Daylight-saving time starts but are you ready for something which could have similar implications as the millenium bug?

US congress have passed a change which will extend daylight-saving time for an extra month this year in the USA in an effort to conserve electricity. The new daylight-saving time will be kick-started three weeks early this year, on March 11, and will end a week later than normal, on November 4.

All of the United States except: Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa will be following the new rules.

"It's going to be a pain," says Gartner analyst Cameron Haight. "But it's certainly not a Y2K-style event." That is if everyone remembers to change their clocks accordingly. Software which can be used to automatically change mobile phones for instance to day-light saving time will not of course work as they are not programmed to change on March 11 but the first Sunday of April instead.

Due to this problem, the daylight saving time bug (aka Baby Y2K) could affect you in a number of different ways:

# VCR's will record an hour late until changed

# You could be an hour late for appointments that you have scheduled.

# Stock trades set to trade or sell at certain times could occur later than intended, potentially costing millions.

# Buildings that are programmed to unlock at 8 a.m. could stay locked.

# Airline, train & bus monitors could display wrong departure/arrival times.

Not to mention, if your PC, mobile, PDA etc. automatically updates to summer time then it will look to update again on the 1st Sunday of April, not realising that it was already at summer time. To prevent this, you will need to disable this function

The website: Baby Y2K contains more information about what you can do to prepare yourself for Baby Y2K. It also very handily contains a free downloadable MP3 and PDF so you can be FULLY informed of everything and what to do.

Living in Britain has its advantages, but some of the drawbacks include: Later release dates on products such as the PS3 and of course how it is viewed as perfectly acceptable to be ripped-off by multinational companies. iTunes for example: Currently, itunes songs cost 79p in the UK and 99c in the USA. By todays exchange rate, $0.99 will give you £0.50, so why are The British charged the best part of 80p?!

It has also emerged that when the PS3 is (finally) released in the UK, The Brits will again be ripped off. This time over game prices.

Sony announced that it will charge UK players £39 per game when the console launches on the 23rd March, despite identical games in the US costing almost £10 less. This news comes just weeks after Sony got grilled over its PS3 console prices: In the UK, the console will sell for £425 whilst in the US, they can be bought for £306 (at the current rates). An overall saving of £119 if you are fortunate enough to be American.

The latest atrocity comes under the heading of: Windows Vista!

Currently Windows Vista prices in the UK can be as much as 65% higher than in the U.S. Thousands of British tech enthusiasts have, as a result of this huge pricing difference signed a petition that aims to get Microsoft to lower the price to its UK customers.

More than 4,600 Brits have signed the petition so far which in part reads: "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to bring pressure on Microsoft to stop them overcharging the U.K. for its Vista Operating System."

The petition appears on a site hosted by the office of U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.

On the site, the creator of the petition, a Paul Milne states that there is no reason for there to be such a huge difference in prices between the UK and the US other than Microsofts belief that the U.K. customers will pay more than their U.S. counterparts.

A price check Tuesday on the U.S. version of Amazon.com showed that the upgrade version of Windows Vista is selling for $153.99. The same version is selling on Amazon's U.K. site for 129.48 GBP, or $254.53 in U.S. currency.

You can add your name to the petition by clicking the link below:

E-Petition

Please Note that the deadline for submissal is 20th April 2007 and that you must be a UK resident to take part.

This is not the newest of information, but for those of you who have not yet heard and wish to use Google's webmail installment, you can now sign up to Googlemail without an invite from someone who is already a member. Despite the mail product still being in Beta, as it has been since it opened up for invite-only use, Google have opened the doors to Googlemail and now allow all audiences to sign up to the service. This move was probably made due to Google realising that so many people use Googlemail anyway, however the wider range of audiences that could be attracted by this move to use Googlemail will undoubtedly boost consumers to Google's product, and of course boost exposure to the embedded ads in the online application. Looks like Google's set to earn even more.

You may already know this, but now you can use your Gmail account to fetch mail from your other, non-Gmail accounts (up to 5 additional), all in one place, and take advantage of all of Gmail's great features.

Unfortunately, the email accounts you wish to fetch will need to support POP access, so MSN is a no-no. However, this will be very useful in combining email accounts that do use POP3. Whether you want to combine gmail accounts, or add your domain emails to your gmail account. Something that before, you would have had to use software like Microsoft Outlook to do so. This could be viewed as yet another attempt to get users to stay on the net and use google's web based programs rather than download Office. Earlier, last week we saw Google launch 'Google Apps' and this step will help encourage users due to extra compatibility now found from being able to use your gmail account to handle your domain emails.

This feature is currently only enabled for a limited number of users and will be made more available soon, so if you are interested you better sign up now!

To find out how, click here and follow the steps.

Under these new features, you are also able to change your 'from:' address when composing a message?

The recent advertising techniques by apple with the whole: I'm a Mac, I'm a PC thing have sparked alot of controversy and fuelled the already heated argument between Mac & PC users. I, however am pleased to say that I am neither. I am a Vaio. Below are a few reasons why:

1) The Design - Vaio's look incredible, incredible enough to rival any Mac, and whats more - You are spoilt for choice. There are so many different models all with different designs rather than having the to choose either a MacBook or a MacBook Pro.

2) Club Vaio - It really seems like Sony actually care about you, the consumer. From freebies like: wallpapers and software to extensive support pages which actually help you (yes Dell!) and pages helping you make the most of your Vaio.

3) Blue-Ray - What I believe to be the definate future and replacement of DVD. Be one step ahead. I sincerely doubt that Sony are going to let any other manufactures use their Blue-Ray technology on notebooks for quite a while.

4) The Screen - Whereas most LCD displays use just one lamp to illuminate the screen, the X-Black display used on most vaios uses a dual-lamp system that produces a brighter, more consistent display by distributing light evenly across the entire screen. Meanwhile a special, multilayer anti-reflection coating on the screen’s surface reduces glare and unwanted reflections, both of which reduce eye fatigue, meaning that it’s comfortable to work for longer. This link will enlighten you further

5) The Distance - It is very nice to feel that you can distance yourself even very slightly from the whole PC - Mac argument. Even though strictly speaking Vaios are PCs. It's kind of the difference between music on tape or on CD. The songs on either may be the same, but the presentation and functionality of the CD greatly outclasses the tape, not to mention the quality.

6) The Accessories - Vaios come with all sorts of insane accessories to obtain the full vaio package.

7) Materials - Every component that goes into a Vaio, from the cooling system and motherboard to the touchpad or display, has been developed from materials that will guarantee the longest life or highest performance.
Even the casing is designed to protect the computer and avoid damage from contact with your watch while you type, or scratches from your keys if you were to accidentally put them in the same bag as your computer.

8.) Operating Noise - It's a life of peace, for my neighbours too. I haven't had to scream or shout once whilst I have had this Vaio, don't get me started on my old Dell.

9) Innovative features - Luminance sensors, which detect light and adjust the backlight brightness accordingly; to fingerprint recogniton: these really are some incredible ideas:

10) You don't have to join the dark [ok, the very shiney and white] side if you want something that is smart, stylish and practical.

Some images to demonstrate my point:

So now the question is: Vaio, Mac or PC?

note: All photos used in this article remain copyright of their respective owners

Following the popularity of the Nintendo Wii, everyone has been going motion sensitive gaming crazy. It has emerged that laptops such as the Lenovo ThinkPad and the Apple Macbook Pro have built-in accelerometers. They protect the hard drive by detecting sudden movement which means, if you drop the laptop, then it will be able to sense that it is falling and will temporarily stop the hard drive in preparation for impact. These accelerometers can also be used for gaming as seen on the Wii.

This means that you can use your laptop to control e.g. a penguin sliding down a slide by tilting your laptop left and right. Going to the Lenovo Blogs blog will tell you all you need to know and in just a few, quick easy steps you can be playing Wii-style in no time at all.

If you are a mac user, then pop over to isnoop where you can find out how to use your motion sensor to turn your computer into a Jedi weapon. It makes authentic lightsaber sounds. It also senses speed for the lightsaber movement sounds and acceleration for different levels of striking sounds. If you're into that sort of thing, may the force be with you.

Can you honestly see commuters on the train and other gamers tilting their laptops frantically whilst trying to direct some penguin around a maze? The Thinkpad's tilt sensors are responsive, and I'm sure that the games are fun, but using a 6-pound T60 as a game controller will get tiring fast and there's always the safety aspect - Its a little more serious if you collide with a laptop in mid-air as opposed to a Wii remote. Nethertheless, it's a great show-off app and a fun, unconventional idea.

Cisco Systems and Apple announced on Wednesday they have settled the trademark-infringement lawsuit over the use of the iPhone name for Apple's new multimedia phone which is set to become the next biggest phenonomen.

The agreement allows both Apple and Cisco to use the iPhone brand on their own products. Also, the companies said that they would explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security and of consumer and business communications.

The brief announcement made no reference to any financial agreement, nor did it specify how the two companies might work together. Representatives for Apple and Cisco declined to comment further, citing confidentiality restrictions.

Cisco sued Apple for trademark infringement in January after Apple unveiled its long-awaited multimedia device called the iPhone, a name claimed by the network equipment maker. Cisco also charged in its complaint that Apple had attempted to get rights to the iPhone name several times, but after Cisco refused, created a front company to try to acquire the rights another way, according to the lawsuit.

Cisco obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000 when it acquired Infogear, a small Redwood City, Calif., start-up that developed consumer devices that allowed people to access the Internet without a PC. Infogear had actually registered the iPhone trademark in March 1996.

The Apple iPhone is due to be released in America this Summer and is priced at: $499 for the 4gb version and $599 for the 8gb version.

Google have announced that they are going to begin selling an online suite of software that includes e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets and calendar management, escalating the Internet search leader's invasion on technological turf traditionally dominated by Microsoft and IBM.

The expansion, scheduled to be unveiled on Thursday comes just as people are getting ready for Microsoft Office 2007 and threatens to bog down Microsoft Corp.'s efforts to persuade businesses to buy it, having been developed along with its new Vista operating system.

Google's software bundle, to be sold for a $50 annual fee per user, also poses a challenge to International Business Machines Corp. and its Lotus suite and poses a risk to freeware such as Open Office as consumers, put off by Microsoft Office's price tag are likely to be prepared to spend the small amount that google are asking for.

While Google's latest foray into the corporate software market seems fairly unlikely to topple the status quo right away, AMR Research analyst Jim Murphy said it's only a matter of time before the Mountain View-based company becomes a major player.

"This is just the beginning," Murphy said. "The real impact of what Google is trying to do probably won't be evident for another five years."

Google has been offering a free version of its online software suite called Google Apps for the past six months. More than 100,000 small businesses and hundreds of universities nationwide are using the free service according to Google.

The fee-based version, Google Apps Premier Edition, includes five times more e-mail storage than regular gmail (10 gb per e-mail box) as well as a guarantee that all services will be available 99.9 percent of the time with around-the-clock technical support. Google also is adding mobile access to e-mail accounts through the BlackBerry devices that tether workers to their offices. "This isn't a big step for us, but I think it's a reasonable step," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in an interview, "Our product is so cheap that it's sort of no-brainer to try it out."

By dangling its business software package at such a low price, Google is giving companies a greater incentive to delay buying Microsoft's Office 2007 as they assess the pros and cons of a less expensive alternative, said Nucleus Research analyst Rebecca Wettemann.

"The timing (of this offer) is just brutal for Microsoft. It's definitely a shot across their bow," Wettemann said.

As they usually do, Google executives downplayed the company's intensifying rivalry with Microsoft.

"We are not in this to get Microsoft," said Dave Girouard, general manager of Google's business software division. "We are in this to offer more compelling choices for consumers and businesses."

Echoing that sentiment, Schmidt said he is trying to discourage people from viewing Google as the fly in Microsoft's ointment. "We don't operate that way," he said. "We are trying to solve very different problems."

If it can sell more software to companies, Google could become less dependent on online advertising. Google already has been selling its search technology to companies, but that initiative has only had a modest impact so far. Software licensing accounted for slightly more than $100 million, or 1 percent, of Google's $10.6 billion in revenue last year.

Microsoft, in contrast, relied on software sales for most of its $44 billion in revenue last year.

While Google has been expanding into software applications, Microsoft has been trying to build a more formidable Internet search engine. That effort hasn't prevented Google from widening its lead in online search during the past two years, emboldening the company to branch into other fields like corporate software.

However, Price is rarely the only concern of large companies when they are deciding which software products to buy. Security, reliability and performance also sway corporate buying decisions. However, Google's package will still appeal to many companies looking to provide more software tools and e-mail access to workers who work in stores or production plants that may not have all the latest applications.

Two Fortune 25 companies, Procter & Gamble Co. and General Electric Co., have already signed up for Google's software package. Google wouldn't disclose how many of those companies' employees are using the online suite.

Other early adopters include Salesforce.com Inc. — a pioneer in the push to deliver more software over Internet connections instead of distributing the programs on discs that directly install the coding on a hard drive.

The notion of leasing software online once was derided as a kooky concept because it was widely believed that most companies would never allow their vital information to be kept on computers owned and managed by an outsider like Google.

But the resistance to the idea seems to be dissipating as the Internet becomes more ingrained in daily living. In a survey of 198 organizations, Nucleus Research found that 51 percent were using some online software applications.

Would you pay to go into space?

Since the mock-up of the cabin of the Virgin Galactic Spaceship Two (pictured) which was put on display at the Science Museum in London on February 14 2007, it has suddenly struck the world that very soon you wont have to be an astronaught to fly in to outerspace. The only question is: how much would you be prepared to pay for the experience?

Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin is still taking deposits of $100,000 - $175,000 from travellers who want to go in the first year. About a dozen of the aspiring astronauts, described as "idealists who dreamed as kids of going into space" gathered late November on Necker Island, the private island owned by Branson in the British Virgin Islands.

Virgin Galactic must find out before blast-off how people in their 50s, 60s and 70s (those most able to afford it), can cope with the stress of space travel. "To be commercial viable and safe, we need data on the way people react to g forces and the psychological experience of going into space. We don't know that yet," says Alex Tai, Galactic's chief of operations — and the man who will pilot first Virgin's first spaceship. One possibility is a ride in a centrifuge to see how passengers will react to the g forces. For now, however, there aren't a lot of requirements other than deep pockets.

So, the question you have to ask yourself when Virgin Galactic launches in 2009: Do you feel rich enough to go into outerspace? We here at Liquidicity would love to get zero-gravitied, but might need a few more adword clicks, or wait for a Ryan-Air alternative.