. Honda is also touting a "driving support function" which helps drivers achieve higher mileage.

Say Goodbye to Bike Chains; Say Hello to Belt Drives

Bikes with chains may be becoming an endangered species. Belt-driven bikes, which were introduced by boutique bike makers a couple of years ago, are just starting to hit the mainstream. Trek has introduced two new urban bikes for 2009 with belt drives rather than chains, and they look pretty sweet.

The benefit to a belt drive system over a chain and shifters system is that it won't stretch and break over time like a chain, weighs significantly less, stays clean (and keeps your cuffs clean) and is quiet. The downside? It's more expensive. The two bikes Trek has unveiled, the District and the Soho, will run you $930 and $990, respectively. But as with all new tech, the prices are always highest right when it starts hitting the mainstream. Look for bikes with belt drives to start coming from many more big bike companies for much less in the coming years.

Move Over Star Wars, Tomorrow's Tactical Lasers Will Be More Napalm Than Pew Pew

We've been kind of laser crazy here lately, and with good reason: Deployable solid state lasers could be landing in military hands as early as 2009. We simply wish to be at the forefront of the pew pew revolution, with the hope that any burning sensation our writers feel in the near future is the result of an unforgettable night out, not a disgruntled weapons grade laser system operator. But that last little diatribe brings up a good point, specifically in regards to what, exactly, laser warfare is going to look like. Sci-fi tends to glamorize laser weapons (pew pew, you're dead), when in reality the experts say getting "shot" with will probably feel more like napalm (*sizzle sizzle*, protracted death).

Wired's Danger room notes that the U.S. Air Force has effectively shifted away from the instant death scenario as of late, and focuses instead on how long it will take to cook a human with a laser (allegedly, everything is still top secret).

[F]rom what we know, the Air Force considers laser effects on eyes and skin, for the most part. Skin damage is very much easier to achieve than penetration; simply raising skin temperature to (say) 80C/ 180 f to a depth of a couple of millimeters will cause serious blistering (second-third degree burns). If 40% of the body is burned in this way, then the target will be disabled and may die.

[...] So instead of "zap-and-you're-dead" in normal science fiction style, with a hundred kilowatt laser, it's more a matter of spraying the target all over to ensure they're done. The description of the ATL as a "long range blow torch" is probably quite accurate.

I suppose it's fitting that a new slogan for tomorrow's battlefields came from a Colonel: Original recipe, or extra crispy?

Space Invaders Invade New Space: Bendy Keyboard's Keys

This Bendiboard Retroboard Invaders is a flexible roll-up rubber keyboard adorned with those famous pixellated alien Space Invaders. It's bendy, it's got aliens, it's got a space key depicting a laser gun-base. You can spill coffee on it safely if you get a little energetic in your gaming, and it's $40.

Northrop Grumman Death Star Lasers Are Weapons-Grade, Could Be Out in 2008

Wired's Danger Room blog is spot on in comparing Northrop Grumman's upcoming solid state laser system to the Death Star. Promised to arrive before the end of 2008, and far earlier than Boeing's 25kW laser, it's supposed to have 100 kilowatts of power (SERIOUS pew pew action) and make use of multiple, less powerful lasers to form one giant one (see also: Voltron).

Northrop Grumman calls the individual components "laser chains," and say they've managed to successfully link two of them together (out of eight). Moreover, they have them running at peak power (30kW) for 5 minutes continuously and 40 minutes non continuously. Wired writes that a laser of this caliber should be able to knock mortars and rockets out of the sky.

Once thought to be significantly less powerful, electric lasers have progressed to the point that they're close to being a suitable chemical laser alternative. Not only that, they're also much safer in real world scenarios, evil villains notwithstanding. With Northrop Grumman assuring the Pentagon these will be ready by the end of the year.

U.S. Scientists Take Big Step Toward Creating True Invisibility Cloak

University of California scientists today announced that significant progress has been made toward developing "metamaterials" for use in a legitimate invisibility cloak. The researchers, led by mad scientist Xiang Zhang, were able to demonstrate for the first time that they could cloak 3D objects with these materials. In the past, previous attempts at invisibility were successful only with tiny two-dimensional objects. Not anymore, as this heavily military-backed project is well on its way to producing superhero special abilities, today.

In layman's terms, the metamaterials developed by Zhang and his cohorts at UC Berkley scatter the visible light that hits them using a mixture of metal and circuit board materials like ceramic, Teflon and fiber composite. The scientists are using these materials to bend light around 3D objects, kind of like water around your ankles in a shallow river (yes, even cankles!), so they don't create reflections, shadows or Kevin Bacon impersonations.

NASA Drops $19 Million on Toilet, Doesn't Let Russians Use It

Tension is bound to flare over the $19 million toilet NASA purchased from Russian aerospace firm RCS Energia, as only half of the International Space Station will enjoy the upgrade—the American side. The toilet justifies its steep price by being able to recycle urine as drinkable water, Waterworld-style.

The Russian half of the station is stuck with the old latrine. They'll have to continue to load up one of their unmanned cargo vessels with boxes of their leftovers and send it to burn up in the atmosphere, which is pretty much the equivalent of flushing right now in space.

The new toilet should be familiar to the crew as it is similar to the hole 'n hose model the station has employed since 2000, but it is designed to allow for more privacy. As water is notably scarce in orbit, the ability to generate an onboard source of it is very important. The US-made filtration system separates water molecules from waste by not letting anything larger than tiny water molecules through.

The fancy new space toilet comes as part of a $46 million upgrade package purchased by NASA. So far, the single toilet on the Russian half of the station is responsible for the crew of three. As the crew size will double to six in 2009, NASA no doubt saw the need for a additional toilet. Six people, one bathroom? Think the Brady Bunch, but in space. If Marcia takes too long dolling it up for the cosmonauts, Jan doesn't bang on the door and yell. She jettisons her.

Palin Says Daughter, 17, is Pregnant

ST. PAUL, Minn. - John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, said Monday her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, an announcement stealing even more thunder from McCain and a Republican presidential convention already overshadowed by Hurricane Gustav.

Adding to the day's drama, McCain aides said the announcement was aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter's.

The national convention, which a political party counts on to send its candidate surging into the fall campaign, already had been relegated to a distant second to the hurricane on TV, in newspapers and on Internet Web sites.

Monday's statement, attributed to Sarah and Todd Palin and released by the campaign, said that Bristol Palin would keep her baby and marry the child's father, identified only as a young man named Levi. The baby is due in late December.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents," Sarah and Todd Palin said in their brief statement.

The disclosure came on the opening day of the Republican National Convention, which has been scaled back because of Hurricane Gustav, and three days after McCain named Palin as his vice presidential running mate. Coming after the randomness of Gustav, the revelation added to the sense of unscriptedness that is hanging over the convention.

"Life happens," said McCain adviser Steve Schmidt.

"An American family," added colleague Mark Salter.

Palin told McCain's team about the pregnancy during lengthy discussions about her background, and the senator knew about it when he made her his surprise pick Friday, aides said. At several points during the discussions, McCain's team warned Palin that the scrutiny into her private life would be intense and that there was nothing she could do to prepare for it.

Prominent religious conservatives, many of whom have been lukewarm toward McCain's candidacy, predicted that the announcement would not diminish conservative Christian enthusiasm for the vice presidential hopeful, a staunch abortion opponent. In fact, there was talk that it might help.

The convention opened on time, though shortened out of concern that the party did not want to be seen whooping it up in St. Paul while thousands of Americans along the Gulf Coast were being threatened by the hurricane. From the convention podium, GOP officials asked delegates to take out their cell phones and text-message contributions to help in the relief effort.

McCain's wife, Cindy, and first lady Laura Bush were making their own appeals for relief help in the convention hall later in the day.

The delegates took up the party platform and other business, but most of the opening-day speeches — all of which had been expected to acclaim McCain and assail Democratic opponent Barack Obama — were scrapped.

Palin, the first-term Alaska governor, was in Minnesota preparing for her Wednesday night nomination acceptance speech when the campaign issued the statement from her and her husband; her family was home in Alaska.

"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family," the parents said.

The campaign said it was not disclosing the father's full name or age or how he and Bristol knew each other, citing privacy.

Sarah Palin's fifth child, a son named Trig, was born in April with Down syndrome. Internet bloggers have been suggesting that the child was actually born to Bristol Palin but that her mother, the 44-year-old Alaska governor, claimed to be the mother.

Palin spokesman Bill McAllister emphatically denied those rumors, and McCain adviser Mark Salter said the campaign announced the daughter's pregnancy to rebut them.

"Senator McCain's view is this is a private family matter. As parents, (the Palins) love their daughter unconditionally and are going to support their daughter," said McCain spokesman Steve Schmidt.

Reaction from religious conservatives was sympathetic.

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson issued a statement commending the Palins "for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances." He added: "Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord."

Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America called the pregnancy private. "It's a matter that should stay in the family and they have to work through it together. My prayers go out to them."

Added Combs: "We're excited about the governor and think she's going to do well."

Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, said: "We're all sinners."

"We all make mistakes. Certainly, the ideal is not to get pregnant out of wedlock. But she made the right decision after her mistake," he said.

McCain advisers said Palin told them about the pregnancy during lengthy discussions about her background. At several points during the discussions, McCain's team warned Palin that the scrutiny into her private life would be intense.

Advisers said Palin's daughter should be afforded privacy like the other candidates' children. Said Schmidt: "If people try to politicize this, the American people will be appalled."

In Monroe, Mich., Democrat Obama condemned rumors involving the children of candidates and echoed the McCain campaign argument. He said, "I think people's families are off limits, and people's children are especially off limits."

"Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be," he said. "And if I ever thought that there was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they'd be fired."

7 Prisoners Have Surgery To Remove Cellphones Stuck "Up There"

37 prisoners in a Pakistan jail were caught hiding cellphones inside their bodies—presumably their rectums. And for 30 of said prisoners, life continued as normal once the phones were removed. But for an unlucky 7, those stuffing themselves with smartphones, nature couldn't take its course. So they underwent surgery.

Upon discharge (the prisoners from the hospital, not the cellphones from the butts), the prisoners will be moved to special punishment cells for their actions. And it just goes to show, while push email sure is nice and Wi-Fi browsing can come in handy, it's all no replacement for a good sit.

Firefighting Sprinkler Suit From 1931

Back in 1931 Modern Mechanix magazine ran an article about an invention used by German firefighters to protect themselves from being engulfed in flames. The simple device consisted of a helmet with a built-in sprinkler system that connects with a nozzle on the hose. Using a hand lever, the firefighter could control the amount of spray needed for a given situation. Clever—but it seems that fighting a fire in something that looks like an old-timey deep sea diving helmet might prove problematic.