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We've seen it aid surgery, help make smarter robots, and even do some gaming stuff, but honestly, what good is a controller if it can't fuel your crazy techno dance parties? Vimeo user Matt "Namethemachine" Davis posted a video showing a new hack for the peripheral, using its camera-based motion detection, combined with Ableton Live, DMX protocol, and more clever hackery to create a one-man electro-laser light show. It's easy to see this getting a bit out of control real fast in a room packed with overexcited club goers, but if you're looking to recreate the communal experience for you and your cat in your one bedroom apartment, this may be just the ticket. Create Digital Music Vimeo

Other manufacturers may say they're living large with their latest HDTVs, but Mitsubishi's "Go Big" slogan is supported by the biggest displays available for 2011. It's finally revealed details on the models, with new features including a clearer screen and 16 speaker soundbar with support for a wireless subwoofer on its top of the line 840-series that includes the 92-inch model (pictured above) we saw at CES. The other big addition for 2011 is support for Mitsubishi's iOS remote control app in the LaserVue TV as well as the 740 and 840 series DLPs. If you don't need those features, a built in IR emitter for 3D glasses or Stream TV Vudu Apps then look at the lower end 640-series rear projection sets. Still, no matter what the trim level, the new Mitsubishi is strictly a 73-inch and over TV manufacturer so it's definitely going to be big, whether it's the 840 series that ships in July or any of the other models that will be available this month. Sp...

Gigabyte's ECO600 wireless laser mouse -- which was introduced last month -- just landed at the FCC, which means it and its tiny 2.4GHz adapter should be in the hands of consumers very soon. As far as mice go, the ECO600 is actually pretty interesting -- two buttons on top allow you to quickly cycle between resolutions of 800, 1200, and 1600 DPI for either more accuracy or better battery life which, the company claims, is up to a year on a single pair of (generously included) AAs. That's not quite as long as Logitech's M515, which requires you swap the cells biennially, but it's still nothing to scoff at. If you're curious about what the guts of this long-lasting pointing device look like, check out the gallery below. Gigabyte ECO600 wireless laser mouse at the FCC FCC

Remember that pair of 100 terabit-per-second connections we told you about earlier this moth? Impressive? Sure, but not entirely practical thanks to the massive banks of lasers (370 to be exact) that guzzled several kilowatts of electricity. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany haven't hit 100Tbps yet, but they were able push 26Tbps using just one, lonely laser. The new single-laser fiber-optic speed record was set using a technique called fast Fourier transform that pulses light at an incredibly high rate with data encoded in 325 distinct colors across the spectrum. A detector at the receiving end is able to distinguish between the various colored data streams, based on tiny differences in arrival time, and recombine them into a high-speed torrent of ones and zeros. The scientists behind the project believe that, eventually, the technology could make its way into commercial use and be integrated into silicon chips. Now, someone needs to hurry up an...

You might not remember Ryan Palser by name, but you'll surely recall the good gent's homemade Fallout 3  plasma rifle. He has since stepped his game up to bigger and badder video game weapon replicas, and has just completed the construction of the first of his forthcoming army of  Portal  laser turrets. Thankfully, Ryan has been sporting enough to build the older version of these human eviscerators (not the upgraded  Portal 2  turrets, phew!), giving us at least a small chance of survival -- provided we have the right gear, of course. See the laser-equipped, GLaDOS-approved, 38-inch tall turret next to its maker after the break, or hit up the source link for some gorgeous photos of its construction. Kotaku ,  Make Ryan Palser (Flickr)

It might look like a poor man's game of Pong now, but a new laser steering system coming out of North Carolina State University could make blowing things up  Star Wars -style cheaper and more efficient. The setup enlists a series of "polarization gratings" through which a laser beam passes. Each of these gratings, made of liquid crystal applied to a plate of glass, are configured to redirect the light in a particular direction, thus simply steering the laser beam without significantly decreasing its power -- with each grating comes a new "steerable" angle. The system's creators point out its not only hyper accurate, but also less expensive than existing arrangements due to the use of liquid crystal. Apparently the US Air Force is already using the stuff, but don't expect them to go all Death Star anytime soon. North Carolina State University

If you think schlepping a tripod along with your DSLR isn't worth it because you're convinced you can get a clean shot if you just concentrate hard enough, we have to ask... how's that working out for ya? To demonstrate the destructive power of shaky hands,  Camera Technica  attached a laser to the hotshoe of a Canon 7D, with the light reflecting off a wall 20 feet away. The lesson: it's challenging enough to get a crisp shot with a tripod -- let alone without. In the video below, the laser point wobbles erratically when the photographer gingerly presses the shutter with his finger. In the second clip he uses a remote release, which visibly cuts, but doesn't eliminate, the shake. Only when he locks up the mirror and resorts to a remote release does the shaking drop to a minimum. Need some more vivid evidence? We highly suggest heading past the break for a demo that might just make you reconsider that decision not to pack aGorillapod. Wired Camera Technica

See that flaming wreckage in the picture above? A laser did that, mounted on board a second vessel similarly bobbing on top of the ocean last week. Yes, even though the United States Navy told us that legitimate seafaring death rays might take another decade to materialize, basic weaponized lasers are ready today, as the 15-kilowatt gun attached to the USS Paul Foster happily demonstrates. Of course, as you'll see in the video after the break, a beam of such minimal power takes a moment to burn through even an unshielded engine and ignite the fuel therein -- once we get some 100+ kilowatt lasers up in there, we shouldn't have such problems. Test Moves Navy a Step Closer to Lasers for Ship Self-Defense By Geoff S. Fein Office of Naval Research ARLINGTON, Va. - Marking a milestone for the Navy, the Office of Naval Research and its industry partner on April 6 successfully tested a solid-state, high-energy laser (HEL) from a surface ship, which disabled a small ta...