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This is what happens when you let Star Trek fans set product codenames.

WARP10

Sure, technically it stands for the ‘Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform 10′. But you just know which way around the genesis of that title would have gone, when geeks are involved.

In any case, it sounds pretty interesting - basically it’s a Dx10 class software rasteriser which will come built-in to Windows 7. It’s bound to be be nigh-on unusable for a while - after all, people with cheap graphics cards are also likely to have gone a bit cheap on the CPU too, and even the best multicore CPU can’t software rasterise as well as an entry-level GPU right now - but as an eventual fallback target it could be useful.

Anyone with Star Trek chops knows that warp 10 is in fact unattainable (assuming you take TNG as your pseudoscientific canon). Let’s hope that isn’t prophetic Despite my new-found affinity with the Mac, I’m hoping that Windows 7 delivers functionality I can find useful on a day-to-day basis, because Vista still doesn’t attract me to use it any more than I absolutely have to. Vista feels like giving your PC a makeover while simultaneously performing a small lobotomy so that it looks nice, but is never quite as optimal as it used to be unless you throw more hardware at it. I still find that slightly offensive.

You’ve no doubt heard about the first tests of CERN’s LHC today, but the folks at Reddit are clearly ahead of the game on this and are making sure that the scientists are adequately prepared for the discoveries that may be around the corner. They’ve taken the prudent step of sending CERN a crowbar, a copy of the Half Life Strategy Guide, and a ‘training headcrab’, together with a simple note:

“Get this to Gordon Freeman. He’ll know what to do.”

When pan-dimensional hell breaks loose, we’ll know who to thank for our ultimate salvation.

Oh…..my……God.

I stumbled across this for the first time ever today, and I’m left completely horrified. I thought it was only relatively recently that George Lucas had jettisonned his quality filter into deep space - sure, I could see the beginnings of his lunacy in Return of the Jedi’s Ewoks, but it was forgiveable (just). Then, I saw this TV monstrosity created in 1978 of all times, between Star Wars and the pinnacle that is the Empire Strikes Back and starring all of the major characters. Warning: this is a truly horrifying experience for any fan of the original movies, so brace yourself!

I’m not surprised Lucas tried to bury this, but now it’s back thanks to the magic of the Internet. It allegedly aired only once on US TV and once in Australia, which might explain why I’ve never seen it (I’m just not hardcore enough to be on the bootleg circulation list). This is only the first and last parts (out of a total 10); I couldn’t even bring myself to watch these 2 in their entirety. If you make it through them, congratulations, but I’d advise seeking professional help.