Months after unveiling plans of putting up an internet radio station for Lineage II, NCSoft finally does so with the help of TMSBroadcasting. Yep, they are now live and on-the-air! A player can have access to Lineage-related interviews, news and even join contests via the MMO's radio .

Lineageradio.com, the official site, uses a band of volunteer DJs to man the shows, aside from playing rock and techno music. Access Lineageradio via WinAmp and Windows Media Player.

CuppaJo, coordinator for City of Heroes/Villains is leaving after two years. The following statement was issued:

"To say thank you to everyone who has made my last two years in City of Heroes and Villains so great we are throwing a huge party on the Test Server, September 1st [2006] from 12pm to 12 am Central time!"

W00T Radio will feature a live broadcast during the day, and DJ Jester and CuppaJo will be on air. It is recommended that those planning to participate download and install the Test Server ahead of time, and use the "Copy Character Tool" for each character they want to bring along.

Some of the events planned include a coffee chat in Pocket D, a Java Rumble where you can take on CuppaJo himself, a Victory Dance for Lord Recluse (who is NOT sorry to see CuppaJo's departure), a Coffee-Themed Cloning Contest, a Party of Doom Costume Party and an ongoing CuppaCode deciphering contest.

In case you missed it, here's CuppaJo's farewell address:

"It is my sad duty to inform everyone that August will be my last month with City of Heroes and City of Villains.

"I am taking over community management of Tabula Rasa full-time as of Sept. 1st. Cricket will be your primary community person when Sept. 1 rolls around and I will no longer accept PMs as of that date.

"I just wanted to take a second and thank everyone for all their support and kind words over the last two years. Even in the darkest hours I could always count on there being a few bright posts, emails or PMs in my inbox. These kept me going more than coffee ever could and they always brought a smile to my face.

"I also want to thank everyone who has ever created well thought out, constructive post/PM. I know bugs or other game issues can be frustrating at times, but a community person's best friend is the player who takes that little extra step to research and document their issue while keeping it about the issue, and not about Statesman's momma.

"Special thank you's to all the staff both here at NCsoft and at Cryptic for all your hard work, for answering questions and for listening to community concerns. Staff may not always agree - but they always listen.

"Finally, thanks to you - the community. This has been a great community to work for and be a part of for the last two years and it's very hard leaving such a wonderful group of people. You are so intelligent, passionate, creative, funny and charming that it amazes me every day. And despite how it may appear on the surface sometimes - you all care for each other deeply and are always ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate. You are true heroes and there is no Paragon City without you. It has been my honor to serve you."

As we have reported in the past, the ability for rescue personnel to maintain open lines of communication throughout a disaster  relief effort is key to the success of the rescue effort. IP networks are uniquely suited for maintaining high traffic, multiple media format communications during a disaster.

Because they can be made to be scalable, modular, standardized, easily deployed and maintained in the field and are efficient at delivering high volume multi-channel traffic, IP networks are more suitable and provide the best results in chaotic disaster situations. While IP networks are a great solution, they are vulnerable to damage from multiple sources found in and around typical disaster relief areas and must be beefed up or "ruggedized" in order to meet the demands of the job.

Entree Wireless (the company that created the Mobile Communications System) is now offering the Rugged Warrior battery pack as a solo unit through the website EV-DO Info. The entire rescue communications kit contains video equipment, WiFi radio and battery, built in camera with a light, an external search camera, a video terminal and is aimed at established rescue units instead of volunteer rescue units or home users.

The rugged powerpack, now being offered alone, is less expensive and functions as battery power for the Kyocera KR1 router in the field. As a person who travels quite a bit and depends on the Kyocera KR1 EV-DO router to keep me connected to the Internet for completing posts and turning in homework, this product would help me tremendously.

However, with most laptop batteries putting out only a mere few hours of juice (my Dell E1705 puts out 1.5 hours, 2 at best), the remaining problem is finding power in the field for the laptop that will last as long as the Rugged Powerpack!

The Xbox 360 can be compared to the Da Vinci Code Movie before it came out. It had a LOT of rumors and hype surrounding it. Most people in the gaming industry kept on giving us teasers and "possibilities" regarding the green and mean machine. Most of these rumors are still, well nothing more than rumors (yet), but let's try and see if we can crack the code of their 'legit'-ness.

Microsoft unveiled the HD-DVD drive for their console last E3 as an answer to Sony's Bluray-equipped PS3. Initial speculations say that the drive would probably jack up the Xbox 360 price to around a gigantic $600 (right around PS3's launching price--yikes!). However, words are now circulating that the price would be $200 (but then gain, that's only for the drive). Digitimes supported our old post by telling everyone that "...HD-DVD drives for its Xbox 360 at a retail price of US$200..." Let's hope it stays that way. Mystery #1: Solid but not concrete.

There's also talk going around regarding the 1080p cable support for 360 producing digital picture-like graphics and scenes; again as a counter to the hardware power of PS3. Hopefully, Microsoft changed their views regarding this "impossibility" of 1080p working with any game. Mystery #2: Very Unlikely.

There's also some mentions about a second controller "aimed" for the First Person Shooters out there. Right analog sticks for a better headshot, we say. Unfortunately there was no mention of any kind of new FPS-related controller in the making during the Microsoft Gamefest developers' conference. Let's see if this one pushes through. Mystery #4: Highly unlikely.

When the Da Vinci Code went to theatre release it was received warmly. However, it all died down as the film didn't measure up to people's (high) expectations. Let's pray that the Xbox 360 does better when its reinforcements gets released. We'll give you more information as we get them.

...and the rumor wheel rolls on.

Godot Aria introduces its latest product, the Godot Aria M9500 4GB MP3 player. Tagged at $151, it can store nearly a thousand songs in MP3, OGG, or WMA format. It also has an FM radio, a line-in recording feature that allows for encoding analog sources into MP3, as well as audio bookmarking.

One will almost forego the fact that this Godot Aria baby's 4GB storage is in hard disk form, with it looking smart and polished with its brushed steel exterior.

The hand-cranked radio is actually an old idea. With today's world of convenience, it's also almost laughable. Yet consider a list of events in recent memory where one would be pretty handy: widespread blackouts, severely damaging hurricanes, massive flashfloods, earthquakes, the sudden outbreak of war - any reason for the electrical power to suddenly be cut. And when you cut the power from modern man, you cut a lot from him...especially modern long-distance communications, receiving and transmitting. Suddenly people aren't laughing. They're protesting. Which is why the idea remains good even until now.

The Hammacher Schlemmer Hand-Cranked Radio is capable of tuning in to AM, FM, NOAA weather alert bands, and even TV frequencies (audio only, though). Powered by one human handpower, this radio can let refugees of calamities - natural and man-made - catch important news updates even if that light bulb on the ceiling refuses to glow (or have access to a portable power generator). You'll never be cut off from loved ones and emergency services again (unless the calamity also took down the cell sites, which is really bad luck). Even greater utility is found with the unit's ability to charge cell phones, through one of five available adapters. In addition, the radio also sports a two-LED flashlight and a single-LED red blinking alert light. And as a backup, the radio will also run off three AA batteries.

If you think you need this gadget at home, Hammacher Schlemmer's Hand-Cranked Radio sells for $50. For more hand-cranked radio (or cellular-charging hand-cranked radio, for that matter) featured in QJ, click here for the Sony ICF-B01.

A system that can detect liquid explosives inside luggage is currently being developed by Rapiscan Systems. Many believe that this is a very good move to curb the threat of terrorism, especially in high-density places such as airports. Bus terminals and sea ports are also believed to be optimal places for putting such technology to use.

The basis of this new system of detection is the fact that different materials give different reactions when bombarded with energy such as radio waves or neutrons. So, when a bag or suitcase is placed in a special drawer to undergo this process, a computer then records the reaction within seconds. The computer then matches the record with the reactions that known explosive substances and dangerous materials are known to have. This then alerts screeners to the contents of the bag.

However, this technology isn't quite ready for public consumption just yet as many factors regarding its accuracy and cost-efficiency still need to be addressed. For example, there have been questions as to whether this machine can stop terrorists from bringing in separate liquid components that they can later mix on board a plane to form a deadly cocktail. There is also the fact that screening luggage one by one can heavily bog down a line at the airport, which will most probably cause much inconvenience and delays for both passengers and airport officials.

And the price tag? A cool $250,000.

Boom.

If you're in the market for a new MP3 player, there's the Chinese-made Ainol V3 MP3 Player out there. As far as we know, the Ainol V3 features a large screen with recording function, FM radio, and 512MB memory that is not expandable. It supports MP3 and WMA.

Then we got really, really, really lost in translation as the product synopsis went on to talk about "a young race" and "melted chocolate". So we could be wrong about everything except the image, the brandname and that it's an MP3 player. Okay, we're not sure if it's a MP3 player but its Ainol V3. No, it's definitely an MP3 player.

Still, it looks like a job for dorkdork777 - who did a great job translating some info about the Korean-made Vega Hemp Cloth UMPC. If you're reading this, dorkdork777, we're waiting for your translation skills!

Take me out to the ballgame
Take me out to the crowd
Buy me a handset or mobile phone
I don't care if we never get back
Cuz it's root root root for the broadcast
(Yes, Sprint is covering this game)
And it's one two three strikes you're out in the old ball game!

Sprint Nextel Corp. and Major League Baseball Advanced Media (the Internet arm of Major League Baseball) have a new service: radio broadcasts of Major League games will be available to Sprint subscribers for $5.99 a month. This service should start sometime in the middle or end of this month. Coverage should be for all games of all 30 teams.

Instead of sending a text message to somebody asking for the score, you can just tune in to the game. Your mobile phone becomes a handheld radio (this is, after all, a world where an iPod can improve your baseball). Perfect. The boss would ask, "What are you doing on the phone?" I'd say, "I'm calling our researchers about the next article I'm supposed to write." Safe!

Unfortunately, I don't have a Sprint phone. Only those with Sprint PCS Vision or Power VisionSM phones can use the service.