Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Contrary to popular belief, the first laser wasn’t really reverse-engineered from Megatron of the Transformers. It was actually created by a guy named Theodore Maiman by shining a high-power flash lamp on a ruby rod with silver-coated surfaces. And if he hadn’t made the first laser work on May 16, 1960 at the Hughes Research Laboratory in California, there wouldn’t be laser etched Nokia Prism phones, laser printers, or convenience in the laser-powered supermarket check-out counter. Just think how much we would have lost if not for that one great innovation. Today’s the day to be thankful for it, because it’s the laser’s 48th year anniversary. Here’s to many more years, and I hope they finish my laser death rays in time for the 50th anniversary!

Via [Google]

Alltel, thanks to the two-year anniversary of MyCircle is giving a little something back to the loyal and long-term customers. Sadly all of the customers will not be getting the goods, as this offer applies only to users who are on the MyCircle 10 or MyCircle 20 plan. Those lucky customers who are celebrating two years with MyCircle will be getting an additional number for free, giving a total of 11 or 21 numbers they can call without worrying about minutes.

Moving forward, Alltel is also planning on offering the additional free number for every two-year anniversary, so current customers who missed out still have something to look forward to. Qualifying customers can add their addition number by visiting http://www.alltel.com/myaccount. Personally two-years is a long time, plus don’t we have birthdays every year, how about an additional number every year, of course I guess we shouldn’t complain for getting something for free.

Read [Alltel]

Alienware, makers of high-end, pricey PC gaming rigs that feature a glowy alien head icon, celebrated its ten-year anniversary at the end October.

Here’s a quote straight from Alienware’s press release:

“When I think about what we’ve been able to do for our customers and the PC market over the last 10 years, I’m humbled ­ but not so humbled that I can’t look ahead and see that Alienware is going to keep on pushing the envelope,” said Alienware CEO Nelson Gonzalez. “Since the inception of the company in 1996, delivering ultimate performance, unmatched style and uncompromising service have always been core to Alienware’s DNA, and we’ll continue moving forward and upward. We truly believe that the stars really are the limit. After all, we didn’t name the company ‘Alienware’ just because it sounds cool.”

They’ve even put a lovely timeline of their accomplishments on their site along with interviews with co-founders Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila.

Here’s another quote from the press release:

“We’ve had a lot of industry firsts during our 10 years in business thus far - more than I could I have ever imagined back in 1996,” said President and co-founder Alex Aguila. “And we remain completely committed to keeping the Alienware innovation engine running at warp speed by introducing better and more innovative products into the market. We know customers are going to continue to remain highly passionate about what we offer because, ultimately, we are the customers - we’re building these machines to beat our own demanding standards. It’s hard not to get excited about the next 10 years.”

Thanks for invading our lives - and wallets - Alienware!

Read [Alienware]