OLPC Refusing to Cancel Orders? [Olpc]

At least one Gizmodo reader has informed us that he attempted to cancel his OLPC laptop order and was denied. Apparently, they are “not accepting cancellations from anyone for any reason.” That’s, unless you refuse your shipment then call and cancel after the laptop arrives back at the manufacturer. This doesn’t make a damn bit of sense, so we have to ask: has anyone else received a similar denial? [Thanks Joe!]

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The F-35 Lightning II, allegedly the most advanced fighter in the world, has been tried for the first time by a military service pilot. Lt. Col. James “Flipper” Kromberg of the U.S. Air Force, who can be seen in the video wearing one of those scary demon helmets, took off from Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant, flying the wonderplane through different altitudes and situations. His verdict:

“The aircraft flew very well, exceeding my expectations,” Kromberg said. “I was surprised by the amount of power on the takeoff roll. And the handling, particularly with the gear up, was phenomenal. The aircraft was very stable flying in formation with another airplane. It was really a joy to fly.”

So there you go: two thumbs up from Señor Flipper. I don’t know about you, but I’m happy that the $40 billion total development costs have resulted in a plane that handles phenomenally well with the gear up (which is more than you can say about the Strategic Defense Initiative).

The F-35, nicknamed Lightning II in honor of the WW2 fighter P-38 Lightning, has flown only 28 times, all of them except this one commanded by Lockheed Martin’s own test pilots, Jon Beesley and Jeff Knowles. The last flight happened on March 12th, for its first aerial refueling test shown here:

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The F-35 Lightning II is scheduled to debut in 2011, after its maiden flight back in 2006. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburning turbofan capable of delivering 40,000 pounds of force, with an additional Rolls-Royce Lift System for the F-35B short take-off and vertical landing variant, the F-35 has been designed to be the número uno strike fighter in the world until around 2040.

At that point, we all hope that 1) no more modern fighters would be needed after that date, or 2) they develop Veritech fighters to defend Earth against the Zentraedi. [LockheedMartin and Wikipedia]

Via [gizmodo]

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Japanese Dental Camera Plugs in to Television for Personal Check-ups
The obsessive-compulsive and oral-fixation types will love this one. Japanese company Miharu has come up with an oral camera that you can plug into a Television to monitor your molars on a regular basis. You might state that this creation…

The obsessive-compulsive and oral-fixation types will love this one. Japanese company Miharu has come up with an oral camera that you can plug into a TV to monitor your molars on a regular basis. You might state that this creation isn’t necessary. I state that it is only progress in the battle against cavities and the impending growth of a social life.

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