Don't be dumb

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There was a time when people's explicit video clips or personal information leaked after they lost their mobile phones.

Now this sensitive data can leak even when your phone is still with you. And this can be unsafe and problematic especially if yours is a smart phone.

Given that your smart phone - be it BlackBerry, iPhone or another brand - contains a lot of important personal information including contact lists, private emails, company documents and data, personal financial information, passwords and so on, it is not hard to imagine how threatening it can be if all this personal data leaks and becomes the property of the fraudsters.

Written by Roger Cheng, a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires in New York, "Don't Be Dumb About Smart Phones" in The Wall Street Journal reveals ways through which personal information on your smart phone can be stolen.

Text messaging, multimedia messaging and phone applications are hackers' favourite means of accessing your personal data. And after all, caution is the best protection, Cheng writes. If you are not certain about the origin of the message sent to you, delete it before opening. Limiting the access applications have to your phone's functions is another smart way to prevent hackers from stealing your private information.

Read "Don't Be Dumb About Smart Phones" on asia.wsj.com.

Unconventional inventions

TIME magazine presents the 2009 "50 Best Inventions of the Year". It is fun to read and to learn which of these breakthroughs are indeed of great benefit to mankind, while a few of them may make us wonder why on earth they were invented.

The Aids vaccine is helping save human beings from one of the world's most threatening epidemics while the hand-held ultrasound machine helps make life easier and more convenient.

A few items were invented particularly to aid people with disabilities. A special microchip implanted onto an eyeball, for instance, was developed to help blind people regain partial eyesight.

One of the most impressive things is "The $20 Knee", which was invented and developed by the Jaipur Foot Group and used as a prosthesis by tens of thousands of amputees in the developing world. This fake knee is not only cheap, but it also mimics the natural joint movements of the real one.

Visit http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1934027,00.html.