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12-27-1999 |
FUTURISTIC SECURITY DEVICES EXIST TODAY
"Biometrics" is defined as the science of devices that
measure some form of biological response to determine a person's
identity. Examples of Biometrics are voice print analysis, where
the sound of a person's speech is used to identify, face
recognition and fingerprint scanning. Most of us have seen some
sort of mechanical fingerprint identification depicted in the
movies. It's usually some James Bond or science fiction thriller
where a character places their palm on a really big scanner-type
screen. As the fingerprint scan takes place, we see a light bar
move up and down in much the same manner as a photocopying
machine. But in the real world, most fingerprint devices scan
invisibly and are a lot smaller than their theatrical
counterparts. In fact, it could be as small as a computer mouse.
And a new one from CompuLink Research actually IS a computer
mouse. |
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12-20-1999 |
DIALPAD.COM OFFERS FREE CALLS
Dialpad.com lets you use your Windows based Java enabled web
browser to call any ordinary telephone in the United States
including Alaska and Hawaii and do it for free. (The company
says they are working on international calling as well.) Making
free long distance voice phone calls over the Internet isn't
something new. A few years ago, software developers figured out
how to use a personal computer to convert sound into a data
stream and send it over the Internet. The trouble with this
arrangement was the person you were calling had to also have a
computer running the same software to receive the data and
convert it back into sound. They also needed to know when you
were signing on receive your call. Over the years, the process
has refined itself with better sound quality and other
technological improvements. But Dialpad.com seems to offer a lot
more of the desired features in making free long distance calls. |
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12-13-1999 |
MORE HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS
I've been busy finding even more holiday computer gift items
for the technology lovers in your life. But before we go there,
here's my holiday technology tip. Check out the Internet before
you hit the malls. This season is already showing record numbers
of savvy shoppers flocking to the Internet. And why not? It's a
great way to avoid the lines, save untold hours of shopping and
you'll probably get it for less money once you find it. |
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12-06-1999 |
WINDOWS EMULATOR ISN'T FAST, BUT IT'S GOOD
Programs that let a computer emulate another have been
around for some time now and as with most products, newer
versions offer improvements and enhancements. VirtualPC from
Connectix is now in it's 3.0 version and it has some significant
additions. |
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11-29-1999 |
HOLIDAY TECHNOLOGY GIFTS FEATURE USB
About this time every year, I go out and find some of the
coolest new technology products for computer lovers everywhere.
Most of this season's offerings have something in common. The
Universal Serial Bus (USB) has become a platform breaker in that
manufacturers need only make one device. If it connects via the
USB standard, then all that needs to be done is to develop
Windows and Macintosh software to make it function on both
platforms. There are some exception to this condition but it
applies to most USB devices. |
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11-22-1999 |
WHAT KIND OF COMPUTER SHOULD I BUY?
The single question most frequently asked of me is "What
kind of computer should I buy?" With the holidays coming up, I
hear it even more frequently. So each year around this time, I
re-examine the query. I've found it's a good thing to do since
computer products change so rapidly within a one year time span. |
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11-15-1999 |
APPLE'S MAC OS 9 OFFERS NEW FEATURES.
Apple Computer has just released its latest operating system
(OS) for the Macintosh. Dubbed Mac OS 9., this latest release
offers many improvements to its predecessor, Mac OS 8.6 as well
as several new features. |
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11-08-1999 |
ADSL IS HOW THE INTERNET SHOULD BE SEEN.
The Internet can literally bring the world to your computer.
But as the Internet evolves, it brings a lot more than just
words. It brings kinetic images and sounds that enhance your
surfing experience. But these features come with a cost. Their
complexity can slow your Internet experience down to a crawl.
The bottleneck is your telephone line. Synonymous to a garden
hose, a standard modem can only push a stream of data at speeds
up to 56 thousand bits-per-second and it gets that speed only
under ideal circumstances. What is needed is a bigger hose. But
larger hoses cost a lot more money, usually a lot more. A T1
line for example, can cost thousands of dollars a month. But
alternatives are changing all that right now. |
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11-01-1999 |
COOL USB GIZMOS HITTING DEALER SHELVES.
More and more Universal Serial Bus (USB) peripherals and
devices are rapidly appearing and the promise of one standard
bridging the platform gap is fast becoming a reality. With USB,
manufacturers need make but one device and develop software
drivers that allow it to function on both PC and Macintosh
computers although some USB products are specifically aimed at
one platform. Some of them replace existing serial and parallel
devices and others fit into a whole new category. Here are a few
of the latest. |
