Windows Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) was released by Microsoft in March of 2009, three years after IE7. Some of the new features in IE8 include Accelerators, which are a form of selection-based search which allow a user to invoke an online service from any page via the mouse. This helps to cut down on the need to copy and paste text between web pages. IE8 also includes Web Slices, which are snippets of an entire web page that a user can subscribe to. The new redesigned Favorites Bar is able to host content such as Web Slices, web feeds and documents, in addition to the website links which were previously supported.

A commercial for IE8 starring Dean Cain has been circulating on the web. Check out how to overcome S.H.Y.N.E.S.S. (“Sharing Heavily Yet Not Enough Sharing Still”) here:

In a recent New York Times Article, the current state of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is surveyed. Columnist John Markoff looks at everything from current science fiction movies like “Terminator Salvation,” where an evil AI power called Skynet is threatening the human race, to Dr. Raymond Kurzweil’s theories on Singlarity. According to Kurzweil, the future of technology is a point in the future when computer and cyborgs will become more intelligent than human inventors and will take over the process of invention.  Read more about the fascinating development in AI in Markoff’s article.

In March of this year, the world’s large and most powerful laser was certified as operational at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. In 2010 at Lawrence Lab’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), the energy of 102 giant laser beams will be focused on a pea-sized target filled with hydrogen fuel, and the hydrogen atoms’ nuclei will be ignited (or fused) in the world’s first controlled thermonuclear reaction.

Self-sustaining nuclear fusion has been a goal of scientists for more than fifty years. When NIF begins its ignition experiments in 2010, the goal will be closer to becoming a reality.

Between online bank accounts, stores, social networking sites and other websites which require a secure login, you may find yourself in the position of having to remember a variety of login / password combinations. Unless you always use the same login and password, which is probably not the best idea, you’ll find yourself in need of an organizing tool.

If your organizing system consists of scraps of paper or post-it notes, you may find it failing if you need to remember more than half a dozen passwords. You might want to try instead the Logio Secure Password Organizer, a handy gadget which allows you to store and encrypt all your passwords. Then all you’ll need to remember is one master password to access them. This small lightweight unit stores up to 200 passwords and retails for $29.95. It comes with a storage pouch, lanyard and user manual.

On May 15, the website for a new “computational knowledge engine” called Wolfram Alpha was launched. With a user interface similar to Google’s, the new website answers factual questions by computing answers using a knowledge database of structured data. This type on answer engine is different from a search engine like Google, which performs a semantic search by indexing a large number of answers and then narrowing down to the best answer.

Wolfram Alpha is built on Mathematica software and is particularly well suited for answering mathematical questions. The site also has a natural language interface, meaning it will interpret any text strings and attempt to deliver related data. For example, entering the name of a city or town will show its population, location, current time and temperature and other data such as neighboring communities.

The site is in its early stages (as evidenced by the name ‘Alpha’) and time will tell it points the way to the next generation of information engine for the Web.

Google and a group of other companies have been sued in U.S. District Court for trademark infringement. The subject of the suit is the use of the word “Android.” Google has used the name for its Linux-based, open source operating system for mobile devices. It turns out that Erich Specht of Illinois received a trademark for the name “Android Data” for his internet company in 2002. When Google tried to trademark the name Android in 2007, their claim was denied due to Specht’s prior application.

In addition to Google, Specht’s suit includes 47 other companies. Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Motorola and Samsung are among the group of defendants. Specht is requesting $2 million dollars from each defendant for each use of the tradmarked term. An out of court settlement is expected.

The U.S. Library of Congress has just made public over 2000 vivid color images from the years 1939 through 1944. The subject matter of the photos encompasses aviation, railroad and technology workers from that period as well as farms, cityscapes and panoramas of the American west. Most of the photos made use of the Kodachrome process, now all but obsolete, resulting in high color saturation and detail. The pictures are in the public domain and can be viewed on Flickr.

The photos were taken by government photographers working for the United States Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI)

According to Reuters News Service, tech magazines are changing some of their focus from the latest high tech gadgets to more practical matters.  Responding to  the worldwide recessionary economy, many tech magazines have begun to add articles with home improvement advice or with instructions on how to upgrade older tech gadgets.  The current generation of tech gadgets, including Apple’s iPhone, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii can be easily upgraded with software.  Easy upgrades mean that devices are replaced less often.

Bog Garrigan, Chief Executive of IDG, is quoted: “We acknowledge that consumers have less discretionary income these days, and businesses are under pressure.”  IDG, publisher of 300 magazines and 500 websites,  is the largest tech media group in the world.

On a more positive note,  the leading tech magazine Wired launched a British edition this month with a 2 million dollar marketing budget from publisher Conde Naste.  Editor David Rowan is quoted as saying, “There’s quite a strong economic case for launching in a downturn.”

Read the entire Reuters article here.

The tweenbot is a cute little robot with a cardboard body which NYU art student Kacie Kinzer conceived of as an experiment in the kindness of strangers. The tweenbot is equipped with a flag stating its intended destination. It can only move forward and can’t anticipate or avoid obstacles, so it depends on passerbys to set it back on course when it gets stuck. The results of the experiment were suprising.

Read more about the experiment on the Tweenbot website.

As April Fools Day dawns (April 1), computer experts around the world are waiting to see the impact of the Conficker.c worm. A worm is a type of computer virus which self-propagates, spreading across networks. If the Conficker.c worm becomes widespread, it could slow down network traffic and impact performance of individual computers. Read more about this worm on the CNN website and at Wikipedia.org.