Network Improv released AlphaTap Lite, a low-cost Tablet PC input tool. AlphaTap provides fast, easy access to all keyboard functions with a 4×7 “staircase” of letter keys in right- or left-handed orientation, placing the user’s pen motion within their natural range for handwriting.

SCOTTeVEST (SeV) maker of Technology Enabled Clothing, and Global Solar Energy, developer and manufacturer of flexible solar cells, announced that the first solar-powered jacket designed to carry, connect and charge portable devices will be available in time for the holidays.

It’s just a story, but with blogs, this woman had a way to tell it. It’s not even an important story, but story it is. I think, amidst all the crap in blogs, there may be hundreds or thousands of these great little stories.

Hitachi Global Storage announced the availability of new 100GB hard drives for notebooks. Dubbed Travelstar 5K100 and E5K100, the 2.5-inch hard drives spin at 5400 revolutions per minute and consume relatively low power for operation. The drives have Serial ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) interface technology.

Wal-Mart is allowing online customers to pre-order the Nintendo DS for an estimated Nov. 30 ship date.

A Florida theme park is helping parents keep track of their kids by giving them wristbands embedded with high-tech radio signal technology. Wannado City issues the radio frequency identification (RFID) wristbands to all visitors as part of general admission to the park.

Microsoft has published a patch for a major security flaw in its software’s handling of the JPEG graphics format and urged customers to use a new tool to locate the many applications that are vulnerable. The critical flaw has to do with how Microsoft’s operating systems and other software process the widely used JPEG image format and could let attackers create an image file that would run a malicious program on a victim’s computer as soon as the file is viewed.

The new techniques, which experts began seeing sporadically earlier this year and in large waves in recent weeks, involve the use of a process called steganography, or embedding or hiding text in an image. In the most recent cases, spam and phishing messages have incorporated complex images containing text. In some cases, the image files include hidden code designed to exploit known vulnerabilities in email clients and Web browsers.

OK, we’ve fixed the vote/cart problem for those entering their “Geek out the vote” promotion codes. Be sure to select “phone” as your payment method and we’ll mail out the keys twice each day. Technology is fun!

We’ve noticed that a bunch of you had problems getting your free order from the ZATZ Online Store after registering. Apparently, the shopping cart software doesn’t understand the concept of “free”. We’re hand completing those orders and are going to try to fix it. In the meantime, do enter your order and we’ll go in by hand every few hours and free up those orders, sending you your download keys.