The family of a California woman who died after participating in a radio station’s water-drinking contest to win a Nintendo Wii will sue the station, their lawyer said on Thursday. Jennifer Strange, 28, a mother of three, died from suspected water intoxication after taking part in Friday’s competition, “Hold Your Wee for a Wii.” About 20 people tried to out-drink each other without going to the bathroom. Sacramento station KDND-FM responded by firing 10 staffers, including several DJs, and canceling the Morning Rave program. The DJs had joked about people dying from water intoxication and teased Strange about her distended stomach.

With social networks being all the rage, Hackers and Spammers are increasingly becoming wise to the fact that the teenage demographic using these sites are not concerned with protecting the family computer’s personal information. Although you might be extra careful as to what you download and Web sites you visit; it doesn’t mean your son or daughter isn’t downloading the latest Trojan program that will eventually infiltrate your key strokes and steal the family bank accounts and credit cards. EncryptaKey is a recently launched security technology device designed to protect user identity anytime, anywhere. Users simply insert the device into their USB port; verify their identity with the Bio-metric finger scanner and type in their password. From there, the EncryptaKey’s operating system is launched, bypassing the built in OS system and all of its intrinsic security flaws. When connected to the Encryptakey portal–you no longer have to worry about viruses, spyware, keystroke counters or any other malicious intruders.

Palm and Orange have announced the Treo 680 smartphone in Switzerland, running on the Palm OS platform. The Treo 680 smartphone is ideal for the professional consumer who wants a more advanced phone experience on a single device, including access to email, Web browsing, messaging and a range of features that are easy to use.

Research In Motion Limited will be demonstrating new levels of integration between the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution and IBM Lotus Sametime and IBM Lotus Domino, unveiling the first seamless, enterprise-grade implementation of wireless voice and instant messaging convergence. As part of a series of planned initiatives focused on extending the voice, presence and location-based services of Lotus Sametime to BlackBerry users, IBM and RIM will demonstrate the seamless integration of Lotus Sametime instant messaging and presence with enterprise voice services in a wireless setting.

A new software release for wireless LAN radios from Summit Data Communications, Inc. improves wireless network connectivity, especially in environments that present significant connectivity challenges. Reliable connectivity is vital for business-critical mobile devices such as portable data terminals that are used in challenging radio environments such as retail stores, distribution centers, hospitals, factories, and ports. In addition to improved connectivity, the new Summit software release adds support for popular security protocols and several ease-of-use improvements. The software release is available for all popular versions of Windows CE: CE.NET 4.2 and 5.0, Pocket PC 2003, and Windows Mobile 5.0.

The U.S. Senate has rejected a proposal that may have required some political bloggers to register as lobbyists or face prison time. By a 55-43 vote, the senators approved an amendment that dropped a controversial section dictating such regulations from a massive piece of federal lobbying legislation. Seven Democrats joined 48 Republicans voting in favor of the amendment, which was proposed by Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah). No Republicans voted against the measure. The Senate went on to vote 96-2 to approve the entire lobbying package, as amended. The provision removed from that bill, Section 220, would have required certain people engaged in “grassroots lobbying” to register with the government or face civil and criminal penalties, including up to 10 years in prison.

Sony announced that it will enter the CompactFlash memory card market. Sony’s recent entry in the digital SLR market, with the Sony A100 digital camera, has been the trigger for Sony to expand their memory card offerings beyond their traditional Memory Sticks. The first Sony CompactFlash memory cards will be available later this spring. The initial line-up will include CF Type I cards with 66x and 133x transfer speeds and capacities between 1GB and 4GB.

Sony intends to bridge the gap between the PC and TV with its VAIO TP1 Living Room computer. A new approach to the home PC design, the unit’s round, white chassis marries the power of the PC with the TV in a style to compliment any home. The console’s small spherical shape is designed to fit next to an LCD TV, providing endless entertainment possibilities. It can record, pause and rewind live TV- including over-the-air high-definition and standard-definition programming- for on-demand playback. It can also access Internet television shows and other videos on the Web.

Dell wants to show its customers that its notebooks can be tough too. The PC maker is launching its first-ever “semi-rugged” notebook–the Latitude ATG (all-terrain grade) D620–which will compete for market share against well-known rugged models such as the Panasonic ToughBook and General Dynamics’ Itronix GoBook. In creating a semi-rugged notebook, Dell is looking to capture customers in public safety fields, such as policemen, firefighters, EMS (emergency medical service) workers and the military. These notebooks are also designed for workers who spend a considerable amount of time outside, including those in construction and the natural gas and oil fields.

Why would you need a handheld database management program? There are thousands of ways you could answer this question, because everyone need to carry different data. In fact, that’s the answer: everyone needs to carry some data at all times. Whether it’s a shopping list, a membership list, a list of medical terminology, or the measurements for oil well drilling components, a handheld database can be an essential help. In this important review, Contributing Editor Heather Wardell tests out HandDBase and lets us know just how HanD it is.

Read this Computing Unplugged article.