Over 50% of companies fire workers for e-mail, 'Net abuse

Think you can get away with using e-mail and the Internet in violation of company policy? Think again. A new study conducted by the American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute found that more than 25% of employers have fired workers for misusing e-mail and one third have fired workers for misusing the Internet on the job. Sure, the vast majority (84%) of firings involved porn, but simply surfing the Web led to a surprising number of firings. ...read more

UK computer store finds encrypted disc in eBay buy

The British government has suffered a series of high-profile losses and thefts of disks containing confidential personal data. That's why the technicians at a computer shop in Bolton called the cops when they found a CD hidden behind the keyboard of a laptop they bought on eBay. The disc contained encrypted data and was whisked away by counterterrorism officers. ...read more

Scientists seek to create "robo-turtle"

Most sea turtles who lose three flippers simply can't survive in their watery environment. But Texas conservationists have managed to nurse one such critter back from the brink. Now they want to equip it with a cyborg flipper that will presumably allow it to swim normally -- and hunt down and destroy the motorboat that took its biological limbs. ...read more

6 passed-over Star Wars promotional products

How could there not be a market for Princess Leia's Hair Headphones (especially if they're the fancy noise-cancelling kind)? And what about the Han Solo in Carbonite Mini Fridge? Or the At-At Walker Chair Caddy? ...read more

Mystery man breaks into woman's apartment, downloads porn

An Ottowa woman awoke at 4 a.m. confronting what for most of us would be a nightmare: a stranger had broken into her apartment. But instead of looking for valuables or threatening her life, he was looking at porn on her computer. The man fled when confronted, leading some to wonder if 24-hour cybercafes would be a good business. ...read more

Geek Comic of the Week: Kinkofry

Mushrooms are pretty amazing -- so says the tagline for this comic, anyway. Looking vaguely like Super Mario's mushroom enemies, the fungal heroes and villains in this comic navigate their way around its strange world. ...read more

10 broken technologies - and how to fix them

Sometimes a technology idea is too good to be true. A flexible keyboard, Internet voting and watching feature films on your smart phone are examples. Today, these concepts are still evolving, but they're broken right now. Here's why and what could be done to fix them. ...read more

Poll: How do you treat your repeptitive strain injury?

- With the same painkiller I use for my headache
- Total rest
- Stretches, exercises, and ergonomics
- I work through the pain
- I don't have RSI - I control my computer with my mind

Vote now!


LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

The first computer I ever owned...

1.0% - Ran Windows XP/Vista
5.1% - Ran Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000
9.2% - Ran Windows 3.x
35.2% - Ran DOS
0.4% - Ran OS X
5.7% - Ran the Classic Mac OS
26.5% - Was made by Commodore
9.6% - Was made by Atari
7.3% - Took up the better part of a room

Answer another poll