Multi-touch magic

The iPad is the latest and most striking example of Apple's use of multi-touch technology. True multi-touch capability was more concept than reality before the iPhone's debut in 2007. In less than three years, Apple has taken that technology and baked it into every one of its product lines. After the iPhone came multi-touch trackpads on Apple's laptops. Then, last fall, came the new magic mouse. And now it's being used in a full tablet. With each advance, Apple rolls out new ways to interact with devices.

Continue reading....

"Firstly, Linux can boot from a CD or memory stick without having to modify the hard disk in any way at all. You just can't do this with Microsoft Windows. You can't find or make a Windows CD that boots and runs on most any hardware, operating solely in RAM and off the CD.

"Straight away this makes Linux a natural choice for troubleshooting systems. Even if you boot Windows into safe mode there are still files which are locked and can’t be replaced, or faulty hardware drivers used. You simply can't get a pure, clean, totally isolated system under Windows unless you physically remove the hard drive and insert it into another computer which is not always an option.

Alaska Airlines is the latest carrier to launch in-flight Wi-Fi, offering passengers on a specially equipped Boeing 737 a service that uses satellites instead of cellular towers to connect the plane to the Internet.

Like other airlines, Alaska won't let passengers talk over VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) while in flight. They are invited to surf the Web, send and receive e-mail and instant messages, access games and multimedia content and use corporate VPNs (virtual private networks). Users can access the network with any Wi-Fi device, including phones and portable media players. They will get an opening Web page with news, music, shopping and links to services on the airline's homepage.

Continue reading...

Nguyen Minh Duc, a researcher at Bach Khoa Internetwork Security Centre, a Hanoi-based security firm that is commonly known as Bkis, showed how attackers could break into laptops from Lenovo, Toshiba and Asus featuring face-recognition technologies, simply by using digitized images of the actual user of the systems in each case. The attacks were conducted on a Lenovo system with its Veriface III technology, an Asus system featuring its Smart Logon software and a laptop using Toshiba's Face Recognition technology.

Budget airline Ryanair today launched Europe's first fleet-wide in-flight mobile phone service allowing passengers to text and make calls from their own handsets.

State of the art technology has already been fitted on 20 of the carrier's mainly Dublin-based aircraft as part of a six month trial - the first step in fitting out the entire fleet.

Ryanair boss Micheal O'Leary said he expects the service to be popular, particularly with teenagers and tourists looking to keep in touch while travelling.