NTT DoCoMo still has some nifty contraptions up its sleeves. Aside from the Panasonic P720iD, the Japanese company is bringing to the cellular world four more thingamajigs -- the D702iBCL and D702iF made by Mitsubishi, the SO902iWP by Sony Ericsson, and the SH702iS from Sharp. That's some lineup they've got!

Let's start off with the Mitsubishi contraptions. The D702iBCL (left pic) is the phone for people who are into the pure business-no pleasure mantra. Why is that? The phone, although very powerful with its QVGA screen resolution with 262,144 colours, MOAP UI running on Symbian 8.1, and FlashCast and iChannel support, does not have a camera.

On the other hand, the D702iF (see image below, middle thumbprint), is the ultimate phone for women and women-at-heart. Available in a range of pastel colors and a rounded shape that means it can be 'opened without damaging your fingernails' say when you just got a manicure. Plus it also has built-in cooking recipes and exercise routines that would fit the needs of the homemaker or the executive.

The Sony Ericsson creation, the SO902iWP (left thumbprint below), is fit for the outdoorsy and the clumsy ones because this phone is Water Proof and it can be immersed in up to one metre of water for 30 minutes. And last but not the least, the Sharp creation, the SH702iS (right thumbprint below), features a 2.4 inch QCGA screen (.4 inches bigger than the SH702iD) with a privacy button that reduce the angle of view to keep the screen from being seen by prying eyes.

We all have them - files on our shared Mac that is, frankly, nobody's business. Maybe it's sensitive financial data, or some proprietary information. Perhaps it's your new novel or screenplay. Or...'fess up, you downloaded some (*ahem*) "erotic" materials...no big deal, right? That is, until a friend, co-worker, boss or significant other runs across it...

"That's what 'permissions' are for," you're saying. Sometimes. The problem is, when your user is compromised and someone else is on your computer - or you just loaned your MacBook to a co-worker to view her webmail - "permissions" would have to lock you out of the folder in order to work properly.

Here are some tips to help keep your private files private:

• Create a New User for the purpose of hiding your private files. This will put a new password in place and a new home directory hierarchy for data storage. Hide the User, and no-one's the wiser...and enabling Fast User Switching allows one to go back and forth as you like. You can also make a "Guest Account" for other users and flip over to that before handing over your Mac.

• Create "Dot" Folders. Files that start with a dot (".") are hidden by default in Unix-based OS X.  There are many ways for someone to discover these, of course, but they would have to go to some lengths to find them. The procedure: in Terminal, create a folder with a name that starts with a dot (like .MySecretStuff). In the finder, select Go>Go to Folder...enter ~/.MySecretStuff, and voilá! Put your secret files in the folder, close the window, and your secrets are safe. CAVEAT: The Finder remembers your last entry in the "Go To Folder..." window, so when you're finished, you'll need to open it again and tell it to go to your home folder by entering "~ Return" (without the quotes).

• Encrypt Your Disk Images: This hides your files from Spotlight searches and prying eyes, and encrypts the data on-disk in such a way that "data recovery monkeys" cannot recover it. Just make sure you have good back-ups. If you're running Panther or later, you can create an alias to reference inside disk images. Put your secret data in an encrypted disk image, make an alias outside of it, then start the associated application with the alias. You'll get the password first.

• Package Files. Put your sensitive data inside a large file package like iDVD.  Make sure its in a Contents folder, then stuff your DMG inside the Resourced folder. Make sure you set the locked flag on the folder/DMG afterwards so updates error out upon removal. When it comes to the Documents folder, you can create an RTFD with false data using TextEdit, then save it in your Documents folder with an innocuous name like "kung-pao chicken recipe," then close it. Open its package, then drop in the files you want to hide. Make sure you lock the file so its not accidentally deleted.

• Use Remote File Share. The best place to hide sensitive data is not on your own computer, but some other place to which only you have access. (Don't use iDisk - too risky.) If you have access to another machine and connect over AFP as "Guest," you can access everyone's Public folder. If you are Authenticated, you have the full home.  Drop in your files; the data is no longer on your machine, and no-one will have access to it unless you forget and leave Sharing on. A variation of this is to stash it on your iPod using "Disk Mode."

If all else fails, remember that humans tend to see what they expect to see. Sometimes the best hiding place is right out in the open, in plain sight. Particularly in most work places, people tend to "zone out" and go on auto-pilot. They log on to your computer, see the usual mundane titles in the Document folders, ignore them and move on. Put your sensitive files inside several nested folders, like AAPL2006Q2/Raw_Data/SecretStash.dmg. Throw in a few dummy Excel and CSV files into the root folder, and most busybodies won't give it a second glance. While it's fun to be less obvious by being less obvious, however, don't get careless. Drop your folder in the System/Library somewhere. Spotlight doesn't index items in the System folder.

  

Here is an interesting contraption created by a student at the Royal College of Art in London, England. Joe Malia has created a face scarf that allows you to play your PSP in PSPeace and PSPrivacy. According to the student, this face scarf "lets PSP players explore their passion in complete privacy".

Why you would want to cover your whole face up when playing your PSP I'm not sure. Of course, it will probably filter out the sun on a sunny day and allow you to fine tune your gaming tactics with a minimal amount of glare, but I think I'd rather be inside than wear this thing. The student has also been behind other wacky pieces of art such as a scarf that fits over a CRT monitor to provide you with privacy whilst surfing the Internet or writing your emails.

I'm sure there is at least one logical reason behind these - but I'm still searching.

   

Wanna be mistaken for a mugger or an extraterrestrial while playing your PSP, answering a text message, or working on your PC? Well, if that floats your boat, then this piece of clothing genius from Joe Malia ought to do the trick. What happens when a proportion of the people using a new technology see it to be so enticing that they are willing to sacrifice every other aspect of their lives in order to engage with it? They wear this and they don't care what other people think!

For now there are scarves like these for PSP addicts, desktop users, and cell phone junkies. I tell you, if you'll use this, the privacy level will be so high plus you can't see those people gawking and laughing at you. Although I'm not so sure if this thing could kill you because of suffocation. These concepts actually originated from Joe's project, Design for the Computer Obsessive, which is a requirement for one of his subjects. I personally wanna try the desktop scarf, just to weird out my officemates (ha, ha)!

For now, these garments are still in the drawing board, but who knows? There might come a time when you're strolling by Target and you see one of these thingamajigs on sale. How about you? You wanna try 'em on or do you think it's just plain ridiculous? Tell us through your comments.

I am very paranoid when it comes to my online privacy. So naturally it has been quite startling to me to notice that whenever I boot my PC my browser automatically connects to some 207.xxx.xxx.xxx IP address every time.

I have a Mcafee firewall with a GUI whois and traceroute function that I used to find information about the owner of the IP address that I find every time I boot up. Needless to say the IP address belongs to a range of class C IP addresses owned by Microsoft, located in Redmond Washington.

Recently Microsoft admitted that the Windows Genuine Validation software they distributed via Windows update, to ensure that no one is using pirated versions of their software, was secretly endowed with the ability to clandestinely "phone home" giving Microsoft unprecedented access to consumer machines.

When they finally 'fessed up recently and admitted that they have been using their WGA software to make XP users computers "phone home" to Microsoft, I was relieved on one hand, but disgusted on the other. What we knew about this annoying WGA update before Microsoft's recent confession was bad enough to cause many to refuse to install the download all together.

I refused WGA until Microsoft instituted a policy that basically denied security updates (via Microsoft's windows update site) to users that refuse to install WGA. When I finally gave in I almost immediately noticed the change that occurred at every boot.

Of course Microsoft claims that there is no sensitive or private information being transmitted when the application phones home and it is doing so simply to preserve the security and stability of the application. Unfortunately, the fact that they neglected to disclose the full functionality of WGA when it was released leads many people (including myself) to believe that Microsoft is not acting in good faith in this matter.

While there are no plans to eliminate the phone home aspect of the application, Microsoft has indicated a willingness to reduce the number of times the software uses your bandwidth to contact them. How nice of them! At least (as yet) they haven't tried to install spy cameras in our homes or chips in our brains, but I'm sure they'll get around to that eventually.

The next time you ask parents if they know where their children are, don't be surprised if they answer "yes" with great confidence. Chances are they have been introduced to the wonders of Global Positioning System (GPS). With the technology, parents no longer worry when their children don't call home or answer the phone. It's a great way to catch kids or teens who have the habit of lying about their whereabouts. Well, as long as the phone is not turned off or thrown away, then parents are in total control.

While parents are happy with the solution, privacy advocates have raised concerns that GPS-enable phones can become dangerous when they fall into the wrong hands. Hackers can easily locate the device and subsequently track a child. We know how sexual predators can be.

GPS was originally designed for military use, but it has become an indispensable part of all navigational systems, from passenger jets to family minivans. Lately, it has become a weapon of choice to outwit, err, monitor the kids. The kids today are running around to several activities in a day and it becomes harder to get in touch. If you have four kids, it's a nightmare.

Several companies have been banking on this "need" and have released several kid-branded phones in the market. LG has the small green handset called Migo. Though it comes with a GPS chip, it's not set up for easy location monitoring. Cingular has the Firefly. It doesn't have a GPS chip but has a parent-programmable phone book. Disney Mobile has joined the frenzy with the release of phones with a generous helping of parental controls, the most controversial of which is the Family Locator. It pinpoints the phone's position using GPS. Sprint Nextel has its Spring Family Locator launched in April.

This August, GPS pioneer Wherify will be back in the scene and release Wherifone, an easy-to-use GPS locator with only five buttons. Unlike the upcoming Disney Mobile phone, the Wherifone does not permit downloads or offer entertainment.

Next thing we know, there'll be an onslaught of GPS-enabled device flooding the market. But we'd like to believe that parents know what they are buying. The danger facing parents is that kids might grow up believing that tracking their every move is a normal part of life. But then again if a teen really doesn't want to be tracked, he or she can just turn off the phone. Or the more rebellious ones can leave their phones on at a friend's house and party somewhere else.

In the not so distant past, phone booths provided the much-needed privacy to people having phone conversations in public. With cellphones around, the phone booths died a natural death, but only to be resurrected by individuals who grappled with issues of privacy, personal space, and nostalgia. Superman would be thrilled. Take for instance Jenny Chowdhury's "Cell Atlantic Cellbooth", a wearable object you can carry around and set up when you need a moment to talk. It creates an illusion of privacy and stillness afforded by old school 4-walled phone booths. The concept is similar to Nick Rodrigues' "Portable Cellphone Booth", but Nick's version provides a visual image of lost opportunities to interact with one another due to self-involvement. More than the privacy and the attention, Nick hopes that people receive a myriad of messages ranging from self-deprecating humor to realization that friendship and relationships are neglected. Quite serious psychological and social stuff, really. But do they really expect to be taken seriously when wearing those silly ensemble draws a fit of laughter from everyone they meet? You be the (laughing) judge.