WASHINGTON: This week, the world will mark an anniversary that has changed the face - and other anatomical regions - of email inboxes everywhere: the first known spam email was sent 30 years ago on Saturday. But the message sent on May 3, 1978 by a marketer for the now defunct DEC computer company to around 400 people on the west coast of the United States wasn't called spam, and the sender dispatched it without ill intent.

Initially the meaning of the term Spamming was: something that keeps repeating and repeating to great annoyance. However, these days spamming is a sophisticated operation that affects millions and jams ill-prepared email inboxes.

The percentage of spam sent to account holders on Gmail - the email service offered by Google - quadrupled between 2004 and 2008, climbing from 20 percent to around 80 percent. "To give you some sense of scale, we have tens of millions of users worldwide," Gmail's Jason Freidenfelds told AFP, adding that only about one percent of spam gets through Gmail's spam-filtering system, according to user feedback.

Spam methodology has also changed in the past 30 years. Whereas the sender of the first spam had to type in each recipient's address individually, today the job is often done remotely using cyber-monsters called botnets.

Botnets have hijacked around 30 percent of personal and office computers with inadequate security features and use them to dispatch thousands of spams each day. Botnet is a term for a collection of software robots, or bots, which run autonomously and automatically. They run on groups of zombie computers controlled remotely. Here, the term Zombie also needs to be defined. A zombie computer (often shortened as zombie) is a computer attached to the Internet that has been compromised by a hacker, a computer virus, or a trojan horse. Generally, a compromised machine is only one of many in a botnet, and will be used to perform malicious tasks of one sort or another under remote direction.

The recruited computers wait for commands that come through anonymous channels and tell them to send spam email to 1,000 people, all unbeknownst to their owners. The people who do this control millions of computers around the world. Don't look to the guy to your left, don't look to the guy to your right. It might be you yourself.

Spam content and motives have also evolved since the 1978 message, which was an invitation to a product launch. Spams today come from Nigerian Princes or fictitious relatives of deceased African dictators intent on hoodwinking email account holders into parting with bank details or cash, in exchange for a slice of the wealth stashed in an offshore account.

More vicious spammers last year shut down government and business websites in European Union member Estonia by bombarding servers with traffic, a technique also used by a new breed of spammers.

But the most common form of spam remains the unsolicited message that tries to sell you a replica Rolex, a miracle weight loss formula, or some medication etc. Twelve percent of Internet users have bought something offered to them by spam, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at IT security company Sophos, told AFP. "Maybe these people are too embarrassed to go to their doctor or they want to save some money, but we have to educate them to report spam, delete spam, but absolutely never buy off spam," social engineering experts believe. "A Brazilian model died after using weight loss medicine she bought off spam ... The person who spams does not have a strong ethical sense," the experts quoted.

Asustek Computers will nearly double shipments of the popular Eee PC low-cost laptop in the second quarter, as compared to the first. Eee PC shipments will rise to between 1.2 million to 1.3 million units in the three months ending June 30. The company shipped 700,000 Eee PCs in the first quarter. The company also expects to continue releasing new Eee PC models aimed at different user groups.

The original Eee PCs went on sale for prices as low as US$230 for a stripped down version running a Linux OS late last year. The newest version, the Eee PC 900, has a larger 8.9-inch screen and other improvements, and launched in Taiwan earlier this month. Both devices weigh less than a kilogram.

New versions of the Eee PC could sport more functions and better specifications, including larger screen sizes. The company hopes to capitalize on the popularity of the device. The company's Eee PC shipment target for this year is 5 million units.

Asustek's Eee PC is a low-cost laptop originally designed for people in developing nations, particularly kids. Eee PC will likely face a lot more competition in the future. Several companies, including Acer, Micro-Star International, Elitegroup Computer Systems and Giga-byte Technology have revealed plans to market a low-cost laptop similar to the Eee PC. -IDG News Service

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft Corp is cutting prices on the Xbox 360 in four Asian regions by as much as 20 percent in an effort to expand the audience for the video game console. The reductions will take effect this week.

Keyboards come in many shapes - from the simplest computer grey standard 102-key keyboard to variants that seem to come straight out of a Star Trek episode. Here are 10 most unique keyboards ever available in the market.

The Tidy Typist

The keyboard is hidden inside a decorative, washable tablecloth. The electronic is woven into a fabric, which finds itself between layers of water resistant felt as sandwich material. The soft felt surface makes it a pleasure for fingers to tip - a cosy keyboard.

The Datahand

This product is aimed for people who get pain in their hands from typing with a traditional keyboard - and that's a good thing. It still looks like a very strange keyboard. It may remind you of the movie Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Orbitouch

This one could be a leftover from Area 51, or a prop from the set of any science fiction movie. Wonder how it works? Here's what the manufacturer say: The orbiTouch creates a keystroke when you slide the two domes into one of their eight respective positions. You type different characters by sliding the domes to create letters and numbers. The orbiTouch also has an integrated mouse, so moving the domes gives you full mouse and keyboard capability.

The target group for this keyboard is of course people who have limited or no motion in their fingers or hands, and that's a very good thing - but anyway, it's a weird keyboard.

The Twiddler 2

It looks to be quite painful to use. According to the testimonials at their site, it will take you A Weekend to learn typing 30 words per minute, so the frogpad wins that round. The Twiddler may actually remind some of you of guitar classes if you have ever taken.

The frogpad

The frogpad is a tiny keyboard - or it would be more suitable to call it a keypad actually. The manufacturer say that you can get up to 40 words per minute if you practice between 6 to 10 hours with it. No idea as to why is it named as a frogpad? Maybe, due to its colour.

Virtual Laser Keyboard

This laser gadget projects a virtual keyboard on a table or other suitable material, and then interpret your finger movement and pass them on to your PDA or whatever you have it connected to.

The SafeType Keyboard

Do you understand how to use it? The idea is that your hands and arms shall be in a more relaxed position while working with the SafeType compared to a traditional keyboard. However, if you have a low tolerance for frustration (and learning to type in a new manner can be frustrating) then your best bet is to stay flat and stick with a keyboard that's a little more Common.

3D Ergonomic Keyboard

Getting used to this keyboard isn't something you'll do in 10 minutes or so - it will take a while for sure. But if you have medical problems with your hands, this might be a good choice since it's a very ergonomic keyboard. It looks very weird though!

The wrist keyboard

This one might be useful if you're in the need to type stuff while doing practical work in tough climates - but if you would wear this keyboard at the office, you might be considered a bit geeky.

Roll-up keyboard

He shared his thoughts and opinion - steps needed to put Pakistan on the scientific and technological map, along with India and China. In the development and advancement of high-tech business one prominent name is of Syed Jauher Zaidi, of Pakistani origin in Silicon Valley, founder and CEO of Palmchip Corporation. He has two decades of experience in system design and integration and inventor of System-on-Chip (SoC) CoreFrame Architecture. Before founding PalmChip, he was involved in the System-on-Chip initiative at Quantum Corporation, a leading hard drive manufacturer. The EE Times, a well-known industry publication, named him among the 'Top 20 Visionary CEOs.'

Palmchip Corporation is a pioneer in semiconductor Intellectual Property (IP) and SoC platform technology. It offers outsourced software and hardware design services to its clients in the US, Europe and worldwide. It is also leader in the development and licensing of Market Specific Platform (MSSP) - an SoC software and hardware technology.

Responding to a question about the company's projects and design centre in Pakistan Mr. Jauher Zaidi said, "Palmchip has three divisions in Pakistan. Our IT and Software outsourcing division provides design development for Network Security and Web2.0 products. Telecom division is active to design and develop products for Pakistan's telecom companies for Fibre and New long range Wireless Standard's (WiMAX) management which includes Graphical Information System (GIS) and network management and mobile phone applications for billing and games. Third division is SoC, designs SoC design platform for mobile devices like cell phone, digital camera, Voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones, Short Range Wireless Standard (WiFi) network routers, computer storage devices and DVD players. For Pakistan's market, we designed and introduced ParkSafe, a parking lot management and security system with remote data management. It is a user friendly system which can be operated by a person having average computer knowledge."

Further he explained SoC, "Single chip wireless mobility's Application Specific Standard Part (ASSP) will replace the multi-chip solutions available today for mobile phone, WiMAX and WiFi devices. Palmchip's customers will benefit from lower power consumption, lower system cost, and significant system performance improvement. These products target a growing need for inexpensive multitude of wireless mobility applications. Our extensive experience in working with Silicon Valley startups and Fortune 500 companies has given us appreciation of the importance of agility without compromising quality. Our startup clients find us in tune with their drive to reach the market quickly and benefit from our best practices for outsourced development to ensure that speed does not compromise quality."

About outsourced software and hardware design services he replied, "We offer optimal distribution of work between onshore and offshore resources to achieve top quality deliverables in a highly cost-effective manner within aggressive delivery timeframes."

US Patent and Trademark Office has awarded PalmChip a key patent for the company's technology, facilitating the easy connection of IP Blocks within a SoC design. On the question about being pioneer in SoC and this patent grant he replied, "It is a significant milestone in our company's history to get protected our intellectual property when competitors are roaming in market. The patented SoC technology enables greater integration of multiple functions on a single chip. Over 65 licensees and more than 30 consumer products use our patented IP and hardware and software technologies."

About next growth areas in the technology sector and current IT scenario he thinks there are currently many growth sectors in technology, such as digital TV, biometrics, security, Radio Frequency ID (RFID), Nano technology, storage and VoIP. He has decided to focus on storage, security and voice-over-IP. He believes that Pakistan has a long way to go before it becomes the next offshore design resource in the world, like India and China. He highlights some of the core areas that need immediate attention, including intellectual property protection laws, low-cost communication infrastructure for voice as well as video, and venture capital funding for startup companies.

While coming to the end of our discussion I put one final question to tell about future plans he replied "Palmchip possess a tremendous breadth and depth of skills that can be brought to bear on most software development projects. Pakistani youth has potential, well-educated and hardworking. Due to latest investment in education outcome is up to the mark. Future plan is we want more energetic people in software development and telecommunication and want to expand into Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), finance, banking and modernization projects. Palmchip invested in Palmchip Pakistan to setup three design centers, two in Lahore and one in Islamabad." About entrepreneurship promotion in Pakistan he added, "In order to promote entrepreneurship in Pakistan government and educational institutions need to provide platform to learn business, setup Venture Capital (VC) to fund the companies. Entrepreneurs have very bright future in Pakistan as Telecom, Software and finance sectors are at very fast growth. With little guidance Pakistani youth could be next Bill gates. They just need to find mentors," he concluded.

Customer satisfaction with online banking sites has risen significantly over the past five years, according to a survey released by ForeSee Results. ForeSee's survey uses the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, and this year, the index registered a score of 82 out of 100 for online banking, up 12 percent, or 9 points, from a score of 73 in 2003.

Satisfaction is up partly because people are more comfortable banking online than they used to be, said ForeSee Results president and CEO Larry Freed. Other big reasons include efforts by banks to boost security, allowing more types of transactions, and easy navigation. Website technology is expensive, Freed said, but the payback is significant. The same survey showed that highly satisfied online banking customers are 31 percent more likely to buy additional services from the bank and 54 percent more likely to recommend the bank to others. So the banks will need to keep investing in their websites to hold onto their customers. If banks don't evolve with the latest and greatest technology they'll fall behind. Recent precise survey measured customers' experiences with three types of financial institutions - banks, credit card companies and investment services firms. Banks got the highest score out of the three financial categories.

Caption: An employee watches trading on computer screens at a bank's new trading room at the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC).

When on the road, one normally uses some sort of modular phone jacks to connect a modem to the phoneline. This assumes, however, that the phone you happen upon is actually attached to the wall with a modular jack. If no such jack exists ó and you have brought along the right equipment - you can still have a go either at the junction box on the wall, if one exists, or at the phone itself. Here are a few tips for tackling the situation.

Sometimes the easiest place to start is with the mouthpiece of the receiver, also known as the handset. On many phones, especially older ones, you can unscrew the outer portion of the mouthpiece and pop out the microphone. With newer phones you may be out of luck on this score, but new phones are less likely to be hard-wired to the wall in the first place.

To make a connection, you'll have to bring along a few tools. First, you should have a length of phone cord with a RJ-11 modular jack on one end. On the other end you should have an ëAlligator or other type of clip attached to the red wire and a second one attached to the green wire. Such a phone cord can be purchased specifically for this task, or you can piece one together yourself from readily available parts found in an electronics store. When in the US, go to a Radio Shack. In the UK, they go under the name Tandy.

You should also have a line tester that tells you when you've got your connection right. A Swiss army knife is useful for occasionally stripping wires and loosening screws. In addition, you should have a modular phone line connector that allows you to connect a male RJ-11 plug to another male plug.

George Tsapoitis displays an online usage and utility screen connected to a electric smart meter in his Milton home. He uses his computer to visit an online control panel that configures his home's energy consumption. He chooses its temperature and which lights should be on or off at certain times of the day.