You have a desktop, a laptop, a notebook, a netbook and if you are have a family you probably have more than one computer. Even if you are working you will probably have a desktop and a laptop, unless you only have a laptop. And with the internet being prevalent – you can’t seem to do anything without being connected – you are online a great deal.

And of course cyberspace is dangerous. Not just because your computer can get infected with viruses, Trojans and worse or your hard disk can crash or your data can get corrupted. But your very identity can get stolen, your bank account and credit cards misused, especially if you use the internet for financial purposes – and almost everybody does. (more…)

A can of Heinz baked beans is a common enough item to be found in most kitchens, whether it is that of a single person or a family. As such, nobody would think twice when spotting it anywhere in the kitchen. That is the premise on which this device works. (more…)

Imagine if you are at a party and suddenly blood starts coming out of your mouth – you will have given a scare to the people around you, while having a quiet laugh on your own. As a gag or prank item, blood capsules prove to be a great draw, giving a fright to the observers. You simply put them in your mouth and bite on them and ‘blood’ starts coming out. (more…)

The hummingbird is a small, nut unique bird – its wings can move extremely fast, it can fly backwards and they can hover in mid-air. Now a Japanese researcher has Hiroshi Liu who works at the Chiba University just outside Tokyo has made a robotic hummingbird, very much like the real-life version, at least a robotic imitation of it.

He plans to equip this with a micro camera which will come in use to see things in places human being cannot reach. Say if there is a building collapse or a mine collapse, the robotic hummingbird can go through small crevices and via its camera ‘sight’ survivors. Possibly it may be used even to hunt down criminals. (more…)

News is rife that Google is planning to shut down its China operations primarily because of a ‘highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China’, says the company in its blog.

Google has refused to allow censorship of its internet searches in China, particularly after a cyber attack on the emails of Chinese human rights activists. Reuters’ reports ‘Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to help citizens in other countries, including China, get uncensored access to the Internet, and last week she met top executives from companies including Google, Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Twitter and Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O), an aide said on Tuesday.’ (more…)

The terror threat in air is very real as evinced by the recent attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused of trying to ignite explosives aboard a Northwest Airlines jet. If he had gone through the full body scanner, the explosives he was carrying would most likely have been detected.

If metal detector and x-ray scanners don’t work, if strip searches are not effective, then perhaps these see-through scanners will ensure a greater degree of safety in the air. However, most people, when asked, said they preferred to be scanned rather than face a terror threat in the air. (more…)

If you have reason to believe that somebody may be spying on you for any given reason, you can use this portable spy camera detector which will tell you if this is indeed true. If you learn that your privacy is being infringed upon, then you can take steps to rectify the situation. As it is small and hand-held it is easy to carry around.

Sometimes covert cameras may be innocuous as in CCTVs which you cannot see. At other times they may be deliberate, particularly if you are in any kind of compromising situation on the work or personal front. (more…)

Karstel Nohl, an encryption expert, said at the Chaos Communication Conference of computer hackers that he had deciphered the secret code used to encrypt most mobile calls. He said he wanted to expose the holes in the security systems used by global wireless systems.

The German computer engineer with a doctorate in computer engineering said that the GSM code which has been in use since 1988 is not entirely secure. Earlier in August 2009, at a hackers’ forum, he had appealed to other computer hackers to help him generate the necessary volume of random combinations to crack the code. (more…)