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Well now. Just as the so-called first world is getting ready to phase out incandescent light bulbs, boffins in the US have apparently found a way to make the humble globe more efficient. In short, they simply add a small step to the existing manufacturing process: zapping the filament with a infinitesimally short pulse of extremely high-energy laser light.

source: stock.xchng (http://www.sxc.hu/)

The result is an otherwise conventional light bulb that consumes 40% less energy producing the same amount of light. Read the full story on El  Reg here. What isn’t clear is how this process affects the longevity of the common or garden variety light bulb.

Of course, if this does turn out to be the elixir the boffins expect, it will spell the end of Philips’ monopoly on energy-efficient lighting technology. What a shame that would be.

Back in 2006 I wrote what turned out to be an award-winning piece (one of only two) for iWeek about how the security software industry has a habit of crying wolf (PDF) in its quest to peddle more software. And if one goes by a recent posting on SearchSecurity.com, nothing has changed:

The Conficker-fed doomsday scenarios fed to us by security vendors and trade press has come and gone without the big disaster. The IT world on April 4 looks a lot like the IT world on March 31. It is almost disappointing, just as a forecasted winter storm that misses the mark – nobody wants to see property damaged, but a good storm is captivating and fun to watch. Conficker, also known as Downadup and Kido, was primed to start seeking its payload using a wider range of domains on April 1. The over-hyped storm has thus far turned into a dud, leaving the security industry looking clueless once again.

Read the full story here.

I’ve always seen this global warming lark as a good thing – especially the predicted sea level rises that were going wipe out low-lying areas. I mean, I’d love to see Cape Town reduced to the lost little island in the middle of nowhere. Sadly, it’s not going to happen, despite what the environmentalist lobby would have you believe.

A thought provoking piece running in the Telegraph this week expalins why. It was written by Christopher Booker and is based on the views Dr Nils-Axel Mörner, a Swedish geologist and physicist who knows more about sea levels than any one else on the planet. It’s brilliant, just brilliant. But what’s more, it actually makes sense. Dr Mörner explains in clear incorruptible language, exactly why what the political hacks at the IPCC say is so much garbage. More power to him I say.