Murdo MacLeod - The ON Switch

Published on Monday 26 May 2008 13:13

GADGET WATCH

JUST in time for the season of sun, sea and sand comes the camera you can program for lurve. Many digital cameras are already able to detect faces, smiles and even blinks. Fujifilm has now added what it calls a 'Couple Timer' to its new FinePix Z200fd.

Apparently, it can gauge how close the two faces are in the frame.

Depending on how intimate you are with the other subject, you can change the setting on the point-and-shoot from one heart to three. When the camera sees that the subjects are close enough, it will snap a shot automatically. If you've just had a tiff, on the other hand, you can reset the number of hearts, although the camera does not include a special setting for stony-faced glares, or deciding who gets the CDs.

TIP OF THE WEEK

CLEAR SPYWARE OFF YOUR COMPUTER

Spyware – those nasty little programs that lurk on your computer without you having asked for them or even knowing they are there – vary from the annoying to the downright sinister. Some bombard you with unwanted adverts, while others track your internet viewing habits so you receive 'targeted' ads while online. The really evil ones record your passwords and bank details and pass them on to criminals.

Help is at hand in the form of anti-spyware programs, most of which are free and are updated all the time. The best include Ad-aware from Lavasoft and Spybot Search and Destroy. You can have as many spyware cleaners on the computer as you want but, just like virus scanners, you need to use them often, at least weekly.

Getting rid of the bugs will speed up your computer too.