The Falkirk Wheel is an exceptional feat of engineering

Designed to reconnect the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal and sited in a natural open amphitheatre at Rough Castle near Falkirk, this remarkable and elegant mechanical marvel is the only rotating boatlift in the world and truly one of a kind

read more | digg story

Gmail allowing remote log-off in case you forget

Google's Gmail rolling out ability to check if you're logged on elsewhere, remotely log off

One of the benefits of Web-based e-mail is the ability to log on from just about anywhere _ at home, at work, a friend's house, a mobile device or even a public library or cybercafe.

But what if you forget to log off? Someone else who encounters an active session not only can read your personal correspondences, but they also can use that account to grab your passwords from many online services that offer to send reminders via e-mail.

Google Inc.'s Gmail service is trying to address that by letting you know if you're still logged on elsewhere and giving you a chance to disconnect remotely.

At the bottom of a Gmail inbox is a small notice of other active sessions. The new feature, being rolled out to users in waves, also offers some information on the time and location of recent Gmail activities.

The notification is bound to be useful, though it's by no means foolproof. You have to be log on somewhere to learn of other active sessions, and you have to look carefully for that notice. And if you have chosen to save your password on the other computer, someone else can simply log back on unless you change it.

But the feature does offer an extra level of comfort.

"Usually I remember to sign out, but every once in a while I wonder if I really did," Gmail engineer Erwin D'Souza wrote on a company blog. "Now I no longer have to wonder."

Other major Web e-mail providers _ Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s Hotmail, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL _ also allow simultaneous sessions, but they do not provide similar notice or ability to remotely log off. However, AOL does have a setting forcing automatic logoff after as little as 30 minutes of inactivity. Microsoft said Hotmail will ask for a password if the session remains idle for too long.

Google launches virtual reality site

Internet search leader debuts 'Lively,' an online world in which Web users can interact with each other using avatars.


Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) thinks Lively will encourage even more people to dive into alternate realities because it isn't tethered to one Web site like Second Life, and it doesn't cost anything to use. After installing a small packet of software, a user can enter Lively from other Web sites, like social networking sites and blogs.

The Lively application already works on Facebook, one of the Web's hottest hangouts, and Google is working on a version suitable for an even larger online social network, News Corp.'s (NWS, Fortune 500) MySpace.



"We know people already spend a lot of time online socializing, so we just want to try to make it more enjoyable," said Niniane Wang, a Google engineering manager who oversaw Lively's creation over the past year.

Although Google is best known for the search engine that generates most of its profits, the company has introduced other services that are widely used without making much, if any, money. Google's peripheral products include its 3-D "Earth" software, Picasa for sharing photos and programs for word processing, calendars and spreadsheets.

Google has no plans to sell advertising in Lively, Wang said.

But the service could still indirectly help the company if it encourages people to remain online longer. Google's management reasons that more frequent Web surfing ultimately will lead to more moneymaking clicks on the ads it shows alongside its search results and millions of other Web sites.

Lively's users will be able to sculpt an avatar that can be male, female or even a different species. An avatar can assume a new identity, change clothes or convey emotions with a few clicks of the mouse.

The service also enables users to create different digital dimensions to roam, from a coffeehouse to an exotic island. The settings can be decorated with a wide variety of furniture, including large-screen televisions that can be set up to play different clips from YouTube.com, Google's video-sharing service.

Pen cum computer system

Microsoft boosting online software

Microsoft Corp. is strengthening its early-stage push to fend off competition by offering more Internet-based software, a change from its traditional method of selling programs that run on individual desktops or corporate servers.

With Internet-savvy rivals threatening Microsoft's usual sales model, Microsoft started offering its Exchange e-mail server software and other programs to "beta" testers in March. Under the new setup, companies including Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. started to let some of their business software be run remotely in Microsoft's data centers, rather than buying, installing and managing it themselves.

Newest Sony Ericsson Cyber Shot in India

Sony Ericsson is out with its latest Cyber Shot, the C902. The slide-out lens cover of the C902 opens to reveal its 5 mega pixels camera with 16x zoom, auto-focus, and face detection. There are eight illuminated camera touch-keys allowing users to select between camera modes, photo flash, face detection, auto-focus, etc