my computer screen. It was from my sister who always felt I deserved much more.

My boss walked in behind me at that moment. I was caught unawares and didn’t have time to close the window. He read it (I’m sure), talked about something else and left the room with a weird expression on his face.

I’m sure all of you must have faced similar embarrassing situations, either at home or at work.

Luckily for us, now there are systems that can block sensitive content on a computer screen. When a document is displayed, only the user of that computer can see the text. All others will see content that is convincingly made to look like real but is not.

This miraculous system is “Chameleon,” developed by Oculis Lab, a U.S. based company. According to Bill Anderson, president of Oculis Labs, “For example, a line of text that reads “the cat ran across the road” may appear to a snooper to say “the turtle had a nice lunch.”

For now, this system is designed specifically for military use.

How does this work?

Chameleon works by initially performing a calibration test on the person who is the original user of a particular computer. The movement of a person’s eyes over the text is observed. The pattern is said to be different for 95% of the people.

The text can be seen by the user, whose eyes are tracked by “gaze tracker,” an infrared camera. For people with a different gazing pattern, the text changes to something else. Anderson said, “We are replacing content with equally probably false content.”

All these text changes occur within 23 to 65 milliseconds during the saccades, which are the rapid unconscious eye movements. Of course all this happens so fast, that for the user, it is just like reading text normally on the computer.

Chameleon begins with intercepting application content, such as a Microsoft Word document and then turns to intercepting the graphics card. Anderson said that although the authorized user can intercept the changing text outside their peripheral vision, it does not create any problems with the comprehension of the document.

I know you’re wondering how Chameleon comes up with all that false unrelated content, but content that makes sense. It uses a statistical dictionary to create convincing content. If the computer is being used by a soldier for some confidential information, he doesn’t have to keep a watch over his back, as whoever comes from behind can only view this false content and not the original.

But there is a slight problem – about 5% of the people are said to share the same viewing pattern, which means if such a person looks at the computer screen, he or she will be able to view exactly what the user is viewing. But then since such people make up only 5%, it is unlikely that such a situation will arise.

Chameleon is also smart enough to resist a tempest attack, which is an old technique where electronic signals that the hardware sends out, such as the graphics card etc. are detected and then used to figure out the content. There can also be no viewing the content with screenshots taken with zoom lenses.

Currently, the system has been developed to work with Microsoft Windows PCs, but may be used with other operating systems too. The company plans on approaching the U.S. military initially and later other NATO allies. Each license per computer costs US$ 10,000.

Regular consumers like us need not be disappointed, as Oculis has already released for sale, a product called the “Private Eye,” that works with a regular webcam. This detects the user of a computer and if that user turns away from the webcam, the text on the computer screen is blurred within 100 milliseconds.

Sometimes, closing the window makes it seem rude or distrusting of the other person. Such awkward situations of closing the window as soon as someone walks in are alleviated.

The company is releasing an advanced version, the PrivateEye Professional, very soon. If the webcam sees someone standing behind the user, it will immediately display a thumbnail video window of that person’s image. Imagine how embarrassing it would be for an interloper who snoops from behind hoping to see what you’re up to, and sees his own face instead.

One would think the cost of such a wonderful device would be very high, but a consumer license for PrivateEye costs just $19.95, while a commercial license costs $59.95. PrivateEye Professional costs $59.95 for a consumer license and $119.95 for commercial use.

Oculis Labs has come a long way from being a family and friend financed business that started with $1 million, and is currently on another fund-raising spree, with a hope of raising another $1 – $1.5 million. It has big plans for the future and hopes to use this technology into data leakage security products offered by big vendors. Another option it is looking at is to be able to ship PrivateEye with new PCs by entering into a deal with PC makers.

Well, at least with the smart thinking of this company, we are soon going to be rid of the dread of using computers for confidential or personal matters.

Not very long ago, technology giant Microsoft challenged the might of Google, with the launch of a new search engine, Bing.  Not stopping at that, it went ahead and announced Office 10, which will include free online versions of its four popular software programs – a shot at Google’s web-based office applications.  Google, not one to be left behind, surprised everyone with a talk about its new operating system, clearly hoping to overturn the dominance of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows.

This announcement by Google threw the tech world into a tizzy; some going to the extent of saying that Google’s new offering would finally mark the end of Windows’ rule and others shaking their heads at what they perceive to be a great mistake by Google.

It is certainly going to be quite a ride!  Microsoft powers almost 90 percent of the world’s computers and this gives Microsoft an inherent advantage, where operating systems are concerned.

Google’s new operating system, called the Google Chrome Operating System, is initially expected to target net books. It may be released to the world in the second half of 2010.

Why is Google even trying to get into Microsoft’s domain?  Google sees a huge opportunity here, as it believes that Windows is an archaic system from the pre-internet era, and outdated in the current day, where all our activities are moving online.

According to Google, the point of access should now shift from the desktop to the browser, and it has invested a lot of money and time, in what it sees as the future of computing – the cloud.  Cloud computing is a global network of huge data centers, that puts all the data and applications on the internet, which can be accessed by users with a network connection anywhere and at anytime.

The new operating system is expected to work perfectly with its other software applications, such as Google Maps, Google Calendar and Gmail.  It would be fast and light weight, and users will be able to access the web within a few seconds.  It is based on open-source Linux code.

It is not going to be easy to take away Microsoft’s market share, say experts.  There have been other alternatives in the past, but nothing could dent Windows.  But they do agree that things may be different this time around, because Google has deep pockets and plenty of resources unlike the other challengers.

Pertaining one of the key areas of competition for the two, Browsers, Internet Explorer dominates 70 percent of the market and Google’s Chrome browser has a hold on only 2 percent of the browser market.

In the online search area, Google is synonymous with the term “search”, and nothing else even comes into the picture. Google delivered about 80% of search results in June for U.S. web users.  Microsoft hopes its innovative search engine would fare better than Google, but as of now it only dominates 8.2 percent of the searches.

Coming to operating systems, Microsoft has been in the business of operating systems for 28 long years.  It continued to lead 90% of this market all these years, even dominating the business world, catering to millions of users from around the world.  In contrast, Google made its entry into the OS market just a couple of years ago with its Android operating system for small devices.  Google is now working on its new operating system to compete with Windows.  It hopes to convince developers to write software that is browser based.

Microsoft and Google have locked horns over the years in several markets, from mobile software to internet search.

From the looks of it, they are in the midst of a full-blown battle, and surprisingly, the fight is over who will be considered the most important tech company in the world.

The key to success for Google in this area would be to lock-in partnerships with top PC makers, such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, which currently use Windows on most of their products.  For Microsoft, the stakes are high because Windows OS attributed to 45% of its profits last year.  If this war between the two giants results in better products and more options for us, the consumers, all this excitement would be worth it.

Credit: Bert Kommerij (via Flickr)

When I look back into my son’s childhood, there are specific images that flash in my mind – images of his tiny frame playing in his room, his first day at school, him walking into my office with blood all over from a bike accident and smilingly calling it tomato ketchup.

Some sad, some happy, but they are all precious.  But then I regret not remembering every single day of his growing up years. If only I could….

We do remember some things from our past but definitely not every single detail.  This is where Gordon Bell is trying to ring a bell.  He is part of Microsoft’s research team, a principal researcher and is working towards making sure we can remember all the special moments of our lives.  He has worked as a chief engineer and vice president of research and development at Digital Equipment Corp. for 23 long years and later founded the Computer History Museum.

Bell himself wants to capture all the moments of his life and store them on his Dell laptop. He wants to be able to pull up every single picture, every conversation, every email whenever he wants.

Credit: Deadlyllama (via Flickr)

Project MyLifeBits

This project is appropriately called, MyLifeBits, and Bell is trying to collect as much information from his past as possible and store his life on his laptop.  He wants to convert his PC into a repository, a personal memory base.  He feels it is essential for all of us to hold on to every bit of our lives – and be immortal.

He is not keen of making his life public and these memories are for him alone. According to him, “A lot of people put their lives on the Web. I’m not an advocate of that,” he says, adding that he thinks revealing too much personal information online can be dangerous. “We’re not life loggers because we’re not publicly disclosing or talking about ourselves. This was built to be entirely personal, to aid the individual. You will leave a personal legacy — a record of your life.”

How did the idea come about?

This project is almost ten-years old having started in the late 90’s.  At that time, Bell wanted to scan his books, articles and memos into a digital format, transforming all his paper records. It was at that point that he came across and read “The Road Ahead,” written by Bill Gates.  In this book, Gates wrote about his future vision of people someday being able to record and recall everything they have ever seen or heard.

That kick-started Bell’s thought process and he wondered how much information we end up with in our life. If we can have it all, what would it cost and in what way would it be useful to us. That’s what got him started and he decided on performing an experiment on himself.

Implementation

Bell started scanning in 1999 and in 2001; a colleague and friend at Microsoft made him see that he needed a bigger database to access information.  Bell began storing more information about himself; all the CDs, all the videos of lecture he had given and all the photos he had ever taken or had with him.  He then proceeded to collect images of all the web pages and television shows he has watched.  He recorded phone conversations, audio and video conferences, instant messages and his emails.

He even started wearing a SenseCam digital camera around his neck that takes pictures automatically every 30 seconds or whenever someone approaches, and has been created by scientists at Microsoft Research Lab in England.

MyLifeBits software is developed by Microsoft Research team and it has the ability to record web pages along with radio and television programs.

This mountain of data is worth more than 350 gigabytes, without including the streaming audio and video, and it is a replica of his biological memory.  Bell says it is better because this e-memory never forgets.

Since the project is very personal in nature, all the good and bad things about Bell’s life are recorded and Bell hasn’t felt the need to delete anything.  He wants every bit of his life to stay – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Future of memories

According to bell, digitizing our memories will be standard in about 20 years.  Smartphones with location awareness and inexpensive digital memory storage in the “cloud” will make this transition inevitable. Your memory may fade but your memories will not.

Bell says this will “change what it means to be human.”  He talks about this in a new book authored by himself and researcher Jim Gemmell, called “Total Recall.”  Even if we don’t go to the extent Gordon Bell has, we can start storing all our special memories and immortalize them.

Image: Aileen (via Flickr)

We have to accept the fact that our lives revolve around gadgets and we cannot live without them. These gadgets are power hungry and unless we keep feeding them, they close down, shutting everything and bringing life to a still. Our reliance on gadgets can be scary, if we are not prepared.

Most of us carry at least two of these energy monsters; laptops, phones, iPods and digital cameras, which make sure they run out on us just when we need them the most. How many times have you had your laptop give up when you are about to send an important email? Didn’t your digicam die when you spotted something you wanted to capture? It happens to all of us all the time.

But you can be smart and get the better of your gadgets. There are a few tricks that will help you squeeze more juice out of the batteries in these gadgets, to ensure they keep ticking for longer.

Keep them cool at all times

We all love the fact that our gadgets have fancy covers and cases to keep them safe. We even buy a good looking case when we see one. What we fail to understand is that these cases are the number one enemies of your devices. As if battling the heat outside and the warmth of your pocket or bag is not bad enough, your devices are tortured and stand no chance in these hell holes.

Batteries die faster due to heat. The power in batteries comes from a chemical reaction and extreme temperatures make batteries work harder to generate the same amount of power, using up the battery life in huge chunks. So, you will have to keep your devices cool if you want your battery to last longer.

Stay away from features you do not use

Today’s devices come with numerous features, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, backlights etc. In the excitement of having all these features, you never bothered to learn that these features hog batteries.

The first thing to do is to turn off all the features you are not currently using, in order save power. Secondly, your iPods and phones have lights that enable you to see the screen more clearly, and these lights can be detrimental to your battery health. It is good to either completely turn off the lights or lower the intensity to save power. With laptops, apart from taking care of the backlight, you can also remove all the devices, such as a USB flash drive etc. that you are not using. Turn off the LCD on your digicam and look through the view finder.

If you are in the midst of a photo shoot and your camera beeps indicating low battery, you can make it go longer by turning off the flash. Get into the habit of switching off flash whenever possible as this will give a long lease of life to your batteries.

Refrain from turning devices on and off

Image: Thruhike98 (via Flickr)

Most of us are guilty of making the mistake of turning off and restarting our devices often, because common thinking is that turning off devices when not in use saves power. The fact is that devices consume maximum battery when they are starting up, so switching off should be done only as a last resort. If you phone has an “airplane” mode, use that instead of switching it off. In that mode, you can save a lot of battery life as it will not catch cell signals and is better than turning it off completely.

For laptops, you can use the “hibernate” mode, especially if you are going to be using it soon. Similarly, you must ensure not to switch off your camera often between snaps. Instead, turn off the LCD screen and leave the camera on, if you know you’re going to be taking pictures within the next few hours.

These precautions may seem simple but are guaranteed to keep your battery kicking for long. You will not have to face disasters of your devices dying on you. Conserving battery power not only gives a longer battery life but also keeps the devices in good condition for longer.

Credit: Nicholaschan (via Flickr)

We’ve been talking about Windows Mobile 6.5 for months and finally you can get your hands on one.  It has been launched on Oct 6, 2009. WM6.5 is being backed by most major players.  In Europe, mobile operators Orange, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom AG (T-Mobile); and Samsung, Acer, Sony Ericsson, LG Electronics, HTC and Toshiba.

AT&T has announced two phones based on Windows Mobile 6.5: The HTC Tilt 2 and the Pure.  Microsoft expects to have a huge variety of phones running the OS by the end of the year, which includes touch screen phones with slide-out keyboards, compact flip phones as well as sleek full-keyboard smartphones.

With this version, Microsoft seems to get its mobile platform in order.  Here are some improvements in 6.5 compared to the previous version.

New Today screen – Although, the classic Today screen is still there, 6.5 comes in a new version that gives this mobile a fresh look.  Unfortunately, the users may not be able to experience this screen as some manufacturers replace it with their customization, such as HTC.

Honeycomb Start screen – The old screen with all those boring old icons is gone and in its place is a beautifully themed list of modern images for default apps.  The Start menu does not exist and users can go to the new Start screen by pressing the Windows icon in the upper left of the screen.

Credit: Techfever (via Flickr)

New lock screen – This one needs to be appreciated.  Instead of just having one way to get back into the mobile, the lock screen in 6.5 gives users various points of entry depending on the status. For example, if there is a new text message, users can go directly to that through a separate unlock route.

MSN Widget – Allows users to get real-time information on stocks, sport scores, weather and others.

Gesture support – This new feature allows users to scroll through web pages, contacts and other screens using just simple drags, clicks and taps.

Windows Marketplace – The Windows Marketplace takes WM6.5 into the world of managed mobile app stores.  Users will be able to download the latest apps for the phone.  It will be made available to 6 and 6.1 versions also.  Answer to the iPhone?

Windows Media Player Mobile – Users can view the video on full-screen and the song or video can be paused to receive a call.

Designer themes – Microsoft entered into deals with many international well-known fashion designers and artists to provide exclusive themes that are shipped free of charge.  Users are given the option to create their own themes on a PC and transfer them to the phone.

Restyled Internet Explorer – Finally, we come to the most important feature of Windows Mobile 6.5, which is the Internet Explorer Mobile 6.  It enriches web viewing by bringing the desktop browsing experience to the mobile.  It is easy to use with just a swipe of the finger and uses the latest technologies to make viewing all sorts of pages extremely easy.  The company has also added a good looking UI, better HTML support, new JavaScript engine and a zoom slider.  Overall, this feature is something users are going to enjoy immensely.

Apart from the above mentioned changes, everything else remains almost the same.  Microsoft wants this 6.5 version to concentrate on touch, by replacing the old stylus with the finger-friendly menu.  Another major thing with this mobile is the on-list scrolling with which users can avoid touching the thin scrollbar.  This is great for users who spend their time messaging and emailing.

Another good service to note is “Find My Phone” which is a service used to locate a missing phone, make it ring even if it is set to vibrate or even lock or wipe the device remotely.  This service costs $5 per use only, unlike Apple’s iPhone-finding service that requires a yearly subscription of $99/year.

We have to see if all these changes and improvements in Windows Mobile 6.5 will see Microsoft coming back into the smartphone market, what with the rising competition from free alternatives like the Android.  While 6.5 is said to be released as a placeholder to Windows Mobile, a larger overhaul is expected in Windows Mobile 7 (codename “Photon”), which will debut sometime next year.

The Netbook, typically weighing 2-3 pounds could be your latest personal navigation device that shows you the way around.

Dell has introduced a GPS and Wi-Fi card in their netbooks, and turned them into gizmos that can offer turn-by-turn directions as perfectly and as efficiently as any other good standalone navigation device.

Alan Sicher, a senior wireless product manager at Dell said, “Smartphones already have GPS capabilities. We are now bringing it to netbooks so the devices know where you are and can help you where you want to go.”

Now that the traditional standalone GPS gadget has been around for a while and taken for granted, navigation device makers are looking to create something innovative and are looking to offer their software on other devices too.

TomTom, one of the top Dutch manufacturers of automotive navigation systems recently announced that it would be offering turn-by-turn directions apps on the iPhone. It will also be offering accessories such as a car mounting dock and a power charger.

Dell on the other hand is looking at making the most of the netbook sales by incorporating this feature into its notebooks, specifically the Dell Mini 10 netbook.

The Mini 10 is one of Dell’s main creations in the category of netbooks that typically run Windows XP (not Vista) and have less memory and processing power than the regular laptop like a Lenovo notebook. But they also cost less than $500.

Customers can choose the Wireless 700 card for $69 when ordering their netbook. This card combines Broadcom’s GPS technology and Skyhook Wireless Wi-Fi positioning solutions, which can determine a device’s location through satellite signals, the IDs of Wi-Fi networks nearby or both.

This is the first time Dell has licensed Skyhook’s software for use in any of its products. This “Loki” software integrates with browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox to help users retrieve information from the web, based on their location.

With the integration of GPS cards into netbooks, they will function almost like a personal navigation device, and may help netbooks impinge on the market for standalone GPS devices. Users can just open their netbook and get directions as well as make their netbook location aware. The navigation software called “CoPilot” is said to offer 2D and 3D map views, allow users to save addresses for a trip, provide route optimization and give turn-by-turn directions to drivers. It offers all the features and is as efficient as any standalone GPS device.

In spite of the efficiency with which they work, one cannot help but wonder how these netbooks with GPS devices will fare with the customers. Is it actually feasible to use a netbook as a GPS device; in spite of netbooks being small? Some people feel that carrying it around or using it in the car to find routes may not be all that easy, especially when a cellphone can make the same job much easier.

However, these GPS enabled netbooks may prove to be helpful for international travelers. According to Sicher, “If you are traveling to Europe roaming costs can be pretty pricey for your cellphone. The GPS netbooks could also be handy in areas where cellphone coverage is weak.”

Another point that has to be noted is that although the turn-by-turn directions navigation software on the netbook will be free for people who buy the card and the netbook, the maps are expected to be updated on a yearly basis and customers may be charged for these updates.

Dell is going all out to make this a success and like TomTom, is also offering accessories, such as a dock for the netbooks and a car charger. Dell says it will make the Wireless 700 option available for Windows Vista and Windows 7 computers, as well as for other Dell systems and not just the Mini 10.

With the inclusion of GPS, the netbook now provides much more value for money and this may take off with the customers just the way Dell hopes it would.

Intel Core i7 processor is the product of the next-generation Nehalem architecture, which features the latest innovations and is the most sophisticated in the world. It is currently one of the fastest processors and is highly acclaimed by the entire IT community as a technical marvel.

This is the first time Intel has introduced such an advanced single-die chip with four cores for the desktop market. All of its previous quad-core chips had two dies on a single chip. The new technology is meant to boost performance on demand and maximize data throughput. This is also the first mainstream Intel chip with an integrated memory controller.

Intel claims that these Core i7 processors are the best desktop processors in the world. The combination of Intel Turbo Boost technology and Intel Hyper-Threading technology provides users the ability to multitask applications faster and with wonderful digital media creation.

According to Patrick Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group, “Intel has delivered the fastest desktop processor on Earth to the most demanding users on Earth, the ones who are using their PCs for video, gaming and music. “When you couple what is Intel’s biggest leap in chip design with other incredible innovations like Intel’s solid state drives, the Core i7 processor has redefined the computer of tomorrow.”

The three main architectural changes to Core i7 are; faster memory, hyper-threading and turbo mode.

At the center of the new architecture is a change in the way the chip can access memory. Core i7 receives data directly from the system RAM, instead of the CPU communicating with the memory via the Front Side Bus. In fact, it was AMD that pioneered this integrated controller strategy a few years back. With this technology, users will find it very beneficial with applications that access a lot of memory on a frequent basis.

The Quickpath Interconnect technology Intel uses, makes the i7 processor transfer incoming as well as outgoing bytes faster. Core i7 has 8 MB L3 cache with a very efficient cache subsystem, along with an integrated memory controller with 3 channels of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, which results in up to 25.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth. This high bandwidth and lower latency is great as it provides amazing performance for data-intensive applications.

The hyper-threading feature allows it to run up to 8 threads at a time, which means the performance output for anything using this processor is excellent; which includes gaming, video editing and every other activity on the computer and internet. In comparison with the previous Intel processors, this new processor is forty times faster and does not consume any extra power. This power saving technology was earlier mostly found in notebooks but now it is also available in Core i7 Intel based desktops.

Intel i7 processor’s Turbo Boost technology can adjust the speed of the CPU dynamically. This chip has the capacity to switch off the cores that are not in use and supply all the power to the core that is in use, making it run faster, maximizing speed for all the demanding applications, accelerating performance for the workload in a most effective manner.

The Intel HD Boost works by providing the best processing efficiency, improving a wide variety of multimedia applications. The DX58SO board is specifically designed to use the high power of the new Intel Core i7 processors for the support of the multi threading features, ATI CrossfireX technologies and 3 channels DDR3 RAM.

To experience the best out of the latest PC games, such as World at War and Far Cry2, a computing platform that can provide excellent graphics and high-level multi-threading features is needed and Intel Core i7 provides exactly that.

With the intelligent multi-core technology that gets into overdrive as soon as user activity intensifies, Intel Core i7 delivers breakthrough performance in everything a user does on the computer; from gaming to all other applications. This chip is heading the list of the best in the market right now and people, who spend a lot of time on their computers and are particular about getting the best out of their computers, need look no further than Intel Core i7.

Advances in computers began in the 1960s and the impact they have on our society today is immense. We are able to access the World Wide Web, which has become our lifeline. Acquiring knowledge has become much simpler and things are done faster than ever before. Living in the electronic age has great advantages and we have the world at our doorstep, or should we say finger tips.

But with all the comfort and convenience that computers offer, there are potential problems they can cause too, such as health perils associated with their usage.

The physical manifestation of problems is usually noticed after years of using computers. As we all know, sitting for long in a fixed position puts strain on the lower back. If we ignore that, it can lead to major problems later on. It is better to take care before our body intervenes and things get out of hand.

The other problems that come along with using computers include wrist pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and blurry vision. Good exercise and periodic rest, both for the body as well as the eyes is essential.

For a long time, we concentrated only on these health problems; however, other computer-related injuries, such as computer equipment falling over, have always been overlooked. It is time to take a look at such issues and understand how not to fall prey. Researchers have found an increase of an unbelievable 732%, in these injuries when compared to a survey conducted in 1994.

It was totally shocking to read about a very recent incident where a three-year-old girl broke her skull and died on the spot. This happened because a television set toppled and fell on her head.

This is not an isolated case and there are many cases related to computer monitors. Research shows that young children are particularly at risk. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System revealed 78,000 injuries, which include head injuries due to toppled monitors in a period of 13 years. The highest injury rate is seen to be with children below five, while children under 10 and elders above 60 also had elevated injury rates.

Another key fact to note is that nine out of ten injuries occurred at home. Lara Mckenzie of a hospital’s Center for Injury Research and Policy said, “Future research on acute computer-related injuries is needed.”

Research can only show us what is happening, how many cases are reported and if there has been an increase or decrease in such cases, but the saying, “prevention is better than cure” seems most relevant with the hazards related to computers than anywhere else.

It is up to the parents to ensure safety of their kids. There are a few things that can be done to keep children safe from such injuries:

Keeping the computer against a wall, ensuring it does not sit on the edge of the table or computer desk is important. This way the chances of kids reaching and pulling at it are reduced. The computer desk should be in the study and away from kids’ play areas. You must also make sure the desk on which the computer is kept does not wobble. Another major problem that has been seen is very small children getting entangled in the computer cables and cords. They have to be placed at the back of the desk and tied properly and securely. It is a great idea to have wall anchors holding the computer table or desk. This way, even if children happen to pull at them, there is no danger of them toppling over. In fact, when there are kids around, a good idea is to anchor everything and not only the computer desk.

These days, with children starting to use computers at a very young age, it is necessary to keep an eye on the computer equipment at all times, to ensure there is nothing wrong.

These are small things which will make a huge difference. Such precautions can help avoid computer-related injuries and keep your children safe, even with computers around.

In spite of government officials clarifying that this is only meant to protect children from pornography and all other unhealthy content, there have been protests galore from various quarters.

According to Liu Zhengrong, deputy chief of the Internet Affairs Bureau, “The nationwise move is purely to protect the youngsters from Internet pornography and violence. The software has proved to be effective in trials in schools.”

Even the producer of this software, Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co. said the software only filters nude pictures and other pornography. Their official media quote says, “Our software is simply not capable of spying on Internet users, it is only a filter.”

However, computer makers and human rights activists look at this differently. They feel the government is doing this to censor the Internet. Critics fear that the software may work as a spyware to keep tab on all access to politically sensitive websites and blogs run by Tibetan activities and groups of dissidents. There have been complaints from manufacturers of foreign brands too, saying it is not going to be easy installing the new software in such a short time.

Experts are of the opinion that all this effort by the government is going to be a waste of time, as consumers will be able to delete the software or reformat their hard disks after they get their new computers.

The government is said to have spent $6.1 million on the “Green Dam-Youth Escort” filtering software.

Many Chinese geeks have been playing with this new software for the past few days and several reports have made their way online. They say that while the porn sites are blocked by the software when trying to access on the Internet Explorer, Firefox allows access. This means, this software may help with the average kid but not the tech savvy kid. Teachers and parents also comment that many normal websites are also banned, including course-related material. Some interesting reports also say that the software has the ability to record Internet usage data as well as being spyware – it transmits reports to Jinhui Corp., and there is no guarantee that personal information is not collected secretly.

The software manufacturer is also said to have received death threats and thousands of harassing phone calls. A well-known magazine argued that control over censorship to protect children should be left in the hands of parents and teachers. Although, the government can use any mechanism to guide parents to take responsibility for their children, it should not try and take the place of a parent.

This outcry by citizens, the legal challenges, satirical cartoons and petitions made the government take a long look at their proposal again. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology changed its stance and revealed that users are not forced to install or use the Green Dam Youth Escort software – though the software will come with all PCs that are going to be sold from July 1, either pre-installed or on a CD.

With people so used to their freedom in using the Internet, this kind of authoritarian moves may just be a thing of the past.

The new iPod Shuffle – This one is the world’s first ever talking iPod! Although, iPod Shuffles have always been small in size, Apple has now outdone itself by creating a very small iPod Shuffle (nano) that has been given the capacity to talk and has much more storage room than its predecessor.

This tiny 1.8” tall and 0.3” thin and sleek gadget comes with increased storage of 4GB that allows you to store more than 1000 songs and create multiple playlists; one for the gym, one for driving, one at home and for any other mood you choose. Apple achieved this feat by removing the controls from the iPod Shuffle itself and creating a unique touch by transferring them to the right earbud cord. This not only makes the iPod smaller in size but also easier to access and allows users to activate features they need without having to stop what they are doing. Some of you may consider it a disadvantage – the fact that you will have to use the headsets that Apple provides with the Shuffle because of the controls being fixed on them; unless Apple comes up with water-resistant headphones in different hues and forms.

Just like all other iPod Shuffles, this one also has no display; however, the new feature, VoiceOver eradicates the need for a display. It tells the user what song is playing as well as give the name of the singer. It also announces the playlists that are available and this helps in switching playlists with ease, without having to look at the iPod to do so. The voice that is heard depends on the type of computer being used. The VoiceOver has been programmed to use over 14 languages, allowing users to listen to different songs from the world over – Spanish or Chinese anyone?

Music can be loaded through iTunes as usual and iTunes 8.1 is needed on Mac OS X 1.4 or 10.5 or Windows XP SP3 or Vista. The iPod Shuffle can be connected to the Mac or PC using the cable that is provided and iTunes will set it up. You can also just drag songs in and out of the playlist.

This iPod also tells you and gives a warning when the battery needs to be charged. The battery, according to Apple lasts 10 hours. But the problem could be when it comes to replacement of the battery, as it costs as much as $49, which is considered by many as a very steep price to pay. Could it be that the iPod Shuffle is designed to be a disposable product? Who would want to spend almost $50 on just the battery?

Overall, the new improvements in the iPod Shuffle are definitely something to talk about; the VoiceOver, multiple playlists, the huge capacity etc. But many users are showing their displeasure at having no buttons on the iPod itself. It may be fun to have no buttons as that makes it a unique piece but it’s difficult for people to unlearn what is learnt with the previous iPods. Another major factor that contributes to this dissatisfaction is the use of cheap earbuds by Apple, which they say are not at all comfortable to use. The absence of any third-party options makes it difficult and is considered to be a deal-breaker; in spite of the fascination the new iPod Shuffle has been received with.

The new iPod Shuffle is available in smart colors of black and silver and they are easy on the eye. The look and the features make this a great gift too, as you can engrave whatever name and message you want on it.