According to this chart, HP Black Ink #45 is more expensive than human blood, Red Bull and oil! The statistics are figured by the creator of the chart and information available here.

A great point is that the liquid people complain and moan about the most is oil, yet oil is one of the cheapest of many liquids available. Sort of an interesting chart to put things in perspective. However we obviously do not rely on HP Black Ink #45 to power our automobiles.

The U.S. government is seeking to develop a powerful ground-based laser weapon that would use beams of concentrated light to destroy enemy satellites in orbit. The largely secret project, parts of which have been made public through Air Force budget documents submitted to Congress in February, is part of a wide-ranging effort to develop space weapons, both defensive and offensive.

Britain’s first ‘talking’ CCTV cameras have arrived, well, CCTV cameras with loudspeakers next to them. The system allows control room operators who spot any illegal behavior to send out a verbal warning to the offender. Middlesbrough has fitted loudspeakers on seven of its 158 cameras in an experiment already being hailed as a success.

“There was one incident when two men started fighting outside a nightclub. One of the control room operators warned them over the loudspeakers and they looked up, startled, stopped fighting and scarpered in opposite directions.”

Operators instructions are permitted to say such things as: ‘Warning - you are being monitored by CCTV - Warning - you are in an alcohol-free zone, please refrain from drinking’; and Warning - your behaviour is being monitored by CCTV. It is being recorded and the police are attending.’

It would appear that the offenders are the only ones who find the audio cameras intrusive. The vast majority of people welcome these cameras. “Orwell’s 1984 was a dire warning to ward off the totalitarianism of public monitoring authorities. This camera/speaker system is not ‘like’ Big Brother, it ‘is’ Big Brother incarnate,” says one American from Boston. Via Daily Mail

Jess Griffin and Jim Termeer have successfully developed a cutting board that comes with a built-in scale embedded within the surface area, denoted by the circle. Enabling you to chop away and measure your ingredients on the same tool itself, reducing preparation and cleaning time which translates to a faster cooked meal. Via Coolest Gadgets

The Philips ‘In Touch’ is a mirror that transforms into a touch screen message center, providing an alternative to leaving messages in different places, such as a written note stuck on the fridge or an answer phone message.

When illuminated, the screen also includes portrait photographs of all the ‘family’ members in the network, which are used as a method of sending messages. Simply touching a relevant image on the mirror will activate a message, which could be a voicemail, video, picture or text message. The mirror also makes it simple to leave messages or send them automatically to other members of the network.

To leave a message on the electronic board, just touch the mirror with a stylus and a drawing space opens. To record a video message, touch a blue light in the right-hand corner of the mirror, which turns red and a real-time image of the person recording the message appears in the centre. The message is then recorded.

To send an MMS or SMS message, create a message with the stylus and then, using a finger, drag and drop the text box on to one of the portrait photographs. The MMS or SMS is sent automatically and the message reverts to its original position with a confirmation stamp showing it has been delivered.

Funny prank for the unsuspecting guest. You record a message into the thing (up to 6sec) and it plays back when the toilet paper is unrolled. Get it here.

Bruce Jones is betting there is still a healthy thirst for exploration into underwater worlds on our own planet. Jones, who has spent 17 years designing and selling submarines for private use, has $40 million invested to build a luxury hotel where the most expensive rooms will be submerged 50 feet under.

Unlike the Jules Undersea Lodge - the only undersea hotel now in existence, located off the coast of Key Largo, Fla. - guests at the Poseidon won’t need to put on a wet suit and dive to their accommodations. They also won’t need to worry about changing pressure levels since the accommodations will be maintained at above-surface pressure. Instead, they can glide to their $1,500-a-night underwater abodes by escalator.

“I think there are a tremendous number of people who would be interested,” said Jones, “including anyone who is looking for a different experience.”

Each room will feature fortified, transparent acrylic walls that look out onto coral gardens. There will be controls in each room that guests can use to adjust the lighting of the underwater worlds outside their windows and to release food for fish swimming just outside. The rooms will also feature individual Jacuzzis for those who may be inspired by their surroundings to get wet. Scheduled to open in mid-2008 on a private island in Fiji. More images at the Poseidon site.

These funny little office paraphernalia are pretty much awesome. I know that most of us probably like to adorn our workspaces with interesting and unique trinkets of all sorts, so one of these guys just may be just the ticket to further personalize your space. For myself, I picked up Tim the IT guy He’s wearing a “Chicks Dig Unix” t-shirt (which, by the way they do). His cubicle contains tons of interesting little things: a “pearbook”, which seems to be a direct knock on a powerbook, a server with mad amounts of hdd’s, a workstation, a racked rat’s nest, network hardware on the wall, along with other goofy and geeky posters, etc. There are currently eleven other characters or sets available, with four more announced to be coming soon. Pricing can range anywhere between $10USD and $20USD. Cube Figures