From TechnologyReview.com new prototypes on the market. Virtual Post-Its. With new software developed at Siemens Corporate Technology in Munich, users of Global Positioning System-equipped cell phones and handheld computers may soon be able to leave each other virtual post-it notes. Touchy-Feely Screen. Touch screens greet tourists at museums, shoppers at checkouts, and even drivers on dashboards. In spite of the name "touch," though, they don't feel like much--just flat, boring glass or plastic. Music Dial Tone. My iPod has been an eye-opening experience. I have thousands of songs on it, but I am listening mostly to podcasts [homemade, downloadable, MP3-format radio programs]. Why? Because I want someone to program my iPod. When we have music dial tone, we will still want someone to program it for us.

In Saudi Arabia, a high-tech way to flirt. Bluetooth gives segregated sexes a way to reach out, discreetly. They elude the mores imposed by the kingdom's puritanical Wahhabi version of Islam — formulated in the 18th century — by using a 21st century device in their mobile phones: the wireless Bluetooth technology that permits users to connect without going through the phone company. Reat it on MSN/NBC.

Japan Plans Giant Broadband Satellite. Japanese government officials say they will develop a new communications satellite to provide broadband services that are as fast as fiber optic cable. Read it on SpaceDaily.

Bluetooth Marketing To Mobiles In The Air (from MOCO.News). The use of bluetooth (or less commonly, infrared) technology to deliver mobile content to phones from billboards, posters and other advertising media is gaining a fair bit of traction, and people seem to be responding to it. Hypertags have made the leap Down Under with AURA Digital Communications landing the rights to distribute the technology in Australia. The press release details a trial with 10 posters in bus shelters promoting War of the Worlds which registered 1,500 interactions over a two-week period. Meanwhile, back in London, Coldplay’s new ‘X&Y’ album was promoted at six mainline train stations, with TV screens telling people to turn on their bluetooth receivers to get free content. Read it on MOCO.News.

Mobile phone porn craze sparks call for action in Cambodia. A teenage craze for sending doctored naked images of female celebrities to each other by mobile phones sparked a demand by a Cambodian minister for government action against pornography. The local press in the mainly Buddhist nation has been in a frenzy in recent weeks over the sudden spread of pornographic images by phone after the mother of a pop singer spotted a photograph of her daughter sent to a phone. Read the whole article on YahooNews - UK & Ireland.

ZigBee-ready stand-alone radios simplify integration. From SlashDot.org - "I thought this was interesting. Up till now, ZigBee was only available as a chipset or some rudimentary modules. Now regular schmucks like me that don't want to mess with a soldering iron can use ZigBee and see if it works or not." For those of you that do not know what exactly ZigBee is, please try WikiPedia's page on it.

New world record for unamplified wireless networking!! 125 miles!! 3rd Annual Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest. Here's additional team info, a couple pictures of one of their rigs, and some more technical details.

Wireless hijacking under scrutiny. A recent court case, which saw a West London man fined £500 and sentenced to 12 months' conditional discharge for hijacking a wireless broadband connection, has repercussions for almost every user of wi-fi networks. Read it on BBC News.

RFID Tags To Track Foreigners, Identify Dead. Implant chip to identify the dead. The carnage inflicted by bomb attacks in Egypt, London and across Iraq has raised the problem of how the authorities identify people in an emergency situation. Read it on BBC News. Homeland Security To Launch RFID Systems At Border Crossings. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will install radio frequency technology at five border posts with Canada and Mexico to track foreigners driving in and out of North America. After a foreigner entering the U.S. has passed a thorough security check once, they will be given a document containing the chip. This document will need to be renewed every six months. Read it on InformationWeek.

Talking about Overload... or better, Time-Stressed interactions... Software Agents Can Help Time-Stressed Teams. Penn State researchers have developed software agents which can help human teams to react more accurately and quickly in time-stressed situations than human teams acting alone. According to this news release, the software was tested in a military command-and-control simulation. "When time pressures were normal, the human teams functioned well, sharing information and making correct decisions about the potential threat." But when the pressure increased, the human teams made errors who would have cost lives in real situations. The decisions taken by agent-supported human teams were much better. Now, it remains to be seen if this software can be used in other stressful situations, such as for emergency management operations. Reat it on Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends or on PennState Live.

The Real Hitchhiker's Guide? (from the SlashDot.org) "The UK's biggest selling newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, has a news story about a UK company (Node - self nominated Location Based Media Company) that has developed the real version of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the galaxy. It is a kind of portable media player that allows you to travel the world's surface and receive media tailored to who you are, where you are and what you are looking at." Read the article on Travel.Telegraph.co.uk.