the greener side

Are handhelds the new laptops?

First you hear that the handheld isn't dead. Next, laptops are outselling desktop PCs. So is the next logical step for PDAs to replace notebooks—or is this just another resurgence of an old dot-com era chestnut? Business-class handhelds cost a fraction of the price of powerful laptops. One high tech company just ditched its notebooks for PDAs.

Days numbered for ad-free digital news

You relish the grace of reading a personal, ad-free news service if you subscribe to free digital news via RSS (Really Simple Syndication). Syndicated newsfeeds have been a best-kept secret of savvy Web surfers and bloggers, but they're getting more popular. Maybe you've dreaded the day that ads crept into the RSS space, and that time is on the horizon. The Washington Post is among the news bigwigs about to serve ads through its syndicated newsfeeds. Marketers are pondering how digital publishers can turn their RSS channels into revenue streams. But news junkies can take heart that most online content providers are still scrambling to get ads on their Web pages and have barely woken up to profiting from RSS.

AOL dialing up attention

Remember when AOL, not Google, seemed the dot-com media powerhouse? After losing dial-up subscribers to broadband rivals, AOL is clinging to Web traffic by rolling out a $50 million ad campaign and a revamped portal this month.

Internet Explorer 7 flunks

Microsoft admits that after finally updating Internet Explorer, the world's most popular and most criticized browser won't live up to the highest Web standards. The Web Standards Project's Acid2 test measures how browsers handle style and graphics, and Internet Explorer 7 won't support many new Web pages. But rather than condemn Microsoft, the Project hailed Redmond for fessing up to IE 7's shortcomings and pledging to correct them. Besides, neither Firefox nor Safari pass the acid test yet.

Your printer, the informant

Printer makers did the Secret Service's bidding to fight counterfeiting when they buried hidden codes  within color laser printers to show who, where, what, and even when you've made a print. Digital privacy advocates are disturbed that little yellow dots, visible through a magnifying glass, may betray your secrets, as PC World reported last fall. But maybe cops don't need such secret digital codes after all. British scientists have  found that no two sheets of paper look alike, as with fingerprints. Within its texture, every sheet of paper bears a unique signature--which neither crumpling, soaking, nor cooking can erase. So if you're bad guy who's left a clipping of that ransom note at home, burn it.

Your hotel room, hacked

If you've turned your hotel room into a road warrior’s ultimate office, you may want to think twice about using the TV set to surf the Web or pay for your room. Hackers could hook up a laptop and a TV tuner to some hotels' television systems and see what you order for room service, who you call, and when you check out. Clever snoopers could even manipulate your account to ring up minibar charges or to tell housekeeping that your room is tidy, as demonstrated at the Defcon security conference last week.

Next Firefox for cooler season

Security worries led to two updates to the Firefox browser within the past couple of weeks. Now you'll have to wait until the fall for the next full release. Version 1.5. will include automatic updates and support for scalable vector graphics. A sneak peek of the beta may be available in August. In the meantime, Internet Explorer, the browser everyone loves to hate, reported another round of security flaws.

High tech, low attention

Every three minutes, a digital message interrupts us at work. E-mails, instant messages, and phone calls clamor for a piece of our mind. Since the brain may need eight quiet minutes to get creative, we may perpetually pay only partial attention. Many professionals frown on letting in-boxes fill up unanswered, but others want to stick speed bumps into our multitasking mania. The marketing department at Veritas designated Fridays as e-mail free, so employees can't clutter each other's in-boxes--as News.com reports. On the other hand, Bill Gates believes that we're not overflooded with data; instead, "information underload" is the culprit. Filtering content is his fix. Get tips for tuning out tech distractions here.

New eBay rule raises eyebrows

If you use PayPal to sell goods on eBay, the auction Web site now demands that you accept credit cards--and pay up to 2.9 percent per sale to do so, just like any brick-and-mortar merchant. Some irate sellers are vowing to defect. Another new eBay rule aims to protect users from shill bidding--a scam whereby a seller's buddies bid up an item to artificially jack up its price. Your relatives, roommates, and employees can no longer bid on items you list on eBay. Are you breaking any eBay rules? Check your smarts with our eBay Resource Center.

Seed money for green energy

Venture capitalists plan to spend more money than ever on firms that focus on energy and the environment. Twelve percent of VCs surveyed (PDF) said they'll invest in companies developing "cost-effective energy sources," and up to 21 percent plan to do so by 2010. Tech enterprises get top attention from 51 percent of venture capitalists polled.