Melbourne, Oct 6 : New airport X-ray technology, dubbed the "virtual strip search", has raised concerns amongst passengers who fear that the images of their genitals will end up being reproduced on websites like Facebook and MySpace.

The full-body scanner has been condemned by travellers, who have claimed that if accepted, the technology could enable children to be screened by paedophiles, or pregnant women to be exposed to radiations harmful for their health.

The technology, which goes on trial in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide airports starting this month, allows screeners to detect non-metallic devices, objects and weapons concealed on a person''s body, while also giving an outline of a person’s organs and genitals.

Washington, Oct 6 : Computer scientists at the University of Utah in the US have written software they hope eventually will allow news reporters and citizens to easily, interactively and visually answer questions when analyzing election results, political opinion polls or other surveys.

The software displays data in the form of "radial" charts that are doughnut-shaped and include features of traditional pie charts and bar graphs.

The charts are interactive and animated so they change as a computer user asks to analyze poll results as a function of various demographic data.

Hanover, Germany - Images rule the digital media world - even those from your own computer desk. A headset for making telephone calls and chatting has become a nearly standard part of every PC's peripherals - and for many people a webcam is essential, too.

"Video telephony is reality," says Georg Wilde, press spokesman for Philips. And that applies not just for all parents whose children have gone off to college or business travelers looking to say a quick "hello" to their families from afar.

Hamburg - Lucky is the e-mail user who hasn't received solicitations for aphrodisiacs or online casinos - commonly known as spam. The single best way to avoid unwanted e-mails is to avoid giving out your e-mail address in the first place. That's easier said than done, however, especially since many online shopping transactions require an e-mail address.

One potential alternative are disposable e-mail addresses. As these are automatically deactivated after a short time, users can reveal them without worrying about increasing their spam load.

Bonn, Germany - Software or driver updates should only be downloaded from the manufacturer's website. Updates offered as e-mail attachments or on third party sites can in fact turn out to contain malicious programs or viruses, according to the German publisher, Verlag fuer die Deutsche Wirtschaft, in Bonn.