|
These are my news picks in the technology category for this past week...
PayPal is soon to offer its users a new layer of security: an electronic keychain gadget that will display a numeric key code which will change every thirty seconds. Users will have to enter the currently displayed key code along with their regular login and password in order to log in to the site. I'm bewildered as to how this is going to work. How is the key fob going to receive these ever-changing key codes? If they are generated by some time-based algorithm, then it is only a matter of time before the algorithm is cracked by the phishers and identity thieves, and then what use is it? If it is supposed to receive the codes over the airwaves somehow, then ditto on the security... and how reliable will it be? I guess only time will tell how they plan to make it work.
As you may know, I have long been an addict of Electronic Arts' "The Sims" series of games, and now they are expanding the series with a new line of games called Sims Stories. The Sims Stories games will be a less resource-intensive version of The Sims 2 which will be laptop- and multitask-friendly. The Sims Life Stories comes out next month, to be followed later by two more titles, The Sims Pet Stories and The Sims Castaway Stories. I can't help but wonder if the theme of the third title gives some sort of clue to a future The Sims 2 expansion pack.
If you have ever wondered why your elders often seem unimpressed by the new technologies that get you excited, there may be an explanation. Rich Coleman, a journalism major at Penn State University, offers his take on the subject.
And last but not least, did you know that the last great revolution in the way we interact with computers - the mouse - is more than two decades old? But, the next human interface device revolution may be upon us. There's a new kind of touch screen... not the basic, sometimes temperamental touch screens you see wait staff using in bars and restaurants. Dubbed "multitouch" screens, these screens react to different gestures and even let you use more than one finger - or hand - at a time. These seem very cool, but I have to ask the question: where is this going to leave those of us who aren't able to reach our arms up in front of us to use our computers?
<< prev • home • next >>
|
![[photo of me]](/mypic.jpg)
![[album thumbnail]](/photos/seaworlddc2007/thumbnails/albumthumb.jpg)
