We're not entirely sure it jibes with the guide to robot ethics, but there's no denying that the flamethrower add-on is one of the most impressive Robosapien hacks we've ever seen. The folks at Evosapien.com must've sensed our enthusiasm, because they posted a step-by-step tutorial showing how the potentially home destroying bot was built. Because of the incredible risk involved, we don't recommend anyone actually build their own, but we encourage you to read along as a barbecue lighter and some cheap electronic parts transform an otherwise friendly robot into the ultimate enemy of eyebrows. Just hope some overzealous enthusiast doesn't teach his Lego brained bot to read internet tutorials, as that could be very bad for humankind as we know it.

If you're worried your World of Warcraft habit might be getting a little out of hand, you might think about checking yourself into the Wild Horses Center in Amsterdam. Their video game rehab program, which was started by addiction specialists Smith and Jones, is designed to help you replace the excitement of the fantasy world with real world experiences such as therapy sessions and group interaction. The 16th century town house, in which the patients reside, has no access to gaming of any kind, making it the perfect place to take in the non-polygonal sights the real world has to offer. Unlike the novelty cellphone addiction program being implemented at a Chicago Hotel, Wild Horses is staffed with certified psychologists and addiction specialists that can offer legitimate help to those unwilling to leave their games to have a social life or even use the bathroom. With impressive next-generation consoles like the Wii and the PS3 promising an even more engrossing gaming experience in the near future, we can't help but think this kind of facility might start popping up in other parts of the world as well. Since there probably isn't one in your area yet, we suggest you follow these instructions for making your own game addiction patch. First, tear off two pieces of duct tape. Second, place one piece of the duct tape over the A/V inputs on your TV and the other over the ASDW keys on your keyboard. Then go outside already, would you?

It has been a long and extremely troubled road for the ePassport here in the US, but it looks like they'll finally start hitting carry on bags of non-diplomats late next month. The new RFID tag-toting documents will store all of your personal data, including name, address, nationality, a picture, a digitized fingerprint and just about every other thing crooks would need to take your identity for a joyride. The government is insisting that they've taken the necessary precautions to prevent data "skimming," but that can be a lot trickier than it sounds. Just ask the Dutch. Ultimately, the technology could go either way, acting as an effective method of cross-checking people across a vast security network as they move from country to country, or evolving into an omnipresent grid of surveillance that will spread viruses and confine us all to our homes lest we feel the wrath of cyber criminals or high-tech fascists. So let us know how it turns out, we'll be in the basement with our RFID-blocking wallet and tin foil hat.

Remember when we saw one of NEC's laptops equipped with NXT's SoundVu, and we jokingly mentioned how we didn't think it could cut it in a home theater system? Well apparently Authentic Ltd. thinks otherwise, because they've just announced their, ahem, ASS-60AK front projection screen, that doubles as a display surface and a speaker. The screen, which vibrates at a rate undetectable to the human eye to create sound, is made of Teonex, a material specially designed to produce high frequencies other fabrics would absorb. The release suggests it can be used as a stand-alone speaker or as the center channel to your surround sound system, thus mimicking the acoustically transparent screens used in full-scale multiplexes. While it sounds great in theory (caugh), NXT technology has been hit or miss enough that you'd probably to hear what it actually sounds like before dropping more than $500 for your own.

Apparently, the staff at TGDaily were flipping through the user's manual for one of their Lightscribe-equipped drives when they stumbled across a rather oblique mention of an upcoming color version of the current monochrome technology. They did a little journalizing and eventually contacted an HP PR staff, who informed them that "Lightscribe color background CDs are expected to be available later this year." This could be referring to the different colored Lightscribe discs that have seen release here and there, but when it comes to truly color laser CD imaging, obviously no official announcements have been made yet. We wouldn't be entirely surprised if the launch so many a Lightscribe fans have been waiting for winds up being timed to coincide with the announcement of an HP HD DVD drive or two. For right now though, we'll be sticking to our analog CD and DVD labeler, or as you may know it by its other name: a Sharpie marker.