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Industrial cutting lasers are a single wavelength backed by kilowatts of power. This is a flash light with a large band of light frequencies that is nowhere as coherent as a laser. I don't believe for a second that it is the light itself causing the fire. I believe it's the actual heat generated by the bulb. The site http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/wicked_lights-74-0.htm seems to be slashdotted so I can't get to anything resembling specifications (bulb type, battery type, etc.) to further justify my position.

A typical 200W 120V conventional incandescent bulb puts out 3900 lumens (says the wikipedia). When was the last time you saw a 200W bulb catch something on fire because it produces just so much light? Good thing they don't make 300W or bigger: we'd have a fire just waiting to start with the flick of a switch.

Misunderstanding of science never ceases to amaze me: it's really bright AND PORTABLE ergo the light itself is causing the fire...nevermind the filament of a conventional incandescent bulb (let alone halogen or xenon arc) is on the order of thousands of degrees. No, it has to be the light!

My horoscope said my misanthropy for today was a 10, now I know why.

Depends on the laser, but in general the hand-helds that are on the market are of a low enough power that the blink reflex by itself prevents any real injury. Wicked Lasers does sell some hand-helds that can be pretty dangerous at close ranges (and are horribly expensive), but working for a laser equipment integrator and having spent several years writing code to run all kinds of Class IV equipment from 1 watt UV lasers to 250 watt CO2 units and having used all kinds of smaller lasers for pointing/measurement applications, I'd be hard pressed to think of a situation where someone shining an average hand-held laser (even a green DPSS unit) directly at an aircraft would do more than very temporarily dazzle the pilot. I've unfortunately had the experience of taking some rather strong specular reflections from higher-power green units in my eyes (and no telling how many times I've been hit with IR) when equipment wasn't tagged out properly, but I've never experienced "significant pain and discomfort" and when I got my latest set of retinal photos taken earlier this year, they looked perfect.

High powered hand held lasers are available. See Wicked Lasers for some examples.

The performance chart at the bottom of the page will give you an idea of the power that some hand held lasers have. Links in their chart provide demonstrations.

No, we don't work for them, however do own some that are used for research purposes. Our 300mW laser laser will do more than just bind you. We treat it like a loaded gun, not a toy. Laser Safety is critical.

High powered hand held lasers are available. See Wicked Lasers for some examples.

The performance chart at the bottom of the page will give you an idea of the power that some hand held lasers have. Links in their chart provide demonstrations.

No, we don't work for them, however do own some that are used for research purposes. Our 300mW laser laser will do more than just bind you. We treat it like a loaded gun, not a toy. Laser Safety is critical.

High powered hand held lasers are available. See Wicked Lasers for some examples.

The performance chart at the bottom of the page will give you an idea of the power that some hand held lasers have. Links in their chart provide demonstrations.

No, we don't work for them, however do own some that are used for research purposes. Our 300mW laser laser will do more than just bind you. We treat it like a loaded gun, not a toy. Laser Safety is critical.

Red and green lasers are all limited to 5mW of dribble power.

That's really nothing compared with what you can get other places like StarPhaser.com or WickedLasers.

If you are going to get lost in the middle of nowhere, you need one of these.

Also, remember kiddies, if you want to be able to see, buy some goggles: http://www.wickedlasers.com/Goggles-16-1.html $39 ain't that expensive when it comes to being able to see!

http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/SONAR_Blu_ray_L aser-35-24.html some geeks will say been there done that BURNED THE T-SHIRT

You can buy lasers over 5mW commercially

I'm surprised that nobody has yet posted a link to Wicked Lasers. I haven't bought anything from them, but I've been tempted.

I do have a green laser I picked up on eBay from some HK reseller a couple of years ago for $30-something. It's very cool, but the cats are less interested in it than in a red laser for some reason. I suspect that the wavelength of the green laser corresponds to something less bug-like when viewed by cats' eyes.

Note: a quick google while writing this indicates that cats aren't really colorblind, but they cannot distinguish shades of red.

Point of of these babies at overhead flying planes near an airport...you'll get your back suits damn quick!

...I'm hoping we can get some of those cool Blu-Ray laser pointers for cheap!

Actually, despite other errors in the GP post, you're missing something important. Scattering even by molecules of air is significant at power levels much lower than this thing operates at. Watch videos at http://www.wickedlasers.com/. Their 100mw pen sized lasers scatter enough to look like a fucking light saber swinging around, and this laser rifle is probably hundreds of times more powerful. If its in the visible range (although probably it isn't) in battlefield condition it would probably make a flash like some kind of Anime Superweapon. Even if its not in the visible range, the same effect is going to apply, it'll just need special gear to see it, something like night vision for IR lasers, and for UV it'd be easy enough to rig something up (it's not like plenty of types of sensors aren't UV sensitive). Also, unlike a ballistic sniper rifle, Anybody watching with such a system will instantly know the exact location of the sniper.

Time to update your laser pointers! The old ones only melt plastic, light matches and pop balloons.

http://www.wickedlasers.com/?cpe=Y3A9a2VlbnNwb3Qmc z13d3cua2VlbnNwb3QuY29t

Got you half covered. You'll have to provide the head mount.

If you look at their product overview page here: http://www.wickedlasers.com/products_overview.php

And scroll on down to the red Pulsar laser, take a good hard look at the image there. Does it look familiar?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike:_Sourc e

It couldn't possibly be from the box art (and background) of Counter Strike: Source could it? Oh no no no. This is a reputable company that makes quarity product in China! Why they'd have no need at all to steal images for their own marketing.

Hi, Good day, its very interesting to read your comments, some are very insightful. Let me explain why we used a Blu-ray laser disc player to obtain the laser diodes. The reason is that there are only 2 manufactureres (Nichia, and Sony) that manufacture Blu-ray diodes in all of the world, and they are located in Japan. When the project was first envisioned two months ago, we called Nichia to obtain pricing on a diode, the cost quoted for 100pc was 2000$ US per unit, but the problem lied in the fact if we could ever get them, as there are global shortages of blu-ray diodes. We had to find a better way to create this laser.

Our alternate plan, which was the one we ended up going with was to buy Blu-ray disc players* from the USA, and have them shipped into China. This was a slightly cheaper and also more reliable way of guaranteeing we would have something soon. Our profit margin on this product is by far the lowest compared to all our other products, and at this point we are in the negative from the development of this product. We hope to make this money back through a few sales, but we believe that in the long run, the world will know that Wicked Lasers is willing to innovate; that all true laser enthusiasts will recongize our efforts and help us revolutionize the world of lasers.

Lastly, some of you believe that we have targeted Slashdot as a "slashvertisement". However, we had no intention of seeing this story out on Slashdot, it came as a pleasant surprise. In fact, we were hoping that with i4u.com (the original poster of the story), we could gain some publicity in their tech-oriented crowd. We are very proud that Slashdot has acknowledged this story, and we hope that we will have something even more newsworthy to give to you guys next time! Thank you for your time to read my reply.

Best Regards,
Steve Liu CEO
http://www.wickedlasers.com/ [wickedlasers.com]

*Blu-ray disc players are not released in China, the only option is to purchase a Sony AR Laptop at 3,500$ to obtain the Blu-ray drive. At the time of this project conception HD-DVD XBOX drives were not yet released. We will be considering cheaper options in the future to offer a better price to our customers.

**I apologize for the double-post, don't know how to edit formatting in the other post.

Hi, Good day, its very interesting to read your comments, some are very insightful. Let me explain why we used a Blu-ray laser disc player to obtain the laser diodes. The reason is that there are only 2 manufactureres (Nichia, and Sony) that manufacture Blu-ray diodes in all of the world, and they are located in Japan. When the project was first envisioned two months ago, we called Nichia to obtain pricing on a diode, the cost quoted for 100pc was 2000$ US per unit, but the problem lied in the fact if we could ever get them, as there are global shortages of blu-ray diodes. We had to find a better way to create this laser.

Our alternate plan, which was the one we ended up going with was to buy Blu-ray disc players* from the USA, and have them shipped into China. This was a slightly cheaper and also more reliable way of guaranteeing we would have something soon. Our profit margin on this product is by far the lowest compared to all our other products, and at this point we are in the negative from the development of this product. We hope to make this money back through a few sales, but we believe that in the long run, the world will know that Wicked Lasers is willing to innovate; that all true laser enthusiasts will recongize our efforts and help us revolutionize the world of lasers.

Lastly, some of you believe that we have targeted Slashdot as a "slashvertisement". However, we had no intention of seeing this story out on Slashdot, it came as a pleasant surprise. In fact, we were hoping that with i4u.com (the original poster of the story), we could gain some publicity in their tech-oriented crowd. We are very proud that Slashdot has acknowledged this story, and we hope that we will have something even more newsworthy to give to you guys next time! Thank you for your time to read my reply.

Best Regards,
Steve Liu CEO
http://www.wickedlasers.com/ [wickedlasers.com]

*Blu-ray disc players are not released in China, the only option is to purchase a Sony AR Laptop at 3,500$ to obtain the Blu-ray drive. At the time of this project conception HD-DVD XBOX drives were not yet released. We will be considering cheaper options in the future to offer a better price to our customers.

Screw that! Let's hook them up with sonar and lasers.

While they don't have any of the blue laser yet, the Wicked Laser Videos show off their other high-powered products. These things are powerful enough to light a match, blow up a balloon, burn a hole in your drywall, and other fun party tricks. What's cool about it, though, is that the laser is powerful enough to make the backscatter visible. i.e. You can see the beam!

It's enough to make one wonder: How feasible is a handheld laser weapon? (Say, a few watts?) I realize that the key issue is that the laser does very little damage as it passes through an object. (Actually, it leaves a hole the diameter of the beam. Not very large.) However, I could see the laser rotating through a small arc during fire. That would at least carve out a centimeter or two from the target...

Here.

You might want to check http://www.wickedlasers.com/

They seem to have some ungodly powerful pen form-factor lasers as it is, good enough for cauterizing wounds or being visible in pure daylight with near any basic primary color during daylight. And these are for mainly military use, so I'd probably err on the side of caution on these guys as to the real power of even a LED-based laser, I fail to see how you're going to maintain a gas-based laser in that small of a form factor with the limited amount of power even a Li-Ion battery bank would provide, given the estimated usage hours. And If they're lying, then they've got a hellish lawsuit from the government and any private buyers coming.

Even better you could strap one of these babies to the Wiimote for a genuine Star Wars experience (Hell you could even get one of the 300mW ones but thats bordering on excessive).

Even better you could strap one of these babies to the Wiimote for a genuine Star Wars experience (Hell you could even get one of the 300mW ones but thats bordering on excessive).

I am sure this site will be linked elsewhere but here's one place to get blue lasers. Expect to pay a pretty penny for one though. http://wickedlasers.com/

the piezo wafer is positioned directly behind the opening of the (tweeter) horn. I'd bet a prolonged burst from one of the bigger models from http://www.wickedlasers.com/ would crack/fuse the transducer. It would be simple to shield from such attacks, but the model picutred at http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/teenage_control_ products.html seems to have no such shielding.

oh, and make sure to wear goggles. Those things are VERY VERY bright.

Could be as effective as a .22 round applied in the same manor, but significantly less likely to get you thrown in prison.

This model will fail for impression ads. And impression ads are important for a large number of products and services. For many things, from mundane things like consumer goods, to advanced business services, the products and services are not purchased or acted upon immediately. Impression ads just keep the name, logo image, or musical jingle, in the minds of the readers. In TV they call them viewers. In radio they call them listeners.

Obviously, in media like TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines, impression ads are about the only thing they can do. But they do work, else such media would be failing.

The web, of course, gives a new opportunity because it is, or can be, interactive. And advertisers like that because it can give them direct feedback, at least in some cases. Unfortunately, too many of them think that all their potential customers will drop everything they are doing and "buy now". The reality is, almost no one ever does "buy now". So despite the fact that the web does have the means to support interactive advertising, the model really isn't viable.

There's another reason web advertising needs to be impression based rather than interactive based. Unlike much other media, on the web, people tend to be focused on a goal, such as to access some particular information, or send some important family email. With these goals up front, they don't just drop everything to buy the latest cool product simply because one advertisement for it shows up. The few people who would, tend to be all out of money, anyway.

Google's model of Adsense where advertising is (supposedly) selected based predictions of what the readers tend to be interested in is a good one. If I tend to be interested in remote control model cars, for example, I will be often visited sites related to it, or maybe talking about it through Gmail or Google Groups. Showing ads for makers and sellers of model cars and related products and services certainly would have a higher likelihood of advertising success. It is ad dollars better spent than in showing things like feminine hygiene products to men.

But that doesn't mean I'm going to buy the product or obtain the service right then. That may come later. But when the time comes, enough impressions of a particular product, or keeping the name of a great online hobby store in front of me regularly, will go a long way towards influencing where I might visit first when I am ready to buy.

A couple months ago I saw an ad by Google for wickedlasers. I was busy at the time and went on about what I was doing. But I was done about half an hour later and remembered seeing the web site for wickedlasers. So I went and checked the place out and surveyed the lasers they had all the way up to the really nasty ones that can light cigarettes (but please, don't start smoking just because you can light up with a wickedlaser). I don't really need one of these right now. But I might in the fall. And I might buy one for a gift for a relative this coming holiday season.

That's how impression ads work. But will the original site I saw the ad on get credit for it and get paid? Since the ad was gone a half hour later, that's very doubtful. I just visited the site directly. When I'm ready to buy, I'll go directly there again.

One huge problem that could crop up with Google's cost-per-action model is that advertisers of products which work by impression only will have a free ride. They will get to make the impressions, but won't have to pay (very much) for the advertising because there won't be (much, if any) direct sales (even though they can certainly set up a web page to pretend it's possible). Think about it, if you see an ad (many times) for a new flavor of soft drink that happens to be a flavor you think you would like, would you click on the ad and make a purchase for a 6-pack of bottles to be shipped to you, or would you check the soft drink aisle the next time you make a food run?

This model will fail for impression ads. And impression ads are important for a large number of products and services. For many things, from mundane things like consumer goods, to advanced business services, the products and services are not purchased or acted upon immediately. Impression ads just keep the name, logo image, or musical jingle, in the minds of the readers. In TV they call them viewers. In radio they call them listeners.

Obviously, in media like TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines, impression ads are about the only thing they can do. But they do work, else such media would be failing.

The web, of course, gives a new opportunity because it is, or can be, interactive. And advertisers like that because it can give them direct feedback, at least in some cases. Unfortunately, too many of them think that all their potential customers will drop everything they are doing and "buy now". The reality is, almost no one ever does "buy now". So despite the fact that the web does have the means to support interactive advertising, the model really isn't viable.

There's another reason web advertising needs to be impression based rather than interactive based. Unlike much other media, on the web, people tend to be focused on a goal, such as to access some particular information, or send some important family email. With these goals up front, they don't just drop everything to buy the latest cool product simply because one advertisement for it shows up. The few people who would, tend to be all out of money, anyway.

Google's model of Adsense where advertising is (supposedly) selected based predictions of what the readers tend to be interested in is a good one. If I tend to be interested in remote control model cars, for example, I will be often visited sites related to it, or maybe talking about it through Gmail or Google Groups. Showing ads for makers and sellers of model cars and related products and services certainly would have a higher likelihood of advertising success. It is ad dollars better spent than in showing things like feminine hygiene products to men.

But that doesn't mean I'm going to buy the product or obtain the service right then. That may come later. But when the time comes, enough impressions of a particular product, or keeping the name of a great online hobby store in front of me regularly, will go a long way towards influencing where I might visit first when I am ready to buy.

A couple months ago I saw an ad by Google for wickedlasers. I was busy at the time and went on about what I was doing. But I was done about half an hour later and remembered seeing the web site for wickedlasers. So I went and checked the place out and surveyed the lasers they had all the way up to the really nasty ones that can light cigarettes (but please, don't start smoking just because you can light up with a wickedlaser). I don't really need one of these right now. But I might in the fall. And I might buy one for a gift for a relative this coming holiday season.

That's how impression ads work. But will the original site I saw the ad on get credit for it and get paid? Since the ad was gone a half hour later, that's very doubtful. I just visited the site directly. When I'm ready to buy, I'll go directly there again.

One huge problem that could crop up with Google's cost-per-action model is that advertisers of products which work by impression only will have a free ride. They will get to make the impressions, but won't have to pay (very much) for the advertising because there won't be (much, if any) direct sales (even though they can certainly set up a web page to pretend it's possible). Think about it, if you see an ad (many times) for a new flavor of soft drink that happens to be a flavor you think you would like, would you click on the ad and make a purchase for a 6-pack of bottles to be shipped to you, or would you check the soft drink aisle the next time you make a food run?

Buy one and point it at a thermometer.

http://wickedlasers.com/

O.K. so these aren't really lightsabers.

If you're going for a green laser pointer, may I recommend:

http://megalaser.com/

Or, for the REALLY serious laser pointer enthusiast:
http://www.wickedlasers.com/products.php?var=ok&co ntent=elite

Nothing like a 125mW green compared to a puny 3mw red pointer :)

However when you do a Google search for "Banach laser green", the first Google add is for Wicked Lasers. For the low, low price of $500, you too can have a 95 mW laser (frequency doubled InGaAs(?) laser, of unknown wavelength). This qualifies as a class IIIB laser, where "These lasers will produce an eye hazard if viewed directly. This includes intrabeam viewing or specular reflections."

This guy is selling a ton of lasers: http://www.wickedlasers.com/ These lasers are labeled as class IIIa pointers (5mW) yet come up to 50-60 mW depending on how much the buyer wants to pay. With lots of these things getting pumped on the market illegally, I would say this is much more of an issue than the large ones from the "accused site" that are certified! People need to get their stories straight before pointing fingers! -Norman

Wicked Ultra - 30-40 mW
More than enough power for most applications, this laser is perfect for those of us who desire the extra power. The beam produced by this laser will be very, very, very bright. This laser is strong enough to burn holes through black trash bags. You'll also be able to pick up beautiful women (or men) when they come up to ask you about your super powerful laser. Professional use only.Our Price - $259.00

Burn holes in the trash bags of beautiful men or women, and get them to notice you! Yeah, right.

Yeah, especially wtih one of these...

I ordered mine yesterday along with a co-worker, and we'll hopefully see them by early next week.