Are new passport identification standards a boost for security and efficiency or a beacon that tells bad guys how to target Americans?

The U.S. State Department announced security changes for passports that will have an implanted chip that sends a radio signal to a special reader. The passport chips use what's known as radio frequency identification or RFID. The news got a mixed response from groups that originally expressed concerns about the technology.

Critics complained people intent on doing harm to Americans could easily develop technology to zero in on the passports in a crowd. U.S. officials responded by developing a wire mesh jacket and better encryption. Bill Scannell, founder of the website RFIDKills, and a leading critic of the passport idea, says the new proposal is an improvement, but not a solution. The improvements have won over at least one critic, however. Greeley Koch, president of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, says the the precautions are adequate.

George Washington University Professor and former Senior White House Advisor Amitai Etzioni makes a case for expanded Internet phone call wiretapping. Etzioni is author of two dozen books, including "How Patriotic is the PATRIOT Act? Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism".
Internet privacy watchdog groups and others complain the FCC's decision to expand surveillance capability for Internet phone calls oversteps the scope of the law that allows wiretapping conventional phone lines. They also say it would require costly hardware changes that customers would end up paying. But the Justice Department and their proponents say technology should not outpace the methods to keep the country safe.

It's not easy for the FBI to listen in to phone calls over the Internet. The technology is called voice over Internet Protocol or VOIP. The FBI can and does subpoena the phone records from Internet service providers but the technology isn't set up to allow live monitoring. The Justice Department believes this is a place where terrorists can conduct nefarious dealings undetected. This month the Federal Communications Commission updated the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act to extend phone wiretapping access to computer Internet calls. This week, privacy watchdogs, technology companies and a group representing colleges and universities filed legal challenges against the new rule.

Forrester Research says Sony's Blu-ray high-definition DVD format will defeat the HD-DVD system led by Toshiba in the battle for consumer acceptance.

Next-generation DVDs will bring sharper pictures and more interactive features.

Forrester is among the first to predict victory for Blu-ray. Forrester analyst Ted Schadler says, however, the battle will drag on for years, similar to what happened in the 1980's when Sony's Betamax videocassette format lost out to VHS.

U.S. lawmakers are urging the Bush administration to resist a push from other countries to shift control of the Internet to the United Nations, arguing that such a move would stifle innovation and free expression.

Minnesota Republican Senator Norm Coleman is sponsor of a Senate resolution that calls for the Internet's core addressing system to remain under U.S. control.

Would you see a live jazz performance is the trumpet player were a computer?

Guest: Roger Dannenberg, computer science researcher at Carnegie Mellon University. An internationally known expert in computer music, Dannenberg's current work includes research on computer accompaniment of live musicians.

The Internet is becoming an increasingly important tool for the Al Qaeda terrorist network. Jihadists communicate their ideology, disseminate bomb-making plans, and coordinate attacks on the Web.

The American government seems powerless to do much about it.

Rebecca Givner-Forbes, analyst for the Terrorism Research Center, which provides research services to the federal government, says Al Qaeda's use of the Internet has changed over time.

With energy costs rising dramatically across the U.S., Americans are looking for ways to conserve. While computers, monitors, printers and electronic gadgets are not the biggest electricity hogs in the home, there are ways to save money.

Guest: Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy

A new report from Harvard, Cambridge and the University of Toronto finds that a Silicon Valley company is helping the military-run country of Myanmar block citizens from accessing information on the 'Net.

Myanmar, previously known as Burma, is the target of U.S. sanctions designed to prevent American firms from aiding the regime.

The OpenNet Initiative - a collaborative project from the three schools that documents Internet censorship around the globe - says Myanmar is just the latest example of a troubling trend.

The latest challenger to Internet Explorer and Firefox is Flock.

Flock is described as a "social browser" designed to help users write Weblogs and share photos.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been sharply criticized for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina. Now, some critics say the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity division could next.

In a report on CNET News.com, reporter Declan McCullagh looks at growing concerns over the U.S. government's ability to respond to a cyber attack that would knock out the Internet or other ciritcal networks.

Many hospitals and clinics across the U.S. forbid the use of cell phones in rooms containing medical equipment. No-phone polices were borne of fear that phones will cause electrical interference that could cause medical devices to malfunction. Cell phone restrictions can be an inconvenience to patients, their family and friends.

But researchers at Mayo Clinic say they're close to concluding that today's cell phones do NOT interfere with medical equipment, and probably never have.

Mayo cardiologist David Hayes has just published a new study - his second on the topic - that fails again to find any significant problem with cell phone interference.

Researchers at Penn State says malicious hackers could disable mobile phone service service throughout the U.S. for a short period of time.

In a paper published Wednesday, Penn State computer scientists report that hackers could take over personal computers to launch at attack on the Short Message Service, or SMS, which is used to send and receive text messsages.

New research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project finds that about one in five Americans don't use the Internet.

Pew researcher Susannah Fox calls this group the "hardcore offline."

If you're itching to write a book but fear the byzantine, money-driven publishing industry will shoot you down, you can now bypass bean counters and cranky editors.

Lulu will publish any book, no matter how niche-y, for free. And you can keep most of the royalties.

Americans must turn off their computers and mobile phones regularly if they want healthier, more productive lives, according to Carl Honore.

Honore is author of In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed.

The U.S. Department of Defense is wrapping up the qualifying rounds for the second annual autonomous vehicle Grand Challenge. The 150-mile contest is the brainchild of the department's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and fueled by a $2-million prize. The winner is the team whose vehicle best navigates the Mojave Desert course with no human intervention whatsoever. The agency hopes it will lead to technology that keeps human soldiers out of harms way.

The first year the best showing was a car that made it only seven and a half miles. This year university students, private companies and even home inventors have entered vehicles ranging from a robotic motorcycle to a multi-ton dump truck. DARPA spokesman Tom Goodwin says at least a dozen vehicles have already beaten last year's record. The finalists compete in the DARPA Grand Challenge on October 8th.