OLYMPUS, IBM HAVE EYES ON WEARABLE COMPUTER - IBM and Japanese camera manufacturer Olympus unveiled a futuristic wearable computer in Tokyo on Friday. The 13-ounce computer consists of a screen that fits over one eye and a handle with a touchpad and two buttons to make commands. Although the wearable computer lacks a keyboard, it may be added in the future, says Olympus' Shinichiro Murakami. It comes with 64 MB of RAM, uses Windows and can play audio and video. The companies will decide next year when to release the computer commercially, Murakami says. (Baltimore Sun 29 Nov 99 - Edupage 29 Nov 99)

MICROMACHINES OFFER TECHNOLOGICAL PROMISE OF TOMORROW - At Sandia National Laboratories, a gear the size of a pollen grain rotates at speeds up to 350,000 rpm in the world's smallest engine. These machines, too small to be seen by the naked eye, are projected and magnified so that scientists can plot their future. These tiny machines will radically change almost every field of human endeavor - from telecommunications systems to keeping cars from skidding and trekkers from straying from their path in the woods. The possibilities are endless. (Washington Post 13 Nov 99)