Everyone makes mistakes. That’s why companies have Quality Assurance departments. These are the people who are supposed to catch the mistakes before they cost you big money. So, what happens when the QA department doesn’t do its job?

The robot research laboratory at Chonnam National University has developed a robotic plant that has humidifying, oxygen-producing, aroma-emitting, and kinetic functions.

Since I’ve killed a number of hapless houseplants, I wonder how long it would survive in my house.

RFID tags identifying who, and where you are, can be found in passports, ATM cards, credit cards and some state-issued ID cards. The same technology will possibly even be used in paper money in the near future. Which is fine, except… This is one way of protecting yourself. If you’re interested in more on RFID, search Computing Unplugged for RFID. We did a nice series of articles on the topic.

Startup Linxter is set to launch a hosted messaging platform that could enable any Internet-addressable device, application or system to communicate with another. Linxter is stressing ease of use, and portraying web-based connectivity as increasingly natural.

At Plastic Logic’s factory in Dresden they’re producing a new type of paper that isn’t really paper – it’s electronic.

The device looks like a table mat and is as light as a magazine but it can hold hundreds of newspapers which can be browsed with the touch of a button.

Google is facing a potential uproar after discovery of a so-called remote kill switch in the forthcoming Android phone.

In the Android ‘Market Terms of Service’, Google says it might remotely remove an application from user phones. “Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement … in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion…”.

Adobe has fixed a recently discovered security bug that threatened web surfers.

The new Flash Player 10 software, released Wednesday, fixes security flaws in Adobe’s multimedia software including bugs which could allow hackers to launch a clickjacking attack.

Eric Lundquist wonders, “what if the government had spent $750 billion to bail out the dot-com companies when the Internet bubble collapsed in 2001?”

In this article he describes “what might have been” had the Feds bailed out the dot-coms.

While lending new meaning to “hardware hacker” a few have already got their mitts on Apple’s latest MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops – and taken the new notebooks to bits. Then they posted photos of the “body parts” for all to see.

After laying low for the better part of a year, the Warezov botnet is back – with some new tricks up its sleeve.

In the past week, trojan horse programs that install the Warezov bot have appeared on websites offering free MP3 downloads, according to Joe Stewart, director of malware research at security provider SecureWorks. The attacks are a change for Warezov, which used email attachments in 2006.