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Stealing Laptops During the Holidays

When you take your laptop with you everywhere you go, there are a number of times when you put your laptop down and maybe turn your head away for a second or two. That time likely doubles when traveling through an airport. Though a couple of seconds is not a long time, that’s all the time a thief needs to grab and getaway with your electronic companion. If you plan on traveling with your laptop this holiday season, then travel prepared. Remember, statistics are not on your side. According to Gartner, one laptop is stolen every 53 seconds. In addition, according to a Ponemon Institute study, 12,000 laptops a week are lost by business travelers alone. Of that number, only 35% say they protect the information ingested in to their laptop.

The greatest risk a stolen laptop poses is losing the data on the PC that might be used for identity theft. Many people use their computers for online banking, e-commerce, household accounts, and personal correspondence. Information on the computer could be used to charge up credit and buy merchandise in the owner’s name. Plus, as more companies issue laptops to employees, corporate data is also at risk. If confidential information, like a customers’ personal data, is lost it can cause major damage and liability to a company.

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Inside the BlackBerry Bold

The smartphone race between upstart Apple (AAPL) and incumbents like Research In Motion (RIMM) is well under way. Picking winners has as much to do with what’s inside these advanced wireless devices as the fancy features evident on the outside.

That’s why market research firm iSuppli did an analysis of the guts of the Bold, one of the recent additions to Research In Motion’s lineup of BlackBerry smartphones. The firm’s so-called teardown analysis of the Bold shows that the parts and materials used to make the phone cost $158.16, and that assembly and testing add another $11.25, for a total cost of $169.41.

The Bold, already on the market with wireless carriers in Britain, France, Canada, India, and other markets, is expected to debut soon in the U.S. with wireless carrier AT&T (T) at a price of about $300 for a two-year contract. Rogers Wireless (RCI) in Canada sells the Bold for the Canadian equivalent of about $254 with a contract. AT&T hasn’t yet confirmed that price, and a spokesman declined to comment. A RIM spokeswoman had no comment.

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Tiny USB Controllers from Korg

The nanoSeries comes with the nanoKONTROL, the nanoPAD and the nanoKEY controllers. While loaded with handy features and functions, these tools are quite tiny, at least compared with what their full-size counterparts usually are.

With a width of just 32 cm, the nanoSeries controllers are easy to carry with your notebook and thanks to their slim profile, they will occupy only a bit of space in your bag as you plan to travel or just move from a club to another. The nanoPAD is a very neat 12-trigger pad, supplemented with an X/Y touchpad: it can send notes and MIDI data, while the touchpad can be used for more complex drum programming, using its roll and flam functions.

The nanoKEY is a miniature keyboard controller, featuring no less than 25 velocity-responsive keys which can be used in music production; features like Octave Up/Down, pitch control or modulation are also present, letting your creative side surface better. Finally, the nanoKontrol is a fader board, with a rather unusual 9-channel array and 18 switches – 9 knobs – full transport features, letting you add serious functionality to whatever music software you’d use.

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How to Choose a Digital Voice Recorder

If you’ve done much shopping for a digital voice recorder, you will find a wide range of choices. Some are under $50 and some can be as high as $500-$600.

Part of the reason is additional features, microphone sensitivity, and storage size. Surprisingly, some of the lower end recorders (under $150) can record just as well as the higher end recorders. The only thing lacking is features – and if you don’t need all the bells and whistles you will be just fine.

Olympus makes a series called the “WS-series”. These are considered “consumer grade digital voice recorders” but receive great reviews on consumer electronics sites. If you aren’t using them as a journalist or medical professional, often these will work just fine.

There are several versions of Olympus WS-Series voice recorders: the WS-311M, WS-321M, and the Olympus WS-320M.

The main differences between these digital voice recorders is just the amount of recording time. Otherwise the functionality is the same. They all have voice activation features, export in WMA format, and all plug into your Mac or PC using your USB port.

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