Rosie Lombardi

Xerox has a particularly keen interest in electronic paper, which would use real paper with a POE backing and could be re-used and recycled with different content.

Imagine an IMAX-sized TV screen for your living-room that you could roll-up and down; wireless electronic wallpaper that changes colour, form and design with your mood; electronic newspapers that look and feel like real paper, thereby saving millions of trees from daily slaughter. Xerox Canada claims these are just some tantalizing possibilities that can materialize from the company's research into plastic organic electronics.

Prompted by citizen concerns, the Toronto Board of Health is conducting a study of the potential health risks posed by Toronto Hydro Telecom's plans to blanket the downtown core with Wi-Fi access points.

Many industry observers say demand for IT workers will likely outstrip supply in the near future. A recent survey conducted in Canada by Robert Half Technology, an IT recruitment firm, provides evidence that an uptick in IT hiring will materialize in the third quarter of 2006.

Video surveillance systems can serve a dual purpose: as deterrents to illegal behaviour and providing evidence to prosecute offenders. The Port Authority of Allegheny County based in Pittsburgh, recently began upgrading its existing cameras with an IP-based mobile video surveillance system developed by Ottawa-based March Networks Corp.

The Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) is making improvements to its Information Systems Professional (ISP) designation program by creating a body of knowledge all IT practitioners should attain.

The Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) is making improvements to its Information Systems Professional (ISP) designation program by creating a body of knowledge all IT practitioners should attain. The Mississauga, Ont.-based society is also updating its code of ethics to reflect changes in the compliance and privacy landscape in Canada, and extending the ISP designation to groups that have not been eligible in the past.

Don't know much juice your house is consuming? There's a new contraption available to track that. It's dubbed the PowerCost monitor - and functions as a real time electricity monitor.