Laptop

This month, San Francisco riders have caught a glimpse of the future from the back of a cab. It came in the form of a laptop computer as thin as a paperback novel. By last week, 10 taxis were outfitted with the technology, making San Francisco the first city to bring the World Wide Web to public transportation. But even here, where innovation sweeps through the city as routinely as fog off the Pacific, some are perplexed by the back-seat computers.

State officials are warning 441 applicants for law enforcement officer jobs that a laptop computer containing their psychological evaluations was stolen in Mexico this month. The applicants included candidates seeking jobs as California Highway Patrol and correctional officers. State Personnel Board spokeswoman Sherry Evans said everyone seeking those jobs must undergo psychological testing. Raw data from the screenings were in a laptop that a contract psychologist took on vacation.

It looks like an Apple Store, filled with eager employees in brightly colored T-shirts. Laptops, smart phones and MP3 players are arrayed on modern tables for anyone who wants to try them out. There's even a desk in back where people can walk up and get expert technical help. But the similarities between the Apple Store and the Microsoft Store begin to fade at the cash register ? or at least they did one recent Saturday afternoon at the Shops at Mission Viejo mall. Over a half-hour period, 19 people walked out of the mall's Apple Store carrying purchases in one of the company's signature white bags.

New IBM Machines Expected: International Business Machines Corp. is expected to introduce new software and two new personal computers, one of which will mark its much awaited re-entry into the growing laptop computer market, analysts said. IBM's first laptop--the "Convertible" model--faltered in the intensely competitive market. But IBM has developed a long-awaited new version, as well as a desktop computer based on Intel Corp.'s 386SX chip. IBM is also preparing a range of software products, including systems to communicate between computers and carry out advanced office programming.

You don't need to be a Mayo Clinic researcher to figure out that being glued to an office chair all day makes people fat, but that's what it took to start a revolution. A few years ago, the clinic's Dr. James Levine theorized that raising one's metabolism through low-level, daylong movement could burn at least as many calories as a conventional workout at the end of an inactive day. He proved it by grafting a treadmill to a desk ? his test subjects got healthier and walked off dozens of pounds without breaking a sweat at a 1 mph pace.

A laptop computer containing personal information from 33,000 travelers who applied to a program for bypassing airport security lines was probably stolen and returned, not just misplaced, investigators said Monday. The Transportation Security Administration announced last week that it had suspended new enrollments to the program, known as Clear, after the unencrypted computer disappeared from a locked office at San Francisco International Airport. The day after TSA's announcement, the laptop reappeared in a locked cabinet in the same office.

Now that anyone with a laptop can make decently epic soundscapes, how will Sigur Rós keep its lead? On "Valtari," it does it by using all its usual tricks, but in even more evocative and expert ways. On "Valtari" it's back to the essentials: oceanic buildups, flickers of treated orchestras and falsetto vocal lines that yank heartstrings, even though you know exactly when they're coming. Santa Barbara Bowl, 1122 N. Milpas St., Santa Barbara. 7 p.m. Fri. $40.50-$55.50. sbbowl.com .

Forget new car, percolating java or even newborn baby. I realize it now: I love the smell of fresh MacBook in the morning. "A distinctive scent can be observed when unwrapping a newly purchased Apple product from its packaging," according to Air Aroma's blog post .  "Apple fans will certainly recognize this smell. " Although I do distinctly remember the smell of my most recent MacBook's unwrapping in November, I think I mistook that for excitement and elation -- and the smell of $1,100 leaving my account.

In what is believed to be the first case of online motherhood, a Riverside County couple plan to broadcast the birth of their child on the Internet this month. Brad and Karen Park of Wildomar will use a digital camera and computer laptop to film and send live footage of the birth of their second child to a private site on the World Wide Web to allow family and friends, unable to attend the event, to watch.

Use a computer with an Energy Star designation. It consumes 70% less electricity than other computers. If left inactive, Energy Star computers enter a low-power mode and use 15 watts or less. Spending a large portion of time in low-power mode not only saves energy, but helps equipment run cooler and last longer. To maximize savings with a laptop, put the AC adapter on a power strip that can be turned off or will turn off automatically. The transformer in the AC adapter draws power continuously, even when the laptop is not plugged into the adapter.