All sorts of companies are getting into the digital camera business. What are we going to do with all those wonderful and not-so-wonderful snapshots? Wear them. At least that's the latest brainwave of Nokia.

The mobile phone company, has decided that is suggesting that we might want to wear our photos around our necks. Meet the new Nokia Medallion, a piece of jewellery hung around the neck with a 1.6 cm. X 1.6 cm screen to display your photos, moods, what ever you feel like expressing. Nokia hopes it will become the new digital locket, a fad that will drive its phone sales. Or you can peer at your photos through the Nokia Kaleidoscope, a small telescopic viewer through which you can view up to 24 images at a time.

At the same time Nokia also announced its new 7600 “imaging phone”, which is diamond shaped, and the centrepiece of its strategy to get us to buy our camera, video player and music machine in the same package.

Weighing about 123 grams, the 7600 is a tear-shaped portable phone with a good-sized display and 29 MB of memory. The memory can store the digital photos or video clips you take with the 7600. Or you can store up to 50 minutes of MP3 clips and use the phone as a portable music player.

Meanwhile Hewlett Packard has developed a camera sunglass that can take, well, candid snaps. HP labs in the UK says its has attached a camera to a pair of sunglasses that constantly takes images of what a wearer sees. The images can be processed in a handheld computer attached to the sunglasses.

Sony is going after the rugged crowd with its waterproof digital camera. The CyberShot DSC-U60, a 2-megapixel camera, is waterproof to five feet. Unfortunately the camera does not come with a zoom feature, so you're restricted to one view.

The camera can be bought for $243, which is pricey for its capabilities. You're paying the premium for the waterproof feature, good for taking photos during the next hurricane.

“On the Internet, worms and viruses can do more harm in a monoculture. This is not theoretical.” So says John S. Quarterman, founder of Matrix NetSystems Inc. in response to Microsoft's reaction to a report he and other security experts wrote about the dangers of depending on one software maker.

The report argues that Microsoft's dominance in operating systems and other software programs makes it easier for hackers to attack machines and networks. Sadly, one of the reports authors, Daniel R. Geer Jr., was fired as chief technology officer at AtStakeInc. after the report was published. AtStakeInc does business with Microsoft.

CIO magazine, which routinely rents its subscriber lists to firms, including Microsoft, for distributing targeted advertising, also turned down the Computer and Communications Industry Association's attempt to use the lists to send out the report. The authors found that the tight integration that makes Microsoft's software excessively complex and vulnerable also fortifies - intentionally on Microsoft's part - the dominance of Microsoft software in desktop computing.

“This monopoly presence ensures not only that Microsoft will continue to be the number one target of malicious viruses, worms, and other attacks, but that those attacks will have rapid and broad effects,” the report stated. The authors also concluded that the US federal government should require Microsoft to design its applications to work well with other companies' programs. Companies should also have access to Microsoft's code so that they can write programs that work well with Microsoft.

The report is available at www.ccianet.org.

Are you one of those slackers that plays games while you're working? Here's the “Anti-Boss Key”, a piece of free software designed to hide and restore Windows applications on your screen with a single keystroke.

The software's creators are unapologetic about its uses. “Save your job! Protect your privacy!” proclaims MindGems Inc., attempting I guess to capture all markets. The software allows you to switch to selected display mode with the touch of a key combination. Another piece of free software at ZDNet is the DictaMail, which is a bit more useful if you have the time to learn how to use it. DictaMail is a new voice add-on for your e-mail.

The software can record your message, send and answer voice-mails. The software compresses the recording automatically using the Windows-standard format, reducing the file to 1/10th of its original size.

You can get both pieces of software at http://downloads-zdnet.com

Tech Tattle deals with issues in technology. Contact Ahmed at editor@offshoreon.com