Anyone fancy a Light Sabre?

Commander Smivs · Post by **Smivs** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:15 am

A company called Wickedlasers has just release what is effectively a Star Wars type lightsabre, and it only costs $200.

The laser is built with a diode from Casio's new mercury-free Green Slim projectors which ironically have a somewhat blue tint. The laser is rated at 1 watt of power, which is apparently enough to set someone on fire!.

There is more, including a picture here

ClymAngus · Post by **ClymAngus** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 10:32 am

How many different ways could that be used as an offensive weapon? £200 for an industrial strength pocket size laser is possibly the stupidest idea since the Ebola water pistol.

People really really don't need to know that these can be made.

Commander Smivs · Post by **Smivs** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 10:40 am

ClymAngus wrote:
...an industrial strength pocket size laser is possibly the stupidest idea since the Ebola water pistol.

It's crazy isn't it? I was gob-smacked when I saw this, so I thought I'd pass it on. There really can be no legitimate use for something like this, but I suppose in the States (where it is made and sold) it might be a slightly better (i.e. less lethal) alternative to carrying a conventional gun for self-protection. There is no mention of its effective range.

ClymAngus · Post by **ClymAngus** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:16 am

Smivs wrote:
ClymAngus wrote:
...an industrial strength pocket size laser is possibly the stupidest idea since the Ebola water pistol.
It's crazy isn't it? I was gob-smacked when I saw this, so I thought I'd pass it on. There really can be no legitimate use for something like this, but I suppose in the States (where it is made and sold) it might be a slightly better (i.e. less lethal) alternative to carrying a conventional gun for self-protection. There is no mention of its effective range.

Well, when your talking manufacturing you probably need more of a 40 watt set up. So it's no real use for prototyping, fantastic for a host of illegal activities, having practical applications in every aspect of bank robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, arson to name but a few here's a 1 watt laser at work;

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1208029/1 ... cardboard/

Ok we're not talking death ray here, (it's ability to blind, distract and burn (+ all the secondary effects that these might cause) make it a must for most government watch lists) but you don't really want to give people capacity to set things on fire from a distance. Because they will..... Lots.

The daily tech blog replies for that article (just keep scrolling down) go into some detail about how this little item could be used to cause mayhem.

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:20 am

Smivs wrote:
ClymAngus wrote:
...an industrial strength pocket size laser is possibly the stupidest idea since the Ebola water pistol.
It's crazy isn't it? I was gob-smacked when I saw this, so I thought I'd pass it on. There really can be no legitimate use for something like this, but I suppose in the States (where it is made and sold) it might be a slightly better (i.e. less lethal) alternative to carrying a conventional gun for self-protection. There is no mention of its effective range.

We investigated quite a few of these when I worked for the MOD, in the US they're often sold under the guise of "Bird Scarers" - they work - if the bird is frightened off by the scary green light - smouldering feathers is enough to encourage flight.

ClymAngus · Post by **ClymAngus** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:41 am

Well the comments are quite telling. There's the "My right to buy" lot shouting on about cure instead of prevention. Then the quieter more liberal voices saying "it's a concealed weapon" so concealed that you don't even give yourself away whilst your firing it.

That's power and if people have the power to get away with using something then they tend to be more likely to use it. What are current UK laws on class 4 laser ownership?

http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/Radiation/ ... rPointers/

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/in ... 947AAjDMoF

Found some US stuff.
http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingPr ... 116534.htm

So in short, don't buy one unless you like chatting to the fuzz. But of course they have a handy dandy "how to" section on their website. Nice; in a here's how to weaponize a projector kind of way....... Botty spanking insanity.

Commander Smivs · Post by **Smivs** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 3:29 pm

Looks like there's more trouble brewing for the 'Light Sabre'.
George Lucas is trying to get it banned because he has a copyright on light sabres

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:45 pm

Smivs wrote:
Looks like there's more trouble brewing for the 'Light Sabre'.
George Lucas is trying to get it banned because he has a copyright on light sabres

Surely he can only copyright the name if it's Lightsabre or possibly the context in which it's used (so pretty good against the laser pointer people), but he couldn't "have me" for example if I used this sentence: "Having done a bit of fencing I didn't much like the Foil, preferring instead the light sabre."

Selezen · Post by **Selezen** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 7:24 am

Like it's gonna make much difference. Manufacturers will just call them Laser Swords, but we'll all know they're really lightsabres.

Anyway, he can't copyright a lightsabre design, surely, since Luke's lightsabre was actually a camera flashgun! If he yelled copyright everything that looked vaguely like a lightsabre he'd spend all his time in court and never write anything!

Hang on...maybe that would be a good thing...

Post by **Disembodied** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:05 am

He can probably – if he's got enough money, and let's face it, he does – copyright pretty much anything he wants. Or at least, he can tie up other companies in so many legal knots that they'll be arguing in court for years, during which time they can't sell their light-sabreish products. The law is decided partly by jurisprudence, and partly by cold hard cash. If you've got a lot of the latter you don't need to worry so much about the former. Mind you, in this case, the fewer people there are selling 1-watt industrial lasers dressed up as toys, the better.

ClymAngus · Post by **ClymAngus** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:22 am

Disembodied wrote:
Mind you, in this case, the fewer people there are selling 1-watt industrial lasers dressed up as toys, the better.

Amen brother. It is possible that someone can do the right thing for the wrong reason. I'm no fan of frivolous legal action over something that defies several important rules of physics. That said if it keeps some of these handy dandy face cooking items out of the hands of those most likely to use them; EG people who care little for the rule of law anyway then I'm in with the chubby Santa Claus look'o'like and his army of legal elves.