Stories by Mike Elgan

Augmented reality, long a staple of science fiction, is here, there and everywhere. A search on Google News brings up nearly 700 recent stories about the technology and the companies that claim to offer it.

"India unveils $35 computer for students," says CNN.com. "India unveils prototype for $35 touch-screen computer," reports BBC News. "India to provide $35 computing device to students," says BusinessWeek.

Have you ever tried to get an older person to use Facebook?

Steve Jobs is such a great salesman that he can actually give us a sense of familiarity with something we don't know anything about.

Google may have threatened to leave China to keep us all from concluding that "the cloud" cannot be secured. If that's true, isn't that precisely what we should conclude?

James Cameron's hotly anticipated 3D movie, "Avatar," hits theaters across the U.S. today. Besides stunning computer generated imagery and a predictable-but-appealing storyline, the movie will become well known for high-quality 3D.

Everything gets better, right? Cheaper. Faster. Smaller. This is especially true for the smallest devices -- cell phones, netbooks and e-book readers.

I'm a lazy cheapskate. And I'm often on the move. But as a columnist, I'm also interested in exposing as many readers as possible to my brilliant insights - which means I should engage in social media and online publishing.

Working in a truly location independent way sounds enticing but impossible. However, the stuff most people think is hard can be easy. And the stuff people think will be easy is hard.

The new iPhone 3G S is here! The new iPhone 3G S is here!

Office "slackers" who sneak in a little Facebook and Twitter timedo more work than the all-business, all-the-time folks.

Jamming a mobile phone is illegal in the US. Very illegal. And not just by ordinary citizens. It's illegal for theatre and restaurant owners to jam calls, and even state and local police or prison officials. The US, in fact, has the strictest laws in the world against jamming mobile calls.

Privacy activists have been lamenting increasing surveillance by cameras and warn of abuse by authorities who have access to them. But two additional trends portend a disturbing new direction

Imagine if your smartphone was as advanced as your toothbrush - at least in the charging department. That would be cooler than your peppermint toothpaste.

E-books, those flat electronic tablets designed for reading downloadable, software-based books, are often packed with advanced displays and other leading-edge technology.