Oddly enough, the far-fetched proposal is apt to be accepted. Circuit City has reportedly solicited the services of Goldman Sachs to help "negotiate a deal," which will essentially put the troubled electronics retailer in the hands of someone else. As it stands, Blockbuster looks to be the most interested in picking up the pieces, with billionaire Carl Icahn (Blockbuster's largest shareholder) agreeing to finance the get-together. Of course, it looks as if Blockbuster may be the only outfit interested. Not like that's any surprise, however, as Best Buy itself is having to look to Europe to boost revenues with US consumer spending off from where it once was. The real question here is whether a Circuit City-Blockbuster combo would be the perfect concoction to turn things around for both flagging firms, or will we find that two sinking ships actually do go down faster when anchored to one another?

Microsoft's no stranger to appealing antitrust decisions before the European Commission's Court of the First Instance, and it looks like it's saddling up for another go 'round: the software giant has decided to appeal that $1.3B antitrust fine handed down in February. Saying that it was only filing as part of a "constructive effort to seek clarity from the court," Microsoft has asked that the decision be annulled. Yeah, that seems pretty clear. As always, our suggestions that this be resolved with a GTA IV / CoD4 round-robin deathmatch on Live have gone unheeded in favor of tedious paperwork and months of delay, but we're still holding out hope.

[Thanks, Hosain]

Far from being the first at-home biofuel kit we've seen, E-Fuel is hoping to target consumers with a hankering for fueling up their vehicle with homegrown goodness. The Micro Fueler claims to be the first backyard Ethanol brewer made specifically for use at one's abode, and according to the outfit's CEO, the premise behind it is quite simple. By mixing water, sugar and yeast, individuals can receive E100 Ethanol in a matter of hours. More specifically, it's noted that a gallon of fuel can be derived from ten gallons of sugar, and while that may not sound like the most efficient conversion rate in the world, the company is quick to point out that costs can be lowered via federal, state and local credits along with carbon trading coupons. Those eager to start fueling up before they even leave the house can order one now for $9,995, though we're told not to expect shipments until Q4.

Watch out, battery-powered MAVs -- your viability could be seriously in danger. Based on a patent application from University of Florida aerospace engineer Subrata Roy, he's reckoning that a micro air vehicle could be propelled by plasma. Scientists have known that passing a current or magnetic field through a conducting fluid generates a force, but exploiting it for use in moving an aircraft has proven futile thus far. The phenomenon, simply known as magnetohydrodynamics, has typically been tested on larger crafts, but Mr. Roy's invention would boast a wingspan of less than 15-centimeters and resemble a flying saucer more so than a 747. Of course, this fantastic idea has yet to become much more than just that, but for armed forces and entities obsessed with surveillance, this could undoubtedly be big.

Not to be confused with the absolutely worthless (sorry, the truth hurts) Big Red Button of Doom, the Emergency Party Button has a very specific purpose. Designed to take a vanilla home from mundane to spectacular in just seconds, this connected trigger basically flips a boring crib into a bumpin' club whenever you see fit. Just to give you an idea of what goes down when you mash the button, you'll see hallway lights turn off, blinds close, a fog machine come alive, speakers crank up and loads of laser lights turn active. All told, the project cost the builder just north of $600, which seems like a real bargain given what you get. Jump on past the break to have a look on video.

[Via Hack N Mod]

Okay, so we're not exactly doctors, but we couldn't help but be intrigued by PEAK Surgical's announcement today that its PlasmaBlade electrosurgery scalpel had completed preclinical testing with positive results. Unlike traditional electrosurgery tools like the bovie cutter, the PlasmaBlade operates at low temperatures, using pulsed plasma energy to cut tissue and control bleeding. Then, stupidly, we watched the video. Let's just say now that it no longer matters to us that surgeons using the PEAK PlasmaBlade produce "minimal collateral damage" to tissue and that bleeding was reduced. Sure, it's great for the surgeons, but our eyes? Not going to be the same.

[Via MedGadget]

Read - PEAK PlasmaBlade press release
Watch - PEAK PlasmaBlade demo video (WARNING: not for the squeamish, we mean it!)

There weren't a whole lot of firm details on the reasons behind Apple's acquisition of chip designer P.A. Semi to be had back when the deal was announced last month, but it seems that a bit of the veil of mystery may now be lifting, at least if the word EETimes is hearing from its unnamed source is to be believed. Apparently, Apple was keen to have P.A. Semi's crack chip-making team design a new chip for them, but P.A. Semi had "more or less burnt through its venture capital funds," leaving them unable to take on the project. According to EETimes source, that meant that the only way to get P.A. Semi involved was for Apple to pay off all of P.A.'s investors and bring the company in-house, something they were able to do for a mere $280 million or so. Of course, as EETimes points out, the big question remaining is exactly what it is that Apple wants P.A. Semi to help it out with, and that's a detail we'd expect to take considerably longer to trickle out.

[Via Mac Rumors]

Believe it or not, tesla coils are good for more than just creating lighting, protecting one's laptop or cranking out a sweet tune -- and the folks watching a dazzling demonstration at Maker Faire 2008 can attest to that. Apparently a group of prototype (1 / 12 scale, no less) coils were seen sparking up the evening in San Mateo, California, but it wasn't the visual energy or unmistakable hum that caused all that saliva to form in the mouths of onlookers. Oh no, it was the fact that a dozen hot dogs were simultaneously roasted and made ready for safe consumption. Check out a video of the action right after the break.

After the beating the company is taking in the stock market, and with several prominent investors stepping forward to express dissatisfaction with how things were handled, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang says he was willing to discuss things further if Microsoft hadn't turned its back on the offer. "We did not say it was a take-it-or-leave-it number in the sense that we would never negotiate any more," he said, referring to the $37 figure. "We were totally willing to do a transaction, and they walked away." Deep down we know he's just miffed to be missing out on sleeping bag to sleeping bag discussions with Ballmer about adding an exclamation mark to Microsoft. Dream on, Yang.

[Via Silicon Valley Insider]

Update: Microsoft claims "we've moved on."

Archer Quinn promised the world a working demonstration of his homemade free energy device called the "Sword of God" by June 20th, but it looks like we're getting a sneak peek a little early: Quinn's detailing the build on his blog, and it's just about as pigs-in-trousers insane as you'd expect. It's hard to even pick one quote as an example here -- Quinn rails on about how he destroyed his first machine because he didn't want Arab nations to starve without oil money but then a picture of Dubai's opulence changed his mind, how "gravity wheels" are perpetual motion machines, how Nikola Tesla presented BS theories, how Australian Nazis are reading his email, and on and on. Most importantly, however, he continues to update on how his project is going. We're not sure if he's done yet or what (it's not exactly easy to follow) but it looks like something's ready -- anyone want to bet if it works? We also have a very nice bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

[Thanks, Curt]

We've already seen some wind turbines designed to float offshore, but Canadian startup Magenn Power has some ideas of its own for getting wind power off the ground and, judging by its latest tests, it seems to be making some considerable progress. Its solution, dubbed the Magenn Air Rotor System (or MARS), is designed to float between 600 and 1,000 feet above the ground, and spin on the horizontal axis to generate electricity, giving it a power capacity of anywhere from 10 kilowatts to several megawatts depending on the configuration. While they've apparently yet to extract any juice from it, the company has at least recently gotten a prototype off the ground at a massive airship testing facility in North Carolina, and it has apparently now set its sights on an outdoor test, although there's no word as to when that might go down. What's more, as Greentech Media reports, while the company apparently plans to first market a 100 kilowatt version for industrial use, it also hopes to eventually enter the consumer market with smaller models that people "can take camping or use at their cottage," although it admits that prospect has been put on the backburner for now.

[Via Protein]