Residents in Sderot have had enough of rocket attacks and want the laser-based Nautilus system in place

DailyTech recently discussed the use of military-grade laser used as weapons in a number of articles. Boeing installed a 12,000-pound, high-energy laser into its C-130H Gunship and Northrop Grumman has similar “laser ambitions” with the Guardian anti-missile system installed in an MD-10 cargo jet.

While Americans are typically apathetic to the use of such technology for military duties, some residents in Israel are clamoring to have laser-based weapons as a safety net for their towns. Sderot residents have gone so far as to sue the Israeli government — more specifically, they named Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as defendants in the civil suit.

The Sderot residents want the Israeli government to install the Nautilus Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) system to protect the region from Kassam and Katyusha rockets. Sderot has been heavily bombarded with such rockets over the years which have resulted in numerous deaths. The residents feel that suing the government may be its only chance for protection against further attacks.

“Israel could bring the system to Sderot and use it to protect the people there from Kassam rockets,” said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner who heads the Israel Law Center which represents the Sderot residents. “In 1996, when Israel was under threat from Lebanon, Israel asked the United States to help them establish a system to protect northern settlements from Katyusha rockets. This system, called Nautilus, shot down Katyushas, Kassams and bombs with 100 percent success.”

Unfortunately for the Sderot residents, the Nautilus program stalled in 2005 after ten years of development and $400 million USD spent between Israel and the United States. Since that time, rocket fire has increased which has led the Israeli government to develop yet another system dubbed “Iron Dome.” The Iron Dome system will cost the government $100,000 for each incoming rocket it destroys – if it destroys them at all. Recent tests show that Iron Dome is incapable of protecting Sderot from incoming Kassam rockets.

“[Nautilus is] just sitting there in New Mexico. There is a way to take it apart, bring it to Israel and rebuild it,” Darshan-Leitner continued. “A company told me that it would take no longer than five or six months. It would cost around 50 million dollars to rebuild it, but there would be unlimited protection against Katyushas, Kassams, and bombs.”

Despite Darshan-Leitner’s optimism of the performance of the Nautilus system — she quotes an extremely optimistic 100 perfect effective rate — a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Ministry says that such claims are preposterous. “As long as there was a chance that the results would lead to a functional, effective missile defense system we stuck with the program. But in 2005 the US military backed out of the program because it wasn’t working, and we decided to end our involvement as well,” said spokesman Shlomo Dror.

Despite the concerns from Sderot residents, Dror tried to express that the government is working hard to provide protection for its citizens.

“There is no way to put a price tag on the trauma caused by living with the ongoing threat from, and even more for people injured or even killed by Kassam attacks, God forbid,” said Dror. “We are spending as much as we need to in order to develop the most effective system we can to protect residents of Sderot and the entire western Negev region.”

It hasn’t even been a year since Gateway dropped the M-series laptop on us, but with all the other kids getting fancy new Penryn shoes, it’s time for an upgrade — say ‘allo to the M-151X and M-151XL. Only the XL gets the fancy new 2.4GHz T8300 Core 2 Duo, actually — poor X here is still wearing last year’s 65nm 1.66GHz T5450 fashions. Both feature a 15-inch glossy screen, though, as well as 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics with HDMI out, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, fingerprint reader, 5-in-1 memory card reader, slot-loading dual-layer burner, 250GB drive, and Vista Home Premium. Not a bad little package, especially for the price: the X will set you back a cool grand, while the XL runs $1,299.

[Via Laptoping]

Apparently catering to the few folks out there that feel they have too few USB flash drives, Ultra Products recently let loose this so-called SpaceStation 6, which comes with no less than six tiny thumb drives that can be neatly concealed and used as the mood strikes. Of course, there’s no hub action going on here — which would be convenient — and the slots likely won’t play nice with your current stash of flash drives. If you’re still interested, however, you can grab either a 12GB version (consisting of six 2GB drives) or a 6GB version (with six 1GB drives) right now for $90 or $60, respectively.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

It’s just what you’ve been waiting for — a Nokia N95 running Windows Mobile. It looks like the rumors were true after all! What’s that? This is not a real phone? It’s just an FM radio with a sticker on the screen? Oh bother. Yes folks, thanks to eagle-eyed tipster Eric, you’re looking at the next evolution in gadgetry — the Asaki N95 FM radio. We’re not sure what the going price for this is, but we’d imagine slightly less than $779, though the real N95 doesn’t come with those totally pimped-out headphones, does it?

It’s just what you’ve been waiting for — a Nokia N95 running Windows Mobile. It looks like the rumors were true after all! What’s that? This is not a real phone? It’s just an FM radio with a sticker on the screen? Oh bother. Yes folks, thanks to eagle-eyed tipster Eric, you’re looking at the next evolution in gadgetry — the Asaki N95 FM radio. We’re not sure what the going price for this is, but we’d imagine slightly less than $779, though the real N95 doesn’t come with those totally pimped-out headphones, does it?

We can’t say we’ve really spent any huge amount of time wondering just how converged kitchen devices can become, but apparently, the designers at Pandigital have. Announced today, the Kitchen HDTV / Digital Cookbook / Digital Photo Frame (really, that’s the name) stays true to itself in three big ways: acting as a 15-inch 720p HDTV (ATSC / NTSC tuner included), a digital cookbook (with pre-loaded recipes and space for more) and a digital photo frame. Packed within, you’ll find half a gigabyte of memory, a built-in alarm clock and an integrated 6-in-1 media card reader. And considering all that sauce you’ll be slinging, you’ll be thrilled to know that it’s sealed with glass and boasts interchangeable faceplates to fit varying moods. Heck, this thing even handles Motion JPEG, MPEG4 and AVI files — not a bad way to spice up your kitchen (and spend $399.99), eh?