On the Net

with Chris Goh

It was great to have some time off to travel around the world. Thanks to Alex Clarke for stepping up in my absence.

Some 14 flights along the journey of a lifetime gave me the chance to road test some really great IT products. I'm amazed at the range and price of multimedia digital devices, laptops and digital cameras (I'm now the proud owner of a Nikon 8800 VR, but more on that in coming weeks).

Returning to Australia you soon realise that local retailers aren't keeping up with the trends, especially when the product cycle can be as short as three months. The days when a retailer can leave a 35mm camera on the shelf for a few years and still have latest model are long gone. Technological innovation, not to mention competition, is surely a market for e-tailers.

Of all the countries I visited, the US provided the best value-for-money, especially thanks to a strong exchange rate. Singapore is no longer a bargain. The other thing I loved about the US was the super IT shops where you can road test equipment. Back home it's a return to reading the reviews before venturing out.

Wireless devices are becoming very trendy and affordable around the globe, and as the price of memory keeps going down, including SD and Flash memory, multimedia devices are doubling up as a hard drive.

Nokia is also bringing out a new mobile phone with something many consumers have been waiting for. Not since the old CE (Cassiopeia) range and the PSIONS has a pocket PC/mobile featured a practical keyboard you can really work on. Sure there are the Pocket PCs the Treos and even the BlackBerrys (which are very popular in Europe and the US and hopefully Australia, now the Telstra exclusivity deal has expired), but those tiny keyboard are best suited to small fingers. Help will soon be at hand - and fingertip.

Next week, I'll look at the latest digital cameras, then PDAs, from the Minolta Konica Dimage Z3, to the Canon Power Shot, new Panasonic FZ20 and the Nikon 8800VR, which does the things the Sony FS282 should have.

HotNews

Two new variants of the BAGLE virus, called .AT and .AU, mean it's time to get the latest pattern updates. The variants also demonstrated how ineffective the new firewall in the XP Service Pack 2 is.

A major bust of fraudsters who stole an estimated 1.7 million credit cards, not to mention countless identity thefts, has seen 28 people arrested around the globe. It's also a timely reminder to keep your identity safe as it's your most valuable possession in this electronic age.

The first US multi-platinum music award given for online music has gone to the Hip Hop duo OutKast. With more than 400,000 CDs sold, the music industry has recognised not only a group but a medium, which says something about how far the internet has gone to gain commercial acceptance.

Hotsites

ocw.mit.edu/index.html

It's a great institution that believes that everyone should get access to knowledge and learning. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a world-renowned tertiary education centre and their Open Courseware is where course materials are available online to the world for free. Granted many of the pages reference texts used in its study, but it's a great step forward in what I think the Internet is about.

geoimages.berkeley.edu

More great works by universities. Berkley has put a globe and links to vistas that you would have to fly thousands of kilometres to see.

www.faunarescue.org.au

This website is a great one for animal lovers. This volunteer organisation looks after injured Australian wildlife and offers great tips on what to do to care for sick fauna.