Ashley Laurel Wilson, Esther Schindler

According to researchers from Queen's University Belfast, using wearable sensors, ordinary people could create powerful new mobile Internet networks. Doing so, they say, could create new ultra high bandwidth mobile internet infrastructures and reduce the density of mobile phone base stations.

Graphic from Queen’s University BelfastThe idea isn't precisely new. At a Comdex keynote address in the mid-1990s, former IBM CEO Lou Gerstner predicted that using a mere handshake, it would be possible to relay GIFs, messages, and business cards -- using a computer built into the heel of your shoe.

Some early programmer names are familiar to even the most novice of software developers. You may never have seen a line of code written by Bill Gates, or written any application in BASIC (much less for the Altair). But you know Gates' name, and the names of a few others.

That's a darned shame, because the early microcomputer era (we didn't uniformly call them "personal computers" yet) had many brilliant software developers. Some of them went on to greater fame and fortune; others disappeared into the mists of history.

Apple's Most Intriguing Designs

iPod Holder Meets Swanky Suit

Techie Tees

The relationships between startups and older organizations is comparable to the relationship between siblings. There's rivalry for sure, but also mutual respect. Yet though discussions oftentimes focus on what startups can learn from their older, more established "rivals", it's time that startups' business smarts got noticed. Startups are long-term vision oriented, social networking savvy and budget conscious.

Although startup founders may have patches of nervousness or self-doubt, they're generally enthusiastic about their endeavors.

Valentine's Day doesn't have to include red roses and Frank Sinatra. Technology influenced activities -- like geeky movies underscored by a love plot line, and online-based activities -- bring new flair to this year's holiday.

Leading up to Valentine's Day, Dailycandy.com is running a contest called "Get with the Programmer", which currently notes the top 11 hottest tech guys nominated by site readers. The goal of the contest isn't dating, but Dannielle Kyrillos, editor-at-large of DailyCandy.com, says that she doesn't doubt it will generate romantic interest in the nominees. Over 900 tech guys were nominated and the top 11 were chosen by humor, their humble nature and those who were "delightfully geeky". Though team did receive an image of a guy with a computer over his "database", he was immediately disqualified for the entry's inappropriate nature, Kyrillos says. "Loving tech boys isn't superficial."

Microsoft recently cut 1,400 jobs of its planned 5,000 person layoff-and it's not alone. Other big tech companies like IBM, Sprint Nextel and Google are also laying off people by the thousands. So how is it that Apple is still sailing along? It has the consumer to thank.

According to Rob Enderle, principal analyst at The Enderle Group, Apple is still driving people to products despite the economic downturn. Apple is still a "consumer company" and its success isn't based on contracts, except really for iTunes, which is only a minor part of its revenue.

For some people, deconstructing a computer can lead to a tangled mess of wires. Yet others are finding that by rewiring or recycling their Macs they're stumbling upon some very creative projects.

More than just information storage facilities, computers also function as brains. A group consisting of more than a dozen students from the Humboldt University of Berlin and the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Osnabruck set up an Artificial emotion Project part of artificial intelligence, to study how to create emotion in machines. One aspect of the project was to create a WALL-E-type robot, whose "brain" consisted of a Mac mini.

Telecommuting is great. I've been doing it full time for most of 20 years. But it isn't perfect. Working at home has its own set of irritations, some of which aren't well understood-particularly by those who don't telecommute.

Some telecommuting frustrations are minor things that seem too petty to complain about, especially to those who are stuck in rush hour traffic. Others are major problems that can affect your career. This article lists some from each category, provided by real telecommuters who have entirely too much personal experience.

Graphic: Chip TaylorThe Mac OS has long been known as an operating system for graphic artists, creative folks and those who prefer to treat their personal computers as, well, personal. Widespread business use is almost unheard of. But lately there's been a lot of discussion that Apple may be about to make a big push into the enterprise market. Here are four stories about people and companies whose positive thoughts about their Windows-based PCs may be waning.

Web Development firm switched

Glenn Romanelli, owner of Lightaus Designs, Inc., a Web development firm l in Smithtown, NY, says that although there are still a few PCs around the office, they will eventually be weeded out. Making the transition, Romanelli says, was a "no brainer."

Several weeks ago, Lynn Greiner's article on the state of the scripting universe was slashdotted. Several people raised their eyebrows at the (to them) obvious omissions, since the article only covered PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby, Tcl and JavaScript. As I wrote at the time, Lynn chose those languages because hers was a follow-up to an article from three years back. Plus, most IT managers are familiar with at least one of those well-known scripting languages, even if they haven't personally written a line of code in one of them.

However, while we've covered several in depth, those five dynamic languages are not the only ones developers use. Since every programming language is a tool suited to solve a particular problem, it behooves each IT shop to use the best tool for the job. So in this article, I share a few up-and-coming scripting languages that really ought to be on your company's radar, with a few passionate arguments from developers who have adopted them.

What does it take to achieve a successful, award-winning SOA implementation? Try asking Synovus Financial Corp., a provider of investment services, commercial and retail banking to 35 banks in the southeastern U.S. In late September, Synovus won a service-oriented architecture (SOA) case study competition sponsored by the SOA Consortium and CIO magazine. The competition highlighted business success stories and lessons learned for organizations pursuing SOA adoption.

Synovus' Emerging Business Opportunities partnered with NACHA, the Electronic Payments Association, and eWise, a financial software provider, to create a consumer secure vault payment (SVP) platform for a new Automated Clearing House payment program. The project reduces consumer identity fraud risks; it also gives merchants guaranteed payment from a consumer's financial institution at lower cost than credit card processing fees. By May 2008, Synovus had rolled out the SVP to 37 financial institutions. The project will continue until 2012.