PCWMike writes “PCs may disappear from your desk by 2033. But with digital technology showing up everywhere else — including inside your body — computing will only get more personal, reports Dan Tynan for PC World’s 25th Anniversary. While convenience will be increased by leaps and bounds, it will come at a profound loss in our sense of what privacy means. ‘Technology will become firmly embedded in advanced devices that deliver information and entertainment to our homes and our hip pockets, in sensors that monitor our environment from within the walls and floors of our homes, and in chips that deliver medicine and augment reality inside our bodies. This shiny happy future world will come at a cost, though: Think security and privacy concerns. So let’s hope that our jetpacks come with seat belts, because it’s going to be a wild ride.’”

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I Don’t Believe in Imaginary Property writes “According to a new report from EDUCASE (pdf), it would cost $100 billion to wire the US with fiber optics and keep our infrastructure from falling behind the rest of the world. Specifically, they recommend what has worked in many other countries — government investment and unbundling — which are often criticized by free market groups, even though those policies have resulted in faster, better connections for smaller total costs. Ars Technica mentions in their analysis of this report that the President will be releasing a report on US broadband today, too.”

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dratcw writes “The first commercial LAN was based on ARCnet technology and was installed some 30 years ago, according to a ComputerWorld article. Bob Metcalfe, one of the co-inventors of Ethernet, recalls the early battles between the different flavors of LAN and says some claims from the Token Ring backers such as IBM were lies. ‘I know that sounds nasty, but for 10 years I had to put up with that crap from the IBM Token Ring people — you bet I’m bitter.’ Besides dipping into networking nostalgia, the article also quotes an analyst who says the LAN may be nearing its demise and predicts that all machines will be individually connected to one huge WAN at gigabit speeds. Could the LAN actually be nearing the end of its lifecycle?”

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Neowin.net presents the NeowinCAST News Edition for the week of January 30th, 2008. This week, Christopher Vendemio (bangbang023) and Rob Wright (Rob) discuss the following topics:

• Apple releases the MacBook Air (read)
• Windows 7 details start to leak (read)
• Internet Explorer 8's three rendering modes (read)
• Motorola may exit handset market (read)

Click play to listen to the show immediately or follow the appropriate links to download the current episode. Enjoy, and remember to leave your comments about the show, either as a comment below this news post or with our new voicemail numbers:

(216)-2200-NEO (216) 220-0636 | 0151 324 CAST 0151 324 2278 | neowincast

Download: NeowinCAST News Edition Episode #35 (Right click, Save As)
Subscribe: Via iTunes | Via Zune | Via RSS

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With 2007 over, the best of the year lists are flying.

What about games? GameRankings.com compiles their lists based on the average review scores of major game publications.

You can check out the top 10 PC games of 2007 in the article below.

View: Best Games of 2007

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The war between the two high definition formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD, seems to have come to a bloody end. Company after company has pledged its allegiance to Blu-ray, and things look grim for Toshiba. However, many in the industry claim Sony’s victory will be short lived in the face of a new nemesis, digital downloads.

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The new Panda Antivirus 2008 is the easiest-to-use protection for your computer. Just install it and forget about all viruses, spyware and online fraud. And you hardly have to lift a finger, so you can chat, share photos and videos with friends, read your favorite blogs or simply surf the Web, with complete peace of mind. And it's so light, you won't even notice it.

Includes:

• Antivirus
• AntiSpyware
• AntiPhishing
• AntiRootkit

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xB Browser (XeroBank Browser) is the free anonymous web browser. You're just a click away from anonymous surfing right now! The benefits of xB Browser is that it allows you to securely and anonymously surf the internet, bypass firewalls and website censorship. For enhanced privacy, xB Browser clears history of browing and deletes cookies when you close the browser.

The main advantages compared to other anonymous web browsers is that xB Browser requires no configuration, technical knowledge, or installation in order to achieve anonymity. xB Browser is open source so you can feel safe knowing what goes into xB Browser. Additionally, it is even portable on a USB stick so you can take it to work, school, or on vacation.

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eldavojohn writes “Today in a speech the pope denounced human cloning, embryonic stem cell research and artificial insemination, citing them as a violation of ‘human dignity.’ That said, the pope did ‘appreciate and encourage’ research on stem cells from non-embryonic cells in the human body. The pope encouraged the Vatican to be a leading voice in the philosophy and discussion of bioethics. ‘Church teaching certainly cannot and must not weigh in on every novelty of science, but it has the task to reiterate the great values which are on the line and to propose to faithful and all men of good will ethical-moral principles and direction for new, important questions,’ Benedict said.”

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Since the Olympic stadium doesn’t have a roof, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau has been given the task of making sure the games remain dry. According to Zhang Qian, head of weather manipulation (best title to have on a business card ever) at the bureau, they’ve had success with light rain but heavy rain remains tough to control. I see a hurricane cannon in some lucky country’s future.

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