'Halo 3: ODST' Enters the Fray

The latest installment of the Xbox 360 "Halo" franchise arrives today,
and fans worldwide are lining up to get their hands on the wildly popular game, dubbed "Halo 3: ODST."

The abbreviation in the title stands for "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers," a group of fighters well-known to "Halo" fans but only as supporting characters in previous versions of the game. PC World sums it up like this:

Solar-Powered Hands-Free Headset

We've seen several Bluetooth car kits that get power from the sun, but this solar-powered headset from Mobile Brando ($66.90) is a first.It has a built-in solar panel to provide virtually unlimited standby power when the sun is out, and it also comes with a USB charging cable for those cloudy days or when you're stuck inside.

An Excuse to Wear Sunglasses at Night

You can't carry your wide-screen TV with you, so the Vuzix Wrap 310 video eyewear (available this fall) lets you bring the experience with you. The sunglasses-style Wrap 310 allows viewing a 16:9 wide-screen video from portable DVD players, laptop computers, portable media players, mobile phones with a video output and all iPod and iPhone models.According to Vuzix, the Wrap 310's twin high-resolution video displays project an image that's equivalent to a 52-inch wide-screen TV when viewed from 9 feet away. The glasses also have removable noise-isolating earphones and can run for up to six hours on a pair of AA batteries.

On the Go With Windows Live for Mobile

You no longer need to be tied to your PC to access all of your favorite Windows Live programs and features. Windows Live for Mobile lets you to do it from your cell phone while on the go.You can check your Hotmail, Windows Live and MSN e-mail accounts while getting the same experience you would on a PC -- graphics, Web links and photos -- and even respond to e-mails with voice recordings. With Windows Messenger, you can use Windows Live for Mobile to IM and join chat groups, check who's online, and send and receive photos and files.

A Jacket Wired for Warmth and Gadgets

How often have you been in the freezing cold -- say, standing in a long lift line at a ski resort during a blizzard or sitting in the stands at Soldier Field in Chicago in December -- and thought you could use a little more warmth? And maybe a way to charge your MP3 player or mobile phone? Yeah, it happens to us all the time, too.Mountain Hardwear's Refugium jacket ($230) is pre-wired for a battery-powered Ardica Technologies heat-generation system that will keep you toasty for almost nine hours on the lowest setting (but also ups the price to about $375). Just press a tab on the front of the jacket to turn up the heat and activate one of three settings, which in turn sends warmth down your chest and back.

Electronic Medicine Reminder

Even the most disciplined among us sometime forget to take our medicine on schedule, and with a rapidly aging population it's become a big health problem. Vitality GlowCaps ($99) use technology to not only remind patients that it's time to take their meds, but also inform family members, caregivers, doctors and pharmacists that a prescription regimen is being followed and even when it's time for a refill.It works by using a wireless chip embedded in the GlowCaps, which fit standard prescription bottles. When it's medicine time, GlowCaps flash and emit a ringtone as a reminder. GlowCaps also come with a nightlight-like wireless reminder that plugs into an outlet and glows orange along with the bottle tops.

Today's featured picture

The cover of Puck from April 6, 1901, which depicts Columbia (the national personification of the United States) preening herself with an Easter bonnet in the form of a warship which bears the words "World Power". The bonnet plume resembles gunsmoke and bears the word "Expansion" in reference to territorial gains of the Spanish–American War. Following that war the concept of American Empire was first popularized, raising questions of whether the U.S. was acting in an imperialistic manner. Debate continues a century later about whether current U.S. foreign policy is more imperialistic or more of a hegemony.